Putting the Pieces back together
by Stoppelbart
Summary: Two years Jim had to wait until she finally returned to him. But what happened in those two years? Why did it take Sarah so long to return to Jim? And what happened afterwards to them? Here's an answer to that.
1. And so it begins

**...**

* * *

 **And so it begins...**

 **Another Time...**

 **Another Place...**

* * *

As she stood on the cliff and looked at the ocean in front of her, the woman took a deep breath and sighed. Such a beautiful day. Far too beautiful to say goodbye. She knew that there was no other choice. They had talked about it many times. Everyone had agreed on this, even though no one was truly happy about it. But sometimes you just had to do things not because they felt good, but because it was the right thing to do.

"A storm is approaching." she whispered to herself as she looked at the clouds in the distance. It would be here soon. As the huge creature approached her from the jungle behind her, it didn't even try to hide its presence. It would have been pointless anyway.

The huge Protoss stopped a few meters behind her and didn't say anything. He didn't even need to use his psionics in order to know how she was feeling right now. For a long time, neither one of them spoke a word. He remained silent out of respect. She remained silent because she didn't feel like having a conversation right now.

But after a while...

"Is she gone?" the woman with the long, red hair asked and looked over her shoulder. The Protoss lowered his gaze and nodded.

"Yes. I sent her off myself." he told her and she took a deep breath when she heard that.

"Did she say anything before she left?" the woman wanted to know.

"That you should not be worried. And that she can handle it." the huge Protoss declared. It put a smile on the woman's face.

"If only that were true..." she whispered. She looked back at the ocean and wiped a tear from her cheek. When the golden drop landed on the grass, it turned solid immediately.

"And where did _he_ go?" she asked after a while.

"He went to his private place. He told me that he has an idea, one that he needs to turn into reality."

"He sure as hell has the worst timing ever." the woman with the red hair sighed. "Guess that means that I won't seem him for the next couple of, well, _centuries_." Her voice carried both equal amounts of frustration and amusement. Everyone dealt with issues differently. If she would tell him that she needed him, that she wanted to talk to him, that he should just hold her in his arms, then he wouldn't even hesitate one second and do just that.

But...she didn't.

No, right now she wanted to be alone. It would probably not last long, but this place wouldn't be the same with the Little One around. And there was another thing. It was something that she hadn't even told the man she loved...

She was scared.

She wasn't scared about the Little One. She was scared of what the Little One would see. Everyone had told her that this would be hard, but why did it have to be _this_ hard?

"I'm not certain that we are doing the right thing here..." she mumbled after a while.

"We all knew that it would be tough. For her. For us. For everyone." the Protoss explained. "Besides, it is too late to do anything about it now. It is in her hands. You should not worry, though. She is clever. She will understand."

"I can only hope that you're right..." the woman mumbled. The Protoss sighed and stomped over to her. He placed his huge hand on her shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze.

"You should not worry. She will endure." he told her and she looked up at him.

"You think so?"

"I know so." And then he did something that not many Protoss would do: He gave her a thumbs-up. "She will understand. She is a lot smarter than you, me, or the other ones. So have faith in her." When she heard that, a sad smile appeared on her face.

"I hope you are right." she whispered and looked back at the horizon where a huge storm was approaching. She took a deep breath and then she said one more thing...

"I already miss her."

The Protoss didn't say anything else. He turned around and stomped away. What would he do now, now that his pupil was no longer around? Who knew. He was resourceful, he would find something to occupy himself.

As for the woman...

"...leavin' on a jet plane..." she started to hum her favorite song.

"...dunno when you'll be back again..."

And then a warm smile appeared on her face.

"...but I hope it will be soon."


	2. Index

**...**

* * *

 **...**

 **Putting the Pieces back together**

 **...**

* * *

 **...**

 **Index**

 **...**

* * *

 **...**

 **Prologue**

 **...**

Chapter 1: Born from the Void

Chapter 2: From Beyond the Void

Chapter 3: If you want Answers...

Chapter 4: ...you need to know the Question first

Chapter 5: (Un)Happy Reunion

Chapter 6: Playing Mind Games with Yourself is called Cheating

 **...**

* * *

 **...**

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **...**

Chapter 1: To bodly go where no Emperor has gone before

Chapter 2: Move your Feet, lose your Seat

Chapter 3: Going new Places, Meeting new Faces

Chapter 4: The Value of a Soul

Chapter 5: Fly me to the Moon...

Chapter 6: Men are from Aiur and Women are from Char

Chapter 7: What was fixed, can be broken again

Chapter 8: Girl Talk

Chapter 9: Super Smash Brothers (and Sisters)

Chapter 10: Dreaming of a Better Tomorrow

Chapter 11: Knock Knock

Chapter 12: Does our Insurance cover this?

Chapter 13: Field Trip

Chapter 14: Let no good Deed go unpunished

Chapter 15: How to make a Point

Chapter 16: The Best Part of the Job

 **...**

* * *

 **...**

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **...**

Chapter 1: There is no such Thing as Bad Publicity

Chapter 2: Taking a Trip down Memory Lane

Chapter 3: Haven't seen You in a While

Chapter 4: Hey there, Sexy, come here often?

Chapter 5: Men are like Wine - The older They get, the more They smell like Vinegar

Chapter 6: Nobody knows the Trouble I've seen...

Chapter 7: Playing Cupid

Chapter 8: It's Party Time!

Chapter 9: Bad People do Bad Things

Chapter 10: Almost like Cinderella

Chapter 11: Almost like Cinderella, only with Guns

Chapter 12: Party Crashers

Chapter 13: FUBAR

Chapter 14: Last Christmas I gave you my Heart...and my Liver...and my Spleen

Chapter 15: Crazy + Reckless = What could possibly go wrong?

Chapter 16: Biting off more than You can chew

Chapter 17: Divine Intervention

Chapter 18: To have Faith

Chapter 19: It's my Party, I can cry if I want to

Chapter 20: Afterparty

Chapter 21: Fancy meeting You here!

Chapter 22: Inception

Chapter 23: Looking into a Mirror

Chapter 24: You can't always get what You want...

Chapter 25: ...but if you try sometimes you might find you get what you need

Chapter 26: Eureka!

Chapter 27: Leading by Example

Chapter 28: Here's to Us!

Chapter 29: My Girl

Chapter 30: Farewell Blues

Chapter 31: That's what you get for leaving the Engine running

Chapter 32: See you Space Cowboy

 **...**

* * *

 **...**

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

...

Chapter 1: Public Relations

Chapter 2: Another Day in Paradise

Chapter 3: Adventure Time!

Chapter 4: Stowaway vs. Castaway

Chapter 5: The More, The Merrier

Chapter 6: If you ignore it, it might just go away

Chapter 7: The Calm before the Storm

Chapter 8: Going Nuclear

Chapter 9: We create our own worst Nightmares

Chapter 10: Some like it rough

Chapter 11: Innocence Lost

Chapter 12: When it rains, it pours

Chapter 13: Unlikely Allies

Chapter 14: Back in the Saddle

Chapter 15: Need for Speed

Chapter 16: Careful what you wish for

Chapter 17: Of Angels and Demons

Chapter 18: The Woman beneath

Chapter 19: Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse

Chapter 20: Tag Team

Chapter 21: Heroes to the Rescue!

Chapter 22: So close, yet so far

Chapter 23: Too good to be true

Chapter 24: Family

Chapter 25: A Moment of Peace

Chapter 26: The Worst Kind of Pain

Chapter 27: Hope

Chapter 28: A Second Chance

 **...**

* * *

 **...**

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **...**

Chapter 1: A Fresh Start

Chapter 2: Everything looks better in Purple

Chapter 3: Purple Rain

Chapter 4: Look who's come for Dinner...

Chapter 5: How Adults solve their Problems

Chapter 6: Sometimes it's just better to say Nothing

Chapter 7: No Scope Required

Chapter 8: Please keep your Hands inside the Vehicle at all Times

Chapter 9: Wildlife Endangers

Chapter 10: Helping Others means less Free Time for Yourself

Chapter 11: Oh no, not that Guy!

Chapter 12: So not Happy to see You

Chapter 13: If it's stupid and works, it ain't stupid

Chapter 14: Ghost of the Past

Chapter 15: Coming to Terms

Chapter 16: Acceptance

Chapter 17: The True Nature of Redemption

Chapter 18: The Birds and the Bees

Chapter 19: Loves conquers all

Chapter 20: Time sure flies if you're having fun

Chapter 21: The more Things change...

Chapter 22: ...the more They stay the Same

Chapter 23: Here comes the Bride

Chapter 24: Farewell Blues

Chapter 25: Going Home

Chapter 26: Home

Chapter 27: There's Always Something, isn't there?

Chapter 28: A New Beginning

Chapter 29: Circle of Life

Chapter 30: Family

Chapter 31: Putting the Pieces back together

 **...**

* * *

 **...**

 **Afterword & Epilogue**

 **1000 Years of Peace**

 **...**

Afterword

1000 Years of Peace: Part I

1000 Years of Peace: Part II

1000 Years of Peace: Part III

1000 Years of Peace: Part IV

 **...**

* * *

 **...**


	3. Prologue Chapter 1

**...**

* * *

 **Prologue**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Born from the Void**

* * *

Fiery cracks appeared on the surface of the dark entity known as Amon. Although he was aware of what was happening, he did not struggle or fight it. Maybe he knew that it was pointless. Or maybe it was fear that had paralyzed him. In the end, it didn't matter. As Sarah's raw energies flowed into his being and flooded his very existence with its power, it started to rip him apart from the inside, piece by piece. It wasn't unlike what she had done to Arcturus. Back then she had felt like a goddess, walking among mortals. Now she had become a goddess, one that was about to destroy another god. There was no scream of pain, no sign of terror or anger. There was nothing that hinted what Amon was truly thinking during his final moments. The last thing Sarah saw of him was how he disintegrated before her very eyes. Then she too felt how the destructive energies were starting to engulf her. She felt all that raw power falling back on her, the same power that had just destroyed the Fallen One. Now it was doing the same to her...

Perhaps it was better this way.

 _Go...Jim...go..._

With her last clear thought, she reached out to _him_ and embraced _him_ one final time with her mind before she finally started to fade away. She could sense _his_ pain, _his_ despair, and _his_ sadness. Deep down in his heart, he knew that this was the end of their shared journey. From now on, he wouldn't be able to follow her; to be her knight in shining armor. He had done so much for her, more than anyone else in her life. He had saved her from her own isolation and self-hatred, had protected her when pretty much everyone had wanted to see her dead. But that had been another life...and another Sarah.

He had been the only man to ever truly believe in her, even after everything she had done to him. All the others, like Matt and Valerian? They had just tolerated her. They had hated her, and for good reasons, considering what she had done in the past; Yet even after all of that, after everything she had put him and the others through, after death and destruction...his love for her was still shining so bright that it nearly blinded her. But, even though his love was warm and gentle, she no longer had any use for it. She was about to go to a place where he couldn't follow. He had done enough for her. It was time to finally set both of them free. She could feel how he tried to resist as she pushed him away from this place, back into the world where he came from...where he belonged. His presence started to fade away, becoming a tiny spot in the distance that was almost impossible to make out. He wasn't alone though...she could sense another presence.

Artanis.

The Protoss realized what was going on around them, he knew what this meant. Jim tried to fight it, yelled at her even though she was already too far gone. Artanis, unwilling to let another fellow warrior fall to the horrors of the Void, did the only right thing he could and he pulled Jim with him. As they vanished from Sarah's senses, she knew that they had safely returned to the other side. Good. It was better this way. Now she could finally let go. When both Jim and Artanis were gone, there was no longer any reason to keep the pathway to the Void open. The moment she started to pull at the passage, it started to collapse in itself. A last final ray of light entered through the hole in time and space before and then it was finally done.

She had done it...

She had saved them all...

The only price that had to be paid to achieve it was her very soul.

What a small price to pay.

Sarah could feel how her mind started to slip away. She closed her eyes and just allowed herself to float through the endless darkness that was the Void. So this was it. This would be her home from now on. This would be the place where she would spend the rest of eternity.

She knew that this was the right course of action, the best course of action. The only logical course of action. Yet, even though her mind told her that she had made the right decision, the little thing inside her chest told her that she had done the worst mistake of her life.

It didn't matter anymore. None of it would. There was nothing more to do. A single tear appeared in the corner of her eye and floated away into the nothingness of the Void. It looked like it was made out of pure gold and sparkled like a little star.

Yes, it was better this way.

It was a good end. Probably a better one then she deserved.

Now she only had to live with the consequences.

* * *

Light. There was light. It was everywhere, surrounding her entire being. A part of her mind was confused...shouldn't the Void be dark and cold? That's what the name implied, right? Yet it felt warm and nice and after what felt like a long time, she could feel how something in her mind started to grow restless. That's when she realized that her mind was the only thing she could feel. Her body! Her body was gone! She tried to open her eyes, only to realize that there were no eyes. It was like she had turned into thin air and was now floating on waves made out of pure light. All her memories, all her hopes, fears, and dreams faded away. They became pointless. The light removed everything until nothing but pure essence remained. This was it. Everything had become one with her. And she had become one with existence itself.

It was as if she was moving through a waterfall made out of lights, colors, and emotions.

She liked it. For the first time in her life, she felt truly at peace. No more fighting, no more killing. No more lies and pain. No more. She had fought the battles of others for so long, for nations that hadn't been hers; people that had hated her and for the ambitions and dreams of others. And what had it earned her? Nothing but more hatred. Now, those memories seemed just so ridiculous compared to what she had become. She had started her existence as a little girl with a special gift. _They_ had used that gift to turn her into a living weapon, a tool of destruction. _He_ had made good use of that tool until he had decided to throw her away like a broken gun. The _other one_ had recreated her, had turned her into something even more powerful...and the price had only been her very soul.

But now, she had no longer any of that. None of those memories, no soul, not even her humanity. All those memories, even the happy ones (and those were extremely rare), just seemed so insignificant when compared to what she was experiencing just in this moment alone.

Yet even as she could feel how her mind started to truly ascend, one particular memory began to emerge from all the others. She knew this memory, she was very fond of it. It made her smile...

* * *

"Let it go, Jim!" Sarah said with an annoyed tone in her voice. The former Marshall of Mar Sara looked at her with an utterly innocent look on his face, yet even someone with no psionic abilities could tell that he was up to something. Jim turned his head to the other side so she couldn't see the look on his face.

"I said: Let it go!" she repeated.

"You're not my boss, Darlin'!" he announced while looking around.

 _Darlin'...oh, that man is just so full of himself..._ she thought and snarled in anger and frustration. It was just their second mission together and he had already made her use his first name. She had tried to keep it cool and professional between the two of them. But after a while _, former_ Marshall James Raynor had just told her to "call 'em Jim!". Of course, she had refused, only for him to act like a three-year-old, pretending to not hear what she was saying to him until she would call him "Jim". This man possessed the unique talent to drive her, and _everyone_ around him, mad. Normally, it wasn't such a bright idea to be like this when dealing with a former assassin and ex-Ghost-operative, yet he didn't seem to care one bit about that. People usually were intimidated by the very fact that she was a Ghost. But not Jim. He didn't even seem to care about the fact that she was different.

She had to admit: That James Raynor was a strange fellow. Though their first encounter had been a weird and unpleasant one, they had worked it out eventually. After the mission on Antiga Prime and during a calm moment, he had even visited her in her bunk on the Hyperion and apologized to her.

He hadn't been the first guy to have dirty thoughts when looking at her. In a way, Sarah was used to that. Yet he had been the first man to truly admit that to her afterward and apologize for that. She had probed his mind, though only slightly. He lacked the disciplined mind Arcturus Mengsk possessed and his whole mind was one huge mess. Emotions, memories, plans, and whatnot were crashing into each other, colliding, falling apart, only to reappear moments later. She had never felt a mind more perplexing than his, except for people with extensive brain-damage.

Although she wasn't sure yet if she simply had overlooked that possibility...

James...Jim... _ugh_...he was not a bad man. But he wasn't a _great_ man either. She could see potential inside him, yet at the same time, he refused to be anything else but a good buddy on the battlefield. But a buddy on the battlefield was the last thing Sarah needed.

Arcturus Mengsk had realized that they would make a pretty good team, much to Sarah's initial chagrin. Going on a recon mission with this caveman on her back? Oh, joy! But she hadn't questioned Arcturus's orders. It was not her place to do so; she trusted his judgment...even if she didn't understand it.

This mission they were on had been on short notice. There were plenty of other things Sarah had to worry about, yet for some odd reason, Arcturus had told her and Jim to do a little recon. They had been on the road for hours now and were in dire need of a break. Well, Jim had decided that they were in dire need of a break. Riding for hours on his vulture bike had been uncomfortable, but Sarah was used to much worse. Sitting behind Jim all the time had been much more irritating. His carefree attitude was perplexing and highly annoying. The dropship had dropped them off a few hundred miles away from their target area in order to avoid detection. Traveling half a day just to get to the target was no big deal for Sarah. On some missions, she had walked through jungles for weeks before finally reaching her objective area. After _dealing_ with the target, it had taken another week to get to the extraction point. Of course, that had been during her times as a Confederate Ghost. Now her line of work was less about assassination and more about _regular_ commando-stuff. Good thing that the Confederation had taught her how to blow stuff up. She bet that they were really proud of themselves right about now, considering that she was about to blow up stuff that belonged to the Confederation.

Karma is a _bitch_.

The world they were on had a name, yet Sarah hadn't asked for that. It was Ramsaw, or Rimaliw, or Ramelow or something like that. She had imprinted all the details of the Confederate base into her brain. She knew every door, every hatch and the exact location of the sewers as well as how strong the garrison was. She had done her homework.

And Jim? Well, he had replaced the seat of his vulture-bike. Now they wouldn't "break their own asses" along the way. Wonderful. Simply wonderful.

A rusty fork would be more useful than this guy!

They had made slow progress. The terrain was rough and looking for a good path took way longer than initially thought. Sarah didn't like it. Jim's _good vibrations_ weren't helping one bit either. He was acting as if this wasn't a mission, but a road trip. They arrived at a small town, just a few clicks east of their target's location. When his vulture bike drove into town, Sarah could see figures behind the dark windows and she could sense mistrust and fear.

They arrived at a small farm that was roughly one kilometer away from the village and they were already greeted by a dark figure waiting for them. The person was rather small for a soldier. It waved its arms and Sarah put a hand on Jim's shoulder, pointing with the other one at the person. Jim gave her a thumbs up and followed the figure as it ran into the big barn next to the house. As the vulture vanished inside, the doors were closed behind them quickly.

It was dark inside the barn. The only light came from the two moons that shone through the dirty windows. Yet Sarah could see perfectly fine, thanks to her goggles. Now that the small figure was standing right in front of them, she had to frown.

"I know it's strange to drive around in the middle of the night." Sarah said while groaning on the inside.

"Not with a bike like that. It's awesome!" the young boy replied. This time Sarah groaned with her voice. It was the code that had been relayed to these people. And the text had been Jim's idea.

As both the ex-Marshall and the ex-Ghost got off the heavy vulture bike, Jim started to knock the dust from his clothes. He vanished in a small cloud of dirt before coughing out loud.

"Jeezus...and I thought Mar Sara was a goddamn ball of dust..." he said while stretching his body. Sarah shook her head when she heard that. She too was covered in dust from head to toe, but she saw no point and creating another cloud of dust. Besides, she would get much, _much_ dirtier tomorrow anyway. Sewers and garrisons usually meant shit and blood. She grabbed her rifle and looked down at the boy. He couldn't be older than twelve, he was still a kid. But war doesn't care if you're still a kid, so Sarah had little sympathy for him as she saw the fear in his eyes.

"You're not our contact..." she growled in a threatening tone in her voice. The mask she wore covered most of her face and gave her a presence even more menacing than was usual. Jim, on the other hand, had no better things to do than to take off his mask and throw his dust goggles on his bike before scratching his head.

"Easy, Sarah. He's just a kid. You don't have to shoot him because he hasn't reached puberty yet. That's not a crime out here." Sarah turned around and faced Jim head-on. He couldn't see how her eyes tried to murder him, but she knew that he could _feel_ her murderous intent. She made sure of that.

"Does "low profile and no names" ring a bell?" she snarled, yet all Jim did was to shrug his shoulders before turning towards the boy.

"So, where's old Hammond? We were supposed to meet him here." he asked the boy with a wide grin on his face. The boy seemed to relax a bit now that Jim showed him that they wouldn't kill him. Ugh...Sarah wasn't good with children. Old Hammond wasn't probably the real name of the owner of this farm. It was the most basic rule when running black ops: no names. But witnessing James Raynor in all of his glory and seeing this place, Sarah had her doubts that these people knew much about the fine details of secret operations.

"Confeds took old man Hammond yesterday, him and his whole family." the boy said with anger in his voice. "Wanted to stop 'em, but Daddy didn't allow it. Now they're gone." Jim and Sarah looked at each other. That wasn't good. So their contact had been arrested merely 24 hours before they had arrived? Neither Jim nor Sarah believed in such strange coincidences.

"Say, son..." Jim asked. "Does this happen often?" he wanted to know.

"Happens what?" the boy replied. Either he was slow, or a really bad actor.

"That the Confederation comes here and takes people with them." Jim said.

"Oh, yeah, happens all the time. They take people with them, sometimes only one, sometimes the whole family. My Daddy says that ol' Hammond said something stupid about the Confeds in the bar, but he didn't tell me what exactly. Told me I was too young to know such words..."

While the boy was talking, Sarah started to probe his mind. However, there wasn't much going on in that head. It was a boy on a farm on a backwater world at the ass end of the Koprulu Sector. The inside of his head was not very complicated. Yet now she knew what a _homegrown sludge-fis_ t was. It was something she could have gone without. Still, everything the boy said seemed to be true, so she gave Jim a quick nod. He saw it and looked down at the boy again.

"So, who are you then, little man?" Jim wanted to know, giving the boy a warm smile.

"I'm Tanner!" the boy replied truthfully and with a wide grin on his face. One of his front teeth was missing, yet it didn't seem due to lack of proper hygiene. Maybe he had fallen into a cow head first. Jim chuckled and knelt down in front of Tanner.

"That's a good name, kid. But why are you here? Who send you?" he wanted to know.

"My Daddy did!" When Sarah heard those words, she could feel how cold anger rushed through her whole body. That coward of a father had sent his twelve-year-old son to take them here? She already hated this place.

"Arrow..." she said, using Jim's code-name for this mission. He looked over his shoulder, up to her and then he sighed.

"Yeah, you're right." He looked back to the boy. "Tell your Pops that we're grateful. And now you should go back to your family. Can you do that?" The boy nodded with big eyes. "Good...make sure no one sees you. Now go, your Pops is pretty worried, I bet." He sent the boy off, making sure that the little figure vanished into the darkness without any more problems. As he vanished from Jim's sight, the former Marshall sighed. Sensing no other presence in the area, Sarah finally relaxed a bit and took her mask off.

"What a coward, sending his little son to do this for him. I can smell their fear even from here." Sarah said, her facial expression turning sour. Jim turned around and looked at her with an unreadable expression. But she could sense his anger.

"What?" she wanted to know. She could probe his mind, but she didn't want to see the both of them doing having sex on the back of his vulture bike again. Because that had been the thing he had thought about her when they had met for the first time.

"You're wrong about that. Tanner's father, I mean..." Jim said quietly. Sarah crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at him with an arrogant expression on her face.

"Oh, really?" she asked. "A grown up man sends his little son to deal with two deadly, well, one deadly operative and some other _guy_. You wouldn't call that an act of cowardice?" she wanted to know. Jim looked at her for a while before shaking his head.

"I'd say it's pretty damn brave. And that he has a lot of trust and faith in his little man." Those words irritated Sarah even more. It was like Jim tried to hide a greater truth from her. But she couldn't imagine any reason that was good enough to do something like that.

"So tell me: Why is so brave to send a boy doing a man's job?" Sarah wanted to know. Jim took his sweet time before giving her an answer.

"These people have suffered under the Confederation for all of their lives. They have lost friends, families, lovers, and sometimes even children. They've risked everything to help us. The Confeds...they have their spies everywhere. Sometimes your best friend works for them, selling you out when you least expect it. If Tanner's old man had come here, people would have gotten suspicious. But a little kid playing in an abandoned house during the night? The neighbors will hear how his father will scold him for doing that. That way, if the Confed's do show up, no one will accuse his family of treason. That's the theory, anyway." Jim sighed. Sarah didn't say anything. To her, it was hard to believe that these dirt farmers would come up with such an elaborated plan. Jim saw the skeptical look on her face.

"You don't believe me? Fine by me. But the fact remains that this man sent his little boy out here because he believed in him. And trust me, a father will always be scared for his child." Suddenly Jim's whole mind was filled with darkness. It hit Sarah with full might and she swallowed hard. Truth to be told, she didn't know much about James Raynor. But she had read his file and noted it said he once had a family. But now there were no living relatives, so that meant...

"Still..." she said. "...what makes you so sure that it's just like you said? There are so many other explanations for that kind of behavior." A sad smile appeared on Jim's face when he heard her doubts.

"Because it's not the first time I've seen something like this. It's always the same story. Different world and people, but same story." He sighed one more time before he looked around.

"Well, since ol' Hammond is out of town, I'm pretty sure that he won't mind if we crash his place. Maybe there's something to bite..." he said before walking towards the door and vanishing outside. Sarah could hear how he walked towards the house close to the barn and gritted her teeth in anger and frustration. Did he try to blow their cover on purpose? She should just stay here inside the barn and wait for him to return return. But then she realized that Jim could get lost on the way to the house and that she was still in charge of the mission. She would so never work with this man again. Yet, at the same time, something felt strange. Sarah hadn't said anything, but the feeling of sadness inside Jim's mind was still lingering inside her own head. And so she just decided to follow him, if only to make sure that he wouldn't ruin their mission by accident.

Jim used some gentle force to gain access to the house and when Sarah stepped inside, she could hear how he whistled. Obviously, he was impressed. Well, now she knew that it didn't take much to impress James Raynor.

The main house was surprisingly comfortable. The Confeds hadn't trashed the place, so Jim hoped that this meant that Hammond and his family would return to their home soon. The two couldn't turn on the lights; they still had to keep a low profile. But there was a small woodstove in the living room. Jim didn't waste any time and fired it up. Sarah didn't even get the chance to protest. Once the fire was burning, Jim decided to check out the rest of the house, leaving the Ghost behind.

Sarah had performed many covert operations, but right now she felt truly out of place. After a while, she decided to sit down in order to save her strength. Well, this was a first. She had never sat in front of a woodstove while enjoying a warm fire. It was... _strange_. She grabbed a blanket that was lying on the couch next to her and put it around her shoulders.

"Man, they even got some beer. I'm sure they won't mind if I take one...or two...or all of 'em..." Jim said when he returned and threw himself into the large armchair next to the woodstove "Hey, this thing is really comfortable! I totally need one of those." Sarah wondered if he ever shut up. She pulled the blanket tighter around her body. There was a couch standing right next to her, but she preferred to sit on the hard floor. All of this, this entire place, it just seemed too normal for her. She felt like an intruder, as if she didn't belong here. This was the home of normal folks; their lives were completely different from hers. There were no points of contact whatsoever and she didn't want to attach herself to any of this because, in the end, she would never have something like that. And until now she had never had any problems with that...

Sarah didn't really know how the whole conversation had started. Jim had offered her a beer or something like that. He continued to bother her with questions about her favorite food and he didn't believe her when she told him that she had no such thing.

"Everyone has a favorite food! It's physically impossible to have no favorite food!" he said while drinking another beer. He sure could down those things in one go...

"Well, I don't have a favorite food." she replied. Even now, she still had plenty of her energy-bars. They were specially made for Ghost operatives like her and contained a lot of energy, proteins, and vitamins in order to keep her brain working at peak conditions. Jim had once tried one of them. According to him, they "tasted like ass", which was greatly exaggerated. They simply tasted of nothing. Those bars and clear water were the only things she needed during a mission.

"Bullshit! There must be some things you like. Birthday-cakes for example! Hey, everyone loves those!" he said and chuckled. Sarah's mood turned sour at those words. _Birthday-cake..._ she thought bitterly.

"I've never had a birthday-cake..." she just said. That was, of course, a lie. At least, she thought so. She couldn't really remember. Just like so many other memories of her childhood, her birthdays were lost under all that pain and despair. She tried to keep those memories away from herself because she always ended up seeing a dead woman in a purple dress, her head split open. It was not something most people would like to remember, even top-of-the-line Ghosts. She hoped that her words would silence Jim.

By now, she should have realized that this guy was relentless...

"PFFFFFFF..." he spluttered his beer all over himself, only to almost choke on it. While coughing like crazy, he got up to his feet and shook his head.

"This cannot stand!" he declared before he turned around and marched straight into the kitchen. Sarah looked at him with a frown on her face.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded to know. He looked over his shoulder and smiled like an idiot.

"Making you a birthday-cake!" And for the first time since, Sarah didn't even know since when, she was speechless.

"Let it go, Jim!" Sarah said with an annoyed tone in her voice. The former Marshall of Mar Sara looked at her with an utterly innocent look on his face. Even someone with no psionic abilities knew that he was up to something. Jim turned his head away so she couldn't see the look on his face.

"I said: Let it go!" she repeated.

"You're not my boss, Darlin'!" he told her while looking for the right ingredients.

"Actually, Arcturus put me in charge, so yeah: I'm your boss. And I tell you to drop that idea right now!" she threw at him in frustration. However, he didn't even slow down when leaving the living-room and going to the kitchen. "Jim, don't!" she yelled at him. But that stubborn mule did not listen to her. So she remained behind, sitting in front the woodstove. She could have jumped to her feet, run after him and then...

Then what? Punch him in the face? She certainly felt like doing so. That idiot and his go-easy-mentality was starting to drive her mad!

"You can't make a cake in the darkness!" she yelled at him, but the only thing she heard was the clatter of pots and pans. Was he really...? No, he couldn't be serious. Well, she wouldn't go after him. Just let him do what he wanted to do, at least that way she wouldn't have to listen to his endless and boring stories. She focused her attention on the woodstove and watched the fire as it consumed the pieces of wood. From time to time she had to put another piece into the stove to keep the fire alive. She pulled the blanket tighter around her own body. Even though she wasn't cold, she felt a shiver running down her spine. She hated moments like these. There was no immediate danger, no battle to be fought. If there was nothing to do, thoughts started to wander. And in her case, those thoughts were rarely pleasant. But as she heard Jim working in the kitchen, she couldn't stop to think about this idiot.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise when something fell to the ground, followed by the most colorful curse she had ever heard. At least Jim's knowledge of profanities was way above anything ordinary. She sighed before she decided to check on him. She didn't want to return to the Hyperion to report that James Raynor had cracked his own skull open by accident because he had tried to make a birthday cake for her.

As she headed for the kitchen, she suddenly smelled something. She blinked in surprise as she realized it was the smell of a fresh cake. Wait, had he actually...?

Jim looked over his shoulder when Sarah entered the kitchen. Even in the dim light, she could see the stupid smile on his face.

"Hey, no peeking. It's not done yet anyway!" he said. He was right, the cake was still in the oven. But the smell was already _intoxicating_. She swallowed hard and suddenly her belly started to make rumble and her mouth began to water. She put her hands on her stomach and cursed the whole situation. This was just too embarrassing. If Jim had noticed her loud belly, he did not show it. Instead, he looked at the oven.

"They had most ingredients here; flour, eggs, milk, water, but sadly no chocolate. How can you make a birthday cake without chocolate?" he sighed. "Well, let's just call it a preliminary birthday cake, hm?" he said and looked over to Sarah.

"I said I don't want a cake." she told him.

"I think your exact words were: "Let it go", not "I don't want a cake", Darlin'." he replied while looking at the oven. Something was odd, though. There was less sadness inside him now than before and it had been replaced by...happiness? It was like he was thinking about an old memory. Sarah knew that feeling; she had felt it many times inside other peoples' minds. Her own memories weren't exactly nice, so she saw no point in reminiscing in the past. To Sarah, nostalgia was another word for nightmares.

It was only much later that she understood what this moment had meant to Jim. After they had ended up in bed together, he had told her about his family. His dead family...

Once, there had been a blackout during Johnny's birthday, Jim's deceased son. He and his little son had played outside the entire day. When they had returned, his wife Lydia was making a Chocolate cake. They ate it in total darkness while laughing and making fun of each other. It was one of Jim's happiest memories.

But Sarah didn't know that yet.

"It's almost midnight. We want to reach the base before dawn so I can infiltrate the sewer-system. Just leave the cake where it is and get ready. I'll be waiting in the barn." With those words, she turned around and left. As she walked off, she could sense his emotions. To her surprise, he wasn't angry. No, it felt like he pitied her. That was even worse.

It was cold inside the barn, but she refused to return to the house. As she leaned against the vulture bike, she bit off a piece of her energy bar and started to chew on it. Well, Jim was right about one thing: Those things did taste like ass. But it kept her on her feet and she had her doubts that any _birthday cake_ would achieve the same effect.

It took Jim at least another hour before he finally showed up. By that time Sarah was already ready to head out. Yet as she turned around to ask him if they could move out, she suddenly stopped.

"There you are. Can we finally move out now...what is _that_?!" she asked in disbelief when Jim entered the room, a plate with a cake on in his hands. But that wasn't everything. There was a candle on the cake.

"What. Is. That?" she repeated her question. Jim smiled at her like the doofus he was.

"I know it's probably not your birthday today, but I promised you a birthday cake, didn't I?" he said and laughed like an idiot. Did he really think that this was funny? "And truth be told: I don't even know how many candles I should put on it. But I know that you should never ask a lady for her age. I hope it's okay."

Sarah had no idea how to respond to that. Ever since she had _joined_ the Ghost-project, no one had offered her a cake. It was hard to accept. She could feel how her emotions started to get out of control. What was he after? Was he trying to get into her pants? She decided to probe his mind, only the surface though. But there was no ill intent, no malicious thought inside that empty skull. No one had shown her such a basic human gesture of affection since Arcturus had saved her. But even then, in its core, her relationship with Arcturus was still a professional one.

And then Jim Raynor had happened.

"Here, have a bite. It's still warm." he told. She opened her mouth, ready to tell him to shove that cake up his, well, never mind. But then her belly grumbled again. Treacherous thing. The grin on his face became even wider, and so did the urge to punch him.

"You won't let it rest until I try, will you?" she growled and Jim nodded. With a sigh, she finally relented and grabbed a piece of cake. She didn't want to admit it, but the smell alone was enough to make her mouth water. She held it in front of her face and took a short sniff. Then she bit off a part and started to chew...

...only to spit it out a moment later.

Without saying another word, she turned around and climbed on the vulture bike. Jim looked at her, then at the cake on the floor. He opened his mouth, but then he decided to say nothing. He sighed again before he put the cake on a shelf next to him. Sarah could sense his sadness again. It nearly made her choke. The truth was that this cake had been the most delicious thing she had eaten since, well, she couldn't even remember. The instant she had tasted it, she wanted to eat the whole damn cake, even if it would cause her belly to ache. She had no idea how Jim had made such a delicious cake, yet at the same time, she didn't want to know. This was all wrong. She couldn't allow herself to be weak. Jim was a fool. He probably just wanted to have sex with her anyway and tried to prove to her that he was a good guy, one that she could trust.

Too bad that she wasn't looking for a boyfriend.

As he climbed on his vulture-bike, she was ready to face his chagrin. But when he started the engine, the only thing he did was to look over his shoulders and into her eyes. There was a gentle smile on his face.

"Yeah, without chocolate, it's just not the real deal. Wait till we're back on the Hyperion, then I'm going to show you the good stuff!"

Sarah opened her mouth, but she had no idea how to reply to that. Being so close to Jim suddenly felt very uncomfortable. She could still sense his sadness, but now she realized that he wasn't sad because she hadn't liked his cake. He was sorry for her because she refused to enjoy even the simplest pleasures.

Maybe...she had misjudged this man.

* * *

A single tear rolled down her cheek. At least, Sarah thought so. She couldn't really tell since everything around her started to dissolve. Yet, this memory remained. It was odd. She could feel how her heart ached at that memory, but she had been a different person back then. She had been the cold and ruthless killer the Confederation had turned her into. Suddenly, it all came back to her. Seeing Jim's sad face, realizing that she hadn't hurt him but instead, that he was sad _for her_ and her inability to react like normal human being.

That cake had been delicious.

Sadly, she had never gotten her chocolate birthday cake afterward...

No, this had to stop! Nostalgia was a pointless concept for her now. She couldn't allow these memories to cloud her judgment anymore. Yes, Jim had done so much for her, but this life was over and a new one waited for her. Where she went, he couldn't follow. Dragging those memories with her would only turn into a problem sooner or later. She was on the path to godhood; there was no room for these parts of her existence anymore.

She turned herself away from those memories, banished them deep into the back of her mind. However, it was only a temporary solution. Once she knew how, she would purge them from her own mind for good. How could she truly ascend if such profane things like the memories of a human, no, a killer would remain part of her?

She sighed when she started to open her mind, allowing the universe to flow into her. It was like her mind was expanding, merging with the fabric of time and space itself. She could see everything, and at the same time, she understood most of it. Things that no human _or_ Zerg could understand. Even the mighty Overmind wouldn't have been able to understand any of this, nor all the Protoss even if they were still connected to the now defunct Khala. They couldn't see what she saw, what she felt.

What she felt was creation itself.

She could hear the universe speaking to her. The humming of every star echoed inside her mind. She could feel the dark matter dancing on her skin and felt how time bend around her body. This whole universe appeared as one organism, one entity right in front of her eyes. But not just this universe. There were others as well, echoes from the ones that had come before this one and whispers from the ones who still waited to come into existence. The oldest question of mankind lay right in front of her. Who are we? Where do we come from? And where do we go once everything is over?

She finally knew the answers to those questions.

However, words were not enough to describe it. A human mind was simply not able to comprehend any of this. But she was no longer human. It was another reason why she had to move on, ignoring her aching heart. As her physical shape started to fall apart into its base particles, she could feel how her mind became one with the light and she embraced it with joy. No more pain. No more doubts. No more fear. She was finally free _..._

 _Still owe you a chocolate birthday cake, Darlin'_...

Warm. His voice was warm. It had always been warm, even though she hadn't realized it in the beginning. Something remained inside her heart; a feeling. Everything else was nearly gone, but this very feeling stayed with her, not fading away one bit. She tried to ignore it, believing that it would vanish sooner or later. But it proved to be resilient. So she stopped and decided to inspect it so she could get rid of it. As she looked at her own emotion, she could see the outlines of her own psyche. It was impressive. She could see all the parts of her mind, including the memories that connected everything. It was an enormous net, bigger than that of any other Human or Protoss. There was no room for false modesty: Her mind was unique. It contained her own being but had also controlled the mighty Zerg Swarm for many years. But, even now, one emotion remained behind, refusing to yield.

Regret...

But it was over. It was time to let go and fully embrace what she had become. Determined to walk down this new path, she grabbed that special part of her psyche and, as it continued to defy her, she simply ripped it out of her own mind. Suddenly, she could feel how all the weight resting on her heart started to disappear. She sighed, realizing that she should have done that much, much sooner. As her humanity started to fade away, Sarah Louise Kerrigan smiled one last time while thinking of the man she had loved, before her mind finally started to dissolve so it could accept all the knowledge that lay before her.

"Goodbye...Jim..."

Then she was gone.


	4. Prologue Chapter 2

**...**

* * *

 **Prologue**

 **Chapter 2**

 **From Beyond the Void**

* * *

The Void wasn't her home. Something was wrong, something was different about her. For some odd reason, it rejected her. It didn't happen at once and it wasn't a violent reaction. It was slow and steady, yet it treated her like a foreign body that was getting evicted from an organism.

As the being that had once been known as Sarah Kerrigan floated through space, she no longer possessed any sense of time. Not because she had forgotten what time was or how it felt like, but because the perception of time as a human being, or even a zerg, were completely different from what she was experiencing right now.

As a human, she had considered time as something strictly physical. There was the past, present, and future. Actions had been done, were performed or she would prepare for them. Age was also a concept, but to her it had never truly been an issue. She had never felt the burden of growing old, when the bones would start to ache and the muscles would no longer regenerate as fast as they used to. She had been in her physical prime when the Swarm had claimed her. Most people reached the peak of their physical strength around their thirties, some truly exceptional individuals managed to keep this level until they reached their forties. Sarah had been twenty-six when they had infested her. Because of that, she didn't know what old age meant.

Other humans thought about the future with fear. Most had good reasons for doing so, especially when living under the constant threat of a violent death. Yet, some looked with a smile into the future, thinking of the joys and adventures that waited for them. There was a term for people like that. They were called optimists. Like Jim.

She could feel how that thought annoyed her. Hadn't she dealt with that pesky emotion before?

Apparently not, as her emotions towards him seemed to be still embedded in her psyche, and it was starting to become bothersome. Maybe, if she could move forward, those memories and feelings would finally fade away. Yes, that was a good idea. Let the universe wash everything away. She would be like a mountain that is getting washed away by the sea eventually.

Why only human memories anyway? Her time as a human being hadn't been the most successful anyway. The Zerg had a different approach to time. There were only two times: When you fight and when you don't. And if you don't fight, you prepare for a fight. It was far easier to purge these memories from her mind. Or at least banish them into the darkest corners of her psyche. And so she decided to move forward, to eradicate everything the old Sarah Kerrigan had been by becoming one with the universe itself.

It might be extreme, perhaps, but it was necessary A god couldn't think, act and feel like a mortal being. The abilities to love, to hate, to cry and to be afraid were useless to her. No, they even were dangerous to her. As long as they remained a part of her mind, she would always make poor decisions.

She didn't care for the Xel'Naga's Infinite Cycle, that much was true. Though to be perfectly honest, she did not know the exact details of the Cycle anyway, but she didn't care much about it either. Their power was now hers, her will the embodiment of their whole existence. She had become life and death itself, transcending through time and space. She was the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.

Yeah, you guessed right. She had totally lost it.

There was a small part in her mind that questioned those thoughts. If the Xel'Naga had been so great, why were they all dead now? What about Amon? He hadn't been exactly the most tranquil being in the history of existence, now had he? Unfortunately, it was the very same part of her mind she had decided to cut or at least block out, so she didn't bother dealing with those questions. She felt like she was above such trivial things.

Instead, she marched forward, figuratively speaking. She was trying to leave her old self so far behind that she would outrun the numb pain in her heart as well. And at times it felt as if she was finally able to win this race.

When her mind merged with time and space, her personality ceased to exist. Or at least it felt like that. You could compare it to a drop of ink that falls into a glass of water. Only that the drop of ink was her consciousness. And that the glass of water was bigger than all the oceans of Ancient Earth combined.

Try to recreate this image in your head. A drop of ink, falling into the Pacific Ocean. She had never been to Earth or learned anything about it. She only knew that it was the birth place of a stubborn little species of mammals. They were strange creatures, they lacked the strength and determination of the Protoss yet, at the same time, weren't as ferocious or focused as the Zerg. They were unwilling to give up in the face of total annihilation, yet there was no force in the universe that could unite them. They were caught in an eternal conflict with themselves, yet they called this weakness their greatest strength. It was laughably pathetic.

They were doomed, but they refused to accept that.

Yet, as that drop of ink fell into that ocean, it did not cease to exist. It dissolved, yes. Every molecule was swept away into a different location. Some fragments ended up in the Atlantic, others made it even further. Some evaporated and became rain that fell down onto the tip of a mountain, only to freeze and stay inside the ice for centuries, where it was thought to be lost forever.

But those particles weren't lost. No, they were far from that. Instead of being lost, they watched. They watched and learned. They saw everything at the same time from different perspectives. And during all that time, they never truly lost their connection to each other.

Only that we aren't talking about ink, but Sarah's consciousness. And that it was not Ancient Earth, but the entire galaxy her mind was currently covering. Even for a godlike being, that was quite a lot of ground to cover. Seeing all of this was almost too much. With her mind scrambled all over the Milky Way, all she could do was to see and receive information, but nothing more. She witnessed how stars were born and died. Some just flickered one final time before they expired and became white dwarfs. Others went out with a mighty bang, how they shattered everything around them and turned into all-consuming black holes.

Every second, dozens of stars wiped out life across the galaxy. And at the same time, new stars were born, new worlds came into existence and new life appeared. The sheer number was too much for a mere human mind to comprehend. It was during that time that the questions started no nag her even harder. Darn it, was there no end to this? But with her mind scrambled all over the galaxy, she lacked the strength to push them further into the back of her mind. Suddenly those questions were very loud and very clear.

Amon's reign of terror had only affected most of the Koprulu Sector and the surrounding systems. But those had been just a few sectors; hundreds, maybe thousands of systems. But it was nothing when compared to the total number of far more than 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, let alone all the other countless galaxies out there. Why was she staying here, in the Koprulu Sector? Why not venture out there to all the galaxies that were just waiting for her to discover them? Had the Xel'Naga not ruled the entire universe? Hadn't they been responsible for all of creation? If so, why could she only see the Milky Way? The nagging voice in the back of her head kept asking that question over and over again, yet she couldn't find any adequate answer to that.

She tried to expand her mind even further, proving the voice inside her mind wrong by stretching her own psyche over the entire universe. But no matter how hard she tried, it wasn't possible for her to do so. It felt like there was some sort of wall blocking her senses, something that prevented her from ascending even further.

It had to be her lingering humanity. She couldn't think of any other reason. She was so close, so very close to overcoming the very last border, the final frontier. She could feel it; she knew it was the truth. Yet the voice in the back of her mind didn't seem to care about that one bit.

The questions didn't stop to bother those Sarah-particles. Watching the galaxy was simply not enough as it didn't answer any of those questions...or how the Xel'Naga had made sure that the cycle continued, or what lied beyond the boundaries of the Milky Way.

So after seeing countless worlds, stars, and systems, the basic Sarah-particles started to, well, vibrate as they began to pull together. The questions in her mind started to become even louder, it was like waves crashing against a cliff. The noise started to choke every single one of her thoughts. Unable to continue like this, she decided to take drastic measures. And as she pulled herself together, the drop of ink started to become whole again. But even then, it took time before that what could be considered Sarah Kerrigan's consciousness returned into existence.

Returning to the physical realm proved to be difficult. She still felt confused. This wasn't the Void anymore; this was the universe she had been born into. A weak voice in the back of her mind told her that this was the place she was supposed to be because this was her home. How long had she been gone? She didn't know. The concept of time had long since faded away from her mind, yet when she saw the all too familiar stars of the Koprulu Sector, she felt relieved that not even one human life time had passed, only to remember that these useless sentiments were exactly the things that kept her bound to this place. Of that she was certain.

It was hard to accept, but she sought answers that her newfound godhood couldn't provide her with. Luckily there was one place where she would find her answers...hopefully.

A surprise waited for her consciousness once she had pulled herself back together: Her body wasn't gone, not really. It was still there, floating between the stars amidst the endless blackness. How had it ended up here? How had it returned from the Void? It was another question that she couldn't answer, but it was her body, there was no doubt about it. Maybe the Void had decided that she didn't belong there. That, even after everything that had happened, this universe was still the place where she was supposed to be. It was a nice sentiment. No spaceship or psionic being could have found her floating body. It was just a black, lifeless body, as if it was made out of onyx.

 _Still damn pretty if you ask me_...his voice still lingered in the back of her mind. He would probably be happy to see that she hadn't turned into a gigantic floating bloated sack of flesh covered with tentacles. No, the body still resembled that of a human being. Apparently, the essence of that ancient Xel'Naga had not turned her into one of Ouros kind, but had triggered her own evolution and turned her into a completely new life form.

She could have sworn that her body had stopped to exist altogether. She had _felt_ how her body had fallen apart, how it had dissolved into its base particles. It was highly unnerving since it meant that what she felt wasn't necessarily the truth, that she couldn't trust her senses anymore. Maybe there was more to this whole godhood thing than she had initially thought...

As her mind slipped back into her body, it came to life again. Its energies were reignited and suddenly there was a bright flash of golden light in the darkness. Scientists would later be puzzled at the sudden outburst of energy that would reach their instruments thousands of years later. The energy equal to the birth of a star, only that there was no star around.

Her appearance hadn't changed since she had ascended. The flaming being resembled a human woman, fiery wings sprouting from her back just where her blade-wings had been. As she stretched her limbs, she felt something. It felt...good?

No, that wasn't it. She felt something, yes. That alone was enough to make her question herself even harder. Apparently, she hadn't transcended entirely. Or was this body holding her down as well? Were her human memories and emotions part of this physical shape? Maybe she could rid herself of those parts of her psyche by destroying this body, leaving any physical form behind for good. Questions started to nag at her mind. Even though she had seen the universe from a unique perspective, she did not understand everything. It was _frustrating_.

Her fiery body set itself into motion, moving through the blackness of space faster than the speed of light. Her powers enabled her to bend the rules of physics at her will. It was time to find answers in order to deal with that problem. While traveling between the stars, she passed by a large sun that had already reached the end of its life cycle. It was an enormous star, hundreds of times bigger than Sol. She stopped for a moment and decided to take a closer look. As she floated only a couple of thousand kilometers above the raging inferno that was the star's surface, she enjoyed the feeling of the hot plasma dancing over the surface of her skin. Maybe a physical body wasn't so bad after all. This certainly took "sunbathing" to a whole new level.

Yet the nagging questions continued to bother her: Why would she need the ability to feel the energy of a star on her skin anyway? Shouldn't a godlike being be free of such ordinary pleasures? Shouldn't she be above these things?

As she averted her gaze, she could sense a nearby planet. There was life on this world and she could sense something else. Sentient beings lived on the world. Sarah didn't really know why she decided to take a closer look. The inhabitants of this world were primitive creatures. Yet for some odd reason, she just felt like she should seek them out...

* * *

The chief was tired. He was old and had seen over forty winters, which was impressive for his species and the fact that they were still on the same technological level as caveman. Only they resembled cavebats, at least their upper bodies. By human standards they were hideous, yet no human had ever set foot on this world. It was very unlikely that any human would ever stumble upon this little purple planet at the ass end of the Milky Way. Purple, because both the oceans and the plant life on this world shared the same color.

Yet the chief didn't even possess the ability to see colors, just like all males and females of his kind alike. Only their young ones possessed that ability, but everyone lost it once he or she reached adulthood. On this world, it was far more important to hear than to see. Yet children were always children and many didn't listen to what their elders told them, especially when they told them to not trust their five eyes but their two enormous, bat-like ears.

The chief hurried down the trail from their little settlement to the river. They were wanderers, hunter-gatherers that followed the large herds of herbivores during the summertime and spent the cold winters near the hot springs at the feet of the Throne of the Gods.

That was the name their ancestors had given to the impressive mountain range. Of course he remembered the songs and legends his old teachers had taught him. Like any future chief, he had learned from the tribe's shaman about their past and the battle of the gods and how their death had created this world.

The core of their belief was that the gods had fought an ancient evil. By sacrificing themselves, they had sealed the dark creature below the earth and used their own bodies to form a prison. Those bodies were the soil he and everyone else walked on, and the water that filled the rivers and oceans had been the blood of their gods. And it was a good explanation for the everyday volcanism that was going on on this world. Every time a volcano exploded, it was because the Dark One was angry and tried to break free. Prayers to the gods and sacrificing a hunted animal was usually enough to calm the Dark One.

The chief had never questioned those beliefs. It was neither his place nor his time to do so. His species had only discovered how to use fire a few thousand years ago and their weapons were still just pointy sticks. It had taken humanity several thousand years to invent swords and bows. These cavebats still had plenty of time. Or so they believed.

In his forty winters, the chief had seen his fair share of tragedies. Sometimes he just wanted to be left alone, but the duty of a chief never ended. When the second-born of his brother had stormed into his tent and told him that the river was about to swallow three children, he hadn't hesitated even one second. Getting on his four stumpy feet, he had left his tent and hurried down the trail to the riverbed. He knew the river well. His tribe settled here every winter, even before his grandfather had been born. But in the last few years, things had started to change. The summers had always been short and the winters long and hard. They had lost many children during that time, including two of his own. But in recent years, the summers had started to last longer and the winters weren't as cold and brutal as they used to be.

Now, of course _, global warming_ was not exactly a concept he was familiar with. To him and all the others, it was just a benevolent act of their gods.

As he hurried down the trail, the chief could already hear the cries and sobbing of the females. At least to him, it sounded like cries and sobbing, any human would have only heard a strange, screeching sound. Even a Zerg broodmother would have called this sound annoying.

One of the side effects of the changing weather was that the river near their settlement could suddenly turn into a deadly torrent, drowning everything and everyone that was stupid enough to get too close. He had told his people at least one thousand times that they should stay away from the river during those times.

Apparently, it was time for another lecture.

Well, at least these creatures knew what frustration felt like. So at least they had something in common with most other intelligent lifeforms out there.

When he finally reached the river, he saw the whole tragedy before his own eyes, all five of them. It was not as bad as it could have been, but it wasn't good either. The good news was that the three young were still alive, although their cries were heartbreaking. The bad news was that they were stuck on a rock that was barely large enough for all three of them to stand on. How they had managed to get on that rock was beyond him.

The two mothers that stood at the edge of the river were screaming and crying and the three males with them had a hard time keeping them from just jumping into the raging waters. The chief knew that such a gesture would only end in their deaths, but he couldn't blame them. A mother's love did not care for such things as a raging river.

" _HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?"_ he demanded to know. Two other men of his tribe that had accompanied him hurried over to their comrades and immediately started to help the other three to pull the mothers back from the river. One of them turned around, his white fur covered in mud.

" _THE LITTLE ONES TRIED TO CROSS THE RIVER BECAUSE THEY SAW A BINEK ON THE OTHER SIDE."_ A binek was a small, rodent-like creature. Children loved them because they were harmless and cute, the perfect pet. It was not the first time that a child had done something reckless because he or she had wanted to have a binek of their own.

" _ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT THEY WENT INTO THAT CURRENT?"_ the Chief wanted to know both in anger and disbelief. The other man shook his bat-like head.

" _NO, THEY TRIED TO CROSS THE STREAM FURTHER UP. IT APPEARED HARMLESS TO THEM UP THERE."_ the hunter replied. The chief clenched his three-fingered hands into a fist. Fools! He had told them so many times that the river might look calm, but the true danger was beneath the surface.

" _WERE THERE ANY OTHER YOUNG ONES?"_ he asked. The hunter shook his head. Well, at least the situation was not _completely_ hopeless. The chief looked around. There was no way for them to reach the children without risking their own lives. As a father, he felt the urge to throw himself into the water and swim right over to them. But he felt the age of his bones. Even a young hunter of half his age couldn't go up against these currents. And as a chief, he knew that sometimes the survival of the tribe meant to let others die. But those were children, the very future of their tribe, and he wouldn't just stand here and watch how they would be drowned by the waters. The Goddess of the Sea was angry, that much was for certain. If only the God of the Sky would come to their aid or even the mighty Rock Worm. For a second he even considered calling upon the Breath of Fire, the Dark One that rested deep under the surface of their world. But that was, of course, a stupid idea, the great Bird of Fire would never help them for he was the devourer of life itself.

The chief looked at the river. The riverbed wasn't very deep. The water would only reach up to a hunter's chest. But the stream was so fast and powerful that it would wash everyone away that tried to cross the river. It was too much for one to do. But if the whole tribe would work together, then...

The chief turned towards another hunter.

 _"RETURN TO THE CAMP, BRING ALL HUNTERS HERE AND ALL WHO ARE STRONG. HURRY!"_ he ordered and the hunter only nodded before he ran back to their settlement. Though running was the wrong word. With their four, stump-like legs these creatures weren't exactly fast runners. Even compared to a human their speed was pathetic. While the hunter went to get more help, the chief turned back towards the children. The rock they were holding on to was wet and slippery and the water was ice-cold. Their thick fur wouldn't protect them for much longer from the cold. The screams and shouts of the mothers started to get on his nerves and he yelled at them to shut up. But they chose to ignore his order.

" _WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?"_ one of the hunters asked scared. " _WE CAN'T LEAVE THE_ _LITTLE ONES BEHIND!"_

" _WE WAIT FOR THE OTHERS, THEN WE'LL TRY TO FORM A LIVING BRIDGE. THEY'RE NOT FAR AWAY, MAYBE WE CAN SAVE THEM THAT WAY."_ But even then it was risky. The chief inside of him knew that he couldn't risk losing a good hunter. But they were children, for crying out loud! Couldn't the Gods show them any mercy this day?

Apparently, he wasn't the only one who wondered where the gods were right now.

" _OH GREAT DEVOURER, FLAMING BIRD OF DESTRUCTION, PLEASE HEAR ME!"_ one of the mothers cried out in despair. He didn't know that she had prayed to all other gods before. " _I PROMISE TO HONOR YOUR NAME FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE IF YOU SAVE MY CHILD!"_ That was the last straw. The chief turned around and yelled at the hunters in anger.

" _GET HER OUT OF MY SIGHT! THE LAST THING WE NEED NOW IS THE GODS GETTING ANGRY AT US!"_ he chirped in his strange tongue. Personally, he didn't care if she decided to pray to the Dark One. There were other tribes who did so. To them, he was less an evil god and more like a force of nature, a part of life if you wish. Yet the shaman would definitely tell him to ban this woman from their tribe afterward. And even though he was the chief, he couldn't decide everything by himself. This would cause him some headaches later on, that much was for certain. And it didn't help that the shaman was his wife either.

When the hunters finally arrived, the chief felt how hope returned to him. There were eight hunters, three men and five women. These creatures did not really distinguish between men and women, mostly because they could change their gender once during their life time. Those who had the talent to become hunters became hunters. The only real difference was if they had given birth or not. A mother would always stay a mother. The chief himself had never changed his gender, he was born as a male and he would die as a male. Yet his own wife had started her existence as a man. But since it was a natural part of their biology, no one considered it strange. Of course humans would have made jokes about that specific part of their biology.

As the hunters gathered around the chief, he explained his plan to them. They listened carefully and no one dared to question his authority. He then gave them the order to form a living bridge. While holding each other's hands, the first one stepped into the cold water. He didn't get far though and the current almost flushed him away. Only the strong grip of the other warriors kept him from drowning. However, the chief refused to give up. He told them to form a phalanx and stem the tide. As they tried again, he could hear the cries of the children. They were calling for help and they started to sound tired. Soon they would lose their strength and then the raging currents would claim them for good.

Yet the river proved too to be too powerful for his hunters and they had to pull back again. Now the chief could feel how his hopes started to fade away again. He couldn't risk the life of his hunters! Without them, the whole tribe could starve to death! Yet letting those children die...

These were the moments he had always hated. The responsibility of leadership was rarely enjoyable, it was a burden. In the end, he was the one who had to make the hard decisions. And as he looked at his wet and freezing hunters, he knew that he couldn't do anything about it anymore. He turned towards the two mothers with sadness in his eyes.

" _I AM SORRY..."_ he said and lowered his head.

" _NO! YOU HAVE TO TRY! YOU CAN'T LEAVE THEM JUST THERE!"_ one mother screamed in terror. The other one pressed her hands together and started to pray to the Dark One again.

" _OH, GREAT DEVOURER, I ASK YOU: PLEASE SAVE MY CHILD! I WILL GIVE YOU MY LIFE, MY SOUL! HEAR ME, OH GREAT..."_ she prayed. Even though it was heretical, the chief felt genuine sympathy for the mother. He knew what it was like to lose a child. He turned his head around one more time, looking at the three little wet furballs that started to lose their grip. It would be over soon...

Suddenly the sky above them started to lighten up. They all looked up and watched how the clouds over their heads suddenly turned from purple into a bright and angry red. The chief blinked in surprise and disbelief. He had never seen anything like that before. It was like the clouds had turned into fire.

Fire.

No, it couldn't be.

His five dark eyes widened in shock and fear as the Flaming Bird of Destruction descended from the skies above...

* * *

As Sarah moved closer in order to take a good look at these creatures, she was amazed by their ugliness. Maybe a god should be above such trivialities, but damn! An overlord who had been turned inside out looked more attractive than those things!

Their upper bodies possessed a normal chest. Their heads resembled bats, only that there were five black eyes on the front of their faces. Their strange, chittering voices sounded like a broken synthesizer. Their lower body ended in four stumpy legs. They resembled Protoss Immortals, only much uglier. They had just discovered how to use fire, but it was already clear that they would evolve even further. Their world was about to change, a 10.000-year-old ice age was about to end. However, Sarah was caught in her own greatness and didn't realize the similarities between this species and humanity.

Did she mention that they were ugly? Like, really ugly?

Given 10.000 more years and they would probably join the other races and travel to other worlds. Unless the first species they'd encounter would be the Zerg. It would shorten their life span drastically.

Yet as she watched them from above, she felt intrigued. They were running around scared, looking at the sky while screaming and shouting in panic and disbelief. They were praying to their gods, asking for help. As she looked around, she could see why.

There were many adults standing at the edge of a large river. They could be easily identified by their white fur. They were looking at small and dark creatures sitting on a single rock. There were three of them in total. It was their young, and they were trapped. The waters around them had turned into a raging torrent that made it impossible for the adults to save the children.

She didn't know why she decided to interfere. As she descended from the heavens, every creature looked at that strange, burning being with their five eyes. They had never seen anything like it. Their first reaction was fear, which was probably only natural. Some ran away. But others stayed. They couldn't leave their children behind!

As she descended upon them, her will alone stopped the water. The raging currents calmed down and it was as if the water froze. The cavebats were confused, but then some realized that this was the golden opportunity they had been waiting for. One especially brave creature stormed forward, throwing itself into the calm waters. Its fur was not white but gray. Sarah didn't know if this one was special or just old. But the creature didn't hesitate one second as it tried to save these young. Others followed shortly. It didn't take them long to return the young to their crying mothers who pressed their children against their strange, furred chests.

As Sarah watched the whole scene below her, she felt nothing. She didn't even know why she had helped them. Maybe she wanted to test them, see if they possessed the qualities necessary to survive in the blackness of space. Then again, the Zerg weren't exactly the most caring beings in the galaxy either...

 _It was the right thing to do, Darlin'..._

Again...that voice...

She watched as the mothers hugged their offspring tightly. She could feel their happiness. Something inside her mind felt relieved, yet she knew that this feeling was truly bothersome. She couldn't help every stray dog in this galaxy. She had to keep the bigger picture in mind. As the creatures below her started to throw themselves in the dirt and prayed to her, she knew that this had been a mistake. By helping them, she had changed them forever.

Images flashed through her mind. She saw a golden age where they would unite all tribes under the flag of the Flaming Bird of Destruction that had become the Bringer of Life. They would raise their children to believe that destruction and creation were the same thing. They would travel to the stars and bring their gift to others, showing them the mercy of the Flaming Bird of Destruction by purging everyone they met. They would become the scourge of this galaxy...

Now that was only one possible outcome, but Sarah realized that they were now no longer the same species. She had changed them, maybe even corrupted them. So did that mean that they were now her responsibility too? But...how should she do this? Maybe the Xel'Naga knew the answer to that question. They had seeded many worlds, created many species. It pained her to admit it, but she needed answers. And she wouldn't find them in this place.

As she adverted her gaze, her bright glowing body ascended back into the sky and the creatures below her started to thank their one true goddess. She decided that she had wasted enough time. As she left this world and this part of the galaxy, one of the mother-creatures embraced her child, thanking the burning god, praising its power and its benevolence.

As the star behind her went supernova, Sarah turned around and witnessed the destruction of the entire world with her own eyes. She had not seen a supernova with her own eyes before, not like this. It had been the reason for stopping by in this system in the first place. As she saw how that little, purple planet was ripped apart by the star's shockwave, she wasn't sad. It happened all the time everywhere. Those creatures had just been unlucky. A few thousand years longer and they would have been able to escape their fate.

But that too was part of life. It ends.

* * *

Sarah needed answers. Even now it was impossible for her to move beyond what she called the "Wall of Frustration". It was unnerving. It drove her mad. It was like there was a voice in the back of her mind, calling out for her. But every time she thought that she had found it, the voice was suddenly somewhere else. It felt as if it was eluding her senses.

And during all that time the questions continued to bother her. And their numbers had increased drastically.

When she had ascended, she had thought that all secrets of the cosmos were right in front of her eyes. But now she could barely remember any of it. It was like having a dream, a very nice one. And once you wake up, the memory already starts to fade away until the only thing that remains is the knowledge that it had been a wonderful dream. But you just can't remember it.

It had something to do with her physical form, she was certain of that. It had to be the reason why she was unable to free herself of those useless memories and emotions. It got even worse because said inability made her angry. And she knew that the anger was her greatest enemy, it would cloud her mind to the point where she couldn't make any logical decision anymore. The fear of turning into another Amon was a very real one to Sarah. And it was this fear that made her swallow her pride and go where she would find answers to her questions. Hopefully.

The place she traveled to had a name.

Ulnar.

The Protoss called it the cradle of life. It wasn't entirely correct though. It was more like a focal point in time and space. Many roads lead to this place, finding it with a spaceship was merely one possible way. Of course, she hadn't known that back then. She had been here before, but that had been another life. The mighty Queen of Blades and her Swarm had fought Amon's horrible hordes for days, including his disgusting hybrids. Under normal circumstances, one hybrid wouldn't have been a threat to her. But after so many battles and waves after waves fighting those damn abominations, she had reached the limits of her strength and most of her forces had lain in ruins. Coming to this place without any additional back up might had been a bad idea, yet she had felt the urge to do it her way. It had been shortly after she had killed Arcturus and left Korhal in order to hunt Amon and his army of hybrids.

No, not just Korhal. She had left _him_ behind back then...

 _Damn...just damn..._

Those damn memories! She wanted them to be gone, to rid herself of them!

She remembered when she had attacked a Mobius-facility, only to find Zeratul poking his noseless face into things that hadn't been his business to begin with. Their encounter had been brief, yet his obnoxious talk about prophecy here and prophecy there had continued to linger on her mind. Of course she knew that killing hybrids would not stop Amon. So instead she had started to hunt and _interrogate_ some of those damn beasts. Abathur had been most helpful in extracting at least some information.

Well, interrogation might have been the wrong word. Lobotomy was far more fitting.

She had never heard from Ulnar before, but the pictures inside the hybrids minds had been clear enough. Zagara had protested at her decision to go there alone. She had been afraid that there would be a great battle and she wouldn't be there to enjoy it. But even she had accepted the wisdom behind Sarah's decision. As long as she was gone, Zagara had continued the hunt for the hybrids. Besides, if Sarah had died, Zagara would have taken over as leader of the Swarm. From all her servants, Zagara had been the only one fitting to lead the Swarm. Stukov of course had just chuckled, saying that he did not envy the Queen of Blades. He was a strange one, unreadable even to the mighty Sarah Kerrigan. She couldn't have cared less about Abathur's opinion and Dehaka's "Take...Their...Essence!" had become annoying very fast. In fact, Sarah was pretty certain that Zagara had thrown his ass out into cold space the moment she had left her Leviathan. And she couldn't blame the broodmother for doing so.

Yet there was one had shown genuine fear...

* * *

 **The Queen of Blades' Leviathan**

 **A few weeks after Arcturus Mengsk's death...**

* * *

"You...are...already...dead..." the hybrid hissed in anger and pain. Sarah frowned when she heard those words.

"Really? That's odd because I feel very much alive. _You,_ on the other hand, don't look so good." She pointed at the open skull of the creature. Its brain pulsed as it tried to focus its psionic abilities in order to break free. But it was pointless. In a one on one situation, she would outclass any hybrid. And now they were on her turf. This was a home game for her. Keeping the psionic abilities of that abomination sealed away was very easy for her. Gaining access to its mind was a different story, though. She knew how to manipulate the mind of a human or a Protoss. But those damn hybrids possessed abilities that made it almost impossible to read them.

Almost.

As the broken creature thrashed inside its cage, Sarah looked over to Stukov, who sat on a fleshy structure. The former UED-officer looked like he was bored, but Sarah knew that he was completely aware of the situation around him. With a nod, she gave him the signal to take over. He got to his feet and looked at the creature.

"I will not lie to you, Tinkerbell." he chuckled as he walked towards the hybrid before a cruel smile appeared on his disfigured face. "This will hurt you very much." And he continued to chuckle when he started to reach out and attack that brain with his psionic energies. They were not nearly as potent as Sarah's, but they were more than enough to deal with that broken monster.

"NOOOOoooo...get out...get out of my mind...I will not...tell you...I will not..." the hybrid yelled in pain and anger. It tried to break free, but without any limbs that was somewhat difficult. The tendrils of the Leviathan kept the creature pinned down and two abominations stood right next to the mutilated body, ready to rip the creature into pieces should the situation require it.

Sarah could see how that brain started to pulse. It was a disgusting sight, but for her it was just another day at the office. She looked over to her other servant.

"Abathur, get to it!" The Evolution Master nodded, at least she thought that it was a nod. It was kinda hard to tell when your opposite is a disgusting spider-slug. But she didn't keep Abathur around because of his good looks, or his sense of humor. The Evolution Master turned around and moved towards the hybrid. The once mighty creature tried to turn its head away, but more tendrils pinned it down to the slimy floor. Sarah's blade wings started to rattle in anticipation. This time it would work, she was sure of it.

As Abathur towered above the mutilated body, he pressed his long and sharp claws against the soft tissue of the hybrids brain. Disgusting squishy sounds filled the evolution chamber and even Sarah had to fight the urge to vomit. Screams of pain and anger filled the living chamber as the hybrid felt how Abathur started to work on its brain.

Sarah had seen brains before, many times actually. But she had never seen a hybrid's brain that was brutalized by Abathur while that brain was still _alive_. As Abathur continued his gruesome work, Stukov concentrated on keeping the raw psionic energy of that abomination in check. The hybrid, not Abathur. While the limbless body was tied to the floor, there was no way for the creature to escape or cause any damage. Those were extreme measures, but they were necessary. These hybrids possessed a ridiculous amount of strength and a tenacity that was beyond ridiculous. Even though they were hideous abominations, Sarah had to admit that they were formidable enemies.

Cutting through the soft brain tissue, Abathur was preparing the organ for the next step of the procedure. Those huge hybrid brains contained a lot of nasty secrets. The intention of that was clear: Amon, the Dark One didn't want anyone to find out something that could be used against him. Yet at the same time, these security measures meant that there was something _important_ inside that skull.

Something that was worth digging for it.

Quite literally.

Sarah had discovered this possibility by mere coincidence. While fighting a hybrid on a nameless world, it had tried to take over the control over parts of her Swarm. Instead of sending Zagara or any other broodmother, the Queen of Blades had decided to deal with that creature herself. In that battle, she had touched the mind of that wretched thing. For the fracture of a second, she had seen images of countless other hybrids, ravaging one world after the other. But there had been even more. Orders, imperatives, and visions of the Dark One. And a strange place...

The vision had been too short to get anything out of it. But Sarah had been intrigued. Unfortunately, that hybrid had not been very _cooperative_. Still, it had caught her interest and together with Abathur she had worked on a way to access those hybrid minds. The Swarm had hunted down dozens of these creatures, giving Abathur enough biomass to experiment on. When her patience had started to run thin, he had finally told her to be ready.

As Abathur's fingers cut through the soft tissue of the hybrid's brain, the creature howled in pain and anger. It was extreme, even for Zerg standards. But it was necessary. Cutting the pieces away that acted as a fail-safe meant that the hybrids brain wouldn't explode once Sarah would try to dive into its mind. Because that had happened before. Wiping all that gray matter from her face was _not_ something she would like to do again.

Some of it had even gotten in her mouth.

"GET...OUUUT...MAKE...US...WHOLE..." the hybrid gurgled.

"Fat chance." Sarah replied before looking over to the Evolution Master. "Abathur, how much longer?" she wanted to know. They were on a tight schedule over here!

"Primary and secondary temporal lobes disconnected, removing optical sensory nerve clusters now." Sarah had no idea what that meant, but she urged Abathur to hurry up. She could feel how the creature started to grow weaker. If it would die now, they would have to find another specimen and they would lose even more time. Time that they couldn't afford to lose.

"Optical sensory nerve clusters removed, Queen of Blades can now commence." Abathur said with his gurgling voice. The hybrid seemed to realize that something was wrong.

"MY...EYES...CAN'T...SEEEEEE..." it yelled. Well, it would not hear, smell or taste anything else again too, so tough luck.

"Very well..." Sarah announced before mentally preparing herself for what was coming next. "Stukov, get ready! Should this abomination try something stupid, I want you to liquefy its brain!" The former UED-officer chuckled at those words.

"It'll be my pleasure."

She gave him a nod and turned her head back to the hybrid. She then closed her eyes and started to probe its mind. Sarah didn't bother to be careful, she plunged in "headfirst" and dove deep into the creatures subconsciousness.

 _HEAR ME AND OBEY!_ she could hear the raging voice of the Dark One. _KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE TOOL OF MY WILL. YOU WILL FIGHT MY ENEMIES IN MY NAME, YOU WILL CRUSH THEM IF I TELL YOU, YOU WILL DIE IF I DEMAND IT._

For a moment she thought he was referring to her, but then these lines started to repeat over and over again. She then realized that this was part of the mental imprint Amon had placed inside these creatures mind. No wonder they were always so angry and pissed, hearing nothing but the same voice inside their heads over and over again would drive her mad too. At least the Overmind had used different lines from time to time.

Yet she wasn't here for that. It wasn't exactly a sightseeing tour, more like "grab and run". The hybrid was dying (that tends to happen if you cut a brain into pieces) and so she had to grab anything that seemed of any interest and value to her. She saw places where other hybrids were hiding, but it was uninteresting to her. She saw the faces of both Terrans and Protoss who were aiding Amon, hoping to become his favorite pets ones the war was over. Disgusting little traitors, but of no importance right now. And then...then...

She saw a place in space. Only that it was not in space but between space and the Void. It was Xel'Naga and it was huge. Was it a space station? Or a floating temple? She didn't know, but as its image burned itself into her mind, she heard Amon's voice again.

 _NO ONE SHALL ENTER THIS PLACE..._

Her eyes snapped open and she was back inside the evolution chamber. The hybrid was still screaming and thrashing around, but its fate was already sealed. One of her blade wings came up and she rammed it deep into the open brain, killing the creature for good. As she ripped her wing out of the hybrids head, destroyed gray matter flew through the air. But this time none of it landed on her face. Or inside her mouth.

"I take it you've found something inside that creatures mind?" Stukov guessed correctly. Yet Sarah was already planning ahead. She knew where to find that place.

"Deal with this mess!" she ordered Abathur, who pulled his claws out of the now ruined skull. She didn't care if he decided to play around with it some more, maybe he would find something interesting, though she had her doubts about that. When exiting the evolution chamber, she sent a mental message to Izsha, telling her to prepare her troops for war...

As she reached her nerve-cluster, Zagara and Izsha were already present. Usually, the mighty Broodmother remained at her side, studying every move and every action the Queen of Blades took. Zagara had changed during those last months. She had become much calmer, more controlled. Well, that was not exactly the right way to describe it. Her anger was still there, it was a basic component of her whole being. But she was able to control it and used it only when she truly needed it.

When encountering a new situation, she no longer rushed into battle head first unless she decided to do so. By now she was the Queen's most competent military leader. Well, aside from the Queen herself. She had even surpassed Stukov, though Sarah still had the feeling that the infested Terran did not take his job seriously. Both Zagara and Izsha turned their heads towards Sarah as she entered the nerve cluster and they bowed their heads to show their respect.

"My Queen..." Izsha began. "...I have relayed your orders to the other broodmothers. Their broods will arrive here within one cycle."

"Thank you, Izsha." Sarah could feel Izsha's happiness when she heard so much as a simple thank you from her Queen. Her most trusted advisor was a unique being, just like Abathur was. But while Abathur had been created by the Overmind for a strict technical reason (to improve the Swarm), the Queen of Blades had created Izsha in order to help her deal with everyday problems and operations.

Izsha had once been a human being, but those memories were no longer available to her. Her life as a human was of no interest to Izsha, all she cared for was to serve her Queen. In a way, their relationship was like that of a mother and a daughter. Albeit in a rather weird way. Sarah even had doubts that Izsha would serve under someone else just like that. For a Zerg, her devotion towards a single individual was very unusual.

But she _was_ Sarah's very own creation. And because of that, she was special to her. In a way, Izsha represented a more innocent approach to what it meant to be Zerg. Sarah did not remember much of her time as the old Queen of Blades, even though she had restored part of her memories thanks to Izsha, but it was reassuring to know that there was at least one being among the Swarm that she could completely trust and share even her most private thoughts with.

Due to their special relationship, Izsha always knew when Sarah was brooding over something. Yet this connection worked both ways. As Sarah felt an uneasy feeling emitting from her advisor, she looked up to the dark Zerg.

"I sense your anxiety, Izsha. What is it?" she wanted to know.

"Please forgive me, my Queen..." Izsha said while lowering her gaze. "...I sense the strength of our enemies, and I fear that their strength might be a match for yours, my Queen." A smile crept over Sarah's face.

"Izsha, are you worried about me?" she said with an amused tone in her voice. Her advisor did not dare to look into her eyes.

"I would never question your strength, my Queen. You promised to return to us and you kept your word." For some odd reason Sarah felt like Izsha actually wanted to say "me" instead of "us", but she did not bother asking. She knew that Izsha adored her. Like said, their relationship was more like a mother and daughter than queen and servant. She remembered the fear in Izshas voice just before the final battle on Augustgrad.

"Once you have your revenge, will you leave us again?" she had asked Sarah back then, her voice filled with fear. It was only then when Sarah had finally realized that the Zerg were not just tools for her own ambitions. Not all of them anyway. No, some of these creatures were far more. They were family. As she now sensed Izshas emotions, she moved towards her advisor.

"Izsha, come closer." The large, snakelike body of her advisor lowered itself until their faces were almost on the same level. In a rare moment of affection, Sarah decided to brush with her fingers over Izsha's soft face.

"Have faith in me, Izsha. We will defeat Amon. And you will continue to serve me as my trusted advisor. Like I said before: There are still many glorious battles waiting for us." A shy smile appeared on Izsha's face. It was enough to put her mind at ease. Sarah then turned around and looked at Zagara.

"Zagara, I want you to muster our troops. Where we're going, we will need all the strength we have." Zagara bowed her head.

"It shall be as you command, my Queen. But where are we going, exactly?" she wanted to know. Sarah's eyes wandered towards the big, organic window. She could see the endless stars outside.

"Ulnar..." she said. "We're going to Ulnar."

* * *

 **Ulnar**

 **The present...**

* * *

In the end, Sarah had not been able to keep her promise. She had not returned to the Swarm. And to Izsha. Great, as if the memories of Jim weren't bad enough, now she had to deal with this crap as well...

The battle on Ulnar had been a very unpleasant one. Upon arrival, Sarah's forces had been under constant siege immediately. Amon's forces had already been present and had started to attack the Zerg the moment they had set foot on this place. Under normal circumstances, a fight against corrupted broods, fanatical Tal'Darim and lobotomized Mobious-thugs wasn't that much of a problem. But they had been under the command of countless hybrids. Their numbers had been legion and so Sarah had no other choice but to join the party and fight them with all the strength available to her.

The battle had gone on for days without either side gaining an upper hand. But even though Sara had possessed the superior numbers, Amon's thugs simply had refused to yield. It was like some power had taken possession of them, making them fight twice as hard as usually possible. And after weeks of fighting the impossible almost had happened: The Swarm had started to wear out.

The sudden appearance of the Protoss Hierarch Artanis had changed the tide of the battle. Seeing him on Ulnar had brought back unpleasant memories. She had caused much pain to him and his people. The hybrids had weakened her, so she had tried to reason with him, had told him that she was not his enemy. But she hadn't had any faith in her own words. She had expected to die either at the hands of those damn hybrids or to be sliced into pieces by Artanis's psi-blades.

Yet he had decided to spare her. Even more so, he had saved her. Their _unlikely_ alliance had helped them both. She had never believed anything about Zeratul's stupid prophecy, but seeing her own image on the walls of that old Xel'Naga artifact, well, let's just say that Zeratul might have been more than a senile old fart.

She remembered how Artanis had read the inscriptions with almost no problems. To her, it had been gibberish. But he had understood virtually everything it said. Answering her question how he could do so, he only had replied that every image had its own meaning. She hadn't really believed him back then, but his results had been sound and solid. Yet even thenm they had only scratched the surface. There was so much more to this place. There _had_ to be.

In the end, she returned to Ulnar to look for a goddamn user manual.

Master of the Universe for Dummies, if you like.

 _I bet that Jim would have loved this turn of events_...

Hmm, strange. Where had that thought come from? And why wasn't she able to keep those thoughts away. It was like no matter what she tried to do, they came back to her. But she couldn't afford to live in the past anymore. She had cut all ties to her mortal past the moment she had accepted the essence of the last Xel'Naga. No, that wasn't true. She had made this decision long before that when she had decided to become the supreme leader of the Zerg Swarm yet again.

When she had freed Jim from the Moros, his shock expression seeing her new old appearance had caused her heart almost to break. He had been the only one to ever believe in her. Yet she had repaid his love and kindness with pain and despair.

Those feelings, they were annoying. No, not just annoying, they were distracting her. They kept her from being able to focus at what lay right in front of her. Yet she had no idea how to get rid of them. She had left Jim for good. It was impossible to return to him. And for what reason? She had inflicted so much pain to him, how could she even look into the eyes as long as there was as even a tiny part of her humanity inside her? Sarah Kerrigan was no more, she now had to learn to accept that and move on, to become the entity this galaxy needed.

 _We're a great team, you know that, right?_

"No, Jim. Let it rest, please."

Her frustrations reached new heights. Had it really only been regret, was it possibly guilt? Yes, she felt guilty. When she had turned into the Queen of Blades again, she had believed that the only man she had ever loved was dead. She had told herself that there was no one left to care for. But once she had returned to the Swarm, she had met her trusted advisors and made new allies. Just like Jim didn't stop bothering her inside her mind, Izsha reminded her of the good times she had experienced while being Zerg. Oh, it hadn't been nearly as horrible as everyone believed.

Sarah Kerrigan had committed many atrocities in her life, even before becoming the infamous Queen of Blades. Her long and impressive kill record as a Confederate Ghost was proof of that. Yet thinking of friends and allies seemed just so pointless to her. Not just Jim or Izsha, but also others. Well, aside from Zagara and the former Magistrate of Mar Sara she couldn't think of anyone right now, but still...

Aw, who was she kidding? She had no friends. She never had had any friends in the first place. Perhaps that was why her relationship with Jim, Izsha and Zagara had been so important to her. In the end, they had been the only ones staying at her side without trying to kill her. Well, that didn't count for Zagara, she certainly had tried to kill her. But they had worked that out pretty quickly.

Floating through the endless halls of Ulnar made her feel uneasy. Her golden body and the fiery wings lightened the path ahead of her. Every now and then she stopped at an inscription, studying it with keen eyes. Suddenly those symbols made sense to her. Most of them anyway. But she did not like what she saw. Mostly because it was just useless stuff that no one cared about.

Like that Uvanar once uplifted someone called Nrians because he or she had such a nice...broof? Okay, that made no sense at all. Apparently reading Xel'Naga wasn't so easy after all. Still, most things that were inscribed on the walls were pretty straight forward. It was about the philosophy the Xel'Naga followed, well, had followed. Interesting enough it seemed that Xel'Naga wasn't the name of the species, it was a word to describe their essence. At least that's what Sarah thought.

There were parts she still did not understand. Something about a _journey_ to enlightenment that every Xel'Naga had to do by itself. And more, so much more.

As for the things she did understand, well, it was not what she had expected. The Xel'Naga were no gods, they never had been. Most importantly, they hadn't considered themselves to be gods. They too could die (as impressively demonstrated by Amon). Yet even the mighty Protoss were mere bacteria compared to those ancient beings. With a lifespan longer than most stars, they had roamed this universe far longer than one can imagine. Yet, they had not been the first.

It was surprising. And somewhat shocking. Again, Sarah had to realize that her first assessment had been incorrect. Yes, the Xel'Naga had possessed incredible abilities. But they too had been uplifted. The cycle was even older than they had been. It preceded the very universe and would continue even in the next one.

Once the current iteration of the Xel'Naga reached the end of their life cycle, they would look for two species they could _uplift_. They would look for the infamous _Purity of Essence_ and _Purity of Form_. The last Xel'Naga had found these qualities within the Protoss and Zerg. Once they reached the end of their life, they would have transferred their powers to special individuals, turning them into Xel'Naga. Well, in theory anyway.

But that was no longer possible. The essence of the last Xel'Naga now rested inside her. It had an interesting side effect though.

The pictographs of the Xel'Naga on the walls of Ulnar had shown those huge, tentacle things. They had looked like Amon and Ouros. But now they were gone. In their place, she could see humanlike figures. Two arms, two legs, a head...and a halo of fire around them. So Ulnar had changed the inscriptions on the wall to show that it had accepted her as its new master?

Still, there was one thing that surprised her. Instead of just one being, there were many. But she was the last of her kind...

...or wasn't she?

She stopped and floated in the middle of a faceless corridor. As she looked at her own glowing hands, she felt even more confused than before. No, it had to be a mistake. Both Amon and Ouros had been the last of their kind. But what if there was a way to create more Xel'Naga...

Ha, so much for knowing all the answers. Even the mighty Xel'Naga couldn't tell her what she really wanted to know. It made Sarah angry. She had hoped for more, for final clarification. She needed to know so she could finally move along, leave the rest of her lingering humanity behind.

Yet all she saw right in front of her was a huge gate.

She blinked. That was no metaphor. One moment she had studied the inscriptions on a wall that either told her mind-blowing secrets or utter nonsense. The next moment she turned around, only to stand in front of a huge gate which doors had been sealed shut.

It was big enough to let even a dozen Ultralisks pass through easily and she was immediately intrigued. Up till now, she had sensed everything inside Ulnar. She could see the corridors and gigantic rooms inside her mind. But this thing, it was different. It felt like the Void. Was it another path to the other side? She had her doubts, but she couldn't say why. All that she knew was that she wanted to know what was on the other side. She couldn't just stay here forever. She had to move on! There was so much ahead of her...

She reached out and could feel something cold as her finger touched the heavy doors of the gate. She tried to push, but it wouldn't move. Neither her physical strength nor her mental powers could move the doors even one iota. It remained closed, denying her entry.

 **How is this possible?** she asked herself and the voice inside her head actually echoed through the corridor behind her.

She was deeply lost in thoughts and didn't really pay any attention to her surroundings. Why should she, there was no reason for that. She was immortal, she had ventured beyond the boundaries of her own existence. And with Amon gone, there was nothing that could harm her.

And that's when she felt that presence.

She turned around and focused her eyes on a place in the shadows.

 **Who are you?** Sarah demanded to know and her voice echoed through the empty halls of Ulnar. She could sense it, there was someone close by. A presence, one that felt strangely familiar.

 **I know that you are there. Come out and show yourself!** Whatever that was hiding in the shadows, it had to be something immensely powerful. Only something truly powerful could hide from her senses.

 **Very well, have it your way. But don't say I didn't warn you.** Sarah explained and gathered her powers. Whoever, whatever this thing was, it had managed to elude her senses. Therefore it was dangerous. She would just purge it and then-

"That..." a soft female voice suddenly spoke out to her. "...won't be necessary." For a second Sarah thought that she was listening to herself. She had heard her voice many times in the head of others, so she knew what her voice sounded like. But even Sarah couldn't be at two places at once.

The voice almost sounded like her own, but there was something strange about it. Something oddlyfamiliar. But most importantly, it sounded human.

 **Who are you?** Sarah demanded to know once more. It was her last warning.

"Someone who cares deeply about you." the voice explained. Sarah could see the outlines of a figure standing in the shadows, yet even then this one continued to elude her senses. Whatever this thing was, it was either extremely sneaky or immensely powerful.

 **What do you want?** Sarah was in no mood for mind games. If this thing would so much as look at her in a funny way, then she would purge this creature immediately.

"I wanted to see you, with my own two eyes. You may not believe it, but you mean a lot to me. To us."

 **Us?** Sarah growled. **Who is** _ **Us**_ **?**

And then the figure stepped out into the open. It was indeed a woman, a young one. For a second Sarah thought that she was looking at a younger version of her human self, but then she realized that there were some differences. Still, this woman was...

 **Who...are you?** Sarah whispered and then a warm smile appeared on the young woman's face.

"All in due time. What you need to know now is that you are not alone. Please remember that. And please, don't give up, no matter how hard it might be. Everything will turn out alright in the end."

 **Just who do you think you-**

But before Sarah could finish that sentence, she was engulfed by a bright flash of light. For a moment Sarah thought that the gate behind her had finally opened. She closed her eyes as the light around her became too bright even for her to handle. As the light faded away, she opened her eyes again. There were still sparks flickering in her vision, which was odd. She had watched stars from up close before, now it felt like she had taken a flash-bang to the face.

She shivered when the cold air touched her skin, even though she still wore her Ghost-suit and-

 _Wait, Ghost-suit?!_

She looked at her own arms in shock. The shining surface of her godlike body was gone. No longer did she produce her own light. Her body...it was...it was...

...human again?

"What is this?" she said in utter shock and disbelief. Suddenly her mind felt like it was imploding. All her thoughts and visions were forced back into a skull made out of flesh and bone. It hurt. She yelled in pain as her hands grabbed her own head and she stumbled backward. Fear and confusion took hold of her, something she had thought to have left behind.

"What...what is going on? What is this?" she repeated in confusion and denial.

"You want to know what this is, oh wretched creature?" a new voice suddenly asked behind her. Sarah turned her head to the right. _Something_ emerged from the shadow next to the gate. For one moment she was afraid, thinking that a hybrid had waited for her in the darkness, ready to strike her down. But it was not a hybrid. It was much smaller. Yet even then the massive figure was much larger than she was now.

"No..." she gasped. "You're dead." she whispered as she recognized the bulky figure whose blue eyes burned with cold rage.

"Indeed. And I have to thank you for that." The Protoss warrior ignited his psi-blade. The usually blue color of the blade had turned into a bright white. She remembered that some Protoss could channel additional emotions into their weapons, making them burn even brighter. She could feel his anger, how his righteous fury was pouring from every part of his body. He was dead. She had killed him. Yet every part of her mind told him that he was the real deal.

"I have waited a long time for this moment, oh wretched Queen of the Zerg!" the Protoss warrior announced before he lifted his arm to ram his psi-blade right through her once more mortal heart.

As Fenix plunged his psi-blade into Sarah's body, his words roared throughout the halls of Ulnar and beyond.

"I shall claim your life now, creature. Your life, _FOR AIUR!_ "


	5. Prologue Chapter 3

**...**

* * *

 **Prologue**

 **Chapter 3**

 **If you want Answers...**

* * *

The moment the deadly psi-blade came down, Sarah did not think. She only reacted.

 _Attack from above, roll to the side of the arm that holds the weapon, get close, a hard punch into their exposed side. If the target wears body armor, use your psionics._

Ghost training session 24-6-0-9, advanced unarmed combat scenario; to fight an enemy that had superior strength, equipment and the element of surprise on their side. Basically, everything that could go wrong put into one training session. Even after all those years, Sarah could still remember that training session. Or at least her body could.

The training regime during her time at the Ghost academy had been brutal. Not many had survived the cruel and hard training, and even less had become fully fledged Ghosts, ready to do the Confederations dirty work. It had not just been the physical violence, oh no. Their trainers had degraded and mentally abused them whenever an opportunity had presented itself to them.

Training-session 24-6-0-9 had been such an opportunity. Fighting a combat specialist wearing a CMC power armor with nothing but their own fist and feet would have been brutal. However, sometimes they had been forced to fight completely naked. It wasn't because their trainers had been perverts. Well, some of them had been, but the real reason was that they had been coldhearted bastards. In order to turn a person into a weapon, you have to strip them of their humanity. And you don't do that when someone is strong and prepared. No, you go for the squishy parts. You kick them when they're already down. That's how you break someone.

During puberty, young people are very vulnerable. They usually are unsure of themselves, of their place in the world, and their changing emotions. It is the time when young teenagers are supposed to make their first steps when it comes to romance and love and friendship. It usually is an awkward time many people don't like to be reminded of when they're older.

As for the training at the academy? They had been aware of that, of course, they had. The idea had been simple; the trainers had forced them to fight naked while the other recruits had watched. Everyone had felt so ashamed, yet refusing to fight had meant to be beaten to a bloody pulp. They had repeated this training over and over again until the shame was gone. Not because they had trained them to be exhibitionists, oh no. No, it had just been another emotion they had purged from the recruits' minds. Shame, love, hope, hate, joy, they had wiped those feelings out, one after the other.

Sarah still remembered how her comrades had cried during those training sessions, while the cruel laughter of the trainers had filled the room.

Only once they had mastered their emotions and been able to fight without feeling anything, they had moved to the next level. In order to become the perfect tool, the Confederation had broken them and turned them from humans into tools.

Sarah was not naked right now, she wore a Ghost-suit. But even then the routine remained the same. As the bright psi-blade came crashing down, ready to slash her into two pieces, she rolled to the side, jumped on her feet and drove her fist right into the Protoss' side.

It was pretty amazing, even after all those years, even after her time with the Zerg and her ascension, her body still reacted like it had been taught to do. The counter-attack was supposed to be deadly. Her punch alone could crack ribs and ram them deep into the victim's lungs and heart. And should the unfortunate attacker wear a power armor, she would just reinforce her punch with her psionic abilities.

Unfortunately, Fenix didn't seem to know that. Nor did he care.

The moment her fist hit his chest, it exploded it pain. She screamed and stumbled backward. It felt as if she had punched a block of concrete. The Protoss' skin was so hard that she didn't even manage to bruise it. And her psionics didn't help one bit either because they weren't even working. She looked at the mighty Protoss with an expression of pure shock and disbelief on her face.

Unlike most human soldiers, Fenix did not bother to make a snappy remark. He was a true Protoss warrior to the very core, and as such, his training had been just as hard as Sarah's, maybe even harder. Only that it hadn't lasted years, but decades, centuries even. And he had done it with great pride and pleasure.

He tried to end her right here and now and attacked her again. He was so damn fast! You would think that something this huge would be slow, but the Protoss could be faster than a Zergling. She saw his attack coming and managed to drop on the floor just in time. A fraction of a second later and he would have decapitated her. His blade only managed to cut off some of her red hair. He looked down and could see how Sarah prepared for a counter-attack. Sarah lay on her back and kicked with her leg and all of her strength against Fenix's knee.

The Protoss warrior didn't even flinch.

"Oh, shit..." Sarah mumbled

As she lay beneath Fenix, the mighty warrior lifted his huge foot off the ground and rammed it through Sarah's head. Would have rammed it through her head if she hadn't rolled to the side mere fractions of second earlier.

The loud _THUMB_ of his feet smashing into the ground caused her ears to hurt. Yet there was no time to contemplate on the whole absurdity of this situation. Yes, Fenix was dead, she had killed him herself. Yet here he was, standing right above her, and he felt _very_ real.

Though Fenix was a proud warrior, he knew how to use more than just his psi-blades. Instead of going after her with his blade yet again, he simply used his foot to kick Sarah so hard that she went flying.

"AGH..." was the only sound that left her throat when she crashed into a nearby wall. She fell to the ground and felt how something cracked inside her chest. Pain flashed through her body, pure, undiluted pain. The pain that comes from nerves sending electric signals to an organic brain.

She had certainly not missed _that_ kind of feeling.

 _When wounded, the best course of action is to withdraw. Get as much distance between you and the enemy. Observe. Look for an opening. And then strike._ Another lesson she just remembered. And yes, her trainers had sometimes used extreme violence in order to show them the true meaning of pain. Ghost had to know how to fix broken bones in the field. Their own broken bones, of course. And the best way to teach that is to, well, you can imagine...

However, moving with a broken bone was one thing. _Fighting_ with a broken bone was a whole different story. As Zerg, a broken bone was not really an issue. Not even losing an arm or leg. Unfortunately, she had to work with what she got, and that was not much.

With loud _Thumb, thumb, thumb_ -sounds, the huge warrior charged right at her. Sarah's eyes widened in shock, this time there was no way to escape. He was too fast, too strong. Taking down a Protoss was hard work, even with the latest Ghost-equipment. Yet, fighting one with her bare hands? And in her current state? Impossible. And to double all that, it was not just any Protoss. No, it was one of their finest warriors, Fenix.

Only that he was supposed to be dead.

No, he _was_ dead!

Anger flashed through her mind as she realized that this was an illusion, it had to be! Yes, somebody was messing with her mind. The pain wasn't real either. She pushed herself back onto her feet, spitting some blood on the floor, before hissing at the charging Protoss.

"You're not him! You're not FeeeAAAAAHH!" she screamed in pain and terror when Fenix reached her and rammed his psi-blade deep into her stomach.

Pain.

It hurt.

Oh, it hurt so _much_.

Sarah stumbled backward and pressed her hands against the large wound on her stomach. A psi-blade had no physical shape or form, it was made out of pure energy. That's why it simply went right through her without meeting any resistance. Her skin, her muscles, her innards, they were all scorched by the raw energy. She had been impaled before, more times than she wanted to admit. Psi-blades, claws, teeth, swords, bullets, and whatnot. She knew pain, it was an old friend. However, back then her Zerg-body had kept her alive.

A psi-blade was a horrible weapon. It could cut through even the hardest carapace with ease. She remembered how Zeratul had sliced a Hydralisk into two pieces once. The creature had been dead before its two half had hit the ground...

She knew that it had to be an illusion, a trick of some sort. Somebody was messing with her, there was no way that Fenix, _the_ Fenix, was standing right in front of her. Yet, as the psi-blade entered her guts, she screamed as her whole world exploded into pain. Blood splattered across the gray floor. _Her_ blood.

As she stumbled backward, she felt how she lost her balance and fell on her back. Screaming and moaning in agony, she curled herself together and pressed her hands against the huge gash on her stomach. Hot blood flowed out of her wound, forming a puddle beneath her.

Her mind wasn't able to comprehend what was happening to her. She still felt the aftershocks of her transcendent mind being pressed back into a human brain, one that was made out of flesh and blood. It felt as if her thoughts were squeezed out of her ears.

 _Thud...thud...thud..._

With heavy footsteps, the mighty Protoss moved closer. Even with all that pain, she was able to look up to the menacing figure towering above her. She had killed many Protoss in her time, but now it was different. There was no way that this was Fenix. She had slain his hideous and mutilated form years ago. Back then he had already tasted defeat at the hands of the Swarm and had been imprisoned in one of those walking coffins the Protoss called Dragoons. She had always thought that this was a mockery of life. Once it was over, it was supposed to be over. Yet, the Protoss always looked for new ways to cheat death itself.

If the Protoss had a policy to "not kick 'em when they're down", Fenix certainly seem to care about that. Another kick sent her flying again. As she landed on the ground, she could feel how her bones cracked and her muscles tore. Agonizing pain shot through her entire being.

She only wished that it would end. However, Fenix wasn't done with her, at least not yet.

She had killed him after ending her alliance with the Protoss, Mengsk, and Jim, back during what was now known as the Brood Wars. She knew that he had been Jim's friend. It came as no surprise to her that Jim and that loud and brutish Zealot had become friends right after their first meeting. Killing Fenix had dealt the rebel-leader a serious blow. Not just because he had lost an ally, but because he had lost a true friend.

"You're...you're... _dead_..." she coughed, tasting her own blood on her tongue.

"Indeed. And it was your treachery that caused this, oh once so mighty Queen of the Zerg!" Fenix replied. She could still feel how his whole body radiated anger and fury. It was like looking into a volcano that was about to erupt. As the huge warrior stood right above her, he pointed with the tip of his psi-blade at her chest, right where her heart was.

"That's...not...possible..." she spat out, alongside her own blood.

"Is it not? Because of _you_ , I was not able to join the Khala! Your treachery trapped me between the worlds! My soul thirsted for vengeance for so long, I have never stopped dreaming about this moment. Oh, I have waited a long time for this." he growled.

Unable to join the Khala? His soul? Could it be...that he was an echo from beyond the Void? Just like all the other creatures Amon had sent against her? However, unlike those cheap copies, he was the real deal. She had never met Fenix before he had become a Dragoon. Yet she knew that he would have been a formidable foe, even for the Queen of Blades in her prime. Warriors like him only appeared once every generation.

Unfortunately, she was no longer the Queen of Blades. And she certainly wasn't in her prime right now either.

"Yet, I have to admit, you have changed. You have become weak, creature! How disappointing." There was no amusement in his voice. True to his nature as a warrior, he seemed to feel disappointed since she wasn't able to put up a real fight. It only fueled his rage even more.

"You're...not Fenix...you can't be...him..." Sarah pressed out before groaning again as pain shot through her wounded stomach. The blood was still flowing out of the wound, albeit not as much as before. It either meant that she had more luck than brains and the psi-blade had missed all the important stuff, or that she was running out of blood. Probably the latter.

"You're not...real...you're just...a fabrication of my mind..." She tried to focus her own thoughts, tried to push away the pain that had to be an illusion. Fenix remained silent for some time before bowing down to her. Her eyes widened as she watched how that dreadful psi-blade moved closer. She could feel how its energy started to burn away the tiny hairs on her skin.

She closed her eyes and tried to roll away, but her strength failed her. Aside from the pain, there was only regret inside her heart. Her journey had found a rather surprising end.

Jim would be disappointed. He had sacrificed so much, only for her throw it all away. Had she only ascended sooner, had she only left her humanity behind before returning to Ulnar. Now the last glimpse of her human heart would cause her own downfall because she hadn't been able to move on...

As the psi-blade moved closer, she could hear its sizzling sound. Yet, she didn't feel how it sliced her flesh apart. Instead, the strong hand of the mighty Protoss-warrior grabbed her by the throat and lifted her high up into the air. She screamed in pain and agony as more blood leaked from her wound. When she opened her eyes, she saw directly into Fenix's face. The rage inside his gaze burned hotter than a thousand suns.

"I will neither sully my blade, nor my honor with the blood of such a weakling!" he declared and strengthened the grip around Sarah's throat, who started to choke. Her hands grabbed his arm and she tried to break his grip. However, it was as if Zergling was trying to wrestle with an Ultralisk.

As Fenix continued to choke the life out of her body, she could feel how something inside her neck started to crunch. What a stupid end, gutted and with a broken neck. She had broken many necks in her time as a Confederate Ghost, and later as an operative for the Sons of Korhal. Breaking someone's neck wasn't as easy as holo-vids made it seem; it took a lot of strength to break a human neck. She knew that because she had learned it as a child when the Confederation had abducted her and turned her into a living weapon.

"Hmpf, pathetic. You do not deserve a warrior's death."

 _Jim..help me..._

She immediately knew how pathetic that thought was. How could he help her? _Why_ should he help her? No, her emotions for Jim had only caused this. If she only had left that part of her existence behind...

"James Raynor will not save you, you vile creature. I shall make sure that his soul will know that the shame of your betrayal has been dealt with." He continued to strengthen his grip around her throat. Her eyes went wide and her mouth tried to snap for air like a fish on land, however, it was hopeless. Her fingers pulled and scratched at Fenix's arm, but should he feel anything through his thick skin, he didn't show it.

As darkness started to gnaw at her vision, tears started to flow down her cheeks. The mighty Protoss warrior watched how life left the frail human body.

Then, without any warning, he raised his arm even higher up and threw the weak figure all across the huge room. Protoss possessed far more strength than any ordinary human. And Fenix was, well, had been a battle-hardened warrior. Throwing a mere human through the air was child's play for him.

As Sarah flew through the air, everything went upside down. It only lasted for a moment, though, and she landed with a loud _THUMB_ on the hard floor. As she rolled around, she groaned in pain. Her sliced stomach, her pain-ridden brain, her nearly crushed throat, and now her arms and legs, everything hurt. There was not one part of her body that was still in good shape. She gritted her teeth in pain and looked up to the mighty warrior. Weird, he was suddenly so _small_.

Only then she realized that Fenix hadn't become smaller. He had simply thrown her so far that he now appeared like a dwarf.

Fenix didn't move one bit. Instead, he stood in front of the gate as if he was protecting it.

"Like I said; I will not sully my blade with your blood any further. Leave, you do not deserve a warrior's end. Find a dark place, where you can bleed to death. It will be a fitting end for such a treacherous creature like you are. _That_ shall be my vengeance. I do not know what this place is, nor do I know how I ended up here. Yet, I thank the Khala that I got the chance to end you myself."

Sarah did not know what to reply to this. The only thing she felt right now was fear. She couldn't use her powers anymore. Did that mean that she had truly become human again? It wasn't possible. It was simply not possible! It had to be a nightmare!

Even though she tried to deny it, a very human trait reappeared inside her mind; the instinct to get the hell out of here.

She whimpered and groaned in excruciating pain when she tried to get back on her feet. However, her body was too weak. In the end, the only thing she could do was to crawl away from the Protoss warrior, whose contempt for her filled the entire room.

 _No...this can't be...this is a dream...a nightmare..._

She told herself the same thing over and over again, but whatever she wanted, the universe didn't seem to care. Crawling away from the zealot was degrading. There had been times when the whole Koprulu Sector had trembled in fear before her might. Now, she was bleeding to death while crawling through the darkness like a dying rat. Maybe Fenix was right, maybe it was a far more fitting end for her. After all, she had killed millions. Why the hell should she be allowed to exist, let alone as a godlike entity? Was this justice? For her to prevail, to live forever while the cries of her victims disappeared into oblivion?

When she had slain Fenix, the _real_ Fenix, and when she had betrayed her temporary allies during the Brood Wars, Jim had promised to kill her. He would be the one to put a bullet through her head, those had been his words. She had given him the chance for revenge on the Moros. He had decided not to kill her. He had shown her mercy.

She still hated herself for thinking about Jim. If this was to be her last moment, then thinking of him was especially painful. Images flashed through her mind and appeared in front of her inner eye. She could see herself and Jim, holding each other in their arms, lying on a wonderful beach with a magnificent sky above them. A world where the Zerg, the Protoss, and war were no longer an issue.

There was a house, a nice house surrounded by palms. The smell of roasted fish. And his hands brushing over her tender skin while she felt his lips on her own. She could almost feel the cold water running over her body. She saw herself, standing beneath a small waterfall. There was no pain, no fear, no nothing. Just happiness.

It was a feeling that Sarah couldn't even remember anymore.

And then there was his voice...

* * *

 **A different place...**

 **A different time...**

* * *

"Darlin'? Could you please stop moving for one second? I need to get the arms right." She chuckled when she heard his voice and looked over her shoulder. Jim, who was sitting on a rock near the waterfall, looked at a small notebook and was busy drawing something.

"Wait..." she laughed. "...are you complaining that you can only see my naked backside?" His reaction was priceless. Even though he tried to hide his emotions, he was an open book to her.

"That's not what I said. I just said that I need a moment to get the arms right. That position right now, when you washed your hair, that was perfect. Could you do it again?" Oh, now he wanted her to pose for him? How kinky!

"Are you telling me that I should pose for you?" She chuckled again when she said that. "I can think of several poses, you know..." But her teasing didn't result in the wished outcome.

"No, thanks. Brushing with your fingers through your hair will do just fine." When Sarah heard that, she harrumphed and stemmed her fists against her hips.

"You are hopeless, you know that? You could draw my butt. I know you like my butt, so how about that?" However...

"Meh', a butt is basically just three lines drawn." Oh, that's what every woman wants to hear.

"My butt deserves more than just three lines..." she protested. "...still, I can't believe that you would rather draw my naked body than to join me over here. What are you? Some kind of lecherous pervert?"

"It's called "nude drawing", and it's a great way to improve my anatomical skills." Jim replied

"Yeah? Well, I know something else that can help you with your _anatomical_ skills, mister!" she teased him, yet Jim wasn't even truly looking at her. "Okay, this is getting ridiculous!" she then growled and stomped over to Jim.

"Hey, wait! I almost got it!" However, Sarah didn't care about that. She ripped the notebook out of his hands and took a good look at it and...

"Oh...wow." It was probably one of the most beautiful drawings she had ever seen. And it showed her. "This is amazing, Jim."

"It's just a sketch." he told her. "Nothing special." Oh, he was always so humble.

"Jim, this _sketch_ would put the Mona Lisa to shame!"

"The what would who now?" he wanted to know.

"The Mona Lisa! You know, that famous picture from Earth. By Leonardo DaVinci. Have you never seen it?"

"Did this guy draw naked women too?" Jim asked

"Uhm...dunno. But he did draw naked men. With four arms and four legs."

"Sounds trippy. Modern artist?"

"Not really." Sarah told him. "Maybe one day we should go to Earth, then I could show it to you. It hangs in the oldest museum of mankind, the Louvre." When Jim heard that, he blinked a few times.

"Earth? As in; Ancient Earth?"

"Yep."

"How do you know about that stuff anyway?" he wanted to know.

"I read about it. You really should read more books, Jim."

"Meh, I like to you to summarize it for me." he told her and then...

"HEY! I wasn't finished yet!" he protested when Sarah threw the notebook into a nearby bush. "Hey, Sarah!"

"I'm done being ignored." she cooed. "I can't believe that you would rather hang out with your notebook-"

"Sketchbook." Jim corrected her.

"Whatever. You, Sir, will come with me now." She said and pulled Jim with her. He offered little resistance and shivered when the cold water of the waterfall crashed down on him. Still, with all his clothes on, this wasn't nearly as nice as it could be.

"How about we change that then?" Sarah told him and kissed Jim, who was still adjusting to the cold water. Well, maybe this was indeed better than drawing a naked woman. But Jim would need some more time to come to a final conclusion. Soon, his clothes were floating down the river, and Jim enjoyed the feeling of Sarah's warm skin on his own while the cold water was caressing his backside. This was truly a wonderful moment and...

* * *

"AGH!" Sarah gasped in pain when she was thrown back into the here and now.

The images inside Sarah's had been so real, and she had felt the urge to lose herself in them, to just collapse right here and now and continue to watch this dream until her life would finally have faded away. However, as suddenly more pain flashed through her stomach, the images vanished in an instant. Not even when close to death she could experience some sort of peace, even if it was only a fabrication of her own mind...

As she dragged her wounded and bleeding form over the cold floor, she could sense how her body started to fail her. The shock, the blood loss, the pain, and the headache, she couldn't remember the last time she had felt so miserable. Even when the Confederation had betrayed her and she had ended up in Arcturus Mengsk's _care_ , it hadn't been this bad.

Although she was on her last breath, she refused to go down like this. With what strength was left to her, she tried to get up again. Sarah groaned in pain and yet she managed to get back on her feet before dragging her dying body forward. As she passed the inscriptions on the ancient walls, she looked at them in confusion. She had understood them earlier, now they were just gibberish to her. Just like when she had first come to this place.

None of this would have happened if she had freed herself of her stupid human sentiment. Without it, she would have been able to end that Fenix-creature with ease. Yes, that was right; that thing wasn't Fenix. It had to be another entity. Maybe Narud had escaped death yet again. It would explain much. Yes, it had to be Narud. He had already done the same thing to her before, back when she had faced him in a secret research-facility inside the Skygeirr-station.

However, even if it was Narud, how had he survived the demise of his master? And why had he decided to become Fenix in order to defeat her? Narud knew that choosing Jim would have been far more horrible for her. Maybe that was the very reason; if he had assumed Jim's form yet again, she would have realized that it was him right away. Yes, that had to be the reason.

It sounded pathetic, but solving that little problem inside her head gave her hope. It meant that she hadn't turned completely into a lobotomized idiot. It meant that she had already dealt with this creature before. It meant that she could prevail if only...if only...

Suddenly a sharp pain shot through her entire body. Sarah yelled in anguish as she collapsed on the floor, writhing in agony. It was as if her whole body was on fire, as if every cell inside her beaten and bruised form was burning up. She could hear voices inside her head. Not just one or two. No, their number was legion. And they were so loud that her ears started to hurt as well. Apparently, there was a part of her body that hadn't been in excruciating pain before. Thanks, fate, you stupid bitch.

And the universe answered with a big _You're welcome!_

Fenix had been right after all. Here she was, lying in some dark corner, slowly bleeding to death. While she felt how the life left her body, Sarah felt light-headed. Her eyelids started to flutter as her consciousness started to fade away...

She didn't realize that she was not alone, however. There was someone with her, a figure in the darkness. However, unlike Fenix, this one wasn't interested in hurting her. Oh no, on the contrary. This being couldn't stand watching Sarah like this. But it knew that Sarah had to endure the pain. The figure in the darkness smiled, though it was a sad smile.

"Hold on..." a soft female voice whispered. It almost sounded like Sarah's own voice. "...you are not alone in this." Yet Sarah didn't hear that voice when her consciousness finally slipped away.

* * *

 **Ulnar**

 **A different time...**

* * *

"All I'm saying is that we should consider this cycle to be a failure and move on." the man said. She knew him, or at least Sarah thought so. It was Matt Horner. Even though he had never truly set foot onto Ulnar, she now saw him standing right in front of her. And he wasn't the only one present.

"Don't'ya worry your head about that." Jim Raynor replied while taking another drag of his cigarette, letting some of its ash fall on the perfectly clean floor. Matt Horner saw that and frowned. Obviously, he was not happy about this kind of behavior.

"Is that really necessary, Sir?" he asked. Jim just grunted before taking another drag.

"Ah, quit being a party pooper! This ain't about social etiquette anyway, no matter what the others might say. Don't make the same mistake they do. Unless of course..." he suddenly said. "...you think that they have a point." When Matt heard that, his eyes widened in shock.

"No, Sir! I...I admit, it is difficult to accept all of this, but I will always follow you. That's a promise, and I intend to keep it!" When Jim heard that, he put his hand on Matt's shoulder and smiled at him.

"Don't you worry, I know that I can count on you."

Sarah had no idea what was going on anymore. She couldn't feel her body, it was as if she was just a silent observer. She was still on Ulnar, she recognized those endless corridors. But they looked _different_. The usually dark and cold walls glowed white, and the whole place felt warm and nice.

Those people, they couldn't be who they appeared to be.

 _Just watch them. You have to understand..._ a voice suddenly appeared in the back of her mind. It almost sounded like her own voice, but at the same time, it wasn't.

Jim looked down the corridor before a sigh left his chest.

"Oh well, no use to prolong the inevitable. Let's do this, partner."

"I'm right behind you, Sir." Matt's words brought a smile to Jim's lips.

"Good man." As they walked down the corridor, Sarah followed them. She couldn't say if it was because she wanted to or she had too. Everything was so confusing. She was probably dying and these hallucinations were the last actions of her broken mind. It certainly made more sense than the alternative; that any of this was actually real.

As Jim and Matt walked down the corridor, other people moved past them. There were humans and Protoss and, well, Zerg?

"Hey, Scales!" Jim greeted the large Hydralisk as it slithered past the two men.

"Hey, asssssshole!" the Hydralisk replied with a hiss, forming human words with its alien maw. When the Hydralisk was out of their sight, Matt leaned towards Jim.

"What was that about?" he wanted to know. Jim shrugged his shoulders.

"Lost a bet, didn't like it. She always has been a sore loser."

Matt accepted that statement as if it made any sense at all. Others were not so rude. As a matter of fact, most people (Terran, Protoss, and Zerg alike) turned around and greeted the two men by bowing to them. Even though it was a sign of respect, Sarah could feel their confusion and anger, and a sense of distance. They were angry at Jim, but why? No, there was no point in thinking about any of this, it was just a hallucination. Her weak human mind caused her to think this was the reality. Again, she felt the wish to not deal with this crap. It had only caused her nothing but trouble.

The two men finally reached a place that was all too familiar to Sarah. It was the gate, the same gate where Fenix, the _fake_ Fenix, had sliced her belly open. Only this time it wasn't sealed shut. It stood wide open and a bright, warm light came from the other side of the gate. She could feel the power and warmth of the light, even though her body didn't seem to exist anymore. She immediately knew that something incredibly powerful was on the other side of that gate.

Unable to move on her own, she stayed with Jim and Matt. The eyes of everyone rested on those two as they moved closer towards the gate. Two large figures stood in front of it, caught in a heated debate. She remembered both of them, however, the image in front of her eyes was just too hard to believe.

"...you keep continuing to claim that, and yet, your actions speak a different language!" the mighty figure of Zagara snarled, her arms crossed in front of her armored chest. She was an intimidating sight, yet the smaller Protoss didn't even flinch as he put his hands behind his back and looked up to Zagara with a cold look on his face. Sarah knew him too because he too had fallen victim to her claws. Just like Fenix, this one was supposed to be dead.

"My actions are not for you to judge!" Aldaris replied with a cold tone in his voice. "Almost everyone agreed to it, and I have the majority of the Covenant backing me up on this!"

" _Almost_ is the magical word here." Zagara shot back. "You did not see the necessity to inform those who were actually involved in any of this! Nor did you allow those who do not share your point of view to speak their mind. They have the right to know what you're about to do to the First Born!"

First Born? Were they talking about the Protoss? But why? So that meant this Aldaris-figure wasn't Aldaris, and that it wasn't really Zagara standing in front of him. Of course not, the real Zagara would have eaten the Protoss alive.

"Do not dare to lecture me, young one! You have barely experienced even one cycle! These are difficult times and I, ah, look who has finally arrived." Aldaris suddenly declared as he turned towards Jim.

"What's up, guys?" Jim replied with a carefree attitude. Zagara bowed her head as a sign of, well, respect? Uhm, okay. That was a first. Aldaris, however, showed no such respect towards Jim whatsoever.

"Have you come to plead to the others? I'm afraid that your efforts will be in vain, brother." Aldaris said with a stern tone in his voice, which caused Jim to chuckle.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that. Besides, any decision regarding the further evolution of a species has to be approved by the gardeners who are responsible. So even if you win the argument inside these walls, you still will have to answer to them. And don't think that just because you have the approval of the others, the gardeners will listen to you. You know how they are."

Aldaris eyes suddenly flashed in anger. Sarah had no idea who the gardeners were, nor what they were supposed to do. But apparently, they were pretty important to these guys, because she could sense insecurity beneath Aldaris's anger.

"Enough of this nonsense!" he barked, refusing to give in. Sarah could feel how he was barely able to contain his fury. "We should stand united in this dark hour. Yet you and those beneath you continue to defy us! Can you not see what is at stake here?" Huh, even though she was sure that this wasn't Aldaris, he sure sounded like that old fool.

Aldaris had always been a politician. For all their advanced technology, their strong bodies, and their superior minds, the Protoss shared the same problems Humanity was suffering from; both their politicians and bureaucrats were usually huge assholes. And in this regard, Aldaris was the poster-boy. He only cared, well, _had_ cared about himself and his own agenda. The "Greater Good" usually had meant that he would remain in control, even if that would have meant to control a piece of junk. He reminded Sarah of Mengsk, only with less facial hair.

Suddenly Jim's smile disappeared from his face.

"I know exactly what's on the line here, buddy." he growled. "That's why I've decided to act. Letting you do as you please...you're _hurting_ the Infinite Cycle more than you even realize it!"

"Strong words from someone who has not shown any interest in the work of a gardener for so long. You have alienated even your loved ones with your actions, yet suddenly we should listen to you?"

Loved ones? Somehow Sarah knew that this Aldaris-figure wasn't talking about her. She should probably not think about it too hard, however, she felt an aching sensation inside her chest, as if the thought that Jim was having someone else in his life was just not right.

"Watch it, buddy. I've done this line of work far longer than you even exist. I don't need fancy words from someone who's still a damn rookie. And I exclude everyone else from this statement currently present." Jim said while looking at Zagara, who happily bowed her head again. Aldaris only reaction was to wave his hand as if to brush Jim's words away.

"Pah, this conversation serves no purpose. You can continue to waste your breath by talking to the others. But be warned; do not expect them to be much more open to your _ideas_ than I am." Aldaris said, yet Sarah could feel his insecurity.

"Wouldn't dream about it, pal." Jim growled before walking past Aldaris, heading for the open gate. He suddenly stopped before turning around and looking Aldaris straight into the eyes.

"By the way, has our lost sheep finally returned to us?" he asked. Aldaris eyes produced a bright flash of anger before he turned towards Jim.

"No. However, the others and I agree that we should leave him alone for now. Maybe he needs just some time for himself. Like you once did."

"I didn't keep you in the loop all the time though." Jim shot back. "I know you don't want any tips from me, but you really should look for him. Spending all that time alone in the Void, that isn't healthy."

"He is young. And he has still much to learn." Aldaris replied.

"Learning requires the willingness to listen to others. And that is something I don't see in Amon, old friend."

 _Amon?!_

Suddenly everything started to shift an blur around her. One moment Sarah was watching that weird group talking about something she didn't really understand, and then everything went dark.

* * *

Sarah needed another moment to realize that she was back in her body. It took some time because there was no pain anymore. Well, not as much as there had been. Her stomach didn't hurt, neither did her throat or her legs. She still had one epic headache, even though it was not nearly as bad as before.

Her body was probably close to death since she didn't feel any pain anymore.

Feeling an incredible sense of loneliness, Sarah tried to curl up and started to sob. How pathetic. She had once been the top assassin of the Confederation. She had been the mightiest single being in the sector and led the Swarm into countless battles. And in the end, she had even become a goddess. And now? Now she was nothing. She had become a bleeding, dying, little girl, waiting for death to finally claim her.

Suddenly she heard a cruel laugh echoing through the dark corridors of Ulnar. It sent shivers down her spine. As the voice echoed through her mind, she finally remembered it.

"No...not you..."

From the shadows, a creature emerged. Its yellow eyes emanated a terrible light, and she could sense all that anger and rage. It was unlike Fenix's emotions, though. Fenix's anger had felt like righteous fury, the pure and forged anger of a proud warrior. There was still control in everything he did, even when slicing her into pieces. However, this creature? Its emotions were not controlled. They were raw and wild, like a mad beast that had only assumed a human shape in order to give people yet another reason to fear her. She remembered its monstrous shape better than anyone else. It had been her own for many years.

"Oh, don't be scared. I'm not here to hurt you. We're the same after all, you and I." the creature said and started to chuckle.

"We're not the same!" Sarah spat out with her last remaining strength. "We're nothing alike either!" Her words made the creature laugh in delight.

"Now now, that's not a way to talk to your sister, is it?" the Queen of Blades declared as she descended upon Sarah's broken form. "After all, I've come to take you home."


	6. Prologue Chapter 4

**...**

* * *

 **Prologue**

 **Chapter 4**

 **...you need to know the Question first**

* * *

 **Char**

 **During the Second Invasion...**

* * *

Standing in front of the entrance of her mighty primary hive, the Queen of Blades allowed herself to smile. The Terrans had been quite a hassle for some time now, but things were finally starting to work in her favor. Yes, she had lost a lot of troops during the Dominion's initial attack, more than she had anticipated or wanted to admit. However, she had repaid their kindness by slaughtering thousands. And unlike the Terrans, she could always raise more troops with ease. Seeing all that destruction through the eyes of her overlords made her shiver in anticipation. She especially enjoyed the utter despair that came from those pathetic Terrans. Seeing their faces, feeling their frustrations as her minions laid waste to their precious and minutely timed battle-plans filled the Queens dark heart with ravenous glee.

" _My Queen..."_ Izsha's voice appeared inside her mind.

"What is it, Izsha?" she wanted to know. Usually she didn't like it when someone bothered her while she was enjoying a good slaughter. However, she knew that Izsha would only dare to disturb her if there was something important that needed her immediate attention.

" _My Queen, it appears that we have a problem; the Terrans have destroyed large portions of our Nydus-network. It would seem that they have used some kind of explosives in order to cause the tunnel-systems to collapse. We will not be able to use the network for some time."_ The Queen of Blades frowned whens he heard that. It was a daring move. Terrans were cowards and weak. They liked to hide in bunkers and bombard their enemies from above. The wretched Protoss at least put up a good fight, even though they were fools. It also meant that the Terrans only attacked when they knew that they had a chance of winning. Annoying as this trait might be, it made them predictable.

"What are you after, Jim?" she mumbled to herself while looking at the desolate landscape right in front of her; seas of lava, mountains of cracked stone, and Zerg everywhere. She couldn't see the Terran stronghold with her eyes, but she knew it was out there. They had started to fortify their position a few hours ago, bringing additional troops to the ground. Now they were waiting for her to make her move.

It was a trap, that much was obvious. But even the most elaborate trap would fail in the face of a full-scale Zerg-onslaught. There was simply no way to stop them.

The Queen of Blades was not a humble being. She was cruel, arrogant, and enjoyed every moment where she could inflict pain onto others. However, she was no fool. Work always came before pleasure. It did not take long for her to finally realize what the Terrans were after, or what she should be after, to be more precise.

She could sense the dormant powers of the Xel'Naga-artifact as a dropship with a heavy escort descended onto the Terrans' base. So they thought that they could use it against her? How naive. She watched closely through the eyes of her minions as the terrains tried to fortify their position even further. Tanks, bunkers, even battlecruisers, they were bringing in the big guns! They sure went all the way. It was an impressive show of force, she had to admit that much. But it was pointless. This was her turf, her world. With a cruel smile on her face, she started to reach out with her mind and tried to find one certain individual among all those weak Terran. She loved it to taunt him, to cause him pain for his inability to have saved her old self.

" _Why Jim...thank you for bringing the artifact to me. That saves me a lot of trouble. You sure know how to treat a lady."_

She knew that her words had reached him because she could feel his anger flashing up like a supernova. It made her laugh in delight.

" _Oh, don't you worry, Darlin'..."_ she could sense his words even from afar. _"...you will get the whole package. But if you want the artifact, you gotta get it yourself. And by the way; you ain't no lady!"_

Those words...actually made her a bit angry. James Raynor was nothing, a burned out drunken old fart, someone who had used up all of his luck a long time ago. Turning him into a freedom fighter meant giving him more credit than he deserved. She would enjoy tearing him apart piece by piece. No, she would make him watch as she would slaughter his men right before his very eyes. And who knew, maybe she would infest him and keep him as a pet. Not as a drooling idiot, he already was that. And not as something so elaborated like Izsha either. Something in between. A broken body, yet a mind that was still able to comprehend. Oh, feeling his pain and despair would be delicious!

 _No...leave him alone...leave Jim alone!_ the voice in the back of her mind yelled in despair. The Queen's expression turned sour. She hadn't heard _that_ voice for a long time, even though it was technically her own. Yet, there were actually two beings inside that head who used the same voice.

"Well, well, who do we have here?" the Queen said out loud. "I didn't know you were still in there. Say, have you come to witness this moment of my triumph? Or do you want to see how your last hope will be crushed beneath my feet, hmm?" She felt gleeful amusement as the presence in the back of her mind groaned in pain.

 _He will stop you! They will stop you!_

The Queen laughed out loud when she heard that

"Ha! In your dreams maybe. Have you not paid any attention in the last four years? Can't you see what has become of us? And of _him_? James Raynor has abandoned you. And yet, you still think that he will save you? Safe us?" The Queen of Blades continued to laugh.

Ever sincethe Queen of Blades had come into this world, _she_ had felt the other one's presence inside her own consciousness. However, the other one had always been too weak to do anything about it. Yes, weak. That was the best way to describe the former owner of this body. Sarah Kerrigan had been weak. That's why _her_ father, the Overmind, had created _her_ in the first place. The ruler of the Swarm needed to be strong, ruthless and cunning. That which remained of Sarah Kerrigan was nothing but a weak, little Terran.

 _You might act tough, but I can read you too..._ she heard Sarah's voice echoing through her mind. _You're afraid! Afraid that his plan will succeed!_ The Queen showed her teeth when she heard those words.

"Pah! They're no threat to me! Once I've dealt with them, the rest of the sector will burn!"

 _You're lying to yourself. I can see the fear inside you. You're afraid of the darkness, of what you've seen in the Overmind's visions. I know you!_ Those last words made the Queen furious. So the sad little rest of a broken Ghost knew her, hmm? What did she know? She knew _nothing_! As anger flowed through her entire being, the Zerg around her started to sense it and grew restless. Their Queen was angered, and they automatically looked for an enemy to destroy. And they found the enemy, right across that desolate landscape.

"Watch how your pathetic hopes are crushed beneath my minions' onslaught!" she snarled in anger as her troops started to head out.

The battle was brutal, and the Terrans used every trick in the book. The overlapping fire of the fortifications was frighteningly effective, killing tens of thousands of her minions, maybe even more. _Definitely_ more. She could now see the battle plan of her enemies right before her inner eyes. Taking down the Nydus-network gave them hope because they didn't have to fear attacks from below. However, that wasn't good enough. The Swarm's aerial attacks weren't very successful either, at least in the beginning. But every time her troops attacked, more defenders fell. Their lines were crumbling, and it was only a matter of time until the Zerg would break through their defenses.

Unfortunately, time was the one thing the Queen had not to spare. The artifact was charging up, and with every passing hour it was closer to do, well, she didn't even know what it was truly capable of. However, she knew that she didn't want to find out. And that's why she decided to join the party.

As she tore through the defender's lines, she felt their bullets hit her body. Her carapace was penetrated, her flesh torn apart, her bones broken, yet she continued to advance. The pain was excruciating, but she just shook it off like it was rain on her skin. The anger and fury inside her mind overpowered all other emotions. Their lasers burned her skin, their artillery-shells ripped off her limbs, yet she continued to press on. Ripping bunkers open with her blade-wings, tearing screaming marines apart, she was death _incarnate_.

Yet there was a point where even her body started to fail her. They made her retreat. _They made her retreat!_ Fury was not the right word to explain how she felt during that moment. Time was working against the Queen of Blades, and she mobilized all troops available to her. However, those cursed Terrans misinterpreted her withdrawal, they thought that she was wavering. And so they fought even harder. It was unnerving. She was slaughtering them by the hundreds, thousands even. Whole battalions were wiped out in a single attack, yet their lines did not break!

 _Don't stop now...please, you can do it..._ she heard the weak woman inside her mind. For a moment she was confused. Did she mean the Queen? No, of course not. She meant the Terrans. Pah, they would die, they would all die! Even if she had to rip every single one into pieces with her own hands.

Charge after charge, wave after wave. Yet the Terrans did not yield. Looking over the battlefield, the wounded Queen snarled. Her limbs grew back, her wounds closed, her bones snapped back into position, but it was just not enough. It simply was not enough.

Suddenly she saw a huge shadow blocking off the sun. She turned around, only to see a familiar shape above her.

" _My Queen..."_ Izsha spoke to her through their connection. _"Your Leviathan is ready for_ _extraction."_ Yes, her Leviathan. She felt anger at Izsha's words, yet her advisor was only following orders. Only a fool never has a backup plan. However, right now the anger clouded her mind. Right now the Queen of Blades wanted blood.

"Izsha, have the Leviathan attack the Terrans' lines! Crush them!" she ordered.

" _My...Queen?"_ Izsha asked in confusion. If she had been human, the Queen would have accused her of cowardice. But Izsha was Zerg, her mind didn't even know what fear felt like. This order was against everything she had taught her advisor.

 _You are losing, so why kill even more people?_ Sarah Kerrigan, or what was left of her, wanted to know.

"Be silent, you insolent creature!" the Queen of Blades snarled in anger. This was it, the one decisive moment in this battle. The Terrans didn't yield, neither would she!

"I gave you an order, Izsha! GO, DESTROY THEM!" Her anger washed over all the other Zerg, driving them into a mad frenzy.

"As you command, my Queen." Izsha replied with a monotonous voice.

As the mighty Leviathan attacked the Terran battle lines, the Queen of Blades felt joy and relief. It was not the Leviathan with Izsha on board, that one was hiding at the edge of this system. Should anything happen, it would give the Queen of Blades the ability to rebuild the Swarm. If necessary somewhere else. But that wouldn't happen.

Watching how the mighty Leviathan attacked the Terrans felt wonderful. It's gigantic claws and tentacles hit their fighters, the enormous needles fired from its bloated body crushed tanks and bunkers on the ground. She could even see how it rammed a battlecruiser. The pride of human egineering crashed on the defenders, killing thousands in the process. How could they hope to survive something like the Zerg?

And yet, it was like before; the Terrans did not yield. As the Leviathan wreaked havoc among their lines, they started to focus their fire on that magnificent creature. Bullets, rockets, missiles, lasers, the Terrans fired everything they had, with the exception of nuclear warheads.

Watching the slaughter before her very eyes, the Queen of Blades expression turned from glee into disbelief as she saw how the mighty Leviathan's carapace started to crack. Endless streams of blood started to fall to the ground. Huge pieces of meat were blown off, crushing tanks and bunkers beneath the creature. Its tentacles were severed. She could sense its pain, its anger, and then it came down. It did not fall gracefully and the impact killed even more defenders.

But the Terrans did not yield.

It was then when the Queen of Blades finally started to realize that this battle might be lost. Of course, by that time it was already too late. As she turned around and hurried to her primary hive, she summoned an overlord. To hell with these Terrans! She would remember this! As she entered the hive, she could suddenly feel something strange. It felt like the air around her was brimming with energy. For a moment she was confused. What was...oh no...

She turned around. On the horizon, she could see a bright blue light. It was pulsing and hurting her eyes. It was the artifact. Turning around, she decided to move even faster. She had to get out of here. All her plans, all her visions, suddenly they were pointless. Yes, the end was coming. She had seen it, had heard it. Those whispers between the stars. However, she had still so much to do, so much to...

When the shockwave of the Xel'Naga-artifact hit her body, everything exploded into pain. It ripped her apart, molecule by molecule. She could feel how her carapace dissolved, how her powers were drained from her body. Falling to her knees, she screamed in terror. As the bright light burned itself into her body, her mind started to fall apart too. The only thing that remained, was pain.

It was the last time she and Sarah Kerrigan were together. As the artifact purged her very existence, the only thing that remained behind was the broken, de-infested form of the former Ghost. Collapsing on the warm, fleshy floor, Sarah groaned in pain. She was finally free.

But at what costs?

* * *

 **Ulnar**

 **Present day**

* * *

That battle had marked the end of the hateful creature known as the "Queen of Blades". The personality, created by the Overmind itself and put into Sarah's head, had controlled her for over 4 years before she had finally been saved by Jim and his Raiders. Though the term "saved" was relative. She couldn't remember much of what had happened during those four years between her capture on Tarsonis and her fall on Char, but those few memories she could recall were extremely unpleasant.

When she had decided to return to the Swarm, she basically had assumed a title that wasn't really hers. However, it wasn't easy to say what had truly been "the other one" and what was "her". Over the course of time, both their consciousness had started to merge, even though Sarah had tried to fight it. When the Queen of Blades had died, it was as if a huge part of Sarah's brain had been ripped out of her skull. It had not been a pleasant experience...

As the scaly figure of the Queen of Blades looked down on Sarah now, the eyes of the Zerg emitted a yellow glow. So close to her, Sarah could feel the creature's raw power. She remembered that power well, it had been her own once. Now that she was human again, she longed for that much power. It was pathetic. _She_ was pathetic. Yet, looking up to her felt as if Sarah was in the eye of a hurricane. She looked _exactly_ like her old Zerg-self.

She could sense the emotions of the creature right in front of her. Again, this was impossible. Just like Fenix, this creature was supposed to be dead, killed by the Xel'Naga keystone. To think that this savage, brutal, and inhuman beast was still alive...

"Flattery will get you nowhere, my dear." the Queen of Blade cooed and grinned at Sarah. The look on the Zerg's face sent shivers down her spine.

This was impossible! First Fenix, now the Queen of Blades? What was going on here?

"Haven't you figured it out yet, my little pet? Or should I say; big sister?" The words of the Zerg made Sarah angry. She didn't need any more of this crap, especially not from the very being that had ruined her whole life.

"Haven't...I...figured out what, beast?!" she hissed at the Zerg. The Queen of Blades started to laugh, and it sent a shiver down Sarah's spine.

"So much for ascended godlike being! Ha! Do you still not get it?" The Queen of Blades spread out her arms and blade wings, including everything around them.

"Welcome to hell, Sarah Kerrigan! We're so happy that you're finally here!"

For a long moment, there was only silence. The only sound that could be heard was Sarah's ragged breath. Fenix had claimed to have returned from the Void. That was actually not entirely impossible. She had fought countless of Amon's minions, empty husks that had become one with the Void, unable to exist in the normal universe. So what if Fenix's soul, spirit, whatever, had actually found its way into the Void, only to return as a manifestation that...

Oh God, what a stupid idea!

However, it was still better than the Queen of Blades' explanation.

"Bull...shit..." Sarah said with a pain-ridden expression on her face. The Queen of Blades' expression became disappointed while making "Tsk-Tsk-Tsk"-sounds.

"Oh dear, you think that I would lie to you? I've never lied to you. I was cruel, brutal and ruthless, yes. But never a liar."

"You...betrayed Jim...and Fenix..." Sarah replied, which caused the Queen of Blades to shrug.

"Oh well, you got me there." she said in a carefree tone and a smile appeared on her face. "Though I have to admit; it's funny that you bring up Fenix. Don't tell me you regret killing him. Or do you even pity him? He just sliced your belly open, you know. Maybe you should check your eyesight."

"I...did not kill...Fenix..." Sarah spat out. "That was you..."

The smile disappeared from the Queen's face.

"Oh Sarah, my dear, delusional little Sarah. Of course, it was you. It has always been you. Don't you see? There was never a _Me_ and _You_. It was always _Us_." Those words were enough for Sarah to feel the anger rising inside her chest.

"You made me do all of those things!" she yelled with far more strength than she had thought possible. "You made me slaughter all those people! Not just Fenix, but so many innocent! So many friends and good people. Their blood is on my hands because of you! I could never go back to..." And then she started to cry.

"Go back to _what_?" the Queen asked with an annoyed tone in her voice. "To what, Sarah? A normal life? Ha! Since when have we ever been able to do that, I wonder? Hmm? Well?" She looked at the broken Ghost with glowing eyes. Even without her psionics, Sarah could sense the Queen's anger.

"Face it, Sarah." the Queen snarled. "You were never human. You were a toy, a tool for the ambitions of others. First the Confederation, then Arcturus. Even Jim only used you for his own pleasure." Sarah gritted her teeth when she heard that. The way the Queen talked about Jim made her furious. If she only had left those emotions behind, if she had just abandoned her humanity sooner then none of this would have happened.

 _I guess she too would like to get rid of the human factor..._

"Your assumption is incorrect. Again, I might add." The Queen looked at the bloody woman lying at her feet. She wrinkled her nose at the sight.

"Pathetic. At least accept what you were back then! We were great! No, we were divine! We had everything and no one dared to face us without a whole army at their disposal. And even then they feared us! So why do you lie to yourself? Being _human_? You were _Zerg_! Maybe I have to remind you what that means, my dear Sarah."

The moment the Queen of Blades said those words, Sarah's body was ravaged by horrible pain. She screamed and rolled around as she felt how her tight Ghost suit (or what was left of it) was ripped apart. So was the soft skin beneath it. Her screams sounded like that of a sick animal, filling the corridors of Ulnar with yells of terror.

She could feel how her skin and flesh were torn apart, and how her bones were broken, only for her body to be remade. Her entire world exploded into pain. Disgusting sounds of ripping tissue filled the area. However, the worst thing was that she already knew what was happening to her.

 _Break bones, tear flesh. Make it great..._

A cold and cruel voice echoed through the back of her mind. Something burst out from her lower back. It felt hot, wet and absolutely horrible. She could hear how claws scratched over the hard surface beneath her and she realized in shock that those were her own claws. Her muscles lay open, the red flesh glistened in the twilight. The carapace formed quickly, hiding her flesh under a hard, protective shell. The moment when her scalp started to itch and burst open was especially brutal. As the long tendrils began to replace her red hair, she howled in pain. Tears were running over her cheeks as she lay in a puddle of her own blood and torn off skin.

When the pain finally started to subside after a long, long time, she could hear the voice of the Queen of Blades again.

"Now, isn't that much better? Purple was always your color."

Whimpering, Sarah looked up to her old self.

"Wha...what have you done...to me..." A proud smile appeared on the Queens' face.

"Why, I made you whole again. See for yourself!" As Sarah's eyes wandered down her own body, she started to scream in shock. She had her body back. Her old body, her Zerg-body. She had become the Queen of Blades once more.

"Oh, I don't think so. Didn't you say that I'm the real Queen of Blades? Or have you changed your mind about that?" the Queen asked. So she could read her thoughts too?

"Why so surprised? We were one and the same once. Maybe you shouldn't think of us as two minds in one body, but rather two bodies with a single mind. Isn't that what the Zerg truly represent? Unity of mind? Or..." the Queen asked herself while her finger tipped against her chin. "...how did the Xel'Naga call it again? Purity of Form? No wait, that were the Protoss. Ha, I always mix those two things up."

Sarah's confusion was greater than ever. However, as the pain left her body, she realized that the wound that Fenix had inflicted on her had vanished. Zerg regeneration was simply unmatched. Jumping to her feet, she brought her blade wings up and pointed her sharp talons right at the Queen of Blade. Sarah's eyes glowed in a bright purple, yet the Queen didn't seem to care much about any of this.

"Oh, please. I'm not here to fight you. I'm not Fenix. Besides, why should I hurt myself? That is something so very human." she said, chuckling like she just had told Sarah a joke.

"We're not the same!" Sarah yelled at the Queen, whose eyebrows went up.

"Oh, really? Then what was all that musing about getting rid of your humanity about? If you don't want to be human, what else is there left? You don't seem very Protoss to me, you know. Besides, let's not delude ourselves; with our volatile temperament, we're not exactly good Protoss-material." the Queen explained and Sarah hissed at her before making a few steps back. Now that her body was at least Zerg again, she could feel the power and will to fight flowing through her entire being. The Queen sighed.

"Let it rest. I told you; I'm not here to fight you. I'm here to help you. I've waited so long for you, I don't want to be alone again." Sarah growled at the Queens words, not believing even a single one of them.

"Very well, choose to believe what you want. I won't fight you. I would be careful if I were you, though. Fenix will definitely not hold back once he sees you like this."

"This is just another ruse. Narud, I know it's you!" Sarah yelled into the Queens face, who threw her head back and started to laugh out long and hard.

"Hahahaha. Narud? You still believe that I'm him? Or that Fenix is him? Hahaha, very well, believe what you want. But it won't change the fact that I'm not Narud. He is dead. By the way, I have to thank you for that. And Stukov I guess. That Duran had used me and my beloved Swarm like his toy, to know that his last moments were filled with terror and pain pleases me." the Queen mused.

"I'm so happy for you..." Sarah spat at her. "...that still doesn't mean that I believe any of what you just told me." The Queen shrugged her shoulders when she heard that and turned around.

"Fine, if that's how you want it to be. I won't argue with myself, that just seems too schizophrenic, even for us." she said as she started to walk away.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sarah demanded to know.

"Why don't you follow me and find out? You won't believe my words anyway." the Queen replied.

"Right, so you can lure me into your trap!"

"That is, of course, a possibility. Fine then, stay here. There is no time in hell, you can stay right in this place for all of eternity. A fair warning though; should Fenix decide to go on a little Zerg hunt, he will most likely not hold back once he sees you in your current form. And trust me, he can be quite bothersome when he's angry." Sarah tried to sense the Queens true intentions by scanning her mind, but all she could sense was honesty, which was scary in its own regard.

She clenched her hands into fists and snarled in anger, but in the end, she had no other choice but to comply.

Walking through the dark corridors of Ulnar was strange. Doing so with another version of yourself was even stranger. Yet, the Queen of Blades didn't seem to mind the situation one bit. As she was walking in front of Sarah, the now-again-Zerg watched the back of her former self with caution.

"Still mistrusting me?" the Queen asked as she looked over the shoulder.

"Wouldn't you do the same?" Sarah replied, however, the Queen only laughed when she heard that.

"No. There is no point in mistrust between Zerg."

"I'm not Zerg!" Sarah hissed.

"Of course, you're a beautiful butterfly."

"I am not a _Zerg_!" Sarah yelled. Suddenly the Queen stopped and turned around.

"Then what are you?" she asked.

Sarah opened her mouth, ready to throw a reply right into the Queens' face. However, that's when she realized that she had no idea what to tell that creature. She was...she was...

All she could do was to stare right into the Queen of Blades eyes, unable to answer that question. After some time, the Queen simply shrugged her shoulders before turning around and resume to walk down the dark corridor.

"Thought so." the Queen stated.

Sarah stared at her own hands. No, her own claws. These were the extremities of a monstrosity.

"That lies in the eye of the beholder, my dear!" the Queen said when she heard Sarah's thoughts. The confused woman looked in anger at her other self.

"Would you stop doing that?" she snarled.

"No. Now come on, there's something I want to show you."

Sarah felt utterly helpless. It was another strange experience. She knew what being weak felt like. However, now that she was back in her old body, now that she was Zerg again, everything seemed different. It seemed wrong. As a Zerg, she had only known one sensation; power. She had been Prometheus unbound. The only thing that had outmatched her power had been her anger. The thrill of battle, the feeling of crushing skulls with her bare hands, of tearing tanks apart with her blade wings, of frying her enemies' minds with her own psionic abilities, it had been _glorious_. She had earned the right to be the most feared and hated creature in the entire sector. Her very presence had turned brave men into shivering cowards. As it was supposed to be.

No, that hadn't been her. It was the Queen of Blades, she wanted her to think that they were one and the same. Sarah might have been Zerg in the past, but she was a victim too!

Now she was Zerg again, but the fear still dwelt inside her. And she didn't like that feeling one bit. Yet there was more. When Sarah had returned to the Swarm, when she had traveled to Zerus in order to absorb the essence of the Primal Zergs, she had felt more powerful than ever before. What had her own words been?

 _I feel like I can rip worlds apart..._

Now she knew that even the power of the primal Queen of Blades was nothing when compared to the power she had wielded for only a short amount of time. Even her Zerg-body felt inadequate when she thought about her ascension. As she stared at the back of the Queen of Blades, Sarah frowned. She still couldn't accept the fact that this creature truly was the wretched Queen of Blades.

"Tell me something..." she said to her other self.

"You want to know why Fenix is here if this is hell." the Queen read Sarah's mind.

"Yes."

The Queen of Blades shrugged her shoulders.

"I haven't asked him directly. He...tends to get angry when he sees me. Kinda understandable if you think about it. As for why he is here, well, I think it's the shame of getting betrayed by us that keeps him in this place. He claims that his spirit came back from beyond the Void. But who knows, you can ask him if you want to." the Queen said while smiling at Sarah, who put her hands on her stomach, right where Fenix's psi-blade had impaled her.

"I think I'll pass."

As they continued to move through the dark corridors of Ulnar, Sarah decided to not talk to the Queen of Blades anymore. She saw no purpose in that. The Queen didn't seem to mind. As they walked down the corridor ahead of them, Sarah looked at the inscriptions on the wall. They showed Zerg and Protoss and of course the Xel'Naga. Suddenly she realized that she was the same place where she had met Artanis on Ulnar. She didn't understand anything on those walls, except the brutally obvious.

"I don't suppose you understand any of this?" she asked the Queen.

"I do, as a matter of fact. The question is; will you believe me if I tell you?" That was actually a good question. However, Sarah was tired of playing games.

"Enlighten me." she told the Queen, who stopped all of the sudden and turned around.

"Did you honestly think that returning here and reading the inscriptions on these walls would tell you what you need to know?" the Queen asked her.

"What?"

"You heard me. You came back here because you thought that this place would show you how to truly ascend, how to leave that rest of your humanity behind. I know, I can see it in your mind."

"If this is supposed to be hell, why should this place offer me any answers?" asked Sarah, to which the Queen smiled at her in a cruel manner.

"This _is_ hell, my dear. Even if this place has the knowledge you seek, you will never be able to use it. Because you will never leave this place again. It teases you, drives you mad. You think you're almost there, that you have almost reached your goal, only to see it ripped away from your hands." Sarah could sense the Queens frustrations. She crossed the arms in front of her chest but said nothing. It was answer enough.

"Assuming that _it will eventually work out_ is a very human concept, you know that? Here, let me show you something." the Queen then said before walking towards one of the inscriptions, touching it with her fingers. The figures on the wall immediately flashed up in a bright, green light. Suddenly, the whole world started to shift an blur around the both Zerg-women...

* * *

"You can't be serious!" Jim yelled at Aldaris, who remained calm. They stood in front of the gate again, only this time it was sealed shut. Next to Jim stood Zagara, her head lowered in shame and sadness. Matt was nowhere to be seen.

"The other ones have made their decision. No one will listen to your mad rambling anymore." Aldaris stated with a cold voice. Sarah could see the utter disbelief on Jim's face. His face and the look on it caused her heart to ache in pain.

"This is a mistake, and you know it!" Jim pointed his finger towards Zagara. "She can tell you the same thing; this iteration of the Infinite Cycle is in _peril_. If we don't act now, if we don't take drastic measures, everything will end. _Everything_!" Aldaris squinted his eyes in anger upon hearing those words.

"And your solution is that we raise a hand against one of our own? That we break the sacred law that no Xel'Naga shall end without passing on his essence? You are suggesting that we cast out one of our own, that we doom him to a life in darkness, and a death in the cold emptiness of the Void. I ask you; have _you_ lost your mind?" Aldaris words did not miss their intention. Anger welled up inside Jim as he pointed his finger at the Protoss.

"While you were deliberating all those millennia, Amon has already broken our most sacred laws! He has interfered with the evolution of not just one, but two species. He has _altered_ their evolution! This is against everything the Infinite Cycle stands for! Yet you say that he _probably_ has a good reason. There is no good reason for doing something like that!" Jim yelled in anger. He was referring to both the Zerg and the Protoss, at least that was what Sarah assumed.

"Amon will answer for that once he returns to us. I am certain that he has a good expla-" Aldaris began.

"He's using them for his own agenda! Can't you see it? They're a tool to him!" Jim shouted, to which Zagara nodded.

"Honorable Elder, he is right. I've seen how he manipulated the Gardeners into doing his work. I saw it with my own eyes when they altered the evolution of some creatures. It was as if Amon was controlling them somehow." Zagara said with a pleading tone in her voice.

"Be quiet, child! I will listen to of this nonsense no more. Both of you are out of your minds. I have no idea what has caused this, but the Covenant shall judge your treacherous thoughts once they have awakened. But before that, they will hear out Amon, once he has returned." Aldaris decided.

"By that time it will be too late. If Amon arrives here, he will do as he pleases. Please, old friend, just listen to me this one time; trust me with this. Wake the others now. When we're all together, Amon can't do anything. If I'm wrong, I will gladly go into hibernation. I will even pass on my essence to the next uplifted one. But if I'm right-" Jim urged Aldaris.

"You're delusional, Ouros!" Aldaris barked.

Ouros...

The last Xel'Naga...

The one whose essence Sarah had received...

* * *

The shocking revelation forced Sarah's consciousness back into her skull. She gasped and stumbled backward as her body and mind became one again. She looked at the inscriptions that were still glowing with energy. Her hands grabbed her head and she groaned in pain. It was like a migraine, only ten thousand times worse.

"What...was _that_?" she asked herself in shock. The Queen of Blades lowered her hands and turned towards Sarah.

"That is what you came for. Knowledge."

"But...but...that was Jim...I saw Jim. And Aldaris! And he called Jim Ouros..." Sarah stuttered. Was there nothing in this place that made any sense?

"What you saw was not Jim. Those were the memories of the Xel'Naga who lived here. Your mind has probably decided to show you the people you wanted to see. Make no mistake; that was not Jim Raynor. Or Aldaris." The Queen of Blades finally turned around before she moved on. This time Sarah had no reservations of following the other Zerg.

"But...they appeared so...so..."

"Flawed?" the Queen said and chuckled. "Maybe you have to lower your standards, my dear."

After a while of walking silently down the endless corridors, Sarah finally found the strength to say something.

"It doesn't make any sense. Artanis always called the Xel'Naga his gods. They possessed the power to seed worlds with life, to create whole species. Yet they were so...so..."

"Ordinary?" the Queen suggested. Yes. That was right. They were ordinary.

"None of that would have happened if they had left their petty feelings behind. They made everyone believe they were gods, yet they were just a bunch of assholes." Sarah snarled.

"Indeed." the Queen replied. "And to think that they believed in peace and tranquility. Well, most of them. But we both now that those ideals are just lies. In the end, the only thing that matters is strength and brutality, the survival of the fittest!"

"What?" Sarah asked and stopped. The Queen turned around.

"The meaning of our existence; to fight, to destroy, to conquer, to devour, to _evolve_. We are Zerg, are we not?" Those words made Sarah angry.

"That's...that's not what I want! I'm not a monster! I am...I am..."

"Yes, tell me; what are you?" the Queen asked with a smirk on her face. However, there was no answer to that question. Sarah clenched her hands into fists and said nothing. The only thought that lingered in the back of her mind was the same thing over and over again.

 _If I had only left those stupid memories of Jim behind, if I had only left all of that behind. I can't be human. I can't be Zerg. I have to become nothing in order to truly ascend!_

As her thoughts were racing through her head, she didn't notice how the Queen of Blades looked at her. The face of the Zerg showed sadness and disappointment. She shook her head before turning around and went on walking.

"Come on, we're almost there." the Queen of Blades explained and Sarah looked up in confusion.

"Almost where?" she wanted to know.

"There's someone who wants to meet you. This should be fun, since you're old friends after all. And don't worry, it's not Fenix." The Queen chuckled at her own words, but Sarah had an uneasy feeling about what she had to expect.

"I'm not sure I want to know who that person is," she mumbled, which caused the Queen to laugh out loud.

"Oh, trust me; you _don't_ want to know. But this is hell, and we don't have much of a choice here." And then they finally reached the end of the corridor. Sarah blinked as she saw the same gate she had seen before. She immediately looked around in fear, however, Fenix was nowhere to be seen.

"Relax. Fenix isn't here right now." The Queen then started to giggle. "Though you'll probably want _him_ to mess with you rather than the other one." _That_ didn't sound good. The Queen stayed inside the corridor and pointed with her finger at the gate.

"He's over there. Better not keep him waiting, he doesn't like that. But I think you know that." The Queen then turned around and walked back the other direction. Sarah looked at her in surprise.

"Are you not coming with me?" she asked. The Queen looked over her shoulder and showed Sarah a cold and cruel smile.

"No. It pains me to admit that, but he always manages to make me lose my temper. Besides..." she said and started to laugh. It was a cruel laugh, fitting of the Queen of Blades. "...I will always be a part of you, my dear."

Sarah had to swallow hard when she heard those words. She watched how the Queen of Blades vanished into the darkness of those endless corridors before she finally turned around. For a moment she thought about running off somewhere else. She still did not believe that this was hell. However, now that she had her Zerg body back, maybe she could try to escape this dreadful place. She could return to the Koprulu Sector, return to Char and take back the control over the Swarm again. Zagara wouldn't be happy, but at least there was a place she could return to. And she would be able to keep the promise she had given to Izsha. And then...and then...

No. That thought was only wishful thinking. She couldn't return to the Zerg. They were now their own masters. And besides, the Queen of Blades had been right about one thing; the Zerg dominate. They devour. They conquer. However, Sarah felt no urge to start another war. No, she was no longer Zerg. But...what was she now anyway?

When she moved down the stairs and towards the gate, she didn't look around. The Queen had told her that Fenix wasn't around. Maybe she had lied to her, but at some point she had to believe something. And if she couldn't trust herself (so to say), then who could she trust anyway?

This time she was more careful as she approached the gate and stayed away from every shadow. As she stopped in front of it, she remembered how Jim, no, Ouros had stood there, right where she was standing now. What had caused the Xel'Naga to turn on each other? How had one individual been able to cause such an advanced society to fall apart? The only logical answer to that was that they had been flawed beings, and that Amon had played them for fools. He was the one who had caused their downfall.

"And once more you prove to me that you haven't learned anything from all of this." a new voice suddenly spoke to her. Her whole body started to shake in fear and anger. Her blade wings rattled, ready to strike at the figure that stepped out of the shadow. As the Terran walked into the light, Sarah's eyes widened in pure rage.

"The people always gave you more credit than you deserved..." the man said with a disgusted tone in his voice. "...and you managed to betray everyone that ever cared about you."

" _You!_ " Sarah hissed.

"Welcome home, my child!" With an arrogant smile, Arcturus Mengsk opened his arms, greeting his former arch-enemy. "I'm so glad that you could join us."


	7. Prologue Chapter 5

**...**

* * *

 **Prologue**

 **Chapter 5**

 **(Un)Happy Reunion**

* * *

„I AM NOT YOUR CHILD!" Sarah roared with all fury in her heart. So that's what the Queen of Blades had meant. Yes, the very presence of this man was enough to drive her into a mad frenzy. Without wasting another thought, like for example how it was even possible for Arcturus to be here in the first place, she stormed forward, claws and blade wings raised high, ready to rip that man into pieces.

The logical part of her mind knew that this couldn't be Arcturus Mengsk. She had killed him on Korhal, inside the walls of his very own palace. She remembered how she had forced so much psionic energy into his head, enough to kill a thousand people, ripping his very existence apart and purging him from this universe without a trace. It had probably been an overkill, but back then Sarah hadn't cared about that.

And she still didn't care.

It had to be an illusion. Narud, an echo from beyond the Void, the hell, whatever you like to call it. Sarah just didn't care. Seeing Mengsk like that was, well, if it truly was Narud beneath that coat, skin, and beard, then Narud had turned into a complete idiot. Hiding as one's archenemy was not exactly a wise idea. She would slice him apart, over and over again. A part of her hoped that the other version of her was right about this being hell

Because if this truly was hell, then killing Mengsk for all of eternity didn't sound so bad to her.

As she dashed towards her enemy with superhuman speed, she suddenly jumped high up into the air in order to strike down upon him. Maybe she should have taken her sweet time with him, enjoyed torturing him over and over again, just like he had done with her. But no, right now all she wanted was to feel his brain on her bony high-heels, to lick his blood off her fingers. It would be enough for now.

Unfortunately, her heel never made contact with his skull. Before she could crush him beneath her claws, something sharp and hot hit her in the side. Pain flashed through her entire body, enough to press all the air from her lungs. She could feel how something penetrated her chest on the right side, broke through some of her ribs, and shredded her right lung into pieces. Even though the pain was excruciating, her mind immediately knew what had hit her.

 _Ripper-ammo, designed to maim, not kill. Standard Ghost-equipment._

The shot was well placed, and under normal circumstances lethal, yet Sarah simply changed her trajectory while being in mid-air and managed to land on her feet. Mengsk had to wait, this was more important. She pressed one hand on the bleeding wound. In a way, it was even more horrible than the wound Fenix had inflicted. The psi-blade had stabbed her, yes. But the ripper-round was meant to put hundreds of sharp shrapnel into the victim's body. It was no wonder that even the old Confederacy had banned that type of ammunition, at least officially. However, as a Ghost-operative she had used hundreds of those rounds to inflict as much damage as possible.

It had been Jim who had urged her to stop using that type of ammunition.

"Killing a person is one thing, Darlin'..." he had said to her. "...but even if that's how life is, there's no need to be especially cruel." Ha, good old Jim. He was all heart after all.

She didn't recognize the Ghost that had fired on her. Looking at the operative was pointless since her adversary wore a mask that covered the entire face. It was a man, that much was obvious. However, even the mental footprint was unknown to her. Well, the Ghost project had produced thousands of commandos after her defection, so it was not really a surprise that she didn't recognize this particular Ghost. How that Ghost, let alone the old bastard Mengsk, had managed to come to Ulnar was beyond her, but she would deal with that mystery later.

The Ghost was moving towards her. He kept his rifle pointed at her body and was shooting like a machine. His precision was impressive and another round hit Sarah the moment she landed on the ground, penetrating her shoulder. She grunted in pain as the projectile turned her left shoulder into a bloody mess. It was a deadly wound. A vicious wound. A painful wound.

A wound that made the Primal Queen of Blades just angry.

With a loud and monstrous roar, she stormed towards the Ghost. The operative fired more rounds at her, but like a Zergling on stim-packs, she just dodged those bullets. However, the closer she got, the shorter the time to avoid getting hit became. She was just a few meters away when another round hit her stomach. It penetrated her carapace and entered her lower body, turning her intestines into mush. It didn't matter because Queen of Blades still advanced. Her hand grabbed the barrel of the rifle, yet the Ghost managed to fire one last round. Sarah howled in pain and anger when her hand exploded and flesh, blood, and gore flew everywhere. It was a horrible sight, but she didn't care. She still had another hand and two blade wings. She would rip that guy apart and eat him alive if necessary!

Anger, hate, and rage flowed through her veins. Maybe the Queen, the _other_ Queen, had been right about this. What had told Sarah? They were the same anyway? Yes, right now she had to agree to that. It was her rage, her hatred, her will to devour and destroy that kept her on her feet. And right now she would enjoy every damn second of it.

Ghosts were deadly enemies, even without their guns or their psionic abilities. They knew many different ways of unarmed combat, enough to kill every conventional enemy with bare hands. Too bad that the Queen of Blades was anything _but_ conventional. Sarah's broken arm smashed the Ghost's rifle out of his hands. Her still remaining hand grabbed the operative's face. She wrapped her fingers around the mask with superhuman strength. At the same time, the Ghost did the one thing he was trained to do; he grabbed his combat-knife attached to his thigh, and with a swift move, he rammed it deep into Sarah's chest. It was a special knife, strong enough to penetrate even the hardest armor. It went right through her hardened carapace and shredded her heart apart. The pain was unbearable, but the attack was utterly futile since it only destroyed _one_ of her three hearts.

Breaking a girl's heart(s), the Sarah Kerrigan-Edition.

Unfortunately for the Ghost, he couldn't take the same amount of punishment that he could dish out. With a loud and animalistic roar, Sarah crushed his head between her fingers. Blood, bones and gray matter covered her claws when the still twitching corpse landed on the floor. It felt _good_. She coughed up some blood before turning back towards Mengsk.

"You don't look so good, my dear." Mengsk said with a smug grin on his face. With a painful yell, she pressed her destroyed shoulder back into the right position and her regeneration instantly kicked in.

"Oh, don't mind _me_. _You_ should be more worried about your own health, old man!" she hissed as her wounds started to close. Her mauled arm began to regenerate as well. It didn't even take one minute for her hand to be back in action and the shock and the pain were already forgotten. There was only one thing that mattered.

"Now no one will save you, Mengsk!" she roared as she stormed towards him.

"Hmpf, again you're wrong, my dear. Because unlike you, I have always a backup plan." Sarah didn't listen as she ran towards the man that had caused her so much pain. Again, she leaped high up into the air, ready to strike down upon him. She owed her heels the feeling of Arcturus's crushed head. This time there was no ripper-round that hit her as she closed in on Mengsk, she made sure of that. She focused on her psionic abilities and a faint glow started to surround her, a psionic shield that would protect her from any more bullets. He was directly beneath her and looked up with a self-righteous grin on his face. It was the same expression he always showed when something went in his favor. Only this time she would-

 _ **WAAAMMMM!**_

"UNF!" Sara could only press out when something _massive_ hit her body and threw her far away. Her whole world turned inside out and upside down, and everything exploded in pain. Even though her psionic shield saved her life, it was not strong enough to nullify the entire effect the tank round had on her. On rumbling tank treads the siege tank rolled out of a corridor, its mighty cannon still aiming at Sarah. The Primal Queen of Blades landed hard on the floor and coughed up even more blood. Though the projectile had not penetrated her psionic shield, it had possessed enough strength to break several of her ribs. Groaning in pain, Sarah tried to get back on her feet.

Where the effin' hell had that tank come from?!

Before she could do anything, the tank fired again. She managed to deflect the round once more, but her body was still hurled into the air before it was smashed against a wall. She could feel how her spine broke, but it didn't matter. She had survived worse. Besides, a Zerg can move its legs even with a broken spine. Looking at the machine, she spat out even more blood. Mending her wounds, her bones snapped back into the right position, causing agonizing pain. But she was used to pain. Pain had been by her side for almost her entire life. Yes, pain was the only constant in her life. Her friend, her foe, her partner and her only companion. And now she would share that special friendship with the crew inside that tank.

Isn't friendship just _magic_?

Using her bone wings to get back onto her feet, she catapulted herself forward as the tank fired another round. The projectile smashed into the wall behind Sarah, blowing it apart. Dust and stones erupted from the damaged wall, causing Sarah to vanish for the fraction of a second. The turret of the tank immediately started to fire over and over again. Rounds after rounds hit the wall and obliterated it. The tank nearly emptied its entire combat load before its smoking barrel fell silent.

The only thing that could be heard was the hydraulics of the turret as it went from one side to the other, looking for any trace left of the Queen of Blades.

Suddenly something emerged from all of that dust and smoke. It was fast. Like, _really_ fast. It jumped high up into the air, followed by a trail of smoke and debris. As Sarah reached the apex of her flight, she looked down with nothing but fury in her eyes. The tank crew had spotted her, but its cannon could not follow her movement. The big machine started to move back, yet it was too slow. When she crashed down onto the tank, her fist broke through the reinforced steel of the turret, and a wave of compressed psionic energies flooded the inside of the machine, killing everyone inside and igniting both the energy cells and the remaining ammunition.

The explosion was impressive. The tank was simply ripped apart from the inside. As the explosion engulfed Sarah, the fire burned her skin and carapace, yet as she emerged from the flames, her eyes were only fixated on Mengsk. This time...this time she would shred him into pieces.

"You're getting ahead of yourself again, my dear. Even with all the power you possessed, you were never able to think outside the box. That is why it was so easy to use you. And that is also the reason why you failed so miserably." Mengsk said as if he could sense her thoughts. However, she wasn't even listening anymore, the rage was the only thing that kept her going. That and the pain. Even though her carapace and skin started to heal, every step was pure hell.

"Heads up, people! She's over there!" a new voice suddenly reached her ears. She turned her head to the left and saw how a group of bulky people left another corridor. Marines, and they wore the red and gray colors of the Dominion. Without wasting any time, the Marines raised their rifles and started to fire. Their bullets were neither as destructive as the Ghosts ripper-ammo, nor as powerful as the tank rounds. But there were many. The word "bullet-storm" was pretty damn adequate. Even though her psionic shield deflected most of those bullets, some managed to penetrate her shield. She hissed in pain as hot shrapnel hit her face and cut off some of her nerve-cords. It was like looking into an exploding glass-storm.

"Protect the Emperor!" she heard one marine yell. Big mistake. So they wanted to die for their great and noble Emperor? Oh, Sarah would be more than willing to help them with that! Running towards the marines, she spread her blade wings and rammed them into two unlucky soldiers. Their screams of pain were music to her ears, this was the soundtrack of her life. Once she had dealt with them, Mengsk would-

"Keep your shirts on, sparkies!" one marine yelled before pointing his rifle at Sarah's head, but she was too fast. The moment he pressed the trigger of his gun, the tip of her blade-wing smashed through his closed visor and emerged on the other side of the helmet.

She was like a living tornado filled with razors, turning all those brave (and stupid) men into minced meat. She didn't feel any guilt or remorse, just plain bloodlust. Besides, anyone who was stupid enough to side with Mengsk deserved a cruel and horrible death.

And boy, did she make a mess!

While Sarah turned the marines inside out, she could see Mengsk still standing in front of the gate, with his hands behind his back. He didn't show any sign of turning away in order to run, even though Sarah was only a short leap away from him. There was even a smirk on his face. That bastard! She would peel the skin of his face and made him eat it! When she was nearly done with the marines, she mentally prepared to go after Mengsk. She hadn't counted her victims, it must have been a platoon, maybe more. Now it was kinda hard to count them, with all those torn out limbs laying around everywhere. Some were still standing, firing their guns, throwing themselves at her in a poor attempt to stop that which was unstoppable.

"There she is, get her!" a new voice reached her ears. She looked around while ripping another marine into two pieces. More soldiers were approaching, and they had brought more tanks with them. And not only that, she could see Goliaths and even more guns. Great, just great. She slashed the last remaining marine into two pieces before turning towards Mengsk. Enough games! This was starting to get bothersome. Do it the Ghost-way, get in, claim the kill, get out. Only much messier.

Her body accelerated faster than a vulture bike, and with another mighty leap, she was high up in the air again. This time she made her psionic shield strong enough to protect her from a whole barrage from those tanks. _Nothing_ would come between her and Mengsk now!

Nothing, except the Odin.

She could see Mengsk's face, she could practically smell his overpriced yet cheap smelling aftershave. Her hand reached out, ready to ram her claws deep into his eyes when suddenly a wall of steel crashed down between the two of them. She looked up, realizing that the wall of steel was actually moving towards her. It was a gigantic mechanical arm. She remembered this thing, she had seen it on Korhal, during the siege of Mengsk's palace. He had sent it to deal with Jim's forces, so she in returned had dealt with his overpriced and oversized toy.

The arm hit her in mid-air, throwing her back. Even though it was so huge, it was surprisingly fast and maneuverable. The punch was hard enough to smash through her psionic shield and sent her flying. She crashed into another wall and fell down on her knees. Sarah coughed up some more blood. Even she wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer...

Maybe this was hell after all, and all she could do was trying to kill Mengsk, always so close yet never able to get a grip on him.

She slammed her fist into the ground in order to vent her frustration and the cold floor beneath her cracked. If fully unleashed, the wrath of the Primal Queen of Blades was enough to tear down even the mighty walls of Ulnar, destroying all the knowledge that rested inside this place.

In the end what good was all the knowledge in the world if she was in hell?

"This place is not hell, my child."

Sarah's eyes widened when the man that had caused her so much pain spoke to her.

"Still ferocious as ever. Yet, it still seems that you can't control your temper. Now that is pretty disappointing if you ask me." She didn't even bother to reply with words, she just hissed at him like any good Zerg would. Some of his soldiers moved to his side and formed a living shield around him. Others surrounded Sarah and all the weapons in this place were suddenly pointed at her.

"You never knew when to quit, just like Raynor. You two truly deserved each other." Arcturus spat Jim's name out like it was some kind of venom.

"I should have killed both of you when I had the chance." he then added, yet Sarah didn't listen to the old man's rambling and instead threw herself into battle again. There were people that needed to be slaughtered. It was her kind of work. Bullets, tank rounds and missiles rained down on her. Suddenly the whole area was full of soldiers and guns and weapons and whatnot. It defied all reason. Where did those troops have come from? However, Sarah didn't care, she was in "Full-Metal-Zerg"-mode right now, fighting for her life and the right to call herself the Queen Bitch of the Universe again.

And while she was massacring endless numbers of Terrans, Mengsk just stood there and watched her with a cruel smirk on his face. It was as if he knew something she didn't, and his very presence was enough to drive her mad.

The Primal Queen of Blades was so fast that the tank-turrets and missiles couldn't keep up with her. The gunfire did injure her, but she chose to ignore it. Still, even she had her limits. As more numbers of soldiers poured from all directions towards her, she felt how her wounds didn't heal as fast as before. Jumping behind a burning wreckage of a tank, she wanted to use the moment to catch a breath. Maybe she-

"UNF...!" was the only sound that came out of her throat when the wreckage of the tank was blown to bits. She was thrown through the air and everything turned upside down. Sarah felt excruciating pain when her whole body was ripped apart by gunfire. She screamed in rage for her minions to protect their Queen, but the Swarm wasn't here. She was alone.

Sarah managed to land on her feet but dropped to her knees immediately. Blood covered her whole body, both that of her victims and her own. The gunfire stopped, and for a brief moment, she thought that it was over.

 _THUMB...THUMB...THUMB..._

She felt the heavy vibrations of something huge storming towards her. For a second she thought that Fenix had finally found her, but then she realized that this thing was even bigger than that goddamn Protoss. With loud and heavy steps the Odin charged right at her. All other soldiers backed away, no one wanted to get in the way of that metallic monstrosity. It pained Sarah to admit it, but this thing was even more frightening than an Ultralisk. It's mighty cannons took aim, ready to blow her into tiny bits. One round of those guns would be enough to rip her into pieces, ending her life for good given her current state.

She had to finish this, one way or the other!

Mustering all the strength that was left to her, Sarah got back on her feet. With the help of her blade wings, she catapulted herself high up in the air once more in order to jump over that dreadful machine. She could see the tiny figure of Mengsk, surrounded by countless marines, ghosts, and other enemies. It didn't matter, this time she would go all out on him. She focused all of her raw psionic energies and her body was engulfed by a bright, purple light. That much energy was dangerous, even for her. It could kill her. It _would_ kill her. But she didn't care about that, not anymore. A part of her realized that there was no hope left. The only thing she could do was to take Mengsk, Narud, or whatever that thing was with her. That would be her last and final victory.

 _I'm sorry, Jim..._

After everything he had done for her, she had disappointed him yet again by throwing her life away in such a manner. The only good thing was that she wouldn't have to deal with this guilt for much longer.

Like a purple bolt of lightning, she descended upon Mengsk and his soldiers, who raised their rifles and opened fire. Their bullets hit Sarah's body, ripping holes into her carapace, damaging her internal organs. But she didn't care. This was it, she would end it with one final attack. She was so close, so close to her vengeance that-

 **WWWWHHAAAAAMMM!**

The whole ground shook when the Odin fired one of its mighty 330mm cannons. Sarah had been right, this monstrosity was even more frightening than a Ultralisk. At least an Ultralisk couldn't hit you while still flying through the air. The targeting system of thing was unreal! And so was the pain. The round itself weighed more than 20 kilograms, and Sarah's psionic shield wasn't nearly strong enough to deal with something so powerful right now. It was a high explosive round, and when it engulfed her, she could feel how her body disintegrated.

Pain. Everything was just pain. It was unbearable. When the broken figure landed on the floor, it didn't even resemble the Queen of Blades anymore. Almost all of Sarah's lower body had been blown apart, it was truly a gruesome sight. Only one arm and blade wing remained attached to her mutilated torso.

"Now this is awfully familiar." Mengsk muttered.

Mengsk...

 _Mengsk...Mengsk...Acturus...kill...slaughter...KILL HIM!_

Even like this, even when reduced to a piece of blood, flesh and broken bones, a Zerg would never yield. Using her remaining arm, Sarah pulled herself towards the Emperor while leaving a trail of blood and entrails behind her. Even she wouldn't be able to regenerate from this. It was over. She had failed everyone again. A huge shadow appeared over her and she could hear the Odin coming closer. Its mighty foot hovered above her for a second before crashing down. Sarah screamed in pain as the countless tons pressed her against the floor of Ulnar, pinning her down for good. Her blade wing was buried beneath what was left of her body, and only her arm and head remained free. Darkness was nagging at her peripheral vision.

"Now, that was very impressive." Mengsk said before finally walking towards the broken form of the primal Queen of Blades. She tried to reach out to him, even though it was pointless. He was only meters away, but she couldn't even move an inch. She could feel how her ribs cracked as the weight of the Odin started to crush her chest. Blood erupted from her mouth and covered the ground in front of her

"We could have avoided all of that if you had only realized the truth earlier, my dear." Mengsk said with a sad expression on his face. "Even though you won't believe me, I don't take pride in this. But the sad truth is that it has to be done. You're too much of a threat for all of us. Letting you live is a-"

"GO TO HELL!" Sarah gargled, lost in rage and hate. She didn't care anymore. She just wanted to tear him apart, to rip his face off his skull and feed it to him. Or infest him and make his life one miserable nightmare that would never end.

"I always liked that cruelness of you, my dear. It is the one trait that defines you the most. I knew that you possessed that unique ability, ever since you slaughtered my father and his family." It was true. She had been responsible for Mengsk's death, the old Mengsk, Arcturus' father. She and two other Ghosts had killed Angus Mengks, then-senator of the Confederate world of Korhal. Only days before the deed, the senator had declared Korhal to be a free world, independent from the Confederacy. And if there was one thing the Confederacy hadn't liked, it was defiance. So they had sent their elite black-ops unit. Sarah and the two other Ghosts had killed Angus, his wife, and their young daughter. In order to prove the death of the late senator, she had even decapitated him and taken his head with her.

By the time Arcturus had decided to recruit her, he had already known about her involvement in his families death.

"There is just as much blood on your hands as on mine, Arcturus." she snarled, breathing hard.

"That might be true, however, unlike you, I never enjoyed killing with my own two hands. You always liked to do it the old-fashioned way, man against woman." Cold started to creep through her body and she felt how her strength was fading away.

"So this is my hell...to listen...to you _mocking_ me...for all of eternity." she gargled and Mengsk began to laugh at her words.

"Oh my dear, this isn't hell. Is that what that darn creature has told you?" As he continued to laugh at her, she felt anger taking control of her again.

"Save your...laughter, Arcturus! I don't...care what you have to say. Of all people in this galaxy, you always have been the best liar around." she pressed out while she started to feel so damn tired.

"Oh, no false modesty here, my dear. I might have used one little lie in the past as means to ensure the survival of my people, but you..." he snarled at her. "...your very existence has always been a lie. Trying to pass as a human, even though you were never anything else but a monster." His words were like a blade, hitting her in all the right places.

"YOU TURNED ME INTO A MONSTER!" she screamed in rage. "You left me behind on Tarsonis, left me to the Zerg, you're the one that turned me into...into...THIS!" she looked at her own Zerg-body. Well, what was left of it anyway. Arcturus shook his head in disappointment.

"No, my dear. You were never human to begin with. You were just a twisted creature. You killed your own parents, remember? What kind of creature does that? Not even the Zerg do that if I remember correctly. You were never human. You were a weapon, a tool. But you foolish thing started to believe that you were _human_. Ha! What nonsense! Sarah Kerrigan, a human being! Now there's a joke if I ever heard one!"

"Shut up! SHUT UP! I was a human! And you took that away from me! You! And the Confederation! You turned me into a weapon against my will!" Sarah yelled as tears started to flow down her cheeks. Pathetic, to think that the mighty primal Queen of the Blades was crying in front of a mere man, someone she had already killed a long time ago. Yet, deep inside her crushed chest, she could feel the truth behind his words.

"Oh, so now you act like your humanity was precious to you?" Mengsk said with an arrogant smile on his face. He opened his mouth and suddenly Sarah's own voice came out. "If I got rid of my humanity, none of this would have happened." Those had been her thoughts, her reason for returning to Ulnar.

"You're...not Mengsk!" she said. The Mengsk-figure shook his head and looked at her in disappointment.

"Of course I'm not the real Arcturus Mengsk. He is dead. And so is Fenix. And that other Queen of Blades. And this isn't hell. But to think that you still haven't figured out what's going on here is indeed a huge disappointment, I have to admit." He sighed and dropped his shoulders.

"Then tell me..." she hissed. "What is this place." Mengsk suddenly looked like a very old and very tired man.

"Since you simply can't see the obvious truth right in front of your eyes, child..." he said and looked straight into her eyes. A cold shiver ran down her spine when their gazes met. "...you were right about everything. Getting rid of your humanity was the only way to truly ascend. But my dear little girl; you're not Sarah Kerrigan. You are what's left of her humanity, of her zergness, whatever you like to call it." And then Mengsk started to laugh.

His laughter was more horrible than anything she had ever heard in her entire life.

"You are what she has ripped out of her mind and left here. You are just her abandoned humanity."

…

No...

…

No, that was wrong.

…

It had to be wrong!

...

"That's...bullshit!" Sarah replied. Arcturus pulled his brows up when he heard that.

"Oh, really? It is the most logical explanation, is it not? No one said that ascension means that you can just stay who you are. No human mind could possibly survive something like that unscathed. I mean, your mind was always broken, even before the Confederation turned you into their little tool. The Overmind ripped your mind apart and put the pieces back as it pleased. The Xel'Naga artifact ripped the other Queen of Blades out of your mind. The essence of the Primal Zerg reshaped your mind yet again. How can you possibly think that your mind is still fully functional after all that has happened?" he wanted to know. She opened her mouth, ready to reply something.

"Then what about you? If I'm just a lone thought, what are you?"

"Maybe I'm just another thought too. Kerrigan, the real Kerrigan, she is now a godlike being. The memory of good old Arcturus might be just too distracting, so she decided to get rid of me as well. And think about it; if you're a god, can a mere thought inside your mind not be just as powerful as an actual being?" Mengsk asked and started to laugh hard.

"You haven't lost your powers, my dear. Because you never had them in the first place! You're just a fading memory, trapped inside Ulnar, damned to wander these halls through all of eternity!" As Mengsk spread his arms and started to laugh again, Sarah felt cold shivers running down her spine.

"I don't believe you!" she yelled while hot tears were starting to stream down her cheeks. It couldn't be, yet it felt as if he was speaking the truth, which was maddening since Mengsk was a liar, he had always been a liar. She couldn't trust him.

"Hmpf." Mengsk said. "Since you don't believe me, maybe you should see it for yourself. Look, there is your answer. Behold! The mightiest being inside this whole galaxy!" Hearing those words, Sarah turned her weak head around. Suddenly her eyes widened in shock.

There she was. She was beautiful. No, not beautiful. She was _magnificent_. A perfect being, a creature of unspeakable might. Her golden body was surrounded by flames. She ignored all those soldiers around her as she studied the inscriptions on the walls of Ulnar. Sarah's head moved from left to right as she shook her head in disbelief and fear. There couldn't be two Sarahs, it was simply not possible! That meant...it meant...

More hot tears streamed down her bloody cheeks as she started to cry when she finally realized the truth.

She had succeeded, she had freed herself of her humanity. Only that her humanity hadn't realized that till now. Mengsk looked down on that broken figure and there was a look of sadness on his face.

The real Sarah didn't notice any of this as she touched another inscription. Suddenly the whole room drowned in a bright light, washing away all that pain and sorrow. She was completely oblivious to the desperate screams of that small and weak thing that had once been her humanity.

And so Sarah, the real Sarah, focused on that inscription on the wall. And the inscription? It shared its knowledge with her...

* * *

As Jim walked through the empty corridors of the Ulnar, she could feel his sadness. The once white walls of his home had turned dark. Everything was lost. His people, they were gone. Some had locked themselves inside the central chamber, believing that it would offer protection from the Fallen One. But Jim knew better. No, not Jim. Ouros.

"My...Lord..." Jim/Ouros stopped as he saw the bleeding, dying creature lying in the corner of a corridor. Sarah knew that it wasn't Zagara, yet seeing the mighty brood mother reduced to a bleeding piece of meat just looked wrong. Jim/Ouros knelt down in front of Zagara and put his hand on her mutilated head.

"I am sorry, my Lord...we have...failed you..." Zagara managed to gargle before almost choking on her own blood. A sad smile appeared on Jim's/Ouros's face.

"Nonsense, child. You have performed marvelously. If anyone is to blame, it is me. I should have acted far sooner. I should have forced the other ones to open their eyes, make them see what Amon had become. Yet I too decided not to act. I am the oldest, I have experienced cycle after cycle. Yet I didn't see his betrayal coming. How could I blame a child for not knowing anything about this kind of hatred?" Sarah mentally blinked in surprise. So Ouros had been one of the oldest Xel'Naga around? It probably made sense; only a very experienced being would have been able to escape Amon's purge. But still, seeing the Xel'Naga like this? Wounded, scared, helpless, it reminded her of herself.

Sarah started to feel something that she hadn't felt in ages. She felt pity.

"Please...I don't...want to die...alone..." Zagara said with a weak voice. Tears started to flow out of the creature's eyes, and Sarah was reminded again that it was not the real Zagara. The real Zagara didn't even possess any tear-ducts.

"Shhh...hush now, child. You won't die from such simple wounds. Trust me, I have survived worse. It's a natural reaction. You need to rest. Rest now and when you'll wake up, everything will be fine again. I will make sure of it." The mighty head of Zagara looked at Jim/Ouros. If there had been a mouth, she would have smiled at him. As he gently stroked her hardened skin, Sarah could feel how Zagara's pain started to fade away.

"I'm...tired..." Zagara said.

"It's fine. Sleep now. And when you wake up again, we will start a new cycle. Together." Jim/Ouros said. She looked at him with pure adoration. Sarah could feel that this Zagara believed every single word coming from his lips. When she finally closed her eyes for the last time, a single tear rolled down Jim's/Ouros's face.

Getting himself back on his feet, he pushed his emotions away. This was not the time to grieve. He still had to face the Fallen One.

As he moved towards the gate, he saw the bodies of so many friends. They were all gone. The whole cycle had turned into one big nightmare. It wasn't even clear if the Protoss or the Zerg would ever recover from any of this. Jim/Ouros hoped that they would free themselves one fine day from those shackles Amon had placed on them. However, he knew that they would have to do that on their own. Even if he would succeed in stopping Amon, he was just one and the cycle needed many. And he was old. Too old to start all over again. The possibility of uplifting someone who wasn't ready didn't feel right, but what else could he do? All other options had run dry.

In the end, those were all fancy thoughts, yet as long as Amon was in control of Ulnar, Jim/Ouros wouldn't be able to do anything about that. He had to remove the Fallen One from this place, banish him to the far end of the Void where he would never hurt anyone again.

Sarah couldn't believe that line of thoughts. Even though Amon had already caused unspeakable pain and tragedy, Jim/Ouros still didn't want to kill him? What else had to happen until...oh wait. She actually knew the answer.

 _Yet it is funny how you judge the one who gave you your powers. I bet many think the same thing about you, oh mighty Queen of Blades._ Mengsk, or his vision or whatever that thing was, said to her.

 _Why are you showing this to me?_ she demanded to know. _What is the point of all this? What can I learn from the fall of the Xel'Naga?_

She could sense Mengsk's disappointment. It was as if he wanted her to understand something.

 _Understand what? That they were weak? That they caused all of this yet hadn't been able to stop Amon?_ she mentally yelled. Now Mengsk's disappointment turned into anger.

 _Look closer. See the reason why you're here!_ he declared and everything started to shift and blur around her. Suddenly she was in front of the gate. Jim/Ouros was also there, sealing the gate with a mere thought.

"What is this..." a new voice reached both his and Sarah's ear. Jim/Ouros turned around and saw a twisted creature. This time it didn't look like someone else. And even though Sarah had only seen its true form once, shortly before Stukov had taken his revenge, she would remember that ugly and hideous thing everywhere.

" _Narud."_ Jim/Ouros and Sarah said at the same time. Narud looked down at Jim/Ouros, yet did not attack. The creature knew that even with all its powers, it was still no match for a Xel'Naga. Jim/Ouros looked at the shapeshifter with an expression of utter contempt on his face. Strangely enough, Sarah could feel not just the Xel'Naga's emotion, but it was like there were three other emotions in the back of her mind as well. Sadness, disappointment, and shame.

"Your actions will change nothing. The Fallen One shall create a new cycle in his image. And I shall be at his side while you will be forgotten in the endlessness of the Void!" Narud proclaimed.

"Strong words for such a treacherous being like yourself. I wonder if you had the courage to tell that to your former friends and comrades. I bet they would be quite happy to see how you betrayed them!" Jim/Ouros said, clenching his hands into fists. Suddenly his body radiated so much power that Sarah's head started to hurt.

"Dare to attack me, and I will end your pitiful existence right here and now!" the Xel'Naga declared. She could feel how Narud started to grow restless. The creature wanted to get closer to the gate. There was something about it, something important. However, there was no way for Narud to do so as long as Jim/Ouros remained in front of that gate. Both knew that. Yet, even though Narud had no chance against Jim/Ouros, the creature still prepared to strike. Both beings emitted so much power that Sarah had to avert her gaze. She had...she had...

Then nothing...

* * *

As Arcturus stared down at the broken form to his feet, a cruel smile appeared on his face. He knew what he was. He was nothing but a thought. But even then he felt a great deal of satisfaction. Was it because he was a product of Kerrigan's imagination? Or was he actually like the real Arcturus had been? It was a question that was worth thinking about. Perhaps after this, he would try to find out if there was a way to take his fate into his own hands.

Jesus had returned from the dead, right?

So maybe Arcturus Mengsk could do the same thing?

And yeah, he was actually thinking that. And worse, he believed it.

"You were my greatest failure. Maybe you can become my greatest achievement as well?" he whispered and he started to chuckle. He watched how the bloody remnants of the Queen of Blades' body started to shift and change. Right in front of his eyes, her frame changed back into her old human self. The expression on her face was filled with pain and anguish. She looked as if she was having one hell of a nightmare. Arcturus raised his foot and wanted to place his boot on her head. Even now he wanted to kill her for what she had done to him.

But most importantly, what she had done to ruin his ambitions.

The soldiers around him didn't move, they waited for him to give them a command. They were mindless drones, but then again; soldiers had always been just mindless drones to the real Arcturus Mengsk. His boot was only centimeters away from Sarah's head and he was about to put it down when-

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

He turned around and looked into the eyes of a young woman.

"Kerrigan? No, it can't be." he whispered. For a second he had thought that another Sarah was standing right behind him.

"And who would you be, hmm?" he asked while his boot hovered over Sarah's head.

"Someone who urges you to not do what you are about to do." the woman said with a soft voice.

"Oh, really? So you are like me? A memory? Hmm, I wonder who you are. Kerrigan never told me about you. A long lost sister? Her mother, maybe? The resemblance is definitely there."

"I care about her. That's all that matters." the young woman told him. Arcturus chuckled when he heard that.

"And what will you do to stop me, hmm?" he wanted to know and was about to plant his boot on Sarah's head. And the young woman? She just snapped her fingers, and then Arcturus and his army suddenly vanished into nothingness.

"This will happen. And she was right; you were repulsive. I'm glad that I never met you." The woman then walked over to Sarah and knelt down right next to her. She put her hand on Sarah's head and brushed some red flocks of hair out of the other woman's face.

"Don't worry..." she then whispered to the unconscious Sarah. "...everything will turn out fine. You just have to hold on hope." And then she leaned down and kissed Sarah on the forehead. And Sarah? The pained expression on her face vanished and she sighed in relief when the hurt finally stopped.


	8. Prologue Chapter 6

**...**

* * *

 **Prologue**

 **Chapter 6**

 **Playing Mind Games with Yourself is called Cheating**

* * *

Sarah had huddled herself into a dark and cold corner and had pulled her knees up to her chin while hot tears streamed down her face. The others were gone, at least for now. No more Fenix, no more Queen of Blades, no more Mengsk and his endless legions. She had no idea where Mengsk had gone or why he had decided to leave her alone in the first place. In the end, all that mattered was that she was alone and all by herself. Did they have any specific reason for leaving her alone? Who knew, she couldn't have cared less about them right now, even though they all shared the same fate. Like Sarah, they were chained to this place.

Only that she wasn't Sarah.

After Mengsk had told her that she was just an evicted thought, she had tried to deny it. But then reality had finally caught up with Sarah, and it had broken something inside of her. She had reached the end of her journey and could not go on anymore. Ha, a fraction of a once human mind having its own mental breakdown. The absurdity of this whole situation had not escaped her grasp.

She pulled her legs closer to her body and shivered. Her _human_ body was whole again...but how? Was that really important? It wasn't even a real body to begin with, just a mental projection inside...ugh...she had to stop that. She was a lonely thought thinking about her own existence, could it get any worse?

Of course, it could.

"That was quite the show you put up there, Number 24." That voice, that designation. Her head jerked back up and she looked at the figure right in front of her. It was a tall man with broad shoulders. He wore the uniform of the psyops-division of the old Confederacy. She knew him well, even though she had to search her memories for some time. It had been ages since the last time she had seen him. Ever since she had killed him.

 _Who haven't I killed anyway?_ she thought bitterly.

"Yes, your kill-count is indeed impressive. However, you have become sloppy, Number 24. Going all close and personal, even if you had the chance for a clean shot from the distance. Why haven't you used your psionic long-range abilities I wonder?" Major Rum asked. "I thought we trained you better than that, even with all that creepy alien-stuff all inside your body. But you had no better things to do than to storm in, and then what? Slaughter them all with your bare hands?"

 _That had been the general idea, yeah..._

"Go to hell, Rumm. I don't want to see you." Sarah snarled. Major Rumm had been a trainer at the Ghost Academy. She remembered him well, aside from Mengsk he had probably been the one human she had hated the most. Killing him had felt good, and even now she didn't feel bad about it. He had killed her father, he had turned her life into a nightmare, he had been the first man to truly break her.

And he had _enjoyed_ it.

"That's still _Major_ Rumm, Number 24!" he barked. Sarah just sniffed and turned her head away.

"Leave me alone, Rumm. You're not real anyway. None of us are."

"What does that mean, Number 24? Has the training caused some sort of mental breakdown? Maybe we have to check your inhibitor-implant. Report to med-bay immediately." She just stared at him with an annoyed look on her face. Inhibitor-implant? That thing was long gone. Maybe she should tell him that the little gizmo the Confederacy had implanted onto the base of her brain had been removed by Abathur when he had turned her into the Queen of Blades. Then again, Rumm could suck on vacuum for all Sarah cared. Was this how things would be from now on? She would meet everyone who she had either killed or caused pain? Well, at least she would be occupied for quite some time then.

"Number 24! I gave you a direct order! You will comply immediately or-"

"FUCK OFF, YOU ASSHOLE!" she screamed right back at him. The expression of utter shock and disbelief on Rumm's face was satisfying, however, it only lasted for a moment. His facial expression changed from shock to anger, and then to disgust. He grabbed the shock-baton that was attached to his belt and walked up to her. Oh, how he had loved to beat the living shit out of his young and helpless trainees. Rumm had always been a cruel and sadistic bastard, so why should Sarah's memory of him be any different?

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this!" Rumm snarled as if he wanted to show Sarah how right she had been. "Once I'm done with you, you'd wish that you've never met me, Number 24." Number 24, that had been her designation as a Ghost. It hadn't been enough that they had turned them into heartless killing machines. By replacing their names with numbers, the Confederacy had purged every proof of their former existence. Sarah had known Ghosts who had embraced that number, only to get rid of that dreadful Academy. It had been the true victory of the Confederacy over them; to admit that working for them as a mere number was better than to be trained by them.

Freedom through submission.

It was the purest form of slavery.

"Stand up, I want you to look me in the face when I discipline you!" he growled. He didn't notice when something approached them from behind, not until it reached them.

"That's no way to talk to a lady, buddy." Both Rumm's and Sarah's eyes widened in surprise when they heard that new voice. Rumm, because he hadn't realized that someone was standing right behind him. Sarah because of _who_ was standing right behind the man. The Major turned around and raised his shock-baton, ready to beat the newcomer into a bloody mess. However, before he could do anything, a fist hit him right in the face. The punch was right on the money; the Major's eyes went empty and he simply fell forward. When he landed on his face, you could hear the crunching sound of his nose breaking. Even though Rumm was just another memory, hearing how his imaginary nose breaking put a smile on Sarah's face.

The man next to Rumm's unconscious body rubbed his knuckles before shaking his head. He was of average height and had an everyday face, one that could be found on almost any planet. He was neither too muscular nor too fat. The only real extraordinary thing about this man were his eyes. Those were the eyes of a leader, of someone who had been through hell and back. They belonged to a man she hadn't seen in a long time. As he stood in front of Sarah, he offered her a hand.

"Long time no seen, Mrs. Kerrigan." There was no anger or evil intent in his voice. It was strange to hear her own name like that. Usually, it sounded more like a curse when others called her by her name.

"I want to be honest..." she mumbled. "...you were the last one I would have expected to find here." Those words put a smile on his face. It was a both warm and gentle, and Sarah knew that it was genuine.

"Hell, you're not the only one. Now come on, let's go for a walk." An exhausted smile appeared on Sarah's face. Even if this was just an illusion, at least it was a pleasant one.

"Yes, Magistrate. That would be nice."

* * *

"So, an ancient Xel'Naga artifact, a rouge Xel'Naga, a prophecy about the end of life as we know it, and you stuck in the middle, ascended to godhood." The Magistrate shook his head, partly in amazement, partly in disbelief. Even though Sarah had only worked for a short time alongside that man, she had learned to respect him. She hadn't spent nearly as much time with him than she had with Jim, so her knowledge about the Magistrates personality was rather slim. She didn't know what happened to him after the end of the war, or if he was even still alive. She _knew_ that he had left the Raiders about six months after the battle of Tarsonis, Jim had told her this during their short time they had spent together after they had deinfested her. However, no one exactly knew what had happened to him. Maybe he had been killed by the Swarm? Sarah didn't like that thought one bit, but it was a possibility.

"Come on, I didn't drag you all the way out here so you could contemplate on your existence, Mrs. Kerrigan!"

"Please, call me Sarah." she said with a weak smile on her face. They were walking down just another endless corridor. This whole damn place was made out of endless corridors!

"Man, this place is a goddamn graveyard. Still not as bad as those Zerg-hives, though. Man, those things always gave me goosebumps." the Magistrate said and had to laugh. Sarah pulled her eyebrows up and looked the man into the eyes.

"Actually, I would prefer a warm and comfortable hive right now."

"You got weird fetishes, girl, you know that?"

"So I was told." Sarah replied. A part of her felt uneasy having such a casual conversation. Another part, however, enjoyed this completely absurd and harmless conversation. She looked at the man from the corner of her eyes. The Magistrate had always been an honorable man, one that had treated her just like anyone else under his command. He had been reserved at first, yes. When fighting alongside a Confederate Ex-Ghost, people tend to do that. However, once they had fought side by side, he had accepted her as a fellow comrade. The galaxy needed more man like him. Sadly no one seemed to know what had happened to the real Magistrate. However, what if this Magistrate next to her was just here to play games with her?

"No tricks, Sarah. I'm here because I think I can help. At least I hope so." Sarah frowned at his words.

"Why can you read my mind? When I look at you, I sense nothing." That much was true. It had been the same with Fenix, with the Queen of Blades, and with Mengsk. They had been able to sense her very thoughts, yet she couldn't read their minds in return. All she could sense were feelings and emotions. The Magistrate pulled his shoulders up.

"I'm not sure myself, but I believe that it's because I and all the others are just memories. You, however, are a part of Sarah Kerrigan's consciousness. Or used to be a part and, or, ah crap." he sighed. "I'm getting a headache just thinking about this stuff. Anyway; we are what you know about our real selves. The memories I have are ridiculously few. I know how I met you, I know how you met Jim, I even know that Mengsk betrayed us. What I don't know is what my favorite food is. The name of my parents. Mengsk, Fenix, that weird and scary Zerg-version of you, we are all like planets orbiting around a star. And that star is you."

"That is...surprisingly straightforward." Sarah mused. The Magistrate pulled his shoulders up once more.

"That's how I've always been, right? Straight to the point, no prolonged speeches. If there's a problem, use as few words as necessary in order to describe it. Even though I'm sure that you would have figured all of this out yourself eventually."

"I don't remember you being such a charmer." Sarah said, which caused the Magistrate to laugh.

"Yeah, well, it's just a theory. However, since I woke up in this place, I was able to move around freely. And I found out some interesting things. I want to share them with you." This caused Sarah to stop. She looked at the man with a hesitant look on her face.

"Why?" she wanted to know. He stopped as well and turned towards her.

"Because I think there is a way for you and the other Kerrigan to become one again."

* * *

The entity formerly known as Sarah Louise Kerrigan looked at the inscriptions on the living walls of Ulnar. Her body glowed and emitting radiant energies. Her strength rivaled that of any star. Her power was enough to tear whole worlds apart, only to reshape them as she saw fit. It was something she kept thinking about over and over again. She remembered many worlds, remembered the chaos on them. Terrans, Protoss and even Zerg, they were causing so much destruction. Right now they weren't fighting each other, yet how long would that peace last? Perhaps she should deal with this problem before doing anything else. Creating a new cycle while those species were still around was dangerous. They could ruin any potential progress in the future. It certainly was a problem that demanded her full attention. However, she wasn't ready to deal with these things right now. No, she still had to learn more about this place and about _her_ place in this universe.

She closed her eyes and contemplated on the last memory Ulnar had shown to her. Ouros had tried to stop Amon but had failed. It was not the knowledge she was looking for, though. It was like this whole place was showing her random thoughts and moments. Maybe it was broken? No, she doubted that. This place was still fully operational. Maybe she just hadn't yet figured out how this whole system worked. However, unlike before she did not feel any form of frustration. By removing so many memories she was finally able to concentrate on the task at hand without being distracted by anything anymore. Even though she wasn't really sure what this task truly was. Still, there had to be some answers in this place. She would simply continue her search until she would find what she needed.

"Pretty boring, if you ask me." a familiar voice reached her ears. She opened her eyes. A voice? However, she couldn't sense anyone. She was alone. Hmm, how strange.

Perhaps it was an after-image, something that echoed through the halls of Ulnar. This place was not just a space station between dimensions, it was a point of conversion. Here, things could both exist and not exist at the same time. That was also the reason why she could feel how her memories continued to linger through these halls while they were contemplating on their own existence. However, now that they were no longer part of her own mind, she could ignore them easily.

Her thoughts returned to Ouros. She basically knew nothing about the Xel'Naga who had given her his strength. What kind of person had he been? What had he believed in? What had his relationship towards the other Xel'Naga been like? The newborn entity formerly known as Sarah Kerrigan didn't care for any of that. She couldn't see how these visions were of any importance on how to understand this place. She floated backward, only to turn towards another inscription and start to study it. It was actually a very impressive system; the inscriptions on the wall showed what it contained. She had looked at an inscription that showed many Xel'Naga standing next to each other while they watched over some lesser beings. The meaning was now clear to her; it showed how the Xel'Naga deliberated about the lesser beings they were altering.

"Lesser beings? Now come on, that's not a nice thing to say." She stopped again, looking over her shoulder. It was definitely a voice, but she couldn't sense anything. It didn't matter, though. She chose to ignore that voice and moved on.

By touching the inscription and infusing it with some of her powers, she was able to unlock the memories stored inside. She had expected to see how the Xel'Naga were discussing their actions, and how they would debate what the best way to uplift a new species was. Instead, she had seen how they were squabbling among themselves, bickering and arguing like...like...

...like Terrans or Protoss would do.

There was no higher reason behind their words. They argued like they didn't like each other. It was so petty, so mundane, as if they were driven not by divine hindsight, but by selfish motivations like personal powers and ambitions.

It was so pathetic.

Perhaps if her humanity would have still been part of her mind, she would have felt disappointed. However, right now she was only wondering which inscription would contain the information she was looking for.

"And what if there is no such information, Darlin'?" the voice spoke again. She looked around, but there was no one. And so she chose to ignore it like she always did.

* * *

"You saw that?" the Magistrate asked and pointed his finger at the glowing body of Kerrigan, the real one. Sarah, the mental image, frowned.

"No." she replied truthfully. They had found her true self in one of the corridors, studying another inscription. Seeing this thing made Sarah feel uneasy. She was staring at herself and at the same time she wasn't. This whole ordeal was getting worse by the second. She didn't know what the Magistrate was talking about. So he too was playing games with her, huh? Great, just great.

"I'm not playing games with you, Sarah. I just want you to take a close look. There! See that!" the Magistrate shouted and pointed his finger once more at the real Kerrigan. Sarah's eyes turned into slits. What the hell was he talking about? All she could see was how the real Sarah stopped for a short moment and looked over her shoulder.

"See that?"

"The fact that she looked over her shoulder? Seriously? I can't see how that will help me to get back into her head." Sarah mumbled and the Magistrate looked at her. Suddenly there was a very serious expression on his face.

"Ok, no metaphysical bullshit. Here's my theory; I've found Liberty."

Sarah blinked with her eyes when she heard that.

"Like, you found your own personal freedom?"

"No, the guy Liberty, you know? The journalist that you and Jim saved once? He's here. I think he's currently running away from that Queen of Blades. By the way, I'm glad that I don't remember that part of your life." Sarah looked at the Magistrate with pleading eyes.

"Please, is that all about?" she wanted to know.

"Where's Jim?" he suddenly asked.

"What?"

"Jim. Where is he? Shouldn't he be here as well?" he asked before looking around. "There are many people here, Sarah. Everyone you remember. Most bad folks, that much is true. But then there's me and that Liberty-guy. By the way, I found a huge, disgusting slug-like thing that wanted to make a deal with me. I've never seen anything so repulsive in my entire life. Looked like a Zerg. Do you know-"

"Zasz." Sarah replied instantly. "Yes, I know him, well, knew him. He's harmless. Or at the very least less dangerous than others. You should watch out for Daggoth, though. That one can be a real hassle."

"Noted." the Magistrate said. "What I'm saying is; I looked everywhere. I wandered through all the corridors, asked all the people I met. At least those who didn't try to kill or eat me. And you know what? No one saw Jim. And I think I know why." Suddenly Sarah's eyes widened.

"You don't mean..." she whispered. He nodded and pointed at the real Kerrigan.

"I think he's still inside her mind. I don't know why or how this is even possible, though we should skip the "how's this possible"-question altogether if you ask me. He's still in there." he said. "Call it intuition or whatever. However, why would she keep the memory of Jim inside her, unless-"

"...unless she hasn't truly ascended. Unless there's still something human inside her. Something that she didn't want to let go of." Sarah mumbled when she was finally able to follow his line of thoughts.

"That was my theory, yes." the Magistrate said and nodded. Sarah crossed the arms in front of her chest.

"Wonderful theory. There's only one problem; there's no way to prove it's right. We're here, she's there. End of story." A wide grin appeared on the face of the Magistrate.

"Maybe not. Remember what Mengsk said? Can a thought inside the head of a god not be as powerful as an actual being? What if that's true? What if Jim could help us, could help _you_? Maybe act as a bridge between you and the other, well, you!" She opened her mouth and wanted to reply something very rude, only to shut her mouth immediately. Even now, even in this absurd situation...could Jim really save her?

He had always been the one to save her. He had done so countless times. Truth was that without him, she wouldn't even be alive right now. Or worse. It felt wrong that she now needed his help again, even if it was only a mental image inside the head of someone and...ugh, who was she kidding?

"This plan is absurd and utterly insane!" she growled and turned around. She could sense the Magistrates' disappointment, but only for a moment.

"I know..." he said with a soft voice. "...Sarah, listen; we both know that I'm not the Magistrate. And that neither Mengsk, that Protoss, or that slug Zsashzsh or however you pronounce that, are real. In the end, the only real thing out here is you. Now, you can stay here for the rest of all times. Or you can do what you've always done. The thing _only_ you have always done." She looked into the Magistrate's eyes.

"And what would that be?"

"To face your own demons. To move out there _and get the job done._ " She could feel his inner strength, even though he was just a memory.

"But even if you're right...how can I make Jim see me?"

A smile appeared on the Magistrate's face.

"Oh, I think I have an idea about that." he said and turned her attention towards the inscriptions on the walls.

* * *

Walking through Ulnar was boring. Walking through Ulnar with a goddamn mute as the only companion was even more boring. Walking through Ulnar with a mute who ignores you _and_ having no booze was so boring that Jim wanted to end his life right here and now. Yet he had no idea how to change his own situation. After the battle against Amon, he must have blacked out because the next thing he remembered was when he woke up in this place, being all alone.

Well, not entirely alone. Sarah was here.

Yes, that's right, Sarah was here with him.

Oh _, joy_.

Unfortunately, it was not the Sarah he knew and loved. No, this was the new and improved Sarah, cosmic powers and all, yet totally devoid of any emotions whatsoever. And the fact that she simply ignored him didn't make it any better. Oh, he _knew_ that she could hear him. Sometimes she stopped and looked into his general direction when he said something to her, only to turn away from him a moment later. The joy of seeing her again had cooled down very fast. There simply was something wrong with her. It was as if she wasn't really here, as if she was just a ghost. A mystical ghost, not a spec-ops Ghost. Something was wrong, he just knew it. You don't have to be a psionic to know that. He had tried to get her attention, however, that huge, burning was floating a few dozen meters above his head and there was no way to reach her. And there was literally not a single damn stone laying around he could have used to throw at her.

Yeah, yeah, throwing stones at the woman you love isn't exactly the most romantic thing to do. But what else could he have done? Blown kisses at her? Nah, Sarah had never been that kind of girl.

Jim wasn't as thick as people liked to believe. He knew that something was wrong. Maybe he was dead? Everybody had to die eventually, right? Still, he didn't feel dead. Ah, dammit, where's booze when you need it?

 **Xel'Naga deliberating about lesser beings. But why all that anger? Why all those emotions? I don't understand.** Jim heard her thoughts. Yes, he was hearing her thoughts. He had no idea why or how that was even possible, but it was starting to get on his nerves. However, he couldn't just turn around and leave. Something kept him close to Sarah. He didn't know exactly what it was, but the further he walked away, the stronger he was pulled back to her. It was ridiculous, he had hoped to be reunited with Sarah for so long, yet now all he wanted was to be alone for some time.

"Lesser beings? Now come on, that's not a nice thing to say." he mumbled. He was one of those lesser beings! And Sarah had started her existence as a lesser being as well. They deserved a little bit more credit for everything they had achieved. Sarah stopped at hearing his words and looked over her shoulder, however, it was as if she was seeing right through him. That woman was so frustrating! Every time he thought that he had caught up with her, she pulled off some weird crap like that! Getting herself re-zerged was apparently not enough anymore. Go figure!

If he wouldn't love this woman more than anything else in this universe, he would have ditched her by now. However, you don't ditch the woman you love. Not even if she turns herself into a god-like being. Other men would have probably been ecstatic about the idea of being in the presence of a goddess. Not Jim, though. Of course, this Jim wasn't aware of the fact that he too was not the real thing. But unbeknownst to him, he was a pretty good copy of the original. During their short time together, after her de-infestation, Sarah had touched Jim's mind and searched his memories. Not because she had mistrusted him, but because his mind was the only place where she felt truly loved and protected, the only place where she could experience true peace. That was the reason why this memory of Jim was so accurate that it could pass as the real deal.

He sighed as he turned around and looked for a place to sit down. Hands in his pockets, he planted his butt on a stairway and looked up to the woman that had caused him so much trouble.

Like said, others would have been ecstatic to be near a goddess. Jim wasn't like others, though. He had his own delusions though, delusions of a normal guy. He had always known that a normal life with Sarah would be impossible. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Shortly before Tarsonis had happened, he actually had thought about their future. Every war had to end eventually, and he had hoped that they would survive the whole mess, settle down and start a new life. Together.

Those lines of thoughts had been treacherous, Jim knew that. Because he had seen _his_ old life becoming _their_ future. So instead of Liddy, Sarah would wait for him at home after a long, hard day of being Marshal, and their child would get all the love they had to offer. It had taken him a long time to realize how unfair it was. How unfair _he_ was.

Yes, he was the one who had been unfair to her.

Sarah was not Liddy. She was completely different. It wasn't just about the fact that Sarah had been a trained killer and Liddy just a nice gal' from town. Sarah was a fighter, maybe even more than Jim was. _Certainly_ more than he was. He was no stranger to hardship, but not like Sarah had been. Most of the mess he had encountered in his life had happened because of his own stupidity, choice, or both. Sarah, however? She had always been forced by others to do their bidding. In a way, he hadn't been any different. He had tried to force her into the role of a loving wife, a woman that he could spend the rest of his life with. Maybe not as a caring housewife (come on, he wasn't that delusional), but as someone who would fit his definition of "normal".

The truth was that Sarah wasn't normal. She had never been normal. Because she was something _special_. And he had never treated her the way she truly deserved. When they had succeeded in de-infesting her, he had repeated the very same mistake again.

 _Forget about Mengsk! Forget all of it! I moved heaven and hell to bring you back, Sarah!_

Those had been his words, yes. Now he felt nothing but regret when he remembered that moment. He hadn't realized the true depth of Sarah's need for revenge. It had been her way to deal with all that pain and despair. However, he had only envisioned his version of a future with her. He had assumed that she would just hop on his happy-train and they would ride right into the sunset.

Wait, not _that_ happy-train! It was a way to say that they would sail off to, ah, screw this.

Jim looked at his worn out combat boots. They reminded him of himself; smelly, old and barely holding together. Yet, they got the job done, hadn't they? He sighed again and felt so old all of the sudden. Well, he _was_ getting older. All the fighting over the years had taken its toll on his body. Who knew, maybe it was better this way.

Sometimes he wondered if he should have listened to her back then, when they had been on the run from the Dominion. Take the Hyperion and his Raiders, asking for Valerian's help, maybe even for some assistance from the Protoss, and storm Augustgrad in a surprise attack. Or go into hiding and start a guerrilla campaign with his allies. All of that in order to give Sarah her revenge. There were moments when he even wondered if he should have accompanied her when she had returned to the Zerg. Of course, that idea was completely idiotic. However, love could turn everyone into a fool. As long as he could be with her, wouldn't that be enough?

He knew the answer to that question already, and it hurt. Because even though he loved her, he couldn't have joined her in her quest for vengeance. Sarah knew nothing but war and destruction because the Confederacy had turned her into a tool. And he had his principles that had kept him alive all those years. When he had let her go on Augustgrad, he had known that it had been for good. She had returned to her people. Yes, the Zerg had become her people, not the human. No human had ever done something good to her, they all had tried to use her for their own agendas. And he was no exception. Like said; the truth hurt.

 **The inscriptions are not clear. I need to know how they used their powers, not why. The information has to be somewhere. I need to look further.**

"And what if there is no such information, Darlin'?" he asked after hearing her thoughts. She turned around once more, only to see right through him.

"You know, this is getting old really fast." Jim mumbled before closing his eyes. All he could do was to wait until Sarah was done with this inscription and moved on to the next. He had no doubts that this one wouldn't contain the information she was looking for either. Looking around, he yawned while staring at the gray walls of Ulnar. This whole place was so damn boring. There wasn't even a mini-bar here. Man, he really wished he had his juke-box with him right now.

As he looked around, he suddenly noticed another inscription. It was close to Sarah and emitted a green light. That was odd, those inscriptions usually only glowed when Sarah directly accessed them. However, this one? Jim frowned as the inscription started to pulse. It took him a moment before he realized that there was a pattern to it. Short. Long. Long. Long. Wait, was that morse code? Hold on a second!

Short, long, long, long...

 _J..._

Short, short...

 _I..._

Long, long...

 _M..._

 _The hell?_

He blinked in surprise. Jim? Was someone trying to communicate with him? He looked over to Sarah, who had closed her eyes and searched another vision for clues. She didn't seem to notice the other inscription that was trying to talk to him. The code repeated itself over and over again. That was no coincidence, someone wanted to talk to him! He got back on his feet and walked towards the inscription. He had no idea who or what was on the other side. Well, there was only one way to find out, right? He took a deep breath before he pressed his hand against the inscription. His whole world exploded into light and he felt a strange sense of vertigo. He closed his eyes for a moment, but when he opened them again, he was still in Ulnar. Nothing had changed. Nothi-

"Jim?"

He froze. That voice. No, it wasn't possible. Jim looked over his shoulder. There she was, just like he remembered her in his dreams, like she had looked like before that whole madness had started. Her tendrils were gone, instead her head was covered with that red hair he loved so much. His eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

"Sarah?"

* * *

Ulnar was not just made out of endless corridors. No, it was far from that. It was a carefully crafted technological masterpiece that had withstood the forces of entropy for so long. It was resting in a pocket between the dimensions, which was a good way to keep something hidden. Yet, as the Dark Prelate Zeratul had proven, it was possible for mortal beings to find a way to this place. It hadn't been a lucky coincidence, though. It had been placed right here so the ones that continuing the cycle would find their way here.

Ulnar was so much more than just a station. The term "homeworld" was actually far more fitting. Even the Xel'Naga themselves couldn't remember if their ancestors had created this place, or if it had been the work of someone else, someone even more powerful than they had been. The young ones, the ones who had just been uplifted, usually wandered through the corridors of Ulnar and were looking for answers to the question on who had started the whole cycle in the first place. The older, more experienced ones knew that this question was pretty much pointless. Pointless because it didn't matter if there had been someone before them. They simply were. That was all they had to know.

It's like that question everyone keeps asking; what is the meaning of life? You can either spend all of your life wondering about it, or you could actually live your life.

However, not everyone thought the same way. Especially the young Xel'Naga had problems with that. But they would accept the truth sooner or later. Everyone did. It simply was the way of the cycle.

Ulnar was called the Cradle of Life. It was the center of the Xel'Naga's culture. No matter where they went, they would always return to this place. It was a library, stored inside these walls was the entire knowledge and wisdom of all Xel'Naga that had come before them. It was a home, it provided them with shelter. And, of course, it possessed a stable connection to the Void. However, it was also the place where the Xel'Naga would come together and plan their next steps. Just as they did now.

No, Ulnar was not just made out of endless corridors. There were many rooms and places, some so huge that it seemed impossible that they even existed inside that hard shell. Yet, the Xel'Naga possessed many secrets. Creating a room that was bigger on the inside than from the outside was just one of those things. It was the only place where most of the Xel'Naga would come together and gather around their leaders while debating the next steps of the cycle.

The Infinite Cycle. It was always about the Infinite Cycle. At least inside this room. Everything looked strangely familiar. It looked like the Colosseum on Ancient Earth, only far more gigantic. There were endless rows of seats, filled with all sorts of creatures. Almost all Xel'Naga were present, those who were not either too busy with more important tasks or had decided to stay away, just like Amon had.

Standing in the middle of the Colosseum the large, slender figure of Aldaris looked up to the countless other Xel'Naga. He felt pride inside his chest. To think that they were yet again at the beginning of a new cycle! And he was happy to see so many familiar faces again. The last cycle had been good to them. That wasn't always the case. Some cycles were rougher than others, and even though the numbers of Xel'Naga inside this room seemed to be legion right now, there had been times when they had been close to extinction. Not now, however. Seeing all those beings in front of his eyes, Aldaris knew that this cycle would be a good one.

Of course, he was not Aldaris. However, he shared many traits with the Protoss he looked like. He too was a staunch believer in the current order. Even to the point where he would deny that there might be any sort of problem or trouble brewing at the horizon. Some even called him arrogant. Especially Ouros.

Ouros...

He was glad that his former teacher wasn't here right now. Only the Void itself knew where he currently was. The last thing Aldaris had heard of him was that he too was looking for potential heirs to the cycle. That was the last thing Aldaris needed, seeing how Ouros would put his stamp on this cycle yet again. It had happened so many times before. Every time a cycle had started, Ouros had presented them a new species and then left them, only for the rest of them to deal with his choice. And what choices that had been! No, not this time. This time everything would be different, Aldaris had made sure of that.

He could sense how his fellow Xel'Naga started to grow restless. It was time. He stepped into the light, addressing everyone present in this room.

"Brothers and Sisters! I greet you here, at the beginning of this new cycle! I know that many of you are still tired from your long slumber, but as you know; the sacred duty of the Infinite Cycle does not wait for us. And so we have come here to debate the new candidates to the Purity of Form." He spread out his arms and included everyone in the hall. Some applauded at those words. There was a Hydralisk in the first row that clapped its claws together. It was hilarious to look at. Some Xel'Naga seemed to be very pleased about what would come next. However, most of them were simply tired and groaned in discomfort, thinking about the endless suggestions of hundreds, if not thousands of species that had the potential of becoming the future of the Infinite Cycle. Most of them had just awoken from thousands of years of slumber. They were tired, exhausted, and longed for some fresh air. That also meant that they were willing to get this over with as fast as possible.

Just what Aldaris wanted them to do.

"I can sense your exhaustion, Brothers and Sisters. But I'm sure I don't need to remind you how important this task is."

From the rows, a new voice rose.

"Stop to waste our time with your fancy words!" a huge and disgusting slug announced from its seat. Daggoth. Only that it wasn't Daggoth. Aldaris looked up to the creature. He was able to hide his anger at the interruption. But it was only an act.

"Brother, are you trying to say that you wish to...?" Aldaris asked with a completely innocent tone in his voice.

"I'm saying that I have neither the nerve nor the patience to waste my time with this. And I'm certain that I'm not the only one here!" Daggoth declared while spluttering slime all over the other people around him, yet no one seemed to care about that. Some, especially the ones in the first few rows, looked up to the Cerebrate with anger in their eyes. However, most of the rest just nodded or yawned in agreement. Aldaris put his hands behind his back.

"In that case, I have good news for you, my old friend." Aldaris said. "I know that you are all tired and exhausted. And I too have thought about this problem. And I have come up with a solution."

"Solution?" Gabriel Tosh asked while crossing his muscular arms in front of his chest. "Now what kind of solution would that be, I wonder?" the Terran said while looking at Aldaris with milky eyes. Aldaris smiled on the inside. Some would call this manipulation, but to him, it was simply acting in the interest of his own people. Or his own personal interests, which were basically one and the same thing.

"Why so much distrust, Brother? Have I not proven myself a capable leader of this Covenant?" Aldaris asked, to which many in the first rows nodded and cheered.

"Leader of the Covenant, yes. Leader of our people, no." Tosh replied. "This duty still belongs to others. However, I don't see them among us." This time Aldaris felt how real anger flowed through his body and mind.

"They have no jurisdiction here. Besides, they need to prepare themselves for the tasks at hand." Aldaris tried to cut that specific conversation short. It only caused Daggoth to laugh out loud and spill out even more slime. Nova, who was sitting right next to him, simply grabbed her blond ponytail and wrung it out.

"Now you want to tell the Gardeners how they should do their job? It appears the long sleep has damaged your mind, old friend!" the Cerebrate hollered. Aldaris showed him a gentle smile. Well, figuratively speaking.

"My dear old friend, I admit it; I do feel tired. However, working for the greater good certainly means that you have to work hard, would you not you agree?" This time it was Warfield who snarled in anger.

"Stop wasting our time with your empty words!" the old General barked. Many nodded, feeling the same way. "What do you know about hard work? Sitting here, leading the Covenant by doing nothing. Are you really so bold to think that you can just spout your nonsense and we accept it?" Warfield shouted. The other Xel'Naga started to grow even more restless. Good, exactly what he wanted to happen.

"My Brother, do you honestly believe that I only sit here and do nothing? No, I have been quite busy over the last few centuries!" Aldaris announced, which caused many Xel'Naga to burst out in laughter. He was able to hide his true feelings, yet he felt anger tearing through his chest. Time to turn this thing around.

"Indeed, I have been working hard these last few centuries. I did it for you. With the help of my servants I was able to shorten the list of potential candidates from over 78.219 down to three." The whole hall exploded into yelling and shouting. Now they were finally awake.

"OUTRAGEOUS!" Daggoth gurgled while spewing more slime on Nova, who just sighed. It was one of the nicer things Aldaris heard from the ranks.

"Do you honestly believe that we will just accept that?!" Warfield barked. "The Gardeners will never let allow this!" Satisfaction flowed through his entire being. Time to bring out the big boys.

"Actually..." Aldaris said as the voices started to die down. "...the Gardeners have accepted this course of action. They were involved in all the steps along the way. If you do not believe me, just go and ask them yourself." There was some mumbling, but no one dared to say anything. Aldaris knew why. No one was so foolish and just claim that the Gardeners were on his or her side without their consent. He had worked hard for that, however, even they could be persuaded. He had spared no expenses to get this far, he wouldn't allow anyone to take this away from him now.

High above him, pretty much in the last row, a certain redhead looked down on the whole spectacle. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest and there was a frown on her face.

He reminded her so much of the real Aldaris.

"I know what you're thinking. However, at least take a look at the selection I made before you judge my intentions, Brothers and Sisters." He heard them growl, but no one dared to say anything anymore. Good, just like he had planned.

The first species was already a surprise. They were not the brute savage creatures they usually saw over and over again. No, this was a highly advanced species of space travelers. They had already met the Xel'Naga in the flesh and accepted them as potential teachers. They didn't know warfare like so many other creatures. To them, space was a huge, endless ocean that only waited to be explored. There was just a tiny problem; their bodies did not possess any natural psionic abilities, they had only started recently to implement them by using technology and genetic engineering. Their powers were pretty weak when compared to other species, but they had complete control over them. When the Xel'Naga saw the images of their cities, their space stations, and their scientific endeavors, they were impressed. Aldaris just knew that by looking at their faces.

However, that wasn't enough. In order to manipulate others, you have to make them believe that they always have a choice.

Yes, this Xel'Naga was so much like the real Aldaris.

The second species was the exact opposite. They hadn't even invented steam-technology yet. And quite frankly, it was doubtful if they ever would get this far. The reason for that were their incredible psionic abilities. Even their young possessed more strength than the best Ghosts, except for a certain former Ghost with red hair maybe. They also possessed a natural connection they shared between each other. It was not unlike the Swarm, but they lacked its ferocity and wildness. They knew each other's thoughts, they could sense their needs and fears. The concept of "secrets" was unknown to them. However, it also meant that they had found enlightenment right at the very start of their journey. Why should they travel to the stars now? Everything they needed was already on their homeworld. Should the Xel'Naga choose them, they would have to teach them everything about the galaxy, about technology. Still, many looked with keen eyes at those beings. Yes, they could become great heirs to the Purity of Form.

By that time Aldaris had already won the others over. Even Warfield and Daggoth didn't dare to oppose him anymore. He smiled on the inside. Still, for a good manipulation, you need to cover your tracks. In the end, he didn't care for any of those species. It was about the power to make others do what you want. To shape the Infinite Cycle in his own image, that was what he wanted.

Looking at the whole scene, _she_ continued to frown. It just made no sense to her, no sense at all. Maybe she should ditch this memory and move on to the next. But maybe she would miss something important, and so she decided to stay and watch all of it.

The last species was nothing special. It was completely average. They possessed the technology for stellar, but not interstellar travel. They also possessed limited psionic abilities. They were like humans during the late 21st century. They even knew war and used it just like humans did. It wasn't a real choice, though. Aldaris had only added them to the mix to make it more colorful. He already knew that they would most likely choose the first species, maybe the second one, definitely _not_ the third one. And once they would choose the species, the Gardeners would start to cultivate them. And, of course, the Gardeners would turn to him to ask him for his opinion. He would become the first among many. His word would have even more weight than that of the Old Ones.

Could it be that this guy was actually Aldaris reincarnated?

Now the time came to deliberate. And they did that and Aldaris kept to himself. He had already planted his seed, all he had to do now was to wait. The Xel'Naga were still tired and exhausted, and with only three options left it didn't take long for them to make the right choice. _His_ choice.

"Brother, we have a consent!" a bloated Overlord announced. Joy flowed through Aldaris's entire being when he heard that.

"Excellent. Then how about-" he started.

"WHOA! Just in time!" a new voice suddenly echoed through the hall. Aldaris froze in an instant when he heard that voice. He looked up and saw how the figure of a male Terran walked down the rows. He knew him well, too well.

Damn it.

"Sorry I'm late, folks!" Jim/Ouros announced. "Traffic was a bitch, I tell you that!"

Looking at that man, the redhead frowned again. Maybe these people were a bit too much like people she used to know

Jim was almost out of breath when he finally reached Aldaris and gave him a thumbs up.

"Awesome show, my former student. You always were great at those things. And I really like your choices. They're certainly something else." Aldaris felt anger flashing through his whole body. He was about to witness how his whole plan went to hell. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do. Jim/Ouros looked at Aldaris and grinned like an idiot.

"I don't want to ruin your moment, but may I speak to the crowd?" he asked. If Aldaris would have had teeth, they'd turned into dust by now from all the grinding. But there was hardly a way for him to stop an Old One from speaking to his fellow Xel'Naga.

"Please, my old teacher, it would be an _honor._ " The way Aldaris pronounced the word _honor_ showed that he meant the exact opposite. Jim turned around and looked at the other Xel'Naga.

"My dear friends, I apologize for being so late. However, Aldaris was right; looking for the right species should be about quality, not quantity. I thought about that for quite some time. And you know me, once I start thinking you better run for cover because it won't end well!" he said with a wide grin on his face. A horrified expression appeared on Aldaris' face when he realized how the others were starting to chuckle at those words. Jim scratched his own head.

"You know, I understand that a lot of you are frustrated. And I understand that sometimes it would be so much nicer to just find one species and everything goes according to plan. But this..." he turned around and spread his arms, including the whole hall and everyone inside it. "...this isn't about us. It's about them." he said and pointed his finger at the pictures of the three species Aldaris had shown them. "...and it is about the question wherever we have the right to put that burden on their shoulders." The whole place fell into silence. Aldaris was furious and tried to think of a solution, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"So what do you suggest instead?" Daggoth asked. A smile appeared on Jim's face.

"I've been looking for a species as well." He looked over to Aldaris. "May I?" Aldaris was close to going nuclear, but he just nodded. Jim closed his eyes and the images of a fourth species appeared before the other Xel'Naga.

"This species may not look like much, but they possess all the qualities they need in order to prevail." They saw strange, thin creatures with gray skin and long, elongated heads. They had no mouths, and even though they were on the level of cavemen, they already possessed an incredible psionic potential.

"But..." Warfield said. "...look at them. They're constantly fighting. War is part of their nature! We have uplifted many, yet these creatures, they're savages!" Jim sighed when he heard those words.

"I know..." he said before looking into the other Xel'Nagas faces. "...I know that we Old Ones tend to lecture you on this and that and bore you to death with all our rules and stuff. I know that you're tired and think that this should be a quick decision. But you're making a mistake." He turned around and pointed his finger at the now four species.

"It's not about us, people. It's about them. It's about choosing the species that can carry the burden of continuing the Infinite Cycle. They're not just tools for us to be used and discarded. Yes, these savages are wild and brutal, however, they're also strong and courageous. They put honor above everything else and one day they will conquer the stars. To them, every threat is just a challenge, every fight is just another proof of their existence. And even in death, they do not show any fear. They may be rough around the edges, but who isn't? If we choose the species just because it suits our taste, then we have already betrayed the Infinite Cycle. Because it is not about who gives us the easiest time, but who will be able to stand against the Void."

Silence. No one dared to say a word. Then, after some time, Tassadar rose from his seat, looking directly into Jim's eyes.

"I think I speak for all of us if I say..." he announced. "...that we would like to deliberate about the candidates one more time." A smile appeared on Jim's face.

"Good man."

And then the vision ended.

* * *

When her mind returned to her body, the real Sarah opened her eyes and looked at the inscription. Another stored memory, however, it too left her with more questions than answers. And this one had been even more confusing than the other ones. Had she just witnessed how the Xel'Naga had chosen the Protoss to be their successors?

She knew that the Protoss had been savages long before the Xel'Naga had found them. But even though the culture of the First Born wasn't exactly something she was very interested in, she always assumed that they had been chosen because of their _psionic_ abilities and not because of their ferocious nature. In a way, this was the exact opposite of what she had assumed to be a reasonable course of action. It had been about finding someone who could carry the burden? What kind of burden had they been talking about?

A normal person probably would have shrugged its shoulders and realized that the Xel'Naga were pretty much like any other species too, albeit much more powerful. However, ever since Sarah had removed her humanity from her mind, all that remained was pure logic. And the Xel'Naga's decision to choose the Protoss was anything _but_ logical. Especially if she considered the other species Aldaris had suggested. Of course, she was aware of the fact that it hadn't been the real Aldaris. But at the same time, she didn't wonder why the Xel'Naga appeared as individuals she had known.

These other species, especially the first two...

It was perplexing. The first species obviously would have been the most logical choice. Peaceful and advanced, they would have been the perfect candidate. The Xel'Naga could have taught them everything and by that ensured a smooth transition from one cycle to the other. The second species hadn't been as promising, but Sarah understood that they could have been a decent plan B. However, the third? They had been similar to humans in many ways, and therefore unfit for such an important task. She would have never picked them. Yet instead, they had decided to go for door number four, which had been the worst of all choices in her point of view.

Of course, Sarah knew that the Protoss of her time were not the same brutal savages they had used to be. Well, not _exactly_ the same kind of brutal savages. And they had fought admirably against Amon. But what she simply couldn't understand was the fact that it had been the Protoss' strength and ferocity that had helped to stop Amon, the pure heart of a warrior's species. It needs more than just mere knowledge in order to stop a mad, power-hungry monster like Amon. It takes courage, strength, and determination. Things she too had once possessed. The Queen of Blades was a testimony to that. Her rage and anger had helped her to endure, had kept her on her path towards vengeance. However, the Queen of Blades was no longer part of her, so she wasn't able to understand that.

The irony was that she had found perfect logic while living in an illogical world. She was more like a broken computer, repeating the same pattern over and over again. So she would study the next inscription. And then the next one. And then the next. Over and over, for all of eternity. And since she didn't feel any form of frustration anymore, she would simply continue to do that. Without knowing it, she had trapped herself in an endless cycle of repetition.

"Sarah. We need to talk, Darlin'." she heard his voice. Sarah didn't turn around this time. She knew he was right behind her. He was always right behind her. Even though she had freed herself of her humanity, she had kept him inside her. She didn't know why, though. He served no purpose. But for some odd reason, she _wanted_ him to stay. Still, she had more important things to do. He wasn't real anyway. Maybe when she would finally solve this mystery she would remove him from her mind as well. Looking at the next inscription, she decided to not access it right away. She had to think about the last one some more. Maybe she had overlooked something?

"Sarah..." he said again. "I'm sorry. Sorry for everything I've done or, well, what the other one has done to you I guess. The real one." Thinking about such a vision usually didn't take much time. However, she didn't want to risk missing some important detail. Aside from choosing the Protoss as heir to the Purity of Form, there were other things that puzzled her.

"You know, I had a talk with someone very dear to me just a short while ago." he continued talking to her. "You could say that she's the most important person in my life, just like you are. She told me some interesting things. About us. About _me_." He sighed. "At first I didn't want to believe it, but now I think that she's right. And you know what? That thought scares the hell outta me."

The way this Aldaris-figure had tried to outplay the other Xel'Naga was difficult to comprehend. She still understood the concept of scheming and lying. But she was no longer able to understand why someone would do that for something so mundane as mere power over others. Hadn't the Xel'Naga all been equals? Yet this Aldaris had tried to put himself up front. But not in order to improve the lives of his fellow Xel'Naga, he had just wanted to rule because he had _craved_ it? The whole concept made no sense to Sarah. To _this_ Sarah anyway. Which was ironic, because her human part knew about those motives more than anyone else...

"But...but this isn't about me, you know." he mumbled. "It is about you. It has always been about you. I don't know if the real me has actually realized that yet, but..." He took a deep breath. "...I'm sorry, Sarah. Sorry how I've treated you all those years. Sorry for leaving you alone when you needed me. I understand that now. I understand that my actions were in fact no different from Mengsk, the Overmind, or the Confederacy."

She blinked in confusion when she heard that. Those words, was that Jim? What was he talking about? Ah, nevermind. The next inscription might contain the answer she was looking for.

"I always thought that you were like me. You know; a lonely soul, looking for someone to love. Perhaps it's a typical human thing to do, maybe it's even a thing guys do when they pretend to know what's going on inside a woman's head. Forcing your own perspective on others seems to be pretty popular around here. And if the people don't fit into that perspective, then they're just damn monsters. Very convenient." She floated towards the next inscription and prepared herself to dive deep into the memory stored inside.

"But the truth is...I don't think you and I were meant to walk down that path together, you know..." She could hear him swallow hard. "Heh this isn't easy, you know that? Man, _she_ just said "Tell her! Tell her how you really feel!" Easier said than done, Darlin." he mumbled. Sarah was about to dive deep into the other stored memory. She could deal with that later.

"The Zerg, I always hated them. They took you away from me, turned you into a monster. But at the same time, they accepted you as their leader, right? Well, after Tassadar blew up the Overmind. But even during the Brood Wars, you _fought_ for your right to lead the Swarm, isn't that right? You fought for what you believed was rightfully yours." She could hear his ragged breath. It sounded like he was close to crying.

"I don't know any of this makes any sense to you. Hell, I don't even know if any of this reaches you, but I just wanted to get it off my chest before it kills me. Well, bad choice of words, I know, but still..." Wait a second.

"Sarah, I know now that I'm not Jim. And I know why you did what you had to do. I can't blame you for it. Hell, no one in this universe can. Or should. You have suffered because of so many others. And yet, they use your name like you're the devil. This world has given you nothing, so becoming this _thing_ is probably the only true path you have left." She could hear how he swallowed again and fought back the tears.

"I finally see the truth, Darlin'. There's a whole new universe waiting for you. And this time I won't be holding you back, I promise."

Of course he wouldn't hold her back, what was he talking about?

"But..." he suddenly said. "...this is a road you have to travel alone, Darlin'. I know it's unfair. And I know that a real man should never abandon his lady. But I'm not Jim. And I couldn't bear watching you like this for all of eternity. So I'm doing the only thing that's left to do. I'm setting you free." For a moment Sarah was confused. What was he talking about? She was ready to plunge deep into the next stored memory when she suddenly realized something. Her eyes widened in surprise and then in shock.

"Farewell, Sarah. I hope that you'll find what you're looking for. This is Marshall Jim Raynor, signing off." When the voice started to fade away, she turned around and stared at the empty place behind her. Her mouth opened and a real word left her throat for the first time since she had ascended.

 **Jim!**

* * *

Sarah had found herself a nice and dark corner where she enjoyed being alone. And with "being alone", Sarah meant "crying her eyes out". They said that crying felt good, that it helped to get rid of the pain. Effin' bullshit, she had been crying for what felt like days, yet even though she should have died of dehydration by now, the tears simply hadn't stopped. And neither had the sense of guilt and shame.

 _I guess that happens if you don't have a real body._

She hadn't started to cry right away because she hadn't understood Jim's plan at first. Should have known better, though. He had always been her knight in rusty armor, and her memory of him wasn't any different. When she had managed to make contact with him, she had told him everything. About her, about him. About the _other_ Sarah. And you know what the worst thing had been? After she had finished, he had simply blinked with his eyes and said: "So that's why I don't have to take a dump!" Trusty old Jim, always thinking about the practical problems.

However, the worst thing was not that he had accepted her explanation just like that. No, the worst thing was that he had agreed to help her immediately. And of course, he had come up with a plan. She still couldn't believe it. Maybe she should have stopped him, maybe she should have left him alone. What right did _she_ have to cause _him_ even more pain? To drive him to such extreme measures? She had always caused him pain, and now she was even responsible for his demise...

It didn't help that he wasn't the real Jim. She wasn't the real Sarah either, right? The thought of spending the rest of eternity in these halls with him hadn't been so horrible. But now he was gone. Forever gone. Truth to be told, she had no idea how he had managed to do that. As she had been pulled back to her side of the mirror, she had seen his smile for the last time. It hurt. And it was her doing. She had sacrificed the man she loved for her own selfish needs. Should she ever get out of this hellhole, she would keep her distance. She swore to herself that she would never hurt Jim, the _real_ Jim, again.

But that wasn't up to her anyway. She had no idea if his plan had worked, not until the other Sarah found her and descended from above. She could feel _her_ light on her skin, feel the incredible power resting inside that ascended being. At the same time, she felt a deep sense of longing, as if she was a part of that being and wanted to return home.

 **Where is he?** _her_ voice echoed through Sarah's mind. She sniffled but didn't look up.

"Gone." she said. Suddenly she wasn't so happy anymore that the other one was finally taking notice of her.

 **How is that possible?** That question caused Sarah to laugh.

"Ha, so much for almighty godlike being. You know, you sure are pretty stupid. But I guess that makes us such a good match, hmm?" The other Sarah tilted her head to the side.

 **How is that possible?** she repeated her question like a broken record. Sarah shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't know. But he was always pretty resourceful, was he not? Always appearing when you never expected him. He always knew how to surprise us." That much was true.

 **You have taken him away from me. Why?** This time Sarah looked up and stared right into the glowing eyes of her other self. Her own eyes widened as she saw how tears streamed down that perfect face, only to land on the floor of Ulnar where they dried and turned into solid gold. It was quite poetic if you think about it. Sarah's own tears didn't stop either.

"Because I love him...and because without him, I am lost."

 **Now he is gone. Because of you. Why would he do such a thing?**

"Why do you even care? You've freed yourself of all human emotions, remember? I'm all that is left of your humanity. Weak, scared, huddling in the darkness." It was true. The other ones, Mengsk, Fenix, the Magistrate, they were all gone now. The moment Sarah had removed her humanity from her own mind, it had fractured. Like a broken crystal, the other parts of her humanity had started to form a will of their own, appearing as people from her past. However, they too had only been fragments and after some time they had returned to her. Now they all rested inside her once more. It also meant that she was truly alone.

 **I don't understand. Why did he leave us?** Sarah felt anger and frustration when she heard the other one's question.

"Because he loved us! And he wanted us to be happy! You wouldn't understand it, though, because you don't longer know what happiness is. Or sadness. Or anger, or despair or any of the things that make us human." _Even though I have no idea what a human being actually is..._

 **It doesn't make any sense.** Sarah heard those words and jumped back on her feet. She stared at the huge figure with anger in her eyes.

"It makes perfect sense, you stupid thing!" she yelled. "We screwed it up! Again, I might add! Jim...he _believed_ in us. And all we did was to use him and then discard him like an empty rifle. Just like everything around us." She took a deep breath. "I finally understand now that we have failed them. Now we're broken. _You_ possess the power to change pretty much everything. Yet, you don't even understand the most basic concepts of human emotions. And good old _me_? I'm weak and can't do anything about my own inabilities because I lack the strength necessary to do so." A bitter laugh left her throat. "We're a fine pair, you and I. One without a heart, the other one without a body, trapped in this place forever. Because we didn't realize the truth when we still had the chance."

 **What truth are you talking about?** the other Sarah wanted to know. The smaller one took a deep breath.

"That we need each other. Broken like this, we will just stay here forever." Their eyes met again, and Sarah could feel how her heart started to ache. Her voice was just a whisper.

"Please..." she said and raised her hand high up into the air, reaching out to her other self. "...I don't want to be alone anymore."

The ascended Sarah looked down upon her other self, her face still showing no emotions. That's when the golden tears finally stopped. She looked at that small, weak thing that used to be her humanity for a very long time...

...until she too reached out. As their fingers touched, a bright light appeared and all of Ulnar started to awake. Deep inside her mind, Sarah could feel how everything started to shift and move. She felt exhausted, yet at the same time happiness flowed through her entire being.

She was finally whole again...

* * *

She watched from the shadows. She had seen everything. And she also witnessed how the flaming body of the ascended Sarah Kerrigan vanished. Unlike all these memories, she hadn't been a part of Sarah's complex mind. The young woman remained behind and a smile appeared on her face. It was both sad and gentle at the same time.

"So this is how it all started..." she whispered to herself. Her voice did indeed almost sound like Sarah's. She pressed her hands against her chest and sighed.

"...everything will be alright, just remember that, yes?"

* * *

 **...**

 **End of the Prologue**

 **...**

 ** **Coming Up Next:****

 ** **...****

 ** **Act I****

 ** **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step****

 ** **...****


	9. Act I - Chapter 1

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter I**

 **To boldly go where no Emperor has gone before**

* * *

 **Koprulu Sector**

 **Near Moria in the Kel-Morian Combine**

* * *

When Jim woke up, he felt like shit. Even though the bed he was laying in was brand new and highly comfortable, he felt like he had spent the whole night on pointy rocks. As he opened his eyes, he rolled them to the side so he could see the time on the clock next to him. 4.17 ship time. Great, still almost two hours before six. For a moment he thought about close his eyes and roll around to get some more sleep, but he knew that this would be a pointless thing to do. He would stay awake for two more hours, roll from one side to the other, go to the bathroom, return to the bed, and once he was supposed to stand up, he would look like a Hydralisk. Or a very ugly Protoss. He missed his old bunk back on the Hyperion. But the ship he was on wasn't the Hyperion.

So instead he decided to do what he had done so many times before. He lifted himself off the bed and groaned. Funny, now that he was sleeping in such a comfortable bed, he finally started to feel his aching bones. Maybe sleeping in the dirt and on plates of steel was better for his old limbs.

Truth to be told, it was pretty pathetic. He was now 37 years old, yet he felt like he was double his actual age. It was probably due to the fact that he had put so much physical stress on his own body that every tendon was now that of an old man. And the fact that he had a serious drinking-problem wasn't helping either.

And let's not even talk about the smoking...

He was coughing and groaning like an old man when he finally got up and headed for the bathroom. Almost all Terran ships shared the same basic layout. So even though this wasn't the Hyperion, the way to the bathroom was pretty much the same. There was one important difference though; everything on board this ship was brand new. It was actually a very strange feeling when his naked feet touched the cold steel of the floor. He had traveled on many ships, some big, some small, some decent, some flying death-traps. But he had never, _never_ before traveled on a ship that was truly brand new. There was even that certain smell. It was hard to describe, but you could call it a new-car-smell, or new-battlecruiser-smell if you like it. It wasn't exactly a bad, even though he first had felt some reservations about touching anything. Everything was was still so shiny and new!

Jim was sure that Swan would have hated it. Not just that everything was brand new, pretty much every system on board of this ship was fully automated. The extremely well-trained crew and engineers had practically nothing to do. Yet for some odd reason, they always seemed so damn busy when he walked through the clean corridors of the ship and asked someone for directions.

It wasn't all bad though. As he stepped into the shower, hot and clean water came out of the shower head. It hadn't always been hot water coming out of the Hyperion's shower. Or water at all. Like the one time when Stetmann had decided to _improve_ the water-purification-system by linking it with the waste-disposal-system. When the crew had tried to lynch the skinny scientist, Jim had hesitated for quite some time before finally calling them back. Such problems were of no concern to the crew of this ship. Everything was well maintained and there was no reason for on-the-go-repairs-or-we-are-all-gonna-die-things. Like said; Swan would have hated it.

The ship he was on was named the _Rebel Heart_ , the now unofficial flagship of the Dominion. The name had been Matt's idea, courtesy to all the former Raiders now serving under the flag of the Dominion. It wasn't the most prestigious name and many people had frowned upon it. Could you really call the flagship of the Dominion like that? Well, yeah! The Rebel Heart was new, it had no battle-record whatsoever. And the Bucephalus, old man Mengsk's flagship, was simply the wrong ride for this trip. It would have sent the wrong kind of message. As he stepped out of the shower and went to the mirror, he looked at his face and sighed.

 _You're getting old, buddy. Some more gray hairs, some more wrinkles. Soon you look like an old, washed up pirate..._

The last year had caused some more wrinkles to appear on his face. Most of them on his forehead, courtesy of all that frowning.

13 months had passed since the victory against Amon. 13 months since peace had finally come to the Korpulu Sector. Well, at least it was more peaceful than usual. 13 months since the Protoss had reclaimed their sacred homeworld of Aiur and 13 months since Zagara, the new Overqueen of the Swarm had reclaimed Char and launched a bloody campaign against the remnants of Amon's forces. It was, of course, a constant threat to the Dominion and all the other Terran worlds. The Zerg were currently hunting down the remaining hybrids and there were quite a lot of them. Even the Protoss and the Dominion fleet had to smoke out nests full of those beasts from time to time. Amon had left them quite the nasty present. But they were fighting a losing battle. Hybrids were infertile, they could only reproduce with the help of technology. Thankfully the Zerg apparently considered the Hybrids to be an insult to their whole kind. Still, the Zerg would always remain a constant threat. Some things would just never change. And against such a high-level-threat like the Zerg, humanity had to stand united. That was the whole point of this journey.

Man, he really wished to be on the Hyperion right now. There should be still plenty of booze lying around and he knew where he had hidden most of it. Well, at least the stuff Matt hadn't sniffed out. Perhaps it was the real reason why _Admiral_ Horner had ordered the Rebel Heart to take both Jim and Valerian to the Combine.

Rebel Heart, that was actually not such a bad name after all. It had a nice ring to it. And it was sure as hell better than Bucephalus.

* * *

 **Korhal**

 **City of Augustgrad**

* * *

When Rory Swann stormed through the corridors of the Ministry of Defense, everyone could see that he was not happy. Oh no, he was even grumpier than usual as he stormed through the corridors like a barrel with too short arms and legs. All those well-dressed officers looked at him in suspicion, yet no one dared to stop him. Ever since the Admiral had taken command of this outfit, a lot of strange folks had walked in and out of the ministry. Some rookies in clean uniforms tried to stop him, but they didn't manage to get any further than: "Excuse me, Sir, but you're not-" By that time he usually had already passed them. Being on Korhal was bad enough. Being _stuck_ on the planet was even worse. He wouldn't have come down here if there had been any other solution, but since _Admiral_ Horner had decided to ignore all of his requests, what other choice did he have? He had asked the Commander, but Raynor had just replied: "I'm no longer in charge, Swann. I can't give the Admiral any orders. You have to solve that one yourself."

 _Solve that one yourself..._

Those had been the Commanders words. But it was still strange to hear them coming from a man who had solved the problems of so many people. And caused some problems for a few assholes. To think that James Raynor wouldn't do anything about this issue was, it just felt wrong. But then again, the Commander had changed in the last few months. Ever since the end of the war...

Rory Swann was not a thickheaded moron. He _knew_ that Raynor had lost more than just his will to fight. For everyone on the outside, it looked like the great James Raynor was simply tired of all those wars. But Rory belonged to a small group of people that knew the truth. The loss of Kerrigan had hit him hard.

Rory wasn't sad that this crazy bitch was gone. And everyone with at least three working brain-cells had seen that getting too close to her usually meant to end up six feet under. Or worse. But Raynor didn't care about that. She had been everything to him and now she was gone for good. Sometimes Rory wondered if Raynor shouldn't be allowed to just wither away. It was a cruel thought and Rory hated himself for that. But seeing the Commander nowadays just felt so wrong, like it was only an empty shell. It talked like Jim. It walked like Jim. And if you gave it a bottle of Whiskey, it drank it like Jim. But it just didn't _feel_ like Jim.

Of course, Rory would never speak those thoughts out loud. Especially near Matt, who could hear someone criticizing him from ten miles away while a group of siege tanks fired into the sky.

Matt, oh, sorry; _Admiral Matthew Horner_ , supreme commander of the Dominion Forces! Bah, at least one of the Raiders had managed to climb up the ladder. To think that Matt had been part of the Raiders for so many years, yet now he was wearing the insignia of the Dominion just like that...

Rory could feel how the rage inside his chest grew. Good, because he would sucker-punch the _Admiral_ for ignoring all of his messages. He entered the anteroom of the Admirals office and ignored the marines guarding the door. Of course, those marines wouldn't have allowed _anyone_ inside, but they recognized Swann and simply saluted when he stormed inside. The fact that some Dominion soldiers saluted to _him_ made him even angrier. That was like, he didn't even know, it was just wrong!

"Sir, the Admiral is currently having a-" Matt's secretary tried to say, but Rory had no time for that. He kicked the door open and looked at the figure behind the big desk. Matt looked over at him and blinked in surprise.

"...that is where you should start your sweep. We don't have much information though, so...Swan, what are you doing here?" he asked confused. The blonde woman that stood in front of Matt's desk turned her head around and looked at the bulky engineer before pulling a brow up. Swan remembered her, but he had no time for one of these killers.

"What am _I_ doing here? Hey, look everyone! It's the great Admiral Horner, ignoring all his former buddies from his time with the Raiders. Now he can't even answer their calls anymore when they need a small favor because he's too damn important!" Matt's eyes widened for a moment before he gave off an annoyed sigh. The blond woman could sense his anger and frustration and a smile appeared on her face. He looked over to her.

"I apologize for this, well, never mind. Perhaps we should-" he started, but Nova just lifted her hand.

"It's okay. I know what I have to do. I will depart within the next few hours and send you weekly updates on my progress." With that, she turned around and walked past Swann, but not before giving him a cocky grin.

"He's all yours, Tiger." she said before leaving the Admiral's office. Swan looked after her, but he had no eyes for her attractive backside. All he saw was Mengsk's best assassin. Did Matt actually have any idea of what he was doing?

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Swann?" Matt said with an annoyed tone in his voice. Rory turned around and pointed his prosthetic at the Admiral.

"You know damn well why I'm here! You have the nerve to ignore all my messages and now-" he started.

"Door." Matt interrupted him.

"Huh?" Swann said in confusion.

"The door, Swann. If you want to rant in my office, that's fine by me. But at least close the goddamn door!" Matt told him. For a moment Swann thought about telling him to shove that door up his exhaust pipe. But then he simply closed the door behind him. He wasn't very subtle though.

 **SLAM!**

"What the hell, man!" Swann yelled in anger. "Six times! SIX TIMES! I sent you six messages.! Either you don't care or you don't have any time! Or am I no longer important enough? Is the great Admiral Horner too high and mighty in order to speak with his old comrades from the Raiders?" Anger appeared in Matt's eyes, but he knew that swallowing that anger down was the better option. Besides, Swann had always been one to speak out his mind. In a very colorful way if necessary. Raynor had always enjoyed that bluntness. Matt did not.

"I think I will just ignore what you've said, Swann. For old time's sake." Matt growled. There was a limit even to his patience.

"Oh yeah? Well, whoopi-do! I'm so glad that you have so many new boots that are oh so shiny. But the old ones are no longer good enough for you or what?!" Swann shot back. Matt blinked in confusion at those words.

"Boots? Wait a second, Swann, I offered everyone from the Raiders a post within the military. I understand if there are people who don't want to do that. Everyone who has declined that offer will get a pension or financial support, just like Valerian has promised." Swann crossed his arms in front of his broad chest when he heard that

"This ain't about the men, Matt!" he spat out.

"You just said "boots". What else should it be about, Swann?" Matt replied both confused and annoyed.

"The goddamn Hyperion!"

…

…

…

…

"Not this crap again..." Matt sighed and pressing his hands against his face.

"Crap? CRAP? You just gonna let her rot up there?" Swann yelled in anger. But he wasn't the only one who was angry.

"YES, SWANN!" Matt shot back and slammed both his fist on his desk. "That's exactly what I'm going to do. But before that, we're going to salvage her for parts. You knew that. I told you that when I offered you a position on some of the finest ships in the fleet. And I have no idea why you think that I have changed my mind since the last time we had this conversation!"

"Because it's the goddamn Hyperion, that's why!" Swan shouted. Their conversation had turned into an all-out yelling-contest. "She is the finest ship in the entire sector, and you know that!" Swan said while pointing his finger on Matt as if he was accusing the Admiral of treason.

"She's old, Swan. Outdated. And the only things that keep her together are dried chewing gum and Jim's hidden booze-bottles. She wouldn't last one more battle. Hell, even a stern look from some officer would probably blow her up! There are tons of ships that are faster and more powerful and I simply don't have the money to keep that floating death-trap operational." He could see how Swan's face turned white in anger.

"Death-trap? DEATH-TRAP? She saved your ass more times than I can remember! What the hell happened to you, man? Money? We used to fight for freedom and now you sacrifice our ship, our _home_ because you don't want to spend a few bucks on her?" Matt knew that it was pointless to talk to Swann when he was like this. But he wouldn't back down either.

"Yes, Swann! This is about money. Because we are no longer at war, God dammit! We have to cut our budget. That means that we have to concentrate on those vessels that we can still afford and who are most useful to us. The Hyperion is neither."

"Yeah, right. And that's why you're keeping the Bucephalus. Because Mengsk's old flagship is _so_ much better than the Hyperion!"

"You're damn right she is!" Matt yelled in anger as he stood up. "And if you would pull your head out of your own ass, you would see that too!" The room turned silent. Matt's eyes widened as he realized what he had said.

"Swan, listen, I'm-" he tried to apologize. He knew Swann. That man was still a fellow Raider. And a damn good engineer. And a friend.

"No, don't bother _Admiral_. I understand that this is about numbers. Guess I have to find someone else willing to help me. You know what, forget it. I'm gonna pull her out of that dry-dock myself if I have to. Take her somewhere else, somewhere where I can fix her." He turned around and opened the door, but not before looking over his shoulders. "You know, I supported you when you and the Commander decided to disband the Raiders and offered them to join the Dominion. And I'm not so thick that I don't see the benefits. But I just had hoped that something of the Raiders would survive all of this. You know, something that _we_ had. Guess I was a fool, huh? Good day, Admiral."

"Swan, please..." Matt tried to say, but then the engineer slammed the door shut behind him.

"Get out of my damn way, you fool!" he could hear the engineer yell through the closed door. He waited a few moments and then Matt finally fell back into his chair and rubbed his eyes. Great, just another thing he could add to the pile of "To Hell With All Of You!". How Jim had managed to shoulder this burden through all those years was beyond Matt.

"Ach..." he sighed. "...how about a drink, eh' Commander?" But there was no Commander around to agree. Both Jim and Valerian were not on Korhal anymore. They were on their way to the Kel-Morian-Combine. It was an important mission, an important journey. Even though the war against Amon was over, people had not forgotten about the Dominion's acts of violence. Especially in the Combine, a true stronghold of anti-Dominion-resentments. Being the son of Mengsk and going there wasn't probably the smartest idea. But Valerian had to do it. Within the last 13 months, the young man had proven to be the kind of leader this Dominion needed. And it was good to see that he was completely different from his father. Matt had seen Valerian's suffering during those last few years, how he had grieved over all those who had lost their lives. But it also reminded Matt of his own grief and the countless people that had died under his command. The burden of leadership, to him it was not just a fancy word, it truly felt like a burden.

When he had accepted the position as Supreme Commander of the Dominion Forces, he had realized that this wasn't a job like his old one. But he had to admit; most of his time he had to deal with things that felt like they had absolutely _nothing_ to do military work. Like planning a new military budget.

Did anyone even realize that Arcturus Mengsk had spent up to 19% of the annual budget solely on the military? And those were only the official numbers! Mengsk's black-ops-projects were a whole different story though. All in all the deceased Emperor had spent so much money on military and security that he could have rebuilt Tarsonis into the world it once used to be, several times over if necessary. Yet it wasn't only the about the numbers, it also was about the quality. And the truth was that the ordinary soldier serving the Dominion's minion was nothing but a brute with a gun.

And so one of Matt's primary goals was to transform the military into a professional army. No more drafts, no more "re-socialized" criminals. But even though it looked good on paper, reforming a whole military was not just about replacing guns with new guns or ships with even better ships. Creating a whole new concept for training officers was already something that would take years. And _maybe_ they would reap the benefits in ten to fifteen years if no one decided to butt in and launch a coup d'etat on them, a threat that was _always_ looming over their heads. Even now there were groups agitating against Valerian's rule. But unlike Mengsk his son had decided to _not_ use any assassins to deal with that threat.

Speaking of assassins...

"Brent, how about the press conference? Is everything ready?" he asked after pressing a button on his desk. No answer. Matt frowned as he heard nothing.

"Brent? Captain Brent, are you there?" Instead of answering through the line, the door was opened and the thin figure of a Captain of the Dominion's military pushed his head into Matt's office.

"Sorry, Admiral. Your, uhm, _guest_ damaged my desk on his way out. I guess you wanted to know if everything is ready for your press conference? Or do you need another aspirin?" the skinny man with the red hair asked. Captain Joseph Brent was a good officer, one who had passed the Dominion's Officer Academy with flying colors and had a clean record, so no involvement into any form of war-crimes. And unlike most other officers, he possessed a keen intellect and a sense of humor.

"Both." Matt replied truthfully.

"Sorry, we have already used up all aspirins on Korhal. A new shipment from Umoja is on the way here, but it will probably take two more weeks before they arrive. But I heard they make 'em with a special kind of flavor. "Despair and cold cigarettes", I immediately thought about you when I read that."

Okay, maybe his sense of humor was a bit too much.

"So, about the press-conference..." Matt tried to redirect the conversation. Brent knocked on the Admiral's door frame.

"Everything's set. I actually wanted to grab you in 30 minutes, but after this little show right now...you want me to postpone it for one or two hours? Give you some time to breathe?" Brent wanted to know, but Matt simply shook his head.

"No. That would only cause the media to go berserk again." Matt said.

"Right!" Brent replied and started to grin. "Wack the crazy conspiracy-guy! Oh, that was a lovely last season! I so hoped we would do that again. Seeing how Commander Raynor punched that guy in the face during a live broadcast was pretty awesome."

"Pretty awesome?" Matt asked. "That's not exactly what an officer of the Dominion's military should say. It was still an assault on a harmless civilian."

"Even if that civilian is a turd?" Brent wanted to know. Matt opened his mouth but then decided to say nothing. He had almost forgotten that Brent was only 21 years old. A captain who's only 21! He was a Lieutenant for less than six months before they made him Captain! But at the same time it showed the whole dilemma Matt was facing; finding good and competent officers was hard. So he had to look for people who weren't part of the grid.

At the same time, Matt realized that there was still so much work ahead of him. He too was just in his mid-thirties. There were many high-ranked officers in the military who simply thought that he was too young for the job as supreme commander of the military. Maybe they were right, but he didn't have to prove anything to _them_. Matt sighed as he rubbed his eyes.

"Maybe I should go on vacation." he mumbled.

"I heard Char is lovely this time of the year!" Brent replied.

* * *

The Rebel Heart was by no means a poor ship. A lot of technology on board of this vessel was so brand new that Jim had never heard anything about it. Apparently, Arcturus had found some interesting tech shortly before the end of his reign. If they had waited just a little time longer, he might have blown the Raiders, Zerg, and even the Protoss out of the stars.

 _I guess it's good that Sarah showed up when she did, hmm._

Good dammit. He closed his eyes and frowned. Starting the day by thinking about _her_. He was not a superstitious man, even though he had fought against a living god and telepaths and shit like that. But by now he believed that starting the day with thinking about Sarah was a bad omen. Sitting at a table inside the ship's canteen, he sighed before rubbing his eyes. The cold white light of the lamps gave him a headache and the air was so clean that it felt artificial. Naturally, smoking wasn't allowed on this ship. He had tried to hide in one of the airlocks, but the captain of the vessel had found out about that very quickly. Now he was not only dry but hadn't had a smoke for at least one week. He felt like he was about to die.

"Commander!" a crewman said while passing by and saluted to him. Jim just gave him a quick nod. They all did that now. At first, it had been funny, seeing soldiers of the Dominion showing him respect. Then it had started to grow old really fast. By now he only wanted to be left alone. But their journey would still last at least three more days, and locking himself up in his room for those three days was no longer an option. _According to Matt,_ that was no longer an option.

"Commander..." a new voice reached his ears. He decided to look up, seeing a familiar face.

"Junior." Valerian, sorry, _Emperor_ Valerian Mengsk sat down on the other side of the small table. He looked good, but Jim could see the anxiety in Valerian's eyes. The closer they got to their destination, the more restless he became. Jim couldn't blame him. Venturing to the Kel-Morian-Combine was like going to Char. Fewer teeth but more politicians. Same amount of bloodthirst though.

"How are you feeling today?" Valerian wanted to know.

"Whadda'ya think?" Jim replied before taking another sip from his cup. Valerian frowned and looked at the cup. Jim noticed the look.

"It's just coffee." he said before rubbing his temples. Valerian's brows wandered up, but he didn't say anything. Still, Jim could sense his reluctance. He didn't need psionics to know that. Still, when Jim put his cup down, Valerian grabbed it and took a quick sniff. No booze inside.

"Forgive me, but I promised Matt to make sure that you don't, uhm, what were his exact words? Blow a flute?"

"Fuse. It's "to blow a fuse", Junior. Blowing a flute, well, just never use that expression when alone in Deadman's Port. They might get the wrong idea, you know." Jim didn't want to go into any details. It was simply too early in the morning for this kind of conversation.

"I suppose you know more about these things than I do." Valerian replied.

"Trust me, there are some things that even I don't want to know." Jim growled. For quite some time the two men said nothing, they just sat there and enjoyed the silence. Even though they were already on this ship for five days, they hadn't talked about anything except the weather and if there was some alcohol in his coffee. You could say that these two men were simply too different to find some common ground. There simply was nothing they could talk about. Jim didn't want to talk about old war-stories, it would only make him sound like an old man talking about the good old days that had never existed in the first place. And Valerian didn't want to hold any "speeches of grandeur", telling Jim about his vision for a better future and such.

No, the true connection between those two men was still sitting on Korhal, buried under tons of paperwork. Matt had asked Jim to accompany Valerian to the Combine. It was a reasonable request, Jim and the Raiders had a long and good history with the Combine. Some people even called him a freedom fighter. His word had some weight there, that was why he would be at Valerian's side when the Emperor would talk to the people of the Combine. To the Kel-Morian's Arcturus Mengsk had been just another power hungry dictator. They had suffered under the Confederacy and they had suffered under the Dominion. Matt and Valerian had both agreed that the chance for true peace meant that they had to heal the wounds of the past. That also included making amends for crimes committed. And since Valerian still _was_ Mengsk's only son, it was his duty to walk down this path. But that didn't mean that he had to do it alone.

"Since you and I are already here..." Valerian suddenly said, which caused Jim to groan on the inside.

 _Real smooth, Junior._

"Alright, just hit me." he mumbled while taking another sip of his coffee. Man, he really missed the coffee from the Hyperion. This one tasted like water with a tiny bit of caffeine. Valerian started to rub his hands.

"You know, I've been thinking about this trip." he started.

"Bit late to get cold feet now, Junior." Jim said, slurping more coffee. "Wanna chicken out now?"

"No, certainly not. It's more a technical problem. It's about the speech." Valerian mumbled.

"Speech? I wasn't aware that you will hold a speech." Jim yawned. Valerian tilted his head to the side when he heard that.

"Me? Oh no, _you_ are to hold a speech. Didn't the Admiral tell you that?" Suddenly Jim's eyes widened in shock.

 _What? Oh no! No, they wouldn't...O_ nly then a smile appeared on Valerian's face.

"Works better than this sorry excuse for a coffee, right?" he said while grinning like an idiot.

 _Cheeky bastard._

"Cheeky bastard." Jim repeated his own thoughts as his heartbeat started to slow down again. A man of his age could die of a heart attack easily! Valerian chuckled a bit before giving off a sigh. His expression turned serious all of the sudden. Jim was again reminded that this man was not like his father had been.

"But in all seriousness. Commander, Jim, I could use your input."

"If it's not about insurrections and open rebellion, I doubt I can be of any help." Jim replied.

"It's about my speech." Valerian said. "I've been working on this speech for the last, uhgn, I don't know...four weeks? By now I must have written over 300 pages, but I threw them all away. It's just...it doesn't feel right." Jim looked him in the eyes.

"Don't you have professional speech writers or something like that? You could ask that Vermillion-guy. Apparently his book "Me and the new Emperor, Homies for Life" is a real hit." Mentioning the former UNN-host made Valerian shudder.

"No." he just said. Now it was Jim who grinned.

"What's the matter. Didn't he sent you a copy with his signature?" he teased. Valerian's eyebrows went up.

"Actually, he did. There was even a photo of him and my father inside. It had _his signature_ on it. I burned it." Valerian sighed. "See, I understand that this is important, but I just have the feeling that I don't find the right words. I don't want to screw this up, Jim. I want to show them that I, that _we_ are serious about this." Jim could hear the passion in Valerian's voice and leaned back before he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"You were raised in the Umojan Protectorate, right Junior?" Jim asked. "Tell me; what do you know about the Kel-Morians?" Valerian blinked two or three times before he tried to answer that question.

"The Combine was founded by several mining companies and pirate bands. Initially, they wanted to protect their investments and mining areas from the old Confederacy. Over the course of time-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Jim interrupted him. "I asked; what do you know about the Kel-Morians. The actual people, not the ones in charge. Normal folks, you know? Like you and me, only not like you."

"I, uhm..." Valerian said.

"Exactly. You want to speak to them. But who do you want to address? You want to know something about the Kel-Morians? The actual people?" Valerian started to understand and nodded.

"Yes...I think that would be very helpful."

"Okay, do you want to take notes or something?" Jim asked.

"No, I think I will be able to remember it." Valerian replied.

"Fair enough. So, the Kel-Morians you have met are the elite. And yes, most of them are cutthroats and descendants of former pirates. But the normal people? Those worlds were always home to heavy mining. There is not a single person on the worlds within the Combine who isn't related to someone digging up stones. It's more than just a job to them, it's part of their culture. For them, it's not just business or digging up stuff in order to sell it. Hard, honest work, that is what they do. And that is what they respect." Jim lifted one of his arms and flexed it, showing a rather impressive biceps.

"See this?" he asked, to which Valerian only nodded.

"I got these babies from my time in the Combine. Even though the Raiders were the Combines guests many times, we were still expected to earn our stay. Not because they demanded it. But because they expected it. If we hadn't shown them that we're willing to dig in the same dirt they do, they would have never respected us." He lowered his arm and pointed his finger on Valerian. "And you? Don't get me wrong, Junior, but you're not exactly Kel-Morian-material. The Umojans like to use their brain instead of their brawn. Okay, I get that. But just because someone's arms are bigger than his head doesn't mean that he's stupid."

"I never implied that." Valerian started, but Jim just made a gesture to shut him up.

"All I'm sayin' is that you should not treat them like idiots. Trust me, you won't find anyone tougher and more resilient than Kel-Morians. And don't even ask me about their women because...hui..." Jim whistled impressed. Of course, that was exactly what Valerian did.

"What about their women?" he wanted to know.

"Think of Swann, only less with mustache."

Well, that was a picture that stuck.

"Point is..." Jim continued. "...Kel-Morians will tell you that they eat iron ore and shit steel ingots. And that's probably the truth." He sighed. "They're simple people with simple hopes and simple dreams. Yet as we all know by now, simple dreams are the ones that are the hardest to realize, right?" he said with a lot of bitterness in his words. Valerian decided not to say anything. So he still wasn't over _her_ demise.

"So, you're saying that I should use _simple_ words?" Valerian asked a bit confused. Jim sighed when he heard that.

"No, Junior. That is _not_ what I wanted to say." He looked the younger man into the eyes. "What I'm trying to say is; don't treat them like idiots. Don't treat them like you're better than them. And don't treat them like you know how they should be living. Treat them with respect." Valerian opened his mouth and wanted to reply something, but then he realized that he had no idea what to say. After a while, Jim just sighed.

"Looks like you have something to think about. Now excuse me, I need to find a place where I can hide in order to enjoy a good cigarette." Jim said before standing up and leaving the canteen.

* * *

 **Char**

 **Crown World of the Zerg**

* * *

Char was as far away from paradise as it could get. General Horace Warfield had said it best, back during the Second Invasion.

" _If Hell ever existed, this is it. Oceans of fire, tectonic storms and an atmosphere that'll burn a man alive."_

And he hadn't exaggerated about that. Even from space, the first thing one would notice were those huge oceans of lava. The planet looked like it would burst any second. It was a young planet, a world that was within the reach of its two primary stars that formed a binary system. The only thing that spoke in Char's favor was that it was stable. _Somewhat_.

For Terrans or Protoss this place had almost no value. Yes, it was filled with rare resources, but exploiting these resources would have meant a tremendous effort. And that didn't even include dealing with the current tenants.

One man's hell is another man's paradise. Or something like that. Only that this "another man" was no man, but Zerg. To them, this place was indeed paradise. Here, they could dwell and become even stronger just by surviving this place. Every creature that managed to survive Char was ready to face the enemies of the Swarm. Terrans trained their soldiers and taught them about tactics and how to follow orders. Protoss trained their minds and honed their skills for centuries.

And Zerg threw their offspring into seas of lava to see if they would sink or swim. Or explode.

It certainly took "Trial by Fire" to a whole new level.

Yet no one could deny how effective this procedure was. The Terrans had to raise scientists and engineers to come up with new technology and equipment, so had the Protoss. Yet the Zerg? They could just throw their creations into a pit and see whichever would come out on top. And then they would decide if this creature would make a fine addition to the Swarm.

Watching from her own little hideout, Izsha overlooked almost the entire communication of the Swarm. She could see almost everything that was happening on this world. Here, in the inside of the Primary Hive, she sensed the endless numbers of Zerg. This was a new hive, one that Zagara had created as her own, well, palace. The original Primary Hive that Kerrigan had created hadn't survived the raw power of the Xel'Naga keystone. But even the new Overqueen of the Zerg needed a palace, right? A queen without her own palace was just wrong. But this Primary Hive was different from the old one.

The new Primary Hive was actually less of a huge breeding place for Zerg and actually more like a huge command center. Here, all vital information came together and were processed and broken down so Zagara could study them. While she was the supreme commander of all Zerg, she sometimes decided to sever her connection to the Swarm in order to _think_ in private, something that the other broodmothers didn't really understand.

In order to process all that information, however, Zagara had ordered Kerrigan's old Leviathan to become part of the new Primary Hive. The creature was no longer there. Instead, it had merged with the mighty structure of the living hive. While the Leviathan itself was a creature of almost unmatched power, it too had reached the end of its use for the Swarm. In a way, it shared the same fate as the Hyperion. New and improved strains of Leviathan-DNA had found their way into the Swarm. The lessons learned from the Great War had led to this decision. The new Leviathan that was currently growing in orbit would not only be more powerful but also faster and harder to kill.

So they had salvaged Kerrigan's old Leviathan for biomass, just like the Hyperion was about to be salvaged for parts.

But they hadn't just used it to feed a new generation of Zerg, oh no. Some parts of the mighty creature still served a purpose. And so most of its central nervous system had become part of the Primary Hive, with Izsha being in control since she was still attached to it. From her chamber, she could see everything. Not just the broodmothers, but also the overlords and normal Zerg. It was a massive amount of data, one she was only able to process because she was directly connected to the enormous brain of the Leviathan. Basically, she was a living computer, able to perform the same job the Terran adjutants did for their human leaders. Yet her processing power was far beyond that of an adjutant. It was as Abathur usually said; the biotechnology of the Zerg was far more advanced than the metal and plastic the Terran used.

All information she received were analyzed, filtered and then processed. Her job was to create a clear picture her leader, the mighty Queen of Blades, would use to make her decisions.

No. Not the Queen of Blades. Her master was no more. Now she served a new Queen. Overqueen Zagara. The name was still new and made her uneasy. She couldn't really say why, but somehow it sounded wrong to her. Yet Izsha knew her place. And she would never question it. Should Zagara fall in combat or should others usurp her powers, she would serve them just as dedicated as she had served the Queen of Blades.

Dedicated, yes. Devoted, no.

Even though Izsha possessed the ability to perform many tasks at the same time, she wasn't without emotions. And she felt a special connection towards the being that had created her in the first place.

Izsha hadn't been born as Zerg. She knew that. She had started her life as a Terran. There had been a name, but she didn't care for that anymore. She remembered it though, but the memories of her past life were all gone. Besides, her mistress, the Queen of Blades, had stored so many memories and ideas inside her mind. She had kept them secure and well protected. Even when the mighty Queen of Blades had fallen on Char, she had continued to guard them like the most precious thing in the universe.

Serving Zagara was her duty. And she would perform this duty flawlessly. But she felt no joy in doing so.

Zagara knew this. But it was clear that she didn't care much about that. And why should she? Every member of the Swarm had its purpose. Izsha was no fighter, that was brutally obvious. But commanding troops wasn't her area of expertise either. No, she controlled all incoming information and created an image Zagara could use. It was a difficult task, but she would continue to serve for as long as she would live.

She knew what had happened to her Majesty, the Queen of Blades. Saying that she understood everything would have been a lie. She had no idea how a Zerg could become something else, especially the mighty Primal Queen of Blades. There was no greater existence than being Zerg, yet the Queen had left her old self behind in order to become something even greater? It was something Izsha was not able to comprehend.

She had never been that kind of person who shared her personal feelings and thoughts with others, except her Queen of course. And she didn't care much for the thoughts of the other broodmothers. Or Abathur.

 _Especially_ not Abathur...

Yet she remembered when her Queen had returned to her. First as a weak Terran being. But soon she had shown everyone that she was still the mighty Queen of Blades. And Izsha had continued to serve her gladly.

But now it was over. And she had a task to complete. Watching the world through the eyes of so many overlords and leviathans was complicated. She needed to divert parts of her mind to other places so she could keep track of everything that was happening.

As she processed the incoming information inside her chamber, Izsha wondered if she too would one day be replaced. She wasn't scared by that thought. She was Zerg and knew that one day this would happen. It was not a question _if_ , but _when_. She thought about this a lot lately. Izsha knew that this was a pointless exercise, yet she couldn't help it.

Back when she had been part of the Leviathan, she had looked at all the stars and planets through the eyes of the mighty beast. But now? Now she was trapped. It was a strange sensation, one that she couldn't really put into words. She had always been part of some other organism, at least since becoming Zerg. But the Leviathan had moved around and given her the feeling that she was part of something else, something greater.

She was still part of something greater because she was still part of the Swarm.

But for some odd reason...

...it was just not the same anymore.

She was surrounded by hundreds of meters of bones, flesh, and biomass. This was the safest place on the entire planet, maybe even the safest place within the Swarm. Even a Terran nuclear warhead wouldn't be able to penetrate this fortress' thick skin. Yet the truth was that Izsha would gladly give away her abilities to process this much data to see the stars once more with her own two eyes.

To be out there.

...with _her_.

But that was no longer an option and she had accepted that.

That didn't mean that Izsha had to like it.

Izsha knew that she should stop wasting her thoughts on things like that. Just because she had no one to talk to didn't mean that she could just enjoy some individuality. The reason why she had so much time thinking was that Zagara had decided not to share all of her thoughts with Izsha. Maybe that was the reason why she felt lonely?

It was a strange feeling. Even though she was still part of the Swarm, she felt lonely. And she didn't know what she could do about it.

Izsha watched the system through the eyes of the overlords. While the Zerg hadn't started another war since the end of Amon, they were still guarding their systems with everything they had. And should anything approach, then it was Izsha's duty to inform Zagara immediately.

Unbeknownst to Zagara or Izsha, there was something about to happen. Izsha could see it the moment an overlord at the edge of the system picked it up with its senses. For a moment Izsha believed it to be a stray comet. But on closer inspection, she could tell that it wasn't a celestial object. It was almost as bright as a star and moved directly towards the planet. She wanted to warn Overqueen Zagara when she suddenly felt a familiar presence in the back of her mind. It was a presence she knew all too well.

And for the first time in her life, Izsha was truly speechless...


	10. Act I - Chapter 2

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption Starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Move your Feet, lose your Seat**

* * *

 **Char**

 **Crown World of the Zerg**

* * *

Zagara stared at the hellish landscape in front of her and watched how a volcano erupted in the distance. It was a magnificent sight, yet, at the same time she didn't really pay attention to it. She did, however, notice that the volcano was obliterating what was left of an abandoned Terran outpost. Even now Char was littered with the remnants of the Terran occupation.

Yes, occupation. Because that's what it had been.

This world belonged to no one except the Zerg.

The Zerg didn't really possess a concept of history, but even Zagara knew that Char was more than just a world. It was where the Overmind had set his grand plan into motion, where the Queen of Blades had come into existence. It had been the birthplace of the second Overmind, a creature born from despair and anger. The Overqueen was no fool, she had studied those who had come before her. In a way, the Cerebrates had been to the Overmind what the broodmothers had been to Kerrigan. Especially Daggoth was of interest to Zagara. The former First of the Overmind could have taken over command of the Swarm. Instead, it had decided to merge with his brethren in order to become a new Overmind.

There was a lesson here, one that Zagara had figured out a while ago.

The Overmind had died because it had overestimated its own abilities and underestimated that of its enemies. As a result, it had perished on Aiur when the Protoss Executor Tassadar had crashed the carrier Gantrithor into its body. If a part of the Swarm makes a mistake, if it proves to be flawed, then it is replaced, no exceptions. Simple as that.

The Overmind had lost the right to lead the Swarm when it had allowed itself to be bested by the Protoss. And what had the Cerebrates done? They had tried to bring big daddy back.

It was easy to say that Daggoth and his brethren had been fools, however, Zagara was no longer sure about that. She couldn't ask any Cerebrate, they were all gone now. Besides, even if it could give her an answer to her question, she had her doubts that it would be a satisfying one.

The Queen of Blades had once told Zagara something Abathur had told her; the Swarm is a tool and exists only to serve its master. And the master defines its purpose. That was surprisingly poetic, coming from an oversized slug. And even for Zerg standards, Abathur was disgusting.

However, he wasn't supposed to win a beauty contest. He was the Evolution Master, and aside from Zagara herself, probably the most important individual within the Swarm.

Oh, there was no need for false modesty, she _was_ the Overqueen after all.

A title that not everyone had initially accepted. The loss of the Queen of Blades had caused some upstir among the other broodmothers. However, the Overqueen had dealt with these traitors quickly. Now her rule was secured. The only question was...

...what should she do next?

Zagara wasn't stupid, she knew that the Terrans and Protoss were still a major threat to the Swarm. Yet right now no side possessed the numbers to finish each other off. The Overqueen was certain that the other two species were currently busy rebuilding their empires, just like the Zerg were. Conflict was inevitable, history had taught her that lesson.

Yet, as she stared at the hellish landscape of Char, she couldn't help but wonder...

...what if there was another way?

The Queen of Blades had changed the Swarm forever. Not only had she freed it of Amon's taint and led it to glorious victories, but she had also added something to the mix that hadn't been there before.

Were it human emotions? Was it the ability to dream?

Did it really matter?

All Zagara knew was that every time she looked up to the stars, she wondered what the future of her people would look like. And then she remembered that _she_ was now the one who would shape their future. The question she had to ask herself was; what kind of future would that be?

"Your Majesty..." a distorted female voice entered her mind. Since broodmothers possessed no mouths and no vocal chords, they used their psionics to communicate, much like the Protoss did. Zagara recognized that voice immediately. Even though there were hundreds of broodmothers on Char, she kept a few chosen one close to her. They acted as her advisors, and all of them had accepted Zagara as the rightful ruler of the Swarm.

The Overqueen looked over her shoulder and could see a smaller and very young broodmother.

"Saaria. What is it? I do not like it to be disturbed."

The young broodmother lowered her head. It was a sign of respect.

"Forgive me, your Majesty. But Abathur is looking for you. He told me that he has urgent matters that he needs to discuss with you."

"Abathur? Discussing?" Zagara sighed. "That's a good one. What does the slug want now?"

"I do not know, your Majesty. He only wants to share his plans with you. Personally." Saaria replied.

"Of course he does." Zagara growled. Abathur was an important member of the Swarm, a species of one. But that didn't mean that she liked him. He always acted like he was not interested in anything except his work, but the Overqueen had her doubts about that. Whenever she looked into all these soulless eyes, she felt as if he was scheming. And she hadn't forgotten about the pain he had inflicted upon her.

Oh, true, he had just followed the Queen of Blade's orders when he had _improved_ Zagara. But being awake while someone cuts pieces out of your brain and adds new ones wasn't exactly something she would ever do again.

Zagara had kept Abathur because of his skills and abilities, not because he was such a sparkling conversationalist. He was the only one of Kerrigan's old court that was still serving her.

Well, that wasn't completely true. Izsha was still present, yet she was not really as useful to Zagara as she had been to the Queen of Blades. Truth to be told: Zagara had no real use for Izsha anymore. And she had thought about replacing her with another creature, but right now she was one of a kind. Besides, there were more important things to worry about.

As for the rest of the Queen of Blades' war-council, well...

They were gone. Stukov had been the first one to vanish, not that Zagara minded. The infested Terran had left the Swarm almost immediately after they had destroyed Amon. Perhaps he had been scared that without Kerrigan, no one would tolerate him anymore. He was less Zerg than the others and his mind was still far too human for Zagara's taste. She didn't mourn his loss, mostly she had never agreed with anything he had told Kerrigan. Zagara hadn't even sent hunters after Stukov in order to bring him in. She knew that he knew that he would never be able to join the Terrans again. They would hunt him down and kill him. Or worse, they would use him as a test subject. Again. She was pretty sure that he would not let this happen.

The next one to leave had been Dehaka. Though _leaving_ was the wrong way to describe it. Whatever was left of Dehake had been turned into biomass a long time ago. She had never truly liked Stukov. But she had _hated_ Dehaka. Why? Well, truth to be told, she wasn't really certain herself. Maybe because Dehaka reminded her of something within the Zerg that she didn't like. To her, he had never been more than a beast. Perhaps the best way to describe it would be how a modern human would react if you would throw him into the same bucket as a caveman. The Primal Zerg meant nothing to Zagara or the Swarm.

However, they could turn into a potential threat.

When Dehaka had tried to get more _essence_ from a hybrid, Zagara had decided to intervene. The last thing she needed was another Zurvan. Or worse, another Narud. So she had Dehaka _disposed_ of.

As for the last 13 months? Well, she had been busy. After the end of the war, she had returned with her forces to Char and waged a short but brutal campaign against anyone who had dared to set foot on their worlds. But apart from that? While it was true that the Zerg could replace losses a lot faster than any other species, they still hadn't recovered from the Great War.

Oh, Zagara could have done that. She could have raised another army and started another part, and something in her mind still told her that this was a viable option. But she had decided to walk down a different path. And Saaira was the living proof that this path could be an interesting one.

"I take it that Abathur wanted to see me immediately?" Zagara asked and the young broodmother pulled her shoulders up. She was smaller than Zagara, sleeker. Unlike the Overqueen, she wasn't designed to fight up front. No, should she ever have to fight, then she would remain behind and direct her brood from the rear.

"He didn't specify when, but I am certain that you are correct with your assumption, your Majesty."

"I wonder if he treated my predecessor the same way." Zagara sighed and then she turned towards Saaria and the gigantic Primary Hive behind the young broodmother.

"Walk with me, Saaria. I wanted to talk to you anyway."

"Me?" the young broodmother asked, unable to hide her surprise. "Of course, your Majesty, but I don't think I have anything interesting to say to you."

"Humor me." Zagara chuckled as she and the young broodmother were on their way back to the Primary Hive. On their way there they encountered endless numbers of drones and only a few Hydralisks and Zerglings.

"Saaria, you were born after the end of the Great War, yes?" That was, of course, a rhetorical question. Zagara knew that Saaria had born after Amon's death and Kerrigan's ascension because the Overqueen had ordered Abathur to create a new strain of broodmothers.

"Yes, your Majesty." That meant that Saaria wasn't even a year old. Luckily, Zerg matured a lot faster than Terrans or Protoss.

"Hmm...I see." Zagara mumbled. And then she asked a question that caught Saaria by surprise.

"Do I scare you, Saaria?"

"Y-your Majesty?" the young broodmother stuttered.

"Do I scare you? A fairly simple question, wouldn't you say?"

"I...I don't know..."

"Oh? Really? Yet you and your sisters do feel uncomfortable when in the presence of an older broodmother. Isn't that right?" Zagara could sense Saaira's shock when she heard her Queen's words.

"You...you knew...?"

"I would hardly be the Overqueen if I would miss things like these, my dear. I do know that you and your sisters don't share the same lust for battle the older broodmothers feel. Don't get me wrong, I have little doubt that you could be a capable fighter. But you and the other ones that haven't fought in the Great War like to keep their distance from the older Queens. I would like to know why. Are you afraid of them?"

"Zerg are not afraid." Saaira said with a firm tone in her voice.

"Indeed." Zagara agreed. "But if it's not fear, then what is it?"

"It's..." the young broodmother tried to explain.

"Yes?"

"I am not sure if I can put it into words, your Majesty. Perhaps if you would enter my mind and see for yourself what-"

"No!" Zagara replied with a firm tone in her voice. "I want you to use words to describe how you feel. I know you possess the ability to articulate yourself. It was one of the abilities I ordered Abathur to implement into your DNA."

"But...why?" Saaira wanted to know as they passed a sunken colony that was producing blubbering noises.

"I had my reasons. And my question has not been answered yet. I am still waiting." Instead of snarling in anger or threatening to devour Saaria, Zagara pressed the sharp fingertips of both her hands against each other while continuing to move forward.

"I...I...I feel uncomfortable when in the presence of the older broodmothers, yes. Though I can't really tell why. They just appear so, well..."

"Yes? Go on."

"...they appear so... _limited_. Forgive me, your Majesty. I did not want to imply that-"

"Don't worry, Saaria. It takes more to insult me. Besides, I do believe I can see your point. Still, why do they appear so limited to you?"

"It's just...they always stick to themselves. They do not cooperate and they barely care for each other. And then there is their blood thirst."

"And you don't like that?" Zagara chuckled. When Saaria heard that, her eyes widened in shock.

"What? No. No, your Majesty, that's not what I meant!"

"Then what do you mean?" Zagara asked again and stopped. The younger and smaller broodmother looked up to her Queen and dropped her shoulders.

"Every time I talk to an older broodmother, it is the same thing that I hear. _We need to destroy the Terrans, we need to destroy the Protoss, we need to grow, we need to consume, we need to conquer_."

"And you don't share these ambitions?" Zagara wanted to know.

"I...I shouldn't have said anything. Forgive me, my Queen, I overstepped my-"

"I asked you a question, Saaria. I already knew that the answer might not be what I was looking for. I don't want you to growl at my feet, I want to hear what you have to say to me." Suddenly Zagara radiated an aura that the old version of herself hadn't possessed. She emitted authority. And wisdom.

"My Queen, I..." And then the young broodmother sighed. It would seem that there was no way out of this with all of her limbs still attached to her body. Saaria then mustered her courage and faced Zagara. "I think they are fools, all of them."

"Oh? And what makes you say that?" the Overqueen demanded to know.

"Destroy Terrans. Why? Destroy Protoss. Why? Conquer. Why? Don't get me wrong, my Queen, there are good reasons for going to war against these species. They would wipe us out if they could, but that is not why the older broodmothers want to wage war upon them."

"And why do you think they want to wage war upon everyone else?"

"Because...because..." Saaria tried to find the right words to describe what she wanted to tell her Queen. "...because they only do what they feel is right. Their genetic legacy tells them to conquer, and so they follow it. Yet they don't even stop for one second and think about the greater picture, about what could go wrong. Maybe we could conquer the sector, but why should we do that? Consuming others just for the sake of consuming more biomass? We have fought the Protoss and the Terrans for years and have learned everything there is to learn. Sure, we could improve our armies. We could look for new species that we could infest. But aside from that? We could sharpen our claws, we could grow additional teeth. Yet it would just be the same thing we have done before. This evolution leads nowhere, your Majesty and...I better shut up now." Saaria suddenly realized that she had said too much. Yet instead of ripping the young broodmother's head off, Zagara started to laugh.

"My Queen?"

"Hahahahaha...oh, this is highly amusing. You are right, Saaria. The old broodmothers can only think in the old ways. I tried to change them, just like I was changed. But it would seem that just adding some gray matter isn't enough." And then Zagara turned her head to the side and stared into the distance. Saaria didn't know that, but the Overqueen looked into the direction where the Queen of Blades' old Primary Hive had been. "Or was it because I had a teacher?" the Overqueen mumbled.

"Your Majesty? What was that?"

"Nothing." Zagara suddenly said and then she sighed. "Saaria, know this: The old ways are dead. Conquest for the sake of more conquest serves no purpose. We have to adapt, yet there are more ways than one to do that. Not everyone feels the same though. Growth causes pain, always remember that."

"I don't think I understand, my Queen." Saaria replied and the Overqueen chuckled again.

"Maybe one day you will. Maybe one day. Come on, let's not let Abathur wait any longer." Zagara then said and walked towards her Primary Hive. Even if Saaria didn't really understand what her Queen had just tried to tell her, she would think about it later on.

And perhaps that was the greatest gift the Queen of Blades had left the Swarm behind...

...the ability to contemplate.

These days Zagara rarely showed her more ferocious side. Back in the day, she had been Kerrigan's fiercest warrior. Cruel, cunning and ruthless. Big Z. Stukov had once made a joke about Zagara.

"She's the most even-tempered person in the entire sector. She's always in rage."

And that coming from a guy who uses a blow-torch to shave...

She hadn't lost her temper ever since the battle against Amon. You could even say that she had become a whole different-

"YOU WORTHLESS SLUG! I'M GOING TO TEAR YOU APART!" Zagara roared in righteous fury while holding Abathur high up into the air. The Evolution Master was a squishy and slimy one, yet even though he tried to wiggle himself free, Zagara's sharp fingers kept their grip tight.

"Reaction unforeseen. Hostility not provoked." the Evolution Master gargled and Zagara squinted her eyes in anger when she heard that. Behind her, Saaria had no idea what was going on.

"I gave you a direct order, you worthless slug. And you thought you could just ignore it? Or did you think that my orders were in fact only mild suggestions?!"

"Aggressive behavior not necessary. Have come to conclusion that-"

"I don't care about your conclusions, Abathur!" Zagara snarled and pulled him closer to her face until her two eyes were staring into his many. "I gave you a direct order. The essence of the hybrids is not to be tampered with. They are the enemy. They are abominations. And we will not use their DNA to improve the Swarm."

"Illogical. Amon gone. Situation changed. CanAAAAGH!" Abathur screamed when Zagara grabbed on if his arms and ripped it out. It was good to see that there was still something of the old Zagara in this one. Though it was unclear wherever Abathur screamed in pain or because it came as a surprise.

"I am the Overqueen, Abathur. I decide the course of the Swarm! And I made a decision: The hybrids are to be hunted and exterminated, and not to be used for experiments. I think I made myself very clear the first time you suggested that to me."

"Situation has changed. Possible benefits outweigh the riAGH!" There went another arm. Good thing that he had so many of them. And they grew back really fast.

"It appears what we have here is a failure to communicate." Zagara suddenly said with a cold tone in her voice. She looked over her shoulder and at Saaria.

"Saaria!"

"Yes, my Queen!" the young broodmother answered immediately.

"Saaria, what am I?" Zagara asked and Saaria blinked in surprise and confusion.

"You are...the Overqueen?"

"Yes. And would you say that this title is just an honorary title? Would you say that what I tell everyone are not orders but just suggestions?" And then Saaria understood what Zagara was trying to tell her.

"N-no, my Queen. Your orders reign supreme. Whatever you say shall be done."

"Well, I like the sound of that." Zagara snarled and looked back at Abathur. "Saaria, this is a very good opportunity for a lesson. A lesson in free will. Now, I want my broodmothers to be able to think for themselves. But there is a limit to that. There might come a day where you think that you will have to take a risk in order to gain something. However, not all risks are worth the potential gain. Take this slug-" Zagara then tightened her grip around Abathur, who only started to wiggle even harder.

"Ever since I met him he has been a pain in my cloaca. He likes to let you believe that he is harmless, but in reality, he is always plotting and scheming. He thinks because he is the Evolution Master, he has power over the nature of the Swarm, that he can decide where our evolution takes us. I have no idea how the Overmind dealt with his constant insubordination. I know that the Queen of Blades ignored it, mostly because she needed him. But sometimes you have to remind others that taking risks can result in pain."

"Further punishment not necesAGH!" And there goes another arm.

"Abathur..." Zagara hissed and turned her attention back to the Evolution Master. "I don't care if you think that the risks are worth it. I am the one who decides that. And you, Abathur, are way out of your league. You have one job, only one darn job, and that is to do as I say. Now, if you want to challenge me, then we can do it the old-fashioned way. You do know what that means, right?" When Saaria saw then, she couldn't help but feel both impressed and scared.

"I will not tell you this again, Abathur. You will leave the hybrids' DNA alone. Whatever their essence has to offer to us, it isn't worth it. We would only lose who we are, who we have become. The Queen of Blades gave us freedom. I won't risk this gift for mere power, even if that means that we might end up as slaves again. Mark my words, Abathur..." And then Zagara pulled his hideous face even closer to her own. "...our freedom is more precious than all the strength in the universe. Is that understood?"

"Under...stood." the Evolution Master then gargled and Zagara dropped him like a hot potato.

"Good. Now I want you to remember this moment. Because we won't have this conversation again. The next time I find out that you are doing something behind my back, I will turn you into fertilizer. Now get out of my sight and return to your duties!" The Evolution Master turned around and crawled away. It was unclear if he was truly in pain or not, yet Zagara didn't really care about that one bit.

When Abathur was finally gone, Zagare shook her mighty head in both anger and frustration.

"A fool of the highest order. He can spin DNA like no one else but remember this, Saaria: The quiet ones are the most dangerous. The ones that boast their chest are easy to defeat."

"But...are we not all Zerg?" the young broodmother asked and Zagara chuckled when she heard that.

"One day you will learn that there is no such thing as _all Zerg_. The question is, what will you do with that knowledge and-"

" _Overqueen"_ a new voice suddenly reached Zagara's senses.

"Izsha, what is it?" she asked. These days Zagara and Izsha rarely spoke to each other, mostly because there was nothing to talk about.

" _Overqueen, an overlord has just picked up a psionic signal. It is closing in on our position."_

A psionic signal? Someone was coming? Who in their right mind would venture to Char that was psionically gifted? Could it be a hybrid that wanted to cause some trouble? Or a long-lost broodmother that had decided to rejoin the Swarm after all that time?

"Perhaps we should alarm the rest of the Swarm, my Queen." Saaria suggested. "Whatever it is that is approaching, I doubt that it is a friend of the Zerg."

" _Forgive me, Broodmother Saaria, but you are incorrect."_ Izsha replied and both Zagara and Saaria were surprised when they heard that.

"You know something, Izsha. What is it? Spit it out? What is this thing?" Zagara demanded to know.

" _It is not a thing, but a person, Overqueen Zagara."_

"A person?" the Overqueen said. "But how would you-"

And that's when she appeared right in front of their eyes. Zagara had to close her eyes and shield her mind. That creature appeared in front of her within the blink of an eye and its raw powers nearly blinded her. It was as if she was staring into a supernova.

"What...what is this?!" Saaria screamed. She was confused because she had never felt anything like it. But Zagara had. She knew what, no...who this was. The Overqueen opened her eyes again and looked at the creature that was floating right above her.

 **Hello, Zagara.**

"Well..." the Overqueen then simply said. "...this day certainly is full of surprises."

 **I like what you did to this place, Zagara.** The former Queen of Blades spoke while floating above the ground. It was hard to even look at her. She was radiating so much power, much more than ever before. Zagara remembered when the creature known as Sarah Kerrigan had become the Primal Queen of Blades on Zerus. Back then she had been so powerful. But that was nothing with how mighty she was now.

The best way to describe it would be to call her _magnificent_.

"I am happy that you like it. It took some ideas from when you were in charge." the Overqueen stated. Even though she was in the presence of a living god and her predecessor, she didn't show any sign of fear. Why should she?

Saaria, on the other hand, looked like she was about to collapse. The mighty being that was so close to her turned its human-like head towards the young broodmother and an almost gentle smile appeared on her face.

 **And who might you be?** Sarah asked, yet Saaria was not able to answer that simple question.

"I...I...uhm...I'm..."

A stuttering broodmother, who would have thought that something like that could even exist.

"This is Saaria. She is new here. Saaria, say hello to the _former_ Queen of the Swarm."

All the young broodmother managed to do was to wave with her hand at Sarah.

"I think you are intimidating her." Zagara said with a dry tone in her voice.

 **In that case...** Sarah replied and lowered herself to the ground. Her body started to shift and change. The light faded away and skin was replaced by carapace. Additional limbs grew and when she touched the fleshy ground, Sarah sighed and stretched her wings. Literally.

"...let's change into something less formal." the Queen of Blades declared.

As Sarah and Zagara moved through the Primary Hive, the former Queen of Blades noticed how other broodmothers appeared and stared at her from the distance. She could see a few older ones, like Zagara. And she could see a lot of new faces. Saaira was following them, yet she hadn't said anything to Zagara or Sarah since she had arrived here.

"This place reminds me of my old Primary Hive." the Queen of Blades mused. "Though it is a lot roomier. I like what you did to the place."

"I'm glad that you feel that way." Zagara announced. There was neither pride nor anger in her voice. She was leading Sarah to the top of the Primary Hive. Maybe she wanted to talk to her in private? Or maybe she wanted to show her something?

"I don't see many familiar faces. I take it that things have changed since I left?"

"Indeed." Zagara replied and Sarah looked over to her former student. A faint smile appeared on her face when she watched the large broodmother. No, not broodmother. Overqueen.

It was a good title. Simple, yet impressive. And not overly dramatic.

"You don't seem to be surprised to see me again, Zagara." Sarah suddenly said. She watched the new ruler of the Swarm from the corner of her eyes, yet Zagara didn't seem to be even a tiny bit amazed.

"Why should I? I knew that you were still alive."

"Oh? Really?" Sarah chuckled when she heard that.

"Yes. You are simply too powerful and too tenacious to just die."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Zagara. It warms my heart." Sarah chuckled and noticed the growing numbers of broodmothers that were staring at them. No, not at them. At _her_...

"The Terrans and the Protoss believe that you perished after you slew Amon. They certainly seem to hope so. Your return to the sector will certainly cause many to believe that it is time for yet another war." When Sarah heard that, she bit her lip.

"Straight to the point, I see. Very well...you don't seem to be very happy to see me, Zagara. Care to tell me what's on your mind?"

"As you wish, but not here. Follow me." It was a strange sight. Sarah had ruled the Zerg for years, yet now she was no longer one of them. Oh, she looked Zerg enough, at least right now. But both she and Zagara knew that this was just superficial. She could have taken any form or shape, even turned herself into a Protoss. No, she was no longer Zerg. And the longer she walked through Zagara's new and slimy, errr, shiny Primary Hive, the more she realized that. These broodmothers, they looked different. They felt different too. She could sense their thoughts.

 _Is that...?_

 _So this is the mighty Queen of Blades._

 _She looks so tiny._

 _I wonder how powerful she truly is._

All these thoughts...

The old Swarm, her Swarm, hadn't thought so much. Or, to be more precise, the broodmothers she had created hadn't thought that much. The Swarm felt a lot more chaotic than it had under her rule, yet at the same time, it felt more natural.

Just what had Zagara done to the Swarm while Sarah was gone?

The place Zagara was leading Sarah to reminded her of the nerve center inside her own Levithan. It had been a place where she had discussed her next steps with her advisors. As she stepped inside, she looked around and took a deep breath.

"Well, this sure brings back memories." she said to herself. She noticed how the room sealed itself behind. That meant that only she, Zagara and Saaira could hear what they would talk about.

"Somehow...this is not how I imagined my return would be like." Sarah mused and looked at the new Overqueen. "Is there a reason for such hostility, Zagara?"

"It depends." the Overqueen simply stated.

"Depends on what?"

"Your intentions. Why have you come here, after all this time?" Zaraga asked.

"After all this time?" Sarah asked.

"Over a year has passed since you left us. You were gone and no one had any idea what had happened to you and-" But suddenly Sarah wasn't even listening anymore.

"Over a year...?" she whispered to herself. No, that couldn't be. It only felt as if she had defeated Amon a few weeks ago, maybe a month. But a whole year?

"Jim..." she whispered and suddenly Sarah felt nothing but guilt in her heart. He too probably believed that she had died back then. And a whole year had passed? What had she missed?

"...understandable, wouldn't you agree? Are you listening to me?" Zagara asked and Sarah blinked in surprise.

"I'm...sorry. I was thinking about...nothing. You were saying that you're not really happy to see me again, is that it?" Sarah sighed.

"On the contrary. I am very happy to see you again. I just wish you off my planet." Zagara explained.

"That's...an interesting way to put it. Is there a reason why you wish me to be gone?" Sarah had to admit that Zagara's reaction so far puzzled her. Gone was the impulsive broodmother who thirsted for blood. In her place was a cool and calculating leader.

"I'm certain that you can relate. What would you have said if the Overmind would have returned to Char when you were still in power?"

"Fuck off." Sarah replied truthfully and Zagara lowered her head.

"Then you see my problem. Believe me if I tell you that I'm overjoyed to see you again. But if you have come here to retake the control over the Swarm, then I will fight you. And I will kill you." Both of them knew that it was impossible for Zagara to defeat Sarah. Even if she would throw the entire Swarm against her, all Sarah would have to do was to snip with her fingers and then the problem would be solved.

But Sarah didn't want to fight Zagara.

"I know you will." Sarah said with a faint smile on her face. "Don't worry, I haven't come here to become your boss again. You have nothing to fear from me."

"I believe you." Zagara replied. "Yet why have you come here? Why Char?" the Overqueen asked. Sarah opened her mouth and was about reply something when she realized...

...that she had no idea why she had come here in the first place.

"I..."

Critical hit detected.

It was a good question. Why Char of all places? Why hadn't she looked for Jim instead? He was still out there, she knew it. Yet instead of looking for him, she had decided to come here.

Why?

"...I haven't come here to reclaim the Swarm, and I haven't come here to cause any trouble either, I just wanted to..."

"Yes?" Zagara asked and tilted her head to the side.

"...it was the only place I could go." Sarah whispered. Suddenly she regretted coming here. She knew that the Zerg weren't human, that "gratitude" was a human concept and that she shouldn't have expected it from the Swarm. But still...they were the closest thing to a family she had ever possessed.

 _That's not true, and you know it._ her own voice suddenly echoed through her mind. _There is someone who waits for you._

Sarah gritted her teeth and tried to push that voice into the back of her head. Not now. Not here.

"So you're throwing me out?" Sarah suddenly chuckled, but it was a bitter one.

"I cannot force you to leave, but you should realize that there is no room for two Queens. And I am the ruler of the Swarm." Zagara declared.

"I am no longer a Queen, Zagara." Sarah whispered

"You will always be a Queen. It is in your nature." the Overqueen explained. "While I am glad to see that you are still alive, I want you to take your leave no-"

"My Queen?" a new voice suddenly reached their ears and Sarah, Zagara and Saaria looked up to the fleshy ceiling where something descended from above.

No, not something.

Someone.

"Izsha." Sarah said with a warm smile on her face. It was her old advisor. Izsha hadn't changed even one bit. As Izsha lowered herself from the ceiling, she looked at Sarah as if her life finally had a meaning again.

"Your Majesty...you have returned to us!" Izsha said and when she was finally face to face with Sarah again, the smaller woman raised her hand and put it on Izsha's cheek.

"Hey, girl. Sorry I broke my promise. I promised you that I would stay with the Swarm..." Yet Izsha didn't even seem to care about that.

"You returned." That was the only thing that mattered. After a while, it was Zagara who started to chuckle.

"Well, she never called me _Your Majesty_. I wonder if that should tell me something." the Overqueen stated. "Izsha, I didn't recall calling you to me. Is there anything you wish to tell me?" When Izsha heard that, she turned towards Zagara and lowered her head in respect.

"Forgive me, Overqueen. I just wanted to...greet her Majesty back." Izsha explained and Zagara crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Touching. You were always her favorite pet, Izsha. Yet I have to disappoint you, our guest will not stay. In fact, she was just on her way out. Isn't that right?" And Sarah? She lowered her sight and sighed. Perhaps she shouldn't have come here in the first place, but where else could she have gone?

"Actually, if you don't mind, I would like to stay. Just for a while. I need to recharge my batteries, you know." she said to the Overqueen. That was a lie. She could have left this place immediately, yet she didn't know where to go. Zagara stared at Sarah for a long time. She could have tried to enter the Overqueen's mind and accept her again. Not as the leader, no. She was beyond that. Sarah felt no urge to rule the Swarm once more. But maybe as some kind of tenant? Maybe she would be a pretty useful advisor herself?

"Very well. You may stay until you have recuperated. After that, I want you to leave. Saaria will accompany you. Any questions you might have, you can ask her. She is my, well, apprentice." And then Zagara returned her attention back towards Izsha. "As for you: Return to your duties. And inform me if anything unusual happens. We haven't heard anything from Naktul, she should have reported in by now."

"Overqueen, I had hoped that I could talk to her Majesty and-" Izsha tried to say, yet Zagara cared for none of that.

"She is no longer the ruler of the Swarm, Izsha." Zagara explained. "Therefore she is no longer _her Majesty_. Now, return to your duties. Abathur already gave me enough headaches for one day, I think I reached my quota for insolence for one cycle." When Sarah looked into Izsha's eyes, she could see the desperation on her former advisor's face. The former Queen of Blades put her hand on Izsha's scaly chest and gave her a warm smile.

"You should do as Zagara told you. She's now in charge. Don't worry, I will make sure to say goodbye before I leave."

"I..." Izsha gasped and then she lowered her gaze. "...understand." Yet it was clear that Izsha didn't want to leave Sarah's side. But she was a member of the Swarm and had to follow the Overqueen's orders. When she moved backward, Sarah could sense Izsha's sadness. When Izsha was gone, Zagara turned around and walked away.

"Saaria, keep our guest some company. I need to take care of other business." And when the Overqueen was gone, Sarah couldn't help but frown.

"Welcome home, I guess." she whispered to herself.

* * *

Zagara had told Sarah to leave as soon as possible. She had not told her to stay in one place. And so she had decided to take a walk down memory lane. As she walked through her old Primary Hive, she could smell the decay and the death. Part of it was still alive, testimony to how durable Zerg tissue could be. Even after this place had been fried by the Xel'Naga keystone, there were still parts that kept on living.

As she walked through the fleshy halls, she pressed her scaled hand against the wall and felt something wet and squishy. She pulled it back and looked at her palm, only to realize that it was covered with pus.

"Looks like this place has seen better days..." Sarah said to herself. Yet the broodmother behind her didn't seem to notice that the former Queen of Blades wasn't even talking to her.

"Her Majesty decided that this hive wasn't worth to be saved and instead ordered a new one to be cultivated. The new Primary Hive is far more advanced than this one." Saaria explained not without pride in her voice and mind.

"I'm sure it is." Sarah mumbled. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Zerg change, right? It's what they do." They, not us. Sarah looked at her own hand. It was covered with carapace and her nails were sharp enough to cut steel apart. Yet even then it wasn't real. She looked like the Queen of Blades because she wanted to look that way. But even then, looking like Zerg and being Zerg were two different things.

Behind her, the young broodmother tried to hide her own anxiety. But she failed miserably doing so.

"You want to ask me something?" Sarah wanted to know as she walked deeper into the dying hive.

"I...uhm..."

"Don't worry, I don't bite. Saaria, right?"

"Y-yes...yes, that's right." Saaria told her, yet it wasn't enough to break the ice. A nervous broodmother, who would have thought something like that was even possible. Well, if Saaria didn't want to make the first step, then Sarah had to do it.

"I must say, I'm impressed to see what Zagara has achieved so far. She seems to have found her very own way to lead. She certainly has changed from the last time I spoke to her."

"You were..." Saaria suddenly said and Sarah stopped. She looked over her shoulder and reached out with her powers. When she scanned the young broodmother's mind, she realized that it was way less disciplined than her own. Or that of any other Zerg with self-awareness she had ever met.

"...the Queen of Blades? Yes. You have only heard of me, haven't you?" Sarah chuckled. "I'm curious, what did Zagara tell you about me?"

"That you were different. And powerful." Saaria told her.

"That's all?" Sarah asked. She had to admit that she was a bit disappointed to hear that Zagara just considered her different and powerful.

"Her Majesty rarely speaks about the past. She tells us that we should focus on the future instead. To her, the past only served one purpose: To show everyone in the sector how powerful the Zerg were. But now everyone knows, there is no one who would doubt that the Zerg are a force to be reckoned with. There is no need to prove that which already has been proven."

"Huh..." Sarah mumbled when she heard that.

"However, the other broodmothers, the ones that served under you..." Saaria suddenly said and Sarah pulled a brow up.

"Yes? What about them?"

"They...talk about you. About how you led them to victory after victory. How every day was a fight for survival." Saaria explained, yet Sarah could sense how the young broodmother didn't seem to be very impressed by _the good old days_.

"Yet you think that they are wrong?" Sarah asked. Saaria froze for a short moment when she realized that she had said too much. But then she straightened herself and looked straight into Sarah's eyes.

"I believe that they are the past. I believed that they had their time and that they served the Swarm well. But I also believe that times have changed. There is no reason to start another war. We will defend what is ours, but fighting the Protoss or the Terrans will not make us stronger. Not as a species." Saaria explained and Sarah blinked a few times before she shook her head.

"Dear Lord, what did Zagara do to this place while I was gone?" she whispered to herself and then she started to walk forward again. Saaria followed the former ruler of the Swarm. She felt a new sense of strength. She had told the former Queen of Blades what she truly thought and this ascended being hadn't decided to turn her into ashes.

"I heard stories about you." Saaria suddenly said.

"Did Zagara tell you old war stories?"

"No. She usually never tells us about the time before the end of the Great War. But the other broodmothers, the older ones that are her age, they sometimes tell us about you. Like Naktul."

"Naktul...ha. She's still around?" Naktul was a broodmother that had helped Sarah shortly after her escape from the Umojan Protectorate when she had tried to hook up with Jim. The broodmother had mistaken the deinfested Sarah with the Queen of Blades and...

No, she hadn't mistaken her. In a way, Sarah had always stayed the Queen of the Swarm. At least back then.

"She is. Currently, she and other broodmothers roam out territory to hunt down all the hybrids that are still out there, hiding from us. She and her sisters prefer to fight the Swarm's enemies."

"And you don't?" Sarah asked and Saaria lowered her huge head.

"I am no coward if that is what you imply. But I do not see the point in fighting just for the sake of even more fighting. Her Majesty is right about this: Our fights against the other species of this sector might have sharpened our claws, but the same can be said for the others. Even we would continue to wage war upon others, we would probably come out on top. But for what price? It would make us deadlier, yes. But would it bring us closer to become more? No. If we want to grow as a species, then we have to find new ways to evolve." When Sarah heard that, she stopped and turned around.

"Did Zagara teach you that?" she wanted to know, yet Saaria shook her head.

"No, I came to that conclusion myself. However, many of my sisters agree with this. And we know that we have the support of the Overqueen. She encourages us to, how did she put it...?" the young broodmother mused.

"To think out of the box?" Sarah offered and Saaria snapped with her fingers.

"That's it. Yes. To think out of the box. To find our very own vision."

"Tcha!" Sarah suddenly snickered. "Guess someone was a good teacher." When Saaria heard that, she tilted her head to the side.

"Forgive me, I do not understand."

"Nevermind." Sarah sighed and turned away. This place, it was not what it once had been. What it had been to her.

The Primary Hive had been her home for many years. Here she had plotted her revenge against Mengsk and all her other enemies. No, not her...the old Queen of Blades. Sarah stopped and bit her lips. What was she even trying to do here? Go back home and pretend nothing had happened? Yes, this place had been her home for quite some time. But now? Now it was dead. The once mighty Primary Hive was a corpse, rotting away while reminding her of the good old days that had never been good to begin with.

It was then when she walked around a corner and suddenly froze.

"This..."

She recognized this place immediately.

This place sure had seen better days. The stench of rotting flesh and decay was unbearable, at least for normal people. But Sarah had learned to deal with these scents a long time ago. Not when she had joined the Zerg. Oh no, she had learned that long before that. Once you crawl through a sewer of a city in order to reach your designated target area, you encounter all kinds of filthy stuff. And swimming through sewage was something she had done many times.

Not your dream-girl now, eh?

The stench of death that surrounded her didn't even bother her. What bothered her was the body that was lying in the corner.

It was the remnant of a Marine's power armor. Parts of it were overgrown with Zerg creep, but there was still enough left to identify its shape. At first, Sarah didn't want to get any closer, but then she walked towards the corps. She stopped right in front of it and had to take a deep breath.

The helmet of the armor was open, yet all she could see was a skull. The soldier inside had died a long time ago. She could still see how he had died, though. The hole on his forehead told the story of a bullet. The color of the armor had almost completely faded, yet even now she could see that image on the shoulder-pad. It showed an almost naked woman with a sniper rifle and an ace-of-spades in the background.

"Oh. Another Terran body. I didn't know that there were bodies even in this place." Saaria chittered behind Sarah. "Terrans are truly strange creatures. You find them around every corner. Is it still alive?"

"Have you ever seen a Terran with your own two eyes, Saaria?" Sarah whispered.

"Uhm...no?"

"I thought so." And then the former Queen of Blades knelt down right in front of this dead man. She closed her eyes and shivered when she remembered that one moment all those years ago...

 _Tychus..._ Jim had hissed. _What have you done?_

 _I made a deal with the devil, Jimmy. She dies, I go free._

This body, this man...had been Jim's friend.

"He had a name. He had a story. And I'm the reason why he's dead." Sarah mumbled and then she closed her eyes. A single golden tear streamed down her cheek. She wasn't crying for Tychus Findlay. Even his own mother wouldn't have cried for that bastard. But even then...

...perhaps Jim should have allowed Tychus to kill her. She certainly deserved death after everything she had done. It was an academical question because without her this whole sector would have fallen to Amon.

But even then...

Jim had killed his best pal to save the life of the woman he loved. And then? Then she had left him behind. Go, Sarah! Suddenly it all came back to her, and most of it wasn't happy memories. She stared at the remnants of the man once known as Tychus Findlay. What should she do now? Just leave him here? Take his body and bury it? What should she do? Sarah closed her eyes and tried to take long and deep breaths.

"I shouldn't have come here..." Sarah suddenly gasped. "I...I..." She pressed her hands against her chest and could feel how something was happening. It felt as if her control over her powers was starting to get weaker.

"Are you okay?" Saaria asked.

"No...no, I need to..." With a burning flash of light Sarah's body suddenly turned into pure energy again. Saaria moved backward and hissed both surprised and confused. She didn't understand what was happening, but she assumed that Sarah was preparing to attack her.

However, Sarah hadn't come here to fight. Instead, her mind reached out and searched for a place to hide. And that's when she felt _her_...

Before Saaria could react, Sarah suddenly turned into her true self again and closed her eyes. She just wanted it to end. She just wanted to be left alone.

And then she was gone.

* * *

One second she had been right in front of Saaria, now she was gone. The broodmother looked around in confusion and tried to find this immensely powerful creature. She did sense Sarah's powers almost immediately. But when she realized that they were coming from the Overqueen's Primary Hive, her eyes widened in shock. No...

...was she trying to kill Zagara and take control over the Swarm again?

"Your Majesty!" Saaria screamed and tried to reach out to her rightful Queen in order to warn her.

* * *

Izsha was monitoring all incoming messages from around the sector from within her chamber. It was her duty. It was what she was supposed to do. Yet, at the same time, she had a hard time concentrating on that task.

Because _she_ had returned.

Izsha would never say something like that out loud, but to her there was only one true Queen. She served the Overqueen, yes, but she didn't enjoy it. She didn't hate it either. She served the Swarm, but something had changed. She did no longer feel any real purpose in what she was doing. The Swarm had changed. And just like all the other strains that had been replaced, she too would soon come to an end.

Izsha wasn't scared about that. Zerg didn't fear death. She was still sad that this was how things would end, though. The only thing she had ever wanted to do was to serve her Queen. And now? Now her Queen had no longer any use for her. And soon Zagara wouldn't have any use for her either.

Izsha was doing what Zagara had ordered her to do. However, at the same time she focused her mind on some overlords that were close to the Queen of Blades' old Primary Hive. A part of her had hoped that Sarah would reclaim her old home and make it whole again, but that was just wishful thinking. She should concentrate on the task she was responsible for, Izsha knew that. Instead, she decided to watch from afar.

And that's when she felt her Queen's distress.

It all happened so fast. One moment she could feel Sarah's pain and then...

"My Queen." Izsha said with a baffled expression on her face when the flaming body of Sarah appeared inside her chamber. For a while, Sarah didn't say anything. All she did was to stare at the fleshy wall in front of her. And Izsha? She remained silent. She could still sense her Queen's distress and focused her mind on Sarah. It meant that she had to neglect all her other duties, yet she didn't even hesitate one second.

"My Queen, are you alright?"

 **No, not really.** Sarah replied and then she turned around. A gentle smile appeared on her face when she looked at her former advisor.

 **I just realized that coming here was a mistake. I guess I should have expected that not everyone would be happy to see me again.**

"I am very happy to see you again, your Majesty." Izsha replied and Sarah could feel nothing but honesty in Izsha's mind. It felt good that there was at least one being on this world that was happy to see her again.

 **I know. Guess I should have come to you first, hmm?** Sarah said and then she lowered herself to the ground. Her feet touched the fleshy floor and her body turned into her old Zerg-self again. She looked around and frowned.

"So this is where you spend your days, huh? Looks nice." Sarah mused. "Come to think of it, I never visited you in your chamber when you were still on board of the Leviathan. Guess that's another missed opportunity." She then looked up to Izsha and smiled again. "So, how's everything on your end? What did you do while I was gone?"

"I served the Swarm and the Overqueen." Izsha just said. "I monitor the incoming messages and the communication within the Swarm. However, now that you have returned, I would like to ask if I could serve as your advisor again." Sarah didn't miss the pleading tone in Izsha's voice, and she had to admit that "monitoring communication" was a monumental waste of Izsha's full potential. Why Zagara had decided to not use her as her own advisor was beyond the former Queen of the Zerg.

Then again, she didn't understand a lot of things Zagara had done.

"I'm sorry, Izsha...but I haven't returned to the Swarm." Sarah whispered and Izsha tilted her head to the side.

"I do not understand, your Majesty." When Sarah heard that, she sighed again.

"I...I am no longer Zerg, Izsha. I do not belong here."

"Then why did you return?" Izsha asked. "You are the Queen. You led us to greatness. It is only logical that you assume command of the Swarm again."

"I don't think that would be a good idea." Sarah replied and closed her eyes. "I released the Swarm into freedom, I can't just undo that."

"But...what will you do then?" Izsha wanted to know. When Sarah heard that question, she closed her eyes and tried to focus her mind, but suddenly she only wanted to leave. Char was no longer what it once had been to her. It had changed, and if she would assume command of the Swarm again, she wouldn't even know what to do. To her, the Swarm had never been anything but a weapon. It was clear that Zagara had a plan for the Swarm and Sarah didn't want to waltz in on that. The Zerg had earned the right to find their own path.

"I don't know yet..." Sarah replied. "I just don't know yet."

"I see..." Izsha explained and lowered her head. Even though her noseless face didn't show any emotions, Sarah could sense Izsha's sadness.

"I'm sorry, Izsha. I know I gave you a promise, that I would return to the Swarm and stay. But things have changed. And I can no longer walk the same path as the Zerg."

"You...and the Zerg are no longer one?"

"You could say that." Sarah said. "I suppose not everything was bad. There are some things that I'm going to miss. Like you." When Izsha heard that, she wanted to say something. She wanted to urge her Queen to stay. It went deeper than just the wish to be of some use again. Sarah Kerrigan was her Majesty, her one true Queen.

"I need to go." Sarah whispered and Izsha opened her mouth and wanted to reply something. That's when-

"I am pleased to hear that." Zagara's voice suddenly reached them, and both Izsha and Sarah turned around. The Overqueen stood at the entrance to Izsha's chamber and had her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Though I have to be brutally honest; I would appreciate it if you would leave now. The other broodmothers are starting to grow restless."

"I was just on my way out, Zagara." Sarah explained. "I just wanted to say goodbye to Izsha." Zagara looked over to the Queen of Blades' former advisor and noticed the pained expression on Izsha's face.

"Speaking of which; Izsha, you have failed your duties. I expected only one thing of you, and that was to monitor communications. Yet, it was Saaria who informed me that our former Queen had returned to my Primary Hive. This is unacceptable."

"Zagara, please. Izsha talents and skills are wasted monitoring communications. She served me well and could be a great asset to you too. If you would only-" Sarah tried to plead for her former advisor.

"Do what?" Zagara interrupted her. "Make her my advisor? I already have those. Izsha is old, outdated. Once Abathur will finish a new strain that can take over her role, she will be salvaged for biomass."

Salvaged for biomass?

"You can't do that, Zagara." Sarah replied. "Please, think about this one more time. You-"

"Have made up my mind." Zagara hissed and stomped with one of her feet on the ground. "The Swarm has no longer any use for Izsha's service. And unlike you, I do not feel any sentiment when looking at her. So say your goodbyes and then take your leave. If you continue to stay here, then I have to assume that your declaration that you do not wish to retake control over the Swarm is a lie. In which case I will use all available assets to fight you. To the bitter end, if necessary."

"That won't be necessary." Sarah mumbled. "I haven't come here to cause you any trouble."

"Then leave. That way you will not cause any trouble. If Abathur finds out that you are here, he will only urge me in trying to get some of your essence so he can experiment on it. And I already had to discipline him today. Leave. Now."

Well, this whole reunion could have gone better.

"My Queen..." Izsha whispered and Sarah turned towards her former advisor. She was about to be replaced? Salvaged for biomass? It was something the Zerg did. If a creature was no longer of any use, it would be killed and turned into biomass. Sarah had never questioned that. In fact, she had encouraged her own broodmothers to be as ruthless as possible when it came to rooting out the weak.

But now...?

Sarah stared into Izsha's eyes and then she clenched her hands into fists.

"Give her to me." Sarah suddenly said and Zagara straightened herself.

"I will not hand the Swarm over to you." the Overqueen declared.

"I'm not talking about the Swarm." Sarah replied. "I'm talking about her." She then pointed with her finger at Izsha.

"My...Queen?" her former advisor asked with a puzzled expression on her face. However, it seemed as if Zagara was understanding what Sarah was asking of her.

"And why should I allow that? Izsha belongs to the Swarm. And if the Swarm deems her services to be over and her to be terminated, then that is just the way things are." No, not this time. Sarah had given Izsha a promise; that she would return to the Swarm, and to her advisor.

"Because if you accept, then I will never ever return to this place." Sarah offered.

"Hmm...tempting. You want to give me your word? What an interesting concept; trust. The Swarm doesn't need it, we share all our thoughts. But even if I would agree, Izha is part of this hive. She can't be removed from this place."

"I know one or two tricks." Sarah replied and looked over to Izsha. "What do you say, girl? Wanna' tag along?"

"Tag...along, your Majesty?" Izsha asked both confused and unsure. When Zagara heard that, she shook her head.

"Seriously, she never called me like that. I doubt that I would have any use for a servant this loyal to another one." And then the Overqueen sighed. "Very well. You may have her. But only if she agrees. And..." Zagara then looked right at Izsha "...if she understands that this is a one-way trip. Do you hear me, Izsha? If you accept her offer, then you will never return to the Swarm. You can either accept what you are, or you can choose to go with her."

"Leave...the Swarm?" Izsha mumbled. The very idea was almost impossible for her to comprehend. She looked over to Sarah and it almost seemed as if she wanted Sarah to make a decision for her. But in the end, she had to make the call. After a while, she straightened herself and looked at both Sarah and Zagara.

"I know what I am. And I am Zerg." When Sarah heard that, she could feel a sting inside her chest. However...

"Yet...I would like to be in service of her Majesty again." And that's when a smile appeared on Sarah's face. Maybe coming to Char hadn't been such a stupid idea after all.

At least now she was no longer all by herself.


	11. Act I - Chapter 3

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Going new Places, meeting new Faces**

* * *

 **Dominion Battlecruiser** _ **Rebel Heart**_

 **In high orbit around Moria, Kel Morian Combine**

* * *

When Valerian looked out of the window and lay gaze upon the world of Moria, he could no longer fight that uneasy feeling gnawing at his guts. Just the sight of the Combine's central world was so very different from what he was used to. Valerian had grown up inside the Umojan Protectorate, as far away from the old Confederacy as possible. Spending most of his early years in hiding and constantly living under the threat of Confederate assassins going after him and his mother had ruined any chance of a normal childhood. Though "normal childhood" was a pretty uncommon term for the son of Arcturus Mengsk. In the end, he had been a tool for his father's ambitions, like so many others. The fact that the blood of Arcturus Mengsk flowed through his veins meant surprisingly little to him. At least nowadays. It had been different in the past.

Yes, it was true; Valerian had loved his father. Maybe he still did.

Well, love was a strong word. Maybe "acceptance" was the better way to describe it. Yes, he had wanted his father to accept him. As an heir, son, and man. Not anymore, though. _He_ had changed. Of course, Valerian had always known that his father had possessed a dark side, but reading Machiavelli had taught him that a ruler sometimes had to rely on force and intimidation in order to ensure the safety of everyone else. And like everyone else, Valerian had accepted his father's lies as the one, final truth.

It still shamed the young Emperor to admit that, when he had approached the former Marshal James Raynor to help him with his little _endeavor_ , he had done so in order to prove his worth to his father and the rest of the Dominion solely for selfish reasons. Nowadays Valerian was aware of the fact that Arcturus Mengsk had never had any intention of allowing Valerian to rise to power. Like said; _everything and everyone_ had just been a tool to Mengsk. In a way, the new Emperor had been just like Sarah Kerrigan; a tool for the Emperor's ambition. Guess Valerian could consider himself lucky that _he_ hadn't ended up on Tarsonis on that fateful day...

Growing up in the Protectorate had been nice actually. The people there were rather civilized and were proud of their achievements, even when compared to the Core Worlds of the Dominion. However, the Combine? Truth to be told, he had never dealt with people from the Combine directly. Well, except for some crew-members from the Hyperion. But if Swann was an indication of what was waiting for him, then this shouldn't be so bad. Swann was rough around the edges, that much was true. But he had a heart made out of pure gold. And a liver made out of titanium.

"Just remember Junior..." Jim mumbled next to him. "...don't take Swann as an indicator for what's waiting for you down there. He's way more approachable than most other folks from here." he said and destroyed Valerian's hopes in an instant. The Emperor of the Dominion looked at the world below them and just shook his head.

"It's all so gritty and dark." he said. The huge orbital factories that cluttered the planet's orbit were a testimony to its history. Jim hadn't lied, mining and heavy industry truly were part of the Combine's culture. It looked as if it was ingrained into their DNA. Of course he had looked at the pictures and photographs before coming here in order to prepare himself for this mission, but actually _seeing_ something with your own two eyes is a whole different story.

"Yeah, that's something you shouldn't tell them. They could take it the wrong way." Jim scratched his chin and then he yawned. The _Rebel Heart_ was heading for the main orbital defense platform, where she would dock and he and Junior would travel to the planet's surface. That was the plan. Only the devil knew if it would go down like this. There were thousands of things that could go sideways, and many of people were not happy to see the Emperor of the Dominion over the skies of Moria in the first place. But that's why Jim was here. He and his Raiders had helped the people of the Combine a few times. Some even considered them heroes. So if the great James Raynor was traveling with the newly appointed Emperor of the Dominion, that guy couldn't be so bad, right?

Unfortunately, it was never that easy.

Old man Mengsk had inflicted a lot of pain on the people of the Combine. Among the more horrible things he had done had been a total blockade of certain kinds of food. Especially milk.

Now, no milk doesn't sound so bad, right? You can go without milk just fine. However, the worlds of the Combine were all about mining and heavy industry, not farming. So there had been no way to get the milk from somewhere else. Maybe the strong, tough miners had no problems with no milk. A whiskey-embargo would have been so much worse.

And what about the mothers and their new born babies?

"If you want to truly crush someones resolve, hit them where they are the most vulnerable." Arcturus Mengsk hadn't said those words. No, the one who had said that had been Edmund Duke, another _fine human being_ who had worked for Valerian's father. His death at Kerrigan's hands was actually one of the few _good_ things the Queen of Blades had done during her cruel reign.

The blockade had hit the Combine hard. Mengsk had tried to bring them back into the fold, to make the Combine bow down to his Dominion. Yet, in the end, the people of the Combine hadn't given up. However, they had paid a horrible price.

"Remember..." Jim had told him earlier. "...their freedom was paid with the blood of their babies. So if they throw rotten vegetables at you, you should be glad that it's only that stuff."

How the hell was Valerian supposed to reach out to these people? Deliver a speech full of honor, grandeur, and patriotism, and they would cheer at him? It was like the Queen of Blades would travel to Aiur, asking for forgiveness! No one would be _that_ stupid. Seeing this world below him, he suddenly felt very, very small and insecure.

"It's all...factories." he said partly amazed, partly in disbelief. The whole damn planet was _covered_ with industrial facilities and the orbit was full of space-factories and dry-docks. Even from up here, several thousand miles above the planet's surface, he could tell that those dark dots on the planet were, in fact, industrial facilities and not normal cities. Industrial areas had a distinguished look from above. Long superhighways, connecting one area to the next, and those geometric lines. And of course the smoke. Oh God, there was so much smoke!

Compared to this place, the City of Augstgrad was the cleanest place in existence.

"You look like you've never seen anything like it, Junior." Jim mumbled. Valerian shook his head.

"I haven't. Not like this. I mean, uhm, of course I've seen factories and dry-docks and stuff like that before. But this whole planet is just one _big_ factory!" There was literally no better way to describe what he was seeing right now. He had visited the primary industrial areas of the Dominion many times. And he had christened more than one battle cruiser inside a dry-dock. You could even say that he had become a real professional when it came to throwing over-sized bottles of champagne against steel-hulls. The difference between Moria and the places back home was that the installations in the Dominion usually were far away from any settlements. Even on Korhal, the heavy industry was located at the poles, where they wouldn't bother anyone, and the heavy shipyards were located at the outer edge of the system. You couldn't find everything concentrated in one damn place, and up till now Valerian had thought that this was common sense. Because who wants to live right next to a factory or a mining-outpost?

Well, apperantly the Kel-Morians didn't mind.

While Valerian was looking at the scenery below them marveling like a child, Jim looked at it with a more professional attitude. The huge space-defense platform they were heading for reminded him of the Sky Shield-installation in orbit around Korhal, only a lot smaller and not quite as heavily armed. However, it was still able to blow even the _Rebel Heart_ out of the stars. And he noticed an interesting detail; its turrets were active. They weren't pointed at the _Rebel Heart_ , but it still sent a clear message.

 _Don't try anything stupid. We're watching you._

Not exactly what you would consider a "good omen" for this whole endeavor, but he couldn't blame the Kel-Morians for being careful. Still, as Jim looked over to Valerian, he wondered if the Emperor had noticed that dozens of missile-turrets were ready to destroy their ship with the press of a single button. It didn't look like he had and Jim felt no urge to inform him about that. Junior was already nervous, he didn't want to cause any more stress to the young man.

The Captain of the Rebel Heart was probably aware of this, but he too didn't seem to think that he should make a ship-wide announcement. Jim didn't know the Captain of this vessel very well. The man had served both the old Confederacy and the Dominion, something that was pretty common these days. And he didn't like any smokers on his ship. Aside from that? Jim had only spoken twice to the man, first when he had boarded the _Rebel Heart,_ and later when the captain had told him that this was a non-smoking flight. He could also feel some sort of reservation coming from that man. Jim's reputation wasn't the best among the Core Worlds, and many still believed the propaganda of old man Mengsk, especially on said Core Worlds. Korhal was actually one of the few exceptions where he could walk around freely without needing a permanent Ghost-detachment looking after him.

It wasn't without irony that it was Korhal of all places, the home of his deceased arch-enemy. But the name Mengsk was still held in high regards by many, and the fact that a Mengsk was now sitting on the throne helped the people to move on. And many hadn't forgotten about the heroic actions of Jim's Raiders during the _two_ sieges of Augustgrad either.

The Captain of the Rebel Heart hadn't been around during that time. But Matt had chosen him for this job and that was good enough for Jim. Still, standing on the observation deck of the Rebel Heart, looking down on the world below them...it felt strange. Jim even wore a suit. A real suit. Nothing too fancy, no uniform with countless medals or anything like that. But it was black, clean and totally not what he usually wore. Right now he looked more like the Emperor's bodyguard than an honorary guest. Seemed like the time of worn-out pants and sweaty t-shirts was finally over. He tugged at his own, black sleeves and snorted. He probably looked totally ridiculous, even though everyone else said something like "Oh my God! Is that truly James Raynor, the run-down rebel-leader? That can't be, that guy looks so cool!"

Okay, maybe he was a bit delusional about that...

His hand brushed over his freshly shaved face. He missed his beard, but he had to be representable for this trip. Maybe he would let it regrow afterward.

"Attention to all crew-members; we have received docking clearance at the main defense-platform. 10 minutes until docking." the voice of the Captain spoke to them through the loudspeakers. Jim continued to look down on the world beneath them for a few more moments before he put his hand on Valerian's shoulder.

"Come on, Junior. Let's not make our hosts wait." With that, he turned around and left the observation room. Valerian sighed and then he followed Jim.

* * *

When the airlock opened, Jim could already smell the difference. The air on board of the _Rebel Heart_ was so clean and artificial that it caused Jim physical discomfort. The atmosphere on board of the Combine's installation was not nearly as clean. The smell of hydraulic-fluids, oil, and grease were practically everywhere. It reminded Jim that this was still a heavy-duty-station. The Kel-Morian's didn't keep things because they were shiny or pretty. Everything they had was either in use or was about to be stripped for parts. As Jim and Valerian moved through the airlock and entered the corridor ahead of them, he realized how dark everything was. Compared to the clean _Rebel Heart_ , this place was pretty run down. Even more so than the Hyperion, and that's says something! However, appearances can be deceiving. Even though this place looked pretty banged up, everything was working perfectly fine.

 _Hmm, maybe the Kel-Mo's do take the whole "It doesn't have to be pretty, it has to work"-thing too seriously after all._ Jim thought.

His new suit wouldn't last long in this Environment, though. Thankfully, their stay on the station wouldn't be for very long. They were just supposed to meet the envoy of Mah Sakai, General and de-facto ruler of the Kel-Morian Combine. Truth to be told, Jim had never met the man in person. Even though his Raiders had received a lot of support from the people of the Combine over the years, its politicians had always tried to keep their distance. They hadn't wanted to give the Dominion any reason for war. Another war.

Some people had called Valerian an idiot and a gullible fool for venturing here _without_ a large battle-group in his back. Yes, they had the Combine's promise that no harm would come to the Emperor while being on Moria. But even then the whole idea was utterly insane. As Valerian and Jim walked through the corridor, the four uncloaked Ghost-operatives followed them closely. These four Ghosts were the best of the best the Dominion had to offer. With only one exception. Well, two if you count Tosh as a Ghost and not a weird Specter-thingie. The other one was, of course, Nova, who was currently doing God-knows-what.

Sarah didn't count because she had been in her very own league and she had never worked for the Dominion and...

"Damn." Jim mumbled. Another day, another thought about _her_...

"Are you okay, Commander?" Valerian asked. "You seem...worried." Jim could hear the anxiety in the young Emperor's voice. Heck, he couldn't blame him. Where they were going, four Ghosts wouldn't make much of a difference.

"Yeah, it's all okay. Just had to think about something, that's all. How about you?" the older man wanted to know.

"In all honesty? I think I have to vomit." Valerian said and started to rub his sweaty palms. "We're not even close to the surface and the speech will be tomorrow, but I feel the urge to turn around, leave this place and hide under a big rock." The Emperor's honesty caused Jim to chuckle.

"Should you ever look for a rock to hide under, I know a little place on Mar Sara. Trust me, no one will bother you there." Man, he really wished that he could sit inside JoeyRay's right now.

"I take it that place isn't filled with a large variety of alcoholics, is it? Because I promised the Admiral that I would return you to him the same way he handed you over to me."

 _What am I, chopped liver?_

"Well, maybe I can ask my old buddies on Aiur if they take you in." Jim mumbled again before they finally reached the end of the corridor. There were several figures already waiting for them. The official envoy had to be among them, but neither Jim nor Valerian knew who the right guy was. There were six men in total. Well, five men and one woman. The men were all faceless bureaucrats, wearing gray business-suits. The woman, however...

"Commander James Raynor!" she said with a respectful tone in her voice. "I am Senior Advisor Lelia Curtland, General Sakai's personal envoy responsible for your safety and well being during your stay here on Moria. May I tell you that it is an honor to meet you in person." Lelia Curtland, hmm? She reached out to him and Jim grabbed her hand before shaking it. She wore black pants and a black sweatshirt, there was literally nothing that showed her position as General Sakai's personal envoy.

"Nice meeting you, Mrs. Curtland. We haven't met before, now have we?" he asked. He had to ask because he literally had no idea if he had met her before. Curtland laughed, showing her perfect white teeth.

"Oh, I wish it was so, Commander Raynor. Really, meeting you was always something I wanted to do. And don't worry, not because I have sinister intention."

"Well, that makes you a rare breed indeed, Mrs. Curtland." He immediately liked this woman. Jim looked to the side and pointed his finger at Valerian.

"But we're not here for me. That's the guest of honor." Jim said, smiling. Valerian smiled as well as he offered Mrs. Curtland his hand. She was _different_. The young Emperor had never seen a woman quite like this. What had Jim told him about the women from the Combine? Like Swann, only less mustache? Well, she certainly had not nearly as much facial hair as the Hyperion's chief engineer. She had soft features, yes. Truth to be told, she wasn't exactly _pretty_. Well, at least not for Augustgrad upper-class-standards. But the women that belonged to those circles usually weren't 100% organic anyway.

She had blonde hair, though it was more of a dirty blonde. It was curled, and even though she had pulled it back into a tight ponytail, it was obvious that it was impossible to tame. Her eyes were icy-blue and when she looked at Valerian, he felt shivers running down his spine. Aside from her face, her most obvious feature were her shoulders. He had never seen such broad shoulders on a woman's frame. She looked nearly as bulky as Raynor, this was the body of someone who was used to hard work. The _hardest_ kind of work. Valerian had to admit that she was unlike any woman he had ever met.

Abd when their eyes met, she looked at him in cold murder.

"Yes, of course." she said coldly. "Pri...oh, excuse me. _Emperor_ Mengsk." She basically spat his name out like it was the worst kind of curse. "Welcome to Moria. Even though _your Highness_ is used to something cleaner, you simply have to live with it while being here. We don't get much visits from Emperors these days, and many people hope that it will stay this way."

 _Well, that's pretty direct._ Jim decided not to interfere. This was something Valerian had to figure out for himself. His hand still reached out, waiting for her to grab it. You could basically _smell_ her disdain, yet after some more seconds of waiting, she finally grabbed his hand. Jim could see how Valerian's eyes widened in both shock and surprise. Her grip was like that of a hydraulic press!

Now Valerian finally understood what Jim had meant. If all the Kel-Morian-women were like Mrs. Curtland, then he was in for one hell of a ride. When Curtland finally let go of his hand, he gave off a small whimper before looking at his appendage. Ouch! Jim bumped his elbow into the Emperor's side, giving him a sign that he should suck it up. Now wasn't the time to show any weakness. Still, Jim couldn't just leave Junior to fend all for himself. He knew that Matt would cut him some slack, but returning with a banged up Emperor would probably test his old friend's patience to the extreme.

"So, I'll take it we will meet the General after arriving on the surface?" Jim asked. Curtland looked over to him and her features softened up immediately. This was interesting. Good cop, bad cop? Good freedom fighter, bad Emperor? Jim chuckled at his own thoughts, yet Curtland only took a deep breath.

"How about we talk about that on the way down to the surface, with fewer eyes and ears around us." Jim's brows wandered up when he heard this.

 _Well, that's an interesting development, isn't it?_ Of course he had told Valerian that things could go sideways at least twenty different ways. Meeting with General Sakai was one of the most important reasons for this journey, but as experience had taught Jim; no plan survives initial contact. So they had to work on this thing on the go.

 _Still, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's see what she has to offer._

There had to be some sort of offer. General Sakai wouldn't allow the Emperor to travel all the way to Moria just so he could return empty-handed. Because even though that man held the rank of a general, he was also a political leader. And as a political leader, he knew that it was madness to publicly embarrass the leader of the mightiest Terran faction in the entire Koprulu Sector. Yes, he would probably earn the cheers of his people, but an angry or unstable Empire was the _last_ thing the General could want. Because shit in the neighbor's backyard usually didn't stay there for very long.

"Please, follow me." As Curtland turned around and headed to another docking ring, the five bureaucrats followed her, positioning around them. Only then Jim realized that these men weren't bureaucrats and the Ghosts finally realized it too. The Ghosts immediately moved closer to Valerian, shielding him from those Kel-Morian-spec-ops. They, in return, moved in and protected Curtland from those psionic killers. When Jim stood between both sides, he sighed.

"Looks like this will be a loooooong day..."

* * *

 **Korhal, City of Augustgrad**

 **Ministry of Defense**

* * *

The pressroom within the Ministry of Defense was actually pretty pathetic. It looked like it hadn't been used in years, which was probably true. Emperor Mengsk, the _old_ Emperor Mengsk, had used his personal pressroom inside the Imperial Palace for such occasions. It was probably the only place Matt knew better than the bridge of the Hyperion, even though he had never set foot in that room. When he had studied Mengsk's speeches, his press-conferences, and all his announcements while looking for some weakness in the Emperor's argumentation, Matt had also studied the room itself. Its thick, red curtains with golden seam on it, the Imperial Insignia, the heavy, mahogany lectern he had used to deliver his speeches...Matt had absorbed _every_ detail.

Funny thing, though; when he had walked through the Imperial Palace after Mengsk's death, he hadn't entered the pressroom. Even to this day, he hadn't set foot in that room. He didn't know why, but it just felt _wrong_. It was as if Arcturus Mengsk's presence was still lingering inside that room, including all his lies and all his treachery. Matt wasn't a psionic, but he couldn't stop feeling some strange vibes coming from that room.

Thankfully, the Ministry had its own pressroom. Well, it was more of an over-glorified janitorial room. But someone had put some fresh paint on the walls, so it would be sufficient. When Matt entered the room, the members of all big media-houses were already present. Not just UNN or some local journalists. No, he recognized those faces and the logos on those cameras. They were from all over the sector. He could even see people from Umoja and Kel-Moria.

 _Well, I can't really blame them._ Matt thought. _Military decisions of the Dominion affects them as well in the end. I bet they only hope that I won't announce a military campaign to take over some worlds._

Walking past the waiting crowd, he nodded and shook some hands while saying things like "How are you?" or "I watched your report the other day, it was really interesting." Winning hearts and minds, that's what it was all about. Easier said than done, though. As he approached the lectern, Captain Brent came down from the stage. He moved in closer so he could whisper something in the Admiral's ear.

"All is set, Sir. We actually had a lot more requests than open slots. I decided to ditch some people from Korhal in favor of some folks from the Protectorate and the Combine. I'm pretty sure those who aren't here right now won't write anything nice about you, but I thought that the people outside the Dominion should get this too." A tired smile appeared on Matt's face as he heard those voice.

 _Now I remember why he's my adjutant._

"Anything else?" Matt wanted to know.

"Well, I just spoke with a few of 'em." Brent pointed his chin towards the waiting journalists. "Some already expect that you will address the current budget and stuff like that. They expect cuts, but I don't think any of them knows what exactly you're going to tell them. You shouldn't get any trouble from UNN, though. Their guy told me that their boss will bitch-slap you personally next week on her show, so he won't bother you." Matt sighed. Right, the exclusive interview with Kate Lockwell. Great, he was so not looking forward to that.

"And the Umojans and Kel-Morians?" the Admiral wanted to know. But Brent just shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't know. I've never dealt with anyone _outside_ the Dominion. The Kel-Morians seem pretty calm and controlled, the Umojans, on the other hand, are more nervous than a Zergling on stim-packs. Maybe they're afraid that you announce a new incursion into Umojan territory."

 _And they have all the reasons for being suspicious._ Matt thought before sighing.

"Very well, let's get this over with. Anything else?" The Admiral immediately regretted those words when he saw how an evil grin appeared on Brent's face, the kind of grin he only showed when he had done something incredibly stupid. Coincidentally, it was the same kind of grin Jim used when announcing that "he has a plan" and that Matt should just "trust him with that". Hmm, he wondered how Jim and Valerian were doing right now. They should have arrived Moria a few hours ago. Well, he hadn't received any message that the _Rebel Heart_ had been destroyed, so he should probably relax.

Too bad that Matt Horner had forgotten how to relax.

"I've made some preparations, in case, well, if things get out of hand." Brent said.

"Captain, what did you do?" But the Captain simply turned around and headed for the exit.

 _Dammit!_

Groaning in frustration, Matt moved towards the lectern. As he stood behind the wooden object, he saw three big buttons, only visible to those who actually stood behind the lectern. Each one had a different label. The first one said "Kill everyone". The second one said "Kill myself." The third one said "Zergling-Rush."

 _I really have to talk with Brent about professionalism after this._ Matt growled on the inside. Enough of that, though. Things would become very unpleasant anyway, so there was no point in prolonging the inevitable.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, please take a seat. I would like to inform you now on some important things regarding-"

"Mister Horner, Mister Horner!" a blonde woman said, raising her Hand high up in the air. She didn't even wait for Matt to allow her to speak. "Is it true that the journey of Crown Prince Valerian to the Kel-Morian-Combine was cut short due to anti-Dominion-riots on Moria? And if so, will the fleet stand by to stage a rescue-mission if necessary?" Matt blinked a few times at the bluntness of that woman. He realized how the people from the Protectorate and the Combine looked like as if he was about to declared war on them.

 _Haven't even started yet and already close to crashing. Great..._

"I'm sorry, I am not familiar with your face, Mrs...?" he asked with a friendly smile.

"Trevelin, Jessica Trevelin. Central World News Network, I want to know if-" she continued before Matt simply interrupted her.

"Mrs. Trevelin..." he started. She was young, probably in her mid-twenties. And he could see that she hadn't seen anything truly horrible in her life so far. He would _not_ allow this girl to lecture him. Not inside _his_ press-room. "...I understand that there are many questions regarding the journey of _Emperor_ Valerian Mengsk to the Combine..." He made sure that everyone heard the correct title. "...but only the Imperial Palace has the right to announce anything regarding _His Imperial Majesty_. And as long as we hear nothing, let us just assume that everything is just fine. And no, currently the Dominion Fleet is _not_ preparing to stage any form of armed rescue-mission into the territory of an _allied_ nation." While saying that, he looked at the Umojans and Kel-Morians and offered them a warm smile. At least the Umojans seemed to be relieved to hear that. The Kel-Morians, on the other hand, seemed like they were thinking; _too bad, we'd love to kick your ass!_

"Mr. Horner-" Trevelin tried to ask him something again.

"That is still _Admiral_ Horner, Mrs. Trevelin." he interrupted her. It seemed that he had to put her into her place right at the beginning of this whole show. He looked straight into her eyes. "I understand that this is all new to you. And being in the big city for the first time can be pretty intimidating, but please; let me help to enlighten you. Should there be any questions _afterward_ , I'm more than willing to explain everything to you. How does that sound?" All eyes lay on Trevelin and you could see how she started to blush. It was clear that she hadn't expected _this_ kind of treatment.

 _Then again, she will probably never have to face Zerg or Protoss on the battlefield. Hopefully._

Without saying anything else, the young woman simply decided to sit down and looked at him with cold anger in her eyes. Clearly, she wasn't used to this kind of treatment. Ah, to be that young again! Matt was pretty certain that he had just found an enemy for life.

"Now, let's return to the real reason for this press-conference, shall we? Today I want to announce the new military budget and talk with you about the major reforms of the whole military we're about to implement within the next two years. Now, let us talk about the numbers first..."

* * *

 **5 hours later...**

* * *

"...without sacrificing the overall ability to project our military power into the theaters of operations in accordance with our allies." Matt finished before finally looking up. Red eyes stared up to him. Brent had brought some coffee, but apparently these journalists didn't appreciate the fact that he tried to be as accurate as possible.

 _Everyone's a critic these days._

Not all reactions were "If he's gonna talk about maintenance-quotas on FTL-drives again, stone him!". As a matter of fact, a lot of journalists looked up to him with a very serious expression. Only later some would tell him that they had never gotten so much insight into the Dominion's military from any official representative. It was simply a mind-blowing experience to many of them. Except for Trevelin, she would probably hate him and his guts for the rest of her life. Meh, some folks will never change.

"Now, are there any questions left?"

When Arcturus Mengsk had asked this question, most journalists had been too scared because he wouldn't answer their question, but only smile and say "Let's talk about that some other time." The journalist who had asked that question usually was never heard from again. Now the people were scared again. They were scared that Matt would actually repeat all that stuff.

As he saw the tired faces, he knew that this was the right moment. He didn't like to rely on such cheap tricks, but even he couldn't face twenty journalists who were still fully aware of what he was actually saying.

"Good. Well, I thank you for your time and hope that you enjoyed this little piece of information..." Many journalists groaned at his cheap joke.

 _Time to get this over with. Oh well, shouldn't be so bad now that they're all worn out._

"...and before you all leave, I like to announce one more thing: As of this moment, I declare the Dominion's Ghost-program and all associated Ghost-units to be disbanded." The moment the last word left his lips, the whole room exploded into yelling and shouting.

"Admiral Horner, does that..." "...what has his Imperial Majesty to say..." "...what about the Dominion's security..." "...have you lost your mind?" "...does that include the Ghost-programs of both the Protectorate and the Combine?" "...Matt, this is Mira: I'm pregnant..." "...is the rest of the military willing to accept this?" "...what will happen with the Ghosts currently in service?"

 _Well, crap._

Brent, who stood right next to the Admiral, leaned over to Matt with a goody grin on the face.

"I think your plan didn't really work, Admiral." And Matt? He could feel how his eyelid started to twitch.

"How very perceptive of you, Captain. Thank you for pointing that out."

Well, hopefully Jim and Valerian were doing better than he was. He certainly could use some good news right now.

* * *

It was too early to call the journey to the Combine a total fiasco. It sure felt that way, though. Ever since Valerian and Jim had boarded the shuttle that took them down to the planet's surface, the Emperor of the Dominion couldn't help but feel like this whole endeavor would end in disaster. Not the "Haha, you're all gonna die!"-kind of disaster, but the "It'll be impossible to explain that to the people back home."-kind of disaster. Even though he was the Emperor, that didn't mean that he was like the Queen of Blades had been; an absolute ruler. Even his father had been dependent on different groups and factions within the Dominion to ensure his rule. Looking over to Jim offered him no joy or relief, the older man simply snored while sleeping in his seat. The Marshal was sleeping a lot lately. Maybe it was just because he hadn't had access to any alcoholics for quite some time now and he needed to deal with the symptoms of his withdrawal.

Valerian always felt uneasy when thinking about that. By now it was brutally obvious to pretty much everyone that the Marshal had serious alcohol problems. During the war and all those fights, no one had cared about that...

...no, that's not true. A lot of people had been bothered about that. And many people had been both ashamed and afraid at the same time. Ashamed that there had been nothing they had done abotu it, and afraid that they would find the Marshal, the Commander, in a puddle of his own puke one day and without any heartbeat. Not the typical end you wish to your friend and leader. However, now that the war was over, things were different. Matt had told Valerian that in a very direct way.

"Listen..." Matt had told him. "...I know that this is probably the last thing an Emperor should have to worry about, but you and your people need to keep an eye on the Commander. I'm afraid he might not longer be the person he used to be."

"Don't you think you're a bit overreacting, Admiral?" Valerian had asked him shortly before boarding the _Rebel Heart._

"Your Majesty, Valerian. Please..." Matt had replied. "...I know the Commander better than anyone else. This isn't just about his alcohol problems. Ever since _she,_ well, let's just say that something is broken inside him. And I have no idea if there's anything that will fix that."

"It has been almost 13 months, Matt. We would have heard about _her_ if she would be still alive." Valerian had tried to reason with him. "Besides, shouldn't this be enough time to move on?" The look on Matt's face had scared him.

"You might be the Emperor now, Valerian, but you're still young. Jim loved her. He loved her more than his own life. Especially after the death of his wife and his son...Sarah was the first, the _only_ woman to pull him out of his isolation. Trust me, the Commander is a lot more vulnerable right now that you might think. And that's why I ask you, no, why I _demand_ of you: Look after him."

 _Look after him. While being on the most delicate political mission of my young career. One career that could be over if this whole thing turns into a disaster. So no pressure, Matt..._

The whole journey down to Moria was one big nightmare. It had started with that tiny shuttle that had taken them to the surface. It was way too small for twelve people. And if that wasn't enough, Valerian, Jim, Mrs. Curtland, and nine heavily armed bodyguards had no other choice but stare at each other in bloody murderer. If Matt would ever find out of this, he would either laugh or drink himself to death. Probably both.

It was especially hard for Valerian. The entire trip Curtland looked into his eyes. The _entire_ trip! And it hadn't been a nice look on her face. Seriously, she hadn't even tried to hide her anger and contempt. Valerian tried to say something, tell her that he was not his father. But every time he opened his mouth, Curtland's eyes widened and she gritted her teeth. Definitely not a good sign. After a while Jim leaned over to Valerian and whispered something in his ear.

"Junior, I know you wish to win hearts and minds, but I think she's not interested. So stop staring at her tits." That statement caused Valerian to blush and he looked over to Jim in shock.

"I haven't looked at her-" Thankfully, the turbulence killed all conversations as the four Ghosts and five bodyguards flew through the entire inside of the shuttle. This would be fun.

Traveling through space inside a shuttle with not enough space to breath was one thing. Traveling through an atmosphere with serious turbulence everywhere was a whole different thing. Finally landing at the spaceport was the first good thing that happened to Valerian. It should be the only good thing happening to him for the rest of the trip.

When they got out of the dropship, the Ghosts immediately surrounded the Emperor, keeping him safe. The landing field was a huge, open area and the perfect place for a sniper to take his shot. Jim merely yawned when he left the shuttle.

"I think I drooled on my suit." he mumbled before scratching his belly. By now Valerian assumed that the Marshal acting like a cavemen was just that; an act. He knew that James Raynor knew far more of politics and history than most other people. Sometimes Valerian could see how all that "tough-guy"-act started to annoy Jim. Perhaps because he was no longer a young man who had to impress others so they would follow him. But then again, those were just Valerian's own thoughts. And he tended to overthink things. Still, he wondered what Jim was thinking just about now...

 _Did I change my underwear? If so, then why is it all itchy?_ was the correct answer. It was probably a good thing that Valerian had no psionic abilities. Unlike his Ghost-bodyguards, who shuddered in revulsion.

"You know, the last time I came here with my boys, we got a pretty nice welcome. It was a lot nicer than this show right now." Jim said while looking around. Curtland turned around and their eyes met.

"I am very sorry, Commander Raynor. However, the whole situation here on Moria is rather, well, fluid." By now both Jim and Valerian knew that they wouldn't meet the General in person. Which turned the whole trip from a fiasco into a nightmare. There was literally _no one_ waiting for them. Valerian wasn't his father, he didn't care that these people hated him. No, that was incorrect. He _did_ care about that fact. But he didn't want to "teach them the proper respect". He wanted to make them understand that he wasn't their enemy. Yet, there were rules on how to do that. Diplomatic rules. The Emperor did not expect thundering masses applauding to his every step. He was not delusional, he knew that the people on this world probably wished for him to die a horrible death. And he couldn't blame them for that.

As politician, he also knew that diplomatic rules were important. Even the Protoss had declared that they would consider opening an embassy on Korhal. Valerian didn't actually think that they would do it, but the very fact that they were considering such a step was already one into the right direction. Because the one thing that makes diplomacy so important: Talking with each other is better than shooting at each other.

Valerian truly believed that. And he knew that there were many people out there who believed that he was a fool. So he had to be both a diplomatic negotiator and a strong leader people would respect. Arriving here on Moria without _anyone_ taking notice did not help to improve his position as either one of those things.

"You know..." Jim mumbled. "...I expected a bit more. Like, a welcoming beer. Especially a welcoming beer." Before Valerian could reply something, Curtland turned around and looked at a small object in the distance that came closer. The Ghosts immediately tried to shield the Emperor. Jim's eyebrows wandered up as the APC stopped right in front of them.

"Not your typical limousine." he said. The APC was pretty banged up and in a poor shape. It looked like pretty much every single part had bumped into something hard. This wasn't right. Something was wrong, he just knew it. There was a difference between "being unfriendly" and being especially careful. This APC...Jim turned towards Curtland.

"Okay, enough fun and games." he said. "What's going on here?" he wanted to know. Curtland's eyes widened in surprise, but only for a moment. The look on her face showed...shame?

"I see that your reputation is well earned, Commander." she replied. "Not here. First, we have to get to the safehouse. There the General will explain everything to you."

"Personally?" Jim wanted to know.

"From a certain point of view, yes." Well, that sounded promising. Valerian watched the short conversation with wide open eyes. He had no idea what was going on, but he realized that Jim knew something he didn't. Jim shook his head before looking at the APC.

"This trip is getting better and better by the minute. Come on, Junior, let's find out what the great General has to tell us." When they boarded the APC, there was even less room for all of them than in the dropship. Whatever the Morian's had cooked up in their little bird-brains, Jim did not appreciate it. The time of running around like a rat from one hideout to the other was finally over. Sleeping in a real, fresh bed for the last few months had been good for him. Maybe too good. It was the daily routine that started to wear him out. Normal days, getting up at 7 a.m., a hot shower, a _real_ breakfast with hot coffee and hot buns. For the last ten months or so he had experienced a level of normality he had already forgotten. It didn't mean that he liked it though.

Waking up in a bed that was made for two, it reminded him of what he had lost. _Who_ he had lost. Jim knew that he couldn't fool Matt. Valerian, maybe, but not Matt. That's why those four Ghosts constantly kept track of his every move. Their job was to protect the Emperor, that much was true. However they also had another order; to prevent the Commander from doing something stupid. Like killing himself.

Sounds too rough? It was the truth.

Valerian thought that Jim had spent so much time inside the airlock on the Rebel Heart because he had wanted to enjoy a smoke alone. Truth was that he had stared on the open-button of the airlock for hours and hours.

 _Just hit the button, man. It'll be over quickly. The inner door will shut immediately, so you won't harm anybody else. Just you and the big black. It'll be a quick end. A clean end. And they will probably never find your body, so you will simply vanish._

What else was there to do? He felt more and more useless with each passing day. Matt had made sure that he wouldn't drink himself to death. And he had made sure that Jim had no access to any firearms. Ha, pathetic. His old friend was so worried about him that he was now practically neutered. What a glorious end for the infamous James Raynor.

From the inside of the APC, it was impossible to guess where they were heading. Sitting next to Valerian, Jim had to muster all his remaining discipline so he wouldn't fall asleep. Not now, Junior needed him. But even then he felt like an over-glorified babysitter. Though the question remained who was babysitting whom.

When they arrived at their destination and got out of the APC, Jim had no idea where they were. He didn't know Moria that well, everything looked pretty much all the same to him anyway. So this was their hideout? Oh man, this had to be a joke.

"You know..." Jim said while standing in front of the warehouse. "...when you said safehouse, I didn't expect a damn, well, _safehouse_!" the Commander yelled before turning around to Curtland. The blonde woman looked very uncomfortable right now.

"I am very sorry, Commander. Unfortunately, the situation on Moria has changed within the last few weeks. I...I can't tell you everything, but you just have to trust us on that. Please, the General will answer all your questions once we're inside." She then added a "Hopefully." Jim wasn't very happy with that statement. Lurking around in the shadows was not the problem. Lurking around in the shadows with the goddamn Emperor of the Terran Dominion by your side was one hell of a problem! Jim was not a politician, but even he knew that this would cause so serious bad blood between the Dominion and the Combine. Just what the hell was the General thinking?

"Jim?" Valerian asked, still unsure on what do to. Ha, good one. What _could_ they do anyway? They could turn around and just leave. Board the shuttle, get back to the Rebel Heart and get the hell away from this travesty. Even though Jim was no politician, he knew that the crowd back on Korhal would be interested to hear why the Emperor himself had run home with his tail between his legs.

Jim had spent many years on the battlefield. He had left many years on the battlefield too. But even he had to admit that the public opinion inside the Dominion was the second most bloodthirsty thing he had ever witnessed, right after rabid Hydralisks.

"What do you say, Junior?" he asked Valerian without hiding his feelings. Everyone should see how he felt about this whole ordeal. "Wanna hit the breaks and scramble back home?" Everyone froze. And Curtland's face lost all color. Hmm, interesting. For quite some time no one said a word. All eyes were directed at Valerian who had the last word. He _was_ the Emperor after all.

"No." he finally said. "No, we're staying. I want to hear what the General has to say. Maybe he has a good reason for all of this. I don't want to cause any tensions between the Dominion and the Combine just because there's some cold wind blowing in my face. The life of the people is more important than my popularity ratings, Jim. And should this all be just a way to screw us over..." he shrugged his shoulders. "...to hell with 'em, right Commander? At least we gave it our best shot. And like you said: There's still a bar where I can hide should I decide to quit." Those words caused Jim to chuckle. Damn, Junior certainly knew when it was time to show some leadership-qualities. And to think that he was old man Mengsk's son. Arcturus had always shown others his teeth when things had gone south. But Valerian? He showed people his spine. Figurative, not literally.

A quick glance over to Curtland made Jim realize that Valerian had hit a nerve. She still looked at Valerian with anger in her eyes, but the expression of contempt on her face was gone.

"Like I said..." Curtland interrupted both men. "...the General will answer your questions inside." She turned around and went through the open door. Jim and Valerian looked at each other before shrugging their shoulders.

"50 credits that this is a trap." Valerian said.

"Pfff, that's not how you play this game, Junior." Jim replied. "The trap-thing is kinda obvious. You have to bet on _who's_ gonna blow out your candles. I say 100 credits and it will be Tosh's spectre-buddies."

"But...weren't they your allies a few years back?"

"A few years back many things were different, Junior." Jim said, sadness in his voice.

"I see." Valerian declared. "Well then, 100.000.000 credits. And it will be a group of former Dominion-officers that Matt threw out after my father's death."

"Never bet against an Emperor..." Jim groaned.

The outside of the safehouse did not say anything about the inside. Seriously, this place was not a dump. Okay, it was not nearly as impressive as the Imperial Palace back on Augustgrad, but it was pretty much on par with the Rebel Heart. Which meant that it was clean, had a lot of room and there was no booze whatsoever. Figures.

"This...is where we are supposed to stay?" Valerian asked both confused and disappointed. Why the hell did the Emperor need to hide in a safehouse? He then looked over to Curtland, this time there was no anxiety or hesitance in his whole body-language.

"Mrs. Curtland..." he said with a stern tone in his voice. "...I admit that my patience is starting to run thin. And I'm also very much aware that I'm not in a position to make any daring demands." He made a step closer to the General's personal envoy. "But I have to insist to talk with the General. Now!" Both Jim's and Curtland's eyes widened when they heard the seriousness in Valerian's voice..

 _Good Lord, when did I miss Junior growing up into a full-blown man?_

Curtland seemed to be impressed as well, if only for a moment. She turned around and pointed towards a door.

"You can hear what he has to say to you in the conference room. Please follow me." They entered the room and Curtland closed the door behind them. Jim, Valerian, Curtland and one Ghost, just to be certain that nothing would happen to the Emperor. Of course the General wasn't here either.

"Please sit down." Curtland said and they did so. She then pressed a button on the big, circular conference table. A holographic image suddenly appeared right in front of them. It showed a man in full parade uniform with the insignia of the Combine on it. And a lot of medals. Since the image was completely green, you couldn't see the gray hair, yet you could see a lot of wrinkles on his face. Most of which were a result of intense frowning.

"Emperor Valerian Mengsk, I bid you greetings in the name of the Kel-Morian-Combine and its inhabitants." Even though it was just a holographic image, Jim could hear the inner strength in that voice. Valerian stood up and bowed his head in response to that.

"General Sakai, in the name of the people of the Terran Dominion I thank for your-" But then hologram simply continued to talk like he didn't even listen to Valerian.

"Unfortunately, due to some inner politic problems, I am not able to meet you in person. Please believe me that this is just as inconvenient for me as it is-"

"The HELL?!" Jim yelled and smashed his fist on the table. "We traveled all the way out here and now we only get Mr. Hologram McPlayback? What is that?" he wanted to know. Curtland lowered her gaze, it seemed like she felt ashamed. No one listened to the hologram anymore.

"I humbly apologize, Commander. But the General has been facing stiff resistance from some members of his own cabinet within the last few weeks. We-"

"Please, I would like to hear it from the General himself, if you don't mind!" Valerian interrupted both of them and looked at Curtland. "Could you rewind so I can see the whole message again, Mrs. Curtland?" He showed no visible emotions when he asked that. Curtland frowned, but then she pressed the rewind-button, restarting the whole message.

"Emperor Valerian Mengsk, I bid you greetings in the name of the Kel-Morian-Combine and its inhabitants. Unfortunately, due to some inner politic problems, I am not able to meet you in person. Please believe me that this is just as inconvenient for me as it is for you." General Sakai said. "I don't think I have to tell you anything about the beauty of political warfare. The war of words can sometimes be much more horrible than the fight with guns and rifles. I had to learn that when I was already an old man. And I'm sure that you know more about this whole thing than I do, given your history." Valerian squinted his eyes a bit when he heard that.

"There were always strong anti-Dominion-elements within the Combine. I'm certain I don't have to tell you about the short but bloody history between our two nations. To many people, the Dominion is just the Confederacy with a new paint-job. But recently even people inside my own cabinet have started to question my decision to reopen diplomatic relations with the Dominion, especially since there's still a Mengsk on the throne." Valerian had to swallow hard when he heard those words.

"Still, I believe that you're not the same kind of man your father had been. Commander James Raynor's word on this is enough for me."

 _Funny, because I've never met the General in person._ Jim thought.

"And I do believe that the chances of working together far outweigh the risks we are facing right now. Besides, some day the old ways simply have to end. Or we will never make any progress." The holographic image straightened itself.

"But sometimes you have to take a mighty leap, and sometimes little steps. Right now we need to take it slowly. Maybe you think that this whole trip is for naught. I won't blame you if you think that way. However, I too have to ensure the stability of my leadership. That's why I have a proposition for you."

 _He's gonna make him an offer Junior can't refuse?_ Jim thought dryly.

"Right now I cannot afford to be seen with the Emperor of the Dominion in person. It is the sad truth and should tell you all you have to know. But there is still something to gain from this trip. Well, for me anyway." Valerian frowned at those words.

"You see, what I could use would be a strong sign that shows the people of the Combine that their leader and the Emperor of the Dominion are on equal grounds."

 _Clever bastard, using us for his own agenda. We should get the hell out of here._ Jim crossed his arms in front of his chest at those thoughts.

"So if the Emperor of the mighty Dominion would hold just a small speech and leave afterward without a big fuss, it would help to strengthen my position, especially within my own cabinet."

 _Or it would make Valerian look like his little bitch. I don't like it._

"The choice is of course yours. And I will not blame you for simply leaving after everything you have heard right now. But believe me: The benefits should outweigh the drawbacks by far."

 _For the General at least._

"I will leave the rest to my personal envoy, Mrs. Curtland. You will certainly find her to be very competent."

 _Sarah was very competent with a knife and a sniper-rifle too, so that doesn't mean much._ Jim thought with a sour expression on his face. Still, as he looked over to Junior, his brows wandered up in surprise. He had expected to see anger or frustration on the young Emperor's face. Instead, he was just looking at the fading image with keen eyes. It appeared to Jim as if the young man was thinking very hard about his next steps.

"So, what's next, Ju...your Majesty." Jim corrected himself just in time. Calling Valerian "Junior" was not a sign of disrespect, at least not for Jim. But he knew that he was pretty much the only one who thought so. And right now he didn't want to give the Kel-Mo's any more ammunition they could use against Valerian. "Want to return to the Rebel Heart?"

"The shuttle that brought you here can take you back to your flag-ship any time." Curtland told the Emperor with a cold voice. It was clear that she hoped he would turn around and _never come back again_. But it seemed that Valerian had no intentions of turning Curtland's horrible day into a moment of victory.

"We'll stay." he simply said. Jim frowned at those words.

"You sure?" he just wanted to know.

"Yes, Commander...Jim." Valerian took a long, deep breath before he stood up and turned towards Curtland.

"Please tell the General that I accept his request. And I will be honored to speak in front of the Combine's citizens tomorrow." Curtland looked at him both surprised and angry. She certainly had big problems of hiding her true feelings. Jim could see how she still despised the Emperor, but at the same time she had no other choice but to respect his demeanor.

"I'm sure the General will be _delighted_ to hear that." she spat out.

* * *

 **Aiur**

* * *

"I'm sure the Hierarch will be delighted to hear that!" Karax said with an excited tone in his voice while walking next to Executor Selendis. Selendis only rolled her eyes from one side to the other, but otherwise didn't say a word. Unfortunately, Protoss weren't as proficient when it came to body-language as Terrans were, so Karax didn't realize that she couldn't care less about what he had told her.

"What do you think, Executor? Would you not agree that this could be a true breakthrough in our research?"

 _Would Karax even accept any answer that isn't a YES?_ Selendis wondered. Probably not. She mentally sighed. Even though she would never question the Hierarch's authority, there were some things that she still hadn't been able to accept. The Nerazim rejoining their kind on Aiur was actually not so much of a problem, much to her own surprise. Many survivors from Shakuras were fierce and honorable warriors and a true Templar like Selendis could respect that. It was certainly easier than accepting those bloodthirsty Tal'darim, even though they mostly kept to themselves. Still, the few that moved through the Central Nexus always made Selendis feel uneasy. She always assumed that they were trying to stage a coup or blow themselves up or something like that.

And lets not even start about those damn Purifiers. She understood the Hierarch's decision from a tactical point of view. At least during war-times. But the war was finally over, yet he still allowed those damn machines to run around freely, letting them do as they please. And this Talandar, this Fenix-mockery! She had never met the great Fenix, but it caused her physical discomfort to think about this...this.. _thing_ to possess his memories! And to think that this machine believed that it had his sense of honor! Preposterous!

The humans possessed the unique ability to dispose of harmful body fluids through their upper orifices.

Right now Selendis wished that she could puke too. Maybe if she would puke on Artanis's desk, he would notice that she had big problems with this entire situation. Since the Khala was no longer there and Protoss sucked at body language, she saw no other reason than to grow herself a mouth. And a throat. And a stomach. Selendis knew that she wasn't the only one who thought so. Many Templars, well, former Templars thought the same. Yet most of them had fallen to Amon's corruption and they still felt a great deal of shame for what had happened. Selendis had felt the same kind of shame after the final battle against the corrupt Xel'Naga. She had even decided to step down from her position as Executor. But Artanis had urged her to stay. He had called her the "unwavering sword and embodiment of the Templars' resolve". Strangely enough, he hadn't accepted a single one of her suggestions for separating the different Protoss-tribes.

And now she had to listen to that Phasesmith, who considered himself a true Templar as well, thanks to Artanis' inspiring speech she had missed.

Like said: She wanted to puke her guts out.

It was not because she hated Karax. Or she thought that he was unworthy of praise. It was more like...everyone was gaining something while she and her warriors lost something in return. So Karax thought of himself as some sort of Templar now? But he had never learned anything about the art of war. He was no expert in combat and he hadn't spent _decades_ meditating and contemplating on the very essence of what it meant to be a Templar.

Karax was a phasesmith, the best she had ever met. He deserved that the people of Aiur would remember his name for all of eternity. But as a fellow Templar?

Selendis knew that those thoughts were beneath her. But without the Khala she had no one who could help her with this issue. Artanis knew that she felt uneasy, but he didn't know _why_ she felt uneasy. He had offered her a solution the Terrans usually used: Talking to someone. Selendis had tried that. She had tried to talk to Rohana, who possessed so much knowledge and wisdom. But talking to the Grand Preserver had just been embarrassing for Selendis. So she had decided to swallow her anger down and ignore it for now.

"Executor, wouldn't you agree that these new research findings will help us to understand the way how the feral Zerg have integrated themselves into Aiur's eco-system?" Karax wanted to know.

"Not really." Selendis replied. "I could not care less how they "integrated" themselves into Aiur's eco-system, I'm more interested in how we remove them from Aiur. Permanently!" she snarled in anger. Yet Karax simply didn't realize that Selendis just wanted to be left alone.

"Yes, yes, you are correct. But we are still at the very beginning of this research. Still, it is highly fascinating what we have learned in the last few weeks thanks to my new assistant. Oh, you should meet her by the way, I have never met such a bright mind!" Karax told her.

 _Great, not just one overly eager scientist, but two. Just what I needed._ Selendis thought. They were moving towards the Hierarch's office. She actually wanted to talk with him about the Golden Armada, but right now she only wanted Karax to shut up. Or to annoy someone else. When they finally reached Artanis's office, she could already hear the voice of the Hierarch. And of someone else...

"Now don't act so surprised, Artanis." Alarak said. His voice sent shivers down her spine. She didn't like that Tal'darim. "We all knew that this day would come. You should be glad that it is now, and not when you're on your knees and on your last breath. Or do you prefer if I would ram a dagger into your back? I could do that if you like. I even have a dagger in my chambers, I just need to get it." Selendis stopped when she heard those words.

"Executor, is everything-" Karax wanted to know, but Selendis just lifted her hand and made a gesture to shut him up. Thank the Ancestors that he understood that in time.

"I don't share your sense of humor, Alarak. And I don't understand how you can make jokes about such a serious topic!" Artanis shot back. Hearing his voice, even if it was filled with anger was a good sign. Like said, she always expected those damn Tal'darim to try something stupid one day. Assassinating the Hierarch and trying to usurp his position? Why not?

"We need to talk about this, Alarak. I cannot accept this." Artanis stated. This caused Alarak to chuckle.

"Mighty Hierarch Artanis, always used to emerge victorious from every battle, no matter how bad the odds are. Still, this is nothing you can change or influence. My decision stands and I will _not_ change it."

 _What is he talking about?_ Selendis wondered.

"Your decision? And what about your subordinates? Do they want the same thing as you do?" Artanis tried to reason with the Tal'darim.

"The wishes and dreams of my subordinates are of no concern to me, Artanis. By now you should know that we Tal'darim handle things differently from you or the Nerazim. Staying here will only result in us losing our identity. Or it will lead to new conflicts. Is that what you want?" Alarak replied with a cold tone in his voice.

"What I want is for our species to be whole again! That was the whole point of this entire war! Of retaking Aiur, so we could live here as a united species!" Artanis barked in frustration.

"No, Artanis. I know that you like to believe that. But the real target was to retake Aiur only to give our people a chance to live. This was what this whole alliance was about. We have reached that goal. Aiur is now back in the hands of the Protoss. And I have no doubts that you will lead them into a bright future. But that is not the path of the Tal'darim. So we will take our leave. And that is my final answer. But don't worry, we will need some time to prepare before we can leave this place."

"Alarak, this is a grave mistake." Artanis tried to reason with the Tal'darim. "I cannot allow this, Aralak!" Before he could continue, Selendis heard how the leader of the Tal'darim turned around and moved out of the Hierarch's office. When he came out, he immediately saw both Selendis and Karax. His eyes flashed brightly in amusement.

"He is all yours." Aralak said before walking past them.

"What was that all about?" Karax asked confused. But as they both entered Artanis's office, Selendis could see the frustration in his eyes.

"Hierarch?" the Executor asked carefully. "Is everything alright?" she wanted to know. The Hierarch's answer was not what she had expected...

"No. no, Selendis. Nothing is alright..."


	12. Act I - Chapter 4

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter 4**

 **The Value of a Soul**

* * *

All the cameras were pointed right at Valerian. Usually, he had no problems with holding a speech in front of a crowd while countless cameras were focused on him. You could say that this was pretty regular stuff for him. However, he usually spoke to people who were more, well, open-minded to what he had to say. Or towards his person in general. You could actually see his uneasiness while he looked down on the people in front of him. It was by no means a big crowd he was about to address. As the Emperor, he was used to speaking to thousands, sometimes even ten thousands of people. Actually, his record was 216.000 people. That many people had listened to his speech after the end of the Great War on the Imperial Plaza. So a group of mere 250 people shouldn't be much of a problem, right?

However, what if those 250 people really hated him?

And what if these 250 people actually had a _damn good_ reason for hating him?

Right now Valerian felt horrible. The spotlights were too bright and too hot. He looked pale and sweat was running down his backside. He had no doubt that this was intended. He couldn't care less about these things right now, though. No, the real problem were the people that were looking up to him. You could actually sense the hostility in this room. Roughly half of the people were women. To look into their cold eyes was highly unnerving. Valerian had no problem to look into the angry faces of men, but for some odd reasons these women truly got to him. Maybe it was the sense of vulnerability. Even though his Ghost-bodyguards were close and there was plenty of security around, he still felt exposed. At the other end of the room, Jim leaned against the wall and had crossed his arms in front of his chest. Valerian could see him from his position, but he didn't feel any relief. Moral support in this situation was pretty pointless.

Right above Jim was a banner of the group that he was talking to right now.

 **The Mothers and Fathers of the Black Years greet the Emperor!** stood in big, fat letters on the banner. Only that the word **Emperor** was crossed out and replaced with **MURDERER**.

" _Go to the Combine!" Matt had said. "Show the people how you really are. Break the ice!" To hell with you, Admiral._ Valerian thought.

The Black Years, the years when his father had enforced an embargo on the people of the Combine. The years when the infant-mortality had gone through the roof. The _Mothers and Fathers of the Black Years_ were a group of parents who had lost their children during that time. And now he was supposed to talk to them? Maybe General Sakai truly wanted to make a fool out of him. Or he had a _very_ twisted sense of humor...

Valerian swallowed hard before he looked at his script in front of him. It was a good script, he had spent hours on it. It was full of compliments to the people of the Combine without turning himself into an _ass-kisser_ , as Jim would put it. He was proud of his work, especially since he had done it all by himself. And he was certain that even the professional speech-writers back on Augustgrad would at least call it "adequate". It truly presented his thoughts and his convictions, that it was the logical choice to seek cooperation between the Dominion and the Combine. And with his eloquence he could win over any crowd.

Except for this one.

Seriously, winning over a bunch of Hydralisks would be easier!

This wasn't about logic. This wasn't about eloquence either. This was about emotions. They say that a good leader always has to keep his head in the game and can't allow personal feelings to cloud his judgment. It was one of the first things his teachers had rammed into his head; always be in control, never show them your true feelings. He had learned that from his father as well, the same father that had considered him to be a weakling for many years.

Valerian looked at all those hateful eyes and then back to Jim. The man simply gave him a thumbs-up.

 _Sometimes a man gotta do what a man gotta do._ Jim had told Valerian those words just before the Emperor had climbed onto the stage. He looked down at his script and took a deep breath. And then he just decided to ignore the script There was another sheet of paper, but it wasn't a speech. It was a list of names. A very long list of names.

 _Time to improvise._

He looked down at his own hands and then back at the people staring up at him. Well, time to get started.

"Dear Citizens of the Kel-Morian-Combine..." he began. "...as Emperor of the Terran Dominion, I bid you greetings." He opened his mouth again and wanted to continue, but no words left his throat. Instead, he stopped and thought about what he could tell these people. After all, his father had been responsible for the death of their children.

"..." Nothing. He didn't know what to say.

"..." Looking down at his own hands, he now truly felt the full weight of the burden that rested on his shoulders.

"..." And he knew that he would never be able to wash off the blood on his hands. The sins of his father would always accompany him, no matter where he would travel.

"..." The people started to look at each other in confusion. Apparently, they didn't know what to make of it. He looked at the list of names. He had asked Curtland for these names before coming here to deliver his speech. It would either help him to reach out to them or cause them to stone him.

"..." Even Jim was starting to frown.

"..."

"..."

"..." Valerian finally took a deep breath.

"I..." he said. "...I am sorry." The crowd seemed to be confused. But then Valerian looked at their faces.

"What...what is a human being?" he asked them. It was clear that no one in the room had any idea what he was talking about. "A fairly simple question, is it not?" he continued.

 _Might as well just let my heart do the talking._

"Most people think they have a good answer to that question. Two arms, two legs, one head. And five fingers on each hand, just to be certain that it's not a Protoss." No one laughed at his little joke. Not even he himself. "But the last few years made me think about it. I saw how good men died. I saw how good men had to kill their own friends. And I saw how bad men walked away unscathed. I saw how my own home was engulfed by the fires of war. I saw where boundless ambitions and thirst for power will lead to." Even though he was actually referring to Amon, the very same could be said about his dead father. He took a deep breath.

"So what is humanity? Are humans creatures that will kill their own kind no matter what?" He licked his lips.

"In ancient times, back on Earth, the answer to that question was fairly simple. Egypt was the name of one of the very first civilizations of humankind. They believed in gods and a life after death. But not all of them were considered humans. Only the ones who ruled were considered humans. The slaves, however, they only looked like people. They acted like people. But to the ones who held the power in their hands, they were not humans. They were less than humans" He had no doubt that most of the people here had never heard of the civilizations of Ancient Earth.

"It wasn't the last time people would act like that. Later civilizations would do the same. Sometimes it was the social standing that would define what a human was. Slaves would always be slaves, citizens were citizens. But one could never become the other, although they shared the same flesh and blood. Or the religion they believed in kept them apart. Or even the color of the skin. One side decided who had the right to call themselves human, and all the other ones had to live with the consequences." He pressed his hands against the lectern.

"And let us not forget the gap between the rich and the poor. The last iteration of this dark cycle were the Old Families, who ruled the Confederacy like it was their own possession. As were all the people who lived within its borders." He took another deep breath.

"I have never experienced poverty." Jim's eyes widened when he heard those words. _What the hell is he doing?_ was written all over his face.

"Perhaps I'm just a spoiled brat who has never truly felt hunger or cold in his youth, even though I know what it means to be constantly on the run, hunted by killers and assassins. And perhaps that's why I think about stuff like that. What is a human being? What is humanity?" He waited a short moment before giving his answer.

"To be more than we are today. To do better than we did yesterday." He offered the crowd a sad smile. "Well, at least that's what I think." He took another break before he frowned.

"I'm very much aware that you must believe my words are a poor attempt to mock you. I cannot hide my heritage, my name, and certainly not the blood that runs through my very veins. And I will not ask you to just trust me and believe that we can build a better future together. Because too much has happened between us that we can just move on." He sighed. The next words could mean the end of his reign of the Dominion. If the people home would see this, they would call him a weakling and a traitor to the throne.

"I am sorry."

Silence.

"So, so very sorry."

Some more silence.

"I won't ask you for forgiveness. Because I don't think that a crime like the one that was done to you can be forgiven." He took a deep breath and felt how his eyes turned watery. "I am responsible for your children's deaths." The people didn't explode into violence, but that didn't mean that they showed no reaction. Anger, shock, and revulsion could be seen on their faces. He could hear some angry people shouting profanities.

"How dare you, you Dominion-pig!"

"Damn fascist!"

"Go fuck yourself, Princess!" And those were only the nice things he heard.

 _Maybe they should edit this from the final cut._ Still, he had to do this. Now more than ever.

"Truth is...I should have stopped my father when I had the chance to do so. But I didn't. For far too long I believed that there was something good inside him. I too believed his lies. I did it because I _wanted_ to believe them. And that means that the blood he spilled all those years is also on my hands. Some may say that I was only a boy when all of this happened, but it wasn't the only time when my father did something like this. He did it many times, again and again. And what did I do? I never did anything to stop him." He had to swallow hard.

"That is my sin, the burden I have to carry. And I will never be able to undo these crimes. The only thing I can do is to use all my strength and will to make sure that this tragedy will never repeat itself." And then Valerian took a deep breath before he continued.

"My father used to say that a politician should never allow personal feelings to guide him. He created a huge empire. But its foundation was rotten from the start. Yet that doesn't mean that there aren't people who deserve a better life. This is what I want to do. This is what I have to do. But I won't just move on, pretending that the past should stay in the past. No longer will we, will I turn away from the things we have done. The good and the bad. And that's why I'm glad the General gave me this opportunity to speak to you." He then made a step backward and stepped down from the stage. The Ghost-bodyguards looked like they were about to lose their minds and even Jim's eyes widened in shock. Valerian chose to ignore them. Instead, he moved towards the first two persons in the first line. The list of the names was now inside his pocket. Even though it was just paper, it felt heavier than a rock. As he stood in front of them, all eyes in the room widened in shock when he did the one thing the Emperor of the Dominion should _never_ do.

He knelt down right in front of them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sanders, I'm sorry for Abigail's death." The eyes of the Sanders widened and they looked at him in terror. He lowered his gaze before standing up and moving on to the next person, a man in his late forties.

"Mr. Tarim, I'm so sorry for George's death." The man called Tarim reacted the same way the Sanders did. He was simply too shocked to say anything. Valerian moved on.

"Mrs. Cowlis, I'm so sorry for Brian's death...and the death of your husband." Cowlis started to whimper in pain and despair as she heard those words. Valerian moved on.

"Mr. and Mrs. Penson, I'm so sorry for Timothy's death." Valerian moved on.

"Mrs. Fletcher, I'm sorry for..." Valerian moved on.

"Mr. and Mrs. Howlbrook..." Valerian moved on.

"Mr..." Valerian moved on.

And moved on.

And moved on.

And moved on.

250 people. 250 names. 250 different stories. Yet every single time the same pain. By the time he had reached the third row, tears were clouding his eyesight. He didn't feel any shame when he showed his true feelings. To hell with all those bastards who would try to turn his life into a nightmare afterward. He _had_ to do this. For his Empire. For his people.

But most importantly, for his own _soul_.

He didn't know how long it took him to finally reach the last man. It felt almost as long as it had taken him to memorize all those names. He remembered _every single one_ without flaw.

"Mr. Tanner...I'm so very sorry for Janet's and Miranda's death." The man in front of him looked at him with tears in his eyes. Only then he reached out his hand and offered it to the Emperor. Valerian took it and shook it.

"Thanks." The man's voice was just a whisper. Valerian nodded and then walked towards the exit. His bodyguards opened the door and when he was standing right in front of it, he just turned around and looked at all those people. They had turned their back on him. Not a single one was looking at him. He had to swallow hard and realized the whole magnitude of this fiasco. But whatever future would wait for him, he knew that it had been the right thing to do. Even though no one was watching, he simply bowed down.

"I know I said that I don't believe it is possible..." he said. "...but I still hope that you will one day forgive me for my failure. Farewell." He then turned around and left this place. Maybe he should accept Jim's offer to go to Mar Sara and drink himself into a stupor.

 _I hate my life..._

* * *

"...but I still hope that you will one day forgive me for my failure. Farewell." The recording went on for a few more minutes, but it didn't show anything truly interesting. Except of course the confused people that had attended to this little speech. But even though General Mah Sakai was a politician, he had no intention of using the tears of his people to gain a cheap victory over his political enemies.

Still, watching these images was highly educational. He pressed the stop-button right when Commander James Raynor ran after the Emperor. Makai could still hear the "Oi, Junior!" and a smile appeared on his face.

"Very interesting. Very interesting indeed." he said while leaning back. Sitting behind his desk inside his office, he thought very carefully about these images.

"What do you think?" he finally asked. Leila Curtland frowned. She stood next to the monitor, hands behind her back.

"Breaks my heart." she said with pure venom in her voice. Makai knew that Lelia Curtland hated the Dominion from the bottom of her heart. Yet her reasons were actually pretty ordinary. She hated the Dominion because most other people did so. She had no personal reasons for hating the Dominion, except of course the fact that she grew up in an orphanage. But many children grew up without parents. Not because of war or the horrible Dominion. Life in the Combine was still hard and the mortality rate during childbirth was far higher than in the Dominion or the Protectorate. And every year hundreds of miners lost their lives deep beneath the surface. Tragic, yet part of life here on Moria and all the other Combine's worlds.

"You shouldn't let your hatred cloud your judgment, my dear." the General said. It only earned him a "Hmpf." from Curtland.

"He's faking it. His father was a great actor too. So he squeezed some tears from his eyes, big deal. It takes more than that to impress the people of the Combine."

 _You mean: "It takes more to impress me.", don't you?_ Makai thought.

"Maybe not. I don't think that he was faking it." the General said. "Think about it: What would he gain from doing something like that?"

"Giving us puppy-eyes so we believe he's harmless?" Curtland offered.

"Would that work with our people?"

"Of course not!" she spat out. A faint smile appeared on the Generals face.

"Of course not." he repeated her words. "Then why did he do it anyway?" he asked her.

"Because he's a fool?"

"My dear Lelia, what did I tell you about fools on the battlefield and in the Senate?" the General wanted to know.

"They don't last long."

"Exactly." he agreed. "And the Emperor has been in charge for over a year now. No fool could have been able to do that. No, this was not an act of foolishness. On the contrary, it was very clever. It put the pressure back on my shoulders." When Curtland heard those words, she blinked in confusion.

"Why is that? We have all the records of this speech in our possession. That means that he owes us."

"HAHAHAHA!" Makai suddenly burst out into laughter.

"I fail to see what's so funny about this, General." Curtland growled. The General shook his head and wiped a tear of joy from the corner of the eye.

"Oh, forgive me, my dear. It's nothing personal. I just think it is amusing to see how you think these things work. Should I tell him that "I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse"?" The General chuckled again. "This is not the black market, my dear. And we're not talking about some crime-lord who we can use for our own agenda. No, this is not just about the man." He looked back at the screen. "The Emperor represents a whole nation. Millions, no, billions of people. If I would broadcast this speech in the Dominion, people would probably go crazy. And then? Valerian's rule could be over in an instant. It would mean chaos. The Old Families are gone, it would be a vacuum of power. What would be next? A military dictatorship? Or would the Dominion fall apart and warlords would rule the sector? Think about it, Lelia: Endless conflict. And it would all happen right at our doorstep. Their problems would be our problems."

"What are you trying to say? That this man is the right man for the job?" she wanted to know.

"I don't know if he's the _right_ man. But he seems to be a reasonable man, and that is more than his father used to be. Besides, he could have left Moria any time. Yet he allowed me to do this. Now I have something that could harm him." The General's words made Lelia think.

"Mutual assured destruction?" she asked. A smile appeared on the General's face.

"Very good, my dear. He has the hammer: His endless armies and the mighty fleet. And I have the poisoned dagger."

"You're telling me that he handed you over the tool that could end his rule? Just like that? I don't believe it." Curtland snarled.

"Feel free to do so. Yet you should not underestimate this man. He is far more dangerous than his father was. Because he is something Arcturus Mengsk had never been."

"And what would that be?" Curtland wanted to know. He looked up to her and showed her a wide grin.

"He's an idealist. And that makes him very dangerous." His words only confused Curtland even more.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but I don't think I can follow you." He sighed and she could see some disappointment on his face.

"It's okay. Just keep my words in mind when dealing with him."

"Dealing with him?" she asked. "Why are you saying this?" The General stretched his arms and yawned before scratching his chin.

"Because you will be the new ambassador of the Kel-Morian-Combine on Augustgrad."

"Hell no!" Curtland yelled. But the General simply stood up and grabbed a piece of paper that was lying on his desk.

"Hell yes. Here is your letter of appointment. It was already signed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Congratulations, Ambassador! I'm sure you'll make us all proud!" he said while beaming with glee.

"Wha..? How ? No!" Curtland protested. "I'm not an ambassador!" she said.

"And I'm just a guy who fell up the stairs. Sometimes we have to trust our instincts. And mine tells me that you're the right person for the job." He then turned around and looked out of the window. "I've made sure that the captain of the Rebel Heart will be informed of your arrival. That way you will be able to travel to Korhal alongside his Imperial Majesty. I'm sure you will enjoy this flight, my dear."

"Please kill me." was the only thing she could say.

* * *

On the entire trip back to the Rebel Heart Valerian did not say a single word. The taste of defeat was simply too much and he felt the urge to drink massive amounts of alcohol to get rid of it. He didn't want to talk to anyone, he didn't want to shake people's hands, he just wanted to go back to the Rebel Heart, travel home and bury himself under several layers of concrete. He was an emperor, was he not? Weren't emperors supposed to rest inside huge crypts? A mausoleum even? Maybe the people of Augustgrad could build one and finish it before he returned, that way he could leave the ship and jump right into his grave. Problem solved. He even had a fitting title for his tombstone.

 _Here rests Valerian Mengsk._

 _Son. Heir. Natural born loser._

 _Good riddance!_

No one approached him on the way back to the Rebel Heart and he was glad for that. The Ghosts were probably too professional to offer their help. Or they didn't care. And Jim? He just looked out of the window of their shuttle. He had taken his jacket off and put it over his lap. It almost looked like he was hiding something under that jacket, but right now Valerian lacked the nerve to deal with that crap. Besides, he doubted that it was a bomb or a gun. James Raynor was one of the few men he knew who wouldn't kill him. And _if_ Jim would decide otherwise, he would make Valerian see it coming. The Emperor knew that because that was pretty much how their first meeting had been.

 _Turn around, Arcturus._ the Commander had said. _I want you to see this coming!_

Strange. Valerian remembered those words like it had happened yesterday. But it now seemed so far away. Looking at his own hands, he wondered what the people back on Korhal would think of his little stunt. Nothing good, that much was certain.

This time the shuttle did not land on the planetary defense-platform but headed directly for the Rebel Heart. Seeing the gray hull of the Dominion's new flagship helped to raise Valerian's spirit if only a bit. The shuttle landed, they got out and the Ghosts were finally relieved of their duty. They didn't show it, but Valerian had the impression that they were glad that they didn't have to look after him anymore. Just before he wanted to exit the hangar bay, Jim pulled him to the sidelines.

"Yo, Junior, stop it!" Jim said.

"Stop...what? What are you talking aboouuuuuuu...!" was the only thing he could say before Jim simply pulled him out of everyone's sight and into an airlock. He hit the door-button behind him and closed the heavy metal door. For a moment, Valerian was afraid that he would vent the two out into the cold space.

"What is your problem, Junior?" Jim wanted to know, still hiding _something_ under his jacket. No, Valerian was just tired and started to imagine things.

"What is _my_ problem? What is _your_ problem, Commander? Pulling us into an airlock?"

"Because I need to ask what the hell is wrong with you!" Jim spat out. "Ever since we boarded the shuttle, you've been acting like it's the end of the world!" Valerian opened his mouth, ready to reply something. But then he just turned away.

"Forget it, Commander. I'm not in the mood for-" That much was true.

"Oh, I can see that. Unfortunately, this isn't about _your_ mood-swings, Valerian." Jim replied. "Do you honestly think that I allow you to run around like this, sulking like a little boy because he didn't get his birthday present in time?"

"This is not..." Valerian snarled. "...listen, it has been a long day and I'm not in the mood for any of this. Just let it rest, will you?" he asked Jim. But if there was one thing that Jim was good at, it was being relentless.

"No! No, I'm not letting you off the hook like this, Junior!" Jim said. "I mean, what the hell! You just scored big time and now you act like we've lost the finals of Slurdge-Ball in 42'!"

"What the hell is Slurdge-Ball?" Valerian asked.

"Something we played on Shiloh. You need a stick, a ball and a trash-can filled with cow-shit. It's the national sport where I'm from. Point is:" Jim went on. "I know that you probably have one hell of a jet-lag, but you can't act like this in front of your subordinates. Hell, I'm probably the last one to lecture you on this, but let me tell you as someone who was responsible for many people for a long time: Everyone is watching you and they'll notice if the leader isn't fully convinced in what he's doing. Leading by example means that you're constantly forced to show them that you won't give up, even if you have to fake it." Jim sighed.

"I know that I'm probably not the best example, but I had Matt who pulled my head out of the gutter more times than I can imagine. And that is exactly what you need. I have no idea why he sent me along, but I might as well pull your head out of the gutter now. So cheer up, Junior. You should celebrate your victories, not drown yourself. Unless it's a victory-party, then it's completely fine to drink yourself into oblivion." Valerian looked into the eyes of the Commander. They looked tired, exhausted. Those were the eyes of a man who had seen all and everything...and who was broken on the inside.

"Victory? Commander, are you drunk? This was a complete disaster!" he snarled.

"Was it?" Jim shot back.

"What? Of course it was!" Hearing Valerian's words, Jim leaned against a cold metal-wall.

"Tell me, Junior, what was the point of this whole trip. To win their hearts and minds, to storm the castle, to make them all your best buddies?" he teased the Emperor.

"Of course not!" Valerian barked. "I'm not a fool! I'm fully aware that venturing here was not about making friends but...but..."

"But what?" Jim wanted to know.

"GOD DAMMIT!" Valerian yelled and slammed his fist against the steel door. All that frustration and all the shame was simply too much for one day, even for him. He hit the door again and again. Of course, the steel was completely unimpressed by his outburst and the end of the story was that his hand hurt like hell.

"Junior, look at me." Valerian took a deep breath and looked directly into Jim's eyes. "Son, you do realize that you had no real chance of winning them over, right? Hell, I listened to some of those people before you started your speech. A lot of them actually wanted to storm the stage and beat you up. Now I don't think that the General would have allowed this to happen, but still...before today you were just as much of a monster to them as your old man was." A sense of guilt and shame tingled through Valerian's mind as he heard those words.

"But when you were done, no one even said a word. I know that you would have liked to hear someone applaud to your speech. And trust me, it even blew my mind. But you can't always expect people to see your reason, even if you have all the best arguments in the world on your side." Jim put his free hand on the Emperor's shoulder.

"You know, there were so many times when I simply wanted to ditch this whole outfit. When I, Matt and the others saved some stupid asshole and all they did was to return to the Dominion. I mean, why even save their sorry asses in the first place, right?" he asked.

"Because it's the right thing to do." Valerian offered him as an answer. Jim nodded.

"Exactly. Because it's the right thing to do. And doing the right thing is never easy. Just take it as another lecture in the grand book of life: People can be real assholes."

"James Raynor, 2507, somewhere on Moria. I'm sure that I will quote you correctly in my autobiography." That made Jim chuckle.

"Ha, who says that anyone will read that crap anyway? I bet my autobiography will be far more interesting!" Valerian wanted to say something when suddenly the door of the outer airlock started to beep. Both men turned around in shock. For a second both of them had the same thought: Someone wanted to assassinate them. When the door opened, both men hold each other tightly and screamed like little girls. The door opened, and from the other side, a very annoyed Lelia Curtland stepped into the ship.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHhhhhhhuuuuuCurtland?" Jim asked surprised. The woman looked at him, then at Valerian, then at Jim again before finally shaking her head.

"Just get out of my way!" she snarled before forcing both men to the side. Valerian blinked in confusion.

"What...what are you doing here, Mrs. Curtland?" he asked.

"That's Ambassador Curtland to you, Mr. Mengsk!" she just yelled before leaving the airlock.

"Amb...WHAT?!" Valerian yelled and looked at Jim in shock. But the former Marshall only shrugged his shoulders.

"Better go after her. Maybe she's gonna blow the ship up." Jim simply said. Valerian's eyes widened in terror and he immediately hurried after the resolute woman.

"Mrs. Curtland, wait for a second!" When they were finally gone, an exhausted smile appeared on Jim's face. All in all, it had gone better than anticipated. They had done a good job too. Matt would be proud of them. Hmm, guess that meant that he had to make Matt de-proud again. His fingers were already starting to hurt. Keeping three bottles of Whiskey hidden under his jacket was actually hard work.

 _Sorry, Matt. I know I promised you not to drink anything. But it's still my life and I can do whatever I want._

With a whistle on his lips, he too left the airlock and made his way to his cabin. Three bottles, man, he would enjoy this evening!

* * *

 **Somewhere near the edge of reality...**

 **A place of eternal madness and despair...**

* * *

„From the UNN-studios, here live on Korhal: Welcome, dear viewers in the Dominion and beyond! This is Lockwell Inside! And here's your host: Kate Lockwell!" The people inside the studio started to applaud when Kate turned her face to the camera right in front of the crowd. Being a true professional, she waited until the man next to the camera gave her the signal to start.

"Welcome, dear viewers. My name is Kate Lockwell and I welcome you to another round of "Lockwell Inside". Like every week we are going to debate on important current events in politics, economics and the society." By now her smile and words were so well trained that she didn't even miss a heartbeat when she looked at the four men and one woman that were sitting next to her on comfortable armchairs.

"Let me introduce today's guests. First, there's Dr. Kingsley Luther Martin Senior, human rights activist and author of the book "Stop dreaming and start to do something!". After over 13 years of imprisonment in New Folsom, Dr. Martin regained his freedom several years ago when the prison was stormed by the freedom fighter Jim Raynor. After being fully rehabilitated by his Imperial Majesty, Emperor Valerian Mengsk, he's now teaching at the University of Augustgrad as a professor of history and ethics." The dark-skinned man gave Kate a short nod, nothing more. But Kate was too much of a professional to let it bother her. Instead, she simply went on to the next guest.

"From Xof News on Tyrandor VII, formerly from Tarsonis, comes my good colleague Reily O'Bill, host of his very own show, the O'Bill-Factor!" Some people in the audience started to cheer. There was little doubt that they belonged to O'Bill's personal fan-club. Even though his show wasn't very popular on Korhal, there were enough people here to make it look like he had plenty of fans in Augustgrad. TV-people are like cats: Always trying to act bigger than they are. Reily nodded with a highly professional smile on his face.

"Thank you, Kate. It's always a pleasure to be invited to your show." he said. Yet as their eyes met, there was no warmth in their gazes. It was an open secret that they didn't like each other that much. But it was nothing compared to what Reily felt for the other guy next to Kate...

"And also from Tyrandor VII, though for far longer..." she added. "...Mill Baher!" Suddenly the audience exploded into cheer. The man next to Kate even stood up and bowed to the people. Kate simply smiled and said nothing. O'Bill, on the other hand, looked less than amused.

"It's good to be here Kate. Though I'm glad that I made it in time. Traffic was a bitch!" he said, causing many people in the audience to laugh even though it wasn't very funny at all.

"The next person is the official spokesman, or should I say, spokeswoman, of the Imperial Palace, Mrs. Miriam Haraman." She looked at the other woman, who appeared completely dull and boring. Like a full-blown bureaucrat who didn't even know how to spell the word "fun".

"Thank you for your invitation, Mrs. Lockwell." she said. Perhaps the only truly remarkable thing about this woman was the fact that she wore an eye-patch. It wasn't that uncommon to see people with visible scars on Korhal. There were many people who had lost an arm or leg. And it didn't ruin Haraman's overall attractive features. If anything, it made her look even more strict.

"And of course there's our last guest, and let me tell you that I'm very happy that he has found the time to be here today since he's also the reason for today's topic. Please let us welcome the supreme commander of the Dominion's armed forces: Admiral Matthew Horner!" There were some applause and some people booing when they head Matt's name. He looked at the camera, the wrong camera of course, and then to Kate.

"Thank you, Mrs. Lockwell. It's a pleasure...to be here today..." he pressed out. His whole body-language showed how uneasy he felt. Next to the emergency-exit, Captain Brent shook his head and groaned on the inside. This could only end in a disaster and everybody inside the studio knew that. They waited until the audience had calmed down before Kate looked at Matt.

"Admiral Horner, let us get straight to business. Earlier this week you have announced not only a vast cut in the military budget but also the immediate disbandment of the infamous "Ghost"-unit of the Dominion. Now, this has caused quite the uproar among many different groups in the Dominion and beyond. Admiral Horner, one quick question before we actually start: Were you aware of the magnitude of the outcry your decision would cause?" Kate said without giving Matt any time to gather his thoughts.

"Well...you see, Mrs. Lockwell..." he started.

"Kate!" Reily suddenly intervened, not allowing Matt to finish his sentence. "KateKateKateKateKate..." he repeated her name like he got money for that. "I think that is the wrong question. The real question we should ask ourselves is: Will this action lead to even more instability within the Dominion? And what about our proud and highly professional armed troops? Can they do their job even though they know that the guys in charge are willing to ditch them whenever they feel like it?" Reily O'Bill asked. Matt frowned when he heard those words. He knew that O'Bill represented a certain kind of conservatism that had little love for him or Valerian. Too soft, too weak and too treacherous, that's how they looked at him and the young Emperor.

"That is actually a valid question, Reily. And you talked about that on your show earlier this week. How about we give our viewers a small taste of what they missed." Kate explained and nodded to the camera. The guys in the direction immediately showed the replay of Reily's show. Behind Matt, a huge screen came to life and showed the very same Reily O'Bill hosting his very own show.

"Now, today's major topic is, of course, the announcement of _Admiral_ Horner that he would not only cut the military budget, _and therefore technically ruining our armed forces_ , but he also announced the disbandment of the elite "Ghost"-unit." the O'Bill from the past said before he shook his head in disgust. His audience booed like crazy, showing what they thought about Matt's announcement.

"Now I've said it before and I will say it again: In all the years of both Confederate and Dominion rule we have never seen such an incompetent leadership." Now the booing started to turn into cheers. "You know me, dear watchers: I'm not someone who puts the fingers on others easily. But ever since the so-called _Heir_ Valerian Mengsk has claimed the Imperial Throne, many strange and bad things have happened. Just think about it: Ever since the end of the so-called "Great War" against an ominous creature called "Amon", the unemployment rate has climbed to over 17% throughout the entire Dominion!" These numbers were true, but he had simply torn them out of context. Matt felt the urge to tell O'Bill that, especially since he sat right next to him. But he didn't want to interrupt the recording.

"We're not just talking about numbers here, people. Every single one of these unemployed is a man or a woman. They're hard-working people, trying to make enough money to feed their families and provide them with shelter." The recording showed the faces of O'Bill's viewers. Most of them were nodding, some even had tears in their eyes. "Yet these people, who have worked so hard for the Dominion and its citizen, the ones who produced the arms and vessels we used to battle the horrible Zerg and the cruel Protoss, as well as all the mad folks from the _Protectorate_ and the _Combine_ , they are the ones that suffer the most under the recent budget cuts." Well, that's one way to put it. Still, O'Bill simply ignored that Valerian was about to introduce a huge investment program that should help the unstable economy to get back on its feet. He only had to return from Moria to announce it next week, or the week after the next.

"And that is only the tip of the iceberg, dear people!" O'Bill continued. "I thought that it couldn't get any worse, but then this so-called _Admiral_ announced that the Ghosts would no longer be needed!" Now the booing returned. "These brave men and women have fought for our safety. They represent the best mankind has to offer. When the Zerg slaughtered billions, they stood their ground. When the cruel Protoss destroyed our worlds, they stood their ground. And when so-called _freedom fighters_ decided to cause nothing but trouble, they worked hard to keep the honest citizen of this Dominion safe!" O'Bill made sure the way he described Jim wouldn't cause any lawyer to sue his ass.

"Truly, people, do we want to live in a world where those who carry the burden are the first ones to be thrown out?" That was a very one-dimensional way to look at it. He could talk like that because he probably had never met a Ghost in real life before. Well, Matt had met real Ghosts before and there was nothing patriotic about being a Ghost. O'Bill's ranting continued for some time before the recording finally ended. Only then the people inside the studio returned their attention towards the six people on the stage.

"Well, those were some strong words. Just like we're used from you, Reily." Kate said while chuckling. "But still, I want to talk about something you said on your show: The problem of disbanding the Ghost-unit and its-"

"Not a problem, Kate, a huge _mistake_!" Reily interrupted her. "This is not about me having a small problem with the current administration. You know me, Kate, I also criticized the later Emperor Mengsk time and time again, but those were only minor details. _This_ is much bigger!" he said while talking himself into a rage. "You see Kate, this whole situation is-"

"MAYBE..." Mill Baher interrupted his rant. "...we should ask the Admiral himself what he has to say. I mean, the guy is sitting right next to you, Reily. And he can hear every word you're saying while doing nothing. You know, kinda like your marriage." the other man said. Again, the audience screamed in laughter and again Matt failed to see how this statement was supposed to be funny.

"Good point, Mill." Kate agreed before turning her head towards Matt. "Admiral, what do you say in response to Reily O'Bill's allegations?" Matt took a deep breath before saying something.

"Well, Mrs. Lockwell-" he began. But he didn't get far because Doctor Martin raised his hand in order to say something.

"Actually, I don't want to be rude or anything, but I would like to say something before we start." Martin Senior said with a deep and very calm voice. He leaned forward and raised his other hand as well as if he was about to lecture some of his students. "I think that this isn't about right or wrong, this is a fundamental problem we are facing. The fact that we treat people like second-class-citizen, sometimes even as slaves simply because they possess a unique genetically disposition." Matt opened his mouth, ready to reply to that when Kate looked at Martin in confusion.

"Forgive me, Doctor Martin, but could you explain what you mean by that?"

"What I mean, Kate, is that right now there are citizens inside the Dominion who are denied the fundamental rights we all share. We all are supposed to have those rights! Yet the Dominion allows this to go on. This is the true tragedy of this whole situation." he said. Truth to be told, Matt agreed from the bottom of his heart. That's why he was _working_ on it.

"That is a strong statement, Doctor Martin. But since we have not just one, but two officials of the Dominion here, let us ask one of them directly." Kate said and turned her head towards the only woman in the round aside from her. "Mrs. Haraman, as the spokeswoman of the Imperial Palace, what is the official position of his Imperial Majesty regarding this topic?" she asked.

"I cannot comment on that." Haraman only replied.

"That's what she said!" Mill said and again the audience laughed their butts off. By now Matt started to realize that this would probably not end well for him.

"Well, Mill..." Kate turned her attention towards the other man. "I'm sure you too have an opinion regarding how the Dominion should handle this whole Ghost-debacle?"

"Actually, Kate." Mill answered. "I'm with the other guys on that. It is simply a huge injustice. Not just to you and me, but to all of us!" he said and turned around to Matt. "With all due respect, Admiral, I'm really a fan of what you did during the war and all, but I just have to admit that I can't accept this any longer. And I'm certain such a clever man like yourself can understand that!" Mill said. Matt, on the other hand, had no idea what the man was talking about.

"I'm...not sure I can follow you..." he stuttered.

"Dope!" Baher simply said. "I cannot accept that the Ghosts get all the good stuff like combat-stims for free while I have to buy my grass with my own money! Now, where's the justice in that?" When Matt heard those words, all he could do was to blink in confusion. Brent, who stood near the emergency-exit, pressed his hands against his face. It was unclear wherever he was shocked as well or trying to hide his amusement.

"I...uhm..." Truth to be told: Drugs weren't Matt's area of expertise. Maybe Jim could tell them more about that.

"Mrs. Haraman." Kate turned back towards the spokeswoman. "What is the official position of his Imperial Majesty regarding the legal use of drugs?"

"I cannot comment on that." was Haraman's only reply.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about, people!" Reily said. "Instead of showing our boys and girls the proper respect they deserve, we treat them like drug-addicts who can't fend for themselves!" he growled. "And I'm sick of seeing how people like this so-called _Admiral_ act like they know what they're doing! Wake up, people!" he said. Matt opened his mouth again, willing to stand his ground. But Martin Senior was faster than he was.

"Waking up is a good call. Yes, indeed, have to wake up. We have to understand that we can only move on by accepting that there are people who do not enjoy the same level of freedom as you and I do. And that is why I urge every citizen to use his or her voice to show the people in power that we will not accept this! The Admiral is a symbol of this old world. A world that tries to deny these rights to everyone." Matt looked at Martin Senior and suddenly felt a sting and anger in his chest. He respected Martin Senior, but the man was only free because Jim and the Raiders had stormed New Folsom. Now to claim that Matt himself was part of the problem...

"Doctor Martin, I'm-" Matt started, not willing to let this comment pass.

"Yeah, I agree! We all should have the same rights. And if the Ghosts get the good stuff, why can't we have access to mind-blowing drugs? Huh? We are all adults, we should be able to decide that for ourselves!" Mill said. Again the people cheered. Then Mill turned his attention directly to Matt and looked him deep into the eyes. Somehow Matt had the feeling that he wouldn't like what the tv-host was about to tell him.

"Come to think about it, what about using this to solve our problems?" he asked. "You know, we can't always solve all our problems by building more and more weapons and conveniently finding a new alien-species that want to devour our yummies. But think about it: Now we truly have the chance to liberalize drugs, bring them out of the shady corner. I'm not talking nonsense here, I have the numbers on my side!" Again the crowd cheered.

"Now I think that I speak for all of us if we should be treated like grown-ups, wouldn't you agree on that?" Mill asked into the round. The other people nodded, except Matt and of course Haraman. Kate looked at the spokeswoman.

"Mrs. Haraman, is there an official reply to the accusation that the Dominion is treating its citizen like children?" the host of the show wanted to know.

"I cannot comment on that." Haraman replied.

"Very well." Kate said before turning back to Matt. "Admiral, you've been very quiet so far. May I ask you what you think about what the other guests have to say?"

 _Finally. Now let's get some things straight._ Matt sighed before opening his mouth.

"Well, Mrs. Lockwell, truth to be told, I think that it's not that easy if we-"

"Of course it isn't easy!" O'Bill interrupted him. "But that is the whole point, isn't it? Now I'm notinto conspiracies, you all know that..." _KnockKnockKnock_ "...but even to the most gullible fool out there it must be crystal clear that there's a hidden agenda in place, one which purpose is to weaken our great nation in order to make up for so-called "war-crimes" we have never committed in the first place!" O'Bill leaned forward. "Now I'm not making this up people, this is just the first step! Imagine: Once the Ghosts are gone, who will protect us from the Protoss and their superior abilities? And this is just the beginning. My sources tell me that the number of regular marine-divisions is supposed to be cut as well. Now, who's going to protect us from the endless legions of the Zerg?"

 _This man is worse than Vermillion._ Matt thought. But he wouldn't allow this to go on any further.

"Forgive me if I'm interrupting you, Mr. O'Bill-" he said. But by then Kate was already talking to someone else.

"Mrs. Haraman, is there a secret agenda in place to sell the Dominion's citizen out to our alien enemies?" she asked.

 _What kind of question is that?_

"I cannot comment on that." Haraman replied.

"Well, I'm sure we're all relieved to hear that!" Kate said.

"Kate, if I may say something." Martin Senior asked and Matt felt no urge to interrupt the man. He respected him. Anyone who spent so many years in New Folsom without breaking had to be truly strong on the inside.

"Please, Professor, we're all listening." Kate gave him the word.

"I don't think that we're dealing with a hidden agenda, but an institutionalized process that has been in power for far longer than anyone of us can even imagine. The segregation into higher- and lower-class citizen goes back to the time when the Korpulu Sector was first settled by Terrans. Ever since that moment in time, the ruling class has used this segregation to consolidate their own power. And right now we see the very same principles guiding the current rule of Emperor Mengsk and this regime-"

"Hold on!" Matt intervened. He would _not_ allow this to go on.

"Yeah, hold on!" Mill Baher came to Matt's aid. Or so he thought. "Wouldn't we be able to solve this mess if we would give everyone the same rights? How about we start with the most obvious things, like, I don't know, free access to grass?" The crowd was going wild when they heard this.

"I think the whole topic is far too serious to make jokes about it-" Matt snarled.

"I agree, the entire current leadership of the Dominion is just one big joke!" O'Bill said, turning Matt's word into the exact opposite. "I mean, let's face it: The Crown Prince is only half the man his father used to be, he simply hasn't the "equipment" you need for the job if you know what I mean. Yes, I know that Arcturus Mengsk made some mistakes. But at least he stood up for the little people! And the Admiral over here used to play Cowboy and Zergling under the command of an ex-Confederate war-criminal."

"Now listen-" Matt hissed in anger, no longer willing to let this travesty go on. But again he was cut short by Kate.

"Mrs. Haraman. Is there anything about the current Emperor's manhood that you like to tell us? Is he bigger or smaller than the last Emperor?"

"I cannot comment on that."

 _What is GOING HERE?!_ Matt thought in horror.

"I heard that there are certain drugs that can help you with that, buddy." Mill said while looking at Reily. "I bet your wife will appreciate them too."

"Mr. Baher made a good point." Martin Senior said. "Sexual inequality is one of the main reasons for the inequality in our society. Other groups have been able to solve the problems by overcoming this devilish cycle. The Zerg, for example, have installed a governing system where the females of the species rule. And there are no reports that indicate that the Zerg practice any form of sexual or racial discrimination among each other."

"Wha...I...I don't...I'm..." Matt stuttered, unable to comprehend this. The Zerg weren't racists? WHAT THE HELL?!

"Maybe it's because their leader doesn't try to weaken her own forces! The Zerg at least know how to pull at one string!" O'Bill spat out.

"Maybe they have free health-care? You know, with drugs?" Baher suggested. "I can imagine how that would motivate a lot of people out there."

"Mrs. Haraman, does the Emperor intend to abdicate in favor of a new ruler? A Zerg perhaps?" Kate wanted to know.

"I cannot comment on that." Haraman said.

"Are you people insane?!" Matt yelled in anger. Whatever this show was about, coming here had been a huge mistake. He would not-

"Admiral Horner, please, is there anything you would like to tell us?" Kate wanted to know. Before he could say anything, the spokeswoman finally said something other than "I cannot comment on that."

"Mrs. Lockwell, may I say something to the Admiral?" she asked for permission.

"Yes, of course." Kate said. Haraman turned to Matt and put her hand on his knee.

"Matthew, I'm sorry." she said with a soft voice.

"You're...sorry?" Matt repeated her words in confusion. "I don't know we've ever met before." A sad smile appeared on Haraman's face.

"Oh Matthew, I know that I should have supported you when you were fighting for all these people. But you know that I have my own life. Even so, I want you to know that I'm not angry at you. We're grown up people but I believe we can work things out between us."

"Who...are...you?" Matt wanted to know. When Haraman grabbed her hair and pulled the wig off her head, he could see her pink hair. His eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

"Oh hell no." he muttered.

"Matthew, oh I'm so glad that we're finally together again. And look, our daughter wants to say hi to her daddy!" Mira suddenly had an infant in her arms. Matt looked down and what he saw...

...was the most hideous creature in the whole universe...

"Where's ma booze, Matt?!" the baby said. It had Jim's head...

* * *

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Matt screamed in terror when he finally woke up. Looking around, he realized that he was still in his bed. The cold aftershock of the nightmare was still fresh. He fell back into his bed and thought about the nightmare some more time.

"Bad dream?" a voice reached his ears.

"You could say that. Dreamed about the Kate-interview." Matt said when he felt the warm skin of the other person next to him.

"Sounds like it was one hell of an interview. The real one is in a few days. You sure you're up for this?" the gentle voice wanted to know.

"Yeah, it's no big deal. Dreams are just dreams, right?" he asked, to which his partner chuckled.

"You know it. And don't worry, I told Lockwell to go easy on you, babe."

…

…

…

Only then Matt started to frown as he looked to the person next to him. And that's when he realized that he was lying in bed with the Queen of Blades.

"Hey, Tiger. Wanna make out?"

* * *

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Matt screamed in terror when he finally woke up. Looking around, he finally realized that he was still in his bad. The cold aftershock of the nightmare was still fresh. He fell back into his bed thought about the nightmare some more time. Only then he looked around to make sure that there was no one laying in bed next to him. No Brent...oh, man...

He stood up and grabbed his communicator. When he opened a channel, it didn't take long for the person on the other side to answer his call.

"Yeah?" the sleepy voice asked. When he heard it, a cold shiver ran down Matt's spine. He would never speak about this dream with anyone.

"Captain Brent, it's me." he said.

"Ad...miral? Sir, it's two in the morning. I know that you don't need much sleep, but some of us do, Sir." Brent mumbled.

"Brent, I want you to cancel the interview with Lockwell for this week. I...don't feel like I'm up to it right now." he said, still remembering his dream.

"And you realized that just now?" Brent sighed. "First thing in the morning, Boss. Now excuse me, I still have to sleep."

"And while we're at it: Make sure that no woman with a bionic eye and pink hair will be present. Just to be certain."

"Yes...Sir."

"And I want a one-on-one-interview, no additional guests!"

"Noted, now get back to sleep, Sir. _Please_."

"And Brent? Do you think it's alright to hate babies if they're really ugly?"

"Good night, Admiral..." Brent simply said before turning off his communicator.

* * *

When the beeping of the communicator ripped Joseph Brent from his slumber, he groaned and rolled to the side. Looking at the display, he expected to see just another stupid marketing call, probably from Tyrandor VII.

He still remembered the last time this had happened.

" _Hello, Ma'am-"_ the woman on the other side had told him right away.

" _I'm not a woman..."_ Brent had replied and then this lady had tried to sell him some moisturizer that apparently was also used by the Queen of Blades.

" _Have you noticed that her face is still so smooth and pretty? Well, that's because she uses our product for her face!"_ the lady on the phone had told him.

But when he saw the number on the communicator right now, he knew that this wasn't a social call. He groaned and grabbed his communicator before pressing the receive-button.

"Yeah?"

"Captain Brent? It's me." It was indeed the Admiral. What the hell? Joseph looked over at his watch and groaned.

"Ad...miral? Sir, it's two in the morning." he groaned. The Admiral better had a good reason for calling him, like another Zerg-invasion or something like that. "I know that you don't need much sleep, but some of us do, Sir."

"Brent, I want you to cancel the interview with Lockwell for this week." Oh, now he was havingdoubts? Couldn't he have them during working-hours? "I...don't feel like I'm up to it right now."

"And you realized that just now?" Brent asked and then he sighed. "First thing in the morning, Boss. Now excuse me, I still have to sleep." But the big boss still had something on his mind. Figures.

"And while we're at it: Make sure that no woman with a bionic eye and pink hair will be present. Just to be certain." the Admiral continued. Uhm, okay? Never judge other people for their fetishes.

"Yes...Sir." Suddenly Joseph had to imagine how such a woman would look like and he shuddered in revulsion.

"And I want a one-on-one-interview, no additional guests!" Matt added. Oh gosh, why couldn't he just shut up and leave Brent alone?

"Noted, now get back to sleep, Sir. _Please_." he added with a pleading tone in his voice.

"And Brent? Do you think it's alright to hate babies if they're really ugly?"

…

…

…

"Good night, Admiral..." Brent then growled and cut the line. "They didn't pay me enough for this crap!" he mumbled and then he rolled to the side, but it was useless. Now that he was awake, he couldn't fall asleep anymore. He groaned in frustration and prepared to stare at the ceiling for the rest of the night.

Brent doubted that anyone in the whole galaxy was currently experiencing similar levels of frustration.

* * *

"Isn't that truly fascinating? Isn't it? Isn't it, Executor?" Karax marveled while shoving a glowing crystal right into Selendis's face.

"Yes. Karax. This is very fascinating." she snarled in barely controlled anger. She doubted that anyone in the whole galaxy was currently experiencing similar levels of frustration.

* * *

"Overqueen. Need to debate hybrid policy." Abathur said while approaching Zagara, who could feel how one of her eyelids started to twitch.

"What, have your legs already grown back?" she growled and could feel that this would be one short conversation. She doubted that anyone in the whole galaxy was currently experiencing similar levels of frustration.

* * *

"Mrs. Curtland! Mrs. Curtland! Please wait, let me explain!" Valerian yelled while running after the newly appointed Ambassador of the Combine.

"Like hell I will _, your Majesty._ " she said with pure venom in her voice. She doubted that anyone in the whole galaxy was currently experiencing similar levels of anger.

Lying on his soft bed, Jim turned on the screen.

"And tonight we will discuss Admiral Horner's statements from earlier this week. The topic of our show: Has the Admiral finally lost it? You decide!" the person on television said. Jim took another sip from his whiskey-bottle and laughed as he watched how his old pal was fried by all those journalists.

He doubted that anyone in the whole galaxy was currently as drunk as he was.

* * *

Watching all the chaos and confusion from the outside made Sarah wonder where she should start first. So many lost souls, so many problems. All she knew was that she possessed the abilities necessary to help them. Perhaps it was time to finally put her powers to some use, to actually help other instead of killing them. Behind her, a large and dark creature emerged from the shadows.

"My Queen." Izsha spoke to her, bowing her head in respect. "You wanted to speak to me?" Sarah looked over her shoulder. Her most trusted advisor, now free from the shackles of her Zerg-nature, waited patiently for her queen to address her. Ha, some things would never change.

"Yes, Izsha. I've made a decision. We're going to go on a trip and venture back to the Korpulu Sector."

"As you wish, my Queen. But may I ask why?" Izsha wanted to know.

"I want to undo some of the damage that I've caused, Izsha. I want to do better this time."

She doubted that anyone in the whole galaxy truly knew how she currently felt...


	13. Act I - Chapter 5

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter 5**

 **Fly me to the Moon...**

* * *

 **Aiur**

 **Sacred Homeworld of the Protoss**

* * *

Saalok was Aiur's only natural satellite. The moon was very important to the Protoss. Not only because it was, very much like Ancient Earth's moon, responsible for strong tides, but also as a cultural and religious object. Its perfect symmetry and the bright white light it emitted during Aiur's nights had turned the moon into a symbol. And even though the Protoss no longer believed in fairy-tales, there were many strange things about this moon. For once it possessed a breathable atmosphere, something that should be impossible since there was no plant life on this moon or anything that could have created the atmosphere in the first place. The other thing was its nearly perfect shape. Some scientists believed that Saalok was actually placed in Aiur's Orbit, and some even went so far to believe that it had been the Xel'Naga's outpost when they had observed the young and brutal species. A few scientists had suggested that there was still Xel'Naga technology buried beneath the surface of the moon, waiting to be discovered by the First Born.

Whatever Saalok's secret was, now it was buried deep under tons of rubble.

And Zerg. Many Zerg.

It was strange, even though the Protoss had reclaimed their sacred homeworld, their moon was still infested with maybe billions of these creatures. They were leftovers from the Overmind's armada that had conquered the world years before. After the death of the Overmind, these broods had turned feral and no one had been able to either reclaim or purge them.

Routing these broods from the moon was nearly impossible. During the last few years, they had created so many tunnels that no one really knew how many even lived on the moon. And the Protoss had not the numbers to smoke them out. The only good thing was that these broods didn't possess any flying creatures like Mutalisks or even Overlords, so they were stuck.

Zerg, in general, were still a huge problem for the Protoss. Because the feral broods weren't only on Saalok, they were on Aiur as well. The planet was perfect for their needs: Plenty of biomass and a nice climate. They had thrived during the absence of the Protoss and even though they weren't nearly as powerful without a working hive mind, they had turned into the godmother of all pests. Only that cockroaches usually don't bite your head off. No, only Zerg Roaches do that.

Ever since the Protoss had reclaimed to Aiur, the feral Zerg had caused nothing but trouble. The Protoss were lucky, though, because right now their society was full of battle-hardened warriors. The different groups, the Khalai, Nerazim and Tal'darim, even the Purifiers, they were all fighting for glory and honor, and to prove who could slay the most Zerg in one day. But it wouldn't always be like that. You can't rebuild a society with only warriors, so the number had to be reduced. And who said that the current Overqueen Zagara wouldn't one day decide to finish what the Overmind had started?

This battle was not one that warriors could win. The Hierarch knew that. That's why he had tasked the Phasesmith Karax with finding a more _permanent_ solution.

And the right place for testing out all kind of stuff was Saalok. It was the perfect secure environment. That's why Karax had moved to the only safe place on the moon: A small science-station floating above the south pole of the moon. From there, Karax was looking for new ways to kill Zerg...

Looking up to the star-filled sky, Sarah felt strange. Here she was, so close to her enemy's, well, former enemy's most sacred homeworld. Truth to be told, she had never set foot in Aiur. When the Overmind had attacked the Protoss, her "father" had sent her away. And in all the years that had come after that, she had never ventured to the Protoss's homeworld. As she turned around and looked at the planet beneath her, she had to admit: It looked damn pretty. It was so completely different from Shakuras, the only other Protoss world she had visited without trying to conquer it. Well, at least not at first.

Looking at the tiny world beneath her, she began to realize the whole magnitude of the war Amon had unleashed upon this sector. It wasn't just the Protoss, no. She could sense them, she could sense their hopes and their will to live on. But she did not only feel Protoss down there.

Zerg. There were so many Zerg. It was not just Aiur, the same could be said about Saalok as well. There were still billions of Zerg on both the planet and the moon. The sheer number amazed Sarah. Aside from Char, she couldn't think of any world with a higher Zerg-population. Not even the ancient birthplace Zerus was home to so many of her kind.

...their kind...

 _Ah, dammit._

"Your Majesty, are you alright?" Izsha asked when she sensed her Queen's confusion. Even though Sarah was technically no longer a queen, Izsha still called her like that. To Izsha, she was, ahem..., and the actual quote: "You will always remain my Queen, my Queen." Truth to be told, it felt good to know that there was at least one soul out there who accepted her the way she was.

"Yes, everything is fine." Sarah lied. "I'm just admiring the view. I didn't realize that there were so many Zerg still left on Aiur. Huh, if my old self had known this, she would probably have tried to bring them back into the Swarm."

 _My old self. S_ he blinked at those words, but then she just shook her head. Not now. And most definitely not here. She looked over to her Advisor and sighed.

"So, let's get started, shall we?" she suggested. Izsha bowed her head in respect.

"As you wish, my Queen. Though I'm still not sure what you hope to achieve by manipulating this...pylon." Izsha said before looking up to the giant crystal that floated only a half a meter above the ground.

"Like I said, Izsha..." Sarah explained. "...we cannot allow being discovered. The Protoss, well, I'm pretty certain that they wouldn't be very happy to see me. Especially so close to their homeworld." That was probably the understatement of the century.

"But why do we have to harm these broods?" Izsha wanted to know. "They haven't tried to harm us. I'm certain that they would follow you if you told them to do so." Sarah sighed again when she heard that. Not because she was angry at Izsha, but because she knew that what she was about to do wouldn't make any sense to any Zerg whatsoever. And unlike her, Izsha's thoughts were still that of a true Zerg. It would take time to make her understand.

"This isn't about the Swarm, Izsha." Sarah said. "It's about them." she nodded into the direction of the world beneath them.

"The Protoss, my Queen?" Izsha asked confused, to which Sarah nodded.

"Yeah, the Protoss. I've done them wrong. I know that now."

"You were Zerg. They were Protoss. This was meant to be." Izsha simply said.

 _Hmpf, if it only were that easy._ Sarah thought. She remembered the words Ouros had used to convince the other Xel'Naga to choose the Protoss as a candidate for the Purity of Form.

"It's not about us, it's about them." she mumbled, repeating the dead Xel'Naga's words.

"It is not about us? I don't think I understand, my Queen." Izsha repeated her word before tilting her dark head to the side. Her huge, snakelike body rested on the bright surface of the moon. The changes to her appearance were rather simple. The most obvious change was, of course, the fact that the rest of her body was no longer connected to a hive of a Leviathan, but ended in a long, snakelike tail. It resembled the tail of a Hydralisk. Overall Izsha reminded Sarah of an old mythological creature from Ancient Earth's legends. What was the name again? Hydra? Gorgon, the one with the petrifying gaze? Medusa! That's right, she resembled the Medusa. The upper body of a woman, a very zergish woman, and the lower body of a snake, a very zergish snake. The huge tendrils that she had used as arms were still there, but she kept them behind her back.

Izsha's arms, that once had been grown to her body, were now free again and she could use them as she pleased. Izsha was now free to go, well, slither wherever she wanted to be. And truth to be told: She was pretty damn fast.

Even though Sarah was no longer Zerg, she still knew one or two things about spinning essence. And with her powers, it had been easy to change Izsha's body so she could accompany her Queen. She could have asked Abathur for help, but no one in their right mind would ask the gigantic slug for help. Besides, Izsha deserved something better than to be _modified_ by Abathur.

Even without Abathur, Sarah had been able to make the necessary modifications to take Izsha with her. She knew how to manipulate a Zerg, she had done...

...done it...

...done it before...

...on that icy moon...

"Oh fuck!" Sarah suddenly groaned.

"My Queen, I'm not familiar with the concept of sexual relationship. And I believe that I lack the proper equipment." Izsha simply stated. "So I think I cannot help you with that." But Sarah's left eye just started to twitch. Some all-powerful being she was, with a brain that looked like a sponge. Only one word left her mouth.

"Niadra." She blinked one more time before pressing her hands against her face.

"How the hell could I forget about Niadra?!" she yelled at herself.

"She was the broodmother you sent on the Protoss science vessel on Kaldir." Izsha repeated the now obvious. "Ever since we lost contact, we have never heard from her again. Even now she remains lost." Guilt started to fill Sarah's chest. Great, another one of her failures she could add to the ever-growing list. By now she knew that she was far away from being _almighty_ , so trying to solve this problem now was pretty much pointless.

"If you want, I can try to track her down." Izsha offered. For a moment Sarah considered to accept the offer, but then she shook her head.

"No, not now. What done is done. There's no point dwelling in the past."

 _Remembering the past is important. Even the mistakes we made. Taking the easy route will solve nothing, and you know that._ a voice inside her head said. By now she knew that she wasn't crazy. It was something she had to live with.

"Of course, my Queen." Izsha simply said. Sarah knew that she would never question her Queen's thoughts and commands. But a part of Sarah wished that she would do exactly that. To tell her that she was about to lose it again. Frustration welled up inside Sarah's chest. She groaned and pressed her forehead against the cold surface of the pylon.

"What am I even doing here?" she whispered to herself. The idea itself was pretty simple: To help undo the damage she had caused as the Queen of Blades. A simple thought. An easy thought. But the implications were, well, she had no idea where this would lead.

Now she hadn't been on Aiur when the Overmind had invaded the world. Like said, she had never set foot on this planet. Yet for some strange reasons, Aiur stood in the center of it all. There were several worlds that were important to Sarah because they had changed her.

Tarsonis, where everything had started. Now it was nothing but a dead husk. And just like Jim, she would never place a foot on that damn husk of a dead world again.

Char, now the Crown World of the Zerg. In a way, it was still her home. It certainly felt like home to her. The place where she had schemed her visions of a greater future, only to be sucker punched by the Terrans.

Zerus, the place of her rebirth. Where she had reclaimed her old powers. Where she had made a decision that had caused her to finally lose Jim for good.

 _Jim...damn._ She exhaled with a loud sigh. Not a single day passed when she wouldn't think of him at least once. It was maddening. But she couldn't help it. Trying to remove him from her mind would only cause the same nightmare to begin all over again. And she still remembered how the other Jim, the one inside her mind, had sacrificed himself so her two halves could become one again. No, she had to accept this pain. It was now part of her and it would remind her of what she had lost, of what she had given away.

Korhal. Yeah, let's get back to the planets. Korhal had been the place where she had finally achieved her vengeance. Mengsk's death had set her free.

 _No, not Mengsk. Jim did that. He set you free._ A single tear rolled down her cheek. Through all that time, Izsha stood next to her Queen and watched how Sarah tried to calm down again. Post-traumatic-stress? Anxiety-attack? Who knows, but the truth was that Sarah had issues. Every now and then she would space out and need some time to pull herself together again. She was a lot more nimble than she liked to believe.

She opened her eyes and looked at her hands. Golden hands. She blinked and watched how the hands stopped to glow and turned into normal skin. It was just a physical shape, she was aware of that. But it helped her. Sometimes, when she felt anger, she turned back into her old Zerg-self. As she now looked at her slender fingers, she wondered...

...couldn't she go back and see him again?

 _He deserves to be happy. But are you truly the one he needs? Or would you only abandon him yet again? Would you truly be able to stay at his side?_ the voice in the back of her mind said. And the voice was right. No, no matter how much she wanted to see Jim, no matter how much she wanted to apologize, it was better to stay away.

"My Queen, you seem to be in distress. Is everything alright?"

 _Good and reliable Izsha. At least you won't judge me, right? But if you were still your old self, would you say the same thing?_ Sarah asked herself and looked to the side until their gazes met.

"Izsha..." she began. "...may I ask you something?" Izsha blinked when she heard those words.

"Of course, my Queen."

"Your old self, your old persona...do you still remember anything about her, well, about you?" Maybe this was a foolish question since Abathur had designed Izsha strictly after the Queen of Blades specifications. But her creation had been a bit more _extreme_ than usual. If there was such a thing as "usual" when a Terran was transformed into a Zerg.

"You are referring to the template that was used to create me?"

"Yes, the template." Sarah said and had to swallow hard. That template had possessed a name. Amanda Haley, once a human medic. She became another casualty of war. And that was a nice way of putting it. Amanda Haley had been infected with a modified version of the Zerg hyper-evolution-virus, that had turned her into just another mindless infested Terran. But she had been different, her _genes_ had been different. After toying with the deformed creature for a while, the Queen of Blades had simply forgotten about her. Only some time later, when the leader of the Swarm had realized that she needed a special kind of advisor, she had pulled that creature out of the gutter and told Abathur to "do both his worst and best".

And Abathur had not disappointed his Queen.

Amanda Haley was no more. In her place, Izsha had been reborn, a new kind of Zerg. The same Izsha that now looked down upon Sarah and frowned.

"I don't have any memories that belonged to the template. My earliest memories are from the time when Abathur woke me up on Char. Why? Is there something you want to know about this Amanda Haley?" Sarah opened her mouth, but no word left her human throat. No, she had to stop thinking about stuff like that. It only pulled her down. And besides, she was still in enemy territory. She didn't wish to engage the Protoss, but she knew that they would throw everything they had against her should they find out she was so close to their sacred homeworld.

Perhaps it was foolish to come here in the first place. She wasn't even aware of the full extent of her own powers. And her limits. But she still remembered her Ghost-training and if there was _one_ thing she knew more about than most others, it was infiltration. And one of the most important things about infiltration was to be as fast as possible.

At least the Protoss didn't possess any sewers, so this was better than most other infiltration-jobs she had done in the past.

 _Enough sulking, let's get this show on the road._

Sarah pulled her head back and looked at the pylon. It was the only pylon in the vicinity and perfect for what she had planned. She put her hands on the cold crystal and opened her mind.

When her mind connected with the crystal, she suddenly felt much calmer. It was as if she would dive into cold water. Like all her sins were washed away. She knew it was only temporary, but it was enough for her.

Because in the end _, nothing_ would be able to wash the blood off her hands...

As she dived deep into the pylon, she was amazed how powerful this crystal was. She had never really thought about the crystals the Protoss used. They possessed impressive abilities, yes. But nothing that was truly useful to the Zerg.

...and the Terrans of course.

Damn, why was it so hard to think of herself as a Terran woman? She hesitated again. Was it because of him?

"My Queen?" Izsha said.

"I know. Get ready, I'm going to change the pylon now." Sarah took a deep breath and then forced her own, almost endless psionic energy deep into the huge crystal. These pylons, they were amazing. She wondered if the Protoss truly understood their true nature. Those crystals weren't just crystals. They were like organisms. Complex. Ever changing. Alive.

Sarah had realized that when she had returned to Ulnar with Izsha. There were still some pylons lying around and she had taken a closer look. She didn't even know why she had done so, she had seen thousands of pylons and blown up at least hundreds of those things. But now everything was different. It was as if she could see right into these crystals. And what she saw...

No, there was no chance that the Protoss were aware of the full potential of these crystals. If they knew, there would be no force in the galaxy that could stop them. Not even the mighty Swarm. Maybe the Protoss had to reach the next step in their evolution to finally unlock the crystals' full potential. Or maybe they would never find out. Either way, Sarah could use that for her own plan.

The blue pylon started to pulse as Sarah's energies started to change it. It was not unlike a computer and she was adding some new lines of code. In reality, it was far more complex though, like performing a brain-surgery with two wrenches instead of arms from across the room. While being drunk. Sarah knew what she was doing though, at least she hoped that. She had tried this with the pylons the Protoss had left on Ulnar and she had blown up some of them by accident. Okay, she had blown up all of them except for the last one. But now she knew how to do it, at least in theory.

The pylon started to react and soon its color began to change. It turned from a pale blue into a bright purple. Like said: She always looked better in purple. In her mind she could see how the crystal started to open itself, allowing more of her essence to enter its structure. She was like a virus, changing it from the inside

 _You have to understand the difference between changing something and corrupting it. You of all people should know how important it is to distinguish these two things._ the voice in her head said.

"Not now!" she snarled.

"My Queen?" Izsha asked as she sensed Sarah's anxiety, but Sarah only shook her head.

"It's nothing. Get ready, I'm opening the pylon now." Then she opened her eyes. They emitted pure energy and for a moment the pylon absorbed it all. "Now!" Sarah said and Izsha closed her eyes before starting to sing her song...

Many people, both Terran and Protoss alike, only saw claws and teeth when they looked at Zerg. The thought that the Zerg could possess something like art was completely out of the question for these people. But the Zerg did possess something very beautiful. It is something only Zerg could see. Or to be more precisely: Only Zerg could hear it.

If someone would ask Sarah what it feels like to be part of the Swarm, she would tell them about their song. The song that was everywhere. It was like music and colors combined. It surrounded all Zerg, went right through them and connected them to each other. It was the grand song of the Swarm. There was no sweeter melody. Nothing the Terrans or Protoss could come up with even came close to the beauty of that song. The first time Sarah had heard it was when the Overmind had turned her into its daughter. Its voice, his song, part of it still lingered in the back of her mind. It was like a warm, gentle voice singing to her, telling her what glory would wait for all of them. And a part of her missed the fact that the Overmind wasn't there anymore so it could sing its song to her.

After the Overmind's death, Daggoth and the others had tried to sing their song, but it hadn't been the same. So the Queen of Blades had tried her luck. And her song had been beautiful. Now it was Zagara's song that filled the minds of the Swarm, or at least the Zerg in this place.

Sarah closed her eyes again as she listened to Izhas's song. To anyone without any Zerg-background, it was nothing but screeching sounds in one's head. But to Sarah, it was the sweetest melody she could imagine. It was a song that could calm down even the twitchiest Zergling, one that turned even the most bloodthirsty Hydralisk into an obedient pet. Izsha's song started slow, but soon it became louder and started to reach out to all the Zerg on this strange moon.

Sarah enjoyed the song for just some moments before she remembered what she had to do. There wasn't much time and she didn't want to lose this opportunity because she dwelt on past memories.

Nostalgia was such a bother.

She channeled her thoughts and used them to open an access for Izha's song to enter the crystal, to merge with its matrix. The moment she did so, the pylon changed its color again, glowing in a bright yellow. She could have done it herself, she still remembered her own song well enough. But she didn't want to do it for several reasons. Like said: The Protoss didn't know that she was so close to them and she wanted it to stay that way. If she would sing her song, they would only sense her _psionic footprint_. Such a cold term for something that felt so beautiful. Izsha was not the same she used to be, and her song didn't reach out that far. Yet it still had its very own beauty to it.

It didn't take long for the feral Zerg to answer Izsha's call. In the end, they were still servants of the Swarm, they _craved_ for someone to tell them what to do. And even though only a small fraction of the Zerg actually started to move, Sarah could sense how hundreds of thousands began to close in on them.

She had to hurry.

Izsha's song continued the entire time. It was like background music. But now Sarah had to concentrate. When the pylon had "recorded" enough of her song, Sarah pulled her mind back. But not before implementing another protocol. Something that the Protoss weren't even aware of the pylons could do. Maybe it was a mistake to show it to them. It could be used to cause horrible tragedies. Yet she blocked those thoughts out. Now was not the time to hesitate. Izsha's song finally ended and she remained silent for a moment before turning her attention back to Sarah.

"My Queen, the feral Zerg are on the move. They will arrive shortly."

"Yes, I know." Sarah replied. "Get ready, we're about to move out." She only had to finish implementing the last protocol. The pylon started to glow, it pulsed and started to, well, sing.

It was Izsha's song. It was a perfect _replica_ of Izsha's song. When the last protocol was in place, Sarah made a step back and sighed.

"That should do it. Come now, we should leave before-" she wasn't able to get much further when a bright light appeared behind the pylon. Someone had just warped in.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" a Protoss voice suddenly echoed through their minds. Both Sarah and Izsha looked to the side.

Right next to them stood Karax, looking at them in shock.

* * *

Phasesmith Karax was perhaps the only person who was glad to be so close to millions of feral Zerg. From his office inside the research station that floated above the surface of Saalok, he studied the data the sensors was sending to the station.

"Karax..." he remembered the words of Hierarch Artanis. "...as long as Zerg remain on our sacred homeworld, we will never be able to truly move on. We have more blades and cannons at our disposal than ever before. But even then we won't be able to get rid of these creatures. If strength and determination will not grant us victory, then perhaps knowledge and ingenuity will. So I am ordering you...no, I'm asking you, Brother: Find a way to free our home from this scourge once and for all."

 _Brother._ Karax was far too humble to admit that, but he felt pride in his chest when he remembered this word. The great Hierarch had called him brother. The Phasesmith couldn't imagine anything greater than that. And so he had drowned himself in work. Saalok was the perfect place to start his research. If something would go wrong, it wouldn't cause any damage to Aiur.

Ever since Artanis had sent him here, he had worked non-stop on finding a solution. He was relentless, much to the disdain of his research staff. Most of them were now on Aiur. They needed a break. He was no fool, he made sure that they didn't work themselves to death. But to him, this work was so much fun! Every day he learned something new. And he truly believed that knowledge was its own reward.

They had started by studying the full extent of the moon's infestation. Unfortunately, it was bad. It was impossible to say how many Zerg were on the moon. By now the Protoss knew that the Zerg had created huge networks of tunnels and hives beneath the surface. Some in his team said that there could be millions, others even went so far to say that it had to be hundreds of millions.

Karax wouldn't be surprised if there were actually billions of Zerg under the moon's surface. Artanis had called it a ticking time-bomb, even though Karax had no idea what that meant. Protoss's bombs didn't tick, they just exploded.

At first, they had tried conventional methods: Plasma-bombs and automated weapon systems. But it had been too slow and tedious. They had to lure great numbers of Zerg to the surface in order to kill them. The problem with that was that the Zerg only went after living creatures, not drones made out of metal. So even though some Purifiers had volunteered to help their cause, they hadn't been able to do much.

The next attempt had based on the same idea, only the other way round: Purifiers and automated machines had transported huge amounts of explosives deep underground and blown the tunnels up. But the speed with which the Zerg created new tunnels was simply unreal. They were a formidable foe, both for warriors and scientists alike.

Some Tal'darim were part of his research-team, too. Truth to be told, he had been surprised when Alarak had offered some of his scientists to help Karax's cause. But the leader of the Tal'darim simply said that his people always looked for new forms to kill their enemies. He was as ruthless as he was bloodthirsty.

The Tal'darim-scientist were surprisingly calm and controlled. And they possessed extensive knowledge when it came to bioweapons and everything that caused a lot of pain in general. Even though Karax had initially refused to use such means, he had finally relented and agreed to use a modified Zerg-virus. The first test had been promising, but the Zerg had adapted to the virus and now their defilers even used it as a weapon.

Sneaky little devils.

Then the Nerazim had tried their luck. They had used the powers of the Void, and Karax had to admit that he had no idea what exactly his dark brethren had done, but it too proved to be pointless. It was like running against a huge wall head first over and over again. Only that the wall was made out of flesh and blood, teeth and claws. The only good thing was that this wall didn't strike back.

Working with such a colorful team was an inspiration. And truth to be told: Karax still had a lot of ideas. He would find a solution. _They_ would find a solution.

As he went through the last week's results, he shook his head. From the scientific point of view, there was little hope that they could solve their little Zerg-problem by conventional means. They could kill as many Zerg as they wanted, they would simply reproduce faster than Protoss could end them! And it was not only that. The Zerg on Aiur had started to mutate and some of them were now part of the ecosystem. Fascinating, but he hadn't told the Hierarch anything about that yet. He knew that Artanis would like to hear that.

He looked at one of the monitors that showed several structures on the surface. Most of them were pylons, they were powering all the sensors and plasma cannons that protected the facility. He looked at the screen and suddenly saw two figures standing next to a pylon and looked back at the data. He still had to decide wherever they would use...

...wait...

He looked back up at the screen. Figures? His eyes widened in shock. He couldn't make out any details, but there were people down there!

 _Oh no, this is bad!_ he thought. He pressed a button on the console right in front of him.

"Amita, are you there?" he asked. It took some moment before a female Protoss answered his question.

"Yes, Phaseshmith. What can I do for you?" she asked. Amita was one of the Nerazim-scientists. Calm, controlled and with a keen intellect.

"Amita, who is currently on the moon's surface? I have not allowed anyone to go down there." Venturing to the moon was always risky, but two Protoss wouldn't stand a chance down there. Whoever they were, they were either uninformed or reckless.

"Phasesmith, the entire team is on the station. There is no one on the moon's surface right now."

"There is, Amita. I'm looking at them right now. I cannot make out any details, but there are two people down there!"

"...understood." Amita said. "I shall contact the Golden Armada, maybe they can send a shuttle to pick them up." she suggested. Only then Karax saw how something happened.

"What is that?" he whispered when the pylon on the screen suddenly started to change its color from light blue to a deep purple. He had never seen anything like that before.

"Amita, are you seeing this?" he wanted to know.

"Pha...smi...can't...brea...up..." The connection started to break up and he looked at the console right in front of him. Suddenly all the sensors showed new data.

"This cannot be right." Karax simply said. Looking back at the pylon, he blinked in confusion. The now purple pylon started to pulse. The sensors on the moon started to go crazy. The pylon changed its color again, this time it turned yellow. Yellow and purple pylons? He had never heard anything about that. The crystal matrix usually changed its colors when the psionic energy around it changed. But he knew of no faction among the Protoss who used these energies.

"Warning, Zerg-movement detected." an automated voice suddenly caught his attention. He looked at his console and his eyes widened in shock.

"Oh no. This is not good." The sensors showed huge numbers of Zergs. They were suddenly pouring out of their caves. And they were heading towards the pylon.

Those two Protoss were in mortal danger!

"Amita! Amita, if you can hear me: Can you teleport these two out of there?"

"..." Only static answered him.

"Amita!"

"..." Nothing.

"Oh, this is not good. Not good at all." What should he do? Try to contact the Golden Armada on his own? No, there was no time for that. He had to act! He was still a Protoss, he would not watch how these two would fall victim to the Zerg. Karax turned around and hurried to the transporter. His lab had his very own warp-transporter, so getting from A to B wasn't much of an issue. He entered the right coordinates and stepped on the blue glowing transporter field. Perhaps it was foolish to risk his own life. Many people depended on him. But that hadn't stopped Artanis either when he had thrown himself into one fight after the other to protect his people. Now, Karax was not Artanis, he was aware of that. He wasn't a strong and fierce warrior.

But he could run really fast!

When the particles of his body were accelerated to lightspeed, he felt a strange sensation of vertigo. But only for a short moment. He blinked and shook his head when one second ago he was still inside his lab, the next one he stood on the surface of Saalok. He turned around and could already see the yellow pylon. It was clearly visible, like a beacon in utter darkness. He was just a few hundred meters away from the pylon. The warp-teleporter was on auto-mode. It would warp him back once he gave the signal. But first, he had to save these two fools!

As he hurried towards the pylon, he couldn't see the other two figures in the distance. They were standing on the other side of the device. But when he reached the crystal, he suddenly stopped.

"What...is this?" he said in disbelief. The pylon, it was brimming with energy. He had never seen anything like this! His scientific curiosity was immediately sparked. But the warning system of his suit said otherwise.

"Warning, there are Zerg-organisms in the vicinity. Please evacuate to safety immediately." He had to hurry! Running towards the pylon, he went around and looked at the two figures. When he saw them, his eyes widened in shock.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" he yelled. The two figures looked over to him in surprise. He didn't remember them. One was a rather small Khalai. It was a woman and she wore the golden robes of a judicator. Strange, her clothes reminded him of the deceased Judicator Aldaris. Next to her was a much bigger Protoss, a pale Tal'darim with white skin and a pitch-black armor. She too was a female. He didn't remember those two, but when he yelled at them, the Tal'darim immediately prepared to strike at him.

"No!" the smaller one said. "Don't! He's harmless." she ordered the other one. Karax blinked in confusion.

"What...who are you?" he wanted to know. The smaller one looked at him and suddenly he felt something strange inside his mind. Suddenly he felt so calm. Like everything was alright.

"Forgive us, we're not, uhm, from around." the smaller Protoss said. "My name is...Sa...Lo...Ka? Saloka! And this is my, uhm, friedn Izsha...ra. Izshara!" the smaller female Protoss said. Izshara simply bowed her head in respect.

"Saloka? I'm sorry, I've never heard those names before. Are you...are you..." he blinked when his mind became so very slow all of the sudden.

"We're scientists. Just like you. And you are?" Saloka wanted to know while her eyes fixated him.

"Karax! Forgive my manners!" he said with a happy tone in his voice. "Phasesmith Karax, at your service! So you're fellow scientists? Of course, you're fellow scientists! Yes, now I remember, you were supposed to arrive here some other time!" _Solaka_ nodded at those words. Karax didn't realize what was going on. It wasn't his fault though. How could he have known who he was really dealing with? And he wasn't a fully fledged warrior and didn't possess the mental strength of a Templar. When Sarah started to manipulate his mind, it was surprisingly easy.

"Warning, Zerg-organisms are approaching. Please evacuate to a safe distance." his computer warned them again. Karax blinked in surprise.

"Right, I forgot! We have to leave now! Zerg are coming this way, we have to warp out of here!"

"We do?" Solaka asked. "Really?"

"What? Of course we have to! They will kill us otherwise!" Karax said. He pressed some buttons on his command-wrist and activated the transporter. Only that nothing happened.

"What...wait a moment." he mumbled before activating the transporter again. And again nothing happened.

"This can't be right." he simply said.

"Warning, Zerg-organisms are approaching. Please evacuate to a safe distance immediately!" the computer warned again. But no matter how many times Karax pressed the recall-button, nothing happened.

"Something is wrong. Something must interfere with the warp-transporter. Maybe the pylon? Did you do something to that pylon?" he asked.

"We tweaked it a bit." Saloka simply stated.

"Tweaked...it? I don't understand. What did you do?"

"You can see for yourself. Here they come!" she pointed at something in the distance and Karax's eyes followed her gesture. And when he saw it, his eyes widened in shock.

The Zerg were coming. Their numbers flooded the flat surface of the moon. There were so many of them! The last time he had seen so many Zergs he had watched from the Spear of Adun how Amon's troops had attacked the temple on Shakuras. So many. So, so many...

Karax wasn't able to do anything but pressing the buttons on his computer over and over again. But nothing happened. He turned around, maybe he could hurry to another pylon, maybe he could simply run away. Running away from the Zerg was a foolish thought, but he had no other idea. When he turned around, however, he could see Zerg on the other side as well. And on the left. And on the right. They were coming from all directions!

"What...what have you done?" he wanted to know. Suddenly Saloka seemed very pleased with herself.

"Don't worry, Karax. Everything is under control. I'm here to help. You have to trust me with that." But Karax wasn't in the mood to trust her with that. Instead, he stumbled backward and fell to the ground. Maybe a fierce warrior like Selendis would have stood her ground, but he was no warrior! He could see them now. Zerglings, Hydralisks and even some more exotic creatures like banelings. Oh by the ancestors, he would be ripped apart!

The Zerg were so fast, they reached them in mere moments. Karax crawled backward until the pylon was right behind him. He could hear their screams and hisses. Teeth, claws, and spikes. And those eyes, those red-glowing eyes! Oh by the Ancestors, why did this have to happen to him?

"Don't worry. They won't kill you, Phasesmith." Saloka explained to him. He looked up at her in confusion. She just nodded towards the Zerg.

"Look." And so he turned his head around and blinked.

"What...?" he mumbled surprised. The Zerg, they had stopped moving. They had stopped and now they were standing all around the pylons.

"But...how? Why are they not attacking us?" he wanted to know. It was true, all the Zerg did was to stand around the pylon and do, well, nothing.

Except drooling.

"You might wanna' stand up, Phasesmith. And you might want to step away from the pylon. The show is about to start." Saloka said. He looked up to her but was simply too confused to do anything about this whole situation. He looked at all these Zergs. There had to be tens of thousands, all gathered around them. Even a whole armada of Zealots would be in trouble against these numbers. Yet all the Zerg did was to stand there and do nothing. No, that wasn't right. They all looked at the pylon. Saloka looked over to her companion.

"I guess it's time. Are you ready?" she asked. The Tal'darim bowed her head.

"Yes, my Queen. However, I would appreciate it if we could end this quickly." Karax had no idea what the Tal'darim was talking about. And why did she call the Saloka Queen? She wore the robes of a Judicator.

But all questions seized to be of any importance when suddenly the pylon behind him started to change again. Its color turned from yellow to purple once more and it started to pulse. But it was not just the color, suddenly he could feel how raw, pure energy started to flow through his entire being. He lacked the proper words to describe how he felt. Powerful? Almighty? Yet also scared and insecure. It felt like emotions, like an endless ocean of dreams and nightmares. He saw Zerg before his inner eye, more Zerg than he had ever seen, even more than had been on Shakuras or that were currently surrounding them. But they weren't the enemy. They bowed their head to him, ready to smite his enemies whenever he demanded it.

There was more. Pain and betrayal. He had been betrayed and he had betrayed. He felt shame for what he had done. And confusion, so much confusion. But in the middle of it all was just one thing. A face. It was a Terran face. He had seen it before, it was a man. He had never met this man in person, but he knew him, the Hierarch considered him a friend. And any friend of the Hierarch was his friend.

James Raynor...

He felt sadness and fear. Once Raynor would die, he would be alone. All alone for the rest of eternity.

Karax couldn't handle all those emotions and images. As the pylon started to channel Saloka's, no, Sarah's energies, it pulsed faster and faster. Soon it glowed as bright as a thousand suns...

And then it discharged.

It started with one purple lightning. It shot out of the tip of the pylon and formed a huge arc. It smashed into a group of Zerg a few hundred meters away. They were fried immediately. Another lightning appeared. And then another one. Arcs of pure, purple light started to hammer down on the Zerg who did nothing. They didn't run away, they didn't burrow. They just stood there and died.

* * *

Sarah watched the carnage before looking over to Izsha. Their disguise had worked on Karax. To him, they appeared like Protoss. But Sarah was no fool: This Phasesmith was highly intelligent, but not very experienced. And he was rather gullible. She doubted that someone of Artanis's caliber would fall for this trick. That's why she had to stay as far away from Aiur as possible. But even then she would have to venture there eventually. Looking over to Izsha, she could see the pain in her advisor's eyes. She put her hand on Izsha's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Izsha. But it has to be." Izsha simply lowered her gaze.

"Yes, my Queen." she simply said.

 _Izsha..._ Sarah sighed. Why did she only cause pain to the ones close to her? She would make it up to her. Somehow.

The pylon discharged all that energy and turned the Zerg into crispy meat. It was brutal. Yet there was not a single scream, no anger at all. The Zerg simply died. The whole carnage lasted only a few minutes. When the pylon was finally empty, Sarah turned around and looked at it. It was still purple. It would stay this way until it had recharged. And then it would do the same thing again. Calling out to all the Zerg by singing Izsha's song. And then it would fry them all again. A mere pylon. The perfect anti-Zerg-weapon.

When the show was finally over, Karax got back on his feet and looked up the pylon and then to the two fake Protoss. His eyes were wide open.

"You have to tell me how you did this!" was the only thing he said.


	14. Act I - Chapter 6

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter 6**

 **Men are from Aiur and Women are from Char**

* * *

 **Aiur**

 **Central Nexus**

* * *

As Karax walked through the halls of the Central Nexus, he could hardly wait to tell the Hierarch of their latest achievements. His research team had finally managed to find a solution to the problem that was causing the Hierarch so much trouble! This pylon...thanks to Saloka and her partner, they now possessed a device that was able to destroy even widespread Zerg-infestation with minimal effort. And unlike before, this solution was neither a threat to his own people nor was it ineffective. Oh no, on the contrary! It had proven to be frighteningly effective. Even now Karax felt how his own bones tingled when he remembered that strange energy flowing through his own body. It had left him unscathed, yet it had turned all the Zerg into ash. To think that the solution had been right in front of his eyes the whole time! No one had even considered using a pylon as a weapon. Most Phasesmiths believed that the devices they used held no secrets to them anymore, but Karax knew better. However, he was a modest soul. Others would probably keep all the fame and praise to themselves, but he wouldn't do that. Saloka and Izhara deserved all the praise. Without them, he would be still looking for a solution.

Though he had to be honest about one thing; to think that pylons could be used as weapons was a bit unnerving. He had never looked at them that way. To him and most other scientists, they were simply part of the Protoss' infrastructure. While Karax could be a bit dense at times, he was no fool. If they managed to modify all pylons, then the Protoss would be in the possession of a powerful force, one that could change the balance of power. Right now the Protoss were the most advanced species within the Koprulu Sector. However, who said that it had to stay like this forever? If the Terrans should ever decide to start an all-out war against the Protoss, who knew which species would come out on top? Not that Karax thought that this was a reasonable scenario. But he was no warrior, therefore he did not truly understand the motivation to go to war to begin with.

Besides, warfare was simply not his area of expertise. Perhaps the data banks of the Spear of Adun contained some information about what Saloka and Izshara did to the pylon. After all, their ancestors had possessed a far greater insight regarding the ancient technology of their people than he and his colleagues.

After studying the data the sensors had collected during the pylon's _outburst_ , he had decided to head down to Aiur immediately. This was too important to wait, he had to show it to the Hierarch immediately! He had urged Saloka and Izshara to join him, he wanted to introduce these two brilliant souls to Artanis. However, they had declined, which was odd. Then again, they were scientists like himself, maybe they were just nervous. He remembered his own nervousness when he had met Artanis for the first time, so he could relate to those two. And Artanis was without a doubt a very impressive figure.

The moment he stepped off the teleporter pad, he knew that he had to make sure that these two would get the proper recognition for their work. As he walked down the stairs, he felt the warm sun of Aiur on his thick skin. He stopped for a moment and closed his eyes while enjoying the sensation. Many Protoss did not cherish these simple forms of pleasure, especially the Templar. Now, Karax would never be so bold to claim that the Templar could be, well, _wrong_ about certain things. He respected them. He even admired them. But deep down inside of him he knew they were warriors. Discipline and control over their emotions were the things that defined them. And, of course, a very strict code of honor.

Even for a phasesmith, Karax was known for his unconventional thinking. And even among his kind, many were confused by his way of looking at the world. To him, there was beauty in all things. He was a gentle soul, he even admired the Zerg.

Now he was not referring to the bloodthirsty Zerg that slaughtered so many of his kind. But he admired their physical resilience. And he admired the concept of a working swarm intelligence. However, he was aware of the fact that not many thought the same way he did. That's why he kept his mouth shut, in a figurative sense.

Some other Protoss walked past him, yet most ignored him while some others stopped and looked at him in confusion. A Protoss who was just standing in the sun and getting a tan was a rather unusual thing these days.

"Are you alright, Brother?" a voice reached his ears. Again, in a figurative sense. He didn't open his eyes when he heard the voice, the rays of light on his skin just felt too nice.

"Yes, Brother. " Karax replied. "I am just enjoying the sun."

"Enjoying the sun?" the other Protoss asked in confusion. It was clear that this Protoss had no idea what Karax meant with those words. Sadness filled Karax's chest. He still felt a certain emptiness in his mind, where the Khala had used to be. It was interesting, in the initial hours after losing his connection to the Khala, he had felt fear and despair. No longer had he been able to hear the thoughts of his fellow Protoss, no longer had he been able to sense their true intentions. But the longer he had worked on board of the Spear of Adun, the longer he had helped the Hierarch to reclaim Aiur and defeat Amon, the more he had been able to deal with it. Now he enjoyed the silence. He could retreat to the back of his mind and think about all sort of things without having to worry about slipping his tongue.

Man, this figurative speech truly didn't work out for Protoss...

Ironically, the warriors felt the same, just the other way round. When they had severed their nerve-cords, they had been in the middle of battle. Their cold professionalism had helped them to concentrate on the task at hand. The rush of battle had kept them focused. But as the battle had ended, the doubts had started to manifest. Now many Templar and warriors doubted their own resolve of living without the light that had been the Khala.

"You are certain that you are okay, Brother Phasesmith?" the Protoss asked again. Before Karax could answer again, a new voice reached their ears.

"He is fine, warrior! He does that all the time. You will get used to it after a while." Karax opened his eyes and turned around when he heard that familiar voice.

"Executor Selendis! What a pleasant surprise to see you here!" Karax said. It was good to see a friendly face.

"Where else should I be, Karax?" Selendis replied with a no-nonsense tone in her voice. "I'm still the Executor, this is where I am supposed to be, would you not agree?"

"I, uhm, I do not know how to respond to that, I just..." Karax stuttered before Selendis simply sighed.

"I see you are still as focused as ever, Phasesmith. Still, why are you here? I do not want to sound rude, but were you not supposed to work on some project for the Hierarch?"

"Oh, indeed! And that is the reason why I have come to Aiur! We have reached a breakthrough!"

"Break...through?" Selendis asked.

"Indeed! You see, we were able to rearrange the crystal-matrix inside a pylon to store a huge amount of energy in order to cause a highly energized feedback that in return caused a physical backlash, resulting in the sudden outburst of said energy!"

"Uh...huh?" Selendis only asked. Many Terrans believed that because Protoss had such huge heads, they all knew a lot about science. Some Zerg had big heads too, yet no one assumed that they knew a lot about science. But even Executor Selendis only knew that guns made "Boom" and that you should stay behind them, not in front of them. And she was not the only one. Karax could see that she had no idea what he had just told her.

"Forgive me, I wanted to say that we were able to infuse the crystalline structure with so much energy that it turned superfluous without breaking down the overall structural integrity. By that, we were able to manipulate the energy output and create a "point-on-impact"-field instead of one that covered a wide area."

"Uh...right." Selendis said.

"Well, by doing so we were able to direct the discharges to positions of our choosing. This enabled the crystal-matrix to unload at a steady rate of 1500 percent of its usual maximal output by using short bursts."

"I only understood "short bursts", Karax. You built some kind of weapon?" Selendis asked.

"Oh no! Not a weapon! Like I said: We manipulated the crystal-matrix of a pylon in order to generate a fluctuation inside its warp-field by _I have no idea what this guy is saying I hope he will stop or by the Khala I think I'm going crazy why does this always happen to me I hope someone will put me out of my misery._ "

"Uh huh..."

"Executor?"

"Uh huh..."

"Executor Selendis?" Karax asked and only then Selendis blinked.

"Oh, right. Sorry. Forgive me, Karax. I was thinking about, uhm, something."

"Oh, I see." Karax said. "Then let me explain it to you from the start. So we-" he began.

" _THAT_..." Selendis said a bit louder than she wanted to. "...will not be necessary, thank you very much, Karax." She could see the disappointment on his face and groaned on the inside. "So, you made something that goes "boom"?" she wanted to know.

"Actually, it is more of a sizzling sound." he replied.

"Sizzling. But of course. I am sure the Hierarch will be _delighted_ to hear that." She didn't even try to hide her sarcasm. Fortunately for her, the Phasesmith didn't even realize that she was making fun of his sunny disposition. It wasn't Karax fault though, she just had a bad day.

"You really think so, Selendis?" Karax asked. Yep, he hadn't even considered the fact that she was making fun of him.

"I am certain of that, Karax. You know, since I am on my way to him, I can tell him that you have created something that, well, sizzles."

"You are on your way to the Hierarch?" Karax said and his eyes widened when she said that.

"Yes, I wanted to give him the latest...oh..." She just realized what she had said.

"Splendid!" the Phase-Smith said. "Then we can go there together!" Selendis looked around as if in panic, but there was no Queen of Blades or any other monstrosity that demanded her immediate attention. She gave off a sigh and dropped her shoulders in defeat.

"Very well, you may accompany me. Come on, I do not want to let the Hierarch wait."

"Wonderful! Then we have time and I can explain you again why this breakthrough is so important!" Karax said with glee in his mental voice.

"Great. I am so _delighted_ to hear that." Selendis snarled. Well, at least this day couldn't get any worse, right?

Perhaps one day someone would explain Selendis what Karma was. And why it could be a bitch.

* * *

Karax tried his best to explain the whole concept behind manipulating the pylon to Selendis, but she remained surprisingly calm. Perhaps she was embarrassed that she didn't understand every tiny detail, but that was no problem. Karax knew that sometimes all that raw knowledge could intimidate those who were not familiar with the complex nature of the phasesmiths' work. Yet he made sure that he explained _everything_ to the Executor. He was talking about sub-atomic acceleration inside _whatever_ when he was finally done. Coincidentally, they had almost reached the Hierarch's office. Still, he just couldn't shut up.

"I'm sure the Hierarch will be thrilled to hear that!" Karax said with an excited tone in his voice while walking next to Executor Selendis. Selendis only rolled her eyes from one side to the other, but otherwise didn't say a word. Unfortunately, Protoss weren't as proficient with body-language as Terrans so Karax didn't realize that she couldn't care less about what he had told her.

"What do you think, Executor? Don't you agree that this could be a true breakthrough in our research?"

 _Would Karax even accept any answer that isn't a YES?_ Selendis wondered. Probably not. Shementally sighed. Even though she would never question the Hierarch's leadership, there were some things that she still hadn't been able to accept. The Nerazim rejoining their kind on Aiur was actually not so much of a problem, much to her own surprise. Many survivors from Shakuras were fierce and honorable warriors and a true Templar like Selendis could respect that. It was certainly easier than accepting those bloodthirsty Tal'darim, even though they mostly kept to themselves. Still, the few that moved through the Central Nexus always made Selendis feel unease. She always assumed that they were trying to stage a coup or blow themselves up or something like that.

And lets not even start about those damn Purifiers. She understood the Hierarch's decision from a tactical point of view, at least during war-times. But the war was finally over, yet he still allowed those damn machines to run around freely, letting them do as they pleased. And this Talandar...this Fenix-mockery! She had never met the great Fenix, but it caused her physical discomfort to think about this...this.. _thing_ to possess his memories! And to think that this machine believed that it had his sense of honor! Preposterous!

The humans possessed the unique ability to dispose of harmful body-fluids through their upper orifices.

Right now Selendis wished that she could puke too. Maybe if she would puke on Artanis's desk, he would notice that she had big problems with this entire situation. Since the Khala was no longer there and Protoss sucked at body language, she saw no other reason than to grow herself a mouth. And a throat. And a stomach. Selendis knew that she wasn't the only one who thought so. Many Templars...former Templars thought so too. Yet most of them had fallen to Amon's corruption and they still felt a great deal of shame for what had happened. Selendis had felt the same kind of shame after the final battle against the corrupt Xel'Naga. She had even decided to step down from her position as Executor. But Artanis had urged her to stay. He had called her the "unwavering sword and embodiment of the Templars resolve". Strangely enough, he hadn't accepted a single one of her suggestions of separating the different Protoss-tribes.

And now she had to listen to that phase-smith who considered himself a true Templar as well, thanks to Artanis's inspiring speech she had missed.

Like said, she wanted to puke her guts out.

It was not because she hated Karax. Or she thought that he was unworthy of praise. It was more like...everyone was gaining something while she and her warriors lost something in return. So Karax thought of himself as some sort of Templar now? But he had never learned anything about the art of war. He was no expert in combat and he hadn't spent YEARS meditating and contemplating on the very essence of what it meant to be a Templar.

Karax was a phasesmith, the best she had ever met. He deserved that the people of Aiur would remember his name for all of eternity. But as a fellow Templar?

Selendis knew that those thoughts were beneath her. But without the Khala she had no one who could help her with this issue. Artanis knew that she felt uneasy, but he didn't know WHY she felt uneasy. He had offered her a solution the Terrans usually used: Talking to someone. Selendis had tried that. She had tried to talk to Rohana, who possessed so much knowledge and wisdom. But talking to the Grand Preserver had just been embarrassing for Selendis. So she had decided to swallow her anger down and ignore it for now.

"Executor, wouldn't you agree that these new research findings will help us to understand the way how the feral Zerg have integrated themselves into Aiur's eco-system?" Karax said.

"Not really..." Selendis replied. "...I couldn't care less how they "integrated" themselves into Aiur's eco-system, I'm more interested in how we remove them from Aiur. Permanently!" she snarled in anger. Yet Karax simply didn't realize that Selendis just wanted to be left alone.

"Yes, yes, you're right. But we're still at the very beginning of this research. Still, it is highly fascinating what we have learned in the last few weeks thanks to my new assistant. Oh, you should meet her by the way, I have never met such a bright mind!" Karax told her.

 _Great, not one overly eager scientist, but two. Just what I needed._ Selendis thought as they were moving towards the Hierarch's office. She actually wanted to talk with Artanis about the Golden Armada, but right now she only wanted Karax to shut up. Or to annoy someone else. When they finally reached Artanis's office, she could already hear the voice of the Hierarch. And of someone else...

"Now don't act so surprised, Artanis." Alarak said. His voice sent shivers down her spine. She didn't like that Tal'darim. "We all knew that this day would come. You should be glad that it is now...and not when you're on your knees and on your last breath. Or do you prefer if I would ram a dagger into your back? I could do that if you like. I even have a dagger in my chambers, I just need to get it." Selendis stopped when she heard those words.

"Executor, is everything-" Karax wanted to know, but Selendis just raised her hand and made a gesture to shut him up. Thank the Ancestors that he understood that in time.

"I don't share your sense of humor, Alarak. And I don't understand how you can make a joke about such a serious topic!" Artanis shot back. Hearing his voice, even if it was filled with anger was a good sign. Like said: She always expected those damn Tal'darim to try something stupid. Assassinating the Hierarch and trying to usurp his position? Why not...

"We need to talk about this, Alarak. I cannot accept this." Artanis said. This caused Aralak to chuckle.

"Mighty Hierarch Artanis, always used to emerge victorious from every battle, no matter how bad the odds are. Still, this is nothing you can change or influence. My decision stands and I will _not_ change it."

 _What is he talking about?_ Selendis wondered.

"Your decision? And what about your subordinates? Do they want the same thing as you do?" Artanis tried to reason with the Tal'darim.

"The wishes and dreams of my subordinates are of no concern to me, Artanis. By now you should know that we Tal'darim handle things differently from you or the Nerazim. Staying here will only result in us losing our identity, or it will lead to new conflicts. Is that what you want?" Alarak said with a cold tone in his voice.

"What I want is our species to be whole again! That was the whole point of this entire war! Of retaking Aiur so we could live here as a united species!" Artanis barked in frustration.

"No, Artanis. I know that you like to believe that. But the real target was to retake Aiur, but only to give our people a chance to live. This was what this whole alliance was meant to be. We have reached that goal. Aiur is now back in the hands of the Protoss. And I have no doubts that you will lead them into a bright future. But that is not the path of the Tal'darim. So we will take our leave. And that is my final answer. But don't worry, we will need some time to prepare before we can leave this place."

"Alarak, this is a grave mistake!" Artanis tried to reason with the Tal'darim.

"I cannot allow this, Alarak!" Before he could continue, Selendis heard how the leader of the Tal'darim turned around and moved out of the Hierarch's office. When he came out, he immediately saw both Selendis and Karax. His eyes flashed brightly in amusement.

"He is all yours." Alarak said before walking past them.

"What was that all about?" Karax asked with a confused tone in his voice. But as they both entered Artanis' office, Selendis could see the frustration in the Hierarch's eyes.

"Hierarch?" the Executor asked carefully. "Is everything alright?" she wanted to know. The Hierarch's answer was not what she had expected...

"No...no, Selendis. Nothing is alright..."

For a long time, Artanis didn't say a word. He just looked at the floor of his office and did nothing. The only real proof that he was still alive was the occasional blinking, but aside from that...nothing.

"Hierarch..." Selendis began after some time. "...do you wish to be alone?" Again, Artanis remained silent for quite some time before. Truth to be told: There wasn't much going on in the Hierarch's head right now. It was like he was watching a movie. All the important decisions since this whole war had started, all the choices he had made. Attacking Aiur, only to flee when Amon had corrupted the Khala. Zeratul's death. Rescuing the Nerazim and destroying Shakuras. It was something that still weighed heavily on his chest, even though the Nerazim weren't angry at him. Well, most of them weren't. Reclaiming the Keystone from James Raynor on Korhal. Venturing to Ulnar, the ancient homeworld of the Xel'Nagas. His rather wonky alliance with the Queen of Blades. His even wonkier alliance with Alarak and his Tal'darim. The recruitment of the Purifiers. And of course their return to Aiur and the battle afterward. How Kerrigan had saved them all by sacrificing herself.

Hmm...Kerrigan...the most hated creature among his people.

 _His_ people.

What people was he talking about anyway?

"Hierarch? Are you listening?" He blinked as he heard Selendis' words again. Finally, he looked up.

"Forgive me, Selendis. I was lost in thoughts. What did you say?" he wanted to know.

"You seem to be in distress, Hierarch." she said. "What I have can wait. And I am certain that Karax can wait as well, yes?" she asked when looking over to the Phasesmith. Only then Artanis realized that Karax was in the room as well.

"Karax! Forgive me, I should have paid more attention. How are you?" Artanis said, but his voice sounded empty and tired. Karax, of course, didn't realize that.

"Good, Hierarch. Thank you for asking. Hierarch, I'm here with wonderful news! It seems that we have reached a breakthrough! The task you have given me-"

" _Can wait!_ " Selendis ended the sentence for him. Karax yelped in surprise and looked over to the Executor. He didn't need the Khala to feel her anger.

"Did I say something wrong?" he wondered.

"Trust me..." Selendis snarled. "...you do not want an answer to that. Now come, whatever it is, it can wait. The Hierarch needs some time alone." Both looked over to Artanis, who remained silent for a few moments before finally nodding.

"Yes...yes, that would be nice, Selendis. I have to think...about things."

"But, but the breakthrough..." Karax said disappointedly. Artanis turned towards him and with a few quick step, he reached the smaller Protoss. He lay his hand on the Phasesmith's shoulder and looked him directly into the eyes.

"Will not be forgotten, Karax. I promise. But right now I need my mind somewhere else. I am sorry, but please leave me alone for some time. I will come for you once this matter is settled. You have my word." Both Selendis and Artanis could feel the disappointment in Karax's soul, yet the Phasesmith decided only to bow his head.

"As you wish, Hierarch." he said with a sad tone in his voice before turning around and leaving. When he was out of the door, Artanis sighed.

"Great, first Alarak and now I managed to discourage Karax. Some Hierarch I am..." he mumbled before he turned around and looked out of the window. Aiur looked so beautiful today...

Selendis frowned and looked at the back of the Hierarch.

"Clearly you must be joking, Hierarch. There is no one more capable than you leading us. You have proven yourself to be one of the greatest Protoss of all time, easily on the same level as the great Adun or mighty Tassadar." Artanis shuddered when he heard those words of praise. To be compared to Adun? That was quite the comparison. He had known Tassadar well. The slayer of the Overmind had been his former teacher. Well, one of his former teachers, the others being Fenix...and of course Zeratul. Many young Protoss had never met anyone of these mighty warriors. To them these names were symbols. But to Aratnis they were people, friends.

Adun, however, was a different story. He was a legend, even to Artanis. To be compared to him, to be put on the same level as him, it just felt wrong. Artanis didn't want to become the next Adun. Maybe the young and reckless Templar that had studied the art of combat under the great Fenix had dreamed about something like that. But that had been before the Zerg had invaded Aiur. And even though he was still young for Protoss-standards, he had seen so much destruction and death that his soul was that of an old and experienced soldier.

"Maybe I am a capable leader, just not when it counts." he finally declared.

"That statement doesn't make any sense, Hierarch. Why should you be a poor leader?" Selendis wanted to know as if he had insulted himself in the worst possible way. He looked over his shoulder. Selendis. She always appeared so controlled, so calm. Unless she threw herself into battle, then she turned into a force of nature. Actually, he could see a lot of Fenix inside her. Little patience and one hell of a punch. And loyal to a fault. He also knew that she still suffered from the fact that Amon had corrupted her.

He liked Selendis because she reminded him of what pure will and a focused mind could accomplish.

And he liked her for other reasons as well...

"You have heard Alarak's words." That was not a question and Selendis nodded. It was strange, now that the Khala was gone, many Protoss had started to adopt human body language. The Protoss who had dealt with humans before, like Artanis and Selendis had, used these movements very often and their subordinates had adopted these traits very quickly. It was more of a Khalai (or former Khalai) thing since neither the Nerazim nor Tal'darim used these traits. The Nerazim had their own way of showing emotions with the body and the Tal'darim were, well, they were simply Tal'darim. Funny enough: The Purifiers had also started to use human body-language.

"He is toying with you. Clearly, he is trying to mess with you, Hierarch. I am not a very big fan of the Tal'darim, but even now there are many of their warriors who would like to join our ranks." The moment he heard her words, his expression darkened and she blinked in surprise.

"Did...did I say something wrong?" she wanted to know.

"You said: _Their_ warriors. And that they should join _our_ ranks." He looked out of the window again. "It should be _Our_ warriors. Among _Our_ kind." He sighed again. "So where did it go wrong? I must have made a mistake, Selendis. Some bad decision, some poor judgment. Should I have allowed them to perform their blood-rites here on Aiur?" He referred to the very brutal tradition of solving personal feuds between the Tal'darim.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Selendis yelled enraged. When he turned around and blinked at her in surprise, she harrumphed and put her hands behind her back.

"Forgive my sudden outburst, Hierarch. But I think you the victim of a great misconception. If you may allow me to speak my mind?" Artanis thought about it for a while. Right now he wanted to be alone. Alarak's decision felt like the biggest defeat he could think of. But he was still the Hierarch, which meant he had to lead. And if he didn't know what to do, he had to listen to his advisors. And Selendis was one of his best advisors.

"Very well. Speak your mind, Selendis. Do not hold back." The fact that he called her by her name and not her rank made her blush. It also meant that she was not bound to any protocol.

"You believe you made a wrong decision, but that is not true. You made both tactical and strategic decisions that were meant to build up enough forces to retake Aiur. When the Khalai failed you-"

"You did not fail me, Selendis!" he said. He was tired of having to repeat that statement over and over again, but she would just not give it a rest.

"Hear me out, Hierarch!" she interrupted him.

"Artanis. Call me Artanis." Now she blushed even harder.

"Ar-Artanis..." she mumbled. "What has happened was tragic, maybe even horrible. But it was nothing we could have expected. Amon's trickery was, and I hate to use that word, brilliant. He used our greatest strength against us. From the tactical point of view, he scored a major victory right at the beginning of the war. By then our troops were broken. You used all the resources available to you to fall back, reorganize and strike at the enemy. And you improved your chances by acquiring additional troops."

"And with additional troops you mean-" Artanis began.

"The Nerazim, the Tal'darim and the Purifiers, yes." For a moment Artanis said nothing. Then he lowered his gaze.

"So you are saying that I should look at this from a strictly militaristic point of view? That the Nerazim, the Tal'darim and the Purifiers were...are only factions that can either be used or discarded should the situation demand it?" Selendis blinked in surprise at his words.

"That is...no, Artanis, that is not what I meant!" she tried to correct herself. But Artanis only raised his hand.

"It is alright, Selendis. You did not say anything wrong. The truth is: Sometimes a leader has to detach himself from the people around him so he or she can make the decision that is best for all of them, not just the ones that are closest to him. Fenix once taught me that." It was true: After Tassadar had returned to Aiur with the Dark Prelate Zeratul, they had met Fenix again. The same Fenix that had fallen victim to the horrible Zerg and had returned as a mighty Dragoon. Back then he had told Tassadar that he shouldn't feel any shame or anger because of what had happened to his old friend.

"'Tis the way of war, old friend!" his words had been.

"Yet I sense that you do not agree with me." Selendis said. Artanis shook his head. Another human gesture. Maybe he should grow himself a mouth so he could puke. He had seen Jim Raynor doing that after infusing himself with incredible amounts of liquor. After that, the Commander usually felt better. At least that was what he claimed. Even though it looked revolting to Protoss, it seemed to have some positive effect. Besides, disgust was a very odd concept when two different species were dealing with each other.

* * *

"Hey, Artanis!" he remembered James Raynor's question. "Don't want to sound rude or anything...but how do you guys, you know, make babies?" Of course, Artanis had explained it to the Commander. But the expression of pure shock and disgust on the Terran's face had made Artanis realize that "making babies" could mean a lot of different things.

"Man, at least the Zerg do it with eggs. That's messed up, Artanis..." had been Raynor's final words. They had never spoken about this topic ever again.

* * *

"Yet I sense that you do not agree with me." Selendis said. Artanis shook his head.

"No, from both the tactical and strategic point of view you are correct, Selendis. But this is not a question of war and battle."

"Ah, I see that the time you spent with Vorazun is, how do the humans say it? Rubbing off? Forgive me my bluntness, Hierarch, but I am just a mere Templar. There is little going on in my mind except for war and battle. I guess that is the reason why I am unable to see the problem that haunts you so much."

"Selendis?" Artanis asked in shock. Suddenly he could feel so much hostility in her voice and her psionic signature. It was like she was close to bursting. Had he just said something wrong? The moment their eyes met, he could see something inside Selendis' gaze. There was anger. And...pain? It was almost as if she was hurt.

"Selendis, are you alright?"

"Of course I am alright!" she barked. "Why should I be not alright?!" Suddenly, there was something very scary about her. He wanted to say something, but Selendis simply bowed her head a bit.

"If that would be all, Hierarch, I have many important duties to attend to. And unlike other people, I do not have the luxury to just spent my time contemplating on the existence of the universe and such." There was no doubt about it: She was angry. But why?

"Selendis, did I say something that you understood incorrectly?" He could see how she clenched her hands into fists and her whole body started to tremble. Her eyes flashed up in anger and for one second Artanis thought that she would throw herself at him and rip him a new one.

"No. No, I understood you perfectly fine, Hierarch. Maybe you have understood something incorrectly." she said. "Like I said: I am only a Templar, I know nothing about politics, art or...poetry."

"Poetry? Selendis, I would never ask you about poetry. Everyone knows that you do not know anything about poetry."

* * *

Back on Saalok, Sarah whirled around and looked up in shock. A psionic flash, more powerful than anything she had felt recently. It felt like pure anger and rage and for a second she thought that it was Amon who had returned from the dead. But as fast as it had come, it was gone and the only thing it left behind was a dark, empty void.

"My Queen, what was that?" Izsha asked perplexed.

"I don't know Izsha. But it was frightening." Yet for some odd reason, it felt like she could relate to it. Like if a really stupid guy does everything to piss a girl off...

* * *

 _One._

 _Two._

 _Three._

 _Four._

 _Five..._

When Selendis exhaled, the world around her started to come to a halt again. And so did she. Artanis looked around his office and saw how pretty much everything had been blown to pieces. It was as if a goddamn psi-storm had passed through. When he looked back at Selendis, she was suddenly very calm again. _Too_ calm.

"Forgive me, Hierarch." she said with an overly sweet voice. "I had a long day. Please excuse me, I need to, uhm, do _something_. And so should you. Maybe Vorazun can help you with your problem. Because she seems to be just the kind of person that understands you, unlike certain _other_ people." With that, Selendis turned around and simply stomped off.

Artanis did not try to stop her. He was too scared. Like said: When going nuclear, Selendis was just as fearsome as the mighty Fenix. But after that little demonstration right now, maybe she played in a whole different league than Fenix had. Artanis looked down at his hands.

"Did I say something wrong?" he wondered. But his hands did not answer that question.

* * *

As Selendis stepped out of Artanis's office, she was still angry. Angry at him, angry at Vorazun. But most of all: Angry at herself. Just a stupid Templar. Yes, that was what she was. She had lost his respect, she knew that. Maybe things would have been different if she had been at his side during his time on the Spear of Adun. Instead, she had been a slave of Amon and his minions.

And now? Now Aiur was theirs again, but she had the feeling that she was no longer part of it all.

She had been at Artanis's side ever since he had become Hierarch. She had helped him to muster the troops necessary to retake Aiur. Their attack should have ended in a glorious victory. Instead, the Dark Prelate had shown up and things had gone downhill from there on. Aiur, Amon, the Khala. And all that endless rage. She didn't remember much, but what she could was not pleasant. Yet Artanis did return to them and freed them from their shackles. At first, Selendis had been elevated. But then she had realized that neither she nor anyone else from the Khalai had saved Aiur. No, Artanis, a few Templar and his allies had done that.

The greatest and most important battle in the history of the Protoss, one that would never come again, and Selendis had either watched it from the sidelines or fought on the wrong side.

For a proud and noble warrior, there was no greater shame.

And Artanis? He had saved them, had saved _her_. He had explained to her that there was no reason for feeling ashamed. And there was more. There were things she wanted to tell him. But that wasn't possible anymore. A good warrior should know when being defeated. And she still had her duty.

As she walked down the corridors, another figure waved his hand like crazy, trying to gain the Executor's attention. When she saw the Phasesmith, she groaned on the inside. Not now...

"Executor! Executor Selendis! Look what I have found!" Karax shouted like an overconfident Zealot who had ignited his psi-blade for the first time.

"By the Ancestors, what now?!" Selendis snarled, but again Karax proved to be utterly unshakable.

"I have managed to manipulate a crystal so it can show the emotions of people!" He presented her a rather pitiful piece of crystal. "With it, Protoss can be able to see what the others can think, at least their emotions. Is that not truly fascinating? Is it not? Is it not, Executor?" Karax marveled while shoving that glowing crystal right into Selendis' face.

It suddenly started to change its color. From a cool blue to a raging red.

"Yes, Karax." she hissed. "This is _very_ fascinating."

 _One._

 _Two._

 _Three._

 _Four._

 _Five..._


	15. Act I - Chapter 7

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter 7**

 **What was fixed, can be broken again**

* * *

His three opponents were good. They circled around him with slow and steady movements. Even with his superior abilities, he couldn't keep all of them in his sights at the same time. As they moved around him, they kept their psi-blades raised, ready to strike at him, or to deflect any of his crushing blows. Though by now they knew deflecting one of his attacks was pretty much impossible. His strength outmatched them by far and every slash of his psi-blade could easily tear them apart.

However, they weren't amateurs either. They were young, yes. But they had already proven themselves on many battlefields. Even then they were far from his level of experience. The first enemy was a Nerazim. Like all of his brethren, he moved like water, like a shadow, ready to strike from where you expected him the least. Some would call this way of fighting dishonorable, but he could see the determination in the green eyes of the Nerazim. Still, even with all his tricks, the Nerazim was no match against him. That's why he needed the other two. The Dark Templar would probably wait for the right moment to strike, trying to put his blade in his opponent's back. Talandar smiled on the inside when his digital self calculated all the possibilities how the Nerazim could try to end him. In the end, he found 413 different possibilities on how the Nerazim could attack him. However, his experience told him that the Nerazim wouldn't do that. No, he would wait for the other two to make their move.

While the Nerazim was a rather cautious fellow, the other two warriors were pretty much the exact opposite. The largest of them was an impressive Zealot serving the Khalai. He was almost three meters tall, and even for a Protoss he possessed an impressive body. Every step, every move showed the raw power of his body. There was no doubt that his psi-blades were almost as powerful as those of Talandar. And should his psi-blades fail him, this Zealot could use his fists like powerful weapons too. Again, Talandar looked exactly at his opponent. He was the simplest of those three. Will, Determination, and raw strength. There were no doubts in his movements, no hesitation. If the Hierarch would order him to attack an Ultralisk head on, he would do so. And he would probably laugh while doing it. In a way, he reminded Talandar of himself. Or of Fenix, to be more precise.

It was still difficult to separate himself from the mighty warrior whose memories were stored in his matrix. Every decision, every action, every thought was accompanied by the question: What would Fenix have done?

He would have turned these young warriors into fearsome war-machines, that's what he would have done! And that was exactly what Talandar was trying to do here. He looked over to the last opponent. His circuits sparked in anticipation when he saw the lithe figure right in front of him. She was the most dangerous of them all.

The Tal'darim.

He had no idea how the Tal'darim trained their forces. Alarak had told them some details, but Talandar believed them to be mostly lies. Whatever the truth was, the training regime of the Tal'darim had to be brutal. Their warriors were not far away from wild beasts and he had to admit that their ferocity was impressive. The Protoss right in front of him was proof of that. She was neither like the Nerazim nor the Khalai. She moved like a snake, ready to strike any moment. Unlike the other two, she had only one psi-blade activated. Its red color gave her a dark and menacing presence. And unlike the other two, who were constantly looking at Talandar's legs and arms, she never stopped to look directly into his artificial eyes. Was she looking for a soul? Or did she just want to rip his eyes out and shove them up his exhaust-pipe? Whatever her true motivation was, she didn't show it to them.

Talandar's body had changed as well. No longer did he control the body they had recovered during the war against Amon. That mighty, quadrupedal body was simply too powerful for everyday use. It was stored away safely in a compound. Should the need arise, he would be able to upload himself into that body again. But now he used one of the Purifiers' Sentinels. It was fast, it was strong, it was durable and it made him feel like he was a Zealot again, a Templar even.

He almost felt like he was alive again.

Of course, he knew that this was a foolish idea. He was not Fenix. But even though he was not made out of flesh and blood, he still had emotions. And his emotions told him that he knew what a real body felt like.

Talandar enjoyed these training fights, unlike most of the other Purifiers. Much to his personal disdain, they had decided to remain apart, contemplating on their future. Perhaps it was because a part of Talandar still felt and thought like the mighty Fenix. Artificial body or not, Aiur would always be his home and his circuits enjoyed the fact that he could do what he liked the most.

And that was using his fists to teach some punks something about honor and how to dodge a punch to the face.

His punch, to be exact.

And the Zealot failed miserably at that. Deciding not to wait for the three to gain the initiative, Talandar jumped forward. His psi-blades weren't active, but that didn't mean that his punch was any less dangerous. The Zealot saw him coming, but he made the wrong decision when he chose to block the incoming punch. He raised his arms like a boxer would. His arms were a bit too high, he expected Talandar to go for his face. But instead, the Purifier Sentinel went for a low blow. The Zealot's eyes widened in shock and pain as Talandar rammed his fist into the bigger Protoss's guts. Terran, Protoss, even Zerg, it didn't matter: A hard punch to the guts will be painful for all of them. But never do that with a defiler, it will just vomit all over you.

To the inexperienced eye the Zealot barely even seemed to notice the punch. He grunted and jumped backward immediately, trying to get out of Talandar's reach. The Sentinel, however, knew that he scored a good hit. The Zealot refused to yield and ignited his psi-blades, ready to make this even more interesting. But Talandar didn't intend to give him any chance to regain the initiative. Instead, he jumped forward and his fist shot forward again. The Zealot tried to block the incoming punch, but now that his psi-blades were active, he had to be careful not to cut off his own arms.

 _Basic mistake. To think that your psi-blades are the most dangerous weapon you have, warrior._ Talandar thought. When in close combat, a good, old-fashioned fist could cause just as much damage, maybe even more. The next punch hit the Zealot's face on the left side. Skin ripped and blue blood splattered around. The Zealot blinked in surprise and pain, but no scream left his psionic mind. He was too much Khalai to allow that to happen. But that didn't mean that the brutal punches of Talandar didn't show some effects on him. Talandar could see how the steps of the Zealot became sluggish.

Turning his back to the other two warriors, Talandar offered them the perfect chance to strike at him. He scored another hit. And another. And another. The Zealot tried to fight back, but he was too big, too slow and too hurt. Then the Nerazim finally started to make his move. He vanished into thin air and one moment later even Talandar's artificial senses couldn't track him anymore. But he wasn't concerned because he knew exactly where the Nerazim would strike.

Another punch hit the Zealot in the guts and he grunted in pain. Dance like a Zergling, sting like a Hydralisk, that was this whole fight was about. But even though the Nerazim had decided to finally make his move, the Tal'darim remained behind. Her red eyes focused Talandar, studied his every move. Yes, she was definitely the most dangerous of these three.

The Zealot finally realized that his psi-blades weren't of any use and decided to deactivate them. So Talandar could punch him? Well, so could he! Talandar smiled on the inside when his left fist shot forward, ready to score another hit. But the Zealot was not a beginner, he knew that adapting to your enemy was the best way to survive a fight. And even though Talandar had way more experience (even though technically it wasn't his own) and an artificial body, the Zealot had the reach and strength to defeat Talandar. In theory anyway.

The Zealot made a few step backward so he could gain some distance, probably to use his superior strength and reach. Talandar allowed him to do so because there was still the Nerazim. The dark warrior didn't make a sound when he reappeared on Talandar's left side. A sense of disappointment flashed through Talandar's mind. The Nerazim hadn't even noticed that the left was his strong side. His green psi-blade sprung to life and he immediately moved in for the kill. Straight to the point, no fooling around, just a blade in the back. The Nerazim couldn't deny his assassin-heritage.

Talandar lowered his upper body and as the Nerazim rushed towards him, the Sentinel's elbow came up and with a side-step, he jumped right into the Nerazim's path. He rammed his elbow right into the face of the Nerazim. The dark warrior didn't scream in pain, silence was their weapon of choice after all. But the moment the Nerazim stumbled backward, Talandar knew that he had scored a critical hit. Seeing his comrade in danger, the Zealot decided to step in and stormed towards Talandar. He reached out and slammed his fist forward. But Talandar knew what to do; he dived down and used the stunned Nerazim like a shield. The Zealot did the one thing only a true, honorable warrior would do: He hesitated.

Everything went far too fast for those two. Talandar danced around the stumbling Nerazim and his next punch hit the Zealot right in the face. The huge warrior gave off a choking sound, but he stayed on his feet. He wouldn't just yield! But before he could recover, Talandar grabbed the stunned Nerazim and practically threw him into the Zealot's arms. The huge warrior looked at him in surprise and tried to catch the barely conscious comrade.

Big mistake.

The next punch hit the Zealot's guts, then he took two more to the face. The mighty warrior stumbled backward and Talandar could see that the warrior was nearly done for. Another hit and he would-

As the red psi-blade slashed at him, Talandar could barely dodge it. He ignited his own psi-blades and blocked the incoming attack. Before he could react however the lithe figure of the Tal'darim danced around the other two warriors who could barely stand on their own two feet. Talandar wanted to strike at her, but now she was using her comrades as a shield. She was definitely the most dangerous one.

She moved around the two warriors and practically threw herself at Talandar. She tried to uppercut him with her psi-blades, which would have resulted in his immediate demise. Suddenly Talandar was on the defense. He dodged her attack, but then the Tal'darim deactivated her psi-blades and instead grabbed his arms. Talandar realized in surprise what she was planning. Holding his arms down, she jumped up and slung her legs around his neck. In an impressive display of flexibility, she used her momentum to bend backward and throw him over her own body. Talandar could feel how he lost contact with the floor. For a moment he thought about switching to a faster speed. That way he could react as fast as a computer. But it would have been unfair to-

Before he even landed on the ground or finish that thought, her foot crushed against his chest. The strength of her kick was impressive! Talandar's internal systems showed severe damage to some minor systems. When he finally landed on the floor, sparks flew around. Instead of going in for the kill, the Tal'darim backed away, her psi-blades raised to defend herself. Talandar immediately got back to his feet. His internal sensors showed that nothing was truly broken. Good. He looked at the Tal'darim and saw how she awaited his attack. Hmm, tricky little thing. She was fast and had one hell of a punch. Eventually, she would grow exhausted because her body was only made out of flesh and blood. But this wasn't a lecture about patience, they had all come here to see true combat mastery. The Tal'darim pointed her blade right at his face, making sure that he understood her intentions. Even if this was a training-fight, she wouldn't hesitate to take his head off. His circuits sparkled in joy. It was the closest equivalent to "murderous joy" he had.

 _Very well_. he thought. _Time to find out what she is really made of._ He too ignited his psi-blades and stormed forward. Time for a good, old-fashioned blade-fight. His left blade shot forward and the Tal'darim dodged it and jumped to the left.

 _Clever move._ Talandar mused. Now that his left arm was outstretched, she ducked under it and aimed for his unprotected left side. Like said: Clever move. Against an organic enemy, this might have worked. But suddenly Talandar's torso started to turn to the right. For the fraction of a second, the Tal'darim was confused. Was he offering her an even wider opening? But then his torso did a whole 360 and his right arm was suddenly on her left. His psi-blade rushed towards her face and she did the only reasonable thing: She dropped to the floor. The sizzling energy-weapon shot over her head, almost splitting it in half. When she looked up, she was suddenly right under both of Talandar's blades. That 360-move was a nasty surprise and he could sense the shock, anger (and sometimes revulsion) among the other warriors. His right arm shot down, ready to impale the Tal'darim. She rolled to the side and kicked between his legs. For a second it looked like she was trying to kick him in the balls, but of course neither of them knew anything about that. The Tal'darim had fought human raiders before, but she didn't know where human's had their reproductive organs. And even though Talandar possessed many of Fenix's memories, he had been created _before_ Fenix had met any Terran. So his knowledge too was strictly academic.

Instead, the Tal'darim wrapped both her legs around Talandr's right leg and pushed herself off the ground. Her strength was amazing! His internal sensors warned him that she put massive stress on his artificial bones and muscles. That way she would actually break his leg, metal-bones or not. So with no other choice left, he dropped to the knees. That way she couldn't break his leg, but he was closer to her psi-blades as well. He could turn his head away in the last blink of a second. Her arm stabbed forward and the sizzling red psi-blade left a deep cut on the right side of his head. Even though he didn't feel any physical pain, the sizzling sound caused him quite some discomfort. So close to his primary circuits the psi-blade caused some interfere with his optics.

 _Hmm, need to tell the others about that._ Talandar could have sent the information to the other Purifiers immediately, but he chose not to. This fight was his and he didn't want anyone to watch this battle through his own eyes. It was always a strange feeling as if someone was watching from inside his own head. The other Purifiers didn't like how he shut them out from time to time, but that was their problem.

He was running low on options. The Tal'darim wouldn't let go of him and he had to accept the fact that he wouldn't survive this "training session". But he wouldn't just drop out. If all other options are no longer available, take the bastard with you. Since the Tal'darim's right arm was beyond his head, she wasn't able to stab him again. Instead, Talandar pushed his upper body forward, forcing the slender Tal'darim into a tight embrace. Now, this wasn't a sign of friendship, he wanted to make it impossible for her to use her blades against him. She immediately knew what that meant. It was time to end it.

Talandar slung his right arm around her body and raised his left arm. His psi-blade pointed right at her head. The Tal'darim seized to struggle and instead decided to go for a killing blow as well. Her left arm went back and her blade aimed at his open side. They gazed at each other and Talandar could see how fury and joy appeared in the Tal'darim's red eyes. Then both rammed their arms forward.

Mere milliseconds before his blade went through her head, he deactivated his weapon. Instead, his knuckles slammed against the side of her head. It wasn't a deadly punch, but she would feel it the next morning.

The Tal'darim, however, did not deactivate her weapon.

Talandar's internal sensors screamed in terror as the red psi-blade went into his side. It burned its way through his artificial body and he knew that this was it. Her strength was truly amazing. Her psi-blade wandered from his right side all the way up until it emerged from his left shoulder. His sensors told him that a lot of important systems had suffered a lot of damage. His left arm didn't react so he couldn't reignite his psi-blade. His main energy was failing and he didn't know how he could still get out of this alive. He looked right in the Tal'darim's eyes and his optics started to flicker.

"Go—Good work. It app—appears that I ha—have lo—lo—lost." he said with a broken voice." The Tal'darim looked at him in anger.

"You deactivated your weapon. You still stand. I would have been dead. The victory is yours." she snarled.

"The—then let us—us agree on a dra—draw." Talandar offered.

"A...draw?" she asked confused. Tal'darim didn't know anything about such concepts like "draws". Or "Compromise". Or "Forgiveness". Or "second chances".

"A good idea, Talandar!" a new voice reached their ears. Both heads turned around and a new Protoss stood next to all the others who had watched their fight.

"Hierarch!" Talandar said. "It is go—good to see you—you. Please wait a mo—moment, first I have to de—detach myself from this young war—warrior." The Tal'darim looked at Talandar. For a moment it seemed as if she would end this fight by ripping his artificial guts out. It appeared that she didn't want to end this fight like this. But after a while, she gave off an annoyed sigh, deactivated her psi-blade and stood up. She turned around and walked away, ignoring her two pretty beaten-up comrades. But then she stopped, turned around and bowed in front of Talandar.

"Thank you for the lecture, Master Talandar." Then she simply left. Artanis eyes widened while the other warriors took care about the injured Zealot and Nerazim.

"What was that about?" the Hierarch wanted to know. Talandar laughed, his voice, however, sounded damaged.

"Fe-fear not, Hierarch. Ev-everything is perfectly in or-order." He rose up and sparks flew out of his open torso. That didn't look good. Artanis frowned as he looked at the Purifier.

"Talandar, is everything alright? You seem to be, well, injured." he said for the lack of a better term. Talandar only laughed and looked at his wide open chest. Cables, metal, and crystal were on full display.

"Tis no-nothing, Hierarch. You could say it is just a fle-flesh-wound. Hahahaha." his metallic laughter sounded anything but healthy, yet he seemed to ignore it completely. While his main energy source was damaged beyond repair and had to be replaced, his secondary energy cells would keep him on his feet for days, unless a Zerg-invasion would suddenly happen. In which case, he would be in trouble.

Artanis had to admit: It was deeply unnerving to speak to an artificial Protoss who's metallic insides were hanging out of his chest.

"Please ex-excuse me, Hierarch. I still need to address the wa-warriors." Talandar said and Artanis nodded.

"But of course. Take all the time you need, we are not in a rush." Artanis decided to step back and watched how Talandar addressed the warriors from all different kind of groups. The Hierarch didn't miss the change. Talandar had started this little training-regime some time ago. The Protoss were still hunting feral Zerg all over the planet. But their abilities varied from group to group. The Zealots of the former Khalai were the most straightforward. They moved in, located the enemy and attacked them when they could. The Nerazim hunted in the dense jungles, striking from the shadows whenever the chance allowed it. Unlike the Khalai, they lacked the number for large engagements. And the Tal'darim? Well, they pretty much used every dirty trick in the book they could think of. Artanis was even suspecting them of using bio and chemical weapons against the Zerg.

And the Purifiers pretty much only burned everything to ashes. Kinda self-explanatory if you think about it.

They all had their strengths and their weaknesses, but even now the cooperation between the different groups was pretty much non-existent. So Talandar had offered warriors from all groups to join in a "circle of equals". By fighting against each other like this, they had learned more about the abilities of the other warriors. That didn't necessarily mean that they had become better at teamwork though. But the training was a nice change from the endless regime of hunting Zerg and general training. Many warriors felt somewhat useless right now. The war was over and Aiur needed to be rebuilt. Right now they needed not just warriors, but phasesmiths, bureaucrats, and constructors.

The winds of change blew over Aiur and not everyone was happy about it. It was a strange feeling and Artanis had to admit that he didn't like it.

"Warriors! Heed my wo—words..." Talandar began. "Again you have pro—proven to be among the be—best...oh, how ab—about we cut this sho—short today. It appe—appears that I am not in the be—best shape." The other warriors chuckled and laughed at these words. When they finally left, he and Artanis remained behind.

"Are you sure that you are alright, Talandar?" the Hierarch asked. Talandar looked at his "wound" and suddenly something in his voice changed.

"Truth to be told Hierarch..." he began. Suddenly his voice was working fine again. "...I saw her attack coming, but I did not react because I was not afraid of the pain." These words made Artanis frown.

"Pain? I thought you cannot feel any pain at all." he said. Talandar shrugged his shoulders.

"Not like an organic Protoss, no. My perception of pain greatly differs from yours. But that is not the problem." He looked at his chest. "I believe that this body will not be very useful in a true combat situation. It is simply _inadequate_."

"You miss the feeling of real pain?" Artanis wanted to know. Talandar shrugged his shoulders again.

"Pain is the path of the warrior, Hierarch. Without it, I will never be able to lead warriors into battle again." These words caused Artanis to blink in confusion.

"I did not know that this bothers you so much, Talandar." These words made the Sentinel laugh.

"Of course not, Hierarch. I have not told anyone about this, not even my fellow Purifiers." He gave off a sigh before shaking his head.

"Never mind this though. I am certain that you have not come here to listen to my pathetic self-doubts. What can I do for you, Hierarch? I assume you are here because you wanted to talk to me. Or did you come here because you wanted to challenge me in a little training-fight? If that is the case..." he poked at his own open chest. "...I humbly ask that you come back some other time. I think I need an overhaul first." Artanis just raised his hand.

"No, Brother. I have not come here to fight you. I doubt that I would be even a challenge for you right now. I...could use some advice on something that is on my mind." Talandar straightened himself when he heard that.

"Ah yes, Alarak's announcement to leave Aiur with his people no doubt." the Sentinel said. Artanis' eyes widened in surprise.

"How..." he began. Talandar chuckled as he saw the Hierarch's confusion.

"Hahaha, oh Hierarch, words travel fast. Especially among young warriors. It was the topic of the day." Artanis frowned when he heard these words. If these warriors already knew about this, pretty much everyone else probably did so too.

"I see." was the only thing the Hierarch could say. "This...this is all wrong, Talandar." The Sentinel tilted her head to the side.

"Did you ask someone else for advice?" he wanted to know. Artanis nodded.

"Yes, Selendis. She offered me a rather, well, simple solution. To look at it from a strictly tactical point of view. And then she said something else." He shuddered but didn't dare to explain what had happened. Talandar chuckled again.

"No doubt she has done so. Selendis has a rather straight-forward personality. Still, are you just looking for additional input or do you want me to tell you what to do?" Artanis sighed when he heard those words.

"Is it that obvious? I was hoping that no one notices how uneasy I feel right now."

"Fear not, Hierarch. You are holding up rather well. But I still remember the young initiative who nearly fainted when he met the mighty Tassadar for the first time. You are not trembling anymore, but your right eyelid still twitches." Artanis immediately touched his right eye. He could feel how the muscles under the thick skin moved on its own volition. A metallic laughter left Talandar's artificial throat.

"Do not worry, Hierarch. To everyone who does not know you this well, everything is perfectly fine. They do not see your inner struggle."

"Yet you do." That wasn't a question. Talandar turned his head to the horizon.

"The memories of Fenix are still a part of my mind, Hierarch. At times it is hard to tell them apart from who I really am. Who I am now." Artanis lowered his head when he heard these words.

"I had no idea, Talandar. Why did you not tell me? Maybe I could have-" he began.

"...helped me?" the Sentinel finished the sentence for him. "No. Just like there are battles a warrior has to face alone, there are answers to questions you have to figure out yourself. I am certain that you understand that. If I understand correctly, we have a similar problem. But I am confident that I will solve mine in due time." The Sentinel looked at the landscape in front of them.

"'Tis strange, even though these eyes have never seen this place before, I feel just like Fenix when he first looked down from this place as a young initiative." he mumbled. He then turned around and looked directly at the Hierarch.

"The Purifiers currently debate wherever they should leave Aiur as well."

…

…

…

"WHAT?!" Artanis yelled. He looked at the Sentinel in shock and disbelief. "What did you say?" He could see how Talandar dropped his shoulders.

"I know that this is an inopportune timing. And it must seem to you like a sick joke. But I believe you deserve to know the truth, even though the other Purifiers do not agree with that." For quite some time Artanis didn't say anything. Then he too turned his head away and looked at the blue sky and the white clouds of their homeworld. Talandar knew that he shouldn't disturb the Hierarch's thoughts. He knew that this revelation was probably the last thing the Hierarch wanted to hear. When he looked over to Talandar, he only spoke one word.

"Why?" Even though Talandar knew that the Hierarch wasn't addressing him personally, it sure felt like a "Why are you doing this to me?". Talandar thought about his next words very carefully.

"It is not your fault, Hierarch." he then said. "There has been some concern among the others for some time now. Even though they respect you and most consider you an honorable warrior and capable leader, they are afraid that others will just try to turn them into tools for their own ambitions again."

"Why did you not tell me earlier?" Artanis demanded to know. "Why did they not approach me, we could have talked about this!" Even though his body was artificial and even though his soul could be transferred into a new body within the fractions of a second, he could still relate to the Hierarch's feelings. No doubt Artanis felt like everyone was betraying him right now.

"The simple answer?" Talandar asked. "It was not my place to do that. Even though I am a Purifier, I do not speak for them anymore. And neither do they speak for me. Whatever their decision will be, they will have to deal with that themselves."

"I was not aware that there was so much dissent between you and your people." Artanis mumbled. Talandar shrugged his shoulders.

"They are people. Even though their bodies are nothing but metal and crystal, their souls are true and pure. And like all souls, they are easily confused. They believe that everyone around them is a potential threat to them. And since Alarak has announced his departure, many who had remained distant to the same idea have changed their opinion."

"That happened only a few hours ago!" Artanis protested.

"Hours for you. Do you know how much a Purifier can do within seconds?" Artanis didn't ask. He knew what the Sentinel was talking about. The Hierarch turned around and he clenched his hands into fists. But true to his nature, Artanis managed to control his anger when his mind finally accepted that this was just another fact he had to deal with.

"Well..." he said after a while. "...at least I do not have to ask what Selendis would suggest." Talandar chuckled when he heard that.

"Yes, she would probably just tell you to shut us down and turn us into mindless drones." The amusement in his artificial voice made Artanis frown.

"You are not angry by this possibility?" he wanted to know. Talandar shock his head.

"No, Hierarch. I know where this comes from. I respect Selendis, she is a Templar to the very core. Stubborn, can be angered very easily, and has one hell of a temper. But she would sacrifice her own life in an instant to save her people. Besides, she is still young, a fact most people tend to forget when dealing with her. She does remind me of her birth-father, he too was a reckless firestarter when he was young too. She has still to find _someone_ who will be more than just a battle-brother." Artanis didn't get that hint, which in return caused Talandar to chuckle again. "And in the end, you are the one who will give the orders. And I trust you."

"Your trust honors me, Talandar." Artanis simply replied.

"Bah, do not use such fancy words on me, I am nothing but a warrior wrapped in shiny metal. All the advice I can offer you is what the memories of Fenix tell me...or my own. Which one do you want." _Straight to the point, I see._ Artanis thought. He continued to think about it for some more time before finally making up his mind.

"I want your opinion, Talandar." Partly because he already knew what his former teacher would have told him, partly because he wanted to see Talandar as an independent entity. The Sentinel shrugged his shoulders again.

"'Tis not a military question, but a strategic one. But unlike Selendis, you should not look at it from the eyes of a military leader. Why did the Tal'darim and the Purifiers join your ranks, Hierarch?"

"To retake out sacred homeworld." Artanis replied.

"Yes, that was a goal. But not everyone had the same reason for doing so." Talandar said.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Artanis, why did you want to free Aiur from the Zerg? And later on from Amon?" Talandar asked.

"Because Aiur is ours. Because without it, our species is lost. It is a beacon for all of us, for all that share the dream of a united-"

"Exactly!" Talandar intervened. "Hierarch, you believe that a united Protosskind is the one thing all reasonable people should aim for. But aside from the Khalai and Nerazim, the rest of us does not share this sentiment. At least not among the Purifier. And I am very certain that Alarak is only interested in his own agenda. And that agenda is power, nothing more, but nothing less either. They joined your ranks because you had something to offer they required: A strong arm that could crush the threat called Amon. But now the threat is gone at least the Purifiers wonder what else this alliance has to offer to them."

"Alliance? We are one, Talandar! Equals! Brothers!" Artanis said with a loud and enraged voice.

"I believe you, Hierarch. I believe that you truly think that way. But that is only your voice. There are many who think otherwise. Like Selendis. As much as I respect her, I do not trust her. She is the kind of person that would try to turn us into the mindless drones the scientists had in mind when they created us. I do not claim that she is evil, but her perception of us greatly differs from yours. And the sad truth is: There are more among the Khalai that think like her than you."

"Are you claiming that my...our people would betray each other once again?" Artanis said in shock.

"Not now. Not within the next years. Maybe not even within the next couple of hundred years. But younger generations might not remember what we had to sacrifice to regain Aiur. Even now the warriors of the Khalai, the Nerazim and the Tal'darim cheer and boast themselves for all the enemies they have slain during the war. Yet no one asks how may Purifier have lost their lives when they kept Amon's hordes at bay. And trust me: We have lost far more people than all the other groups combined." Artanis had never thought about that and he felt a sting of guilt. He should have spoken to the Purifier earlier, another proof that he was not as great as Adun or even Tassadar and...

"I know that expression, Artanis. You are blaming yourself for what happened." Talandar read him like an open book. Truth to be told: There was something reassuring about it. Like Fenix and Tassadar before him, there was one individual who truly seemed to know him. It made him feel less alone.

"Who else can I blame then, Talandar?" Artanis wanted to know.

"Why, the universe of course!" the Sentinel replied and chuckled again. "You came here for my advice? Here it is: If you want the different factions to remain on Aiur, you have to show them that they have more to gain than to lose if they stay."

"How?" the Hierarch wanted to know.

"That I do not know. This is a question you have to find an answer for yourself." He could see the disappointment in Artanis's face, but at the same time, he knew that the Hierarch would master this trial as well. The question was if the others would give him enough time to come up with a solution.

"I see. Thank you, Talandar. You have given me much to think about. I guess I need to gather my thoughts..." Artanis said before he turned around and walked away. Then he suddenly stopped and looked over the shoulder.

"Talandar, may I ask you something personal?" he wanted to know.

"Of course, Hierarch."

"You said that the other Purifiers and you do not speak for each other anymore. Does that mean that you stand alone?" Talandar shock his head.

"No, Hierarch. There are others who think the same way. But many want to wait and see how things will play out before they make their final decision. Some were simply angry because I told them that no matter what their decision will be, I will remain here on Aiur." These words made Artanis blink in confusion.

"Why?" he simply wanted to know. Another chuckle left the Sentinel's artificial throat.

"Because it is where I belong. I might even say: My life for Aiur."

* * *

As the female Tal'darim walked down the steps that led to the training-area, she tried to ignore all the other warriors around her. She wasn't the only Tal'darim around, however, the other ones of her kind knew better than to bother her. She was not just any warrior, she was part of the Tal'darim-elite. But most Khalai or Nerazim hadn't recognized her, so walking among them was accompanied by a certain level of incognito. Aside from the warriors on the battlefield, Aralak had made sure that no members of his inner circle had worked with members of Artanis' staff during the entire crisis.

She could still feel the rush of battle inside her mind. It felt good to go up against a worthy adversary again. At the same time, however, she knew that this wasn't the Tal'darim's way. To leave without claiming a kill...if the others would know about it...

"Walking away from a battle without ending your opponent...have you grown weak, First Ascendant Ji'Nara?" She immediately stopped when she heard that voice. A voice she truly hated. She turned her head to the side and her eyes flashed at the other Tal'darim in anger.

"Do you wish to find out how much resolve I have left, Highlord?" she hissed. Alarak chuckled when he moved closer.

"So much fire. Strange, I saw almost nothing of that fire during your little _fight_." The way he pronounced the last word sounded like he was not impressed with her performance.

"You watched it?" she asked with a cold voice.

"Part of it. It ended before it got even interesting. Though I have to admit that impaling that Sentinel was rather entertaining. Still, why didn't you end him?" Alarak wanted to know. Ji'Nara didn't answer.

"I asked you a question, First Ascendant. I expect you to answer it." he said with a threatening tone in his voice.

"These warriors agreed to fight not to the death. I was merely respecting their ways." she finally told him. For a moment Alarak said nothing. Then he started to laugh. He started to laugh long and hard.

"I fail to see whats so amusing, Highlord." she hissed. Alarak simply shook his head. The amusements poured from his every pore.

"Oh, I have no doubt about that. But this is not about you and I have not come here to see your pathetic attempt at making friends with these _amateurs_."

"They are not amateurs, Highlord. They are highly capable warriors. We could learn a great deal from them and...-

"Did I hear that correctly? We should learn something from _them_? We are Tal'darim, Ji'Nara. We have our own ways. And I am somewhat confused that I have to come all the way out here to remind you of your duty, _First Ascendant_." She knew what this was about, but she just turned around.

"I do not know what you are talking about." she told him.

"No? I hardly believe that. There has been talk among the lower ranks and the fact that the Highlord has to address them is simply unacceptable. You are the First Ascendant and have a duty towards your people."

"That is exactly what I am doing here, Highlord." With that Ji'Nara simply turned around and left. Alarak said nothing. The fact that a First Ascendant did not bow to the Highlord and showed him the proper respect was one thing. But the fact that she had not tried to kill him ever since the end of this war was unnerving.

Ever since the war had ended, the Tal'darim had not been able to resume their old way of life. The other factions on Aiur were without a doubt happy about this. But Alarak wasn't. In fact, he was furious how so many of his people had started to abandon their old lives so fast. With every passing day, he could see more and more weakness among his kind and it broke his heart. Well, not really, but he hated it to see his own people like this. Calm. Controlled. Patient. Humble. _Weak_. It was not the way of the Tal'darim. It was not his way. So he had to leave. It was the only logical choice to keep his people from fading away, from turning into weak Protoss.

But what about the ones who were already weak? Killing them would be a fitting punishment. He had hoped that First Ascendant Ji'Nara would do her job, but even she was no longer willing to follow the Tal'darim-way. Besides, the other Protoss wouldn't like to see dead Tal'darim everywhere...

Just like Artanis, Alarak had to make a choice. And just like Artanis, his choice would shape the future of the Protoss species.

For the better or the worse.

* * *

The Nerazim tried to disappear as fast as possible. Yet at the same time, he didn't want to draw any suspicion. The endless boasting of the Khalai that surrounded him was driving him mad and the bloodthirsty nature of that Tal'darim was making him feel highly uncomfortable. But still, coming here had been highly educational.

As the Nerazim walked down the stairs that led away from the training grounds, he thought about the fight. Though it had only been a training exercise, it had taken him all of his skills to keep up not only with that damn Purifier, but also his _teammates_.

Let's start with the Zealot. He was strong. No, he wasn't just strong, he was in his very own league. Attacking this warrior head-on would be suicidal. But he was like all the other warriors of the Khalai: Strong and single-minded. If he was any indicator for what the Nerazim had to expect, then he shouldn't be worried.

The same couldn't be said about the Tal'darim, however. Just being so close to her made the Nerazim feel uneasy. She was a killer. Anything else would just mean to sugarcoat it. To think that such savages were allowed to walk over Aiur's surface.

And let's not even talk about the Purifiers. They weren't even alive, yet he and his brothers and sisters were told to treat them like fellow people? This was borderline insane! His little fight against this Talandar had shown him that they were far too much of a threat to allow them to walk around unsupervised. The Nerazim had little love for the Khalai, but he would have agreed with Selendis on that: Turning the Purifiers into mindless drones would be the wisest course of action.

It was just another proof of Artanis' incompetence. The Nerazim clenched his hands into fists when he thought about the _supreme leader_ of all the Protoss who currently walked on Aiur's surface. Some great leader he was. He had saved his people's home, yet the price had been the Nerazims' home.

His _home_...

He missed Shakuras. It's dry air, the wind, the smell. You couldn't even compare Aiur to Shakuras, both planets were so very different. Some of his brothers and sisters called Aiur beautiful, but he knew the truth. This place could never be beautiful. Because it was not home.

"Please, Warrior!" suddenly a deep voice reached him. The Nerazim didn't slow down, however. He could hear heavy footsteps behind him, he could feel the vibration every time the huge warrior behind him stepped down another stair. Yes, there was no doubt about it: The Khalai were as clumsy as they were arrogant.

"Warrior, wait! I wanted to talk to you." Well, he didn't want to talk back. He had to get out of this place as fast as possible. Yet...

"Please, just one minute! I just wanted to tell you something." Oh, this should be good. The Nerazim sighed on the inside and then he stopped. When he turned around, he looked up and straight into the eyes of that huge Zealot that had fought alongside him.

"Tesson, is it not?" the huge Zealot asked and saluted in front of the Nerazim. It was meant as a gesture of respect, yet all Tesson felt was the urge to turn around and leave this place as fast as possible.

"What is it? What do you want?" Tesson snarled.

"Forgive me, Brother. I just wanted to tell you how impressed I was by your skills." Tesson didn't know which was worse: The fact that this Khalai was calling him "Brother", or that he was praising his skills.

"We were easily defeated, I fail to see how my skills could have changed that." Tesson growled, yet all the huge Zealot did was to laugh out loud.

"Ha! Yes, we were easily defeated, were we not? Still, there lies honor in this defeat. We did our best and we went up against a warrior with superior training, skills, and experience. And I certainly will feel this training exercise the next couple of days. Hahahaha!" Seriously, why did this Khalai always have to laugh? It was unnerving!

"There is no honor in failing your people." Tesson snarled and turned away.

"That is not what I wished to express, I am sorry!" the Zealot tried to explain, but then the Nerazim was already on his way.

"By the way...my name is Horrash. Nice to meet you." the huge Zealot mumbled as he watched how the Nerazim vanished in the distance. As for Tesson? Well, he still wondered why they had sacrificed Shakuras for this place.

Maybe he should seek for guidance. Maybe he should talk to the Matriarch.


	16. Act I - Chapter 8

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter 8**

 **Girl Talk**

* * *

''How do you feel now, Tesson'' Vorazun asked the Nerazim-warrior, who was sitting face-to-face with her. They were inside Vorazun's private chambers. Her people had taken possession of an old and abandoned facility near the lush jungles in the south. At least they didn't have to worry about building new homes, there were still plenty of old ones around. Many Khalai and Nerazim weren't too happy about that, though. The Khalai were furious because Nerazim were now inhabiting the homes of old and dead friends. The Nerazim weren't happy with it either. The architecture on Aiur was so much different from what most were used from Shakuras. Vorazun too had felt uneasy moving into a Khalai Nexus, but she had decided to not show her uneasiness in order to help her own people to adapt. This was now their home, and they had to accept that.

However, she was not the only one who had a hard time adapting. The young Nerazim in front of her was proof of that. Tesson lowered his head both in shame and insecurity.

"Better, I think." There was still doubt in his voice. It was understandable, and Vorazun knew that she couldn't blame him for how he felt. Tesson was a young warrior who had suffered many losses in a short amount of time and he was a very gentle soul. As the Matriarch of her people, it was Vorazun's job to tend to their needs. The Nerazim were probably the most spiritual faction within the Protoss society. Where the Khalai had their discipline and code of honor, where the Tal'darim had their vicious and brutal nature, and where the Purifiers had their, well, whatever it was that made them unique, the Nerazim had their spirituality. Vorazun was aware of the fact that pretty much no one who wasn't Nerazim understood their deep need to achieve a form of inner balance. The Khalai usually treated most Nerazim like fools and potential drug-addicts. The Tal'darim didn't even consider them to be equals. And again, she had no idea what the Purifiers were thinking. They were machines, and even though she admired Artanis for his ability to turn even the greatest doubter into a firm believer, she didn't like these cold machines that acted like living, breathing Protoss.

The Nerazim cherished life. However, the Purifiers weren't even alive. For many of her people it was hard to comprehend. They looked at her for guidance, yet she too had problems with accepting Artanis' choices. How could she lead her people if she didn't even fully believe in the path the Hierarch had forged for them?

Still, she knew better than to tell that to anyone. Especially Artanis. The Hierarch had enough problems of his own, the last thing he needed was to take care of the Nerazim's problems as well.

And the Nerazim had problems. Serious problems.

Sometimes Vorazun wondered how her mother would have dealt with this situation. It was a foolish thought, though, because her situation was completely different from what her mother had dealt with. In a way, it had been far easier. Back then the Khalai had tried to hunt the Nerazim down and kill them until a certain Executor called Tassadar had decided to challenge fate and prejudice by establishing a new bond. He hadn't come as a conqueror, but as a student. She actually remembered that fateful day when the Dark Prelate had spoken to her mother about the now deceased Executor...

* * *

 **Shakuras**

 **Shortly before the Fall of Tarsonis...**

* * *

"What do you make of this _Executor_ , Zeratul?" Razshagal wanted to know before turning her head away from the glowing orb. As their eyes met, the Dark Prelate straightened himself. Zeratul lived by the code of the Dark Templar like all of his brothers and sisters did. Yet even among their kind, there were things that not every Templar did with the same amount of dedication as Zeratul. His worn-out coat was nothing but a rag. It looked like a piece of torn fabric, unworthy for someone of his rank. Yet the truth was somewhat more difficult. The Khalai, the Templar of Aiur, they wore their shiny golden armors. These armors were a symbol of their home, their heritage. _Their history._

It was a long and impressive history. One of many feats and great victories. However,the Nerazim had their own history, their own traditions. And most of them had something to do with their past as refugees. They had fled from Aiur with nothing but the torn clothes on their bodies. The piece of fabric that covered Zeratul's shoulders was from that period. It had been a gift by the Matriarch herself. For the outsider, it was just a piece of dirty fabric. To Zeratul, it was the greatest honor to wear it.

"He is different from the others, I give him that much." the Dark Prelate replied. Since they were alone, there was no need to cloud their words. "He is relentless, like all of his kind. But there is something strange within him. Some kind of humility I have never felt before. He speaks soft words and hides his strength. Not to crush, but to show his respect." Razshagal squinted her eyes when she heard that and studied her Dark Prelate carefully. Even though she was probably the oldest Protoss still alive and even though her body showed the signs of a long and hard life, there was still an impressive amount of strength left.

"You are impressed by this Khalai." That was not a question.

"He is an Executor. That alone means that he is dangerous. No matter what we think about the Conclave, the Templars were and always will be the most formidable enemies. At least they used to be." he added. Raszhagal nodded when she heard that. She knew what he was talking about. They had encountered these horrible creatures only recently. They called themselves the Zerg and even though her Dark Templar had managed to score some critical victories against these _things_ , both Raszhagal and Zeratul knew that the Nerazim wouldn't be able to fight them all by themselves.

"But can we trust him?" the Matriarch wanted to know. However, Zeratul wasn't able to give her a satisfying answer.

"I cannot answer that question. But I intend to find it out. That is why I want to find this Executor and talk to him. In person."

"Hmm, a daring move, my old student. What makes you so certain that he will listen to you? He is still an Executor. He is bound to his position by honor and only listens to the Conclave."

"Because that is what I believe, Matriarch." Zeratul simply replied. Razshagal sighed before turning around and looking into the green orb for a long time. The Dark Prelate knew better than to disturb her. He knew that she was thinking about many things.

"That is not what I wanted to hear, Zeratul. Yet I understand why you think you have to go. I just hope that everything will turn out the way it has been foreseen." she said with a sad tone in her voice. Zeratul bowed his head in respect.

"I do not want to make fun of you, Matriarch, but I hope that I am wrong as well and this whole situation will resolve differently." Raszhagal chuckled as she heard those words.

"When did that ever happen, my old student? Now go. Find that, what was his name again?"

"Tassadar." Zeratul said. "His name is Tassadar." Raszhagal nodded.

"Yes. Go, find this Tassadar. And find out if he truly is unlike his brethren. Remember, the last Templar who decided to listen to his consciousness rather than the whispers of the Conclave was Adun himself. Perhaps it is time that someone actually lives up to his reputation." Zeratul blinked his eyes but didn't say anything. Instead, he bowed his head one more time before vanishing into thin air. The Matriarch looked over to the empty space in front of her for some more time before turning back to the glowing orb. Its green light felt warm and nice on her skin and helped her to make it through the day.

Protoss fed of light. It was to Protoss like food to humans. They could go without light for a while, but it was painful. She remembered the days of her youth when she had been thrown into jail by the members of the Conclave. Her crime? She had rejected the Khala, the sacred union that connected every Protoss to the other. Thoughts, emotions and ideas, they were all shared with each other. But that didn't mean that the Khala meant pure peace. No, those who had rejected the Khala it had been a tool to subjugate, to wipe out individualism. They had been branded traitors and locked up so they would rot in their cells. Raszhagal remembered these days well. They had allowed only a small fraction of sunlight into her cell, making sure that she didn't starve to death. She had been prepared to die until the great Adun had decided to spare her and her brothers and sisters. She was probably the only living Protoss who actually had met Adun in the flesh.

Light was their food. But there were many different kinds of light. And the orb right in front of her was a very special kind of light, one that didn't sate her hunger. Yet without it, she wouldn't be able to make it through the day anymore.

"You can come out now, my child." she said after a while. For a moment nothing happened until a lithe figure emerged from a shadow right next to her. As her tired old eyes looked at the young female Protoss, Raszhagal could feel a sting inside her chest. With every passing cycle, her only child reminded her even more of her daughter's father.

The young Protoss didn't even try to hide her distaste for the Dark Prelate's decision.

"Why did you allow him to leave?" she wanted to know.

"A good day to you as well, Vorazun." Raszhagal simply said before looking back at the orb's green light. She closed her tired eyes and enjoyed the strange sensation that flowed through every fiber of her old body.

"You should not spend so much time with the orb. It is bad for your health." Vorazun said with true concern in her voice. Raszhagal chuckled when she heard that.

"My child, I am just an old woman now. My muscles ache and my bones have become weak. I do not know why I was blessed with such a long life, but now I think that this long lifespan is more of a burden than a blessing. At least I want to spend the time I have left without being in pain."

"You say like you are about to die, Mother. Your doctors said that you are still healthy for your age. You might live for another one hundred years. But not if you continue to poison your body with these _drugs_." Raszhagal sighed when she heard the angry voice of her daughter. Like said: Protoss needed light to live. But there were many different kinds of light. Normal forms of light strengthened them. It was like food. But other forms of radiation, well, let's just say that many regarded the light Raszhagal was looking at as one of the most potent drugs the Nerazim knew of.

"One hundred more years? By the Ancestors, I hope that will never happen." Raszhagal muttered.

"You sound like you have a death wish, Mother. Is that the reason why you have allowed the Dark Prelate to meet with this _Executor_?" Vorazun spat the title out like it was some kind of insult. She had grown up hearing all kinds of horror stories about the Khalai, about how they and their Templar had hunted the Nerazim down and turned them into refugees. And aside from the mighty Adun, there was no member of the Khalai who had a good reputation among the Nerazim. So why should this...this... _Tassadar_ be any different?

"Your teachers seem to have been too lenient with you lately, Vorazun. Your anger is clouding your judgment. You have never met this Executor, yet you believe him to be just like the ones who have hunted us in the past." the Matriarch said before closing her eyes again. The warm light felt good, it helped her to remember how it was to be without pain. And even though her body was old, her mind was still sharp as ever.

"I cannot understand how you risk the well being of our people like that. What if this Executor is just like the others? He has a mighty fleet and his warriors would not hesitate one second to slaughter us if they could!" Righteous fury flowed through Vorazun's mind. Her mother sighed again.

"Permitting Kalesh to tell you his old war-stories clearly was a mistake. The Protoss of Aiur are many things. Yes, they can be cruel and brutal, but they also possess great strength and an unbending will. All of them claim to put honor about anything else, yet not many do. However, those who do walk down the path of honor are individuals of the highest integrity. And do not forget the most important fact, my daughter." she added. Vorazun crossed her arms in front of her chest and didn't even try to hide her disdain.

"Really? And what would that be?" she said with a snippy tone in her voice.

"They are our brothers and sisters. And even though we are lightyears apart, the same blood runs through our veins."

"Blood that the Templars were more than willing to shed when the Conclave ordered them to do so!" Vorazun shot back. And again Raszhagal sighed. It was always the same old story. She would tell her daughter to be more lenient and her only child would call her too kind and forgiving. Vorazun was strong-willed and possessed a huge amount of inner strength. But she was still impatient and judged too quickly. And when she had made her decision, she was hard to convince that she could be wrong about it.

Again, she reminded Raszaghal of her daughter's father.

"The Templar are interested in nothing but their shiny Khala. And to them, we are nothing but mad beasts. You can hardly deny the fact that the Templar pose the greatest threat to Shakuras and our people. So why allowing Zeratul to make contact?" There was a pleading tone in her voice. "Please, Mother, our greatest strength is the fact that no one knows that we still exist! By allowing Zeratul to make contact, he is not only risking his own life but that of every Nerazim on Shakuras and beyond!"

"Hahahaha." Raszhaghal suddenly started to laugh.

"I fail to see what is so funny about my statement, Mother." Vorazun hissed. Oh, she was so easy to anger. To be this young again!

"Oh, my child. Of course, the Templar know that we still exist. Trust me, their higher echelons have never stopped believing that. The fact that this Tassadar is looking for us is proof of that. It means that he has either knowledge of our kind, or he at least believes that. He is an Executor and therefore by the very definition, not a fool. Should he have sinister intentions, it would be unwise to ignore him. Someone who manages to become Executor represents the pinnacle of the Khalai's military might. And should he pose a threat, Zeratul will know what has to be done."

"He would kill an Executor? Mother, this is insane! The Khalai would never allow something like that! They would not retaliate with everything they have at their disposal. Their fleet would hunt us down and then they would come here and destroy our home. There would be nothing left of Shakuras and you know that!"

"Child, you are still young." Raszhagal said as she turned around. "You have studied under the greatest minds Shakuras has to offer. Yet you have never experienced war, death, and destruction like I have. I do not wish that this will ever happen to you, but I can feel deep in my soul that times are changing. And with it, we too have to adapt. This new threat, these Zerg..., are not a force we can hope to stop on our own. The Khalai have more troops and more experience when it comes to war. We would be fools to reject the possibility of an alliance simply because we are stuck in the past." Raszaghals words made Vorazun angry.

"So you are calling me a fool because I want that nothing changes? Because I want our people to stay the way they are? To remain hidden in the shadow and let the others in the galaxy deal with their own problems?" When Raszhagal looked her into the eyes, Vorazun felt a cold chill running down her spine. There was just a single word her mother said.

"Yes."

* * *

"How do you feel now, Tesson?" Vorazun asked the Nerazim-warrior who was sitting face-to-face with her. The young Nerazim lowered his head.

"Better, I think." There was still doubt in his voice. It was understandable, Tesson was a young warrior who had suffered many losses in a short amount of time and he was a very gentle soul.

"I can still sense that you are not truly believing that, Tesson. Please, do not feel ashamed or angry. Do not hide your feelings. Whatever it is, we can work it out together. But only if you allow me to help you." She reached out and as her warm hand touched his, she could sense his surprise. And his guilt. He turned his head away so she couldn't look him into the eyes.

"I feel lost. Without purpose. This sky, this soil, it doesn't speak to me." She knew what he meant.

"You miss Shakuras." That was no question. For some time, he didn't say anything. Then he finally nodded. Vorazun sighed and closed her eyes for a moment.

"I share your pain, Tesson. And I know that many of our brothers and sisters feel the same way. And I will not tell you to hide your pain or your grief because it would mean to betray what we have lost, what we have sacrificed to be here." She could see the battle he was fighting on the inside. It was exactly what he had hoped to hear, yet at the same time...

"But, what about the others?" he wanted to know.

"The others?" she asked.

"The Templars, the Tal'darim, and even the Purifiers. What will they think if they see us grieving for our losses?" _So that's what the others are afraid of._ Vorazun sighed.

"Tesson, the other groups have their own problems. You and the others should not worry about what they think about you. And you should not keep your pain and your fears on the inside just because others might consider our way of life a weakness." That much was partially true. Unlike the Templar, who kept most of their emotions beneath their discipline and honor, and the Tal'darim, who only allowed rage and aggression to dictate their actions, the Nerazim accepted that they were only made out of flesh and blood, flawed beings that were full of mistakes.

"This is not easy, Tesson. How could it be? And the others have no idea how deep our pain goes. The Templar, yes, maybe they can relate to it. They too lost their homeworld once. But unlike us, theirs was not blown up." That was probably a bit harsh, but even Vorazun had to admit that the whole boasting and celebrating after the reclamation of Aiur had made her angry. It was rather insensitive towards the Nerazim, who still mourned their lost home.

"Tesson..." she finally said. "Tell the others that they should not hide their true feelings. Not in front of each other, not in front of everyone. I know that the Hierarch understands that and, if necessary, he will discipline the others." At least she hoped that. She hadn't seen the Hierarch in days. "Shakuras was our home. Aiur will be our home. But that will take time. We who still remember our old home will suffer the most, but we have to think about the next generations, the ones that will come after us. We can guide them, but we should also tell them about the beauty of our old home. And do not forget the fact that we paid a price no one else has. Or can you imagine that the Templars would have made the same sacrifice?" Maybe that was a bit harsh, but Vorazun knew that her people were in great pain. And sometimes you needed something that could help you to ease your own pain, that gave you strength.

"I suppose that is one way to look at it." Tesson said, still not fully convinced. But it was a step in the right direction. He then finally stood up as he prepared to leave.

"You wish to leave, Tesson?" Vorazun asked.

"I have to. My duty cannot wait. But...could we continue that conversation some other time?" There was a pleading tone in his voice. A gentle light came from Vorazun eyes and she bowed her head.

"Of course. Whatever worries you, we will face these fears together." Tesson bowed his head in respect and when he finally had left, Vorazun felt both relieved and tired. Relieved because that was the last person that had wanted to speak to her this day. And tired because Tesson had been the ninth to ask her for guidance. Yet all those had come before him had shared the same problem. They all missed Shakuras and they all had troubles adapting to this new yet old world. Still, Vorazun allowed herself not to show any signs of weakness and doubts until Tesson had finally left her chambers. Only then she slumped back and allowed herself a moment of relaxation. The burden of leadership just never ended. And unlike Artanis, her position was not one gained through an election. It would be her duty until she would be either unfit to lead her people or she'd be dead.

Probably the latter, knowing her family's luck.

"Matriarch, there is someone who would like to talk to you-" the voice of one of her advisors suddenly reached her senses. She groaned on the inside and raised her hands.

"Tell him that he should return tomorrow. I need some rest. It has been a long day."

"She said it was urgent. And that she cannot afford to come here some other time." Her advisor said. Vorazun turned her head around and saw the Nerazim standing inside the door frame. _She?_

"Tell her that she can request to be excluded from tomorrows duties and then come here. I will personally vouch for her." The advisor turned around and spoke to the person outside, only to turn back to Vorazun.

"She said that this will not suffice because the Matriarch's word will not help her since she is not a Nerazim."

 _Say what?_

"Who is there?" Vorazun finally wanted to know. Before the advisor could say anything else, a lithe female Protoss shoved herself into Vorazun's private chambers. Her golden armor reflected the surrounding light and it was almost too bright to directly look at her. Yet even then Vorazun immediately recognized the mighty Templar standing in front of her.

"Selendis?" The Executor bowed her head. Even though it was a sign of respect, it looked like she had a real problem with being here. Her whole body-language showed how uneasy she felt.

"Matriarch Vorazun, I was wondering if you could help me with some, uhm, advice."

* * *

The moment Tesson stepped out of the Matriarch's chambers, he was greeted by the sight of the one thing he despised the most.

The warrior that wanted to talk to the Matriarch was not of his kind. It was a Khalai, and even though Tesson didn't really care about who Artanis' second-in-command was, he recognized Executor Selendis immediately. As he walked past her, she looked at him and frowned.

"A greeting would be appreciated, Warrior." the Executor snarled and Tesson stopped for a second. He clenched his hands into fists and looked over his shoulder.

"My apologies, Executor. I did not see you there." Tesson lied and then he just decided to get the hell out of this place. Not even in their new home he and his kind were allowed to stay among themselves. What would be next? Purifiers and Tal'darim would come here as well? The very thought caused Tesson to shudder in anger.

"Nerazim and discipline..." he could hear Selendis growl. "...those two things are mutually exclusive." Tesson felt the cold rage inside his chest when he heard those words. His wrist blade started to glow and he almost activated it, but then fought back the anger and braced himself. No, not here. Not now. Besides, he was no match for the Executor. He knew that. His expertise was to strike from the shadows and much to his own dismay, he knew that should he choose to attack the Executor right here and now, his brethren would not come to _his_ aid, but _hers_.

He had told Vorazun about his fear, about his sadness. But he hadn't told her everything.

He hadn't told her about the hate. Even now he could feel how it gnawed at the edges of his mind. Tesson had tried to control it, to ignore it. But it was getting worse. And now that he saw Selendis, he was again reminded of the fact that his people had lost everything, while the Khalai had regained everything.

It wasn't fair.

IT WASN'T FAIR!

There's a point. A point of no return. If you reach it, you have one last chance to turn around. But once you head further, there is no way to turn back anymore. Tesson had just reached the point. As he walked downstairs and towards the exit of the former Khalai Nexus, he knew that he had to do something. If no one else was willing to fight for his people, then he had to be the one to do it. He was not brave, he was no hero like the great Zeratul. But sometimes fate doesn't wait for the right one to appear. Sometimes you have to take it into your own hands.

If even Vorazun was unable to stem the decline of her own people, then it was the duty of everyone else to stand up and fight for what was right.

When Tesson finally stepped out of the former Khalai Nexus and looked up to the sky, he could see small objects in the sky. Even from the surface of this world, you could see the tiny dots that were the Golden Armada.

Tesson had never considered himself a patriot, but when he looked up to the sky and saw the mighty hammer the Khalai used to smash their enemies into pieces, he came to a realization.

What if the mighty hammer would fall?

It was this very moment when Tesson made the decision to act. Not for himself, but for his people. He would show every Protoss out there that the Nerazim weren't just victims. That they had sacrificed more than anyone else. As he stared up at the sky and lay gaze upon the Golden Armada, a plan started to form inside his mind. What if he would show everyone how weak and powerless the children of Aiur truly were?

Maybe they would condemn him for that. Maybe Vorazun would even punish him. But later generation would benefit from it, that he was certain of.

And so Tesson decided to take matters into his own hands.

* * *

"Selendis?" The Executor took a deep breath (so to speak) the moment hers and Vorazun's eyes met. She felt uneasy just being inside the Matriarch's chambers. The dark stone and the green drapery that presented the predominant colors the Nerazim liked so much was pretty much the exact opposite of the golden and blue colors her people preferred. Maybe they enjoyed these dark colors because it made it easier to hide in the shadows?

Selendis banned that thought from her mind. It wasn't important. And what was not important had no right to exist inside the disciplined mind of a true Templar.

But even for her, there were things that occupied her minds, thoughts that she couldn't order to leave her alone. And much to her own annoyance she knew no one else who could help her with that little problem.

"Forgive me my late intrusion, Matriarch." the Executor bowed her head a bit forward. Vorazun's own people would have pressed their foreheads against the floor, yet the Matriarch knew that this was the biggest sign of respect the Executor would ever offer to her. She didn't mind though, she liked Selendis. For all her strength and discipline, the Khalai was rather inexperienced when it came to social etiquette.

"...if I had known that this was supposed to be the end of your day I would have come here some other time. Yet I require assistant in a rather...delicate matter." Her words made Vorazun blink. Selendis? Being ambiguous? That was new. When the Matriarch didn't react, Selendis shook her head.

"Forgive me, I should have known better. I will leave now." As she turned around, Vorazun finally raised a hand and gestured the Executor to stay.

"No! Wait, Selendis. I apologize. Yes, it has been a long day. But I am always willing to hear about your problem. Please, take a seat." For a moment Selendis didn't move. It almost looked like she was counting down?

But then she finally decided to move closer.

"Please, take a seat Executor." Vorazun said again and offered the larger woman a place to sit down.

"Thank you for your offer, but I prefer to stand." Selendis replied. For a moment Vorazun thought about urging her to sit down, but then she relented.

"Very well. But please forgive me my curiosity, I simply have to ask: What brings you here? Do not understand me wrong, I am happy to see you here. But I cannot help but wonder what would bring the Executor herself here to my doorsteps?" Vorazun could see how Selendis' whole body tensed up.

"I...I require advice." she simply said.

"I figured as much. Still, I can only offer advice if you tell me what your problem is."

"It is not I who has a problem, but the Hierarch." Selendis' words caused Vorazun to blink in surprise.

"Is something wrong with Artanis?" The way she casually used the Hierarch's name made Selendis clench her hands into fists, yet she kept her emotions in check.

"The Hierarch...ever since Alarak has announced that he would take the Tal'darim away from Aiur, and the Purifiers have secluded themselves to debate wherever they too should leave the planet. He is in his office thinking about a solution. It has been days, but he refuses to do anything but to, well, think." Of course, Vorazun knew about that, but she also knew that she couldn't just walk into the Hierarch's office and "talk things through". For all their strength and discipline, the Templars had problems with asking others for help. They liked to solve their problems on their own.

"And you would like to hear my opinion on how to help him with this burden?" Vorazun asked.

"Actually, I believe I already have a solution for that. I have asked Karax to prepare a demonstration of his newest invention near the southern plateau. I even asked the Phasesmith to explain me everything about this invention of his-" She suddenly shuddered as if she remembered something very unpleasant. "No, I do not need help with that, Matriarch. There is something else I would like to ask. It is rather...personal." For a moment it seemed as if Selendis would simply turn around and walk away. But then she straightened herself.

"Matriarch, do the Nerazim do when they, uhm, fancy someone."

Vorazun's eyes widened in surprise. If she would have possessed a jaw, it would have hit the ground by now. So it was true. She had suspected something, but now-

"So..." Vorazun began.

"Yes." Selendis cut her off. "Please, this is not easy for me. I think...oh no, this was a mistake." She turned around and walked towards the exit. "Forget that I was even here, forget everything I just said. I am sorry that I wasted your time, Matriarch."

"Selendis..." The gentle voice of Vorazun made the Executor stop. She looked over her shoulder and could see how the Matriarch's eyes gave off a warm glow. "...please, do not be ashamed. Nothing that you say here will reach anyone but me. I give you my word."

"The word of a Nerazim?" Selendis spoke out her thoughts, only to realize that a second later.

"Forgive me, I...I'm..."

"It is fine, Selendis. Inside these walls, it is alright to speak out your thoughts. We Nerazim know that sometimes emotions like frustration lead to sudden outburst if we do not talk about them. That is why we usually have friends and family who listen to our words without judging us."

"Friends and families." Selendis repeated Vorazun's words. For all her strength and discipline, Selendis was oblivious to life-concepts of anyone who wasn't Khalai. Vorazun, on the other hand, had plenty of experience dealing with personal problems of her people. Her mother had trained her for decades and she realized that she had to offer Selendis an opening.

"Selendis...I may call you Selendis, yes?" she asked. The Executor looked like she initially wanted to refuse, but then she only nodded.

"Correct me if I am wrong, but the Templars do not have concepts like families and lovers among their ranks. Am I right?" When Vorazun spoke out the word "lovers", Selendis blushed.

"No. While romantic relationships between two fellow warriors are not unusual, duty always comes first. And once a Protoss is born, his or her abilities are measured and then they usually are raised by the casts they belong to." Vorazun knew all that, but she wanted to hear it from Selendis. Maybe it would help the Executor to focus by speaking it out loud.

"So you have never met your parents? You do not have families and parents do not raise their children themselves?" Vorazun kept her voice as neutral as possible. She didn't want Selendis to think that she judged her or her people. Even though the Khalai didn't show it, they too were in pain. The Nerazim had lost their homeworld and mourned it, but the Khalai had lost their way of life. The caste-system had been abolished and now they had to face a frightening new ally: Freedom of choice. For people who were used to a strict caste-system, this could be more frightening than facing an Ultralisk head-on.

"No. Sometimes individuals meet their _birth-parents_." She was clearly not used to that term. "But it hardly matters. We spent our life within the caste we belong to, hone our skills and help to make society better. Well, we used to do that." she said, referring to the fact that there weren't any castes anymore.

"Do you know who your father and mother were?" Vorazun wanted to know. Even she knew about the rumors. Selendis shrugged her shoulders.

"My mother was a Zealot who fell during the initial invasion of Aiur. My father..." She stopped for a moment. "...he was a high-ranking Templar." She then shook her head. "It doesn't matter, both are dead. Besides, I only met them once for a short time. Why do you want to know about them?"

"Because sometimes our parents are like a mirror, showing parts of us we are not aware of ourselves." Vorazun said with a cryptic voice. She then stood up and walked towards the balcony. As she looked out of the room towards the landscape of Aiur, her heart was filled with sadness. She too longed for the sights of Shakuras, yet unlike her people she had not the luxury to show her emotions to others.

"I met your father once, Selendis." Vorazun finally said. "That was when we first encountered the Zerg. I first heard about him when Zeratul spoke to my mother about him. I was furious that the Dark Prelate wanted to establish contact with someone from Aiur, an Executor of all people!" She chuckled when she remembered those days. "I had an argument with my mother. I told her that she was a fool for allowing this. To me, all Khalai were vicious fascists who only had one goal; to slaughter all Nerazim."

"That is-" Selendis said with anger in her voice. But Vorazun only raised her hand to show the Executor that she wasn't done yet.

"Of course that is not the truth, Selendis. I know that now. But back then I was still caught up in my own illusions. My anger towards my mother made me do something reckless and stupid. I sneaked onto the vessel that took Zeratul and some other Dark Templar to the world where they wanted to meet your people. Zeratul, of course, knew that I was on board, only I could be so inexperienced and foolish to believe no one had noticed me. He kept me safe, yet at the same time he allowed me to watch when he made contact with the Executor." And then Vorazun sighed.

"I wanted to hate him. But everything about him was just so...impressive. His will, his calm voice, his clear thoughts...and the genuine intention of bringing our people together. I envied your people, Selendis. I wished that we had such a leader among our ranks." She then chuckled again. "But do not tell that to anyone, they might not like to hear that." She put her hands together. "Later on he even spoke to me. I had disguised myself as an ordinary Nerazim, yet I believe he saw right through my disguise. He told me that he had a daughter that was of the same age..." She around and looked Selendis right into the eyes.

"I can see a lot of him in you, Selendis. You radiate the same inner strength the mighty Tassadar did." Selendis lowered her gaze. Like said, members of the Khalai usually never met their parents or had a special connection to them. Besides, she knew that she was not nearly on the same level as the mighty Tassadar.

The good thing was that no one had compared her to the great Executor, who had slain the vile Overmind. That was the last thing she needed.

"So...does this person know that you fancy him?" Vorazun finally asked. Selendis's eyes widened in shock as she heard these words.

"What? No, this is not about me! And I do not know about anyone who would-" she stuttered.

"Artanis." Vorazun simply said. The name of the Hierarch was enough to silence the Executor. So obvious...

"I...I am...I am unsure of...I simply do not know how to deal with this." Selendis finally said, her gaze directed at the floor beneath her. "...I wish to help the Hierarch. I can see that he is in pain...and I can feel it in my own chest. Yet I do not know how to approach him. How to...make him understand."

"Tell him." Vorazun simply said.

"I beg your pardon?" Selendis asked.

"Tell him about your feelings."

"But that would be...improper." Vorazun sighed at Selendis's words. She walked over to the couch and sat down.

"Selendis, please sit down. Let us talk about this..." The Executor hesitated again, but then she finally relented. When she finally sat down, they started to talk.

They talked through the entire night...

And when the sun finally started to rise again, Selendis's laughter started to echo through the Matriarch's chambers when Vorazun told her of the one time when she had been a little girl and ruined an entire meeting of her mother's advisors by flooding the whole Citadel with water.

* * *

Artanis wasn't in the mood to talk. He was studying reports and writing orders. A large Zerg colony had been discovered near the south pole. He had to dispatch troops that would deal with this threat. But who to sent? The Purifiers? While he had no doubt that Talandar would eagerly volunteer for this mission, he wasn't so certain about the other Purifiers. And not only them.

He couldn't send Tal'darim forces to deal with that threat as well. They were probably already preparing to leave Aiur. How could he allow someone to fight for Aiur when these warriors didn't even putt their faith in their sacred homeworld?

And the Nerazim? Yes, the Nerazim. Capable warriors, but they too were too busy with their own problems.

Curse them.

Curse them all.

As he stood behind his desk, anger flowed through his whole being. In the end, he had to ask those for help he could truly trust.

"Where did it all go wrong?!" he yelled, grabbed his desk and simply threw it through the entire room. As the heavy object crashed against the wall, his hands clenched into fists.

So much for a united Protosskind. If that was how they wanted to do things, very well. He wouldn't risk this world and his people if no one else was willing to lend him a hand. The Templar still needed him. He looked out of the window and saw how a new day finally started.

"If you want something done right..." he growled before stomping towards the door of his office.

He would slay them himself. He would go there, take some Templar, and purge these damn Zerg for good. And if the Nerazim, Purifier and Tal'darim didn't like this world, then they should get the hell off his planet...


	17. Act I - Chapter 9

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter 9**

 **Super Smash Brothers (and Sisters)**

* * *

''Hold the left flank! Do not allow them to gain a foothold on that side!'' Talandar yelled with his artificially reinforced voice. Thanks to it, he could be heard pretty much all over the battlefield. His freshly repaired body still showed where Karax had tinkered with it. As far as Talandar was concerned, this body was a masterpiece and he had to thank the Phasesmith for putting some much effort and ingenuity into this body. Yet the parts where Ji'Nara had pierced through his metal body hadn't been painted yet, and as a result, they still looked like he was some kind of puzzle. Truth to be told: He liked it. It was the Purifiers equivalent of scars. And a warrior showed his scars with pride!

"Horrash, watch out!" The huge Zealot next to him looked ahead and nodded.

"I see them!" he replied. A whole bunch of Zerglings was storming right towards them. While one or two Zerglings were hardly a threat to a battle-hardened Protoss-warrior, more than three hundred could prove to be quite the challenge.

"You take the ones on your side, I take care of the others!" Talandar ordered. Horrash nodded again and reignited his psi-blades. Even though they had just slain countless of Zergs, he had deactivated his blades immediately after that skirmish. It was a strange habit of that huge Zealot, but one Talandar could tolerate.

The first Zergling didn't even realize what hit him when Horrash's psi-blades cut him in half. He threw himself against the incoming tide that was made out of teeth and claws and stabbed the next Zergling with a low blow through the entire body. The damned critter roared in anger and pain when Horrash simply lifted it high into the air and threw the heavy body into the path of the other Zerglings. At least two were hit by their dead comrade and buried beneath its mutilated body. The others simply ran past that obstacle, not caring about their comrades at all.

Though the word "comrade" wasn't exactly the most fitting description when talking about the Zerg.

Horrash acted the moment he saw the opening. He stormed forward and made a mighty leap into the air. For a second Talandar wondered if the huge Zealot had gone suicidal, but when he landed on the three Zerglings, he rammed his psi-blades into the skulls of the ones who were still alive before slicing up the sides of those who were just passing him.

 _Impressive_. Talandar thought.

Zergling were deadly strikers, their speed was only matched by few high-speed-units. But when running at full speed their turning-rate was pathetic. They were, after all, just the Zerg's version of rapid-fire.

Watching Horrash would not accomplish much, so Talandar decided to jump the enemy as well. With glowing psi-blades, he killed the first three Zerglings before they could even touch him. Red Zerg-blood gushed against Talandar's chest and he could the warm liquid on his cold metal-skin. It was exhilarating! Karax had done some magic on this body. Normal people would probably be disgusted when hot and sticky blood would hit their skin, but Talandar marveled at the freshly rediscovered sensation.

Horrash decapitated another Zergling before he turned around and fought his way over to the Sentinel. Soon they were standing back to back, stabbing and slicing all the enemies that were foolish enough to get too close to them.

It was a strange sight: Both huge Protoss looked like a rock that stood inside the raging torrents of a wild river. Not all Zerglings threw themselves at them, some just passed them and tried to take the next hill, where other Protoss were fighting as well.

This wasn't the start of this whole fight. They had been battling the Zerg for more than half a day now. The former green meadows of the valley had turned into a dead battlefield, covered with countless dead Zergs and one or two destroyed Dragoons. They had sacrificed themselves so others could live and there was no time to grief. Besides, they had been warriors and now they were one with the Khala.

Well, only that the Khala was no more. But if the Khala was no more, how could they-

"Talandar, watch out!" Horrash barked. Talandar cursed at himself. He had allowed his thoughts to cloud his judgment. In the heat of battle, this was an unforgivable mistake. Behind them, the ground started to shake and when the Hydralisks broke through the soil, Talandar knew that he was in trouble. His torso turned around and he managed to cut one Hydralisk into pieces. Unfortunately, there were six of them, not counting the dead one. The one next to Horrash threw himself on the huge Zealot. Both Horrash and the Hydralisk were rolling over the dirty ground, caught in a deadly wrestling match. Talandar calculated his chances for survival and the number was pathetically low. He raised his psi-blades high above his own head, ready to die in battle all over again. The first two Hyralisks moved closer. Saliva was dripping from their disgusting maws and their small and red eyes looked at him with nothing but mad anger.

Their red eyes...their red blood...their red psi-blades...

Wait, red psi-blades on Hydralisks?

Even though his mind was technically a computer, he still needed a moment to realize that the red psi-blades weren't part of the Hyralisk on the right side. The creature hissed in confusion as the red energy weapon emerged from its chest. It looked down as if its tiny brain tried to comprehend why there were two psi-blades coming out of its chest. But the confusion only lasted for a second before Ji'Nara finally decided to rip that dreadful monstrosity into two pieces. She didn't even hesitate for one second before throwing herself at her next enemy. Ji'Nara was a glowing red tornado, bringing death to all that dared to stand in her way. By the time Horrash finally managed to grab the Hydralisk's head and break its neck with a swift move, the last of its brethren had already been slain. The huge Zealot got back on his feet and looked around.

"Impressive." he simply stated.

"Save your compliments for someone who cares!" Ji'Nara snarled. "We got company!" She pointed at a point behind Talandar and Horrash. Both warriors turned around and for a moment they froze. The whole earth started to shake as the huge Ultralisk charged right at them. Both Talandar and Horrash exchanged looks and only nodded. They raised their psi-blades, ready to take the beast head on!

"Out of the way, fools!" Ji'Nara roared as she ran directly towards the mighty beast. Both Talandar and Horrash couldn't believe their eyes, yet the Tal'darim didn't pay any attention to them. She was about to claim that kill, no matter what! Running towards an Ultralisk was probably not the smartest idea. Unless you're a battle-hardened Tal'darim-veteran. In that case, the Ultralisk was the one to pity. Neither Horrash nor Talandar could keep up with Ji'Nara's speed. They slowed down, unsure of what to do next. Thankfully, the Tal'darim-warrior knew exactly what to do. The mighty Ultralisk lifted its gigantic claws, ready to squish the tiny little Protoss beneath it. But as its claws slammed into the ground, Ji'Nara was already below the mighty creature.

A horrible roar filled the air when the Ultralisk screamed in pain and anger. Ji'Nara rammed both her blades into his right, stubby front-leg. As she shredded muscles and tendons, the whole creature above her quivered as it started to lose its balance. But the warrior didn't care for that. Instead, she moved towards the rear end of the Ultralisk until its belly was right above her. As she ran, she rammed her psi-blades up and ripped the beast's belly wide open.

Blood and ridiculous huge intestines fell out of the huge wounds. A lot of that stuff fell on Ji'Nara, but the Tal'darim didn't even hesitate one second. Once she reached the other end of the Ultralisk, she jumped up and ran over its hard carapace. The creature, already mortally wounded, couldn't keep up with Ji'Nara's raw speed. She reached the neck of the Ultralisk and slashed with both her psi-blades into the small gap between two bone-plates. A gurgling sound left the throat of the dying Ultralisk, but Ji'Nara didn't stop even one second. Again and again, she slashed, stabbed and ripped tissue from the Zerg's neck. Blood and gore sprayed everywhere and when the Ultralisk finally fell, she climbed on top of the head and jumped to the ground with a mighty leap. The Zerg simply collapsed behind her, drawing a terminal breath. Then it was dead.

As Ji'Nara stood right in front of Horrash and Talandar, her whole body was covered with dark, red blood. Pieces of flesh were hanging from her black armor. Usually, the warriors of the Tal'darim had spikes and blades all over their armors, but Talandar realized that Ji'Nara had removed those things from her armor. It was still black, well, right now it was mostly red, but under all that blood it was still black. Yet it was much less menacing now. That didn't mean that the warrior wearing the armor was any less dangerous, however. Ji'Nara looked around. All Zerg in the vicinity were dead, but they could still hear the sounds of battle close to them.

"Impressive." Talandar simply said. Ji'Nara didn't answer, she just walked past the two other warriors.

"You are too slow." she simply snarled. Both Talandar and Horrash stepped aside as she walked past them.

"You know..." Horrash said. "...she scares me more than that Ultralisk." Talandar nodded when he heard that.

"Yes. She is certainly...ferocious."

"That is not exactly the word I would use to describe her." the bigger Zealot mumbled.

"I heard that!" Ji'Nara yelled over her shoulder.

* * *

"This is bad." Selendis said as she looked down on the battlefield. From her carrier, she could see the entire plateau. And truth to be told: She hadn't seen that many Zerg since the first failed invasion of Aiur. But numbers alone didn't mean much when dealing with Zerg. She could only see Zerglings, Hydralisks...and a gutted Ultralisk. Deadly, yes. But there were no banelings, defilers or air-units. That meant that under normal circumstances the Protoss could use their superior strength and tactics to defeat their opponents. Under normal circumstances.

This battle, however, was far from a usual one. On the contrary, as Selendis witnessed the battle beneath her, she couldn't remember the last time she had witnessed such a chaos.

Small groups of Protoss were fighting all over the wide plateau. They were surrounded by huge numbers of Zerg and each and every group was caught in a brutal fight for their own survival. Selendis was not Executor because she was pretty, but because she was a capable leader and commander. She immediately saw that this operation was a huge disaster. There was no solid front line, the Protoss weren't able to move at all and the Zerg had the initiative. Selendis knew a lost battle when she saw one and she could even see some destroyed Dragoon-chassis. No, this was not a battle, it was nothing but a chaotic brawl. To think that some of the Protoss' finest warriors were down there. Her Templar-soul insider her chest was close to bursting. She had to act!

"Templar, can you locate the position of the Hierarch?" The Templar who stood next to the scanners shook his head.

"I am sorry, Executor...but the battlefield is chaos. I receive various requests for help from all over the area. It appears that our brothers and sisters are relieved to see us, Executor."

"Did the Hierarch come here without any dedicated air-support." she mused. The forces on the ground consisted of Zealots and Dragoons, she could even see some High Templar. But there was nothing else, no heavy weaponry, no air-units. From the tactical point of view, it was reckless and stupid. An inexperienced commander might have made such a mistake, but the Hierarch was neither reckless nor inexperienced. Selendis analyzed the situation for a moment and then she decided to act.

"Prepare for combat!" she barked. She looked over to the commander of her carrier. "Commander, you will remain above the battlefield and provide air-support to our warriors on the ground. Let some of your assets scout the entire area. Should they find the Hierarch, I want you to establish contact with him immediately. And inform me should you find him." The carrier-commander confirmed his orders before Selendis turned towards the other warriors.

"Folara, you will take the warriors and support our brothers and sisters on the ground. Extract the wounded and rally the remaining troops. I want that you establish a working line of defense. Keep close contact to the carrier and call in for air-support when you need it." The female Protoss named Folara bowed her head.

"Good. I will take a small group of warriors and we will try to locate the Hierarch." She then turned around to the only non-warrior on the bridge.

"Karax, will that modified pylon do what you said it could?" she asked the Phasesmith. Karax looked at the instruments in his hands.

"From what I can say: Yes. But I will require a secured position so I can properly set it up." he said.

"And you shall have it." Selendis replied and looked at the carrier-commander. "Commander, provide the Phasesmith with the tools so he can perform his duty. I authorize the use of heavy equipment. Use phase-cannons to shield the pylon from any harm if necessary. Once everything is done, inform me immediately and begin with the evacuation." Karax tried to say something, but Selendis was faster than he was.

"Yes, Karax, I know. You said that the bursts of this pylon are harmless to Protoss, but I will not risk the life of even one of our people right now. Only if the situation changes drastically I will consider it. Until then my orders stand. Is that understood?" She did not only mean Karax. Everybody on the bridge saluted, and even Karax nodded at her.

"En Taro Tassadar!" they all yelled in unison.

* * *

"We cannot hold out much longer!" Horrash yelled before impaling another Zergling with his psi-blades. Countless bodies of dead Zerg surrounded them, yet there was simply no end to their numbers! By now it was clear that they had brought not enough troops to purge this infestation.

"We have to! The Hierarch is counting on us!" Talander replied. He threw himself against a Hydralisk and rammed his shoulder into the open maw of that disgusting slug with teeth. Bones broke and red blood sprayed on his metal-shoulder. The huge creature stumbled, well, slithered backward and Talandar grabbed one of the creature's scythe-arms. He used his psi-blade to cut off the arm of his opponent. The Hydralisk gurgled in anger and pain and the carapace on the back of the Zerg opened. Suddenly Talandar looked into countless venom-filled and armor-piercing spines. While the venom wasn't really an issue, the armor-piercing-property was.

But before the Hydralisk could take Talandar with it, the red psi-blades slashed the creature from behind, turning its entire spine into molten flesh and charred bones. The heavy body of the creature lost all strength and when it collapsed into Talandar's arms, it was already dead.

Ji'Nara didn't even waste one word on her allies as she ran towards the next opponent, a very unlucky Hydralisk who had no more spines left. Talandar threw the dead body to the side and both he and Horrash watched in awe and fear how Ji'Nara turned the Hydralisk into pieces of bloody meat. When she was done, she didn't even wait one second to take a breath. She scanned the area, saw some more enemies and just stormed right towards them.

"I have no idea how she can keep this up." Horrash said. He was a Zealot and as such he was in peak physical condition. But since he was bigger than ordinary warriors he carried a lot of weight with him.

"She is thin and lean. Those muscles don't weigh as much and have you seen her armor?" Talandar said. "She has removed parts of it. All the ornamental things as well as everything that isn't important. It offers little protection, but she can move with an incredible speed." He then shrugged his shoulders. "However, it is beyond me how she is able to keep up this speed all the time."

"I HEARD THAT!" a furious Ji'Nara roared as she tore another Hydralisk into two pieces. "LESS TALKING, MORE FIGHTING!" Both Talandar and Horrash exchanged looks before they reignited their psi-blades and rushed to their ferocious comrade's side. As the killing went on, Horrash managed to take a look at the battlefield.

"We are outnumbered and cut off from the main force. We should regroup with the others!" the Zealot suggested

"Who says that there is a main force?" Talandar replied. "This chaos has been going on ever since we set foot on this cursed plateau. I cannot understand what the Hierarch is hoping to achieve here. It certainly is not about claiming victory!" Horrash wanted to say something. To him, it was rather insolent to talk about the Hierarch like this. But then he remembered who he was talking to and kept his thoughts to himself.

"Ji'Nara, we need to fall back!" Horrash instead yelled to the Tal'darim who was killing Zerg like she got paid for it.

"I'M BUSY!" she just yelled back before gutting another Hydralisk. How many had she killed today? Eight? Nine? It didn't look like she was about to stop anytime soon. And let's not talk about that goddamn Ultralisk. Speaking of which...

"Oh no, not again." Horrash mumbled as the ground beneath them started to shake. By now he could identify the creature that was hiding beneath them simply by the strength of the tremors. And those tremors were big ones.

"Ultralisks!" he yelled. But Talandar shook his mechanical head.

"No. Worse." They looked into each other's eyes and Horrash understood what the Sentinel meant.

"LURKER!" The moment they yelled out their enemies name, countless spikes broke through the soil right next to them. Like a spiky whip that traveled through the ground, the Lurkers' attacks moved right towards them. Both Horrash and Talandar had not much time to react. They threw themselves to the side and the spikes missed them. But that didn't mean that they were safe. Just when they dodged the first attack, the next one rolled towards them.

"We need to keep moving!" Talandar yelled.

"We need help!" Horrash replied.

"You need to shut up!" Ji'Nara roared as she ran past them. Even though they couldn't see the Lurkers as they hid underground, they could locate them by following their attacks. It was a suicidal tactic, like running right into machine gun-fire in order to find the machine gunner. But apparently, no one had told Ji'Nara that. She jumped high up in the air and used a mighty leap to cross the ground beneath her. She rammed a psi-blade into the ground and a horrible groan echoed through the soil. Blood gushed from the ground like a huge fountain. It covered the last clean spot on Ji'Nara's body with red Zerg-blood, yet the Tal'darim didn't care one bit. She pushed her hands into the ground and started to pull.

"Come here, you pathetic thing!" she yelled as she ripped the buried creature apart. First, she dug up stones, then carapace, then flesh. And finally internal organs. The creature didn't stop screaming until she started to dig up dirt again. Only then it finally stopped to scream.

"Did she just...kill a Lurker with her bare hands?" Horrash asked.

"Incredible." Talandar mumbled. Ji'Nara, on the other hand, had no time to listen to their words. She looked up to the horizon and saw how even more Zerg were advancing to their position. Horrash followed her gaze and he too saw the Zerg.

"There's just no end to them." he said. Ji'Nara climbed out of the meat-hole and brushed off some pieces of flesh that clung to her armor.

"The more the merrier." she simply said as she reignited her psi-blades. "Let them come I say." She went into battle-stance, ready to chop the next wave into pieces...

...when suddenly from behind several Scout Fighters roared over their heads and opened fire on the Zerg on the ground. Horrash turned around in surprise.

"Air-support? Finally!" he said. Talandar too felt relieved. Yes, it was about time that something worked in their favor. Only Ji'Nara seemed to be angry. Perhaps she thought that these fighters would steal her kills.

"Not only air-support, Horrash." Talandar said. "Look!" He pointed at an area a few dozen meters behind them. The bright blue flashes of incoming warp-signatures showed that reinforcements finally had arrived.

"At last." Horrash sighed and Talandar agreed from the bottom of his artificial heart. Huge numbers of Zealots, Templars and even some Dragoons warped in. It didn't take long and the three warriors were surrounded by allies.

"Protect them! Form a defensive perimeter! And watch that left flank!" they heard a familiar voice. Talandar's optics blinked in surprise.

"Selendis?" he asked. From the other warriors moved aside and one slender figure emerged and walked right up to them.

"That is still _Executor_ Selendis." she said before offering her hand to Talandar. The Purifier couldn't help but to feel surprised. She had never offered him her hand before. He only hesitated for a moment though before he grabbed her arm and shook it. "It is good to see that you are still in one piece." Selendis said before looking over to Horrash. "You too." She looked past the two warriors over to Ji'Nara, but the Tal'darim just "tsked" and removed some Zerg-flesh from her armor.

"Executor, by the Ancestors!" Horrash said. "It is good to see you! We have been fighting these beasts for over half a day now, yet there is simply no end to them!"

"That might be so, warrior..." Selendis began. "...but that does not explain why you and the others are all spread out over this entire valley. What happened here? And where is the Hierarch?" she wanted to know. Both Horrash and Talandar exchanged looks before shrugging their shoulders.

"That we do not know, Sele...Executor." Talandar corrected himself. "When we warped in, the Zerg were still inactive. The Hierarch told us to disperse and hunt in small groups. He said that, and I quote: If few Khalai defeat many Zerg, the honor will speak for itself." Selendis frowned when she heard those words. That didn't sound like Artanis. That didn't sound like him at all.

"And what about the Hierarch then? Is he here? Fighting somewhere in this valley." Again the warriors shrugged their shoulders.

"Forgive us, Executor..." Horrash said. "...last time we saw him, the Hierarch stormed off to slay Zerg. We have been fighting Zerg ever since. We met others, but usually we have to evade the Zerg when they are too strong and strike them down when they are weak." the huge Zealot told her. He was easily three heads larger than Selendis, yet no one in the vicinity considered for one second that he was stronger than the Executor.

"What he tries to tell you..." Ji'Nara suddenly joined their conversation. "...is that the Hierarch stormed off with bloodlust in his eyes. He is out there to clench his thirst for carnage." Ji'Nara reignited her red psi-blade as if she wanted to look for her next victim. Selendis looked back to Horrash and Talandar.

"Is that the truth, warriors?" she wanted to know. Both the Zealot and the Sentinel lowered their gazes.

"Yes... they simply said. It was Talandar who continued. "He was angry, Executor. Selendis." He finally decided to use her name instead of her rank. Technically he wasn't part of the Khalai anyway. "Not just angry, furious. Yet he denied me the chance to talk to him. I do not know what has caused it, but he seemed very stressed."

"Oh, I know what has caused this." Selendis mumbled. "We need to find him though. And we have to do it fast. We cannot allow him to fall to the Zerg. We find him, save him and then _I_ am going to kill him for causing me such a headache!"

* * *

Artanis wasn't far away actually. Only a couple of kilometers to be exact. He too was busy slaying Zerg. There simply was no end to them and for the first time in his life, he was happy about that. That meant that he didn't have to stop killing. And killing Zerg was pretty much the only thing that helped him to keep his anger in check.

From the tactical point of view, this whole operation was not just a fiasco, it was a stupidity of the highest order. But it wasn't about tactics. It wasn't about strategy either. He had claimed that, had told that to the warriors who had joined him: We are the Khalai, this is our home, it is our sacred duty to fight until the last Zerg is dead! Plenty of warriors had followed him. Some too wanted to cleanse Aiur once and for all. Others wanted to show the Tal'darim, Nerazim, and Purifier what it truly meant to be a Khalai-warrior.

And others were just out for blood.

There were at least two non-Khalai among his troops. Talandar, whom he still considered a friend, even though the Purifiers were probably already preparing to leave Aiur, and that vicious Tal'darim-warrior. What was her name again? Ji'Nara. He knew her, but not very well. Apparently, she belonged to Alarak's inner circle. Alarak...just thinking about the Tal'darim's leader caused Artanis's blood to boil. He grabbed a wounded Zergling, who tried to escape the mighty Templar's glowing blades and ripped the poor creature into two pieces. Blood sprayed on his golden and white armor, yet he couldn't care less about any of this. He continued to kill because it helped him to focus his mind. And it kept him from doing something very stupid.

Like telling Alarak and the Purifiers to jump into the next endless pit.

Why was it so hard to understand? Why didn't they see what he saw? _Why were they so blind?!_

"WHY WILL THEY NOT LISTEN!" he roared as he rammed his psi-blade into the chest of an unlucky Hydralisk who tried to sneak up from behind. The creature's tail thrashed from one side to the other while more blood gushed out of its maw, covering the Hierarch in even more red liquid.

"Hierarch!" a nearby High Templar floated over to him. Right now Artanis couldn't remember the Templar's name. He was a good warrior and a trustworthy friend, but the rage clouded the Hierarch's senses. All he saw was more blood, more flesh, and more dead Zerg.

If fancy words would convince neither the Tal'darim nor the Purifier, maybe ruthless aggression would do the job. A crazy thought, yes. But what if they saw that after Amon's death the Khalai were the undisputed alphas of the galaxy, wouldn't it be wiser to be their ally instead of leaving the planet? If leading by example and kindness wasn't the key, maybe leading by anger and strength would be the better option.

"Hierarch!" the Templar repeated Artanis' title. "See there! Additional troops have arrived!" Artanis turned his head around. It was true: He could see the glorious form of a Carrier moving closer. Not just any carrier, no, it was the Executor's command-carrier.

"Thank the Ancestors." another Protoss near them mumbled. "Finally some assistance."

"What did you say?!" Artanis roared in anger. He turned towards the Zealot and stomped right towards him. As they were face to face, he could feel the fear in the other Protoss's entire being. "Say that again!" he hissed.

"Hierarch? Did I say something wrong?" the frightened Zealot asked. He had no idea why the Hierarch was so furious.

"If these damn beasts are too much for you then you should probably stop being a warrior!" Artanis spat out. The Zealot went pale as he heard those words. The other Templar seemed to be shocked as well.

"Hierarch! This is outrageous. Kohsch is a warrior of the highest honors, he would never run away from an enemy! All he said is that he is glad to see more allies!" But Artanis had no time for that. He waved his hand from one side to the other and turned back to the Zerg on the edge of the battlefield. They were already coming closer.

"Do not waste my time with that!" he said. Suddenly there was a bright flash behind him, and then another. And another. Incoming warp-signals, someone was sending additional troops. Well, if someone was throwing additional Zealots into his general direction, he wouldn't complain. He didn't even turn around as he raised his voice.

"Warriors! Prepare for battle! There are Zerg that need to be slain!" he roared. He could already hear how the newly arrived Protoss behind him came closer. Until a new voice reached everyone's ear.

"Ignore the Hierarch's order!" Artanis's eyes widened in surprise and he turned around in anger.

"Selendis?!" he shouted. "What is thi-" However, he didn't get very far.

" _Executor_ Selendis, Hierarch." she reminded him of her title. Countless warriors poured onto the battlefield. Behind Selendis, Talandar barked orders and led the freshly arrived troops against the Zerg. And there was a single Tal'darim who ran towards the next Ultralisk, screaming in bloody murderer. A pretty large Zealot tried to follow her, but he seemed rather stressed.

"So you have brought additional troops." Artanis said, ignoring Selendis's orders. "Have them fight the Zerg. With their help, we will crush them within hours." He turned around, already expecting to hear Selendis give those orders to her men. But the exact opposite happened.

"No, Hierarch. We are here to extract you and the rest of our comrades. Come on, we have to leave now." Artanis turned around and fury flowed through his entire being.

"What?!" he yelled. "This is a battlefield and there are enemies to be slain!" He could sense how cold anger flowed through Selendis's whole being. Even without the Khala, he could feel her rage.

"No, Hierarch. This is not a battlefield. It is a disaster. There is no honor here, not even a victory. What matters now is to pull back and regroup so Karax can deal with this infestation."

"Karax? What can he do?" Artanis said with a mocking tone in his voice. This was so much unlike the great and noble Artanis that everyone around them looked at him both confused and shocked. Everyone except Selendis. She walked up to him and when they were face to face, her voice was nothing but a snarling sound.

"You would know if you would have performed your duty, Hierarch. The Phasesmith waited for three days in order to meet you. Then you storm off, trying to kill every damn Zerg on the planet with your bare hands. When I returned to the Central Nexus, it was chaos! No one knew where you had gone and it took me _two days_ to sort out the mess you had left behind!" she said and Artanis crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Then why are you here now? Have you decided to abandon your duties just like everyone else? I expected more of you Sele-" He couldn't finish that sentence. Whatever was going on with him, yelling at normal warriors was one thing. But yelling at Selendis was just plain stupid. Her punch hit him straight in the face. It was so fast, he didn't even see it coming. There was a soft THUD and his eyes went wide before they started to flicker. He simply fell backward and landed on the dirty ground, lights knocked out. All the Protoss around Selendis and Artanis gasped in shock.

"You all saw what happened..." she said. "...a Hydralisk dropped from the sky and fell right on the Hierarch's head. Crazy, but he will be okay. Anyone who will claim something else will have to answer to that one over there." Selendis pointed her finger at the cursing Tal'darim-warrior in the distance who was just gutting an Ultralisk. The Executor then took a deep breath.

"Good, spread out and support the others! I will have a serious talk with the Hierarch once he regains consciousness. Talandar, take command! And make sure that this Tal'darim-"

"Here name is Ji'Nara." the Sentinel informed her.

"Fine. Make sure that this Ji'Nara doesn't depopulate the entire planet while we are not watching." Talandar only nodded and started to bark orders. The Protoss around them began to disperse and for the first time since this whole mess had started, something like a battle formation appeared on the battlefield. Selendis looked down on Artanis.

 _One._

 _Two._

 _Three._

 _Four._

 _Five..._

She opened a com-channel.

"Karax, can you hear me?"

"Yes, Executor. Have you located the Hierarch?" the Phasesmith asked. Selendis looked at the unconscious body beneath her.

"So to say." she replied. "What is your status?"

"Uhm, I am uninjured?" Karax said, which caused Selendis to groan.

"I mean: Have you finished the preparations?" she snarled.

"Oh! Oh, yes, now I see. We are almost done, Executor. The warriors have secured a perimeter and we will deploy the pylon within the next hour or so." Not what she wanted to hear, but it would suffice.

"Good. Inform me when everything is ready. Until then..." she said as the Hierarch started to groan and twitch as he regained consciousness. "...I will have a little conversation with the Hierarch." She then cut the connection and looked down on Artanis.

"What...what happened..." the Hierarch mumbled. He looked up to Selendis. "Executor? Wha...did you hit me just now?" Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Me? But Hierarch, surely you are joking. Or do I strike you as the person who assaults a superior officer?" she asked with the voice of an angel. She stretched her hand out and he hesitated for a second before he finally grabbed it. She helped him back on his feet.

"I could have sworn that-" he said with a shaky voice.

"...a Hydralisk dropped on you, Hierarch. No one saw it coming." He looked into her eyes like it was the most idiotic lie in the history of lies. Selendis saw it and as a Zealot passed them, she looked over to him.

"You, warrior! What happened to the Hierarch?" she wanted to know. He stopped only for a moment.

"A Hydralisk fell on him. I have never seen anything like it." he replied before joining his brethren on the battlefield.

"See? You should watch your surroundings, Hierarch. Hydralisks are dangerous foes." Artanis didn't bother to reply. Instead, he simply shook his head and tried to focus on the battle ahead.

"We need to deal with this infestation, we need to-" he said with a shaky voice.

"You have done quite enough, Hierarch. It is clear that you are in bad shape, I will take over." Selendis said. "Please, return to the carrier. We will talk about this later." she added with a soft tone in her voice.

"I cannot, Selendis." he then replied. "I have to do this." She looked at him. Something had changed. The rage was gone, but he still seemed to be...confused? Angry? Desperate?

"What is the matter, Hierarch?" she wanted to know.

"I cannot..." he began.

"What? You cannot what?"

"I cannot let it end like this. Not here. Not now. Everything we worked so hard for, all the sacrifices, they will all be in vain once the Tal'darim and Purifier leave. I cannot allow that, Selendis. I cannot watch how we fall apart just after we have become whole again. I cannot allow that!" His voice had a pleading and desperate tone. He looked over to the Executor. "Can you not see this? It is wrong! Everyone is just looking for their own agendas! Alarak, the Purifiers. Even the Nerazim have decided to stay among themselves. How? How can we hope to become one species again if everyone decides to not even give it a chance?" He turned his head away.

"How can I be your leader when I cannot even solve this problem?" What had been anger and rage, turned into despair in pain. Selendis could feel how her own heart ached. It wasn't right to see Artanis like this: Full of doubts and without any self-confidence.

"So you wanted to achieve what? Die as a hero so the others would be so impressed that they would stay? Become the next Adun? Or worse: The next Tassadar?" Selendis asked. Tassadar had given his life and in return, the Nerazim and Khalai had started to become allies. Was this his grand plan? If so: It sucked.

"No. No, I would never be so bold to assume that I could be on the same level as the great Tassadar." Artanis said. His shoulders sank down and suddenly he looked like he had been drained of all his strength. "I thought...I thought that if the Khalai proved to be stronger than anyone, the others would think twice instead of just abandoning us." Selendis's eyes widened as she finally realized the Hierarch's line of thoughts.

"Oh Artanis..." she whispered. Her voice was filled with sympathy. He looked at her.

"I am lost, Selendis. I do not know what to do. It is my duty to protect my people. _All_ of my people. Yet they are moving away from us, from me. I try to reach out, but they do not want to listen. I am alone. And I cannot go on anymore, Selendis. Why did we fight this war if now the only thing we can do is to throw everything away? Just so we can survive? What kind of existence is that?" Selendis had been angry at the Hierarch, but now that anger was gone. She had always thought about Artanis as a mighty and noble warrior and she still believed that. But for the first time, she saw something different: A scared, vulnerable man. Someone who was full of doubts. Someone who suffered under the weight of responsibility.

"You are not alone, Artanis." she tried to reason with him. A bitter laugh left his mind.

"Is that so? But did you not suggest me that I should look at this from a strictly tactical point of view?" he asked. She lowered her gaze as she remembered her own words, but only for a moment.

"Yes, those were my words. But are you really going to judge my whole character because of what I said back then."

"You spoke your thoughts, what else is there to say about it?" Artanis stated with bitterness in his voice.

"So you would judge my whole character just because of that stupid advice I gave you? You would call me an imbecile because I judged others too quickly? Because my mind spoke out what my heart did not see?" Selendis wondered. Artanis looked at her in shock.

"No, I...of course not...Selendis...I...I..." He stopped before he finally dropped to the knees. "Damn it. Damn it...DAMN IT ALL!" he yelled and started to slam his fist into the broken ground over and over again. She just watched how he injured his own hand. She too felt the urge to go down on her knees and put her arms around him. But now was not the time for that.

"You are not alone, Artanis." she then said. "It is true: I think of myself as a Templar first and foremost. It is what I always wanted to be. And it will be the thing I want to be during my last breaths. But that does not mean that I am so blind that I cannot learn something new." She looked at the battlefield.

"There were times when I hated the Nerazim. And there are still times where I wish they were gone."

"So I noticed." Artanis mumbled, yet Selendis choose to ignore that comment.

"...but do you know what always impressed me about them?" she asked.

"What?" the Hierarch wanted to know.

"You." she said. He looked up at her and his face showed her his confusion.

"Me?" She nodded.

"You approach others without any bias. Nerazim, Tal'darim, Purifiers, and even the Terrans. You treat them like equals. I could never do that, and I am aware of that. But I admire you for that trait." He only chuckled when he heard those words.

"Yet it did not help me one bit." he spat out.

"Oh? Is that so? Then look there!" Selendis said and pointed towards the warriors Talandar commanded. Artanis followed her gaze and frowned.

"What...are they-" he began.

"The troops that have volunteered to come here. Khalai, Nerazim, and Purifier. There are even some Tal'darim among them. They are here to help. They are here to help _you_ , Artanis." She was right, he hadn't noticed it earlier, but now he could see plenty of green, golden and red psi-blades among the warriors. Their voices could be heard all over the battlefield.

"First Ascendant Ji'Nara! We have come here so you would not claim all the honor for yourself, you wretched daughter of a rotten Zergling!" one Tal'darim yelled.

"Oh, Third Ascendant! So nice to see you! I did not recognize you at first because you are the only Protoss whose ASS LOOKS LIKE HIS FACE!" Ji'Nara shouted back.

"Well, maybe not all Tal'darim came here because of you." Selendis commented it dryly and then she shook her head. "But these are not the only ones. And as we speak, Vorazun is doing your job back at the Nexus." Now Selendis knelt down in front of Artanis and their gazes met. "Please, Hierarch...Artanis. You cannot control everyone around you. But that does not mean that you are alone. We need your guidance, your strength...and your kindness. So please, return to us. And I will promise that there will always be others who will stay at your side." he said and in a bold move decided to grab his hand. Their eyes met and suddenly he gasped in surprise.

Even with the Khala gone, the Protoss still possessed the ability to connect with each other. And for the fraction of a second Artanis felt the depth of Selendis's most inner thoughts and emotions...and what he truly meant to her.

"Selendis...I...I..." he stuttered. But Selendis just shook her head.

"It can wait, Hierarch. Now is not the time for that. What I need now is what everyone else needs too: We need you to be the Hierarch we know and admire. But we will not take you for granted anymore."

"She is right!" a new voice reached them. Talandar walked towards them, his whole body covered in Zerg-blood. As he stopped next to them, he bowed his head.

"Whatever the future might bring, Hierarch, my blades will be yours. And I am not the only one." Artanis finally realized that the battle had ended. The Zerg in the vicinity were gone and now was the perfect time for a strategic retreat. Suddenly he was surrounded by so many warriors, and even though they were wearing different colors, the looks on their faces were all the same. They were waiting for orders. _His_ orders. Talandar offered him a hand and after some moments of consideration, he finally grabbed it. As the Sentinel pulled him back on his feet, Artanis looked around. Then he saw back at Selendis for a moment before he finally nodded.

"You are right. Let us leave this place." he said. Selendis sighed in relief when her communicator came to life.

"Executor? This is Karax! Everything is ready, we can start the demonstration anytime now!" Selendis turned her head away.

"Good work, Phasesmith. And not one moment too soon. Have you returned to the carrier?" she wanted to know.

"Yes. The pylon is in place and fully charged. A large number of Zerg is in the area, so we should hurry before they destroy the defense line and may damage the pylon itself." Karax explained.

"Very well. We will watch it from here. You said it was harmless, yes?"

"Yes, absolutely! Uhm...probably. Should be. It will be! Will be, Executor!" Karax corrected himself. Selendis sighed again.

"Very well. Fire the pylon, Karax." she ordered.

"Actually it is not a firing mechanism, but a discharge of the-" the Phase-Smith began.

"By Adun, just push the button!" Selendis yelled. She could hear how Karax yelped in surprise.

"What is this all about, Selendis?" Artanis asked. She pointed to an area a few kilometers away. Artanis had to move to a nearby hill to see some photon-cannons...and something that looked like a pylon. Only that it glowed purple.

"What..." he began. Now that he focused on it, he could feel something familiar. It felt like a presence...someone whose presence he hadn't felt in quite some time. His eyes widened in shock.

"No, what is?" he tried to say when Karax happily announced: "Initiate discharge!" For a short moment, nothing happened. Then suddenly the whole plateau appeared to come to life. All around them Zerg broke through the ground. Hundreds. Thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands. There was no end to them!

"We are surrounded!" Ji'Nara roared and Artanis looked around. It was true, there were Zerg everywhere.

"Karax!" Selendis yelled into her communicator. "You said that this would work!"

"Fear not, this is just as it should be. The pylon first lures Zergs to its position before discharging its energies." he said with a friendly voice. But Selendis was not in the mood for that.

"You only said that it would kill Zerg, not draw them out in the millions!" There was a long moment of silence before Karax could be heard again.

"Oh. I guess I forgot about that part." he simply said.

"WHY YOU LITTLE SON OF A-" Selendis started, but she didn't get far.

"Get ready! Here they come!" Talandar yelled and countless psi-blades were ignited. There was no chance that they could defeat such a huge number of enemies. Huh, just as Selendis had managed to reach out to Artanis, they were about to die. Life can be quite pathetic. The Zerg practically stormed into their blades and dozens died at the Protoss' hands. Yet no Protoss fell in return.

"Hold your attacks!" Talandar finally yelled and the warriors looked at him in confusion. Only then they realized that the Zerg simply ran past them. They weren't even fighting back! Some Protoss still decided to grab a Zerg and gut them alive. Horrash, who stood next to Talandar, ignited his psi-blade and simply stretched his arm out. A Hydralisk that slithered right pass him just moved through his blade before it fell apart once it passed him.

"Well, that is a new one." the huge Zealot mumbled.

"Karax, what is this? And please, no more missing information!" Selendis wanted to know.

"Uhm, the Zerg are all drawn to the pylon. After that it will discharge the energy stored inside and destroy all the Zerg in the vicinity, it-" But then suddenly Artanis started to move. Selendis did not listen to Karax anymore, instead, she looked at the Hierarch.

"Artanis? What...where are you going?" But the Hierarch wasn't listening. He followed the Zergs as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The other Protoss looked at each other in confusion.

"It cannot be." he simply mumbled. That presence...this whole scene was surreal. But Artanis didn't care. It couldn't be. Not now, not here. Why after such a long time? After a short but brutal march, he finally reached the pylon, and all his warriors were with him. They kept close to him and even though they were constantly killing Zergs, the horrible monstrosities didn't even flinch when they were struck down by them.

"Hierarch, is everything alright?" Selendis asked, but Artanis just looked at the glowing pylon. For a moment she thought that he had been hypnotized by it, but then it started to pulse. The moment the pylon discharged its energies, purple arcs of lightning appeared. The Protoss jumped to cover or tried to run away, but the bolts of lightning didn't hit them. No, they only went for the Zerg.

"WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?!" Selendis yelled. "KARAX!"

"This is completely normal, do not be afraid!" he simply replied through the communicator.

"ONCE I GET BACK, I AM GOING TO-" she couldn't finish the sentence as a Hydralisk near her was struck down by a lightning and she had to dodge the dead creature. The pylon slaughtered the Zerg by the thousands and the bombardment kept on for minutes until it finally stopped. As the dust finally settled, most Protoss came out of their hiding places. Almost everyone had searched for cover. Everyone except Artanis. Selendis moved up to the Hierarch and looked him into the face.

"Hierarch? Is everything-" But he simply went towards the pylon. As he stood in front of it, he put his hand on the inert crystal.

"So it is you... he whispered. "You came back from beyond the Void?" He then ignited his psi-blade...

...and rammed it into the pylon.

"Hierarch!" Selendis yelled in shock, but Artanis didn't listen. Instead, he started to slash the pylon into pieces. Huge chunks of crystal were ripped out and fell to the ground. Just behind them, someone warped in. Selendis looked over her shoulder and could see Karax running towards them.

"Hierarch! Hierarch, what are you doing! No, do not destroy the device!" he yelled in panic, but Artanis didn't pay any attention. He looked over to Talandar.

"Talandar! Help me!" he roared. The Sentinel looked over to Selendis, but when the Executor was too perplexed to say anything, he shrugged his shoulders and hurried over to the pylon where he too started to take it apart with his psi-blades.

"No! Please, this device is unique, we cannot-" Karax said when Artanis finally turned around.

"Selendis! Keep him away! Do not let him come any closer!" he ordered. He sounded like the old Artanis, the one who was a competent leader. And so she decided to follow his orders.

"Grab him!" she told that huge Zealot. Horrash acted immediately and threw himself on the Phasesmith, pinning him down. Artanis and Talandar, on the other hand, were nearly done.

"Noooo! Do not destroy it, Hierarch! It is too valuable!" Karax screamed. But when Artanis's psi-blade finally reached the core of the pylon, the mighty crystal started to crumble and fell apart right in front of their very eyes. The single pieces flickered one more time before the whole crystal finally died. Artanis deactivated his blades and made a step back.

"Release him." he only said and Horrash rolled off Karax, who got back on his feet and rushed to the remnants of the destroyed pylon.

"No! What have you done, Hierarch? That knowledge! It is lost! You have destroyed it!" he said as he fell on his knees and started to dig through the rubble. "Maybe there is still some energy left, maybe we can unlock those secrets, maybe...AGHK!" Karax was cut short as Artanis suddenly grabbed him, turned him around...

...and held his glowing psi-blade against Karax's throat.

"HIERARCH! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!" Selendis yelled in shock. But Artanis had no time for that.

"Where is she, Karax." he hissed in righteous fury as his eyes turned into slits.

"Where is Kerrigan?"

* * *

From the moment Karax had left Saalok with the pylon, _Saloka_ and _Izshara_ had remained behind. Truth to be told, Sarah didn't even know what to expect. She had just decided to look at that green and blue world above them while allowing her thoughts to wander through the galaxy. Even she didn't know what her own mind was capable of, but she wasn't in the mood to find out anyway, at least not right now. The memories of her little _adventure_ on Ulnar were still fresh and she couldn't deny that she didn't want to return to that place anytime soon...

...or contemplate on her own existence.

When she had _ascended_ , she had thought that time was no longer an issue for her. She now knew that this wasn't true. Time still was a factor, but it was so much slower than when she had been human or Zerg. Days were now only mere minutes to her and so she had decided to do the only thing she could: She waited.

Funny thing though: She couldn't remember the last time when she had actually slept. She certainly hadn't spent any time asleep ever since she had absorbed the Xel'Naga's essence. Yet even though her body seemed fine with that, it became harder and harder to focus on the tasks at hand. And she wasn't the only who had noticed that.

"My Queen." Izsha said as she turned towards Sarah. ".I can sense your exhaustion. Maybe you should consider resting." Good ol' reliable Izsha, always concerned about her Queen's well-being. Sarah looked up at her most trusted (and pretty much only) advisor.

"I'm fine, Izsha. I just need some time to think, to figure things out." That, of course, was a lie. Right now there wasn't much going on in her godlike brain. Yes, she felt tired. Being so close to the Protoss homeworld had worn her out. Not so much because she had to keep a low profile or hide her powers. She still remembered her days as a Ghost. Infiltration had been her specialty. No, being so close to Aiur meant that she had to recall a lot of unpleasant memories. Even though she had never set foot onto Aiur, she still saw all those faces before her inner eye.

Tassadar, mighty and unwavering in the face of total annihilation.

Fenix, proud and stubborn to the last breath.

Zeratul, although broken on the inside, he had refused to just give up.

And even Aldaris, shrewd and ever-scheming, thinking that he was actually in control.

And of course Artanis...

Of those mighty warriors, only the last one was still alive. He was down there, on Aiur. She could sense him and his distress. But she remained hidden. Working through proxies was something she had done many times. She didn't know this Karax, but manipulating his mind had been rather easy. Far more easy than turning Raszagal against her own people.

Raszagal...another name that was soaked in blood. Blood that Sarah had spilled. Bah, what was the point thinking about the past? She couldn't travel back in order to change things. What mattered was the here and now. And now she wanted to help the Protoss to reclaim their homeworld. That should be enough.

 _Enough for what?_ her own voice echoed through the back of her mind. Though it didn't truly sound like her own voice. It was slightly different from hers, yet at the same time, it was too similar to her own to make out any real difference. Still, as she heard that voice inside her head, a sharp pain shot through her chest and she pressed her hands against her chest. She lowered her gaze and looked down on the gray and dead surface of Saalok.

"If I would only know that answer to that question." she whispered to herself before closing her eyes. Izsha watched the painful expression on her Queen's face before she decided to act. She suddenly slithered towards Sarah and wrapped her massive, scaly body around her Queen. Sarah's eyes widened in both surprise and shock and for a moment she thought about changing back to her other self, the "flaming angel of doom"-one. But she couldn't feel any ill intent coming from Izsha, and so she just looked up to her advisor and frowned.

"Izsha! What is this all about?" she demanded to know. Izsha just bowed her head as she wrapped her tail around her Queen. Sarah found herself in an almost horizontal position. It was actually rather comfortable. Izsha's body was warm and parts of her tail were actually pretty soft. And the smell, it reminded Sarah of home. In her case, it was the smell of a Zerg hive, not exactly what most people would consider "home sweet home". But she couldn't remember any smell from her childhood, much less how her mother had smelled. Or anything else about the time before the Confederacy had _recruited_ her.

"I sense that your thoughts are darkening. May I advise that you rest now? I believe it will help you to focus your mind on the tasks at hand." Izsha said while she put her hands on Sarah's shoulders. It was a rather strange sight as if Sarah was using Izsha like some sort of bed. But as she felt the soft and warm skin and scales of her minion beneath her, she couldn't deny that it felt nice.

No, not a minion. Izsha was not a minion. Not anymore. She was her aid. The only person inside the universe who she could still rely on. The only one who would never judge her. And the only one she knew she could trust her life with. It went even so far that she felt how Izsha's fingers brushed through her red hair. There was something strangely motherly about that...

"Perhaps you're right. Maybe I should try to catch some sleep...i I remember how that actually works." Sarah mumbled. Falling asleep was no longer a question of physical exhaustion, but wherever she would allow her mind to relax. Easier said than done, though. You could compare it to shutting down a super-computer. A supercomputer was only "super" when it was switched on, when it was doing its job, whatever that was. But when you turn it off, it's just a huge piece of nothing. Sarah possessed so much power, shouldn't she use them? Sleeping seemed such a waste of time. But at the same time, she couldn't deny that her mind felt somewhat exhausted. And she trusted Izsha's counsel.

"Hmm...maybe I'll have a pleasant dream..." she mumbled again to herself and turned her attention to Izsha. "...will you look after me, Izsha?" she asked while her mind started to wander off to another place and another time.

"Of course, my Queen." A smile appeared on Sarah's face. Good ol' reliable Izsha. Sarah started to feel tired.

"Izsha...can you do me a favor...?" she whispered. Her advisor gently smiled down on her one and true mistress. Izsha didn't serve Sarah because she had to. It was because she wanted to. Being near her beloved Queen felt just right. Perhaps it was the only conscious choice she had ever made in her entire life. Zerg were opportunists, each one tried to evolve. Well, those with a brain and self-awareness anyway. But Izsha lacked this ability. Had the original Queen of Blades made her that way? Who knew. All Izsha knew was that being close to her Queen made her feel whole again.

"For you, my Queen? Anything." she replied.

"Could you...sing your song? Just for...me..." Sarah mumbled. The warm smile on Izsha's face grew wider.

"It would be my pleasure, my Queen." She then stopped for a second. It was time to be bold! "But may I ask you for a favor as well, my Queen?" she said. Her voice sounded a bit nervous. Asking her Queen for a favor was a huge effort for Izsha.

"Sure...Izsha..." Kerrigan yawned.

"Could you change to your old self?" Izsha asked. Immediately Sarah's subconsciousness knew what she meant and right before Izsha's eyes, the body of her Queen started to morph and change. Skin turned dark and hardened, hair fell out and was replaced by long tendrils. Even the deadly blade-wings sprouted out of her lower back. Unlike the first two times, this transformation was swift and painless. When Sarah finally drifted off into sleep, she heard Izsha's song inside her mind and sighed in relief. This was actually rather nice...

* * *

If a psionically gifted person sleeps, their powers don't just vanish. Even if the mind was resting, their powers would continue to do all sorts of things. Those whose powers weren't very strong didn't really know that. They were prone to weird dreams. Weirder than most, anyway. It wasn't their fault. When sleeping, their powers would reach out and touch the mind of others. Sometimes a psionic would dream the dream of other persons. Sometimes he or she would make others dream what they were dreaming.

And in very rare cases, two souls would share the same dream.

Usually, a psionic had to be very powerful in order to do something like that. And the other persons had to be close by.

But Sarah? Time and space were no longer an issue for her. And so her mind started to reach out and search for the one soul in this galaxy that she cared most for. And when she found him, a smile appeared on Sarah's face. Even though they were lightyears apart, she could sense him as if he was right next to her...


	18. Act I - Chapter 10

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter 10**

 **Dreaming of a Better Tomorrow**

* * *

 **Another time...**

 **Another place...**

* * *

It was dark inside the bedroom and the only thing you could hear was the steady breathing of a man. Even though he was alone, the bed he was lying inside was meant for two. His hand was resting on the empty spot right next to him, where _she_ usually liked to sleep. He had tried to stay awake but had fallen asleep eventually. Still, it didn't matter. Not really. There was a faint smile on the man's face. He looked like someone who was truly at peace, both with himself and the world around him.

It hadn't always been like this.

There had been a time when every night had been filled with nightmares. The expression on his face had been one of agony, of fear and despair.

Not anymore.

He didn't wake up when a bright light suddenly fell through the window. For a second it could have been mistaken for an artificial light as if it was coming from a car passing by. That, of course, was impossible. There were no cars in this place. And no trains. And to street lamps. And no aircrafts or spaceships. This place was free of all the _benefits_ of modern society.

And the light?

It was not artificial. It was something far more wonderful.

It became even brighter and the man moaned when he felt its warmth on his skin. As it approached, it could be mistaken for a star. A star that was just on the other side of the window. But it was no star.

When she appeared in the bedroom, she looked as magnificent as always. A golden body that looked like it was made out of pure energy. There was so much power, so much strength. Right now he was in the presence of a goddess. The light was so intense that the man finally woke up. He rolled on the back and tried to open his eyes. Even though he could barely see a thing, he knew exactly what that light was.

Or, to be more precise, who it was.

He could feel her presence in the back of his mind. It was just like when he had first lay gaze upon her when she had ascended. And as Jim looked up at the woman he loved so much, he could only say one thing.

"Could you turn down the light? It's a bit much." he mumbled and the goddess floating right above him started to chuckle. He could hear her voice both with his ears and inside his mind.

 **Is that all you have to say? I've been gone for some time, you know.** A tired smile appeared on Jim's face when he looked up.

"I knew you would come back. Now please, would you mind turning the lights off?" he urged her and then he watched how she descended upon him. Jim had to admit that she looked magnificent. Ever since he had seen her like this for the first time, he had been in awe. When the goddess' feet touched the soft ground, the light started to fade away and soft, rosy skin took its place. When the light vanished, darkness surrounded them. But even then Jim managed to see the outline of her slender figure.

She looked so beautiful...

"You old charmer." Sarah chuckled and climbed into the bed. She crawled towards him, almost in a sensual fashion, yet at the same time so intimate. Even though there was hardly any light falling through the window, he could still see her long red hair, those green eyes...and of course those full lips.

When her skin touched his own, he enjoyed the feeling of her warm body. He inhaled her scent and just enjoyed the fact that she had returned to him.

"Sorry for taking so long." Sarah whispered into his ear. "Kinda lost track of time."

"It's fine..." Jim replied. "...I knew you would come back eventually."

"You know me too well, love." she said and then Sarah pressed her soft and warm lips on Jim's. The kiss they shared was deep and full of love. He had missed her touch, yes. But he had always known that she would return to him. That knowledge was ingrained into his very soul.

Even though he had slept a few moments ago, he was more than awake when he felt how her fingers started to grow bolder. Soon Jim's sleepiness was gone and he couldn't help it and chuckled. Sarah broke the kiss and looked into his eyes.

"What's so funny?" she wanted to know.

"Someone's very eager. That's all. Not that I'm complaining, though." he teased her and he could sense her amusement.

"Yeah, well, all work and no fun will drive Sarah crazy, you know that." and kissed him again. Jim didn't question his luck. He knew when to shut up and just enjoy whatever fate would throw at him. And right now fate had decided to throw the most wonderful woman of all times right into his face. Soon their movements became more daring and even more intimate.

It didn't last long, though. Jim was still sleepy and Sarah was exhausted, yet it didn't mean that it wasn't wonderful. Still, when Sarah rested on Jim's chest, she sighed and he placed his hand on her soft hair.

"You were gone for a while, was starting to get worried. Ran into any problems?" he wanted to know.

"Uhh, not really. Ran in some Protoss. I decided to keep a low profile. And that prolonged the whole trip. It was so boring." she mumbled and Jim pulled his brows up when he heard that.

"You ran into Protoss?"

"Yeah." she yawned and put her hand on Jim's chest, listening to his heartbeat. It was the one sound that always helped her to calm down and to fall asleep. "Gonna tell you...tomorrow...about it..." And then she was sleeping. Jim smiled as he looked at the woman he loved. And so Jim decided to do the only reasonable thing to do and closed his eyes too, pulling the woman in his arms closer to his chest, holding her as if he never wanted to let go of her again.

* * *

When Jim finally woke up again, he yawned and could hear something hitting against the windows of their bedroom. He turned his head around and could see the rain pouring down from the sky. Hmm, it looked like rain-season had come early this year. Oh well, that meant that he wouldn't be able to go fishing today. Jim felt something warm and soft on his chest and when he looked down, a warm and gentle smile appeared on his face. He brushed with his fingers the red flocks of her hair out of her face and his smile grew even wider when he saw the peaceful expression on her face.

Sarah looked just as beautiful as on the day they had met. Those full lips, that cute nose, those high cheekbones...

She had always been an exceptionally beautiful woman, but it were moments like these when Jim was reminded of the fact that he was one lucky bastard. And again he wondered why the heck she had chosen him as her lover. Yet at the same time, he knew that Sarah was more than the woman that was sleeping in his arms right now. So much more...

For a while, he thought about staying in bed and watching her sleep. It was one of his favorite hobbies. But he knew that there were still other things he could do. You know, _useful_ things. After a while, he decided to get up. It wasn't as simple as it sounded, however. Entangling himself from Sarah proved to be somewhat, well, _complicated_. He didn't want to wake her up and so he was especially careful.

"Doooonnn'sschhh..." his lover suddenly slurred and Jim froze for a moment. "...telll...me hoow...too dooo my shhhooobb...Joeeee..." Sarah gargled and just rolled to the side. Jim sighed when he heard that and when he had finally freed himself, he got up and walked out of the bedroom and got himself dressed.

The weather outside was an absolute nightmare. He could hear how the wind and the rain were tearing at their home, yet he wasn't afraid. This house had withstood the elements for so long, he knew that it could take everything this world could throw at it. He was certain about that because he had built it with his own two hands. Soon he would have to repair a few parts, but that was only normal. This house had been their home for many years now. There were so many fond memories connected to this place. As Jim walked downstairs, he yawned one more time and then he thought about what to do next.

Rain-season meant some free time. As long as the rain would keep pouring from the sky, Sarah and Jim would be able to enjoy some peace and quiet. And they would enjoy it to the fullest. He walked into the kitchen and decided to prepare the breakfast. There was nothing else to do, and truth to be told, even though he loved Sarah from the bottom of his heart...

...she was still the shittiest cook of all times.

Like, seriously, so shitty.

If you have the choice between starving to death or trying some of Sarah's tomato-soup, choose options A. It's faster and less agonizing than option B.

But that's why she kept Jim around these days. Or at least that's what she liked to tell him now and then.

Better not keep the lady waiting.

And so Jim got to work. Though it didn't really feel like work to him. He liked doing this for Sarah. Not because this was the only thing he was good for these days, but because it helped Sarah to stay grounded. Though that was no longer truly an issue. Jim knew that Sarah was no longer _that_ kind of person. But still, it gave them a sense of normality, something that both Sarah and Jim had learned to enjoy. Perhaps it was mundane, but it was this simple form of pleasure that both of them longed for.

This was by no means the only thing Jim was good for these days, but it was one of the many simple things he could do for Sarah. And in the end, that was the only thing that mattered to them. To stay at her side, to support her whenever she needed him. And she did need him, he knew that. Not just because she was telling him this at least three times a day, but because he could feel it deep down in his very being.

He was deeply lost in thoughts and didn't even realize when someone entered the living room. No one opened the front door, the person that arrived just, well, appeared. Only when he heard how those light footsteps were approaching, he started to smile. He could tell who it was just by hearing these footsteps. She did not try to hide her presence, something Jim was grateful for. Then again, it was the kind of behavior he expected from her. When she entered the kitchen, she inhaled the scent of breakfast and moaned.

"I missed that smell." the voice of a young woman said and Jim started to chuckle.

"Well, look who the tides have brought out here. Haven't seen you around in a while. How's life?" he wanted to know without looking over his shoulder.

"Oh, you know..." the young woman chuckled. "...same old, same old. And how's everything on your end?"

"Oh, you know me. Still doing what I always did."

"Being awesome?" When Jim heard that, he laughed out loud.

"Yeah, pretty much. It's good to see you. So, is there any specific why you came here? If you want to talk to _her Majesty_ , she's still sleeping. Or did you just want to say hi to some old people?"

"Actually..." the young woman said with a soft and worried tone in her voice. "...I wanted to talk to you."

"To me?" Jim chuckled. "Heh, I think you're a bit too old to hear _the talk_ from me now, kiddo." He could sense her amusement and then he finally decided to look over his shoulder.

"Since you're already here, you can set the table." Jim saw how the young woman raised her hand and was about to snap her fingers when she saw the look on his face. "No snapping the fingers in my house. You know the rules." And the young woman only smiled when she heard that.

"As you wish."

The young woman grabbed a few plates and then she helped Jim to prepare everything. He couldn't help to look over to her from time to time. The familiarity was definitely there. He could see it in her face. She reminded him not only of one person he cared for but of many he once had known.

"So, how's everything on your end?" Jim wanted to know before throwing a few eggs into the frying pan. "Are your studies going well?"

"Yes, everything is fine. I will probably venture to the far edge of the Koprulu Sector soon for some field-studies, though." the young woman said and Jim sighed when he heard that name.

"Huh, now there's a name that I haven't heard in a while. Come to think of it, I don't even remember the last time I've been back home." Jim mused. "I wonder how much the place has changed."

"Maybe you want to tag along?" the young woman suggested. She waited with a plate in her hands behind Jim and when the scrambled eggs were done, he shoveled some of them on the woman's plate. A few moments later they were sitting at the table and enjoying a breakfast.

"Is she's not going to join us?" the woman asked and Jim shrugged his shoulders.

"Right now she's sleeping. I say let her sleep. Sarah came back home late, she's probably still exhausted. Especially since, well, you know..." He didn't have to go into detail, she knew what he was talking about.

"Yeah, I guess..." the young woman whispered and a warm smile appeared on her face. "So, how about it? Wanna tag along when I go to the Koprulu Sector? You haven't left this place for some time." Jim thought about it for a moment, but then he just shook his head.

"Nah, it's fine. I would probably not even recognize that place anymore anyway. And besides, I'm sure you don't want to have some old guy tagging along and tell you about all the places he visited a long, long time ago."

"Too bad." she replied. "I always loved listening to your stories."

"Hehehe...well, maybe you do. But what about the others? I'm sure that they won't enjoy me telling them how great the past was. Or are you going there all by yourself?" Jim wanted to know. The young woman shook her head.

"No. Sirella will accompany me. She too can hardly wait to return to her old home."

"Right, how is little Miss Sunshine?" he asked. "Still as lively as ever?"

"Of course. If anything, she has become even more lively now that she managed to convince her grandfather to tag along." When Jim heard that, he blinked in disbelief.

"Wait, you managed to convince the grumpy old fart to _join_ you?" When the young woman heard that, she pouted at him.

"Hey, he is not a fart! He is grumpy, though. And old. Like...really old. Come to think of it, he's even older than the both of you!" When Jim heard that, he had to laugh again.

"Oh, that hurts, you know?" He leaned back and sighed. "So, what was it you wanted to talk about? Want some inside information about my old home? I have to warn you, everything I can tell you is probably completely outdated. Hell, I don't even know if I would remember any of the places from my youth."

"No, that's not it." the young woman said and then she lowered her gaze. Jim knew that look. It meant that there was something important that she had to talk about. Something that Jim wouldn't like, he could already tell this much.

"What's on your mind?" he asked and the young woman smiled when she heard the worried tone in his voice.

"It's not about me. It's about you. And her." She looked up to the ceiling and Jim knew that she was referring to Sarah.

"Uhm...okay? Is there something I should know of?" Jim wanted to know and the young woman closed her eyes.

"It's...complicated. This is not about what is, but about what will be. And what was."

"Uh, I love it when you give me the cryptic talk. I know someone else who's really good at that, you know that?" Jim mumbled, yet he didn't laugh. He could tell that something was bothering her. And he knew better than to make fun of her for that. Jim leaned forward and grabbed a hand of the young woman.

"What's the matter?"

"You know how you always told me about those old days when you and she did all that crazy stuff?" the young woman asked and Jim pulled his brows up when he heard that.

"You mean when we fell in love?" he joked.

"Yeah, that too. But also all the other stuff that happened. You know, the things she doesn't want to talk about." When Jim heard that, he realized what she was talking about.

"Yeah...the _good old days_." he whispered. To Jim, there was no such thing as "the good old days". It was his way of saying that the past had been mostly painful and that he didn't really like to think about it anymore, with a few exceptions maybe. People usually like to think about the past like everything had been easier back then, or at least simpler. But not to Jim. The past had been filled with death and destruction, and even though there had been one or two good things along the ride, most of it had been really painful. He didn't like to think about these days, yet unlike Sarah, he was at least willing to talk about them...

...within limits.

"You got a talent to ruin the mood, did anyone ever tell you that?" Jim suddenly growled and a warm smile appeared on the young woman's face.

"Occasionally. I was told that it's a family-trait."

"Huh, I wonder which side you got that from..." he mused and the young woman pulled her shoulders up.

"From both sides, at least that's what my aunt tells me all the time." she replied and Jim sighed when he heard that.

"She is a keen observer, isn't she?" he mumbled. "Wish she would keep her advice to herself, though. At least from time to time." The young woman snickered when she saw Jim's reaction, but then she turned serious again and took a deep breath. And again, Jim noticed how her mood turned serious again. He leaned forward and put his fingers on her delicate hand.

"What is it?" Jim wanted to know.

"It's just...she will need you. Without you, she won't be able to endure it. I wanted you to know this." the young woman whispered and Jim chuckled again.

"My, that's a bit dark. What's the matter?"

"Just promise me...promise me that you will be there for her." the young woman pleaded and Jim gave her his best roguish smile he had to offer.

"Of course I will. I made a promise to Sarah a long time ago. That I would stay at her side, no matter what."

"Then remember that promise. Because she will need you. Please, just remember that when you meet her again."

"Uhm...is there something going on that I should know of?" Jim wanted to know, but the young woman just shook her head. She stood up and showed him a warm and gentle smile.

"Everything will be alright. If you just believe in her. And yourself. Please, I'm counting on you. And the eggs were delicious, like always." There was some sadness in her voice and Jim frowned when he heard that.

"Don't you want to stay? You can talk to Sarah yourself, I'm sure she will be up soon. She can't sleep forever, you know." But when the young woman heard that, she just shook her head.

"I wish I could, but I can't. I need to go now. Just remember my words." Jim stood up and sighed when he heard that. He grabbed his and the plate of the young woman and turned around. As he walked back into the kitchen, he shook his head.

"Seriously, hanging out with Sirella's old man has taught you some nasty habits. Acting like a walking, talking fortune cookie doesn't really make you a wise person in my book, you know that, right?" When he heard no reply, he stopped and looked over his shoulder. But the young woman was gone. There wasn't even a sign that she had ever been there.

"Huh...some things will just never change, eh?" he mumbled, but then he shook his head and smiled. She would be back. Still, it would have been nice if she had said hello to Sarah. Jim returned the plates to the kitchen and was already deeply lost in thoughts when he had an idea. Well, he hadn't done one of those things for Sarah in quite some time, and he knew that she would appreciate the gesture. And so he started to get all the ingredients together. A few minutes later the kitchen looked like a goddamn warzone, but it was well worth it. Soon the scent of cake filled the air and even though Jim had just had breakfast, he too longed for a juicy bit of chocolate cake.

And if there was one thing that managed to get Sarah out of bed, it was the scent of chocolate cake. A smile appeared on Jim's face when he heard footsteps above him. Hmm, someone had finally decided to get up. 'Bout time! Jim looked at the cake in the oven and thought about what their guest had told him.

 _Remember that promise. Because she will need you..._

"That's what we get for allowing her to hang out with Protoss." Jim mused and sighed once more. He continued to stare at the cake in the oven and after a while, he started to hum a melody.

"...hmmm..hm hmmm...hm..." he began. It was one of his favorite songs.

"...all my bags are packed, I'm ready to go..." he started to sing and looked out of the window. It were moments like these when he felt truly at peace. Outside a storm was raging, yes. But in here? In here everything was warm, dry and cozy.

"...leavin'...on a jet plane..." he continued to sing until Sarah entered the kitchen. He looked over his shoulder and a warm smile appeared on his face when he saw the love of his life.

"Hey, Sleepyface." he chuckled and could see how Sarah grimaced when she heard that nickname. Oh, she so didn't like it if he was giving her names.

"Could you please call me "Darlin'" again?" she pleaded. "It's much better than "Sleepyface"."

"Maybe I will if you stop sleeping so much." Jim teased her and he could see her indignation when she heard that comment.

"Excuse me? Are you implying that I have become lazy?" But the smile on her face showed Jim that she too was just joking around. He returned the smile and pulled his shoulders up.

"Now, I would never do something like that. You know me."

"Yeah, I do. That's why I'm so suspicious" she told him and then she moaned when she inhaled the scent of fresh and hot cake. "Is that...?"

"Yep. But you have to wait, it's not done yet." That's when Sarah's belly started to rumble and a pleading look appeared on her face.

"Don't care. Get it out so I can eat it." Jim laughed when he heard that. Oh, even after all that time she still had this childlike mentality when it came to things like chocolate cakes. That meant that he had to be the adult again.

"You will only get a bellyache...again." he explained to her. Oh, he still remembered the last time. Sarah had just said "Totally worth it!", but now things were different. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that the little one wouldn't appreciate that." he said and walked over to her. They kissed and Jim placed his hand on the soft skin of her belly. He could feel the small bump, right where the unborn life was resting. They continued to kiss for a while and a when they broke the kiss, they looked into each other's eyes.

"You're having naughty thoughts again, aren't you?" Sarah teased him.

"You tell me." Jim replied, yet Sarah didn't probe his mind. She didn't have to, she knew exactly what was going on inside his head. She looked over Jim's shoulder.

"How long till it's done?" Sarah wanted to know, but that's when Jim put his hands on her shoulders, turned her around and shoved her out of the kitchen.

"No, no cake for breakfast! Not after what happened last time. So you just sit down over there and let me make some breakfast for you. You know, a real breakfast. A healthy one."

"Cake is healthy food."

"No, it isn't. Sit down and behave." he told her and Sarah pouted at him.

"This isn't over." she told him.

"Yes, it is." And then he walked back into the kitchen and started to prepare another breakfast for Sarah. He could hear how she sighed.

"So much for cake..." she whined and Jim chuckled when he heard that. Oh, she would get all the cake she wanted, not just all at once. While Jim was preparing her breakfast, Sarah looked out of the window and watched how the drops hit against the glass. She liked watching the rain, it was so relaxing. Sometimes she would go outside and feel the warm rain on her skin. Though not right now. There was a difference between a warm rain in the afternoon and a raging storm during rain-season. She could have used her powers to calm the storm, but that would have been cheating. No, it was better to leave everything the way it was.

She didn't really pay attention to anything around her, not until Jim put a bowl on the table right in front of Sarah.

"Here, dig in!" he said to her and she gave him a warm smile.

"You're too good to me and...what the hell is _that_?!" Sarah asked and pointed with her finger at the, well, _stuff_ Jim had put into a bowl.

"A healthy breakfast." he replied.

"That's not the answer I was looking for. What _is_ that? It looks like...I don't even know what it is, and I have seen it all!"

"It's healthy. Trust me, you will like it."

"It looks like vomit." Sarah told him and leaned forward. She inhaled the scent and then she grimaced. "It kinda smells like vomit, too."

"It's not vomit. It's predigested, there's a big difference between those two things!" he explained. Sarah had just put her spoon into that strange substance, but then she shuddered and looked him straight into the eyes.

"What?"

"You should really try it! Your friend made it herself. She actually wanted to be present when you would taste it, but you know her. Said that she fermented it inside her own body. Just for you. Now isn't that _lovely_." Jim told her with an evil grin on his face and that's when Sarah shuddered and pushed the bowl away from her.

"On second thought, I'm not so hungry anymore. Is there something else? Something, I don't know, normal?"

"Well, I had some scrambled eggs for breakfast. Unfortunately, we had a guest, and she ate your portion." When Sarah heard that, she frowned.

"A guest? Who are you..." And that's when her eyes widened in surprise. "...she was here? When? Where is she?" But Jim then sighed and lowered his gaze.

"She left. Wanted me to tell you hi." He could see the disappointment on Sarah's face.

"Seriously..." his lover mumbled. "...could have at least waited for me to wake up. You know, nowadays she only comes here if she needs something from me. Instead, she's hanging out with that grumpy old fart."

"Hey, it's normal." Jim told her. "That grumpy old fart was her childhood hero after all!" A sour expression appeared on Sarah's face when she heard that.

"Hmm, I wonder who we have to thank for that? Maybe because a certain someone couldn't stop telling her all these stories back when she was young!"

"Oh, come on! Your friend told her way worse stories!" Jim shot back, yet he couldn't hide his amusement.

"Did she...say anything?" Sarah whispered and Jim realized that she truly would have loved to talk to their guest.

"Yeah, but nothing that made any sense. Maybe you're right, maybe the old guy is starting to rub off on her." Jim mused.

"Any idea where she wanted to go next?" Sarah said with a weak and soft voice.

"Well, she said that she wanted to return to the Koprulu Sector. Guess she wants to say hi to a few familiar faces." Even though Jim was still smiling at her, he knew that Sarah felt hurt because their guest had decided to leave before they had been able to have a little talk. Sarah cared deeply for her, and she wanted the young woman to know that.

"So, did she ask you to join her?" Sarah mumbled and Jim sighed.

"Yeah, but I declined. My place is here. With you."

"Hmm..." Sarah just replied and looked out of the window once more. Jim could see the worried look on Sarah's face. He leaned forward and placed his hand on Sarah's, just like the guest had done with him earlier.

"Hey...don't worry. What she's doing right now is absolutely normal. She just wants to flex her wings, that's all." But right now Sarah didn't want to listen.

"You sound like you know what you're talking about." she growled, yet the sarcasm dripped from her voice when she spoke those words.

"I read a few books. Also: I did this one more time than you did, remember?" Jim explained.

"You seem to forget that Johnny didn't live that long." Sarah replied, but the moment she said that her eyes widened in shock when she realized what she had just told him. "Oh, Jim! I'm so sorry, I didn't want to-"

"It's okay." Jim replied and gave her hand a soft squeeze. Under normal circumstances, Sarah would have never said anything like that. But right now she was under a lot of pressure. Those hormones could do crazy things to a woman. "I know that you didn't mean it like that." These days, Jim rarely thought about his old family. The family he had before meeting Sarah. But that didn't mean that he had forgotten about them.

"What _did_ she tell you?" Sarah then asked again and Jim shrugged his shoulders.

"Something about keeping my promise to you." he replied.

"Promise?" she asked.

"You know, that I would always stay by your side."

"Wait, you mean what you tell me every thirty minutes?" Sarah wondered and Jim chuckled when he heard that.

"I think she was referring to the time when I first made you that promise."

"Oh, you mean when you didn't want to marry me?" Sarah replied and Jim pulled his brows up when he heard that.

"That's...not how I remember it. If I remember correctly, then you didn't want to get married." he told her, yet Sarah conveniently seemed to have forgotten about that. Go figure. Sarah lowered her gaze and Jim could tell that she still felt bad for her comment about Johnny.

"Maybe I should just go back to bed and call it a day." she whispered.

"Maybe you should take a bath?" Jim suggested and he could see how Sarah frowned when she heard that.

"First you call me fat, now you tell me that I'm starting to smell?!" she growled and Jim blinked a few times before he dared to answer.

"I...I never called you fat!" he tried to defend himself.

"But you thought it!" Sarah replied and started to sniffle. "This day is already ass. First I don't even get to talk to her, then you tell me I'm fat-"

"I never called you fat!" Jim repeated.

"-and then I don't even get a chocolate cake, and now you tell me I smell like a Zerg hive in the sun!"

"I-" Jim tried to reason with her, but then he realized that he should try a different approach. Sarah could be _complicated_ if she wanted to. Especially considering her current state. "...how about this: You take a nice and hot bath, not because you smell like a rotten Zergling, but because you _like_ hot baths, and when you're done, so will be the cake. And tell you what: You can eat it all in one go." When he looked into Sarah's eyes, he could see the different emotions battling for supremacy. A part of her wanted to cause some drama right now, but another part had to admit that the idea of having a nice and hot bath was pretty tempting. And so was the idea of eating an entire chocolate cake in one go.

"...okay..." Sarah then said with a quiet voice. "I think I would like to do that."

Well, you have to enjoy every little victory you can score, right? Like said, Sarah was under a lot of pressure. Not just because she was, well, pregnant, but there were so many things she had to think about. And even though she loved what she was doing, it could feel like a burden from time to time. But that's why Jim always kept a close eye on her. From time to time he just had to grab her, made her sit down and just relax for a bit.

He watched both in amusement and sympathy how Sarah got up and walked back upstairs in order to enjoy a hot bath. And by the time she would be back, he would be ready to make her smile again. So he went back into the kitchen, but not before grabbing the bowl Sarah had left untouched. He looked at it, dipped his finger into the brown mass and then put his finger into his mouth. Jim shuddered and forced himself to swallow it down.

"Whadda'ya know? It kinda does taste like vomit." he mumbled and made sure to never ever listen to Sarah's best friend. Who knew, maybe this stuff was truly predigested. It wouldn't come as a surprise, though. Truth to be told, he had eaten weirder stuff.

And let's not forget what he had done to his liver for so many years.

He threw the breakfast away and looked after the cake in the oven. It was coming along nicely. And he had made sure to use the ingredients that made it especially yummy. Like butter. A lot of butter. So much butter that every doctor would probably scream at him in rage for putting together something like that. And that didn't even include the amount of chocolate he had put into that thing! Oh yeah, that cake was pretty much the exact opposite of what could be considered "healthy food". And Jim was pretty sure that a pregnant woman shouldn't even be allowed to be close to such a thing.

Heck, not even a healthy man in his prime should even think about eating more than two slices of this cake.

Thankfully, Sarah was hardly what you could consider normal. So he hadn't to worry about that. Still, it was one of those moments when he was again reminded of the fact that the woman he loved was far more delicate and vulnerable than you might expect. It was a side of her not many knew of, and one that she had shown to even fewer people. But at the same time, Jim knew that tomorrow her mood would be normal again. Well, normal for Sarah anyway.

"...leavin'...on a jet plane..." he began to sing and started to clean the plates. A smile appeared on his face and then he decided that he would do his best to turn this day into one Sarah wouldn't forget for a long time. He looked out of the window and could see something up in the sky. It was a light. No, not just one light. It were many lights. He squinted his eyes and wondered if those were some kind of strange bolts of lightning.

But then he watched in awe and shock how golden vessels descended from the sky. He hadn't seen vessels like these in ages, yet he recognized them immediately.

Protoss warships.

And they were reading their guns.

"Sarah! SARAH!" he screamed, hoping that she would hear him in time.

That's when a lance made out of pure light smashed through the window and everything around Jim exploded. Within the fraction of a second his home and everything around him, including himself, was ripped apart.

His last thought before his life ended was just one thing...

 _Sarah..._

* * *

"SARAH!" Jim screamed in terror and despair when he finally woke up. He was surrounded by darkness and his eyes were wide open in shock and fear. It took him some time until he had finally calmed down enough to regain at least a bit of his composure. Sweat covered his whole body and he could still feel the adrenaline flowing through his whole body.

A dream. It had been a goddamn dream...

"Light." he mumbled.

"LIGHT DAMMIT!" he yelled and the computer finally turned the lights on. He looked at his hands, but they wouldn't stop shaking. He clenched them into fists and gritted his teeth. It had been a dream. An effin' nightmare! He looked around as if to make sure that this was the reality. It was the place he currently lived in, on Korhal. The technical term would be "home", but this place wasn't home to Jim. It was just a place where he could sleep.

Another nightmare. Like almost every night. And like every night, he groaned and shivered when he got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. He felt weak. And alone. The joy of having seen Sarah again was replaced by the agony he felt when he realized that it had just been a dream. He stumbled into the shower and turned it on immediately. The moment the hot water touched his skin, he hissed in discomfort. Jim pressed his head against the cold tiles of the shower while the hot water continued to wash away all the sweat. But it couldn't wash away the pain, especially the pain inside his chest.

It was the same almost every damn night.

There was nothing he could do about it. They had offered him some pills, but that wasn't Jim's style. Before coming here, he had used alcohol to fight the pain. It had worked...somehow. But drinking himself into a stupor was no longer an option. It was something that Matt had taken away from him...

Usually, his nightmares were different though. They didn't involve any of what he had just dreamed of.

With every passing minute more and more unpleasant memories faded from his mind. The hot water helped, even though it wasn't able to fully get rid of that dreadful feeling inside his chest. But like said, this nightmare was different from the others. Usually, there were more Zerg in it. And more dead people. Like, all the people he knew or once had known.

Soon there was hardly anything he could remember. Except for one thing.

When he stepped out of the shower and stared into the mirror, he looked at the face of a man who had seen too many battles, witnessed too much horror. Yet at the same time, he could see the confusion on his own face.

"Remember the promise I made to Sarah..." he whispered at his own reflection. That was the only thing he could remember. "...but what promise?"

A part of him wanted to scream. Why did he have to suffer like this? He had lost a lover once, so why the hell did he have to go through this whole ordeal again? Why? Why couldn't those dreams leave him alone? Why couldn't _she_ leave him alone? Sarah was gone. Dead. He had lost her, lost her for good. His mind knew that, yet why could his heart not accept that truth? Why couldn't he just let go?

 _Because you gave her a promise._ Sarah's voice echoed through his mind. Or at least a voice that sounded almost like Sarah's. It was hard to tell. Thinking about Sarah was hard because it hurt so much.

He pressed his hands against his face as he felt how he was unable to control his emotions anymore. The last time he had done something like that had been when had lost Lizzy and Johnny...

"God...dammit...damn...hell..." he sobbed while hot tears of pain streamed over his face. It was too much. It was too much for him to go on pretending there wasn't anything wrong with him.

"Why..." he said while hot tears streamed down his face. "...why did you leave me behind, Darlin'."


	19. Act I - Chapter 11

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter 11**

 **Knock Knock**

* * *

"Maybe I should just go back to bed and call it a day." Sarah mumbled. Seriously, this day couldn't get any worse, could it?

"Maybe you should take a bath?" Jim suggested and Sarah frowned when she heard that. Wow, insensitive much?

"First you call me fat, now you tell me that I'm starting to smell?!" Sarah growled and she could see the confusion on Jim's face. After a few seconds, his expression turned from confused into freaked out.

"I...I never called you fat!" he tried to defend himself.

"But you thought it!" Sarah shot back and decided to take out her frustrations on poor old Jimmy. "This day is already ass. First I don't even get to talk to her, then you tell me I'm fat-"

"I never called you fat!" Jim told her again, but she wasn't even listening.

"-and then I don't even get a chocolate cake, and now you tell me I smell like a Zerg hive in the sun!"

"I-" Jim tried to defend himself, yet Sarah wasn't really in the mood to listen to him. Not right now. It's funny, though. You know that feeling? You wake up and you think that the day will be pretty awesome? That there is nothing that could possibly ruin it? And then fate decides to shit all over your breakfast. That's how Sarah felt right now. Jim, on the other hand, seemed to know what would help her. "...how about this, you take a nice and hot bath. Not because you smell like a rotten Zergling, but because you _like_ hot baths, and when you're done, so will be the cake." he suggested to her. And then he said the one thing that would win every argument. "And tell you what, you can eat it all in one go." He looked into his eyes and Sarah tried to avoid his gaze. But she couldn't. Of course, she knew that Jim was trying to help her. And so she swallowed her pride and sighed.

"...okay..." she whispered. "I think I would like to do that."

Sarah stood up and decided to follow Jim's suggestion. It was common knowledge that a hot bath can change all the problems in the world. And that was a fact. When Sarah walked back upstairs, she thought for a second to just crawl back into bed. But the thought of hot water caressing her skin was just too tempting. And so she headed for the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Suddenly she felt so alone. Jim was still downstairs and doing, well, stuff. But _she_ had left without even saying hello.

What was Sarah supposed to do? Run after her?

No...

Sarah took off her clothes and turned on the faucet. But instead of climbing into the tub right away, she pressed her forehead against the cold tiles of the wall. She took a deep breath and placed her hands on her belly.

"Hope _you_ won't turn out like her..." Sarah whispered to both herself and the life growing inside of her. She sighed and decided to just give it a rest. And so she turned back towards the tub and climbed inside. The hot water felt really good. She was a sucker for hot baths. It hadn't been always like that. There had been a time when the very idea of enjoying a hot bath had been absolutely ridiculous to her. A cold shower was the only thing a Ghost needed. But that no longer applied to her.

Great, just why the hell did she have to think about that old stuff right now?

Sarah submerged into the water until only the upper part of her head was still above the surface. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. Hmm, this was not so bad. Like said; a hot bath could solve all the problems in the world. Period. It helped her to calm down, to find her middle, to relax. Perhaps she was just overworked. She tended to do that. And then Jim had to grab her and help her calm down again. It was a weird habit both of them had gotten used to. Yet Jim didn't seem to mind, and Sarah loved her work too much to just let it go.

But right now, as the storm outside continued to rage on, and sitting in this bathtub filled with hot water, she most definitely decided to let go. At least for now. Sarah felt how her thoughts were starting to get sluggish. Maybe falling asleep inside the bathtub wasn't the brightest idea, but Sarah had survived worse. A short nap wouldn't hurt.

And besides, once she would wake up, a delicious chocolate cake would just wait for her to devour it.

So yeah, maybe she should just relax and take it easy.

And then everything would be...

"SARAH!" she suddenly heard Jim scream both with her ears and inside her mind. But before she could jump out of the bathtub, she could see bright lights appearing outside. She looked out of the window and her eyes widened in disbelief when she saw something that was supposed to be impossible.

Protoss warships, descending from the skies.

And they were readying their weapons.

No...

Suddenly the door was kicked open and Sarah looked to the side. For a second she expected to see Jim. Or even a Protoss warrior, who had come to fight her. But instead-

"MY QUEEN!" Izsha yelled as she slithered into the bathroom. She reached Sarah within fractions of a second and placed her hands on her Majesty's shoulders. "You have to wake up now, the Protoss are attacking!"

Wake...up?

* * *

"MY QUEEN!" Izsha's voice reached Sarah's ears (and her mind) just in time. Her eyes shot wide open and she could see how the slender figure of her aid moved all around her. Even with all of her powers, Sarah was too confused to realize what was going on. Izsha, on the other hand, knew exactly what was happening. She wrapped her body around Sarah and started to burrow both of them deep into the moon's surface. Like all Zerg (or former Zerg...or whatever), Izsha possessed the ability to burrow herself within seconds. But even then she was simply not fast enough. Her body was almost beneath the surface. But "almost" was simply not good enough.

Sarah could feel Izsha's fear. Not for herself though, but for her Queen's well-being.

"Izsha, what is the meaning of thi-"

She didn't get any further. As the Orbital Strike from the Golden Armada hit them, their whole world dissolved in fire and pain.

...then nothing.

* * *

The young woman watched from afar how the house was blown apart by the bombardment of the Protoss. She winced in pain when she saw how that building was destroyed. So many fond memories were connected to this place. And even though this was just a dream, it still hurt to witness its destruction.

"I'm sorry..." the young woman whispered. "...but it has to be. I wish there would be another way."

But deep inside her heart, the young woman knew that it had to be this way. Instead of watching how this dream turned into the worst nightmare of all times, she turned around and closed her eyes. It was time to move on. And she had to make sure to be prepared for the next things that were about to happen.

It was time to look after the other person she cared deeply about.

It was time to go to Korhal.

* * *

Technically, there were almost no limits to Sarah's powers. Well, from the point of view of a mere mortal anyway. There were of course limits to what she could do. Amon was a prove to that. Her fight with him had been a pretty close call. But that's what you probably could expect when two gods decided to go head to head with each other. Perhaps you could compare the power of a Xel'Naga to the powers of the gods of Ancient Greece; you know, Zeus, Hera, Ares, those guys. But at the same time, she would probably squash those guys if they would truly exist. Sarah knew she was an offensive powerhouse, but what she lacked was the understanding that she was no longer entitled to fight her battles. Not through others, and not at all.

Something like an orbital strike shouldn't be able to hurt her, but in the end, she was also a living being. It had taken the strength of another Xel'Naga to destroy Amon. The Protoss didn't possess that kind of strength. However, that didn't mean that their attack didn't hurt.

Because it did hurt. It hurt like hell actually.

"MY QUEEN!" Izsha yelled and ripped her out of her dream. For a moment she was utterly confused. Jim...she had talked to Jim! She remembered the dream, at least parts of it. It had been a normal life. Well, normal for Sarah's standards anyway. There had been no Protoss, no Zerg, and no fear of what the future might bring. Perhaps it was the kind of life she longed for? It hadn't lasted long, though. The moment Izsha invaded her mind she knew that something was wrong. Izsha would have never done something like that without having a damn good reason.

Like a goddamn Protoss carrier hanging right above them and unloading a full barrage onto their position. In the end, she shouldn't have taken a nap after all. Izsha was strong. And when it came to her Queen, she was courageous. But her powers were no match against that orbital strike. That didn't stop her, however, to shield her Queen with her own body if necessary. And that was exactly what she did.

Izsha had almost managed to bury herself and Sarah in the dense soil of the moon's surface when the strike hit them. Sarah was still too confused to realize what was going on, but she could feel how Izsha's mind exploded in pain. There was fire all around them and it started to burn Sarah's carapace and skin away. She was still looking like the Queen of Blades. But even then it wasn't enough to kill her. Her wounds would heal in an instant and once the energy of the blast would be gone, she would be in one piece again.

The same couldn't be said about Izsha, however.

Carapace was ripped open, flesh torn apart, and limbs blown off. But even then the only thing that remained on Izsha's mind (aside from the pain) was one question: _Is my Queen safe?_

Sarah only reacted instinctively. She reached out with her mind and formed a shield around Izsha, protecting her from any further damage. For seconds, they both remained inside a nuclear fire that rivaled the temperature inside a star. However, unlike the inside of a star the energy of the explosion evaporated within mere moments. The light was so bright that it burned out Izsha's eyes, yet Sarah could see just fine. And what she saw...

The carrier that had fired the orbital strike seemed like it wasn't satisfied with just one direct hit. She could sense how it recharged his weapons, ready to launch a second attack.

"No." Sarah whispered. Anger flowed through her whole being as she reached out and unleashed a massive strike against that ship. She opened her mouth and screamed from the deepest part of her soul, unleashing a wave of pure rage and anger.

If Sarah Kerrigan possessed one truly frightening ability, it was her fury. And now that carrier would pay for what it had done to Izsha! She reached out with only a fraction of her power and grabbed the carrier with her mind. Truth to be told, she had no real idea what she was doing, she just allowed her powers to take the lead. Probably not the smartest idea, but her instincts had kept her alive for a long time. It was one of the few constant things in her life and within her psyche. It weren't just her Zerg-instincts that were still firmly embedded in her mind. It was also the Ghost-training that had left its mark on her.

Her powers engulfed the carrier and for a moment she considered to just crush it like an empty tin can. She reached out further and suddenly she had an idea. She hadn't come here to fight the Protoss, but she wouldn't allow them to just get away with what they had done. She did what she had to do. One second the carrier was still right above their heads, then a flash of light engulfed the Protoss-vessel. Then it was gone...

There was a brief moment of silence. Without a doubt, the Protoss had no idea what just had happened. Maybe they would now realize that they had only managed to make her angry. Perhaps now they realized that it was better to establish some sort of communication before attempting another attack.

Apparently, she had given the Protoss too much credit.

Because they were doing the exact opposite.

Once the Protoss had realized that the ship was no longer there, they decided to act the only way they thought to be the best course of action: By nuking the living hell out of the moon's surface. The Protoss made sure that there was nothing left bigger than an atom. High-energy loads of plasma began to bombard the surface of the moon when all ships in reach opened fire. The bombardment lasted for minutes and the area where they hit Saalok started to melt. Even the rocks started to burn and were turned into molten stone. Considering the fact that the moon was sacred to the Protoss, it meant that they were pissed beyond good and evil. The soil started to crack and the surface was turned into ash and molten lava. The perfect white and gray surface was reduced to a hellish nightmare and when the bombardment finally ended, Sarah looked around in shock and disbelief.

She had never truly seen the Golden Armada in action, she had only heard about its power. And now, as she stood up and the ash fell from her shoulders, she looked up to those golden ships hovering right above her head.

They knew it was her. The realization of that hit her like a train.

"My...Queen..." she heard a whisper and turned around.

"Izsha!" She knelt down beside her heavily injured companion. Almost all of her lower body, including her tail, had been blown off. Entrails hang out and one arm had been ripped off. Her face was contorted in pain, yet she was still breathing. But even though she was still alive, she wouldn't survive for long. Sarah put her hands on the chest of Izsha and felt the extent of her wounds. There was little time, Sarah had to act. But where to start? Fear started to grip her heart. Suddenly she realized that she could lose Izsha, lose the last person in this galaxy that still cared for her. Should Izsha die...

...then Sarah would be completely alone.

She tried to clear her mind, tried to focus in order to save Izsha's life. That shouldn't have been a problem, Sarah's powers were more than capable of restoring Izsha's body. But Sarah was confused, maybe even shocked. Why had the Protoss attacked her? How had they managed to find her in the first place? She had come here in order to help them, not to be blown to bits by their cannons! Anger flowed through Sarah's entire being. She had come here in order to heal the wounds the war had caused. No one had forced her to come to this place. She had done it because she wanted to undo some of the damage she had caused. She had provided the Protoss with a piece of technology they wouldn't discover themselves for the next one thousand years, yet they had decided to nuke her?!

She had fought alongside them. Without _her,_ the Protoss would be now slaves of Amon. Yet they decided to nuke her?

She had sacrificed millions of her beloved Zergs to buy the Protoss enough time to win their battles...

...yet they decided to nuke her?

She had sacrificed everything she had ever cared for; her position, her beloved Swarm, and of course the only man she had ever truly loved: Jim.

Yet...

...they...

...decided...

...to...

...NUKE HER?!

If someone gets really angry, you say that he or she "is going ballistic". If someone tells you that Sarah went "supernova", then that wasn't exaggerated. Her anger turned into a fire hotter than the insides of a star and when she looked up, she released all of that energy in one go. The result could rival the birth of a small star. The outburst was sudden and brutal. Sarah didn't really care what would happen, the only thing that mattered right now was to make sure that they wouldn't hurt Izsha again.

Something inside Sarah's mind suddenly moved. It felt like an old reflex, something she hadn't felt in a long time. Something that had rested inside her even before she had become Zerg, something that had helped her to become one of the best, no, _the_ best Ghost of all times.

Bloodlust.

She reached out with her mind and her anger gave her full reign over the abilities she had tried to control for so long. It was as if there were hundreds of tentacles made out of nothing but pure psionic energy. They lashed out at the ships that prepared for another barrage. She could see them, and she could sense them. For a short moment, she could sense all the countless Protoss on board of those vessels. Their souls were like bright little diamonds, glowing in the endless darkness of space. Most were utterly unknown to her, but there were also Protoss she remembered, like the one she had met on Artanis's private battle-barge, shortly before they had decided to end Amon once and for all. Again she felt the urge to crush those ships. Perhaps it would have been too much for her, she was after all unspeakable powerful, but not almighty. But it wasn't that who stopped her from doing so.

 _That's not you._ her own voice spoke to her. No, it wasn't her voice. It only almost sounded like her own voice. _This isn't what defines you. There is so much more to you than just anger._

One hell of a time to have second thoughts. Why now? Was her conscious trying to speak to her? It had never done anything like that before. Truth to be told, she didn't even know what that meant. Perhaps because she didn't have a consciousness. Unlike Jim...

The moment she thought about him, Sarah could feel how her resolve started to waver. What would Jim say if he could see her right now? Well, he would probably not be pleased.

Why did she think about Jim when she tried to crush those ships with her powers?

Why was it that every time she tried to do something it felt like someone was watching her? Judging her?

She could sense the distress of the Protoss. Their incredibly advanced ships started to ache under Sarah's psionic assault, and even their shields would soon collapse. She knew that she could probably crush them. Not all by once, but one after the other. Then no one would bother her again...

 _That's not you..._ the voice continued to plead with her.

No.

Not again.

She wouldn't repeat the same mistake all over again. She would spare them, even though she wanted to beat the living crap out of them. But she would not give in. She would not end those Protoss right here and now. Their ships directed their weapons at the moon again. It seemed that the Firstborns, however, had a different agenda. She wouldn't kill them, but she wouldn't allow them to continue this pointless show of force either. She closed her eyes and her whole being radiated so much energy that it hurt to watch. She lashed out with those psionic tentacles, wrapped them around the beautiful ships of the Golden Armada (which was a rather fitting name actually) and did the same thing to them she had done to the carrier that had launched the initial attack.

Like a child throwing little toy-ships away, she hurled the vessels into deep space. The Protoss on board of these vessels didn't understand what was happening to them. One moment they were preparing another barrage, the next _something_ seemed to grab their ships and force them to near-lightspeed. Systems overloaded, internal structures collapsed and hulls cracked, yet Sarah could feel that not a single Protoss lost their life. They would probably hurl all over the place though...if they would be able to do so. But at least they would be alive, something only very few could claim who had challenged Sarah Kerrigan.

One ship, however, withstood her willpower. Not only that, it even managed to get closer. It was different from the others, albeit still of Protoss origin. She knew that vessel, she even had stood on its bridge for a short amount of time.

The Spear of Adun.

So Artanis had decided to come here himself. Good. Perhaps he could explain to her what the hell this was all about.

She knew that the Protoss weren't her best friends, but she hadn't done anything to earn their scorn.

Well, not recently anyway.

Or were they still furious because of what she had done to Raszagal? Or Fenix. Or Aldaris. Or...well, better stop here. Besides, that had been a different Kerrigan. And a different time. Surely they wouldn't try to wipe her out because of that. It lay in the past and now she was here to help. Couldn't they see that? However, before Sarah could contemplate on the Protoss' ungratefulness, she could hear a pained groan.

"Izsha?" she asked and turned around. Her aid tried to roll to the side as if she wanted to escape the pain. But with less than half a body it was impossible. So much pain...Sarah could sense it and watching Izsha like this...it...it...

...it broke her heart.

She knelt down and put her hand on Izsha's forehead.

"Shhh." she whispered, both with her mouth and inside her mind. "Don't move, Izsha. Let me take the pain away."

"My...Queen...you have to...safe yourself..." Izsha coughed. Even now the only thing that she cared about was her Majesty. Sarah's attention was completely focused on Izsha and even she couldn't be at two places at the same time. When her mind redirected its powers towards her wounded aid, the Spear of Adun made a mighty leap forward...

* * *

 **The Spear of Adun**

 **Roughly 5 minutes earlier**

* * *

"Scan the surface of the moon!" Artanis ordered as he stood on the bridge of the Spear of Adun. They had actually prepared the ship to become part of the old Citadel again, to put her to sleep until she would be needed once more. Truth to be told, he had hoped that this day would never come. But when Artanis had realized who was responsible for this whole mess, he had decided to reactivate his flagship. Now it was in the center of a huge formation of ships, better known as the Golden Armada.

"Scanners show extensive signs of Zerg-biosignatures below the surface. But there is nothing on the surface, Hierarch!" a huge Zealot said as he looked on the console in front of him. Artanis had only met him recently, he believed his name was Horrash. Talandar thought highly of him, that was why Artanis had allowed him to join them. The Hierarch had accepted Talandar's judgment of Horrash's character, now that reason had returned to him.

Well, at least part of it anyway.

Perhaps it wasn't very wise to approach a creature like Kerrigan with brute force. And Artanis knew that the last time they had dealt with an almighty Xel'Naga, they had had one of their own on their side. And that one had been Kerrigan...

James Raynor had once said something that was rather fitting for this kind of situation.

 _Irony sucks._

"Indeed..." Artanis mumbled. Talandar, who stood next to him, looked over to his Hierarch.

"My Hierarch, is something the matter?" the Sentinel wanted to know, but Artanis just shook his head.

"It is nothing, my friend. I just wonder where Kerrigan has been and why she has chosen to return now." he said.

"Whatever reason she might have, I have my doubts that we will like them." Talandar noted and practically spoke out what Artanis was thinking. He looked out of the windows of his ship and felt a strange sense of pride. Even though he had fought so many years to bring peace to his people, seeing the mighty Golden Armada like this made his Templar-soul rejoice. But would it be enough to stop Kerrigan? And what was she after?

"Order to the fleet, have them tighten the formation. I want them to be able to support each other should anything happen." Whatever that "anything" would be. The bridge-crew related his orders immediately. He could see how the ships started to move closer. Fighters and support-ships danced around the bigger capital ships. The true pride of the Golden Armada, however, where the mighty carriers and the motherships in the center of the fleet's formation. Among the many ships, Artanis recognized one carrier in particular. It was Selendis's flagship.

He owed her. And he knew that he had to talk to her...in private.

But first, they had to deal with this crisis.

As the vessels closed in on the moon, they started to slow down. Better to be careful than reckless.

"Is there anything on our sensors?" Artanis asked. Talandar checked the incoming data again.

"There is definitely something on the surface, but the sensors are unable to identify it. It is as if it is constantly shifting, evading our sensors. I have never seen anything like it before, Hierarch. Maybe Karax could figure it out."

"No!" Artanis barked. Karax was on board of the Spear of Adun, but not as a free Protoss. Four of Artanis's best warriors (minus Talandar, Horrash and of course that vicious Tal'darim Ji'Nara) were currently "protecting" him. Karax was confused and didn't know why he was treated like a criminal. It broke Artanis's heart, but he had no other choice...

...he didn't know what Kerrigan had done to Karax's mind. As long as he had no answers, he wouldn't allow the Phase-Smith to run around freely. If it would cost him Karax's respect and friendship, then that was the price he had to pay. But the safety of all the Protoss on Aiur was simply too important.

"We are close to the moon. What are your orders, Hierarch?" Talandar asked.

"Order the fleet to take a position above the surface. Let the capital ship target their heavy weapons on the moon's surface, the small ships and fighters shall block of any route of the moon. Should Kerrigan attempt to flee without giving us a proper explanation, I want them to do their best to keep her from doing just that." Artanis ordered. He turned back towards the window and looked out of it. Only after some minutes had passed he realized that no one was saying a word...and that Talandar hadn't relayed his orders to the rest of the fleet. He turned around and looked into the shocked faces of his brothers and sisters.

"Hierarch!" the one called Horrash gasped. "Surely you must be joking!" he protested. "An orbital bombardment on Saalok's surface? It would be a sacrilege!" the Zealot said.

"He is right, Hierarch. Something like that has never been done before!" Talandar agreed. "We cannot bring harm to this sacred place!" Artanis looked at both warriors, and then at the rest of the Protoss who were standing on the bridge. He frowned when he realized what he was about to order.

"Talandar, open a channel to the rest of the fleet. I want everyone to hear this." Artanis then said. The Sentinel hesitated for a second, but then he opened a channel. Artanis turned around and faced his warriors on the Spear of Adun while he talked to the rest of the Golden Armada.

"Attention, members of the Golden Armada and all warriors that can hear me. This is Hierarch Artanis and there is something I need to tell you." He waited a few moments so the people on the other ships could redirect their attention to his broadcast.

"Many of you are wondering why I have ordered the Golden Armada to be deployed and why we are heading for the moon of Saalok." For a moment he thought about telling them about Kerrigan, but then he decided against it. Aside from the warriors who had seen his reaction after destroying the Pylon on Aiur, no one knew that he expected Kerrigan to be on that moon. It didn't sit well with him, but the name Kerrigan was more than enough to drive certain parts of the Protoss's society mad with rage. He especially had the Nerazim in mind. If Vorazun would hear that her mother's murderer was just a little hop away...would she order all her warriors to go after Kerrigan no matter what? Artanis took a deep breath (so to say) and braces himself

"Disturbing evidence has reached us...that something might have survived the war against Amon. Something powerful. And something dangerous. We have all suffered under Amon's reign of terror. We all have lost comrades, friends, and family." he continued. "I know that words travel fast these days, but I want you to hear it from me rather from anyone else: We are traveling to Saalok in order to find out if my suspicions are truly correct." He closed his eyes before he continued.

"I cannot tell you the details...and deep inside my soul, I hope that I am mistaken. But should I be correct, then there will be no time for doubts or hesitation. Brothers and Sisters, there might come a moment where I have to ask you to follow me blindly. Where I have to ask you to open fire on a place that our people regard as sacred. And you would have to fight against an enemy who might be too strong for us to overcome." By now he was certain that he had the attention of everyone who was part of the Golden Armada.

"We have done many great things to ensure the survival of our species. But we have also suffered great losses. And not only us." He waited for a second in order to clear his thoughts. "The Nerazim, our Brothers, they sacrificed their beloved homeworld of Shakuras in order to wound Amon and to delay his advance. The Purifiers, albeit their bodies are made out of metal, sacrificed more of their warriors than the Khalai and Nerazim combined. And they too grieve for the loss of those who are not there anymore...names we probably will never hear...who we will never have the pleasure to fight alongside." He lowered his gaze. Unbeknownst to him, Talandar opened a channel and started to stream the data his artificial senses collected directly to the Purifiers on Aiur. They had to see this for themselves.

"And the Tal'darim? They had to abandon their very beliefs. For centuries they had served their god, yet when their worlds burned, they freed themselves and joined us. And the only thing they had to do was to leave everything behind they took for granted. Ask yourself, Brothers and Sisters, would you have been able to endure the same? For years, we have never stopped believing that we would reclaim our sacred homeworld of Aiur. But imagine if we had not. If we had lost it for good. Think about this when you look at a Nerazim, at a Purifier or at a Tal'darim. This is the pain _they_ have to endure." He looked every single Protoss on the bridge of the Spear of Adun into the eyes.

"But no matter what happened, they have endured. And so will we. Together. Khalai, Nerazim, Tal'darim and Purifier. We have all lost things, but now is not the time to mourn that. I too did not see this until friends knocked some sense into me." He closed his eyes for a moment. "But to do that we have to make sure that no one will ever take this place away from us. Aiur. Our home. The home of all Protoss, no matter where they come from. Maybe we will leave, maybe we will turn our back to this world and venture somewhere else, but we will always be able to come back." When he reopened his eyes, every Protoss on the bridge felt a cold shiver running down their spines.

"And that is why we have to ensure the safety of our world. Not just for us, but for all who wish to live here. The Khalai, we Templar, we used to be the sword of the Conclave. But nothing lasts forever. And so we will change too. The Templar shall turn from a sword into a shield. A shield that will protect this world and those who live on it." He then looked on the white surface of Saalok.

"So please, my Brothers and Sisters, allow me to lead you one more time into battle. Allow me to fight along your side should the need arise." He then took a deep breath and spoke the words that every Templar knew so very well.

"For that "My Life for Aiur" shall be known among all Protoss no matter where they are from!" he finally ended his speech.

"The Hierarch is right." Talandar then said and walked up to Artanis. He turned around and faced the other Protoss.

"My Life for Aiur." he said with a loud, clear voice. The other Protoss nodded.

"Our Lives for Aiur." they replied. But it wasn't good enough for Talandar.

"My Life for Aiur!" he barked and the other warriors realized what he was trying to get.

"Our Lives for Aiur!"

"MY LIFE FOR AIUR!" Talandar yelled again.

"OUR LIVES FOR AIUR!" they shouted back.

"FOR AIUR! FOR AIUR! FOR AIUR!" they cheered. Deep inside his chest, Artanis couldn't help but feel pride. Because he knew that from now on "My Life for Aiur" would include all the Protoss that shared the same will to exist. To prevail.

Horrash, who had replaced Talandar at the console, looked over to the Artanis.

"Hierarch, we receive confirmations from the other ships. The entire fleet is ready to follow your orders." Artanis nodded.

"Good! Have them form a perimeter around the unknown signal on the moon. All capital ships shall point their heavy weapons on the surface, but no one shall fire until I give the order. Talandar, prepare a group of your finest warriors. I will take them with me and venture down to the moon's surface in order to find out what-"

That's when everything went straight to hell.

From the edge of his sight, he could see how one ship broke the formation. It was easy to spot because it was one of the largest vessels of the entire Golden Armada. And he knew that ship well. He turned towards Horrash.

"Quickly! Open a channel to the Executor's carrier! Priority one!" he barked. Horrash knew better than to question his Hierarch's order and did as he was told. The channel was opened and before Artanis could ask Selendis what was going on, her voice yelled through the empty space.

"-get the controls back under control, I don't care if you have to rip out the entire navigation-control to do so!" they could hear Selendis's enraged voice.

"Executor? Executor?! Selendis? What is going on, why have you broken formation with the fleet?" Artanis demanded to know.

"...what do you mean the all the main systems are affected? Then un-affect them!" Selendis only replied. It was clear that she wasn't talking to Artanis but to some members of her bridge-crew.

"Selendis? SELENDIS?! What is going on over there?" the Hierarch demanded to know.

"...then shut those systems down! I don't care if we loose main energy, switch over to emergency-cells! Hierarch? Hierarch?!" she suddenly barked.

"Selendis! What is going on? What is happening over there?" he asked.

"Hierarch, you are barely able to understand. We are dealing with massive problems over here. My vessel's systems have started to...I do not know what is going on, but we lost control over the navigational systems. Other systems are affected as well." Selendis said while Artanis watched how the carrier started to perform a hard turn...and positioned itself right above the moon's surface.

"What are they trying to do?" Talandar wondered. It was Ji'Nara who realized what was going before the others.

"They intend to bombard the moon." she said. "A preemptive strike." When Artanis heard that, his eyes widened in shock. No. Not as long as he didn't know what the hell was going on down there.

"Selendis! Selendis, you need to regain control of your ship, we believe that..."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE WEAPONS HAVE ACTIVATED THEMSELVES?!" they could all hear Selendis yell in anger. "Kill the targeting sequence! KILL IT!" But it was too late. All the rest of the fleet could do was to watch as the heavy weapons of the Selendis's ship started to point at the surface of the moon.

"Selendis!" Artanis tried one last time to avert the catastrophe that was about to happen. But what could he do? Order the rest of the fleet to fire on Selendis's vessel? He could see how the heavy guns of the carrier started to get ready. There was no sound in space, all they could see was a huge blue glow on the surface of the carrier.

"No..." Artanis whispered. But there was simply nothing more to do. The cannons on board targeted the one position on the moon where their scanners had found _something_.

The whole scene seemed somewhat unreal. It was as if time itself had slowed down. All Artanis could do was to watch in horror as Selendis's carrier took aim...and fired.

From above, an orbital strike has something strangely beautiful about it. A bright flash of light traveled down to the moon's surface. The moment it made contact with the soil, an even brighter flash of light appeared. It was so intense that Artanis had to avert his gaze for a moment. As he looked back at the moon, he could see how a huge ball of fire formed right below them. The orbital strike had roughly the same strength as a nuclear strike. A very powerful nuclear strike.

The energy of the attack evaporated quickly and the carrier prepared for another attack.

"Cut the power! Cut the power!" Artanis could hear Selendis's angry voice through the open channel. But nothing happened. The weapons of her carrier prepared for another attack...when suddenly a bright flash engulfed the carrier. Artanis had to close his eyes and shield them with his hand. The orbital strike had been bright, but this was a whole different league!

"Hierarch...!" he could hear Talandar gasp in shock. When he opened the eyes and looked at the Sentinel, he imagined that he could see some sort of shock in the Purifier's body-language.

"What has happened?" Artanis demanded to know. But Talandar only pointed out of the window. It was Horrash who finally raised his voice.

"The Executor's ship..." he whispered in disbelief. Artanis turned his head around and followed Talandar's finger. His eyes then widened in shock. "...is gone!" It was true. One moment Selendis's carrier had attacked the moon's surface. Now it was nowhere to be seen.

"Scan the area!" Artanis barked. "Where is the ship? Where is the Executor?" But before he could get any information regarding the fate of the vessel, the rest of the fleet decided to act. Artanis witnessed how the remaining ships pointed their weapons at the moon's surface...and how they opened fire.

"Cease fire!" Artanis barked. "I did not give the order to attack!" But as Talandar opened a fleet-wide channel, all they heard was pure chaos.

"...we are under attack!"

"...the Executor's ship is gone!"

"...what happened?

"...fire on the target area, full barrage!"

Countless voices were yelling at each other. It was pure anarchy. Perhaps it was because there was no more Khala. The members of the Khalai still hadn't really adapted to that and that counted double for their military. It was utter chaos!

"Have the fleet stand down now!" Artanis ordered Horrash. "Immediately!" Horrash tried his best to reestablish some form of command-structure, but in the meantime, the Hierarch was forced to watch how countless ships started to bombard the moon's surface. Whatever was down there, Kerrigan or something else, it did not appreciate that attack one bit. He could feel a psionic power that he had last felt when fighting inside the Void against Amon. There was no doubt, he would recognize _her_ psionic footprint everywhere.

Kerrigan.

"Pull back! Order the fleet to pull back! We need to regroup!" he barked. But it was too late. The Protoss on board of the ship suddenly felt a horrible pain inside their skulls as an incredibly powerful psionic punch hit them right into the face. Another flash of light appeared, this time even more powerful than the last one that had wiped out Selendis's ship. Artanis had to shield his eyes again. Something hit the ship and he was thrown off his feet. When he finally managed to see something again, he looked out of the window in disbelief.

One moment. One damn moment. That was everything this monster had needed to wipe out the entire Golden Armada. Artanis knew that Kerrigan was strong. She had been a formidable enemy when she had been Zerg, but now he could only imagine how strong she had become. The fact that she had somehow survived an orbital bombardment was proof enough. The Golden Armada had fired everything the Protoss had to offer. Yet it hadn't been enough.

It didn't matter anymore though, because the Golden Armada was no more, including Selendis.

He felt pain inside his chest...an endless pain. It felt like someone had ripped his heart out of his chest. He hadn't been able to tell her what he really felt for her. Now that chance was gone. He wanted to grief. He wanted to scream. He wanted to do something, anything! It wasn't just Selendis, there had been countless of comrades on those vessels. Friends.

"STATUS REPORT!" the Hierarch barked as he got back on his feet. There was chaos everywhere around him, but he could see how Talandar managed to reach a console.

"Main shields are still operational!" the Sentinel replied. "Whatever hit us, it didn't cause any physical damage."

"Tell that to the rest of the fleet!" Ji'Nara replied with anger in her voice and Artanis realized that he felt the same way.

"Why are we still here?" Horrash yelled.

"I have no idea, but it seems that the Solarite-core of the Spear of Adun has just tripled its energy output! I am no scientist, but it appears that the Spear of Adun is able to withstand this power. At least for now" Talandar mused.

"The question is: How long can we keep this up?" Artanis said out loud. "Helmsman, evasive maneuvers! Take us as close to the target as possible!" The Protoss, who was responsible for maneuvering the ship, seemed unsure.

"Hierarch, should we not retreat?" Horrash asked. Instead of losing his temper again, Artanis kept his emotions under control, as any good leader should. But it wasn't Artanis who replied to Horrash's question.

"No!" Talandar said. "Whatever has happened to the Golden Armada, we are still battle worthy. We do not know what hit us, but we might not get another chance of striking at the enemy." He looked at the Hierarch, who gave him a grateful nod. Before they could do anything else, however, another shock went through the entire ship. This time Artanis managed to stay on his feet, but sounds of twisting metal and breaking crystals echoed through the entire ship.

"What is this?" he wanted to know.

"I do not know." Horrash replied. "It seems that _something_ is trying to push us away. I have never seen anything like it. I am a warrior, Hierarch, maybe we should get Karax up here so he can-"

"NO!" Artanis yelled. "We do not know what Kerrigan has done to his mind. He could be merely confused or under her full control. Either way, Karax is too much of a risk right now."

"But what other choices do we have?" Ji'Nara asked.

"We do it the old-fashioned way!" Artanis ordered and the Tal'darim's eyes started to glow in eagerness.

"Oh, I like that command, Hierarch!" she said and checked her psi-blades. "Let us slay a god!"

"If you like this order, Ji'Nara..." Artanis then growled. "...then you will love the next one." He turned around and faced the warriors on the bridge.

"Give word to the entire crew: Prepare for collision!"

* * *

Sarah hadn't wished for this particular outcome to happen. She hadn't come here to fight, yet the Protoss seemed like they weren't in the mood for diplomacy. What had turned them so vengeful? Why had they attacked her? Why?

Why?

WHY?!

Why couldn't she get rid of that last vessel?

The Spear of Adun continued to evade her grasp. The ship was fast and for some odd reason, it was able to withstand her powers. She tried to be as gentle as possible, but even her patience was limited. The ship rolled from one side to the other and made several emergency micro-jumps in order to stay clear of her powers. The ship moved in an utterly unpredictable pattern and all Sarah could do was to react. But every time she thought that she had the Spear of Adun nailed down, the helmsman proved her wrong yet again.

"My...Queen..." Izsha then said as she looked up to Sarah. Her body was still a bloody mess, but her yellow eyes glowed with a bright light inside them. She would live. Thank God...

"...Izsha..."

 _She cares for you. Just like you care for her. If you could only accept that there are many that care for you.._ her own voice lingered through her mind. But there was no time to listen to it, she had bigger problems to worry about.

"...my Queen...the Protoss..." Izsha then said and raised her mauled arm up into the air. The bloody stump that used to be her hand pointed at the star-filled sky and Sarah looked over her shoulder.

One second. One damn second. She hadn't watched those damn Protoss for one damn second and they managed to surprise her yet again. The Spear of Adun micro-jumped closer to the moon. The moment it exited the hyperspace, it reentered it immediately. And then again. And again. It was too fast for her to track it! But it didn't matter, she would be able to withstand the ship's firepower. So what were they trying to achieve?

Another jump caused the ship to enter the atmosphere of the moon and Sarah's eyes widened in shock when she realized what Artanis was trying to do.

"No..." she whispered. "...even he's not that stupid."

* * *

On the bridge of the Spear of Adun, pretty much everyone had grabbed something to hold on to. Horrash looked out of the window and shook his head.

"This is madness." he mumbled. Ji'Nara, who stood right next to him, chuckled while her eyes glowed in a bright red.

"Exhilarating, is it not?" she wanted to know.

"That is not how I would describe it." Horrash just replied. Artanis didn't pay any attention to these two. He watched how the surface of the moon became bigger and bigger. The main engines of the Spear of Adun ran at full power and when the ship entered the thin atmosphere of the moon, the whole ship started to shake. It felt like it was close to falling apart.

"Keep the ship on course!" he yelled but didn't check if they followed his orders. This plan was so mad, so reckless, so very insane that no Protoss would ever do that. No Protoss, except the great Tassadar.

Hmm, to think that Artanis would probably end like his old mentor...

He couldn't contemplate on that thought anymore, though. The ship was so very fast that everything happened within fractions for a second. But even then he had the impression that there was a tiny figure on the surface of the moon...he was not imagining it. Sarah looked up in shock and their eyes met. A sense of triumph flowed through Artanis's chest. It seemed that, in the end, he had managed to outsmart the mighty Queen of Blades.

Then the Spear of Adun smashed into the moon's surface with maximum thrust.


	20. Act I - Chapter 12

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter 12**

 **Does our Insurance cover this?**

* * *

The Spear of Adun did not land gracefully. Well, that much is obvious if you steer a spaceship into a damn moon. But the collision was way less spectacular than you might have expected. There was no gigantic explosion or anything like that. When the ship hit the ground, it didn't detonate like in one of these cheap action movies. No, it was actually somewhat comical. Saalok's gravity was not nearly as powerful as that of Aiur. You could actually compare it to Earth and its only moon, Luna. The satellite of Ancient Earth only possessed one-sixth of Earth's gravity. When you intend to land a ship on the moon, you have to be very careful. If you think that you just have to let yourself fall, you are mistaken. If you're too fast, you will smash into the surface and simply bounce back into space. It is something inexperienced pilots had to learn.

It even had its own name. The "barf-bingo".

Protoss couldn't barf. However, that didn't mean that they enjoyed what was happening to them.

The Spear of Adun did not bounce back, mostly because of the shallow angle it had when it made contact with the ground. Instead, its nose dug deep into the dusty ground and plowed a deep scar across the pale surface of the moon. Considering the fact that this moon was sacred to the Protoss, they sure didn't seem to care about that right now. It was probably proof to how much they despised Sarah. The nose of the ship made contact with the edge of a small crater and blew through the stone. If it had been a "controlled" crash before, it wasn't anymore now. The ship bounced up and started to roll. Up and down had become the same damn thing. The Spear of Adun jumped up, only to crash back down. The long, slender ship did not break apart, but she took massive damage as she continued to plow through Salook's landscape. All kind of stuff was ripped from her outer hull. She rolled over the moon's surface and threw so much dirt into the atmosphere that the ship vanished in a huge cloud of dust. And during that entire time, a deafening sound could be heard.

The ship made another small jump, only to crash back onto the surface again. The people inside felt like fishes inside a barrel. They were thrown around, slammed against the walls and felt how their bodies were hurled through the insides of the ships like ragdolls. When the ship finally stopped, silence returned to the moon.

It wouldn't stay quiet for long though...

* * *

The last thing Artanis remembered was the face of the infamous Queen of Blades. The last time he had seen her like this had been shortly before she had ascended and become Xel'Naga. That Kerrigan had been a creature made out of pure energy, a being that would deserve the endless devotion of millions of faithful servants. The Protoss had revered the Xel'Naga as their gods, and the thought that Kerrigan could take the same place within the Protoss's pantheon was simply out of the question, at least for Artanis. Though he was pretty certain that he wasn't the only one who thought that way.

It had only lasted the fraction of the second, but the shocked expression on the face of the Queen of Blades had been so very satisfying for Artanis, if only for a short moment of time. The humans actually had a saying for occasions like that, the Hierarch had heard James Raynor saying it many times. So he was quoting his Terran friend this time.

"Suck on that, bitch..." Artanis managed to whisper before he groaned in pain.

So Kerrigan had returned, and she had done so as her old Zerg-self. Kerrigan was on the moon of Saalok, the Queen of Blades had returned to them. The Zerg-Queen, on a moon full of her minions. It didn't take a genius to know that she had come here for one purpose, and one purpose alone. Artanis had hoped that this day would never come, but he would not back away from the fight either. He knew that the only thing a Xel'Naga could destroy inside the Void was another Xel'Naga. Unfortunately, they were all out on helpful Xel'Naga, and they weren't inside the Void either. And they were with their backs against the wall.

Artanis had to admit; this wasn't the best tactical situation.

The Hierarch opened his eyes and blinked in confusion. For some moments he wondered why he was looking down on the bridge. It took him some time to realize that he wasn't looking down, but rather up. And that the bridge was in fact above him. It all came back to him and he realized that the Spear of Adun lay upside down on the moon's surface. The artificial gravity was gone and seeing the bridge from this unique perspective was quite interesting.

Maybe one day someone would write a poem about this event. _"How the Hierarch managed to fuck everything up."_ Artanis clearly had spent too much time with Jim.

"Ohhh..." he heard a painful groan next to him. It was Horrash, who rolled on his back. Blue blood was dripping from his forehead and he was pressing his arm against his chest, holding it with the other one. It was clear that his arm was broken. That alone wasn't much of an issue. Protoss warriors knew how to handle pain, they knew how to endure it, how to gain strength from it. A mere broken bone wouldn't stop Horrash. But his arm wasn't just broken, it looked like some sort of abstract piece of art and just looking at it was enough for Artanis to shudder. He had seen his fair share of injuries in his lifetime, he still remembered the horribly mutilated bodies who rested inside their hard Dragoon shells. But even then there were injuries who were just unpleasant to look at. Like a limb that looked like anything _but_ a limb. Horrash wouldn't be able to fight with such an injury.

Artanis shook his head and tried to clear his thoughts. He didn't possess the luxury to just lie around and watch the bridge above him. He rolled on all fours and came back to his feet. Horrash tried to follow his Hierarch's example, but he failed miserably. Artanis knelt down right next to him and put his hand on the Zealot's chest.

"Do not strain yourself, Horrash. Wait for the healers, let them treat your wounds." he said.

"No, I can still fight!" Horrash replied and tried once more to get back on his feet. But Artanis pushed him back down.

"I have no doubts about that, warrior. But your Hierarch just gave you an order. Stay here until the healers arrive. Until then, I need you to command in my absence." Horrash blinked in confusion when he heard those words.

"What will you do, Hierarch?" he wanted to know.

"First, I will look for the others. And then we will find Kerrigan and make her pay for what she did." As he stepped back, other Protoss hurried towards both of them. Some looked at Artanis, waiting for orders. He told them to look for other injured and help them. First order of business was to find out what was still working and who was still able to fight. Horrash was obviously not able to do that.

Neither was Talandar.

"Stop struggling, you stupid piece of metal!" Ji'Nara yelled as she tried to figure out which parts of metal and cables belonged to Talandar and which to the ship. As the other warriors helped Horrash back on his feet, Artanis stumbled towards Talandar and Ji'Nara.

"What happened?" he wanted to know. Talandar looked up, or at least he tried to do that since his head was no longer attached to his body.

"Perh-perhaps I shou-should have bro-brought my other bod-body along." Talandar said with a broken mechanical voice. His head was still connected to the power-supply, but aside from that, most of his body had been smashed into pieces and was beyond repair. He was alive, however. And Ji'Nara was busy trying to put the pieces back together, but she snarled in frustration and threw one of Talandar's crushed limbs away.

"Stupid thing! I am a warrior, not a phasesmith!" she protested. "Have someone else trying to put this puzzle together! I came out here to slay a god!"

"N-no, that piece does no-not belong the-there." Talandar noted as she tried to attach his leg to his shoulder. She roared in anger and threw the leg away as well.

"I-I am running ou-out of limbs, Ji-Ji'Nara." Talandar only said when Artanis finally reached both of them.

"How in the name of Tassadar did that happen?" Artanis demanded to know yet again. Ji'Nara looked over her shoulder.

"The fool tried to shield me from the impact and used his own body to protect me." the female Tal'darim snarled. It was obvious that she didn't enjoy the fact that others tried to protect her.

"It se-seemed like a good id-idea at the ti-time." Talandar's head replied. There was something deeply unnerving about this whole picture.

"Talandar, are you alright?" Artanis realized that the question was somehow idiotic, but he did not know what else he could have asked. Talandar's artificial eyes rolled down so he could see the remnants of his Sentinel body.

"I thi-think I need a va-vacation..." he only said.

"More like a new body..." Ji'Nara mumbled before she stood up and turned around. "Someone else can deal with this, someone who is not a warrior!"

"Do-does that mean I am be-beneath you, Ji-Ji'Nara?" Talandar wanted to know. She looked down at the broken form of the Sentinel and snarled.

"In this moment? Yes. Besides, you do not want me to tinker with your insides, or I might connect your head to your butt."

"Po-point taken. I shall wa-wait for some technicians." Talandar said and chose to remain quiet. As Artanis looked around, he could see that there weren't many warriors around who were still combat ready. As a matter of fact, only he and Ji'Nara appeared to be completely battle worthy. This wasn't good, not good at all. The ship had lost all energy and without the external sensors, Artanis had no idea what was going on out there. Looking out of the window wasn't much of a help either. Since the whole ship was upside down, he looked at the scarred surface of the moon right beneath his feet. From the tactical point of view, this whole mission was one big nightmare. He had no idea what was left of his forces, he had no idea what was going on out there. For all he knew, the Zerg were already moving in on their position, and maybe the people on the bridge were the only warriors left. So the first order of business was to re-establish command over his remaining troops and figure out what was going on outside. He looked over to the main door of the bridge. It was closed and without any energy, Artanis had no idea if they could open it.

"Ji'Nara, help me with this!" he said and walked over to the door. He could sense the Tal'darim's frustration, but then she shrugged her shoulders and decided to follow him.

"What am I know? A door-opener?" But when she saw the Hierarch's look on his face, she just shook her head. "Fine." she growled and both of them stepped towards the heavy, reinforced blast-door. These doors were all over the ship. The Terrans used the same principle on their vessels, albeit less durable. Should there be a catastrophic failure in the outer hull, everything inside the ship wouldn't be sucked out into the great black. It was also helpful to prevent enemy boarding teams to just run from one end of the ship to the other. Blast-doors were massive and heavily reinforced. And, on a side note, without power almost impossible to open.

"Very well, I hope you do have an idea how we open this thing." Ji'Nara said. Right now this was their only way to exit the ship. They couldn't break the windows of the ship because the whole vessel was on its back. Even if they would break the glass (or the Protoss equivalent of glass), they would still have to dig through the moon's rocky surface. The other option would be to work through the ceiling, or the floor, depending on how you look at it, by taking it apart piece by piece. But psi-blades would hardly be enough to cut a hole into the thick hull of the Spear of Adun. So the only option left was to somehow open the blast-door.

"Maybe somehow we can force it open. We need a lever of some sort." Artanis looked around but didn't see anything, but Ji'Nara just grabbed the limb of Talandar, the one she had thrown away earlier. She walked up to the door and rammed the limb (his right upper-leg as it seemed) into the door gap.

"This seems somewhat, uhm, disrespectful." Artanis noticed. Ji'Nara looked over to him and her eyes glowed in anger. Artanis made a step backward and just raised his hands in defense.

"Nevermind me! Just go ahead!" Usually, he would have helped Ji'Nara, but the Tal'darim-warrior seemed like she wanted to rip that door apart with her bare hands. Better not to get in her path...

As he watched how Ji'Nara grunted and cursed while trying to open the door, he suddenly felt the pain he had ignored before. The Golden Armada was gone. So many friends, so many comrades. Even if they would somehow manage to win this battle (which he had his doubts about), what would happen to Aiur? Who would keep the Tal'darim under Alarak's command in check? Who would convince the Purifiers to stay on Aiur if Talandar was gone? It wasn't all grim though. Should they fall here, there would still be Vorazun. Artanis had little doubts that she would be able to lead her people and the remnants of the Khalai into a better future.

Who knew, maybe she would be a far better leader than he was. Right now he certainly wanted to believe that.

Still, as he watched how the Tal'darim-warrior tried to claw herself through the door with her bare hands and Talandar's limb, Artanis had to accept the fact that he and the rest of his men might not return from this battle.

Hmm, it was strange. He had never been afraid of war or death. He remembered those days when fate had almost claimed his life. Like when they had purged Shakuras from the Zerg. There had been so many of them, their numbers had clouded the skies. Back then they had used the Uraj-crystal to wipe the Zerg out. If Artanis was honest with himself, then he had expected to die that day. It would seem that the fate had planned for him to go out with an even bigger bang. Still, he didn't have a problem with facing his end on this moon. There were worse ways for a warrior to perish. Fighting a living god was pretty much the highest honor Artanis could think of. However, for the first time in his life, he felt regret. Regret that this might be the end, that there wouldn't be another sunrise. He had just started to think about the possibility of being more than just a mere Templar, yet before he could have searched for another reason to live for, he was about to perish.

"Damn...it...all..." Ji'Nara cursed before the limb she was using as leverage simply broke into half. She screamed in rage and threw the broken pieces back into the general direction of Talandar's broken form. It was clear that they wouldn't be able to open the door from this side. She looked over to the Hierarch.

"What now?!" she demanded to know. Artanis was no technician, he too would have tried to use brute force to get through. He walked up to the door-controls and looked at it. Energy was still down and he knew that it was pointless, yet he still pressed the open button.

And when he pressed the button, the door opened in an instant. Artanis blinked in surprise, he had not expected _that_ to happen. The energy was gone, so how-

"Are you telling me that I tried to open the door WHILE IT WAS STILL WORKING?!" Ji'Nara yelled in barely contained rage. He didn't dare to look her into the eyes, she was one frightening woman. But as the door opened, a figure appeared right before them. At first, Artanis was relieved because it was clearly a Protoss. But when he recognized that specific Protoss, he made a step backward and raised his wrist-weapon, ready to ignite his psi-blade in order to strike the person down.

"Karax!" he hissed. The Phasesmith looked at the Hierarch in surprise.

"Hierarch! Are you alright? The ship has lost all energy and I have tried to repair what I could, but I need access to the bridge in order to restart the whole system." the Phasesmith explained.

"Why are you here?" Artanis demanded to know. Karax blinked in confusion.

"I...I just told you. I need to restart the system and I can only do that from the-"

"I gave warriors the order to keep you into custody. Where are they? What have you done to them?" If Karax was truly under Kerrigan's influence, then there was no way to tell what he was capable of. Ji'Nara finally seemed to realize what Artanis was referring to. She too made a step backward as well and raised her wrist-blades, ready to activate them and strike Karax down. Karax, who was utterly shocked by the Hierarch's display of hostility, backed away.

"Hierarch...I...I..." he stuttered and you could see the fear all over his body. Well, if you were a Protoss anyway.

"If we cut off his limbs, we can still interrogate them!" Ji'Nara offered as a solution. But before Artanis could even consider this option (which would have resulted in a clear NO!), a slightly injured Zealot entered the corridor behind them and hurried towards their position.

"Phasesmith!" he yelled. "Phasesmith Karax! I ordered you to wait for me!" he barked. When he finally saw Artanis, his eyes went wide and he stopped right next to Karax before he bowed his head in respect.

"Hierarch! Thank the Ancestors, you are alive. We are safe!" the Zealot sighed. Artanis looked at him and frowned. There were cuts all over his body and blue blood covered his thick skin. But aside from that, he looked alright. He looked like he could still fight.

"I know you. You were among the warriors who were ordered to protect the Phasesmith." Artanis then said. "Why is _he_ here? He should be somewhere safe, somewhere where he could not do anything reckless."

"But...but Hierarch!" Karax protested. "Why do you punish me with so much hostility? Did you not call me your brother? Why are you threatening my life like this?" As Artanis looked into Karax eyes, he could see the pain inside them. It nearly broke the Hierarch's heart. Every fiber of his body screamed that this was good old Karax. He focused his mind on Karax and tried to find a glimpse of Kerrigan's dark taint, something that would prove that Karax had been corrupted by the Queen of Blades. But he found nothing. However, that didn't mean that he could just say "Sorry!" and be done with it. There was too much at stake here.

Maybe the Queen had refined her methods, or Karax was truly not under her control. Artanis shook his head. Not now. He had no time to either doubt his caution or time to explain everything to Karax.

"Forgive me and my brothers and sisters, Hierarch..." the Zealot then said. "...but the Phasesmith saved our lives. When the ship...when the Spear of Adun crashed, the containment-department was severely damaged. Many were wounded and trapped under rubble. The emergency energy was offline as well and we were unable to help the ones trapped. The Phasesmith offered help-" the Zealot defended himself.

"...and you accepted it." Artanis finished the sentence with a monotonous voice. The Zealot only nodded.

"Did he disappoint you? Did he try to do anything suspicious?" the Hierarch wanted to know.

"No, Hierarch. He restored energy to the entire level. Thanks to him, many souls were saved. We have many wounded, but they will live. I even think that today no Dragoon was born. And we have to thank the Phasesmith for that." The Zealot looked over to Karax. "And after that, he insisted to come here in order to look for you."

"I see." Artanis mumbled and lowered his wrist-blades. For a long time, he didn't say a word. He just looked at the Phasesmith. But all Karax did was being good old and reliable Karax Artanis knew so well.

"Hierarch." the Phasesmith said with a pleading tone in his voice. "If there is anything I have done to offend you, then I am truly sorry!" he said. "But please, I just want to help my people!" These words felt worse than one thousand whiplashes on bare skin. Artanis just couldn't sense a lie. He was starting to believe that Karax was truly innocent. However, he couldn't afford to simply trust his instincts on this one. Kerrigan had tricked him once already. Not only him but Zeratul, Aldaris and the entire higher echelons of both the Khalai and Nerazim too. There was a time when a warrior should listen to his heart, and there was a time when he should listen to his mind. And right now his mind told him to remain vigilant and cautious.

But he was running out of options and he had to make a decision. One he would probably regret. Yet how had Marshal Raynor called their climactic battle against the Dark One?

 _This is the endgame, buddies._

"Indeed." the Hierarch mumbled. He then looked at the warrior who was supposed to guard Karax.

"How many of our warriors are still able to fight?" he wanted to know.

"We encountered roughly two dozens who are fully combat-ready. There are many who are only slightly injured, but I-"

"No, let the injured remain here. Find all of the ones who are still able to fight. Gather them and bring them to the main access hall. I shall meet you there. Go!" The Zealot saluted and turned around. As he hurried away, Artanis's eyes went back to Karax. For some moments he didn't say anything, but then he just turned around and went back to the ruined bridge.

"Follow me, Phasesmith." he growled. Karax, even though he had all the reason in the world to be cautious, didn't even hesitate one second as he followed his Hierarch. It didn't help Artanis to soothe his troubled mind at all. If only Karax would show signs of madness, of corruption. It would make things so much easier. But Artanis knew that it would be impossible figure out wherever Karax was under Kerrigan's influence or not. Maybe they could find out if something was wrong with Karax, but not here, and not under these conditions. Kerrigan had tricked him and all the other Protoss for so long when she had used Raszagal as her puppet, and now he had to assume that her abilities had become even more powerful.

When they entered the bridge (or what was left of it), he could see that the people who were not too injured to stand were helping the ones who weren't able to do pretty much anything. Even though he saw his fair share of broken legs and arms, there were no casualties. It was a small miracle, one Artanis was relieved to see.

"There, the ones with broken legs over to that side! People with deep cuts on the other! We need to prepare for the healers to arrive, they need to know which one to treat first!" Horrash barked. He held his badly mauled arm close to his chest and Artanis could see that he was in great pain. However, the Zealot refused to yield. It was a testimony to his will and strength.

"Horrash!" Artanis said as he had approached the bigger warrior.

"Yes, my Hierarch?" the Zealot asked and turned around.

"A word please..." Artanis guided Horrash to a dark and quiet corner where no one could listen to what they were talking about. He disliked the very idea, it was beneath him. A warrior shouldn't have secrets from the people he was supposed to lead into battle. Yet being a leader was not about what he wanted to do, but what he had to. "...I will take what is left of our forces and lead them outside. We will try to find Kerrigan and find out why she has come here." When Horrash heard these words, he looked back at all the wounded.

"I would say it is pretty clear why she has returned, Hierarch." the Zealot said and Artanis had a hard time to argue with that. For a moment Artanis didn't say anything. He looked over to Karax, then to his wounded warriors, then back to Horrash.

"Perhaps. However, sometimes things are not the way it seems. Kerrigan has always been a formidable foe. And she never did anything without a plan. And it is that plan I'm afraid of. Still, we have to accept a very sad truth..." the Hierarch spoke. "...and that is that we will not return to Aiur alive." He didn't have to say anything else, Horrash knew what he was trying to tell him.

"It sounds as if you have a plan of your own." the huge Zealot said.

"I would not call it a plan. It is more fitting for a desperate fool who has a lot to lose." Artanis replied. "I need you to stay here. Take care of the wounded, keep the survivors safe. And most importantly: Keep a close eye on Karax. Have him repair the communication systems. If we can get a message to Aiur, than they might have a chance to..." To do what? Fight Kerrigan? She had just wiped out the entire Golden Armada, what could the other Protoss on Aiur do against that kind of power?

"But how do you intend to fight Kerrigan?" Horrash whispered.

"With my bare hands if necessary." Artanis said and then he sighed. "In my experience, the only thing that can defeat Kerrigan is to surprise her. And that is not easy. If you manage to surprise her, however, and if you push her into a corner, she makes mistakes."

"Forgive me, Hierarch..." Horrash mumbled. "...but that is not much of a plan considering against who you will face out there."

"I know. But that is not the plan. Where is Talandar?" Artanis looked around and spotted the remnants of the Sentinels only a few meters away.

"O-over here, Hie-Hierarch." the broken form of the Purifier said. Artanis walked over to his incapacitated comrade and knelt down right next to him.

"How are you, my friend?" he wanted to know. Talandar's artificial eyes flickered.

"Bah! No-Nothing a good pa-paint-job could not fi-fix, Hierarch! My bla-blades are yours...if you fi-find them."

"That is good to hear. However, what I require of you is not your skill as a warrior, but your ability as a living, thinking machine." Artanis said. For a few moments, Talandar didn't say a word. When he did, his voice sounded unsure.

"Is that s-so? But Hierarch, wouldn't the Ph-Phasesmith be be-better suited for that task?" he said. Artanis shrugged his shoulders when he heard that.

"Perhaps. Yet what I need you to do does not just require technical skill, but the will to follow orders. Orders only a warrior could obey." Just like Horrash before, Talandar knew that this wasn't the moment to question his Hierarch's command, but to follow his orders. However, he was aware that he would probably not like the order he was about to receive.

"Hie-Hierarch." Talandar only said, ready to receive his orders. Artanis looked back at Horrash, then down at Talandar again.

"Talandar, can you access the Spear of Adun's systems?" he wanted to know.

"No-Not like this." the Sentinel replied. "I would re-require a direct connection to the main sy-systems. The only place on the shi-ship for that to do would be the bri-bridge. But it is out of co-commission."

"And if you were connected directly to the primary systems?" Artanis asked. Talandar remained silent for one, two moments before he finally answered.

"Tha-that should work. Bu-But Hierarch, what are you pla-planning?" Artanis sighed before shook his huge head. Even he knew that he was about to ask something crazy of those two.

"Horrash, I will order Karax to try to repair the primary systems of the ship. I want you to keep him in your eyesight. Should he do anything suspicious, _anything_ that seems strange or puzzles you, you have to strike him down." Horrash's eyes widened in shock when he heard that.

"But Hierarch!" he whispered so no one could hear them. "This is the Phasesmith we are talking about! Is this not a bit too extreme? Maybe we should consider other opt-" Artanis pointed at the bridge.

"Look around, warrior. Look what Kerrigan managed to do within such a short amount of time. If Karax is truly under her control, then we have no idea what he might do next. We simply cannot risk that. Karax is a friend, a brother. But we cannot risk all of Aiur and every soul on that planet because of one person, even if that person is a friend. If I would be affected, I would expect you all to do the very same." Horrash seemed to think about this for a short time, but then he finally relented.

"I understand, Hierarch. It is a terrible order you are giving me, but one I will obey." the huge Zealot said.

"Believe me, Horrash..." Artanis said. "...I hate myself for giving you this order. But now is not the time to hesitate. Besides..." Artanis sighed again and looked back to Talandar. "...you will probably hate the order I have for you even more."

"Tha-that sounds pro-promising." Talandar chuckled. "Do you wa-want me to blow the shi-ship up, Hierarch?" he jested.

"Yes." Artanis answered dead-serious.

There was a moment of silence and neither Horrash nor Talandar dared to say anything. It was clear to Artanis that both of them were shocked by the mere idea of blowing up the Spear of Adun, but then again they realized that Artanis wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"Talandar, someone shall take you to the main core. Connect to the systems that control the core. While I am no scientist, I believe that a miniature star that goes critical will cause a lot of damage. This ship is powered by Solarite, right? Should we fail to stop Kerrigan..." he then explained to the two of them. "...I want you to blow the ship up." For a long time, Talandar didn't say a word. At first, Artanis thought that he would refuse the order, but then he wondered if the Sentinel was no longer operational. When he heard Talandar's voice again, it was filled with sadness...and determination.

"As you wish, Hierarch."

* * *

"That is all that is left of the mighty Golden Armada?" Ji'Nara said as she looked at the less than two dozen warriors that were still able to fight. There had been thousands of warriors on the Spear of Adun, including the ones in hibernation. But those warriors had been transferred to the surface by the Hierarch's orders. A few hours ago, the only place where they were needed had been Aiur's surface in order to clear out the infestation down there.

So many things could change within a few hours...

"Then they will have to fight double as hard as normal." Artanis replied. He noticed that Ji'Nara was flexing her back-muscles, she seemed somewhat unsure.

"Are you alright?" he wanted to know.

"Oh yes!" she snarled and checked her wrist-blades. "I can hardly wait to sink my blades into our enemies! I feel so light now that I do not have to wear that damn rear-armor!"

"We are fighting Zerg. And maybe something even far more powerful, yet you decided to remove your armor?" Artanis wondered. The Tal'darim gave him an amused look.

"The armor I used to wear was not meant to protect me from my enemies. It was meant to protect me from my allies. Besides, I am much too fast for any Zerg to even touch me." Well, she certainly possessed a healthy dose of self-confidence.

"Your allies?" Artanis wondered. "Does that mean?" But Ji'Nara only snarled in anger when she realized his confusion.

"Let's just say that when fighting among the Tal'darim, you are always on your own. The term "ally" does not mean the same thing to us than to you. Truth to be told; I was never able to fight like this, to concentrate just on the enemy before me and not having to worry about the one in my back, waiting for the right moment to strike me down so he or she can usurp my position. That is the Tal'darim way."

"That..." Artanis said. "...does not sound as if you enjoyed this way of life, Ji'Nara." He expected her to give him a snippy remark, but much to his own surprise she just shrugged her shoulders.

"Perhaps you are correct about that, Hierarch." she just mumbled. For a short moment it seemed as if her resolve was wavering, but then she shook her head and straightened herself. She looked into Artanis's eyes and ignited her psi-blades.

"Say, is there not a god that needs to be slain?" she asked with blood-lust in her voice. While Artanis couldn't really understand her eagerness for pure violence, he too longed for battle. At least he would be able to deal with this disaster the way he knew best: As a warrior. He only nodded and moved up to the outer airlock. He looked over his shoulder and saw into the eyes of every single warrior under his command. They had come all this way, they would not give up now. And he knew that they would not let him down. He was their Hierarch, they were his to command. But still, less than twenty warriors remained. They were all that was left of the once Golden Armada.

Artanis knew that there was no chance that they could win this battle. He knew that they had failed, yet at the same time he knew that there was little they could have done differently. The sad truth was: If Kerrigan had come here to end the Protoss and resume her old reign of terror as the Queen of Blades, then there would be no one able to stop her. The only thing left to Artanis and his warriors was to face her like any good Templar would: On the battlefield, with their blades active and their heads raised.

Today the children of Aiur would not yield. If this was the end, then they would face it with pride. And while standing on their feet.

"Brothers and Sisters!" he said and they all looked up to him. "I wish I could tell you that victory is at hand, but we all know that this would be a lie. And you deserve the truth. You deserve to know what is going on and why you will give your life in this place and on this very day." Strangely enough, he didn't feel any sadness inside his heart when he thought about their incoming demise. For a Templar, there was no greater honor than to give his life in service to his people.

"Today we will face an evil that has caused the death of many of our brethren. I had hoped that we would never see this wretched creature again, but it appears that I was wrong. Now you have to pay the price for my own inability to solve this problem. And for that..." he said. "...I am sorry." He looked at them and for a moment there was absolute silence.

"However!" he then continued and made sure to look each and every warrior into the eyes. "That does not mean that we will just lie down and wait for death to come for us. Today will be our last day in this world, but even then we are blessed! Because not only will we give our lives for our people, we will do so while being close the most beautiful world in this universe, our home! And perhaps these words have never been more truthful than now. Yet I want each and every single one of you to look at her!" Artanis pointed his fingers at a window. Outside they could see the blue and green world of Aiur.

"There she is! Our home! Our world! Reclaimed with the blood of our people! And if we will fall today, we will do so with honor! Our people will look up to the sky and they will know that we were Templer to the last breath! So brace yourself and let these words guide your blades!" He waited a second and everyone around him didn't dare to say a word.

"My life for Aiur!"

"MY LIFE FOR AIUR!" they replied with one voice and Artanis felt nothing but pride in his chest. There were far worse ways for a warrior to meet his end. Yes, this would be a good death. An honorable one, one he could be proud of. And he was certain that Fenix and Tassadar would agree. Artanis was even certain that Fenix would envy him for this death. He turned his head and looked over to Ji'Nara who only shook her head.

"You Khalai certainly like to hear your own speeches, has anyone ever told you that?" she asked before she chuckled. "Still, it was better than anything the High Lord has ever told us." Artanis decided not to comment on that. Instead, he looked at the airlock.

"It is time." he announced and turned himself around. As he faced the airlock, he checked his psi-blades one more time. Then he gave Ji'Nara a nod. "Open the airlock." Her eyes glowed in anticipation and when she pressed the door, he could hear her say "Finally!" The airlock opened and he looked outside...

...and right into the red eyes of a Hydralisk.

"ZHAAAAAAAAA!" the Zerg-beast hissed and ripped its maw wide open. Artanis's eyes widened in shock and surprise. He could see how the armor-plates on the back of that hideous thing opened. Just when it was about to shoot a full barrage of its poisoned needles right at him, Ji'Nara tackled Artanis to the side and both of them fell to the side. He heard some Protoss scream as they were hit by the poisonous projectiles, but before he could react, Ji'Nara jumped to her feet and turned around. The Hydralisk tried to enter the ship, ready to throw itself at the next warrior. From the corner of his eyes, Artanis could see that at least three of his warriors had been hit. They groaned in pain and lay on the floor while the others tried to shield them with their bodies. It was just what the Hydralisk was waiting for. More poisoned needles appeared on its back as it prepared for a second barrage. Inside the confined space of the ship, these projectiles proved to be highly deadly and efficient.

But before the Hydralisk could cause any more damage, Ji'Nara activated her red psi-blade and cut off one of the creature's scythe-like arms off. The Hydralisk howled in pain and anger and tried to turn around. But it wasn't very maneuverable and the sudden loss of an arm made it hesitate for the fraction of a second.

And a fraction of a second was all Ji'Nara needed.

She danced around the Zerg and her blades slashed over its nightmarish form. She ripped the Hydralisks's belly open and cut its throat. Blood gushed out of the open wound and guts fell out of its belly. It was a disgusting display of gore, but Ji'Nada didn't even hesitate one second. With her last attack, she cut off the face of the creature with one swift motion. The Hydralisk was dead before its head hit the ground.

"More outside!" Ji'Nara barked and didn't waste any more time. She jumped over the dead creature and stormed out. Artanis could hear screams of countless Zerg. Well, at least Kerrigan had decided to not drag this out. He got back on his feet and looked at the other warriors. Some were helping the ones who had been wounded.

"You! And you! Help your wounded comrades. The rest: Out! En Taro Zeratul!" And with that, he stormed out of the airlock, right into an ocean of Zerg-bodies...

"MY LIFE FOR AIUR!" Artanis screamed.

Today was a good day to die.


	21. Act I - Chapter 13

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter 13**

 **Field Trip**

* * *

Sarah Louise Kerrigan was a very powerful being. She had always been an exceptionally talented individual, although most of her talents were about killing others. But as impossible it might sound, she was not without flaws. For all her strength and cunning, she had never been able to truly _think outside the box_. It wasn't really her fault though, it was more like she had been raised that way. Perhaps the most innocent version of this upbringing had been through her parents.

"Be a good little girl."

She had failed them.

Next, the Confederacy had _educated_ her, trainer her...

...broken her.

And then they had rebuilt her.

In the end, she had failed them too, albeit in a completely different way than anyone had anticipated. She had been the best Ghost the program had ever produced, until the day she had gone rogue.

Then the Overmind had grabbed its chance. It had not just re-educated her, it had _recreated_ her. The Overmind had created the Queen in Blades in order to ensure the future of his beloved Zerg. Sarah had turned into a tool in a plan that had been set into motion a long time before she even had been born.

In a way, she had failed her "father" as well, although pretty much the entire galaxy was happy about that. She had failed _him_ when she had allowed the Terrans to claim her, to make her weak again. Because James Raynor had refused to give up on her.

And then she had failed him too...

Perhaps it was the most painful failure of her life. She still remembered his expression when she had freed him from his cell on the Moros.

 _You always were the only one who believed in me..._

Those had been her words. It had been a pathetic attempt to regain his sympathy. She knew that, while Jim Raynor would always love Sarah Kerrigan, he would always hate the Queen of Blades just as much.

So yeah, she had failed him too.

One had to wonder _how_ she had managed to fail that many people over and over again. And the reason for that was simply because she had never done anything someone else hadn't taught her. She was a quick learner, but she had never been able to truly create something new, something unique. Her tactics were the results of years of brutal training and the gathered knowledge of the Overmind's cerebrates. As the Queen of Blades, she had followed the old directives the supreme leader of the Zerg had left in her mind. _Thrive. Conquer. Evolve._ But she had never been able to create something truly new. She had used the Zerg the same way the Overmind had used them: As mere minions. To the Protoss, her rule as Queen of the Zerg had been a brutal and cruel one. Her campaigns against her enemies (and especially her deeds during the Brood Wars) had earned her the reputation of a cunning and cruel bitch. While the latter was probably true, the first wasn't entirely correct.

She had learned her scheming-skills from the best liar in the history of humankind: Arcturus Mengsk. But even then she had only been able to _almost_ reach his level. In the end, she hadn't outsmarted her nemesis. She had used raw strength and brutality. It had been Jim and his Raiders and Mengsk's own son Valerian who had weakened his rule so she had been able to end it for good.

For all her strength, Sarah Kerrigan's way of thinking and solve problems was rather, well, one-dimensional. When there's a problem: What have I learned? Is there any knowledge that I can use? And if not: Zergling-Rush. Sarah Kerrigan was a creature that trusted her instincts more than anything else. It was also her greatest weakness. Whenever a situation changed, whenever something started to get out of control, she was unable to react in a fitting manner. Oh, she wasn't incompetent, she had proven that when she had played the Protoss for fools during the Brood Wars. But when the tides of the battle turned, she was unable to adapt to the new situation. Like when the Terrans had claimed her on Char. She had not anticipated that they would be able to hold their ground against her forces.

Neither had she anticipated that Artanis would ram a whole goddamn ship right into her.

She remembered Izsha's screams of warning: "MY QUEEN! WE NEED TO HIDE!" But it had been too late. It had been too late because she had hesitated. Because her mind couldn't comprehend why the Protoss would throw everything at her just like that. Oh, she was aware that the Protoss didn't like her, but this? This was overkill!

Still, as the Spear of Adun came closer and closer, all she could do was to gasp in disbelief. Just when it was almost upon her she could see _him_...

Artanis. For the fraction of a second, their gazes met and Sarah couldn't help but feel like he was _enjoying_ himself. She could have avoided the impact, she could have moved out of the way, she could have destroyed the vessel and everyone inside. Instead...

...she just opened her mouth and five words left her throat. Five words that summed up Sarah Kerrigan's entire line of thoughts.

"You gotta be kidding me."

So much for godlike entity.

But even gods have little helpers. Call them apostles, call them angels, call them demigods. And Sarah? She possessed her very own guardian angel. One that would protect her even if it would cause her own life. And that guardian angel was Izsha.

Between the short period of the initial orbital strike and the Spear of Adun crashing down on them, Izsha's body had had enough time to regenerate enough so she wouldn't perish. She was still a mess, though. Yet it didn't stop her from doing the one thing that stood above everything else: Get her Queen to safety. Her first attempt at grabbing Sarah and burrow both of them deep into the ground had failed spectacularly. But the second time she had done everything just in time.

...like...really just in time...

...like, one second too late and it would have been over.

Sarah didn't know if she could survive a spaceship crashing down on her, but she was in no mood to find out. So whatever Artanis had planned for her (though it was kinda obvious), she had to disappoint him. When the huge vessel hit the ground, Sarah's whole world turned upside down. But even though she felt like a fish in a barrel, she knew that she wouldn't perish. The noise was incredible, but at the same time, she was not afraid. Izsha's wrapped her long and dark body around Sarah like a living cocoon and pulled her as deep into the ground as possible. Sarah was deeply moved by how far Izsha was willing to go to protect her, but still, after this little stunt, they would have a good, long talk. Sarah would not allow Izsha to throw herself into the path of a bullet every single time.

As the Spear of Adun crashed into the surface right above their submerged heads, Sarah could feel Izsha's heartbeat. It was surprisingly calm. And it was not only that, she could read her trusted advisor's thoughts as well. There were just three words, and Izsha repeated them inside her own mind over and over again.

 _She is safe. She is safe. She is safe. She is safe._

"Izsha..." Sarah mumbled. She could feel how her chest started to ache. It was like her heart knew that she had screwed up again. Perhaps Sarah should have done something, but suddenly all she felt was dread when she realized that she had almost lost Izsha. And for what? She had come here to help the Protoss, to heal the wounds the Great War had slashed. To free Aiur of the Zerg, _her_ Zerg. The Zerg would always remain a part of her. Yet here she was, ready to end them in order to help the Protoss. What had the Protoss ever done for her anyway? It's was true; she had killed many of Artanis' kind. However, who had started all of this? They had! She hadn't been the one who was responsible for this whole mess, so at least they could cut her some slag, goddammit!

As the noise and shaking around them finally died down, Sarah hugged herself even tighter. She was still in her Zerg-form, there was something strangely relaxing about it. Like wearing your favorite, worn-out sweatpants. She could sense the Protoss, their confusion, their pain...

...their righteous fury.

Why couldn't they just leave her alone? If they had just used the Pylon she had modified, then none of this would have happened! Sarah grabbed her own head as she felt the Protoss's anger. It was like a bright flare burning right behind her eyes. So much hatred, so much rage, and she was in the center of it all. She knew that she was one of the most hated creatures in the sector. But knowing something and feeling it inside your heart can be two completely different things. And all the hatred she felt right now...

...it was getting to her...

"I..." she sobbed. "...I never asked for this!" Seriously, why? Why had they attacked her? Was this how her future would be? Everywhere she would go, people would hate her? Would try to kill her? Where else could she go then? She didn't want to spend the rest of her (rather long) existence inside Ulnar! She hated that place! But what else could she do? Where could she go?

Who would accept her after all of that, after everything she had done?

As Sarah drowned in her own dark thoughts, Izsha looked at her Queen and frowned. She had never seen Sarah like this; confused, weak, scared. It was puzzling. Deep inside her heart, Izsha knew that the Queen of Blades was the most magnificent creature in the entire galaxy and that it was the greatest honor to serve her. It just wasn't right to see her like this, so weak and full of doubts.

"Why...why?" Sarah mumbled as she talked to herself. She wasn't really paying attention to the world around them. Izsha, who moved through the soil like it was water, did that for her. She focused her mind and searched for more threats. Apparently, the Protoss had managed to wound the Queen. They had managed to plant a seed of doubt inside her mind. While Izsha couldn't do much about that, she could keep her Queen safe.

The Protoss weren't dead. She could sense them, feel their anger and their rage. They would stop at nothing in order to end her Majesty. It was something Izsha could not allow to happen! She probed the area around them and realized that there were caverns right beneath them. Of course!

As Izsha moved through the dense soil, she held her Queen close to her chest. Sarah didn't seem to notice what was going on around her, she was pulling herself back into her own mind. Izsha knew this reaction well, it was something the Queen of Blades had always done after a defeat. She had brooded and wondered what had gone wrong, sometimes for weeks straight. During those times, the Queen usually had done little or nothing at all. Izsha would never dare to criticize her Queen, but this kind of behavior had always puzzled her.

Maybe she would ask her Queen one day why she acted like that. But one thing was clear; Sarah was in no position to make any decision. And there were still Protoss out there, Protoss who were after the Queen's life. And since interstellar travel without a spaceship or a Leviathan was Sarah's specialty, Izsha had to work with what she had. It wasn't much, but it had to suffice. As she broke through the walls of the subterranean network of tunnels, she looked around. She remembered these tunnels. Although she had never been on Saalok before (or any other place than her Majesties Leviathan), she recognized them. She knew them because they all looked the same, no matter which planet you were on. Or under.

Zerg-tunnels.

Perfect.

Perhaps it was the one directive that kept Izsha pushing forward; Keep the Queen safe. Perhaps it was her newly gained independence (sort of). But when a plan formed inside her computer-like mind, she didn't even hesitate one second. She would protect her Queen, no matter what. And if that meant to eradicate every single Protoss, she would do just that. Carefully, almost with the gentle touch of a mother, she put Sarah down. If Sarah noticed that, she didn't show it. All she did was to press her back against the cold wall of the tunnel and pull her legs up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her knees and her blade-wings as well. All she wanted to do was to shut those thoughts out. The self-doubts. The anger. The shame. Maybe the fake Arcturus on Ulnar had been right. What had been his words?

"How much can a human mind take before it breaks?" Something like that. Yes, she was broken. Perhaps she had always been broken. But the cracks had never shown themselves before, not like this. Was it because back then she had always been in life-and-death situations? She had always fought for her survival, there had been no fallback-plan. As a Ghost, and later as a Zerg. But now she possessed incredible powers and these powers offered her a luxury she had never felt before; Self-doubts. Every action she would do from now on would affect not only her, or the Swarm, or just this sector. It would most likely affect the entire galaxy.

But how would she be able to choose the right path? She wanted to help the Protoss, yet in the end, she had caused more pain and destruction than ever before.

...had she become an even more horrible creature?

The old Queen of Blades had been aware of atrocities she had committed. She had enjoyed the slaughter and the destruction, she had reveled in it. However, back then her powers had been limited (even though on a rather impressive level). But about now? Now she could do pretty much anything. Was it...was she losing it again? Was she actually doing anything good? The Protoss had attacked her with extreme prejudice. Maybe it was all wrong, maybe she was mistaken. Maybe she wasn't doing anything good at all, maybe she wasn't even in control of her actions anymore. What if...what if Amon had won and she was just his mindless toy? Would she even be able to feel his control?

Everyone has a breaking point. And Sarah had come a long way. So who in the whole galaxy had the right to judge her?

For a godlike entity, it was probably pretty pathetic that she was experiencing her first true mental breakdown after everything she had gone through. It was also a piss-poor timing, but the thing about mental breakdowns is; they don't wait for the most convenient time to happen. She just wanted to be alone. She wanted to cry. She wanted to know what she should do next, wanted _someone_ to show her a path that would lead anywhere else BUT global destruction. She didn't want to cause any more death, yet it seemed that wherever she went, havoc would follow.

Sarah didn't notice what was going on around her anymore. Her mind had started to pull itself back and her dark thoughts started to race inside her head. Neither did she notice when Izsha finally started to move.

"My Queen, please stay here. I will take care of the Protoss." her advisor said. But Sarah wasn't even listening. Izsha, on the other hand, knew that she had to act fast. She had a plan, well, sort of a plan. There were Zerg down here, there were Protoss up there. Do the math.

But that didn't mean that things would be easy. As Izsha slithered through the pitch-black tunnels, she could sense the dormant and feral Zerg. There weren't that many in the vicinity, but hopefully, they would be enough to keep the Protoss in check. This wasn't the only place filled with Zerg, Izsha could feel legions all over the moon, but most were too far away to get here in time. And time was something Izsha could not afford to waste. She moved quickly and followed the empty voices that echoed through her mind. They were lost, they were empty. They had never tasted the touch of the Swarm, they were born after the Overmind had perished. These Zerg were not like the one she cared so much for. They would be sufficient, however.

Izsha slithered around a corner and when she stopped, countless eyes, maws, and claws turned around and faced her.

Dead eyes stared at her. These Zerg were old, obsolete. Their genetic structure was outdated. There was not much biomass on the moon and they hadn't been able to evolve. They were basically the same creatures the original Overmind had brought to Aiur. It was like Izsha was looking into the past. But unlike humans, Zerg didn't like to reminiscent about the past. Their whole point of existence was to evolve. Abathur would probably have suggested to kill them all and turn them into biomass, and Izsha would have agreed. They were old. Weak.

Outdated.

Just what she needed.

The Zerg didn't even recognize her. It wasn't that strange, Izsha hadn't been around when the Overmind had been slain by Tassadar. It was like a T-Rex would come face to face with a modern eagle, the one being a relic of the past, the other one state-of-the-art. When the Zerg finally noticed her, they opened their maws and hissed at Izsha. Drool dripped from their fangs and she could sense their anger. It was pathetic. Izsha raised to full height and started to sing her song. At first, the Zerg didn't realize what was going on. They closed in on her, ready to rip her apart. Their dull movements shocked Izsha, so did their disobedience. Her song became louder and the first Zerg started to slow down. There were Zerglings and Hydralisks, but not much else. They slowed down, but not all of them. One Hydralisk proved to be rather defiant to her song. It came closer and closer until it was almost upon Izsha. She wasn't afraid though. She remembered that type of creature. It was part of the now-defunct hunter-strain. These Hydralisks had been even more vicious than the ordinary Hydralisks. But there was a difference between "vicious" and "killing your own siblings every time you're bored" and that was why the Queen of Blades had ordered Abathur to remove them from the Swarm.

She could sense the Hunter-Killer's thirst for blood.

Destroy.

Destroy.

Destroy.

That was the only thing inside its mind. Even for a Hydralisk, that was not much. Izsha looked down on the smaller creature and lifted her huge tail...

...before she slammed it down on the Hunter-Killer and crushed it with ease.

The Hunter-Killer hadn't even decided to use its poisoned needles on her. It had been a lost cause. When the smell of blood filled the tunnels, the other Zerg finally started to react. They looked around, sniffed the air and growled in anticipation. Then they looked back at Izsha. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw and felt the same kind of blood-lust she had felt from the now dead Hunter-Killer. They snarled and moved towards her. There were many, but she was not helpless either. Her tail could be used as a brutal weapon, one that could crush even a Hydralisk with ease (as demonstrated). Still, she decided to move backward. Anger flashed through her whole being. How could they? How could they _reject_ her? Maybe she wasn't the same Zerg she once had been, but she still knew her kind! The Zerg moved in closer and she backed away. She would lure them deeper into the tunnels where she would deal with them one by one. And then she would use...

But she didn't manage to finish that thought. Because the Zerg weren't after her. As she moved backward, the bloody and broken body of the Hunter-Killer twitched on the ground. It was dead, the twitching was just the reflex. When the Zerg turned their attention towards the still warm body, Izsha blinked in confusion. And that confusion turned into utter disgust when they started to devour the Hunter-Killer's body.

Zerg weren't very squeamish when it came to death and carnage. They would sacrifice millions in order to achieve their goals. But cannibalism? Technically Zerg didn't have to eat, they absorb all the nutrients they need through creep. Many didn't even possess digestive organs. Dead bodies were reabsorbed by creep and turned into biomass, but eating each other? There had been Zergs doing that, like the now too defunct defiler-strain that had been known for displaying such a behavior.

The Zerg rammed their teeth into the still warm flesh, ripped it apart and they started to devour it. She could sense their glee and realized that these beasts enjoyed the feast! The taste of blood made them squeal in joy. Izsha shuddered in disgust, and for the first time, she realized that there was no point in saving these Zerg anymore. They were lost. They were a disgrace to everything the Zerg stood for. They were no longer part of a well-maintained machine, they were mad beasts that longed for flesh and blood. If Izsha had felt any form of reservation before, she did not anymore. Her Queen had been right: These Zerg had to perish. At least they could give their life by slaying as many Protoss as possible. If these empty husks would give their life for her Queen, it would be too much of an honor for them, but right now Izsha couldn't be picky. She resumed to sing her song, yet much to her chagrin the Zerg did not react immediately. The warm flesh they devoured was more important than her orders. Disgusting, every single one of them. So she had to reinforce her psionic voice, had to make sure that they would _understand_. She could see how their bodies twitched, how they tried to fight her commands. Some Zerg raised their heads and looked at Izsha. They hissed in anger and confusion when their bodies did not listen to them anymore. They wanted to continue with the feast, but some part of their brains responded to Izsha's call for arms, and legs, and teeth. It was a small nerve-cluster, something every Zerg possessed. A fail-safe of sorts, one that allowed every high-ranking Zerg to take command over feral broods. In theory anyway.

The Zerg responded to her call. but even then she could feel their resistance. Izsha could feel how they tried to fight her control, how they wanted to keep their independence. How utterly revolting. The Zerg demanded leadership, not individuality! It was like these creatures were cells inside a body who refused to do what they were expected to do. That's right...

...they were like cancer to the Zerg.

Izsha continued to move backward and most of the Zerg followed her. She was worried that the ones who were too dull to listen to her song would go after her Queen, but she had no time to deal with that right now. She would lead the Zerg here to the Protoss, return to the ones who still defied her and slay them to the last. Even though Izsha's powers were pathetic when compared to her Queen, she could still feel the presence of the Protoss. They were almost right on top of her and she moved into the right position. She looked at the dead eyes of the Zerg and gave them the order to dig themselves to the surface. Again they needed to be reminded of her superiority as a Zergling approached her with sinister intentions. It didn't see someone who was in control, all it saw was meat that it had to devour, blood that it had to drink. With a feral scream the Zergling jumped at her, but it was no match for Izsha. Her mighty tail hit the smaller creature like a several meters long and several tons heavy whip. The Zergling was split into two pieces and its insides and blood fell on the ground. When the other Zerg saw how the dead body hit the ground, they screamed and snarled as they threw themselves on the warm flesh.

Food.

Food.

Food.

It was the only thing on their mind.

"ENOUGH!" Izsha yelled, unable to control her own anger anymore. Perhaps she was not nearly as powerful as the Queen of Blades, but she was more than a match for these horrid abominations.

"You will obey my command!" she hissed and her song turned sour. No longer did it appeal to them, no longer did it tell these Zerg that they were the greatest beings in existence. No, they now felt her pure and undiluted disgust. The Zerg squealed in pain and confusion, they hadn't felt this form of control in a long time, maybe never. Suddenly they felt a leash and a whip at the same time.

"You have no right to call yourself Zerg anymore..." Izsha growled, showing a surprising amount of emotions. "...yet you should be grateful that I allow you to end your life by slaying her Majesty's enemies!" In the end, it was not Izsha's will that drove the feral Zerg into the sides of the tunnel where they started to burrow themselves to the surface. It was the pain Izsha's song caused them. They wanted to get away from it, wanted to get as much distance between themselves and Izsha's righteous fury. The fact that it would lead them right to the Protoss was nothing more but a side-effect. All that remained now was to make sure that the Protoss would not reach her Majesty. Even these pathetic critters should be able to do that...

* * *

There were plenty of Zerg all over the ship, yet at the same time they were too spread out and there weren't enough to overwhelm the Protoss. The moment the warriors jumped out of the ship they raised their psi-blades and channeled their psionic energies as they prepared themselves to strike the enemy down.

"Keep a tight formation!" Artanis barked and the warriors rallied around his position. "Form a line, support your fellow warriors!" And that they did. They stood shoulder to shoulder as Zerglings and Hydralisks approached them. They were deadly creatures, but from the moment the first Hydralisk practically threw itself into Artanis's blades, the Hierarch knew that something was different...that something was wrong.

The Hydralisk approached him head-on. It didn't use its poisoned needles, instead, it slithered at him like it had all the time in the world. It opened its bloody maw and Artanis could see that there were still pieces of flesh hanging from its teeth. For a short moment, he was afraid that it was the flesh of some Protoss, but the red blood told him that it wasn't the case. It appeared as if the Hydralisk simply wanted to sink its teeth into Artanis's flesh. But he was not a picnic basket, he was a fully fledged warrior. Still, when he rammed his psi-blade right into the skull of that horrid creature, it didn't even try to evade. All it did was to throw itself at him in order to die.

Another Zerg approached him, this time a Zergling. Zerglings were fast and even though they were little more than legs with teeth, they could cause serious damage to any formation. But this Zergling wasn't running at Artanis with full speed. It was more like it was trotting right at him as if it wasn't really thinking of him as a threat at all. It took the Zergling several moments before it finally reached the Hierach. The whole situation was beyond absurd, it was like watching a snail going for a piece of salad.

"Not that I am complaining or anything..." he could hear Ji'Nara's voice next to him as she ripped another Zerg into pieces. "...but this is not what I would call a challenge! Even Talandar in his current condition could defeat these critters!" She was right. The first Hydralisk had surprised them, but even though there were countless beasts outside the ship, they didn't really put up of much of a fight. The Zerg on Aiur had been anything _but_ organized, yet their sheer ferocity and number had turned them into a serious threat. Well, that and Artanis' poor judgment at that time. These Zerg, however...

"It is as if these Zerg do not really know how to fight." Artanis said and looked around. More and more Zerg emerged from the ground.

"Well, I do! And if these beasts have decided to go for pacifism, then I am going to pacify them!" Ji'Nara roared and threw herself on the next Zerg.

"Ji'Nara, no! Stay in formation! They are still Zerg!"

"Waiting is for the foolish and weak! Follow me!" she roared and sliced the first Hydralisk into small pieces before she threw herself on the next enemy close to her position. Artanis could see how the other warriors seemed to feel the urge to throw themselves at the Zerg too, but they refused to just storm right at the enemy. In the end, their discipline was greater than their desire for death and destruction. It appeared that the Tal'darim looked at it from a different point of view.

Or Ji'Nara was just a very special snowflake.

"What shall we do, Hierarch?" one of his warriors wanted to know.

"Stay together, do not abandon the formation! We advance as one. Slay every Zerg you can, but do not get too overconfident." Something was wrong with these Zerg and as they started to advance, it became clear that they were not the same threat Artanis and his warriors were used to. Whatever Kerrigan was up to, it couldn't be good. Was she trying to fool them? Give them a wrong sense of superiority, only to strike from below? His eyes wandered over the battlefield and he looked for any clue, any sign that would tell him what Kerrigan was up to. But aside from a strange feeling in the back of his head, there was nothing, nothing at all.

"Do not take them lightly! Treachery is the very nature of the Zerg, let them not fool you!" he barked.

"Fine, more for me!" Ji'Nara screamed as she threw herself on a Hydralisk. She tackled the creature to the ground and pressed it down with her tights before she started to slice it into pieces with her blades. It's scream turned into gurgling sounds when she ripped its throat apart and blood filled its gullet. Artanis had witnessed how the Tal'darim would fight, but for the first time, he had the chance to witness a Tal'darim going all out on an enemy.

"Hierarch! Over there, more Zerg are closing in!" one of his warriors said and pointed to the side of the ship. Artanis looked over and his eyes widened in shock.

"They are trying to climb on the ship! Warriors, spread out! We cannot allow them to enter the Spear of Adun, our comrades inside are not able to fend them off on their own!" The image of some Zerg entering the bridge of the Spear of Adun appeared right before his inner eye and he shuddered. Horrash and the other warriors wouldn't be able to fend the Zerg off, even if these Zerg were just a pitiful excuse compared to the ones they were used to fight. When he saw how more and more Zerg emerged from the ground, he knew that they had to come up with a different solution.

"Fall back!" he yelled. "Fall back to the ship's outer hull! We need to keep the Zerg away from the ship! We need to protect our comrades inside!"

"Hierarch, with all due respect..." one of his warriors said. "...but we cannot win this if we stay on the defense! We need to strike back, take the fight to them!" The warrior was of course right. Fighting a defensive battle against the Zerg was utter madness, they would just send more and more troops against the defenders until they were exhausted and ready to fall. Artanis turned around and wanted to tell the warrior the truth...

...wanted to tell them that they just had to buy enough time for Talandar to overload the Solarite-core. Truth to be told: Artanis had no idea what would happen. He assumed that it would explode and he could only hope that it would be one hell of a bang. Would it be enough to take out Kerrigan? Would it be too powerful and rip the moon apart? He had no idea.

"Warrior..." Artanis began.

"...stop bickering and listen to your leader!" Ji'Nara suddenly said as she hurried towards them. Most of her body was covered in blood, yet she seemed to enjoy it. "The Hierarch has not let you down before, he will not start now!" Artanis looked over to Ji'Nara and gave her a thankful nod. She moved closer and when she spoke to him, she made sure that no one else could hear her voice. "Still, we need to do something about this, Hierarch." she said. "I can sense something out there. A will...weak, but it is there. Something that is controlling the Zerg."

"Kerrigan?" Artanis whispered, but Ji'Nara only shrugged her shoulders.

"I do not know. I have never met her in person, but I cannot imagine that she is just that weak, not after everything I have heard so far. Has she not ascended to godhood?" Ji'Nara wondered.

"She is _not_ a god!" Artanis yelled. The other warriors looked at him in surprise and he could feel their questions at the edge of his mind. He looked back and then around.

"Swarm out!" he then ordered. "Protect the ship! Form a defensive perimeter around all the access-points! By the name of Tassadar, make sure that the Zerg will not enter the Spear of Adun!" He then turned towards Ji'Nara. "Not you, however. _We_ have a different target." Ji'Nara's eyes widened in surprise.

"You mean-" she started, but Artanis only nodded.

"Yes. We shall go after her." He then turned to the warrior closest to him. "Defend the vessel! And inform Horrash." His hands turned into fists. "Tell him...that if the Zerg breach the ship's hull, he and Talandar shall do what I have told them to do." He didn't have to tell the warrior the details about this order and the warrior didn't care about that. He knew his duty and saluted before he joined his brethren in combat. Artanis then turned around and gave Ji'Nara a quick nod.

"Let us go. We do not want to keep Kerrigan waiting." he said and Ji'Nara chuckled. Together they ran over the dusty surface of the moon. Their target was a huge hole in the ground. There were still Zerg pouring out of it, but they too moved sluggish and didn't really know what they should do. Some decided to attack the two Protoss, but they stood no chance whatsoever. Artanis and Ji'Nara left a trail of blood and flesh. They reached the edge of the hole and when Artanis looked inside, he could see nothing but pure darkness.

Suddenly he wasn't so sure of this idea anymore.

"I bet the High Lord is furious because he is not here right now. To think that we might battle a Xel'Naga and he is not around to claim the glory for himself. Oh, I could not be happier!" Ji'Nara exclaimed. She didn't even wait for Artanis and jumped right into the dark hole. The Hierarch watched how the lithe figure of the female Tal'darim vanished in the darkness and blinked in surprise.

"Well..." he muttered. "...once more into the breach I guess." Then he jumped too.

The Zerg were getting slaughtered, that much was obvious. It wasn't completely their fault though. Yes, they were only a pale shadow when compared to the Zerg on Aiur or the ones who belonged to the Swarm. But the commands they received were not very complex either. No matter how much Sarah had changed Izsha, she was still an advisor, a counselor. She was _not_ a general. She lacked the skills any broodmother possessed. As weird as it might sound, but Izsha was not made for combat. Right now she was the wrong person for the job. Perhaps Zagara would have been the better choice. She would have whipped these Zerg into shape and turned them into a fearsome army.

But Zagara wasn't here.

As Izsha moved through the tunnels beneath the ground, she searched for any remaining Zerg. The moment she found some, she ordered them to the surface. She didn't tell them to push together, she didn't order them to flank the enemy. All they did was to go up there and move towards the enemy. Some tried to defy her, but by now she didn't even hesitate when they tried to bite her, she just smashed them into the ground. Perhaps she wasn't a broodmother, perhaps she lacked the instincts and skills of a competent leader, but she still demanded obedience!

She could still feel the confusion of her Queen in the back of her mind. She wished that there was something she could do, yet something inside her mind and heart told her that she should leave the Queen alone. Alone and protected. So she would do her best to keep the Queen safe while she would work out her _issues_.

Izsha had no idea how the Zerg on the surface were doing. But at the same time, she couldn't really care less. They were obsolete anyway and their extermination was a pleasing outcome. But only if they managed to keep the Protoss at bay. At least they seemed to be able to keep the Protoss occupied and it appeared that Izsha couldn't ask for more right now. It was frustrating, but there was little else she could have done. As she slithered through the tunnel, she moved towards a junction. She couldn't feel any Zerg over there, but something else. Something foul...like a psionic stench. It was familiar, but at the same time, she had no idea what it truly was. As she moved around the corner, blue and red lights appeared and she nearly bumped into two smaller creatures. She was blinded by the bright light for a second and moved backward. When she was finally able to see again, she looked at two Protoss: One wearing a golden armor, the other one a black one. Their psi-blades had different colors as well, one red and one blue but Izsha had no idea if that difference had anything to say.

"Well..." the male Protoss finally said as he raised his blades. "...I think we found who is in charge."

As Artanis and Ji'Nara moved through the cold tunnels, they could hear the screams and snarls of countless Zerg in the distance. Walking below the earth and through Zerg territory was a foolishness of the highest order, but if you run out of options, well, sometimes acting like a fool was the only thing left to do.

"Do you think that blowing up the Spear of Adun will kill the Queen of Blades?" Ji'Nara suddenly asked while her red psi-blade filled the tunnel with a menacing red light. Artanis looked over to her in surprise.

"I...hope so." he just replied. Ji'Nara stopped and so did Artanis. She turned her head around and looked him in the eyes.

"You hope so?" she asked in disbelief. "That is your great plan? Plunge into a dark nest full of Zerg and see what is going to happen next?"

"I would not put it like that...but yes. That is the general idea." Artanis said. Technically it wasn't so much different from what Tassadar had done either. For a long moment, Ji'Nara didn't say a word. At first, Artanis thought that she would go nuclear again, but then she only shrugged her shoulders and turned around before she continued deeper into the enemies stronghold.

"Meh, it is still a more enjoyable plan than anything High Lord Alarak would come up with." she then said. Artanis, who followed her closely, frowned when he heard that.

"You mean that Alarak would come up with an even worse plan than mine?" he wondered.

"What? Oh, no. No, he would probably come up with a brilliant and ruthless plan that would result in a flawless victory. For him anyway. But Tal'darim-operations are always so controlled, there are so many things you need to keep in mind and there is little room for improvisation. You Khalai, however, you just storm the hill and do not care one bit if you win or lose as long as you get some kills."

"Uhm..." Artanis muttered. "...is that how you perceive us?"

"Why yes. At first, I thought that your people are simply prone to foolish leadership until I realized that this is your way of life. Highly interesting if you ask me." Ji'Nara said with a no-nonsense tone in her voice. Artanis was unsure what he should reply to that.

"Wait, what? Ji'Nara, are you telling me that you consider _us_ reckless? But the Tal'darim are among the most vicious and ruthless warriors I have ever met! Yet you believe that _we_ just storm the hill?" he asked in disbelief. He wasn't offended, not really. It was more like he felt perplexed. Ji'Nara stopped and looked him into the eyes again.

"We Tal'darim plan and scheme long before we go to war. The fight is just the moment when we can vent our frustrations. And even then we have to assume that our worst enemy is not in front of us, but behind us, wearing our own colors. It might seem like a senseless battle royal to you, Hierarch..." she said. "...but believe me; every strike, every attack follows a certain set of rules. If a Tal'darim fights, she has to fight with all her might. Never hold anything back, because that would be a sign of weakness. But at the same time, you can't focus all your strength on just the enemy in front of you."

"That sounds impossible. How do you manage to fight like this?" Artanis wondered.

"We do not. You fall, and someone stronger will replace you. Or someone who is more ruthless. Or more cunning. Survival of the fittest."

"That does not sound so much better than storming the hill like a bunch of fools." Artanis shot back.

"Oh, that? Never mind the insults. We Tal'darim do it all the time. Insult your enemies and they might lose their temper and momentum, giving you an opening to strike. Insult your allies and they might show you what they really think of you." That was surprising elaborate.

"And what did you learn from my answer?" Artanis wanted to know.

"That you think I am vicious and ruthless." she said with a cheerful voice.

"And you accept this?" Artanis asked as they approached a junction.

"Actually...I think it is cute. Is that not what every girl wants to hear from a strong warrior?" she chuckled. When they turned around the corner they nearly slammed into _something_. Something big. Something Artanis had never seen before. It's long and black body seemed to be one with the dark walls of the tunnel yet even then there was little doubt about this creature's origin. No matter how many limbs it had, he would always recognize a Zerg.

"Well..." Artanis said when he ignited his psi-blades and went into battle-stance. "...I think we have found who is in charge."

* * *

Deep in the darkness of these endless tunnels, Sarah had huddled herself against a cold wall. She was still lost inside her own mind. Her thoughts were no longer distinguishable, everything had turned into one blurred mix. Strangely enough, that blurred mix had a color, and that color was green.

It probably said something about Sarah's character. She was green. Who knew?

She didn't pay any attention to what was happening around her. Not now. It was as if all the cracks inside her psyche were finally starting to show themselves. Wherever she turned, whatever she tried, there was no real solution. The magnitude of this realization hit her harder than any defeat in the past.

She was truly alone.

Perhaps she should return to the Zerg. Zagara had told her that she was no longer welcome, but maybe they could find a way to work that out. She didn't have to resume command over the Swarm, she could become Zagara's advisor. And then she could help the Overqueen to lead the Zerg to a new and glorious future!

No. No, that wouldn't work either. She had released the Zerg not because she wanted to be free of them, but because she still cared about them. And they deserved to find their own path in life. She wouldn't be of any aid to the Zerg, she would only slow them down. Under her guidance, they wouldn't be able to evolve the way _they_ wanted to. So no, she couldn't return to the Zerg.

 _There's another place you could crash, you know that._ her own voice echoed through her mind. No, not her own...but almost like her own. It reminded her of that voice she had heard inside Ulnar.

"An...other place?" she whispered. Another place.

Another place...

Suddenly, she could see Jim's face before her inner eyes. Old memories, but ones she valued more than anything else.

Jim...a part of her wondered what he was doing right now. She had no right to look for him, had no right to become part of his life again. But right now she just wished to be back on the Hyperion, shortly before Tarsonis had happened. To be in his bunk, to be in his bed, snuggled against his warm chest, hearing his breath and heartbeat.

She wanted to be weak.

She had never asked for this. Becoming the perfect killer? Not really. Being turned into a vicious monstrosity? Yeah, right...

Being infused with the power of a god? Well, maybe. At first. Back then she had thought that it would free her, free her of her pain and her past. But it hadn't worked. She was still a part of this world, this universe. A universe that hated her for being someone others had turned her into. Everyone hated her, everyone despised her.

 _Not everyone._ the voice spoke to her again. _There is one. One who can heal the hurt. You know that._

But then that thought was replaced by something else.

"GHAAAAAAA!" Sarah suddenly screamed as unspeakable pain shot through her mind. It felt like someone had rammed a psi-blade right through her chest. She realized immediately that it wasn't her pain, however, because it only lasted for a second...and then it was gone. Her head jerked back up and her eyes widened in shock when her thoughts finally started to clear. There was a strange sense of emptiness in her mind, like someone close to her had just ceased to exist. Terror gripped her heart when she finally realized what had happened.

"IZSHA!"


	22. Act I - Chapter 14

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter 14**

 **Let no good Deed go unpunished**

* * *

Knowledge wins battles. It is probably one of the most quoted facts about warfare in the entire galaxy. Right after "War is hell". And "That ain't supposed to happen!". People look at battles and wars and think that in the end, it was the bravery of the soldiers on the field who saved the day. Or the brilliance of their commanding officer. Or the incompetence of the guy on the other side. What most people don't see is what's happening behind the scenes. And we are not talking about commandos who operate behind enemy lines.

We are talking about military intelligence.

Now, there are plenty of jokes out there, like that the term "military intelligence" is a contradiction in itself. And the fact that those guys working for these agencies are rarely seen on the battlefield doesn't really help their reputation either. But that doesn't mean that these guys are useless. Just because you don't know what they're doing, doesn't mean that they are trying to usurp the government...

...well, not all of them anyway.

Gathering intelligence is vital to win a battle. It is vital to save as many of your own people as possible. You need it in order reduce the carnage that's about to happen.

That's probably the reason why the Zerg never had a concept like that in the first place

But the Protoss do. And while they do not use the same kind of institutions like the Terrans, they do value knowledge about their enemies. It is analyzed, filtered and then processed. How to fight Terrans? Act fast, don't give them time to entrench themselves. How do you avoid fighting Terrans? Try to establish communications, figure out why they are in your line of fire. Terrans don't risk their armies just for honor, they're usually after _something_. Intelligence helps to figure out how to deal with such situations. And it's not just about the Terrans. Pretty much every creature that belongs to the Zerg Swarm is known to the Protoss. Their strengths, their weaknesses, how to defeat a Hydralisk, how thick is the carapace of an Ultralisk? How smart are the rather new broodmothers? That is knowledge any good military commander would kill for. Artanis knew that. He knew about the value of this knowledge and he knew that the Protoss were highly competent when it came to gathering intel. They only had a problem with getting to the right conclusion from time to time.

However, when Artanis came around the corner and nearly bumped into that Zerg, he had no idea what that thing was. So much for intel.

At first, he thought that it was an especially large Hydralisk. The tail made him believe that. But then he had realized that its upper body didn't look like those horrible creatures. Instead, the upper torso reminded him of a human. An infested and heavily modified human. Inside Artanis's minds, dozens of different theories emerged. A new kind of Zerg-breed? Maybe some sort of next-generation broodmother? A new aberration-strain? Or something even worse? Whatever this thing was, Artanis was pretty certain that no one had ever seen this creature before. And that meant that no one knew what it was capable of.

Which meant that they had to be especially careful in order to avoid any-

"I SAW IT FIRST!" Ji'Nara yelled before she threw herself on that Zerg-creature. Artanis shouldn't have been surprised, however, all he managed to do was to groan in despair. Hesitating is not something a warrior should do, but right now he could barely keep up with the decisions Ji'Nara was making in an instant. All he could do was to watch as she practically jumped at the creature, her red psi-blades raised high in order to decapitate the Zerg. But whatever this creature was, it was a lot stronger and faster than it looked.

"Ji'Nara, watch out!" Artanis yelled, but it was already too late. The Tal'darim leaped high up into the air, ready to throw herself on her enemy when the Zerg's long and black tail came around and hit her like a whip in mid-air. There was a "UNF!" coming from Ji'Nara before she was slammed into the wall to their right. Stone cracked and Ji'Nara groaned in pain when she fell to the ground. The whip-like tail came around and now Artanis was its target. He raised his arms just in time. When the tail hit him, he was thrown back against the wall. It felt like getting hit by an Ultralisk. Channeling his psionic-powers, Artanis made sure that the impact wouldn't break all of his bones. But that didn't mean that it didn't hurt. Because it did.

It hurt like hell.

The raw force behind the attack forced Artanis on his knees, but it was not enough to throw him to the ground. Whatever this creature was, he would not allow it to end him! He ignited his psi-blades and jumped back to his feet. The creature's eyes widened in shock when she witnessed his tenacity. It's somewhat human-like face was highly irritating. Even after all that had happened between the Protoss and the Terrans, he still considered them to be allies. Most of the time.

The moment his blue psi-blades came to life, the Zerg-creature looked at him in surprise and shock and slithered away. Artanis couldn't hide his own surprise when he saw that. No matter how many Zerg he had fought, he had never seen _this_ reaction from a Zerg before. But if that creature showed fear, then it was time to use this to his advantage. From the corner of his eyes, he could see how Ji'Nara came back to her feet. The Hierarch couldn't look after her, he had to deal with this creature first.

"Come on and face me, creature!" he yelled. But instead of attacking him again, the Zerg continued to move backward. And much to his own surprise, it started to speak.

"You will not harm the Queen!" the creature exclaimed.

The Queen?

"Kerrigan!" Artanis hissed. It was the final proof he needed. She was here. The black, snake-like creature raised its tail and prepared for another strike. But this time, Artanis was expecting the creature's attack. The tail was a deadly weapon, but now Artanis could see how sluggish the creature's movements were. The first attack had caught them by surprise, nothing more. As a trained and seasoned warrior, he was able to read his opponent's movements. And this opponent? Whatever this Zerg-creature was, it lacked the natural ferocity of the other Zerg and it certainly didn't possess the abilities of a creature bred for war.

Perhaps that was the reason why it still tried to attack Artanis with its whip-like tail. However, using a whip against energy-blades was just as foolish as bringing a knife to a gun-fight. The result was pretty much the same. The black tail came around and it went straight for Artanis's chest. But he saw the attack coming and raised his blades just in time.

"YHAAAAA!" the creature yelled in pain when he cut her tail off. Blood spilled over his body, but he ignored it. Instead, he decided to charge the creature, who was screaming in pain and shock. It stumbled backward and Artanis prepared himself to strike right at the creature's head.

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Ji'Nara roared as she threw herself against the creature as well. Fighting a Zerg like that was rather foolish, but Ji'Nara was in no mood for a lecture. She tackled the creature to the ground and activated her red psi-blades. She didn't hesitate one second and rammed the blade into the Zerg-creature's chest.

"GHAAAAAAA!" a pure, innocent scream left the creature's throat. It didn't sound like the scream of a Zerg-monstrosity. It sounded like the scream of a sentient being. And it wasn't just the voice, Artanis could feel the scream in his mind.; it felt like pain, despair, and regret. But also hope.

 _She will be safe..._

He could hear these words echoing through his mind and for a moment he was baffled. He was feeling...affection. And adoration, even love. From a Zerg? What was going on here?

"Now I will kill you and claim your head as my trophy!" Ji'Nara roared as she raised her other psi-blade and pointed it right at the creature's head. The creature looked up to Ji'Nara and her mouth opened.

"My...Queen..." she whispered. Something was wrong. This was all wrong. Artanis eyes widened in shock.

"Ji'Nara, wait!" he barked, but then the Tal'darim rammed her psi-blade into the creature's head. At least Artanis thought so, but he wasn't sure. Because then the whole world exploded around them.

…

…

…

Light...

…

…

…

So much light...

…

…

…

It was everywhere.

…

…

…

It surrounded him, engulfed him. Not just his body, but his mind as well. For a few moments, he thought that Horrash had finally decided to blow up the Spear of Adun. It took him some time to realize that this idea was stupid. If the Spear of Adun would have exploded, he would probably not be able to think about this possibility anymore. No, this was different. It was as if he was floating in an ocean made out of pure light. Protoss consumed light. It was food to them. That was why they knew many different forms of light. But this special kind of light? Artanis had never felt it before. There was still something familiar about it, but he couldn't really say what.

Still, his mind tried to tell him that the light around him was the product of the Solarite-core of the Spear of Adun going nuclear, even though that seemed to be impossible. The light didn't burn him. At least not his physical shape. Inside his mind, however, it felt hotter than billion of stars going supernova at the same time. He had never experienced anything like this before. Yet at the same time, it reminded him of his time inside the Void. Back then that place had pulled at his mind from all kind of directions. Now it was the exact opposite; all that light felt like it was compressing his mind into one small place...

He wasn't really able to say wherever this was painful or not. His confusion was simply too big. And then the emotions hit him...

Not only did he feel as if several stars were bouncing around inside his head, his whole mind was flooded with emotions. They were strange and alien emotions, one that his Protoss-mind could not really process. It was as if his mind could recognize some parts of it. Affection. Guilt. Sadness. All these emotions were familiar to him. But at the same time, they weren't just like he remembered them. It was like he was feeling the emotions of a different person...no, of a different species...

...of someone who had transcended this plane of existence...

He saw it. He saw everything. It was not the Solarite-core of the Spear of Adun. And it wasn't a star that had decided to go supernova.

It was her.

It had always been her.

 _Kerrigan_...

For a moment, for an impossibly short moment, he could see everything. Her thoughts, her emotions, her memories. It was too much for one mind to comprehend, even if that mind belonged to a Protoss. He wouldn't have understood most of it anyway. Images flashed before his eyes, too fast to fully realize what they meant.

He saw pictures he didn't understand. Gestures of affection that were unknown to Protoss. There were two pictures that he could identify, however. One was some sort of human food. A...cake? Something humans liked because it was sweet. He didn't really know what "sweet" tasted like, but he was familiar with the concept of something that feels so pleasant you want more of it. Like a special form of light...

A cake...

Kerrigan thought about a cake? Was this a metaphor for something? If so, he would probably not understand it anyway. The other picture, however, was a no-brainer. It was a male Terran. A Terran he knew. A Terran he respected. A Terran he called "friend".

James Raynor.

Before Artanis could contemplate on any of this, reality returned to him in a rather harsh way. The light faded away and the physical world started to return to its original shape and form around him. But he did not realize that at first. He only realized that he was hurled through the thin atmosphere of Saalok and then he crashed on the dusty surface of the moon.

Just like the Spear of Adun before, he did not land gracefully either. He did so face first. He was thankful that he wasn't Terran, because it saved him a mouth full of dust. He slammed into the dusty ground, but thanks to the low gravity he did not break all of his bones. Instead, he bounced off the surface, landed hard again and rolled down the inside of a small crater. It probably looked hilarious, yet he was in no mood to laugh about himself. When the world finally stopped spinning around him, he groaned in both pain and confusion. He rolled on his legs and hands and moaned in discomfort. Nothing was broken, but that didn't mean that he was still in good shape. He blinked and felt how something clouded his sight. He brushed over his face and could feel a deep cut right above his right brow. The blue blood trickled down and flowed right into his eye. Fighting with only one good eye was hard, fighting against an all-powerful entity was a whole different story.

Speaking if which...

 **Artanis...**

He grabbed his head and groaned in pain. The voice that spoke his name felt like a burning torch. His whole mind felt like it was melting.

"Kerr...igan..." he coughed when the sun was right above him.

No, not the sun.

He looked up and went pale.

There she was. Just as he remembered her when she had fought alongside him and his warriors inside the Void.

So much power.

It was too much to bear, even for him

Everything inside him tried to fight it, but he couldn't help but be in awe. She was everything his people had ever dreamed of. Their legends of the Xel'Naga spoke of creatures so pure, so powerful that the stars themselves wept in shame when they were in their presence. And as he looked up, he suddenly felt so small, so insignificant.

She was both magnificent and dreadful at the same time.

Her body looked like it was made out of fire, as if she had become a star shaped like a goddess. He could feel how his heart started to ache, how his own strength started to fade. He felt the urge to throw himself into the dirt and worship her like the goddess she had become. He was Protoss. She was Xel'Naga. This was how it was supposed to be. They had created his kind, they were his gods. He was a Firstborn, she was their mother.

 **Artanis...**

Her voice was too strong. Kerrigan, his goddess?

"Never..." he groaned and pushed himself back on his feet again. As he looked up, her light made his one eye hurt. But he refused to yield. Not to her! She was _not_ above him!

 **Why have you attacked me, Artanis?**

It didn't sound like a question, yet he could feel her confusion. And her anger.

"What is the matter, Kerrigan?" he spat out. "Did your plan not work like you had hoped it would?" He raised his blades but didn't activate them.

 **I haven't come here to fight you, Artanis.**

Every single word was like a hammer-strike to the head. Her fiery wings extended and below her, the rubble started to defy gravity as rocks of the size of an Ultralisk started to float freely through the thin air. Inside his mind, Artanis couldn't help to wonder how powerful Kerrigan truly had become.

 **Why have you attacked me, Artanis?**

Again the same question. The same pointless question.

"I do not have to explain myself to you, Kerrigan." Artanis panted. Merely being so close to her was enough to exhaust him and he needed all his mental strength just to stay on his feet. It felt like she was siphoning his strength away...

...oh no...

...was this her plan?

To come to Aiur in order to absorb the energy of his people? To suck them dry in order to become even more powerful? Like some sort of psionic, how did the Terran's call these mythical creatures, vampire?

 **That's not why I'm here, Artanis.**

His legs were shaky and he had problems to stay on his feet, yet he refused to yield. He ignited his psi-blades and looked at the fiery goddess with nothing but defiance.

"Spare me your lies, treacherous creature! I will fight you, even if it will cost my life! I shall protect my home and my people from your corruption!" he announced. It was a pointless fight, but this wasn't about winning chances anymore. The fiery creature didn't react at first. He studied that strange, emotionless face. She still had the shape of a Terran, albeit in a ridiculous size. And even though they were of different species, he couldn't help but think that she had turned into a beautiful creature. Something divine. Something that should be praised. And that made him angry. Because he would _never_ bow to Kerrigan!

 **Very well.** Kerrigan announced and shrugged her shoulders. **Have it your way.**

Before he could react she lifted her hand and something hit him with the force of a goddamn planet.

"UNF!" Artanis managed to gasp when he was blown away. It felt like Kerrigan's punch accelerated his body close to lightspeed. When he hit the ground, he rolled over the dusty surface. He groaned and after he had stopped, he lay there face down in the dirt. Again. Wasn't it enough that she would destroy him and his kind? Did she have to humiliate him even further?

 **I haven't come here to destroy the Protoss.** her voice echoed through his mind. He rolled on his back and looked up at her. She was floating right above him. **You're certainly a piece of work. I had almost forgotten how frustrating you can be, Artanis. I always knew that Protoss are irritating by nature, but you sure as hell take the cake.**

"Save me...your lies...and your mockery, Kerrigan. You just waste...your breath..." he panted.

 **So it would seem. Still...**

As he looked up to the sky, he could see how Kerrigan descended onto him. At first, he thought that there was something wrong with his eyes because even though she came closer, she seemed to move backward at the same time. Only after a few seconds, his mind realized that she was indeed coming closer...and that her body was becoming smaller at the same time. When her feet touched the ground dust was blown into the air and Artanis had to close his eyes for a moment. The painful psionic presence in the back of his mind grew stronger before it faded away. A few moments passed and when he finally opened his eyes again, he blinked in confusion.

"I think you owe me an apology, Artanis." Sarah Kerrigan said as she looked down at the exhausted Protoss.

For a long time, no one said a word. All Artanis could do was to stare at the small figure right in front of him. He knew this person, but he had only seen a photo of her like this. It had been one of James Raynor's most treasured belongings. Wherever he had gone, the picture had accompanied him. Artanis wasn't sure what Terran's considered beautiful. He knew that they preferred slim bodies. But aside from that, he couldn't really say if a human was attractive or not. Still, he couldn't remember any Terran with such a bright, red mane and green, sparkling eyes. Except for one...

"What...is this?" he stuttered. Sarah looked down at herself and realized that she was completely naked.

"Whoops, guess I forgot about that." she muttered and right before Artanis's eyes, the dust around them started to move towards Sarah. It swirled around her body and then turned solid. He watched how mere dust turned itself into a Ghost-suit. There were even blue lights all over it. Sarah looked down at herself and nodded.

"Much better." she just said. Then she looked into Artanis' eyes. "Guess you haven't seen me like this ever before, have you?" she asked. But she didn't really expect an answer. "In case you wonder: This is how I used to look like. Before you and your buddies and the Zerg showed up. You know, when I was still human." Artanis groaned in pain as he tried to get back on his feet. Sarah pulled her brows up when she witnessed that.

"Still not done? I knew that you're a glutton for punishment, but even you should know when it's enough. You do know that this is pointless, right? Nothing you do will hurt me and-" she said and put her fists on her hips.

"Be quiet, creature!" Artanis spat out. He stumbled towards her and raised his wrist-blade once more. The blue weapon came to life, and although he knew that he was in no condition to fight, it didn't matter. He had his duty. And if that duty meant death, then so be it.

"Begone, Kerrigan!" he roared and rammed his psi-blade right into Sarah's chest. The blue energy-weapon went right through her suit, her skin, her bones and her flesh and exited on the other side, right between her shoulder blades.

A sense of pride emerged in Artanis' chest. He had done it. Oh, how long had he dreamed of this moment? To kill the wretched Queen of Blades with his own blade! They would sing songs about this deed!

Or not.

"You know..." Sarah said while looking at the psi-blade Artanis had rammed into her chest right between her breasts. "...the Terrans have a term for that. It's called "sexual harassment"." she said as if the blade in her chest didn't even her bother one bit. No blood was coming out of her wound. She pulled her head back and looked into Artanis' eyes. His whole body shivered when he looked into these green orbs. It was as if they were just windows to something far more powerful. It felt as if he was looking into the Void itself.

And the Void was staring back.

The only question was; who would blink first?

"As amusing this might be..." Sarah finally declared. "...I still would like to have an answer to my question; why the hell did you attack me, Artanis?" she snarled and he could feel how her anger gnawed at the edges of his mind. It was like he was standing on a volcano that was about to explode.

"I owe you no answer, Kerrigan. If anything, then you should explain why you came here!" he barked and pulled his psi-blade back, only to use his other blade to decapitate her. But the moment his blade made contact with her neck, she was suddenly gone.

"I sure as hell haven't come here to fight, Artanis. So stop this nonsense! You're just wasting both our time" Her voice was suddenly right behind him and he spun around in order to hit her again. All Sarah did was to raise her hand and grab the psi-blade with it. Instead of cutting through her flesh and bone, his weapon was stopped in mid-air. He tried to pull his arm back, but his strength was no match for hers.

"Artanis, I simply came here to offer my help. All I wanted to do was to help the Protoss to clean Aiur from all the Zerg that-" she tried to reason with him.

"Enough with your lies, you treacherous creature!" Artanis barked. But once his words reached Sarah's ears, her eyes started to burn in rage. Artanis's blade, that was still in Sarah's hand, started to pulse and its cool blue color turned into an angry orange. Artanis yelled in surprise when the wrist-blade overloaded and his weapon short-circuited.

"I JUST ABOUT HAD IT WITH YOU!" Sarah roared and Artanis could brace himself just in time before another psionic punch hit him. He was thrown back and by now he felt like this was getting old really fast.

"What do _you_ know, Artanis..." Sarah snarled as she walked towards him. "...what do you know about treachery? What do you know about pain, about loss, about any of it." He tried to get back on his feet, but when Sarah was right above him, she grabbed a part of his armor and raised him into the air as if he weighed nothing at all. Their eyes met and probably for the first time in his life, he felt truly afraid.

"I'll ask you one more time..." Sarah hissed. "...why did you attack me?"

"...just kill me...and be over with..." he just replied.

She looked into his eyes and he could feel how her powers pulled at his very molecules. He wasn't good at reading facial expressions of humans, but right now it looked like she would bite his head off and swallow it whole. Then Sarah took a deep breath...

...and threw Artanis away as if he was nothing but an empty soda can. And one more time (as if the universe was trying to tell him something) he managed to land on his face.

"No." Sarah just said. "I haven't come here to kill anyone, Artanis. Not even the most annoying and self-righteous Protoss in all of existence." Artanis, who felt like he was about to fall apart just like Talandar had, groaned as he got back onto his knees. This time, however, he didn't stand up. There was no more strength left. He looked at his broken wrist-blade. Even though the other one was still working, he lacked the strength and concentration to activate it.

He was done for.

"You think...that you can do what you wish?" he panted. "You think that the rest of us will just wait for you to come and end their existence? Make no mistake, Kerrigan..." he coughed. "...we will not yield and wait for you to slay us all." Sarah walked over to him and looked at the exhausted and wounded Hierarch. For a long time, she didn't say a word.

"For the last time..." she finally said with a surprisingly soft tone in her voice. "...I haven't come here to hurt the Protoss, Artanis. Why the hell would you believe that?" His eyes wandered up and when their gazes met, he could feel her anger, but also her confusion and her pain.

"You are Kerrigan. Your whole existence is just about destruction and domination. You haven't changed one bit. The moment you return from the Void you start to use your old, scheming ways. Manipulating the people around you, make them do whatever you want them to do. Tell me, what did you hope to achieve by manipulating Karax? Did you want to use him as your pawn? Like you used Raszagal?" he spat out. Sarah frowned. She opened her mouth and said...

"Kar...who?" she just asked.

"Karax!" Artanis shot back.

"Who's that?" Sarah wanted to know.

"Karax! He's the...you _manipulated_ him! He was my friend! Stop playing me for a fool, Kerrigan! I know your tricks! You haven't changed one bit. You're still the same wretched creature you were before whenAGH!" Before he could finish his sentence, Sarah used her powers to grab him and lift him high up into the air.

"I heard enough." she snarled. "Now _you_ will listen. You will listen, or I will smash your face so many times into the ground that this whole moon will look like you!" she threatened him. "You don't know me, Artanis. _You never did._ And I'm not here to listen to your self-righteous accusations. I never asked for any of this. You judge me because of what I did, but you don't even know what was done to me. Yes, blood is on my hands. But I dare you to walk only one day in my shoes, only ONE FUCKING DAY of the life I was given before I'll allow _you_ of all people to judge me!" she roared and grabbed his chest armor.

"You tricked us!" he hissed at her.

"You tried to kill me so many times, I can't even remember a time when you weren't after my head!" she shot back.

"You defiled the ground that was sacred to us!" he added.

"You never saw anything in me but a threat!" she replied.

"Your Zerg slaughtered billions!"

"After I was sold out to them by Mengsk! I didn't ask to become Zerg! I didn't ask for any of this!"

"But you enjoyed it! You reveled in it! Just as you were corrupted, you corrupted everyone around you! Like you did with Raszagal!"

"Right, remind the godlike entity of her biggest failures. Good tactic, Artanis! Here, let me reshape this moon with your STUPID FACE!" she roared while she turned her free hand into a fist. Artanis was smashed into the ground and then Sarah climbed on his chest. She raised her fist and pointed it right at his head. She literally had no idea how much strength she could put into one punch...

...but she had her doubts that there would be anything left of Artanis's head...

..or his body...

...or anything within a radius of 300 miles...

"You're just like all the others, All those people who like to look down on me, who judge me just because my only crime is that I didn't roll on my back and died like a good little girl. You want a monster, Artanis? You want to see how corrupted I truly am? I'm going to show you some CORRUPTION!" She pulled her fist back and prepared herself to deliver the final blow. Artanis saw how she prepared to punch him. He had no illusions about her strength, she would kill him. He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable to happen.

 _Please, don't. This is not you._ Again, that voice. That voice that almost sounded like her own. Sarah gritted her teeth and her fist started to shake. Just one punch and he would never bother her again.

 _You are better than this. You are not a murderer._

The final blow never came. Moments passed and nothing happened.

"It's not fair, Jim." Artanis could hear Kerrigan whisper. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore. He was ready to become one with the Khala, even though the Khala wasn't there anymore. Strangely enough, he felt a deep sense of peace inside his chest. He had done his best and there was no reason to be ashamed. Silence surrounded him and for a short moment, he thought that Kerrigan had already delivered the final blow. Was this the afterlife? But then he felt something. Something warm and wet. It fell on his face and when he opened his eyes, they widened in confusion. He saw directly into Sarah's face...

...and felt how her hot, golden tears fell on his skin.

"You don't know me." she whispered with a choked voice. Her fist was trembling, but after some time she finally lowered it. And then she released him from her grip. The Hierarch groaned in discomfort. There was not a single piece inside his body that didn't hurt. He didn't say anything, he was too exhausted. All he could do was to look up to the sky. Aiur was right above him. Aiur, his home. It was so beautiful.

Sarah dropped to her knees right beside him and started to sob. Artanis didn't dare to say anything, the whole situation was just too surreal. Protoss knew how to cry too, but he didn't know if Terrans cried for the same reasons. James Raynor had told him once that people could cry when they were hurt and when they were happy.

Kerrigan wasn't hurt, so was she...happy?

Somehow he had his doubts about that.

Still, he would probably never be in a better position for a straight answer.

"Why...why have you come here, Kerrigan?" he panted while he looked up to his homeworld. "Why have you returned?"

"Why have you attacked me?" she shot back.

"Answer my question, Queen of Blades." Artanis insisted. While he was in no position to fight her, he didn't have to play her mind-games as well. His eyes rolled to the side and he watched how she continued to cry. The tears of Protoss glowed blue, yet he knew that Terran tears had no color. As he looked at Sarah's tears, they glowed yellow. And when they fell to the ground, they solidified in an instant...and turned into gold?

There was something strangely poetic about it.

"I told you..." Sarah whispered. "...I came here to help...to help your people."

"Now I am certain that you are indeed Kerrigan and not an imposter..." Artanis then said. "...only you could be so foolish to come up with such a stupid plan and think that you would get away with it." Sarah's head shot up and her eyes glowed in anger as more golden tears streamed down her face.

"And you seem to have a death-wish, Templar!" she spat out. "I can't explain why else you would try to make me even angrier!"

"Ha..."

"Hahahaha..."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Artanis's laughter started to echo over the moon's surface. He saw the confused look on Kerrigan's face and it only amused him even more. It was not a cynical laugh, he was truly amused.

"Laugh all you want, Artanis..." Sarah hissed. "...though I can't see what's so funny."

"Of course you cannot see that..." Artanis replied. "...you were never able to accept when someone looked right through your lies. Your anger has always clouded your mind, made it impossible to truly perceive the world around you. You only see what you want to see, Kerrigan. You did so in the past, and you did so when you came here. It tells me everything I need to know. You have not changed a bit. All that power and you are still the same. Overconfident and self-deluded." Artanis closed his eyes and enjoyed the silence. When he opened them again, he could see how something dark started to swallow Aiur. The night was coming and the moon of Saalok was moving between the star and his homeworld. It was probably the last night of his life. He raised his hand and reached his fingers out to the planet as if he could almost touch it. The souls of his people were up there. Were they watching him? Were they even aware what was going on here?

Did it truly matter?

"Why did you attack me? None of this would have happened if you had just left me alone." Sarah whispered.

"Because you are broken, Kerrigan. Because wherever you go, you cause nothing but death and destruction." Artanis replied. "You want to know why we attacked you? Because you are Sarah Kerrigan. We do not need any other reason because you have given us plenty of them over the course of our shared history. You are a betrayer, a defiler." He then chuckled again. "But it appears that the universe is not without a sense of humor. Truth to be told; I did not even order to strike at you. To quote friend Raynor: Someone blew it." He started to laugh again.

"I didn't come here to cause any more pain, that's why I decided to keep a low profile!" she yelled at him.

"But the very fact that you decided to remain hidden shows that you expected something like this." Artanis analyzed. "Is there even one thing in your life you have thought through? Aside from ruining the lives of everyone around you?" he wanted to know.

"Spare me your sarcasm, Templar!" she shot back and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She got back on her feet and looked down at the defeated body of her former enemy and ally alike. They had fought each other, they had fought alongside each other. It was pretty obvious that Artanis only cared for the bad parts in their relationship. She looked down and her eyes turned into slits.

"I didn't hurt anyone!" she hissed. "I could have wiped out this pathetic little planet and no one could have done anything against it, yet I chose not to!"

"You hurt Karax!" Artanis shot back. "You twisted his mind, you corrupted him just like you did with Raszagal, turning him over to your side so he would do your bidding!" His eyes glowed in anger. "You infiltrated our ranks! You destroyed the Golden Armada with everyone on board! Comrades, friends..." _Maybe even more..._ "...and the one on the Spear of Adun...and Ji'Nara. And you dare to tell me that you did not come here to kill anyone?!" Sarah's eyes widened when she heard that, but then she clenched her hands into fists.

"I shouldn't be surprised..." she whispered. "...you claim that I haven't changed a bit, but you Protoss are far worse. You just see what you want to see, don't you? I haven't killed anyone!" she snarled. There was an awkward moment of silence.

"...lately." she then added.

"It appears that your new found powers have started to affect your mind. Perhaps you believe that you do not have to construct an elaborate lie anymore because everyone is bound to believe every ounce of utter nonsense you tell them. Well if that is what you think, let me tell you: You are wrong!" Artanis said.

"Am I?" Sarah just asked. For a moment Artanis thought that she was about to crush him, when suddenly out of nowhere a lithe and pale figure smashed into the dusty ground right next to him.

"UGHHH..." Ji'Nara groaned as she rolled onto her back. Her whole body was covered with cuts and bruises and she didn't look too good. But she was still alive. Before Artanis could crawl over to her, the communicator inside his armor started to fill his head with noise.

"...arch...ou hear me..." Static screamed through his mind as Horrash's voice tried to reach him. "Hier...an you hear m..." Artanis looked up to Kerrigan, who just turned away and looked over to the Spear of Adun. The ship was a few kilometers away, yet he could easily make out the sleek silhouette of the once powerful vessel. He activated his communicator with a mere thought before he started to speak.

"Horrash? Is that you? What is your status?" he panted. From the corner of his eyes, he could see how _something_ emerged from the ground. Something big and black and zergish. It was the creature they had fought below the surface. The black Zerg looked like she was in a great deal of pain.

"My Queen..." the creature panted. Kerrigan stepped right in front of that strange creature and put her hand on the Zerg's cheek.

"Izsha..." Kerrigan then whispered. "...I am so sorry for everything you had to endure. You got hurt because of me." A smile appeared on that creature's face. Wait, it had a name? And that name was Izsha?

"You are unhurt, my Queen. That is everything that matters." Sarah lowered her head and in a gesture of genuine affection, she pressed her forehead against the scaled chest of that creature.

"Next time things go south, you'll get the hell away from me, got that?" Sarah ordered. Izsha lowered her head and did the one thing the old Izsha would have never done.

She defied her Queen.

"I am sorry, my Queen. But I will never abandon you." Sarah opened her mouth and wanted to order Izsha to do as she was told. But then she just shook her head.

"Do as you wish..." she whispered again. A part of her was simply glad that there was at least _one_ creature in this galaxy who seemed to care about her.

"Horrash, prepare the Solarite-core for-" Artanis barked, but Horrash cut him short.

"Hierarch! Hierarch! If you can hear me; I have good news for you! Karax has managed to fix the communication-system!" Karax had done...wait, what?

"Horrash, listen to me! Karax is not in control of himself, you need to-" But it appeared as if Horrash couldn't hear him, or didn't want to listen.

"Hierarch, we managed to make contact with the Golden Armada!"

There was a long moment of silence and at first, Artanis didn't know what to say.

"What?" Artanis's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "How is that-" But again he had no time to give any orders.

"Karax said that he can establish contact with Executor Selendis. Hold on!"

"Horrash, wait!" Artanis barked and he finally managed to lift his upper torso up. More static raced through his mind until a familiar voice reached his senses, one that he had thought to be lost.

"Hierarch? Hierarch, is that you? Hold on, Artanis! We are on course to Saalok as I speak!" Selendis's voice reached him. "Damn it, can this thing move any slower?!" he could hear her scream in frustration. There was no doubt that it was the Executor.

...Selendis...

...alive...

He turned his head to the side and looked over to Kerrigan and Izsha. Sarah made a step backward and their eyes met.

"It appears that you're not as smart as you think you are, Artanis..." Sarah said with sadness in her voice. "...and maybe it isn't me who hasn't changed a bit." She knelt down in front of him. "Now, for the last time: Why did you attack me?"


	23. Act I - Chapter 15

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter 15**

 **How to make a Point**

* * *

"WHAT IN ADUN'S NAME HAS HAPPENED HERE?!" Selendis yelled as she managed to get back on her feet. She was surrounded by pure chaos and she could still feel the anger and adrenaline flowing through her body (or whatever Protoss used for adrenaline). The last thing she remembered was how the Golden Armada had moved into position to form a blockade around Saalok in order to prevent a certain _someone_ on the surface to flee. Or attack. Or do just anything. If that certain someone could be stopped...

...apparently not.

One moment the situation had been perfectly under control. Then chaos had started to reign supreme. And it pained Selendis to admit that her ship had been at the center of it all. Once she was back on her feet, she looked across the bridge. Most of the warriors and officers were scattered all over the place. Some looked like they were injured. Selendis spotted more than one broken arm and leg and there was blue blood everywhere. But much to her relief (and surprise) there didn't seem to be any casualties. The moment of relief only lasted for a few seconds, though.

"Who gave the order to open fire?" she demanded to know, but no answer came. She looked at the weapons-system officer and her eyes glowed in anger. "What happened?" The warrior looked at his instruments and shook his head.

"I am not certain, Executor. The system seems to work perfectly fine, I cannot find the order or the firing solution in the databases or the tactic computer." Every order or command that was given had to be logged into the ship's computers. It made sure that you could reconstruct what had happened. It was the same principle as a black-box. The fact that no one had entered the command into the computer was virtually unheard of.

"Does that mean that we did not fire on Saalok? I saw the guns on my carrier firing, I felt how the whole ship vibrated!" Selendis hissed.

"Indeed, the system shows that a full barrage was fired. The armory confirms that we used some of our ammunition..." the warrior agreed before he shook his head again. "...but no fire-order was given. The computer confirms that." He looked up and right into Selendis's eyes. "The guns fired on their own."

"Guns do not fire on their own, warrior!" Selendis barked. "Someone gave the order and I want to know who did it so I can throw that traitor out of the airlock. Maybe he doesn't deserve that honor, but the last thing he will see will be Aiu-" she yelled and looked out of the window while pointing her finger on their homeworld that had been there all along.

Only Aiur wasn't there.

You know that feeling? The feeling when you look somewhere and your brain realizes that something is wrong, yet it doesn't know what? All you can do is to wait until your mind is finally able to comprehend the situation? And during all that time the only thing you can do is to stand there like a drooling idiot? Well, Selendis couldn't drool, but she sure felt like an idiot.

"Executor? Selendis, are you alright? What is going on?" A familiar voice reached her senses, but she didn't look behind her. Two Nerazim helped Vorazun back on her feet, even though she didn't need any help. The Matriarch had asked to accompany the Golden Armada. And she had specifically asked to join Selendis on her personal carrier. Selendis had no idea why Vorazun would ask for something like this, nor why she hadn't asked Artanis to join him on the Spear of Adun. However, the Executor didn't even know why she had accepted that request either.

"Aiur..." Selendis whispered as she looked out the window. "Where is Aiur?" Her eyes widened in shock and thousands of horrible explanations came to her mind. Had Kerrigan become so powerful that she had just destroyed Aiur right before their very eyes? But what about the rest of the fleet? What about the Spear of Adun? And what about Artanis? She blinked in anger when she finally realized who she was. She was the damn Executor! She was not some green acolyte anymore.

"Selendis?" Vorazun whispered again. But Selendis chose to ignore the Matriarch's question. Right now she had to regain control of the situation.

"Status report!" she barked and the warriors on the bridge started to look up to her. She could see their confusion, their fear, and their anger. Something had happened. Even no one knew the exact details, they all knew that some sort of attack had hit them.

"I said: Status report!" Selendis repeated her orders. "What has happened? Where are we? And where is Aiur? I need information!" she barked and switched back to her old, angry self. Vorazun made a step forward and tried to put one of her hands on Selendis's shoulders.

"Perhaps you should allow your crew to-" she began, but Selendis simply brushed the Matriarch's hand off her shoulder and walked right up to the warrior who stood at the sensor-station.

"What is our position?" she demanded to know. "Where is the rest of the Golden Armada? Where is the Spear of Adun?" The warrior, a female Khalai, first looked at Selendis, then at her instruments, then back at Selendis.

"I...I cannot...we are..." she stuttered. Selendis's eyes turned into slits and for one second she thought that this warrior was panicking. But then she saw those wide open eyes and the sluggish movements of the woman in front of her. Blood was dribbling down the side of the Khalai's head and Selendis realized that she was injured.

Selendis expected much of her warriors. She led by example and expected everyone to work as hard as possible. But she was not a Zerg-queen, she knew that injuries were injuries and as long as someone was injured he or she couldn't work with one hundred percent efficiency. And if someone was injured, then he or she would get all the time they needed in order to properly heal up. It was something many other high-ranked officers among the Golden Armada didn't know or ignored: The fact that Selendis cared for her people.

"You!" she pointed her finger at another warrior. "Replace her! Have someone else take her to the med-bay! Let a healer take a look at her head!" Two warriors hurried over to aid their injured comrade. One guided the still shaky Khalai away while the other one took control over the sensor-station. A quick look at the woman's face and Selendis realized that she must have hit her head badly. A concussion maybe, definitely something that the healers should look at.

"Report!" Selendis then said again to the warrior at the sensor-station. "Where are we? What happened?" The warrior took a close look at the instruments but then he shook his head.

"Forgive me, Executor. But the long-range sensors seem to be inoperable. I will need some time to assess the damage. Maybe I can reroute some systems in order to bring the damaged ones back online." It was not what Selendis wanted to hear, but she knew better than to demand the impossible.

"And what about the short-range sensors? Are there any other ships in the vicinity? Or any gravitational fields nearby?" The warrior blinked in surprise.

"Gravitational fields?" he asked. Selendis stormed towards the looking glass and pointed outside.

"See these stars, warrior? They are the same as before. But in case you have not noticed it; Aiur is gone! So that means that there are two options. Either Aiur is gone or our position is not the same as it was a short while ago. I want to know if our home still out there or not!" she barked. The warrior looked at the instruments.

"No...no Golden Armada, Executor. Sensors show some small contacts, it could be other ships or asteroids, I cannot say for certain. And no gravitational fields either." he said. Selendis snarled in frustration and her hands turned into fists.

"Very well, see to these long-range sensors! We need them to work. As long as we do not know what is going on out there we are blind and useless!" The warrior saluted and started to work on the problem immediately. Selendis turned away and approached another station.

"What is the status of my ship, warrior?" she wanted to know. The Khalai on that station had better news for her.

"Reports are coming in; minor damage on all levels, but no casualties so far. It appears that we are still fully operational, except for the FTL-drive. The phasesmiths say that it burned out, yet they still need some more time to assess the full extent of the damage." he replied.

"Weapons and shields?" Selendis asked.

"Operational, Executor." Well, at least they weren't completely helpless. Still, without their sensors, they were like a blind Ultralisk. They would be able to fire in every direction, but every shot would be a lucky one.

"Communications!" Selendis then barked. The warrior on that station looked up to her.

"We are receiving mostly static. It seems that there is still someone out there, but I cannot triangulate their position."

"Try to establish contact with the vessels. We need to figure out wherever we are alone or not!" Selendis barked. While she tried to bring order to the chaos, Vorazun watched her from the distance. Truth to be told; she was impressed by the amount of leadership the Executor was displaying. Selendis was an angry one, yes. But when the situation demanded it, she showed that she was just as competent as her father had been. Perhaps Selendis would realize one day that Vorazun didn't just feel respect for her. They were both exceptional women in high-ranked positions. They both knew that being in command was not just a privilege, but also a burden.

Would it be so strange for them to become friends?

Of course, Selendis had bigger problems right now. But still, there was one thing that Vorazun couldn't stop thinking about. The thing that had started all that mess. And no, she was not speaking about the Queen of Blades.

"...you all have your orders, execute them!" Selendis finished her speech before she looked over her shoulder. Their eyes met and Vorazun knew that the larger woman thought the same thing. The Matriarch stepped closer to the Executor and her voice was barely a whisper.

"When your vessel opened fire..." she began.

"Perhaps you should have stayed behind, after all, Matriarch." Selendis just said.

"And miss the chance to see the murderer of my mother to be put to justice?" Vorazun asked in return. Selendis's eyes widened in surprise and she looked around. But aside from Vorazun's two guards, it appeared that no one had heard them.

"How do you know about that?" Selendis wanted to know. "Only those who were with the Hierarch know about thi-"

"My dear Executor..." Vorazun interrupted Selendis. "...you forget that we Nerazim walk among the shadows every day. There are many things we see and hear. Things you would not even believe. Or want to know of." For a moment Selendis didn't say a word. They looked into each other's eyes and Vorazun knew that Selendis didn't like that answer one bit.

"Is that why you wanted to join us?" the Executor then asked. "To see the Queen of Blades to be slain?" Vorazun shrugged her shoulders.

"Perhaps. Perhaps I just wanted to watch how history unfolds right in front of my eyes. Besides, we still do not know if it is truly Kerrigan who is responsible for all of this. But that is not what we have to talk about." Suddenly Vorazun seemed very stressed. Selendis looked at her, then at the two Nerazim-guards. They too looked like they knew something. Something about how this whole mess had started. The Executor crossed her arms in front of her chest and her eyes turned into slits.

"Oh, this should be interesting." Selendis growled. Vorazun lowered her eyes. It was like she didn't want to meet Selendis's gaze.

"It probably is. But before I tell you about my suspicion I need to be certain of something. The short-range sensors are still operational, yes?" Selendis frowned before she nodded.

"Yes. Why?" she asked.

"I would like you to look for something. It should not be far away. It is impossible to find if you do not know what you are looking for." Vorazun answered.

"And what would that be?" Selendis snarled in frustration.

"A cloaked Nerazim-ship."

* * *

He had done it. His mission had been a success. Even though he had no idea what had happened after that brutal attack that had hit the Golden Armada, he just knew that his plan had worked. And that was enough for him. Still, actually being alive was a surprise. He had expected to perish, just like everyone else. Here, deep in the belly of the Khalai-carrier, he had felt the retaliation from the moon's surface just like everyone else. The only difference was that he had expected something like that. Still, the raw power of the punch that had hit the carrier had been unbelievable. He had no idea how the ship had survived that attack, but it didn't matter. It was a favorable outcome though. Maybe there was even enough left of the Golden Armada to deal with this abomination...

The Golden Armada...

This day was not so bad after all. If he was lucky, two enemies of the Nerazim would wipe each other out. Then his people would finally be safe.

He remained hidden in the shadows. These Khalai-vessels were so bright, it was not easy to find a dark and calm spot. But the good thing was that the Khalai were arrogant. They didn't even consider the possibility that there was someone on board of this ship, someone who had manipulated the carrier's systems. Especially if it was the personal flagship of the high and mighty Executor. His heart ached to scream in joy. They were so arrogant, they didn't even consider that someone had used them for his agenda.

Again.

The Golden Armada was a symbol to the people of Aiur. He knew that. Oh, the Khalai loved their mighty battleships. They were not very subtle when it came to, well, pretty much everything. They had always relied on raw strength, brutality and iron will. They were like stones, crushing everything that stood in their path. His people, however, they were like water. Moving in the shadows, evading every strike. Many Khalai, including the Executor, considered that a weakness. But what did these brutes know about the way of the Nerazim anyway? What did they know about their losses?

The Khalai had hunted his kind for centuries. They were their sworn enemies. And even though many Nerazim did not think like that anymore, he knew the truth; the Nerazim were alone in this galaxy. And they could only trust their own kind. He was no racist, he hadn't done it out of hatred. He was a patriot, he only cared for his people. And although he respected the Matriarch, he knew that her judgment was clouded. She was young and had much to learn. But too much was at stake, so he had decided to act on his own. He had tried to warn her, had tried to talk to her about his worries and fears. But she had offered him nothing but empty words.

Her predecessor, the wise and noble Raszagal, had been different. She would have never jeopardized the safety of her people like that.

She would have never allowed Shakuras to fall...

He didn't hate Vorazun. And he didn't want to replace her either. He was just a warrior, but he knew his duty. Sometimes you had to force people to see the truth. Including your leaders. He had no doubts that Vorazun would learn from this tragedy. She would learn and realize that the Nerazim did not belong on Aiur. Their home was gone, it was time to find a new one, a new Shakuras. Maybe he would see this day. He was still alive after all. And he had little doubts that he could escape this vessel unseen and unharmed. For all their strength and bravado in battle, the Khalai were pretty much blind to anything right in front of their eyes. Even without his cloaking-devices, he could probably walk through their lines and they wouldn't even realize it.

And so he waited for everything and everyone to calm down again. He was near one of the main computers, the perfect spot to infiltrate the carrier's systems and plant a control-virus, one that couldn't be traced. One that made it impossible to link the Nerazim to this "tragic malfunction". The Khalai didn't seem to notice him at all. He watched how they took care of their wounded, how they tried to repair the damage. The only thing he had to do now was to return to his ship and leave. It was probably still attached to the carrier's hull. And since the Nerazim cloaking technology was far more advanced than that of the Khalai, no one would find it. Once he would return to Aiur, he would go and see the Matriarch and tell her what he had done on this very day. He would not keep it a secret.

When the time was right, he decided to finally move. The corridors were filled with Templar, but he moved swiftly. He was like water, flowing around stones. There was light everywhere, yet he was able to remain in the shadows. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him. That, of course, was a stupid thought. He was probably just nervous. He knew that once he was back inside his ship, he would return to Aiur in order to look how the Matriarch would act considering everything that had happened. Would she praise him? Probably not. While it was worthy of praise, he hadn't done it for that reason. He had done it for his people.

He was close to his ship, it was just around the next corner. He had used a secondary airlock to board the vessel and had hacked the system so no one would enter the airlock. He sneaked around the corner and his eyes wandered towards the airlock. Everything was fine, there was no one around. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. He looked over his shoulder, but there was no one.

He had to get out of here, he was starting to see ghosts. And there was this strange feeling inside the back of his mind, one that made him shudder.

When he finally reached the airlock, he activated the opening mechanism and entered the safety-code. He had installed the code just in case someone else tried to open the airlock. It would have been rather unpleasant if someone had found out that there wasn't the cold vacuum of space on the other side of the airlock, but the insides of a small and stealthy Nerazim-scout ship. He entered the code...

...and nothing happened.

He frowned. Had he used the wrong code? He entered it again, and again the airlock did not open. Perhaps the system had been damaged? The ship had suffered some damage, so maybe-

"Nerazim!" a voice suddenly reached him from behind. He froze in an instant and didn't dare to turn around. Had someone spotted him? But how? No, that was a foolish thought. He could feel the presence now. It wasn't Khalai, it was just like his very own. Slowly he turned his head around and looked over his shoulder. And what he saw made him gasp in surprise.

"You..." he whispered. Out of the shadows stepped a large Nerazim. He didn't know this warrior in person, but he recognized the insignia on his cloak and on the armor. He was one of the Matriarch's personal guards.

The Matriarch's personal guard?

Here?

On the Executor's personal carrier?

But that could only mean that...

Suddenly the airlock opened and he turned his head back to the front. Instead of seeing the empty insides of his ship, he suddenly looked right into _her_ eyes. He could see her surprise when she realized who he was. But it only lasted for a second and was soon replaced by infinite sadness. No matter what had happened, she was still his Matriarch and he was bound to her will by honor. But it wasn't the same kind of honor the Khalai felt when they threw themselves against the next best Ultralisk, just so they could yell one more time "For Aiur!". Or the Tal'darim, whose concept of "honor" was to slay your comrades while they weren't watching. And the thought that soulless machines like the Purifiers could even have a concept of "honor" was simply ridiculous.

"Tesson..." the Matriarch whispered. Behind her, another honor-guard appeared. Tesson could see how the warrior activated his wrist-blades. It emitted a green light, just like his own. If he would make just one wrong move, the guards wouldn't hesitate a second and slay him right where he stood. He knew that he wouldn't stand a chance against these foes. They were the Matriarch's honor guard, they were the strongest warriors the Nerazim had to offer. Challenging them meant to find death.

But he hadn't come here to die.

"Why?"

A single word, yet when he looked into the Matriarch's eyes, he could see so much pain. He had hurt her. Hurt her in a way no one else could have done.

"I...do not know what you are talking about." he simply stated.

"Treacherous son of a Zerg!" the honor-guard behind him barked and suddenly a piece of equipment landed right next to his feet. He looked down and recognized it immediately.

"We have found your contraption, Tesson." the Matriarch said. "We know what you did. Denying it is pointless." Vorazun made a step forward and Tesson could feel how the guard behind her moved in closer as well. He was just like them; a Dark Templar. But their skills were on a whole different level. Only the best of the best were allowed to guard the Matriarch's body. Especially after what had happened to her predecessor...

"Why?"

Vorazun's eyes widened in surprise when she heard the question from Tesson. She had asked the same question and she was about to ask it again. To hear it from the culprit confused her.

"What do you mean, Tesson?" she asked. There was no anger in her voice, just pain, and disappointment.

"Why are you here, Matriarch?" he finally asked. "You should not be here. Not now. Not on this vessel."

"Because of what you did? Did you expect that your act of treason would go on unnoticed? That you could return to the shadows and act like nothing has happened? Oh Tesson, how far have you fallen." Anger sparked inside his chest when he heard those words.

"How far have _I_ fallen, Matriarch? How far have _you_ fallen?" he shot back. The guard behind Vorazun stepped forward and growled at him in rage. It was clear that he was just about to use his psi-blade in order to strike Tesson down right where he stood.

"Watch your words, Dark Templar!" the guard barked. "You are talking to your Matriarch, show proper respect!"

"Respect. RESPECT?!" Tesson shouted. "What about the respect towards us? Towards the ones who have lost so much? And now I see that our leader, our Matriarch, is on the vessel of those who would gladly destroy us all! The Khalai only care for their precious Aiur, and now that the great devourer has returned, they decided to wait! Instead of unleashing their strength against the wretched Queen of Blades, the Hierarch has decided to do nothing!" Vorazun lowered her gaze when she heard the angry words of Tesson.

"That was your reason? Because you hate the Khalai? Because you want to see them suffering the same way our people do?" she wanted to know. Tesson's hands turned into fists and he looked her directly into the eyes. All she could see was pain and anger.

"No, I did because _you_ betrayed us! You should not be here, Matriarch. I thought that you were still on Aiur, that you did not know that the Queen of Blades has returned to finish her work. But I was wrong." He made a step forward and the guard behind Vorazun stepped forward to shield his Matriarch with his life. But Tesson made no attempt to claim the Matriarch's life.

"She killed your own mother." Tesson whispered. "And you? You decided to do _nothing_." Vorazun had no answer to that, at least not immediately. Instead, she closed her eyes and didn't say a word for quite some time. Then she simply turned around and looked to her elite-guard.

"Arrest him." Before Tesson could even say another word, both the elite-guards tackled him to the ground and made sure that he would never hurt anyone again. Tesson didn't resist, he knew that it was pointless anyway. Besides, he was ready to face the judgment of his people. He had done it for them after all. They would understand.

Time would prove him right and absolve him from his sins.

"I am...ready...to face...my people's judgement..." Tesson gasped as the Dark Templar pushed him to the ground. Vorazun, who was walking back into the carrier, stopped and looked down at him.

"No, Tesson. You will not be judged by me. Or by any Nerazim. You will be judged by the ones you have betrayed. And pray that the Hierarch is still alive. Because if he is not, the Executor will judge you. And trust me; you do not want _her_ to be your judge." Rage started to flow through Tesson's entire being when he heard those words. Was she going to mock him? First, she collaborated with the Khalai, now she would throw him into their blades.

"No! You cannot do this!" he yelled and tried to fight the warriors. "I deserve to be judged by my kind! I deserve..." But Vorazun didn't listen to him. She simply walked through the corridor and towards some Khalai-warriors, who waited for them outside. She looked at them and they saluted. It was a strange sight, yet she could sense no ill will coming from these warriors.

"You can have him now. Tell the Executor that the situation has been... _dealt_ with. Now please excuse me. I would like to be alone." The leader of the Zealots bowed his head in respect.

"As you wish, Matriarch."

* * *

"So the culprit is in our custody?" Selendis wanted to know. The Zealot nodded.

"Yes, Executor. He is inside a stasis-cell. One of the Matriarch's guards is with him, making sure that he will not escape. She leaves the judgment of this warrior to the Hierarch...or you." he said. Selendis sighed when she heard that.

"They should have thrown him out of the airlock when they had the chance." she mumbled. Perhaps she should be angry, furious even. Everyone knew that Selendis had quite the temper. But right now she wasn't yelling. She felt tired. Tired and exhausted. It wasn't only her body, but her mind as well. It was the kind of exhaustion you feel after a big defeat. She looked back into the Zealot's eyes.

"And the Matriarch?" Selendis asked.

"Has decided to spent some time alone in order to contemplate on the events. She does not want to be disturbed. Her other guard is with her. Shall we...watch them?" For a moment Selendis thought about allowing her warriors to keep a close look at Vorazun. No one among the Khalai would have judged her for that, especially since a Nerazim had just betrayed them. It was just a spark, but a spark that could ignite a fire. What if some of her warriors would hear about this and come to the conclusion that they had to retaliate? She could already imagine their voices inside her mind; _A Nerazim has destroyed the Golden Armada! We have to punish them!_ The thought alone caused Selendis to shiver. Suddenly Artanis' dream of a unified race was about to fall apart. Just because one stupid piece of...Protoss had decided to sabotage them.

Selendis felt strange. Usually, she would have felt anger and righteous fury. There was an enemy, let's deal with it. Come up with a strategy, then a tactic. Engage the enemy. Deal with the threat and emerge victoriously. Or die a warrior's death. Either outcome is acceptable. But right now that was not on her mind. Instead, she thought about the situation on Aiur. If the Khalai would retaliate against the Nerazim, it would mean war. And what about the Tal'darim? Would Alarak use that vacuum of power in order to conquer Aiur and enslave the other tribes? And the Purifiers, would they choose a side? Or worse; would they not choose one? For the first time in her life, Selendis didn't think about a problem like a Templar. Or an Executor. Or even a warrior. For the first time, she saw the bigger picture.

Was this how Artanis felt?

Was this the burden of leadership?

If so; it sucked.

"Executor? Shall we watch them?" the Zealot repeated his question. Selendis waited a few more moments before she looked at the warrior and gave him an answer.

"No. Tell the other warriors to stay away." she ordered. "Leave the Matriarch alone. I am certain that she has a lot on her mind right now." _And she is not the only one._

"As you wish, Executor." the Zealot said and bowed his head again. Before he could say something else, the Templar at the sensor-station looked up to Selendis.

"Executor! Good news; the long-range sensors are finally operational again!"

"By Adun, finally!" Selendis yelled. "Where are we? What happened to Aiur?" she immediately wanted to know. The warrior looked at the instruments and frowned.

"We...it appears we are at the edge of the system. We are over sixty astronomic units away from Aiur's orbit!" A phasesmith, who stood next to the warrior, blinked in confusion.

"That is impossible! We did not enter hyperspace! And it is impossible to travel this fast by only using our sub-light engines!" he said, but Selendis didn't listen to him.

"Are there any other vessels out there? Are we the only one left?" she wanted to know. The warrior looked back at his instruments.

"No..." he whispered. "No! Executor, sensors pick up multiple signals! They are scattered all over the system, but they are Protoss in origin!" Hope started to return to Selendis. The Golden Armada was not gone?

"Open a channel, all frequencies!" she suddenly barked. "Call out to any vessel in the vicinity!" The technicians at the communication-station started to do just that.

"Attention, this is the Executor's flagship. To all Protoss-vessel who can hear this; Respond!" the woman on the com-station said. No answer. She looked back at the Executor, who just raised her hand and gestured the warrior to go on.

"Again!" she ordered and the woman nodded.

"Attention, this is the Executor's flagship. To all Protoss-vessel who can hear this; Respond!"

No answer.

"Again!" Selendis barked.

"Attention, this is the Executor's flagship. To all Protoss-vessel who can hear this; Respond!"

"...ght...Exec...ill...read...us?" a new voice suddenly reached their ears.

"Executor!" the woman yelled both in surprise and joy.

"I hear it!" Selendis replied. "There is too much static though." The woman looked up at her with hope in her eyes.

"I think I can fix that." She pressed some buttons on her console and repeated her question. Then suddenly...

"...adar...is the...bound Light, Exector, can you read us?" Selendis's eyes widened when she recognized that voice. She knew the captain of the ship!

"Outbound Light! Oralas, is that you?" she asked. When the voice on the other side answered, she could hear Captain Oralas's relief.

"Executor! By Adun, you are alive! What happened. Where are you? Our sensors and our hyperspace-engine are damaged and we do not know where the rest of the fleet is-" But before he could get his answer another voice reached their ears.

"...toss-vessel Niradon here. We are currently floating at the edge of the systems. All navigational systems are offline and we have suffered extensive damage. No casualties, however!" And it didn't stop there.

"This is the Fleet-Carrier Antioch's Pride. We read you, Executor."

"...Hour of the Wolf, we have received your orders, Executor!"

"...Nerazim-scout Nightshade, we are at your command, Executor!"

"...We are here!"

"Executor, what is your command?"

"...damaged, but still able to fight..."

"...on route to your position!"

Selendis didn't know what to say. More and more ships reported in. Soon their number became so big that the Executor knew one thing: The Golden Armada wasn't gone. But it didn't stop there.

"Attention, vessels of the Golden Armada!" a cold and mechanical voice reached their ears. "This is the Purifier's vessel "New Aiur". We have received your distress call and are ready to assist. What do you require of us?" Selendis didn't know what to say. The Purifiers? They were here to help them? Her surprise only lasted for a short moment however when another voice could be heard. One she knew all too well. One she didn't like at all.

"My my..." Highlord Alarak said. "...it appears that the Hierarch has found himself some trouble again. And it appears that without my Tal'darim, the _oh so capable and competent_ people of Aiur will lose their precious homeworld all over again. I have already ordered my warriors to support your fleet." Selendis could practically _taste_ his sarcasm.

"Highlord." Selendis began. She didn't know wherever she should thank him or curse him.

"Do not waste both our time with pleasantries. Deal with this issue before I have to take over command. And trust me; you would not like that." Alarak just explained. "Oh, and should he still be alive and you see him, tell the Hierarch that I was right about him and his people; you are all weak-minded fools." Selendis's clenched her hands into fists, but she actually managed to swallow her reply down. It was easy because Alarak had just reminded her of something very important...

"Artanis!" she gasped. She looked at the helmsman. "Set a course for Saalok! Full speed ahead!" she ordered.

"Executor, the hyperspace-engine is still not operational. We can only use sublight-engines at the moment." he told her.

"Then use them! I do not care, just get us there!" she barked. The helmsman saluted and plotted a course. Selendis looked over to the woman at the com-station. "Open a channel, all frequencies. I want everyone in the system to hear this. Especially on Aiur and especially especially on Saalok. Is that possible?" The female warrior only nodded and did as she was told.

"You may speak now, Executor." she said. Selendis looked out of the window and realized that the stars weren't moving at all. She looked over to the helmsman.

"I said: Move it!" she snarled in anger.

"We are already moving at maximum speed, Executor!" the helmsman replied with a pleading tone in his voice. Selendis shook her head and looked out of the window.

"Spear of Adun! This is Executor Selendis. Do you read me?" she asked, but they only received more static.

"Spear of Adun! Do you read me?"

"..."

"Hierarch, this is the Executor, please respond!"

"..."

"Artanis...this is Selendis. Please, answer me!" She didn't care about the fact that some warriors looked at her in surprise. The Executor calling the Hierarch simply by his name? Protoss were familiar with the concept of gossip and she wouldn't hear the end of this one. However, right now she had more important things on her mind.

"Please. Anyone?" she pleaded.

"...ndis...dun...happened?" a familiar voice finally answered. But it wasn't the Hierarch.

"Who is there? Hierarch? Hierarch, are you there?" Selendis yelled.

"...ierarch is not here right now!" Karax's voice suddenly said. "But wait a moment, I will patch you through to him!" Before Selendis could react, she heard a new voice. And this time herheart made a jump because it was the Hierarch's voice.

"...Horrash, wait!" Artanis said.

"Hierarch? Hierarch, is that you? Hold on, Artanis! We are on course to Saalok as I speak!" She then looked out of the looking glass and saw that the stars weren't moving one bit. "Damn it, can this thing move any slower?" she screamed in frustration. But there was nothing she could do about it. Still, Artanis was still alive. And the Golden Armada hadn't been destroyed. She lowered her gaze and looked down on the floor beneath her. Only then she realized that something was wrong. There was a something blue on the floor. And it glowed. For a moment Selendis didn't know what this liquid was until she felt something wet on her face as well. Surprised she touched the soft skin beneath her eyes and realized that it was her own tears.

She couldn't even remember the last time she had cried.

He was safe...

"Hierarch..." she then said with a choking voice. "...we are on our way! Just hold on, Artanis!" His reply, however, confused her more than anything else.

"You do not have to hurry, Selendis..." Artanis said. "...it is over. The enemy is gone. Aiur is safe."

* * *

"Hierarch? Hierarch, is that you? Hold on, Artanis! We are on course to Saalok as I speak!" Selendis's voice reached him. "Damn it, can this thing move any slower?!" he could hear her scream in frustration. There was no doubt that it was the Executor.

...Selendis...

...alive...

He turned his head to the side and looked over to Kerrigan and Izsha. Sarah made a step backward and their eyes met.

"It appears that you're not as smart as you think you are, Artanis..." Sarah said with sadness in her voice. "...and maybe it isn't me who hasn't changed a bit." She knelt down in front of him. "Now, for the last time; why did you attack me?" For a few moments, he didn't dare to say a word. He just looked into Kerrigan's eyes. Next, to him, Ji'Nara groaned in pain when she rolled on her back. The dark Zerg-creature Kerrigan had called "Izsha" towered behind the Queen of Blade and her huge, black tail danced from one side to the other. Then he heard Selendis again.

"Hierarch..." she said and he could have sworn that her voice sounded choked. "...we are on our way! Just hold on, Artanis!" He looked at Kerrigan, then at Ji'Nara and then back at Kerrigan before he finally started to speak.

"You do not have to hurry, Selendis..." he finally said. "...it is over. The enemy is gone. Aiur is safe." He could hear the confusion in Selendis' voice. It was certainly not what she had expected to hear.

"Are you-" she tried to ask.

"Yes. I am." Artanis cut her short. And during that whole time, he stared into Kerrigan's eyes.

"Selendis..." he then wanted to know. "...what happened? Why did your vessel fire without any warning?" Sarah, who was listening to every word, pulled her brows up. It took a while before Selendis finally managed to answer that question.

"Hierarch, it pains me to admit this, but we were sabotaged."

"Sabotaged? By Zerg? By someone Kerrigan corrupted?" Artanis gasped and Sarah crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Seriously? I'm standing right here and I tell you, I didn't do anything...else." she added after a moment.

"No, Hierarch. It was one of our own." Selendis replied and Artanis frowned when heard that.

"I...I don't understand." he whispered. A cocky grin appeared on Sarah's face when she heard that.

"Oh, this sounds like solid gold!"

"It was a foolish act by a misguided individual. A Nera...no, it doesn't matter anymore. One of us thought that it would be wise to escalate the situation. This person took control of our weapon-system and ordered the guns to fire on the moon. The culprit is now in our custody. Vorazun's personal guards have placed him inside a stasis-cell. They told me that he will not escape and that we should judge him..., we are the wounded party in this whole affair." Selendis explained to him.

"The Matriarch is on your vessel? Why is that?" Artanis asked. He was still resting on his back, looking up to the dark shade that was Aiur's surface. He could even make out the tiny lights from different settlements and he felt how his heart started to ache. There had been a time when the night-side of Aiur was covered by artificial lights. There had been cities filled with millions of people. Now all he could see was but a fraction of what his people had once been.

"Well...uhm...you see, Hierarch, she has...how shall I put it..." Selendis stuttered. Artanis closed his eyes and tried to put his thoughts into the right order.

"Whatever the reason, I am certain you had a good one, Selendis. Thank you." he just muttered.

"Hierarch..." she then added with a more professional tone. "...we are on route to your position as I speak. But since our FTL-drive is not operational, it will take several hours to reach our position. I can send a shuttle ahead if you like. Do you need any troops in order to-" Selendis continued to talk. Artanis's eyes rolled to the side and he looked at the lithe figure standing next to him. Sarah had lowered her gaze and was looking at the dusty ground beneath her feet. He could only guess what she was thinking right now.

"It is fine, Selendis. Just make sure that relief-parties help the crew of the Spear of Adun. Or what is left of it." he sighed. "I will close this channel now. I need some time here, but do not be alarmed." he added.

"But Hierarch, do you not think that-" the Executor tried to reason with him.

"Selendis?" he interrupted her.

"Yes, Hierarch?"

"...I am glad that you are unharmed."

…

…

…

…

"I...I..." Selendis stuttered. "...thanks...and I am glad that you are alive as well." she said.

"When this is over, I would like to talk to you. In private."

…

…

…

"Selendis?" he asked.

…

…

…

"...what am I about to say?" he could hear Selendis whisper.

"Selendis?" he asked again.

"Just tell him that you look forward to that." he could hear another familiar voice. Wait, was that Vorazun?

"What are you talki-" he began, but this time it was Selendis who interrupted him.

"I tell you that I am looking forward to that. Selendis out!" the Executor then proclaimed and cut the connection. For a long moment, no one said a word. Not until Sarah finally started to chuckle.

"Well, I guess you Protoss aren't so different from us after all, huh?" Artanis opened his eyes and looked back at the dreadful Queen of Blades.

"We believed you to be dead. Everyone thought so. The Terrans certainly did. And so did I. I guess that it was just wishful thinking." As he spoke those words, the faint smile on Sarah's face disappeared.

"I was..." There was a moment of silence before she finally shook her head. "Forget it. It would be impossible to explain it."

"Why?" Artanis asked again.

"Because...it's just impossible."

"Why?" Artanis repeated his question. "Because I do not possess the mental capabilities necessary to understand what you have become? Or because you have murdered your way back into this world, just like you always did."

"Neither one." Sarah growled. Artanis could feel how his skin started to tingle. Her rage was like a thunderstorm, tearing at every single one of his molecules. "But right now I do feel the urge to murder a certain Protoss-Hierarch who can't stop to annoy the crap out of me!"

"By all means, do not hold back." Artanis said. He could see how anger flashed in Sarah's eyes and how she clenched her hands into fists. But then she took a deep breath and looked to the side.

"No. No matter how annoying or self-righteous you are, Artanis. I haven't come here to cause any more damage." she announced.

"And yet you wrecked the Golden Armada. You are lucky that no life was claimed, Kerrigan. It is the only reason why I have decided to end this pointless battle." the Hierarch replied.

"Luck has nothing to do with it. Your people are still alive because I chose not to kill them. I could have done so. But I chose not to. What does that tell you, Artanis?" Sarah finally wanted to know.

"I do not know, Kerrigan. What does that tell me?"

"That I haven't come here to harm your people, you thick-headed piece of wood!" she shot back.

"Then why have you come here?" Artanis wanted to know.

"You know why, I told you! Because I wanted to help your people!"

"Why?" he asked again.

"Why? WHY? Are you kidding me? What kind of question is that? You need an explanation why I want to help you? Have you gone brain-dead while I was gone, Artanis?!" Sarah yelled both in frustration and anger. Next to him, Ji'Nara groaned both in pain and annoyance.

"Could you two argue somewhere else?" the Tal'darim moaned. "I am trying to gather my bones over here..." Both Artanis and Sarah looked down at the Tal'darim-warrior, but they chose to say nothing. Then, after a moment of silence, Artanis finally decided to get back up. His eyes widened in surprise and shock; every muscle in his body hurt like hell. It was as if his limbs wanted to tell him to stay down, yet he refused to listen to his aching muscles. It took him quite some time to get back on his knees, then back on one foot, and finally back on both feet. He felt a strange sense of vertigo and it was as if the whole moon was spinning around his head. The nauseating feeling caused him to groan in discomfort. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, well, the Protoss equivalent of a deep breath anyway. When he was finally back in control, he opened his eyes and looked right at Sarah.

"You truly do not seem to understand..." he then said. "...tell me; what have you done ever since Amon's demise. Where have you been? And do not tell me that I am incapable of understanding your thoughts or motivations." Sarah's eyes widened in surprise when she heard the cold determination in Artanis' voice. She had to give him some credits; he wasn't showing a single sign of weakness. Yes, he was exhausted, both physically and mentally. But if you want an answer to the question; what is stronger, the flesh or the mind?

...in Artanis's case, the answer was obvious.

"I..." Sarah began as she lowered her gaze."I don't know. I was...I don't know where I was or how much time had passed. For a short time, I thought that I had perished. That I had become one with the universe itself, but that was-"

"Even too much for you?" Artanis suggested. Sarah looked up again and her eyes turned into slits.

"I was about to say; wrong. I was wrong, Artanis. I thought that I had truly transcended. That I had become one with time and space. But...that wasn't true. I am still part of this universe. This living, breathing universe with everything in it. We are all dust in the wind, I'm just the biggest piece of dust grain around."

"And that is why you have decided to return? To once again become what you once were?" the Hierarch demanded to know.

"If you're implying that I came here to conquer Aiur for the Swarm, Artanis, then no. That's not why I'm here." she spat out. Artanis made a step forward and immediately regretted this action. He put his hands on the left side of his torso and could feel a stinging sensation. It felt like a broken rib. Just his luck...

"Your words and actions have almost never been one and the same, Queen of Blades." he snarled. "You came here, hidden in the shadows. You manipulated one of my closest friends, one of my brothers, you used the same trick you used on Raszagal when you made us fight your war. And there are countless Zerg on both Saalok and Aiur, only waiting for you to let them loose on us. So why in Tassadar's name should I-"

"They are not Zerg!" the dark, snake-like creature behind Kerrigan suddenly explained. Artanis hadn't paid any attention to this creature. Whatever it was, it was not nearly as powerful as the Queen of Blades. Sarah looked over her shoulder and up to the creature.

"Forgive me, my Queen..." it said with a soft voice. "...but I do not understand why you waste your time talking to this Protoss. It is clear that he does not want to listen to your words. May I suggest; let us just destroy these broods and then leave this place. I do not like it here." the creature said and pressed her hands still against the wound on her chest. The bleeding had stopped and the deep gash was already starting to heel. For some odd reason Artanis thought that Kerrigan would scold the dark creature, but instead, she just sighed. Kerrigan's face showed sadness and although Artanis still had problems reading the facial expressions of humans, he could _feel_ her sadness as well. So much sadness in fact, that it made him nearly choke.

"Forgive me, Izsha..." Sarah whispered, showing a surprising amount of affection towards this creature. "...I shouldn't have brought you along. My decision caused you only pain." Her hands clenched into fists and Artanis could feel her anger and her shame.

"There is no need for that, my Queen." the creature called Izsha then said. "I believe that I am exactly where I am needed. And there is no other place I would rather be." Sarah opened her mouth and wanted to reply something, but no word left her throat. Instead, she just had to swallow hard. What came next was a big surprise to Artanis. Sarah simply closed her eyes, turned around to Izsha and pressed her forehead against the scaly chest of that dark creature.

"What the hell am I even doing here, Jim?" he could hear her whisper. When the dark Zerg-creature (who was apparently not a Zerg, but what the hell did he know) raised her arms and her tail, Artanis made a step backward. Old habits die hard, yet when he saw how that Izsha-creature wrapped her hands and her tail around Kerrigan, he didn't know what to say.

He had seen many things in his life. Death. Destruction. Joy and happiness. Betrayal and foolishness of the highest order. Honor and glory. He had seen it all. But he had never seen a gesture of affection coming from a Zerg-creature. It was...it...he didn't even know how to describe it. What was next? A Hydralisk giving him a hug? Artanis didn't dare to say a word. He needed time to comprehend the situation himself. But he could feel their emotions. Both Kerrigan's...and that of this Izsha-creature. He didn't feel any hate, any rage or sinister motives. Just regret (mostly from Sarah) and affection (mostly from the big black snake-thing with a Terran's upper body). He waited some more before he finally repeated the one question he craved an answer for.

"Why have you come here, Kerrigan?" he asked again. Sarah pulled her head back from the warm and scaly chest of Izsha, looked over her shoulder and right into Artanis's eyes. It felt like she was looking right into his very soul. When she spoke, her voice was but a whisper.

"I don't know..." she said. There was another moment of silence before Artanis finally sighed.

"And now..." he began. "...I finally know that you are speaking the truth."

…

…

…

…

"Great..." Ji'Nara groaned. "...since we are all best friends now, can we go home? I am done getting the living hell beaten out of me for one day." But neither Artanis nor Sarah listened to her complaints. Instead, Artanis finally saw an opening. And this time he would use it.

"What are you, Sarah Kerrigan?" he wanted to know.

"You know who I am. We have exchanged enough words, pleasantries, punches, and declarations of war for several lifetimes." she replied, but Artanis just shook his head.

"That is _who_ you are. I want to know; _what_ are you?" Sarah looked at him and frowned. It looked like she thought that he would try to make fun of her.

"I am...I guess..."

"Xel'Naga?" he asked. Her eyes flashed up in anger and she pushed herself away from Izsha.

"I AM NOT XEL'NAGA!" she roared in rage. "Amon was the last of his kind, they're gone! And I am _not_ one of them!" It sounded like he had hit a sore spot. Still, he was glad that she didn't claim to be Xel'Naga. It would have made things even more complicated. The last thing he needed was a godlike Queen of Blades thinking that she was indeed a Xel'Naga. There were still plenty of Protoss who worshiped them as their rightful gods, and the thought of Protoss praying to Kerrigan was simply unacceptable.

Then again, the Tal'darim had considered Amon to be their one, true god. So much for standards.

"Then what are you, Kerrigan? Tell me." When Sarah heard that question, she blinked in confusion.

"I...I guess there is no word for it anymore." she then said.

"Fair enough. But what about before that?" Artanis insisted. "What were you _before_ you became...whatever you are now?" He could sense her confusion and knew that he had to keep going. This was probably a chance of a lifetime.

"You know what I was. Who I was." Her voice sounded less annoyed and more bitter.

"You were Zerg." he simply stated.

"Yes."

"So you were born as a Zerg." His comment made her snarl in anger.

"What? No! I wasn't born as a Zerg! You know this! I was a human. Before your precious Tassadar showed up, I was human!" He felt the anger in her voice, but there was even more. Desperation?

"So you were a human disguised as a Zerg all that time. Interesting." he said with a no-nonsense-tone in his voice.

"No, what...what are you trying to say? That everything I did was my own choice? That I killed all these people because I wanted to kill them? Is that it, Artanis?" she yelled at him. Perhaps he should be more carefully; he was still talking to the most powerful creature in this galaxy. But he saw an opening and like every good warrior, he knew when to take a shot.

"No, that is not what I am trying to say, Kerrigan." he replied. "I simply want to know what you are. And what you were before you became what you are now. Answer this question, and I might be able to change my mind about you." He could see the conflicting emotions on her face. Anger, fear, confusion, she was like an open book for him right now. Sarah opened her mouth, ready to answer his question...

...but he never got an answer.

Silence fell over the dusty surface of Aiur. He could see how Sarah's mind tried to comprehend what he was talking about. However, at the same time, he could see how she failed to understand what he was trying to tell her.

"I..." Sarah began. "I was born human. I _am_ a human! I had a father...and a mother!" she said with a shaky voice.

"But I remember you calling the Overmind your father. Was that not that the term you used for that creature?"

"That...the Overmind wasn't my father, he simply reshaped me into-" she tried to explain.

"A Zerg. I know. But he is no longer. And you are no longer Zerg. Or are you?" he continued to confuse her. And much to his own surprise, it worked.

"I...I..." Sarah stuttered. Artanis could feel a tingling sensation all over his body. He could see how Sarah's whole body started to glow and pulse.

"James Raynor once told me that you were among the best of the Ghost-assassins. And every living being from here to the edge of this galaxy has probably heard of the power of the mighty Queen of Blades. And your parents...where are they now? Both your human ones and the Overmind?"

"Ghost?" That's right. She had been a Ghost. The very best, a living legend even before she had defected...

"My Queen?" Izsha asked. She could sense the inner conflict of Sarah and couldn't help but to feel worried. "Is everything alright? Maybe we should leave this..." But Sarah wasn't even listening. Defected...that's right, she had not just been a Ghost, but a Confederate operative. A soldier in service of the Confederacy. And then she had been part of the Sons of Korhal. She had been turned into an agent of the Overmind. She had been the bringer of death. She had turned herself into the mighty Queens of Blades. She had been turned into a weak human with no allegiances after that, when Jim had "saved" her. She had turned into a primal Zerg. And then...and then...

"I ask again..." Artanis wanted to know. He knew that he had scored a critical hit. Here he was, playing dirty mind-tricks with the most powerful creature known in the galaxy. Who knew that he was able to do something like that? Go, Artanis! "...what are you." But she wasn't able to give him an answer. Instead, she looked up to the stars.

"What am I...?" she whispered, but never got an answer to that question.

"We Protoss..." Artanis offered after a while. "...believe that our past is just as important as our present and our future. Only if we know where we come from we know where we are going. If you do not know that, then every journey you do will be pointless." Ji'Nara, who was still lying on the floor, raised one of her hands and pointed a finger at the Hierarch.

"Just for the records; he is not speaking for me!" she interrupted the Hierarch before she rolled to the side and tried to get back on her feet.

"You asked me why we have attacked you, Kerrigan." Artanis continued, choosing to ignore the warrior next to him. "You do not know the answer because you do not know people."

"I know...more about people that you think, Artanis..." Sarah said with a weak voice. So she was still listening to him, but he could tell that she was no longer able to yell back at him.

"You know about ambitions, about anger, about control. About domination. But do you know anything about hope? About friendship? About fighting for a for a better future? No, you have only fought so there would be a Queen of Blades in the future. But that is an empty path. The path of someone who does not know anything about the people around her. Because you do not even know what you were before you became what you are now." He walked over to Selendis and knelt down next to her before he checked her for any serious injuries. She looked like she had just tried to stop an Ultralisk with her bare hands, but she would be alright. All her limbs were still attached to her body and they looked the way they should. Besides, Ji'Nara had proven to be the toughest door-nail around.

"I too have made a mistake." he then said, mostly to himself. "I see that now."

"What are you talking about?" He could hear the frustration in Sarah's voice. It appeared as if she was about to regain control over her emotions again.

"Coming here, trying to stop you. And taking the Golden Armada with me. That was a mistake." he then said. Ji'Nara looked up to him.

"You know...you could have realized that earlier..." the Tal'darim groaned.

"So you admit that you were wrong about me?" Sarah asked with a suspicious tone in her voice. Artanis shook his head and stood up again before he looked back into her eyes.

"No, I was right about you from the start." he told her.

"Big surprise. Why do I even bother..." Sarah hissed.

"Yes, why _do_ you bother, Kerrigan?" Artanis turned around and looked up to the big, dark orb right above them. Even when the sun wasn't shining on Aiur, he would always recognize his home. "For so many years I dreamed about this moment. To return to Aiur. To give my people their old home back. But I was a fool, Kerrigan."

"Hear, hear." her sarcasm reached her, yet he chose to ignore that.

"I tried to save something that was already lost. And the worst thing is: I nearly lost everything I gained." He looked at Sarah and for the first time, her eyes widened in surprise when she felt his determination. "For many years..." he began. "...you were the only thing on my mind, Kerrigan. The great devourer, the bringer of death. But time changes. And quite frankly: I do not want to waste my time with you anymore. There are more important things that I need to take care of. I guess I have to thank you after all; by coming here you made me understand what is really important."

"You're welcome." Sarah replied with a dry tone in her voice.

"Oh by all that is good and..." Ji'Nara groaned. "I cannot stand listening to the both of you anymore!" She rolled to her side and managed to get back on her feet.

"Ji'Nara?" Artanis asked and frowned, but the Tal'darim stumbled towards Kerrigan and the larger Izsha-creature behind her. Her movements were sluggish and it was obvious that she was in no condition to fight. Yet she refused to accept that.

"Out of the way, false god!" Ji'Nara roared. "I still got a score to settle with that snake! Face me, creaUUUNFFF!" Izsha didn't hesitate a second. She grabbed her Queen with her hands, lifted her up in the air and pulled her tail up. When the long and black appendage hit Ji'Nara, the Tal'darim was simply smashed into the ground again face first. There was a moment of silence and Artanis's eyes widened in shock. So Kerrigan had claimed a life after all and...

"This...is nothing..." Ji'Nara groaned. "...just a...flesh wound..."

"Ji'Nara, stay down!" Artanis ordered her. But the Tal'darim refused to yield. She used her arms in order to push her upper torso off the ground.

"Do not think...that I am done withUNNNNFFFF!" Again, Izsha slammed her tail on Ji'Nara's bruised body. And again she was pushed deep into the dusty surface. This time Ji'Nara didn't try to get back up again. And her voice was barely a whisper.

"Fine...let's call it...a draw..." she just managed to say. Izsha just put Sarah back on her feet and looked at Artanis as if nothing had happened.

"Stop it, Izsha." Sarah said as if to make sure that this creature wouldn't finish Ji'Nara off. "I think this one had enough for one day.

"Just...another day...in the office..." Ji'Nara mumbled, but she was unable to raise even a single finger. Artanis looked at the weak warrior at his feet. He had met Ji'Nara only a few days back and he had never thought to find a Protoss this cranky and thickheaded. She was more frightening when angry than even the great Fenix had been and on the battlefield, she was death incarnated. If someone had asked Artanis before Amon's campaign of terror if he would have called someone like Ji'Nara his friend, he would have refused that possibility in an instant. But now?

"To become whole again...we do not know our own past, so how can we hope to become whole again?" he whispered. Sarah frowned again when she saw how his eyes widened in shock. No, it wasn't shock, he had just realized it.

"But of course. It was always right in front of my eyes, was it not, Tassadar?" he said to himself. Sarah tilted her head to the side. She didn't know much about Protoss (except how to kill them of course) and she had no idea if speaking to oneself was normal for them. But somehow she had her doubts about that.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded to know. But Artanis didn't even look at her.

"All this time...we have never thought about a different path. A new one. But that was what you always believed in, did you not, my old teacher?" Was he still talking to Tassadar? "That was why you looked for Zeratul. That is why you wanted to find the Nerazim. To make us whole again. One way or the other."

"Seeing you like this is very fascinating and hardly entertaining. What are you babbling about?" Sarah hissed. Artanis looked her right into the eyes and now she could feel a cold chill running down her spine.

"I will only ask this once, Kerrigan: Have you come here to destroy my people?" he demanded to know. Sarah took her time with a reply. When she did, she looked away.

"I told you, I have come here to help your people, Artanis." she repeated her initial statement. "But it is clear that you don't believe me."

"Oh, I do believe you." Artanis said, which caused Sarah to look at him in confusion. "But that does not mean that we want your help."

"Without me, you will never get rid of the Zerg on Aiur. So it's either me...or you ask my successor on Char if she's willing to help you out." Sarah suggested. Izsha lifted her brows and looked down at her queen.

"My Queen, I doubt that Zagara would do something like that." the snakelike creature said. Sarah pointed with her thumb behind her at Izsha when she looked back at Artanis.

"Yep, what she said. Point is: You need me."

There was a long moment of silence, in which no one said a word. Until...

"So that is why you have returned. You are alone." Artanis declared. Sarah blinked in confusion when she heard that.

"What? No. I'm not...well, yes, but that is hardly a problem because I..."

"There is no one around. You are the only one of your kind. And you do not even know what you are. Alone and lost in the Void. Perhaps I should feel sorry for you, but at the same time, I cannot deny the feeling of satisfaction. Maybe it is better this way. Zeratul once said that you deserve death for everything you have done. But I think this punishment is even worse." Sarah opened her mouth, but he knew that he had scored yet another critical hit. This argument was over, he had won. Artanis knelt down in front of Ji'Nara and helped her back on her feet. At the edge of the horizon, he could see small, glowing objects. It were shuttles. They had finally arrived. He put Ji'Nara's arm around his shoulder and started to drag both their exhausted bodies towards the wreckage of the Spear of Adun. As he walked past Sarah, he stopped for a second.

"I cannot kill you, Kerrigan. I do not know if that is even possible. But know this: You shall never be anything but an enemy to my kind. That is why I banish you. Never again shall you set foot on any world my people dwell. Never again shall you interfere with our lives. Return to the emptiness of the Void, venture to another galaxy, become one with time and space itself. I care not about any of that. But never return to this place. Should you do that..." Their eyes met one last time and she could see how Artanis's eyes sparkled with energy. "...then I will find a way to slay you myself. Even if that means that I have to venture to the Void myself to find something or someone who can help me with that." And deep in her heart, Sarah knew that Artanis was dead serious. As he moved past her, she clenched her hands into fists but didn't say anything. Artanis continued to walk towards the wreckage for minutes until the persons behind him started to become smaller and smaller. Then, suddenly, he could hear Sarah's godlike voice in his head again.

 **You are a fool, Artanis!** she roared. **Without me, you will never be able to get rid of the feral Zerg on Aiur! They will always be part of this world! All I wanted to do was to help you! Is that what you want?** He stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Perhaps you are right. But we have placed our hopes and our dreams in the hand of almighty gods for far too long. We are free of the Xel'Naga and of Amon...and I will be damned if I allow you to take their place. And if we fail, then so be it. But it will be our own failure. Now begone, Queen of Blades. Before I change my mind." Of course, it was an empty threat. However, as he looked at the Spear of Adun and continued to drag Ji'Nara's exhausted body towards the wreckage, he could hear a sobbing sound behind him. Just when he was almost out of reach, he could hear Sarah's faint voice in the distance.

 **Fine...have it your way, Protoss.** she said. **But if you send someone after me...tell them that the Queen of Blades is no more. Maybe I don't know what I am, but at least I have a name. So tell them to look for Sarah Kerrigan.** Artanis shook his head and decided to look over his shoulder to tell her that he wasn't interested in semantics. But when he did...

...Sarah was gone.


	24. Act I - Chapter 16

**...**

* * *

 **Act I**

 **The Path to Redemption starts with the First Step**

 **Chapter 16**

 **The Best Part of the Job**

* * *

 **Several days later...**

* * *

It had started to rain. That itself wasn't anything unusual. Vorazun knew what rain was, it had rained on Shakuras plenty of times. And she had visited more than one world before all of this had happened. So yes, she knew what rain was. However, Shakuras had always been a very dry world. It had never rained more than for a few minutes. The longest period of time Vorazun could remember had been an hour or two, and that had been highly unusual. And she had been a child back then. This place wasn't Shakuras, however; this was Aiur she was looking at. She stood behind a thick looking glass inside the Executor's office and gazed upon a majestic jungle.

So it had started to rain.

Five days ago.

And it hadn't stopped even one second since then.

And those weren't the raindrops she knew, small and insignificant. No, these raindrops were huge and you could feel their weight when they hit the skin. And the wind! Sometimes it was so windy that the rain didn't come from above, but from left and right.

"Will it ever stop raining?" she whispered to herself.

"Monsoon-time has started." Selendis said, not realizing that Vorazun wasn't talking to her. "It has been a rather dry season though, so it shouldn't rain for too long. Maybe two or three weeks." Selendis explained while sitting behind her desk and going through several pieces of data. Vorazun's eyes widened in disbelief when she heard that and turned around in order to face the Executor.

"Two or three _weeks_? You tell me that the weather will be like this like two or three weeks?" Selendis didn't even look up to her guest when she analyzed the damage-report on yet another vessel of the Golden Armada. The crisis was over, but work was never done. Now that all the wounded had been treated, they had to take care of the ships. And the truth was, a lot of vessels were damaged beyond the point where fixing them was a reasonable option.

But even then Selendis wasn't sad about it. Truth be told, she had never liked the Golden Armada. Yes, it was a powerful tool and yes, it had served the Protoss well. However, it had never been truly a symbol of Protoss might, at least not to her. The main problem was that the Golden Armada had been formed _after_ their escape from Aiur, back when the Overmind had claimed their homeworld with its greedy tentacles. They had lost so many ships that day, so many crews. So many people...

Artanis had formed the Golden Armada as a symbol of hope, and as a sign that the Khalai still possessed the strength to punch everyone's teeth out. The Terrans had only seen the golden ships of the Protoss. They had never realized that the Golden Armada had been nothing but a rag-tag-fleet. They had carriers, but barely enough frigates and destroyers to protect those carriers. The Golden Armada had stuck together not because it was so powerful, but instead in order to avoid even more losses. So it wasn't actually a symbol of strength. No, it was the other way round; it was a symbol of their weakness. Now that most of the fleet was damaged, Selendis was glad about it. She looked forward to laying the foundation for a new fleet. One that would live up to the myth the Golden Armada had become.

"No, the weather will actually get worse." Selendis said to Vorazun.

"Worse? Worse?! Have you looked out of the window lately? It is raining Zerglings and Zealots out there!" the Matriarch almost yelled. That statement caused Selendis to imagine how endless numbers of Zerglings and Zealots fell from the sky, with every second one screaming "For Aiur!". The Zealots, not the Zerglings. She raised her head, blinked in surprise, and then shook her head in order to get rid of that picture.

"That is nothing. It is just the prelude to what is coming." she explained to the leader of the Nerazim.

"I cannot imagine how it can get any worse than _this_."

"Do you see lightning? Do you hear thunder?" Selendis wanted to know.

"No." Vorazun replied.

"When you do; You might want to stay in cover. Trust me, no one wants to be outside when the storm really starts." Selendis told the Matriarch. The Executor's Citadel was located in the southern region. It was hot, the humidity was way above 98 percent and you didn't breath the air, you drank it. It was full of all sorts of weird critters (even before the Zerg had arrived on Aiur) and there were many old training facilities here. The same facilities where she had trained and studied in order to become a Templar. For Selendis, this was as close to a home as it could get.

"I guess the Hierarch has not to deal with such a weather." Vorazun muttered.

"Bah, why is everyone complaining about the weather? It is just water falling from the sky!" Selendis told her. "Besides, you did not want to go to the Hierarch. You came here so you would catch a break from all those politicians trying to eat you alive."

"Actually, I wanted to come here to see how one of my closest friends is doing." Vorazun teased her. And unlike before, Selendis understood that remark immediately. She looked up to Vorazun, but instead of stuttering or saying something grumpy, she just sighed.

"I guess so..." she just mumbled.

"Oh my, you did not blush or stutter. I think we are making progress, Executor." Vorazun laughed.

"We have been talking for what, a few days now? And you are already calling me one of your best friends? I think that says something about you as well, Matriarch. At least about your standards when it comes to friendship." Even though Selendis's voice sounded rather cold, Vorazun could hear a slight amount of amusement. She was starting to be able to read the Executor. It wasn't nearly as easy as with other people. Selendis was a _complicated_ individual. But she was not a bad person.

No, she was a friend.

"Do not worry, Selendis. Becoming my friend is not as hard as it might sound-"

"So I heard." the Executor interrupted her.

"-there are only two other friends who fight for my attention. One is a rock, the other one is my pillow." Selendis frowned when she heard that.

"What is a pillow?" she wanted to know.

"A...a pillow, you know. Something soft to put your hea...ah, forget it. You probably use a stone for that kind of activity anyway..." Vorazun sighed.

"Speaking of stones and heads; how is the Hierarch doing?" Selendis wanted to know while finishing her answer to the damage-report. She pressed the send button and the order to disassemble the ship was sent to her carrier in high orbit. Her crew would relay that information to the crew of the cruiser that was about to be decommissioned.

"Why? Have you not talked with him since-"

"Just answer my question, will you?" Selendis demanded to know. Vorazun could hear the frustration in her friend's voice and decided not to tease her any further. She turned away from the window and towards the Executor's desk.

"He is...better. But still exhausted. He has not spoken with anyone about what happened on the moon. And that Tal'darim, that Ji'Nara..." Vorazun shook her head. "...she refuses to tell us anything as well."

"He told us that he would explain everything to us in due time." Selendis just said.

"And you believe him?" Vorazun wanted to know.

"Yes." There was no sarcasm in her voice, no doubt, no nothing. Selendis knew that he would tell them everything they needed to know in due time. She then looked up from her desk and into Vorazun's eyes.

"Anything else?"

"He still does not want to talk about Karax."

Karax. Of course.

When people said that no lives had been claimed during this conflict, then that would be a lie. Though technically they weren't sure about that. When the relief-parties had reached the wreckage of the Spear of Adun, they had started to evacuate every single Protoss. Every single one, except for Karax. Horrash, who was a few levels beneath them and still enjoying the treatment of the healers, had told them that shortly before the Hierarch had reached the Spear of Adun together with Ji'Nara, Karax had opened a hatch and said that he "had to see his friend Saloka". Horrash had tried to stop him, but the last thing he had seen of Karax had been the Phasesmith walking right up towards a group of drooling Hydralisks.

Warriors had searched the entire area afterward, but they had found nothing. No remnants of Karax, not even a body or pieces of his armor. It was as if he had vanished from the surface of the moon.

When Horrash had told Artanis and the others about that, the Hierarch had replied nothing. Selendis hadn't found the courage yet to ask him what had transpired down there. She would do that...eventually. But right now she felt that he needed time to sort things out on his own. Besides, he was still the Hierarch and there was always enough work for him.

"Maybe you should talk to him." Vorazun offered.

"I will, but not know. He has a lot on his mind, and I do not want to put any more pressure on him. Especially since Alarak and his people have left the system. Right now he needs to focus his attention on that problem." Selendis said, yet Vorazun knew that Selendis didn't believe her own words. Still, she decided to not dig deeper. Instead...

"So the Tal'darim have left without causing any problems?" Vorazun asked. "I have to admit; I did not think Alarak would just leave like that. And he did not even say goodbye, how rude!" She shook her head when she thought about the Tal'darim-Highlord. She didn't even try to hide the fact that she didn't like that Protoss. He would not be missed.

"It appears that they had already prepared to leave Aiur. I am certain that the Highlord was somewhat surprised when the Hierarch gave him a visit and told him that those who wanted to stay, would to stay." Selendis said.

"But I thought he was only referring to Ji'Nara?" Vorazun asked and Selendis just shrugged her shoulders.

"From what Talandar told me, the Hierarch was rather vague with the choice of his words. One might even say that he _implied_ that he would challenge Alarak if he would not comply." Selendis had missed that moment, but she was certain that Talandar would tell her all the glorious details sooner or later. He was just like Fenix; telling everyone tales about past battles and long forgotten glory. And every time he told it the story, would become a bit bigger and even more epic. Selendis had little doubts that if she would listen to Talandar right now, he would tell her that Artanis had slain two Ultralisks with his bare hands while staring a third one to death. Ultralisks, who Alarak had hidden beneath his skirt. Oh, and Artanis had probably defeated the Queen of Blades three times in a row.

Speaking of the Queen of Blades...

"By the way..." Selendis said and looked up. "...how are you?" That question surprised Vorazun and she didn't know what to say. She looked at Selendis and blinked in confusion.

"I am...fine? I guess. The rain is starting to get on my nerves, but aside from that-"

"Not that, Vorazun." Selendis interrupted her. By now she managed to use the names of others without blushing or cursing. "I mean...because of Ker-" She didn't get any further.

"Yes." Vorazun simply said. "Yes, everything is fine." Even Selendis could sense that this was a lie.

"You do not sound certain, Matriarch. Maybe you want to, well, talk about it?" Selendis offered. That caused Vorazun to laugh out loud.

"Hahahahaha." She shook her head and couldn't hide her amusement.

"I fail to see how my statement was funny." Selendis asked with a sour tone in her voice. Vorazun heard that and raised her hands in order to calm her friend down.

"Oh no, please! It is not what you think! It is nothing personal, it is just that..." Vorazun giggled again. "...usually I am the one who listens to others and gives them advice. And to think that you would listen to my problems and offer me, well, I guess it is personal. Cute, but personal."

"You think that my offer to help you is _cute_?" Selendis said with no emotions in her voice whatsoever.

"As a matter of fact: Yes." Vorazun's answer made Selendis shake her head.

"I do not believe that I will ever be able to understand you Nerazim." the Executor declared. Vorazun chuckled and looked out of the window again. For some time neither one of them said a word.

"Why did you do it?" Selendis then asked. Even though the question seemed to be coming out of nowhere, Vorazun knew exactly what her friend was talking about. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"I am not certain myself. I guess...I guess I just wanted to leave it all behind. Can you understand that?"

"No." Sometimes Selendis was just too brutally honest for her own good. "Explain it to me."

"I am not sure I can." Vorazun replied. "And I am not sure that I can do that without insulting you."

"Do not worry about my feelings. I am a big girl, I can take it."

"No doubt you can." Vorazun agreed. She sighed again and opened her eyes again. Watching all that rain was somehow relaxing. "I loved my mother. To me, she was the most courageous and most beautiful woman of all times. And the wisest. Though I did not want to see that wisdom for many years. And when I finally realized it, she was already gone." Selendis had to admit that it was hard to follow those line of thoughts. She had never had a "mother" or a "father", she and all the other children had been raised by the different castes. "She was not just my mother, she was also my best friend. And there is not a single day where I do not miss her. When I heard that Kerrigan was close, I immediately felt the urge to avenge my mother...and of course, all the others who had lost their lives because of that dreadful creature. But..." She took a deep breath (so to say). "...when I saw Tesson, when I saw what the anger and the rage had done to him, I realized that I too could end up like this. Artanis is right about one thing: We have a chance. A chance to create something new. And we will not get another one chance. If I had told my warriors to go after Kerrigan, they would not have hesitated even one second. But then what? Vengeance will not bring those lost to us back." She then looked back at Selendis.

"That does not mean that I am happy about it."

"I suppose that is one way to look at it." Selendis muttered.

"Let me guess: You would have tried to kill her." Vorazun wanted to know.

"I am the Executor. That is what Executors do. The name already implies that."

"It certainly does..." Vorazun mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Before they could continue their conversation, the door to Selendis's office was opened and a huge Zealot entered the room. Pardon, not a Zealot.

"Prelate! Do you have news for us?" Selendis asked. Horrash, who looked rather uncomfortable wearing his new armor, saluted right in front of Selendis's desk.

"Executor, Matriarch. I wish you a good day." he said. His left arm was still healing, so he was unable to train or fight. But he made good progress. Besides, he was no longer an ordinary Zealot. As a Prelate, he had to learn a lot of new things, but Selendis had to admit that Artanis's decision to promote Horrash had been an excellent idea.

"Horrash, it is good to see you. How is your arm?" Vorazun wanted to know.

"Better." the Prelate replied. "The healers told me that I should be able to restart my training exercises in a few days. I can hardly wait to go outside."

"It is raining like crazy, you know that, right?" Vorazun asked. Horrash looked at her and she could sense his childlike glee.

"I know. That is why I want to get out there!" The Matriarch just shook her head.

"I will never understand you Templars..." she muttered. Selendis leaned back and fixated the Prelate with her eyes.

"Why have you come here, Prelate?" she wanted to know. He turned his attention towards her and lowered his voice.

"It is time."

* * *

Artanis wasn't nervous. Not really. He had given speeches many times before, sometimes before a battle, sometimes after a battle and sometimes even right during a battle. There was just one little problem.

This wasn't a battle.

And he was nervous like hell.

He had figured everything out, every tiny detail. But only inside his head. James Raynor had once quoted a Terran soldier called "Sun-Tzu". _"The wise general makes many calculations before the battle starts and is victorious. The poor general makes no calculations before the battle and loses."_ Wise words and Artanis hoped that he would meet this General Sun-Tzu one day. His writings were fascinating and he seemed to be just as much of a philosopher and poet as he was a soldier.

He had prepared for this moment for days now. He had also informed the members of his inner circle on what he was about to tell. Not everyone had agreed with the things he was about to do, but at least they all saw the necessity for him doing it. All except Alarak maybe.

It was strange, a few days ago the very thought of the Highlord and his Tal'darim leaving Aiur had felt like a crushing defeat. Now Artanis had to admit that a part of him was glad that Alarak wasn't around anymore. When he had told the Highlord that those of his people who wished to stay, should stay, Alarak had laughed at him.

"I believe someone has gone mad with power!" the Highlord had told him. "And much to my own surprise, it is not me." But soon he had realized that Artanis was dead serious about it. The Hierarch had no idea why Alarak had accepted his "request" in the end. Was it because a part of Alarak was truly afraid of Artanis? Doubtful. Perhaps it was as Ji'Nara had told him afterward; Alarak loved his people, but more than anything else he loved their society. He was a Tal'darim to the core and the concept of "changing in order to adapt" was an insult to him. So it had been Vorazun who had solved that problem.

"Just let him announce that the ones who wish to join their brethren on Aiur can do so. A sign of respect." she had told Artanis and the other members of his inner circle on one of the sleepless nights after his meeting with Alarak.

"But that would be a lie. Everyone knows that and he would boast about it behind our backs." Selendis had replied, not liking that idea one bit. Vorazun had only shrugged her shoulders.

"Does it matter? That way we will get what we want; Those who want to stay, may stay. And he gets what he wants; he can leave all the ones he considers "unworthy" behind and he manages to keep up his appearance in front of his people."

"But...it is a lie!" Selendis had repeated her statement.

"Yes, but a good one. One that will work both ways and one that will save lives." Vorazun had answered.

"But...it will be a lie!"

"You are one piece of work, Executor, you know that?" Vorazun had sighed.

"Perhaps..." Artanis had intervened. "...we should ask the ones who are involved the most. Ji'Nara?" The Tal'darim hadn't said a word for a very long time. When she finally did, she only said one sentence. It was enough to convince the Hierarch to follow Vorazun's suggestion.

"I...we...want to stay."

Naturally, Alarak hadn't been happy about it. To him, Ji'Nara and those who were with her were nothing but traitors to everything the Tal'darim stood for. He just used nicer words to describe that to his people when he said that "everyone who wants to stay, can stay". It was a one-time-only offer, though. There was no long goodbye, no speech, no handshake, no nothing. The Tal'darim had left in the middle of the night, leaving behind those they considered weak and foolish. It was their loss because Artanis knew that the people of Aiur had gained thousands of brave warriors that night.

Speaking of speeches...

"I guess you did not see that coming when you met me for the first time, now did you, Tassadar?" he whispered and looked up to the blue sky. It was a beautiful day and for the first time in, well, he couldn't even remember, he was looking forward to the next day.

"I start to worry about you, my friend." Talandar said as he stepped next to his Hierarch. "You start to talk to yourself again. It happens a lot nowadays. That is not normal." Artanis could hear the genuine concern in his friend's artificial voice. Not only did he use a new body, someone had polished the metal. He looked like a living statue and the sun reflected itself on his metallic surface. He reminded Artanis of one of the legendary heroes of ancient tales. The Protoss-version of Hercules if you like. Hmm, perhaps future generations would think of Talandar as a great hero.

 _Future generations._

Yes, that's what it was all about. Artanis sighed and closed his eyes. He enjoyed the warm sun on his skin for a short moment. He had visited many worlds in the last years. He had called Shakuras his home for some time. However, standing here on Aiur's surface was different. It was as if every cell of his body screamed that this was his one true home. The air was fresher, the water cleaner. Millions of years of evolution told him that he belonged to this world.

"Do not worry, my friend. I think I have earned myself the right to be a bit odd at times."

"Whatever you say. But you should try to avoid being _odd_ for the next few moments. The others are already waiting for you. Are you ready?" Talandar wanted to know.

"I suppose I am. Let us go." Artanis said. Talandar took the lead and together they walked back into the Central Citadel. They encountered no other Protoss on their way there. When they reached the ground level of the Citadel, he could already see the many Protoss waiting for him. A speech of this magnitude was a rather uncommon thing for Protoss to do, but Artanis had seen how Terrans did it all the time. As he stood at the top of the huge stairway, he could only marvel at the sight. So many had come. And not only that...

"Hierarch." Selendis bowed her head. She stood just a few steps beneath him. She wasn't alone, Vorazun was right next to her and so was the Prelate Horrash. He still looked uncomfortable wearing his new armor. On the other side was Ji'Nara. She looked surprisingly calm and only gave the Hierarch a quick nod before she looked back at the crowd. Without saying another word, Talandar walked down the stairway and joined Ji'Nara. As Artanis looked at the crowd before him, he could see so many Protoss. However, that wasn't the only thing he noticed. He could see Khalai, Nerazim, Purifiers and even some Tal'darim. They had all come here.

"Protoss!" Artanis then said. "My brothers and sisters!" As he was speaking, his speech was broadcasted all around the planet and to all vessels in reach. Who knew, maybe Alarak would still be able to hear this and try to gauge his own eyes out afterward. That thought put a smile on Artanis's face. Metaphorical speaking.

"Today I have asked you to come here to lend me your attention. You all know what happened a few days ago. How we almost lost Aiur again because of a remnant left behind by the Dark One Amon. How the Golden Armada was nearly crushed, and only because of the decisive actions of but a few we are able to stand here and enjoy the ground beneath our feet." He waited a few moments before he continued. This wasn't easy for him, but it had to be...

"The treacherous creature has been dealt with. No more Hybrids lurk on Aiur or Saalok, we have made sure of that." A Hybrid, not Kerrigan. It was a lie, perhaps not even a good one. And it was against everything a Templar believed in. But this wasn't about his pride as a Templar, this was about what was best for his people. And that included the Nerazim. Vorazun had explained it to him rather drastically.

"Should the people realize that Kerrigan is still alive, well, think of Tesson, only one thousand times worse." she had explained it to him. It didn't mean that he had to like it though. Sometimes the price of peace was to sell your own dignity. But what was more precious? The self-respect of one warrior, or the chance for a whole species to live in peace.

This was what leadership was truly about. Or, as the Terrans liked to say, the world isn't black and white. This was one of the lessons this whole ordeal had taught Artanis.

"But this crisis has opened my eyes." he then continued. "We have fought to regain control over Aiur for so long. And now that we are finally back home again, we almost lost it again. However, that is only one side of the story." He lowered his gaze and he could see how Selendis started to squirm. The next part would not be easy for either of them. But he knew that Selendis would endure. She was far stronger than he was. And that knowledge gave him strength because he knew that he could rely on her.

"Home. What a simple word. It has so many meanings, yet we tend to use it so casually. And I have to admit; I used the word like it belonged to me. Like Aiur was the only place that truly mattered. We, the Khalai, we were selfish. All we could think of was to regain our home. And we were so glad being back here that we forget to tend to our allies, our comrades, our _friends_." He could sense Vorazun's approval in the back of his mind. "And we did not see the pain they had to endure. You, the Nerazim, you have lost so much. You were chased of your own birth-world by _our_ ancestors. The people we revere are the ones that brought so much pain to your people. And the good deed of one Executor does not change the fact that the rest of the Khalai failed you. Adun spared your life and we praise him as a great and noble leader. However, in his greatness, we refused to acknowledge all the crimes the Khalai has done to you." He could see that many Nerazim looked at each other in surprise and maybe shock. The Khalai, however, seemed to be completely in control of their emotions. Still, he expected many of them to be angry. He was just questioning everything they had ever believed in. But it was necessary. Change was always painful, but without change, they would perish sooner or later.

"You lost your home two times. First when you were exiled and forced to wander the shadows alone. And then again when you sacrificed Shakuras to give us a fighting chance to live. We are in your debt, Nerazim. _I_ am in your debt." For a Templar, the word "debt" had a far deeper meaning than most would realize. It was a question of personal honor. If Artanis would define this debt as a question of honor, the Khalai would follow. Most of them. Hopefully.

Selendis would.

"We cannot restore Shakuras. We can not change the past. However, we can offer you a new home." He spread his arms and included everyone around him. "Aiur was once your home. And I hope that it will be again. No longer have you walk among the shadows, except if you choose to do so. And should you decide to leave, know this; we will always welcome you back. The Nerazim are just a part of this world as we are. In fact..." he then started to address his own people. "...we too have to accept that the world will change. The Conclave is gone, and with it, the one thing we Templars swore to protect. But what shall we do know, some might ask? We will change. We will find a new path and we will walk this path together." He gave Selendis a quick glance and he could see how she blushed. Well, perhaps not all changes were bad...

"For thousands of years, the caste-system has served us well. Without it, we would have perished. But during the war against Amon, I have seen those who were not Templer fighting with the ferocity of seasoned warriors. And I realized: Being a Templar is not about the caste that raised you. Or the amount of training you have spent to become a great warrior. It is about your state of mind. One we all can achieve." He stopped for a short moment and gathered his thoughts.

"So as your leader, I hereby declare the dissolution of the caste system. From now one every Khalai shall choose his or her own way in life!" No one applauded, but that was normal. Protoss did not cheer like Terrans did, yet Artanis was certain that his decision wouldn't backfire. The Khalai weren't only Templars, their society didn't consist only of warriors, and the other castes would appreciate this.

"But that is not all." he continued. "Among us, there are others as well. Brothers and Sister we had thought to be lost. The Purifiers, and the Tal'darim." Both Ji'Nara and Talandar straightened themselves. "They fought at our side. Some say it was the only reasonable thing to do. Some might even say they only did it because otherwise, Amon would have destroyed them. However, I do not want to believe that. The ones who stand here with us today certainly are not here because they simply wanted to survive." He looked over to Talandar.

"The Purifiers were meant to be weapons, created to fight our enemies. But weapons do not have a mind of their own. When the Purifiers dared to use the mind that was given to them, the Conclave banished them and tried to bury them so deep that no one would ever find them again. This..." He stopped so everyone fully understood the magnitude of his words. "...was a _crime_. It was without _honor_. It was _wrong_."

There was one good thing about the fact that almost everyone from the old Conclave was gone: They couldn't yell at him and call him a bloody traitor right now. Somewhere, beyond the Void, Aldaris was probably screaming in rage right now.

"But the Purifiers are alive. And they have sacrificed just as much as everyone else, maybe even more." He pointed his finger at Talandar. "Some say that the Purifiers have earned their right to stay on Aiur. I humbly disagree." He could see how many Purifiers in the crowd started to tremble, thinking that he would betray them now.

"I say that because these brave _souls_..." He knew that this word was probably the most important one. They were not mere machines but carried souls inside a metallic shell. "...do not have to prove anything to anyone. A Khalai who is not born on Aiur has the right to call this world home. And so does _any_ Protoss out there." He looked at a Purifier, who stood in the first row. "You are Protoss. You are my brother. And do not allow anyone to tell you otherwise."

"I actually consider myself female, Hierarch." the Purifier replied with a soft, female voice. For a moment Artanis had problems to comprehend that statement and both Ji'Nara's and Vorazun's snickering certainly didn't help either.

"Well, no one said that those things work on the first attempt, right?" he then said and shrugged his shoulders. The reaction was laughter. He could hear the laughter of many people. Some just chuckled, some others snickered, others were laughing out loud. Either way, he could see how members of all groups were enjoying the Hierarch's misfortune.

"Before I embarrass myself any further..." Artanis then tried to continue and looked at Ji'Nara. "...the Tal'darim." There was a moment of silence and everyone was waiting for him to say something inspirational. But he just raised his hand and gave Ji'Nara a thumbs-up, something he had learned from James Raynor.

"Glad you could join us." was all he said. He knew that neither Ji'Nara nor the other Tal'darim were very fond of long speeches. But there was one thing he had to make sure of.

"Just one thing; No death-arenas. Please."

"No promises." was the only thing Ji'Nara replied. Artanis sighed and looked back at the crowd.

"Which brings me to the last, maybe the most important reason why I have asked you to come here. We will walk down a new path., one that will lead to a future no one of us has ever dreamed of. However, for that we will need leaders. We will need guidance. And as much as I enjoyed being your Hierarch, deep down in my heart I know that this is not my destiny." Now the crowd started to grow restless. They looked at each other in confusion. Even though Artanis was a member of the Khalai, many trusted him. He had been the logical choice to lead both the Khalai and the Nerazim, so it was only reasonable to assume that the Tal'darim and Purifier would accept his leadership as well. Who would come next? Selendis? That would be a bad idea, even the Executor would agree on that. Vorazun? She would be a wise choice, but it was probably too soon for a Nerazim to lead the Khalai. And the Tal'darim still had to learn how to live within a society that was striving for peace and co-existence.

"This is not something a single Protoss could do. I was elected to be Hierarch because I was the minimal compromise, nothing more, but nothing less either. However, it is time to look for a better solution, a more permanent one. That is why I will step down as Hierarch." Now people started to yell and shout. Okay, maybe the Protoss were like Terrans when it came to speeches.

"Instead..." he roared, making sure that everyone would hear him. "...we will form a new government. One where a council will lead us. A council that represents all different aspects of our new society. Where every voice will be heard, regardless of your heritage. It will be tough. There will be dissent. And we will have to learn to make compromises. But..." He looked at Selendis, who stood a few steps beneath him. Their eyes met and he could feel how she smiled on the inside. "...we will prevail. Not only that, but we will prosper. Both as a species...and as people. So that we all, no matter how we look or how we came into this world might one day say: My life..."

And they all answered with one voice.

"...FOR AIUR!"

* * *

"What did you think?" Artanis asked as he looked down at the plate on the dusty ground. The wrist-blade was still there, no one had dared to touch it.

"Are you talking to me? Or to someone who is not here anymore." Talandar wanted to know as he stood behind his friend. Artanis chuckled and looked down on Zeratul's grave.

"Both, I guess."

"Well, since I can only speak for the living..." Talandar mused. "...I hate you."

"Why is that?"

"You made me the new leader of the Council, I have never asked for this. First, you step down, then you let me do your job. A fine move, my friend. Fine indeed." Artanis could hear Talandar's frustration, but at the same time, he could sense a glimmer of amusement as well.

"It was the most logical choice." Artanis said. "You have the respect of many. The Purifiers will listen to you and no one will question your integrity."

"That sounds like a true politician." Talandar mocked him. "It even reminds me of Aldaris" Artanis looked over his shoulder.

"Tell me, do you think Aldaris would have chosen you for this task?" The answer was short and simple.

"No." Talandar sighed and shook his head. "You know...when I was reactivated on the Spear of Adun, when I thought that I was Fenix, I certainly did not think things would turn out like this."

"That you would become a leader to our people?" Artanis asked.

"That we would survive more than a few days." This statement caused Artanis to laugh. He looked up from the gravestone and watched how the sun was about to go down.

"We have lived in the here and now for so long, my friend." Artanis then declared. "Even before the war, the Conclave could only tell us what we were not allowed to do. They were only interested in staying in power. But they had no vision, no plan for the future of our people. No one had."

"But you have." Talandar said, but Artanis only shook his head.

"No, my friend. I do not. However, I believe that there are many people who do. This will be their time. I will always remain a warrior, but I think that is not what the Protoss need right now. What they need now is a new perspective."

"And that is why you have suggested me? What am I, if not a warrior?" Talandar asked.

"A wise and noble soul, my friend." Artanis could see how Talandar wanted to reject those words, but then he could hear the Purifier chuckle.

"As the Terrans would say: Nice save, friend. Thanks."

"Do not thank me, Talandar. Maybe you will hate this new task so much in a few months that you want to throw me into a death-pit by then." Talandar looked over his shoulder and saw how a lithe figure approached them.

"I will keep that idea in mind. Now excuse me, there is much to be done. Unlike you, I am not in retirement." the Purifier said and turned around. As he passed the female Protoss, he bowed his head in respect.

"I look forward working with you, Executor." he said.

"Yes. It will be...interesting, Consul." Selendis replied, using Talandar's new title. When Talandar was gone, Selendis waited and watched how Artanis looked at Zeratul's grave. She had never liked the Dark Prelate, but she knew that Artanis had cared deeply for him. So she knew better than to make any stupid comment.

"You...wished to talk to me, Hie...Artanis?" she corrected herself. At the same time, she couldn't help but think that it felt wrong. He would always be her Hierarch.

"Yes. It is not much, Selendis, I just wanted to ask you about something. It is about Vorazun." Selendis's eyes widened in shock when she heard that.

"Vo...Vorazun? What...is she...are you...uhm..." Oh no. No! NONONONONO! That Matriarch had not-

"She made me an intriguing offer, but I do not know if I should accept it. It would definitely be a good way to bring our cultures closer together." Artanis said with a calm voice.

"I...uhm...you see..." Selendis stuttered, yet on the inside, she was already cursing herself for trusting the Matriarch in the first place. _I am going to kill her! Skin her, amputate her, find some Zerglings and let them do the rest. No one will find any bones either. No one will EVER find out!_ Selendis thought in rage.

"The question is; should I accept that offer?" Artanis wanted to know and turned around. He looked straight into her eyes. "What would you do, Selendis?"

"I...well, what kind of offer did she make?" Selendis tried to keep as much of the pitiful rest of her pride intact as possible. She straightened herself and attempted to act like the Executor, but she felt like she was close to tears.

"Poetry." was everything Artanis said.

"Uhh...what?"

"She invited me to a...poetry-session. It seems that poets are very important people in the Nerazim-culture. She gave me an invitation, telling me that it may help me to understand the Nerazim-culture even better."

"Po...etry?" Was that a joke?

"Yes. But there is a huge problem, a dilemma I cannot face alone, Selendis." Artanis said with a dead-serious tone in his voice. All Selendis could do was to swallow hard. Well, so to speak.

"Y-yes? What kind of problem? Do you require some of my Templar?"

"Actually, yes. But only one." he said mysteriously.

"Uhm...how about Horrash? The Prelate-"

"Actually..." Artanis interrupted her. "...I thought about you." When she heard that, Selendis could do nothing but blush. All sorts of implications came to her mind. And most of them were rather...dirty.

"Wait!" she declared. "You are not implying that you, me and Vorazun should-"

"The invitation is for two people." Artanis just declared. "Me, and someone of my choice. Someone I care for."

…

…

…

…

"Selendis?"

…

…

…

"Did you hear what I say?" Artanis asked.

"You want me to accompany you to a poetry-session. Me. The Executor." Selendis just repeated what he had just offered to her. She sounded like a broken robot right now.

"No, actually I was hoping that not the Executor, but Selendis would accompany me." He could see how Selendis started to blush so hard that she almost turned purple.

"Selendis? Would you, well, go out with me?" Now her whole body started to shake.

"I will think about it...I mean...yes, yes, it would be my honor. Now excuse me, there are some things I have to...uh...do. I call you later." Selendis turned around and stormed away. For a short moment, Artanis felt like he had done something wrong. However, he could hear a girlish giggling coming from Selendis, something he had never heard from her before.

"Poetry? What can I wear? Oh, I don't have anything fitting! Vorazun, I need to ask Vorazun!" he could hear her talking to herself. He sighed in relieve. Perhaps the both of them were acting like a pair of socially awkward Zerglings, but it would not stop him to enjoy every single moment of what would come next. He looked down at the gravestone one last time and smiled on the inside.

"I hope that you are at peace, my old friend." he said to Zeratul's grave. "Rest well and know that our people are safe. We are finally home."

* * *

When Artanis was finally gone, the grave remained behind. Even though there was no body inside, it was a beautiful place for someone to find eternal rest. Usually, no one dared to come here. No one, except the Hierarch. That's why no one noticed the lithe figure looking down at the grave.

The young woman knelt down right next to the plate and placed her fingers on the cold metal of Zeratul's wrist-blade. A warm smile appeared on her face.

"I wish I could have met you, to thank you for everything you did for them. For me. For all of us. But I guess I will soon get my chance to do that. Until then." And then the young woman stood up and turned away. It was time, time to fix what had been broken for so long.

And she wanted to witness it with her own eyes...

* * *

 **...**

 **End of Act I**

 **...**

 ** **Coming Up Next:****

 ** **...****

 ** **Act II****

 ** **A Christmas to remember****

 ** **...****


	25. Act II - Chapter 1

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 1**

 **There's no such Thing as Bad Publicity**

* * *

 **Korhal**

 **The City of Augustgrad**

* * *

Admiral Matthew Horner had fought many battles in his life. He was still in his mid-thirties; however, he had seen it all. He remembered that one time when a group of Raider-newbies had been deployed to a distant world in order to guard a totally useless sensor-transmitter. Easiest mission in the world, perfect for an inexperienced crew and their hotshot leader. Too bad it had been the breeding ground of some feral Zerg. Poor kids had the same chance as a snowball in hell. He still remembered how he had ordered to bombard their position from orbit. Salvaging their bodies would have been a pointless exercise and only risked even more lives. So, they had cleansed it with fire.

O'Rourke. The sergeant's name of that squad had been O'Rourke. A small woman with freckles all over her face and sparkling blue eyes. She had joined the Raiders just because of one reason; because she had been madly in love with another Raider.

Hammond, a combat medic. He had joined the Raiders shortly after Tarsonis. And he had died on Char during the battle against Kerrigan.

Or that other time when they had " _helped_ " the Dominion to contain an infestation. That infestation had occurred on a ship filled with colonists. He still remembered their screams, how they had pled for help and screamed in terror while the Zerg had slowly either killed or infested them. Every. Damn. One. So, Matt had done the only reasonable thing one could do in a situation like this; he had ordered to destroy that vessel.

They didn't teach that shit at the Academy.

The Temerlin. That had been the ship's name. Home to 1600 settlers and their families. He had a list of all the names among his personal files, so he would never forget their names and faces.

And, of course, that one time when they had attacked Char. The Hyperion had evaded the incoming fire from the surface and supported the Raiders on the ground as good as possible. But he still remembered the moments when they had failed their comrades. Like the one time when some seasoned veterans had called the Hyperion for some support.

"We cannot hold the line!" he remembered the lieutenant's words. "We need evac now!" But all dropships and medivacs had been deployed elsewhere. When Matt had told that to the lieutenant, the man had only replied one thing: "Don't let it end like this, Sir. Please. My boys, they deserve better." And so, Matt had given the order to bombard their position. Instead of being ripped apart by Zerg, instead of being eaten alive or turned into another infested monstrosity, they had perished in an instant. A clean death, Matt supposed.

If one wondered if that helped Matt to sleep better at night; no, it didn't.

Baker. The name of the man in charge had been Baker. And the men under his command had been from the Hotel-squad.

Should Matt ever choose to have children, and should they ask him what he had done during the war, he would probably answer: "Usually I stood on the bridge of a battlecruiser, and ordered good people to march to their death." Like said, he had seen it all. However, even all those battles hadn't prepared him for this moment. For the first time in ages, he was truly nervous. As he looked at the woman that was sitting right in front of him, he couldn't help but swallow hard. She knew that he was nervous and the smile she gave him reminded him of a Zergling. Suddenly he realized that he had found his natural enemy.

"Good evening, Admiral Horner." the woman said with a sweet and yet professional voice. The cameras inside the studios were all pointed at them, however, he could see how she didn't even pay attention to them. She was a true professional. "...and thank you for coming here today." Matt tried to return the smile, but he failed miserably.

"Thank you...", he said, "...it is a pleasure to be finally here, Mrs. Lockwell."

* * *

Brent, who stood next to the show's producer inside the source room and looked at the pitiful creature that was supposed to be his almighty boss, sighed and started to rub his eyes. This would end in a disaster...

He looked over to the producer with a painful expression on his face. He knew that the guy knew that Kate knew that the Admiral had no idea what was about to hit him.

"Please tell me that she's gonna go easy on him." he asked with a pleading tone in his voice. The producer turned his head towards him and gave him a smile. It wasn't a warm and friendly smile, it looked as if a Hydralisk was looking at him. And there was a sinister sparkle in the man's eyes.

"Oh, she has waited months for this opportunity. I have never seen Kate this eager before!"

"Should have ordered more Aspirin..." was the only thing Brent could say.

* * *

"Admiral Horner..." Kate said with an over-the-top sweet voice. "...I have to admit that I am very pleased to have you finally here today. We have asked you to come here for many months now, yet you have always refused. Until now. Forgive me my personal curiosity, but what has changed your mind?" Oh, fair enough. It was an easy question, one that wouldn't lead to anything that would bite him in the ass later on. Brent had warned Matt that this woman could rip him into pieces, but the Captain was probably just getting paranoid. Matt was aware of the fact that he had to blame himself for that. The Captain had worked like crazy in the last few weeks and you could see that he wasn't sleeping well. But Matt needed him. In just a short time, Brent had turned into one of his most trustful and reliable subordinates.

''Well, Mrs. Lockwell, truth to be told, there were just a lot of things I, I mean we, had to deal with. We are working nonstop in order to improve the current situation. We are aware of the problems that are out there, and there are many things we still need to do, but we are doing our best."

"Aware of the problems you say. I am glad that you said that because that certainly is one question I wanted to ask you; how is the Dominion currently doing?" Kate wanted to know.

"Uhm, well, you see..." Matt started, "...we are aware that there are still many problems we need to address. However, given the fact that we have fought several major wars in the last few years, I think we are on a good path."

"A good path, yes. But that is only one side of the coin, isn't it?" Kate replied. Matt didn't answer immediately and the journalist looked at the cards in her hands. It looked like she was reading something, but in reality, they were completely empty. She knew all the facts and figures, it was only a show for the viewers.

"In the last 16 months since Emperor Valerian has taken office, the unemployment rate across the Dominion has climbed from 7.9 to over 18.7 percent, An increase of over ten percent. Many households who are not affected by unemployment, nevertheless have to deal with a declining income. Some economists even say that we are looking at an economic crisis that could risk the stability throughout the entire Dominion. Yet at the same time, the government has started to cut both child-support and free medical aid for old veterans, who have served both under the Confederacy _and_ the Dominion, down to a bare minimum. What do you say about that."

"Well, first of all", Matt tried to defend himself, "I am not responsible for the civil support-system. That lies in the hands of the Ministry of Social Affairs. And secondly-"

"But it is known that you are one of the closest advisors of the Emperor. What does _he_ have to say to the accusations that the government is doing too much for people from outside the Dominion and not enough for its own citizens?"

"Mrs. Lockwell, I think that this is a very bold statement. You accuse us of treating our own citizens poorly while supporting people from outside. That is simply not true." The words they used were pretty straightforward, yet both of them stayed friendly. Matt knew that, as a professional journalist, it was Kate's job to test him, to make him angry. To get a real emotional reaction.

At least he hoped so.

"It wasn't me who said those words. They were released by a group of intellectuals who have accused both you and the Emperor of actually working against the interests of the Dominion's people. Are you aware of this?" Matt opened his mouth and wanted to reply something, but then he suddenly remembered it. Instead of defending himself, he just sighed.

"Yes." he said. "Yes, I am aware of it." Great, the interview wasn't even two minutes old and she had just scored a critical hit. Surprisingly enough Kate didn't choose to use her momentum. She put one leg on the other before she continued.

"This group of intellectuals, most of them professors and scientists from all over the Dominion, has released a statement earlier this week. In it, they demand that people should rise up against the illegitimate reign of Emperor Mengsk and the ones under his command. Now that alone is nothing unusual. Every day we hear that someone tells the Emperor to step down. But what is so interesting about this case is that many of those who have signed the statement used to be prisoners. Emperor Mengsk, the old Emperor, had locked them up in New Folsom. Only thanks to a daring attack on the prison they regained their freedom. An attack you led."

"Well, you see-", Matt started.

"And it was the current Emperor Valerian Mengsk who pardoned every single one of these men and women. Yet instead of showing any form of gratitude, they demand that you step down. Is that not a problem for you?" she wanted to know. Matt took a moment in order to gather his thoughts.

"First of all, I did not lead that attack. It was an operation conducted by the Raiders under the command of Jim Raynor-"

"Your former commander." Kate added for those who had never heard from either the Raiders, Raynor, or that you can't eat rocks.

"...who decided that it was time to free these poor souls." Of course, that was only part of the truth. And nowadays Matt didn't like to think about what they had done back then. Freeing these men and women had been the right thing to do, yes. However, when Jim had decided to help Tosh, well, let's just say that Matt wasn't so sure about the Spectres anymore. Especially since he had no idea where they had gone.

"But you were part of this mission."

"As was any other member of the Raiders." Matt replied.

"But you were not just like any other member, Admiral, were you? You played a crucial role and-"

"Whatever my role was, it has nothing to do with the fact that it was the right thing to free these prisoners. Emperor Men...Arcturus Mengsk had locked them away because they questioned his authority. To him, they were a threat to his rule."

"Do you consider these intellectuals a threat to Emperor Valerian's rule?" Kate wanted to know.

"If you're implying that we have plans for locking them up again so they can't speak their mind, then no, Mrs. Lockwell. There will always be critics and we have to live with that. In fact; I am glad that people have started to come out of their hiding and say that they are no longer willing to just blindly obey others."

"Yet you disagree with their accusation?" Kate asked.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I believe that the path we took is the right one." he said with a stern tone in his voice. It was the sign that this part of the conversation was over. Kate seemed to realize that and gave him a warm and gentle smile. Yet Matt had a hard time seeing anything but a Zergling that wanted to rip him into pieces.

"A straight answer." Kate said. "Maybe we will get another one. Admiral, on a personal note: Does it bother you that these people accuse you of something like that?" the journalist wanted to know.

"Accuse me of what?" he replied. It caused Kate to smile again, yet for the first time, Matt had the feeling that she was showing him an honest expression. It appeared as if he was finally understanding how this game was supposed to work. If he wouldn't check every single word, she would turn it against him in an instant.

"Of being called a traitor and a poor leader", Kate specified her question.

"Well, I would lie if I would say that it doesn't bother me. And a part of me is hurt. But this is just how humans are. We will never agree on one thing and will always argue over the best course of action. That is just the way it is."

"So these things don't keep you up at night", Kate said.

"There are many things that keep me up at night, Mrs. Lockwell. This is not one of them." And again, she gave him a warm smile. And again, Matt felt like he was sitting in front of a Hydralisk that was about to bite his head off.

"Very well, let's get to the next question. How about something simple, yes?" Matt tried to find a hint of teasing in Kate's voice, but if she intended to make fun of him, he wasn't able to find any proof.

"And what would that be I wonder?" he asked in return.

"Where is my invitation to your Christmas party?" Kate then said.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Oh, don't act so surprised, Admiral. We all know that this year there will be a big Christmas-party, hosted by none other than his Emperor himself! And as a matter of fact, I know that most invitations are already out. Yet I have received none. Could it be that you don't want any representatives of the free press among the guests?" Matt opened his mouth, only to close it again. It was another trap. If he would tell her that he had no intention of avoiding the press, she would confront him with some other unfortunate thing that had happened before. So instead he offered her a weak smile.

"There must have been a mistake then. Of course you are invited, I will personally make sure that you will receive an invitation within the next days." Her response was somewhat surprising: A big smile appeared on her face when she heard that.

"Splendid! And while we are at it; would it be possible to get an exclusive interview with the Emperor himself?" Again Matt wanted to reply the most obvious thing, that Valerian was a busy man these days and that he had little time for anything but work. But again, he managed to replace that answer with one that was a lot less informative.

"I will relate that request to the Imperial Palace. But I can't make any promises." Most boring answer ever, but Kate was unable to turn that against Matt. She looked at her empty cards again and used the moment to gather her thoughts. And Matt prepared for another onslaught.

"Admiral..." she began. "...since you are currently the man in charge of the big guns-" she said rather casually. However, Matt was not willing to let this stand.

"You mean since I am currently the commander-in-chief of all military assets that bear the flag of the Dominion." he corrected her.

"Of course." she said with a casual tone in her voice. "People have raised questions about the current state of our armed forces. They are worried that with all the budget-cutting and disbanding of so many front-line units, our ability to defend ourselves against enemies like the Protoss and Zerg will suffer greatly." Again, Matt knew what he wanted to say. He wanted to tell Kate and all the viewers around the sector that this was not true. Neither he nor Valerian had thought for a second to even touch the front-line-units, and most of the troops that had been disbanded had been part of Arcturus Mengsk's infamous "home-divisions". You know, the ones who had been trained in shooting unarmed civilians. And he wanted to tell her that there were many eager young men and women who wanted to serve their nation not because the Emperor demanded it, but because they wanted to protect the innocent. He could have talked about that. He could have mentioned any of that. Instead, he decided to take the safe route.

"Rest assured, Mrs. Lockwell, our military is still able to defend our borders and our citizen from every threat that might arise. And I have complete faith in the people that serve this nation." Matt felt like a douchebag. It was the most obvious, most retarded answer he could have given. It was the kind of answer only a bureaucrat would provide; the kind of answer Arcturus's goons had given to the people. It didn't provide any real information and it was only meant to block off any further comments.

In other words; it was the perfect answer.

"Well, I'm sure that our viewers will be glad to hear this. Especially given the fact that the last administration promised the same thing, but failed to deliver." Kate said with a jovial tone in her voice.

 _Wait, what?_ Matt wasn't sure if she tried to make fun of him, so he only smiled.

"Well, only the time will tell." he added. For some odd reason, he felt a lot calmer right now. That was until...

"Admiral, speaking of time since we are already almost out of it..." Kate began. "...right now, you are the second most powerful man inside the Dominion. Let me ask you straight away: Is there anyone in your life? Any _special_ person?" Matt didn't see it coming. He just laughed and gave her a warm smile. What kind of question was that? This couldn't be a trap, she just wanted to ease the pressure...

* * *

"Don'tSayItDon'tSayItDon'tSayItDon'tSAYIT!" Brent yelled at the monitor right in front of it. However, it was already too late. He could see the disaster approaching like a train rushing towards a guy in a wheelchair. There was no way to escape it.

"Hahaha... oh, I have to disappoint you, Mrs. Lockwell, but there is no one in my life right now." Matt just said and Brent slapped his hands against his face. The producer looked over at him and gave him a sympathetic smile.

"He sure has no idea what he's doing out there, is he?" the man asked.

"Here lies Admiral Matthew Horner. Battled Zerg, Protoss and two fascist regimes, got sucker punched by a journalist." Brent groaned. The producer laughed and put his hand on Brent's shoulder.

"Don't fret it. It happened to others too, you know." Strangely enough, it actually helped Brent a bit.

* * *

"Hahaha...oh, I have to disappoint you, Mrs. Lockwell, but there is no one in my life." Matt said. Later he would recall that moment and he could swear in the years to come that after he had said those words, a devilish spark would appear in Kate's eyes. It was that moment, that very moment, the moment when he had finally found his match. His own personal "Queen of Blades" if you like.

"That is interesting. So, does that mean that you and your wife are no longer together."

 _Wife?_

"Wife?" he repeated his own thoughts. There was still a smile on his face because his brain hadn't realized the danger yet.

"Oh yes, your wife. Mira Han." That's when Matt's face lost all its color in an instant.

* * *

Rory Swann was a man of many talents. He was good-looking, gentle, humble (at least in his little own world) and most importantly; he was the goddamn best technician this side of Tarsonis. Or what was left of it. There was not a machine he couldn't fix. And even though he had never studied engineering in one of those fancy universities, he knew more about machines than those overpaid tech-heads that were calling themselves "engineers" these days. Matt...sorry, _Admiral_ Horner had offered him a job on one of the Dominion's finest ships as Chief-Engineer. And the worst thing was that the Admiral thought that this offer was some kind of honor.

Pah, what did _he_ know about honor?

That thieving, scheming bastard of a rotten Zergling! He had betrayed them all! Matt had sold them out for a shiny new office and some Admiral's insignia!

However, deep down in his heart, Swann knew that it wasn't true. Matt hadn't betrayed them. He hadn't betrayed the Raiders and he hadn't betrayed the grumpy engineer. But right now, Swann just wanted to blame someone for his problems, and Matt was just the juiciest target around. As the drunken man looked at the glass in front of him, he sighed.

A job as chief-engineer on a brand-new battlecruiser...

There were no such things as "brand-new battlecruisers". He had always thought that those things were a myth. All ships he had ever served on had been run-down pieces of trash. And the Hyperion? It pained to admit him, but she was the Queen of Trash. Matt was right, and that was probably the worst thing about this whole situation. The reactor was only running on minimal energy because the radiation-shielding had to be replaced, the FTL-drive needed to be overhauled, the tracking system hadn't been calibrated in ages and the electric couplings were...

Well, the Hyperion was in bad shape. And so was his work-life-balance, but who gave a shit about any of that. That's right, no one did. Except for good old Rory Swann. Once, when he had been a young man (and when the Dinosaurs had roamed the Earth), he had sworn to himself that he would never become a cynic like his old man had. It became increasingly harder to keep that promise with each passing day. He sighed and took another sip from his glass. The burning sensation in the back of his throat was but a faint afterglow of what it had used to be. He could probably swallow a gallon of industrial alcohol, fart a flame and go back to work without any problems. The only one among the Raiders who had ever been able to outdrink him had been the Commander.

The Commander... Rory was wondering what Jim was doing right now.

As he sat in the Hyperion's canteen, he was only partially listening to the program on tv. There was no one else around. He had sent most of his crew away for them to get some well-earned rest. Well, those few who were still with him. He didn't blame the others who had left for good though. Many had families and Matt had offered them a safe job with a good income. How the hell could Rory judge those guys and gals for doing the right thing? Perhaps things would be different if he had someone. Perhaps he should have founded a family years ago, one that he could return to now. But he hadn't. And now the only thing he had left was the Hyperion.

Kinda depressing if you think about it.

"...anyone in your life?" the voice of that Lockwell-journalist brought him back into the here and now. "Any _special_ person?" Rory looked up from his drink and saw the all too familiar face of Matt. The Admiral smiled into the camera and it caused Rory to almost gag. It was the kind of fake-ish smile Arcturus Mengsk and his goons had used so many times. You could see that he was smiling, but there was no joy in his eyes.

"Hahaha..." Matt laughed. "...oh, I have to disappoint you, Mrs. Lockwell, but there is no one in my life right now."

"Cheeky bastard." Rory mumbled as he looked at Matt's face on the tv. But then the program suddenly became a lot more entertaining, at least to Swann. Kate Lockwell looked at Matt with big, round eyes and gave him a surprised look.

"That is interesting. So, does that mean that you and your wife are no longer together?" You could actually see how Matt's mind started to go offline for a second.

"Wife?" he asked with a truly confused look on his face. The smile on his face now looked like that of an idiot.

"Oh yes, your wife." Kate said again. "Mira Han."

"Ha..." Rory laughed.

"Hahaha..."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Bursting out into laughter, the engineer watched how his old comrade turned as white as a white sheet.

"Uhm... no, you see, I am not married at all. This is just an old story and-" Matt tried to defend himself.

"Is that so? Well, we have found the marriage certificate that has your name on it. And that of a woman called Mira Han. Though now she bears the legal name of Mira Horner. It was signed by the legal city administration on Dead Man's Port." There was no such thing as a goddamn city administration on Dead Man's Port. And there was not a single "legal" brick in that place either.

"Well, hehe, that is actually a funny story..." Matt tried to save the situation, but he only made it worse.

"So, you admit that you have been legally married to this woman for over three years now?" Kate asked again.

"Yes, no. I mean... uhm, you see..." Matt's whole face was covered in sweat and the camera showed it in glorious 16k-ultra-hyper-HD. Swann was laughing like a madman and his belly was vibrating with every breath. Oh, this was too good to be true!

"For those who haven't heard anything about Mira Han..." Kate suddenly announced. "...we have prepared a short film about her, including a short interview with her and a personal message for her beloved husband." the journalist said. Matt's reply was just a whisper, yet anyone could hear it.

"Oh, fuck me..."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! SERVES YOU RIGHT, BUDDY!" Swann couldn't even stop laughing and wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye. That was when the door to the canteen opened and someone stepped inside.

"Hey, guys!" Swann then said. "Come over here and grab a drink, you gotta see this!"

"I've already seen this, thank you very much." a grumpy Admiral Horner said as he stepped into the room and looked at the monitor. The video about Mira was just about to start and you could see how his hand wandered to his hip, looking for a gun in order to shoot the tv, good old Marshal Raynor-style. But there was no gun, so the only thing he could do was to bark "SOUND OFF!" The tv heard that and killed the sound.

"HeyHeyHEYYY! I wanted to see that!" Swann yelled before he took another sip of his drink. "Show was about to get really good!" However, Matt didn't even listen. He just moved towards Swann, grabbed two empty glasses on the way there and threw himself on a seat right next to the engineer. He wasn't alone, however. Behind him was a skinny and far too young-looking officer. Swann remembered that face, he had seen this kid before. But he couldn't remember where or when.

"Sir, I'm not sure I should be here. There are tons of things I have to do and I'm not a heavy dri-" Captain Brent tried to talk his way out of this, but it was pointless.

"Sit down and have a drink, Captain. That's an order!" Matt said with a sour expression on his face. He put the two glasses on the table and looked at Swann.

"Fill 'em up, Swann." the Admiral ordered. When Rory heard that, he pulled his brows up.

"Don't know what'cha talking about, Admi-" he tried to say.

"Your moonshine, I know it's under the table. Fill the glasses up. That's an order." Matt demanded.

"You ain't the boss of mine anymore."

"I don't fucking care, Swann. Fill 'em up!" Matt growled. Swann looked at him for a short moment and then he shrugged his shoulders.

"Your funeral." He pulled a bottle up from below the table and filled the two glasses with a brown liquid that smelled like...battery acid? Brent looked down at the two men and it was clear that he felt really uncomfortable right now.

"Sir, maybe I should-" he began but was cut short by Matt again.

"Sit down, Captain." There was no friendliness in Matt's voice. Swann had never seen the Admiral this grumpy. He was almost impressed. When Brent sat down at the table, he looked at the full glass in front of him.

"This won't end well." the kid mumbled. Matt just grabbed his glass and downed it in one go. Now Swann was actually impressed. Matt put the glass back down and you could see how his face twitched several times. Brent swallowed hard when he saw that. He grabbed his own glass and took a sniff.

"Dear Lord, what is _that_?" the Captain asked. But Matt didn't answer, instead, he just pulled the glass out of Brent's hand and downed the liquid inside in one go again. He put the empty glasses back on the table and looked at Swann.

"What are you waiting for? Fill 'em up!" Matt said again. Now a cruel smile appeared on Swann's face.

"Your wish is my command." the engineer said and poured some more of his own private moonshine into the glasses.

* * *

Matt had no idea how much alcohol he had consumed. It had to be plenty, though. For the first two hours, they didn't exchange even one word. It wasn't necessary. Swann had just smiled like a fat baby with a mustache, Brent had only downed half a glass before he stopped moving for the rest of the evening. Matt didn't even know if the Captain was still breathing. However, right now he didn't care about that one bit. How's that old saying? Misery loves company. After the seventh (?) glass Matt had finally started to use his mouth for something different than downing insane amounts of alcohol.

"Shoulda stayed in bed..." the Admiral mumbled. Swann looked at the man for a moment before he sighed.

"Guess that Lockwell-character ripped you a new one, huh?" he teased him. Matt's red eyes wandered up to Swann and he snarled in anger.

"Looks like at least someone is happy about that." the Admiral growled with a somewhat slurred voice. It was clear that he had consumed enough alcohol. So, Swann did the only thing any true friend and comrade would do; he filled Matt's glass up again.

"So that's watcha think of me, huh?" Swann then said. "A dirty old bastard who gets his kicks from seeing his old pals getting suckerpunched." Matt looked at him and Swann could see how the alcohol-affected mind of the Admiral tried to put the words into the right order.

"Course not, Swann." Matt said. "I just wanted to-"

"Hide from the shit you caused? Since when did that ever work out for us, huh?" the engineer wanted to know.

"My skin prickles. Is that normal?" Brent suddenly asked and stared at the empty wall in front of him. Both Matt and Swann looked at the wall as well, but they couldn't see anything and decided to ignore the young Captain. This time it was Matt's turn to sigh.

"I guess...I guess I just wanted to hide for a moment." he then said. "You have no idea how frustrating this is, Swann. You just don't have any idea."

"Oh really? So, life is a bit rough on the good Admiral and he runs home to mommy with his tail between his legs? Gimme a break, man. Other people have problems too. You know, grown-up problems." Swann shot back. He didn't want to sound like an ass, but he just couldn't stand it if people acted all whiny right in front of him.

"Pah, what do you know, Swann. You only fix your machines. That's easy. But have you ever tried to fix a society?" Matt replied while looking at the drink in front of him.

"Nope. Because I'm not so stupid to think that someone could do that. Did you just listen to yourself, man? Fix a society he says! Hey, kid! Did you hear that?" Swann looked over to Brent.

"Why is there a face on the wall? And why is it talking to me?" the Captain just asked.

"Dear God, Swann. What is that stuff?" Matt finally wanted to know and looked at his drink. Unlike Brent, his body knew how to handle that stuff.

"A bit of this, a bit of that. You know, the stuff you find on an old battlecruiser."

"That's not what I wanted to know." Matt growled.

"Sorry, bud. It was a nice way of saying; Ain't your goddamn business. Now go on whining, it was starting to get funny."

"Go to hell, Swann." Matt mumbled and took another sip. He closed his eyes and could feel how everything started to spin around him. He didn't like to drink himself into a stupor, but this day had been a nightmare. Maybe he was lucky and Swann's moonshine would erase these memories altogether. A man could dream, could he not? He and Swann had never been truly eye-to-eye. He respected the man. Mostly because of his abilities as an engineer, but still, he respected him.

"Every day..." Matt suddenly said. "Every damn day it's the same damn stuff. Someone says: Admiral, will you launch an incursion? Admiral, will you retaliate because someone insulted the Emperor's mother. Admiral, I think my nail broke off. It's your fault because you're a fascist and now you're gonna throw me into jail, are you not?" he griped about the people he had to deal with. "And then I say: No, we will not do that. Trust me, we will not repeat the mistakes of the past. They nod, say "Thank you" and then? The next day they ask the same damn question. Or they claim that I eat babies for breakfast and that Valerian is actually a male clone of the Queen of Blades." he sighed. "I'm so tired of it all." As Swann looked at his old comrade, he had a snippy remark on his tongue. However, when he saw the tired look on Matt's face, he simply leaned back.

"You know..." Swann started. "...when the war was over, I hated you."

"Get in line please." Matt replied dryly.

"Wanna know why?"

"Not really." the Admiral said truthfully, but Swann ignored that comment.

"Because you were right. After the war, I and many others thought that things would return the way they were. But what the hell? Mengsk was gone! The Dominion was no longer our enemy. Return to what life? That shitty place on Meinhoff? Or go Zerg-huntin' in the uncharted territories? Bah, nonsense." Swann spat out. "I was angry because you didn't even hesitate a second. The moment we returned from that freakish Xel'Naga-station, you knew exactly what to do. You didn't lose any second. And that made me angry."

"A lot of people needed help, Swann. There was no time to waste." Matt said and Swann just shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe. Maybe not. I'm not sayin' that you were wrong. All I'm sayin' is..." He took a deep breath. "You took the Commander away, locked him up so he wouldn't hurt himself. I understand that. The Boss is...well, he is not himself anymore, that much is certain." Yeah, that's right. Jim had always been the one thing that had united them. "First you take the Commander away, then you take the Hyperion away. It's rough, you know. This was our home. And you're kinda like the bad cousin who doesn't want anyone to have any fun."

"How poetic." Matt said. "So, I'm the black sheep of the family. I guess I should feel honored that you even still consider me as a part of the family, huh?"

"Stop being an ass, I'm trying to apologize here!" Swann shot back.

"Well, you're doin' a piss-poor job on that." Matt replied.

"Why the hell did I even try to help you. You are such an a..." But before Swann could finish the sentence, Matt pulled a small datapad from one of his pockets and threw it on the table. Swann immediately realized what it was: An official document. He could even see Matt's signature on it.

"What is that?" Swann asked with a suspicious tone in his voice.

"A peace offer." Matt just said.

"What the...?"

"Just read it, you moron." the Admiral groaned. Swann thought about telling the good Admiral to shove that datapad up his rear, but then he grabbed the thing and started to read it. Soon his eyes widened both in shock and surprise.

"That is-" he stuttered.

"Your little show in my office made me think about one or two things." Matt then said. "About you, me, the Hyperion. It's not much and it's the only thing I can do. But it's better than nothing, right?" He looked at Swann, who had a frown on his face. It seemed as if he was already thinking _how_ to solve that problem.

"But...why remove the weapons?" the engineer asked. Matt sighed.

"We don't need the Hyperion anymore. The Dominion doesn't need the Hyperion anymore. She's past her prime. But she can still do some good. If someone takes good care of her. You can have her. Take her, go somewhere else and fix her, I don't care. Just remove all the offensive weapon systems. I don't want to see pictures of the Hyperion using its Yamato-cannon on some poor guys."

"But a Battlecruiser without weapons is-" Swann started.

"Still a huge ship. One that can be used for all sort of things. It can be used to transport people, Supplies, Medicine. The colonies on the fringe suffer because there are not many large transport-vessels reaching them. Well, the Hyperion wouldn't solve the problem...but she would help." For the first time since, well, since a very long time, Rory Swann was truly speechless. Until his pride as an engineer regained the control.

"She's too big! There aren't any dry docks around we...I can use to fix her." he said. Still, Matt could see how Swann held the datapad tightly.

"There are some dry-docks in the Combine. And of course, there's Meinhoff." Matt offered.

"Yeah, but that's lightyears away. Like I said-" Swann started.

"It's my final offer, Swann. Take it or leave it!" Matt then grunted. He was tired. He was angry. He was exhausted. And he was thirsty. Swann, however, could barely hide his excitement. This...this could work! Getting the Hyperion out of this dry dock would be hard, but he could do that! Swann took a deep breath.

"I take it." There was a moment of silence.

"Good." Matt then said. "Then refill my glass. I'm thirsty." Swann shook his head.

"Sorry, you just downed the last glass. I'm running on empty." Swann told him.

"Mother of...right. Don't bother, I get it myself." Matt mumbled and stood up. "Whoa..." he groaned. Everything was a blur and as he turned around and stumbled towards the door, Swann frowned again.

"Where the hell you think you're going?" the engineer wanted to know.

"Getting some more booze." Matt replied. "And I just know where to find it." He then left the canteen and staggered through the poorly lit corridors of his former home. Swann, on the other hand, felt new vigor running through his body.

"Need to fix the main energy-couplings. If I can reroute the energy from life-support to the FTL-drive, then we could take her to Meinhoff within two weeks. Gotta check this out now!" He jumped to his feet and rushed towards the door. When he left the room, Brent was still staring at the wall in front of him.

"So the universe is checkered? It makes all sense now..." the Captain whispered while drool was dripping from his chin.

* * *

Matt hadn't exaggerated when he had told Swann that the only things that kept the Hyperion together were chewing-gums and Jim's old booze bottles. Seriously, Jim had stashed so many bottles of liquor all over the ship that you just had to open any hatch and grab inside to find a bottle of whiskey. But Matt didn't want any bottle. No, he wanted the good stuff. And the good stuff was inside Jim's old cabin. As he staggered through the poorly lit corridors, he thought about nothing in particular. It was kinda sad to see the Hyperion like this. Empty. Old. Barely functioning. She reminded him of Jim. Matt walked around the corner and moved towards Jim's old cabin. The door was closed, but not sealed. Matt stopped and frowned when he saw that. Great, someone had been inside Jim's cabin. Probably one of Swann's boys. Or perhaps someone from Lockwell's guys. Oh God, he could already imagine the next interview...

"Admiral Horner, were you aware of the alcohol-problems of your superior officer?" he could hear her voice inside his head.

"Now I know why you drank so much, Jim..." he mumbled to himself. As he stood in front of the door, he pressed the open button. He knew that Jim had stored some of his finest whiskey in the entire sector inside a ventilation-shaft right above the shower. Matt knew that because he had searched Jim's cabin many times for any kind of liquor. It was amazing how much the Commander had managed to hide inside that small cabin. He pressed the button again, but nothing happened.

"Great..." he groaned and pressed the button once more, with the same effect. Just his luck. However, the third time he pressed the button, the door finally jumped open. He yawned and stepped inside. It was pitch-black and he sighed.

"Light." he then ordered. But the automated system didn't listen.

"I said: Light!" Matt barked. He would not search the cabin for booze in utter darkness.

"Oh, of course!" suddenly a new voice said. Matt blinked in surprise. It didn't sound like the voice of a human, but...like a Protoss? Suddenly the light went on and it blinded him for a second. He had to blink several times before his eyes had adapted. And when he looked around...

"PFFFFFFFFFRRRRRRRR...!" Sarah Kerrigan, who sat on Jim's old bed, spluttered water from her mouth while a huge, snake-like Zerg-creature stood next to her, tilting its surprisingly female-looking head to the side. Something moved right next to Matt and when he looked to the side, he could see a Protoss pressing his finger on the light switch. The Protoss raised his hand and gave him a quick nod.

"Greetings! My name is Karax, I am pleased to meet you!" the Protoss then said. Matt shook his head and put his hands on his face.

"Damn you, Swann...what was inside that stuff you gave me?" he whispered. Now he was seeing pink elephants. He took a deep breath and removed his hands from his face. And when he opened his eyes...

...Sarah was still there.

"Sarah?" he asked with a disbelieving tone in his voice. The red-haired Ghost froze for a second. Then her head turned around and she looked Matt straight into the eyes.

"Aw, crap..." was the only thing she managed to say.


	26. Act II - Chapter 2

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Taking a Trip down Memory Lane**

* * *

There weren't many places left where Sarah could have gone.

Well, this statement was somewhat incorrect. She could go wherever the hell she wanted to. But her recent "adventure" on Aiur's moon had shown her that the locals might not be too happy to see her again. And to be brutally honest; she wasn't in the mood to deal with people right now, no matter which species they belonged. She could have ignored what the people thought about her. She could walk among them and they wouldn't even realize who she was. But right now she just wanted to be alone. It pained her to admit it, but Artanis had scored more than just one critical hit. He had done the one thing she feared most: He had made her question about herself and her own place in the universe. It wasn't because she was afraid of the answer. It was because she _knew_ the answer to that already.

So where could she go?

At first, she had thought about returning to Char. Even though Zagara had been pretty clear about not wanting Sarah to return to the Swarm. But maybe there was still a way to lay low on Char for a while. She had little doubt that her brightest student would lead the Swarm into a glorious future, a different future. That future would without a doubt lead to conflict, but there were enough things Sarah had to deal with. Zagara possessed the ability to lead the Swarm, Sarah had made sure of that. And Sarah had no place among the Swarm anymore.

All she wanted was a place she could call, well, home.

Sarah didn't want to lie, right now she wished to be back on Char, leading her Swarm like she had used to. Alright, maybe without the whole "Crush everything in your path!"-attitude. She missed her primary hive. Oh, it had been such a magnificent creature! Bigger than the biggest skyscrapers on Korhal. Bigger even than the puny palace Arcturus had called his home back in Augustgrad. Ha, Sarah was betting that he would have been furious to see that her "palace" had been far bigger than his. Hmm, now that she thought about it: Her primary hive kinda had been like a palace. It even had possessed kind of courtyard, fitting for a Queen.

A Queen.

A ruler!

No more.

Sarah shook her head as she walked through the narrow corridors. Nostalgia was such a drag, but recently it had become even worse. She had problems focusing her mind on the tasks at hand. Well, _if_ she would have any tasks to take care of. Oh, she could still answer every question Izsha asked her. However, for some odd reason, it seemed as if her mind wasn't willing to concentrate on the things that were right in front of her.

Where else could she go then? Zerus? It was a Zerg-world. It was _the_ Zerg-world. And it certainly had the nicest beaches around. However, as much as she still cared for the Swarm, as little did she care for Zerus and the Primal Zerg who lived there. Come to think of it...

"Izsha?" Sarah looked over her shoulder as she walked down the corridor. Her trusted advisor followed her closely and tilted her head to the side.

"Yes, my Queen?" the black snake-woman asked.

"I just wondered...did Zagara return to Zerus? Did she have any plans for the Primal Zerg?"

"The Overqueen did not share her plans or motivations with me, your Majesty." Izsha explained. It sounded strange, but Sarah could feel Izsha's frustration when she said that. "I do not know if she had any plans for the Primal Zerg, or if she wanted to return to Zerus anytime soon."

"Well, she never was fond of them." Sarah mumbled. "What do you think?"

"Think, my Queen?" Izsha asked and tilted her head to the side.

"Yeah, what do you think would Zagara do? You think she will venture to Zerus?" Instead of answering the question right away, Izsha took some time to gather her thoughts. Now that she was no longer part of the Swarm, she had to use her own brain to come up with an analysis of the situation.

"While I do believe that Zagara might return to Zerus at one point, I do not think that she wants to utilize the Primal Zerg for the Swarm. However, I do believe that she might want to secure the world in order to make sure that no one else finds it. A conflict between the Swarm and the Primal Zerg is likely, yet I do not know if the Overqueen has already planned for this. My insight into her leadership was... _limited_." The way Izsha pronounced the left no doubts that she hadn't been happy about the fact that Zagara had treated her like a useless asset.

"Well, I guess I should stop worrying about that." Sarah mumbled and pulled her shoulders up. "It's not as if we can change anything about that, right? If the Swarm decides to go to war against the Primal Zerg, then that's their decision." Seriously, she had to stop thinking about the past.

"Speaking of Primal Zerg; what about Dehaka? Where did he go?"

"The Overqueen spaced him." Izsha just replied and Sarah blinked her eyes when she heard that.

"Wait, what? When did she do that?"

"Roughly half a day after you left us, my Queen."

"Wow..." Sarah whispered. "I knew they never liked each other, but...wow." And then she sighed. No, returning to the Zerg was no longer an option. Where else could she go? Oh, she could spend the next couple of centuries drifting through space, but it just didn't feel right. And since Zagara had thrown her off Char and Artanis had made it very clear that he didn't want to see her on any world inhabited by Protoss, it only left her with one option left...

She had visited countless of worlds during her time as a human. But usually only because her superiors had ordered the death of someone. So she had no real connection to most places. There were a few though, some places that hadn't been just a job. Like TarKossia...

TarKossia, her birth-world. Her _human_ birth-world. She didn't remember much of her childhood. Too much had been wiped out by the thorough mind-cleansing the Ghost-program had done to her. And she didn't feel like digging for those memories in her own mind right now. The few things she remembered were more than enough. What she could remember wasn't much; running through fields of corn, rain on her skin, her father scolding her...and the brain of her mother, splattered all over the place. It had been the first time she had used her powers. Sarah had been nothing but a small child, yet that memory was enough for her to leave her childhood buried under all those traumas. No, there was nothing on TarKossia that had any value to her.

Tarsonis? No. NO! Absolutely not! She would never set foot on that dead husk of a world again. If there was one thing that was absolutely certain, then it was that she would never go there. It was the place that had changed everything...

Korhal had come to her mind. It was the place of her biggest triumph, the place where she had finally not only defeated Arcturus Mengsk but where she had purged him from _existence_. She remembered that one final moment of his life, the moment when she had poured enough psionic energies into his mind to even kill a goddamn Archon. As her energies had started to tear his molecules apart, she had felt his anger, his confusion, and his hatred. Some might say that it his death had been too quick. However, Sarah knew the truth. She had made him feel every damn second of it. She had slowed time down for him, so he felt how every part of his mind started to dissolve. And then...BANG!

Yet when she thought about that moment, she didn't feel any kind of pride or happiness, just exhaustion. For so many years, Arcturus Mengsk had been on her mind. He had controlled her when she had worked for him. However, he had also controlled her when she had become the Queen of Blades. Because her anger towards him had bound her to him. What had the Queen of Blades been without the Emperor of the Dominion? It had been her one goal in life; to destroy this man. Now that he was gone, there was no point to become the Queen of Blades again.

Her thirst for vengeance...it was gone.

All that remained was exhaustion.

Korhal. No. Not now. Maybe some other time. Maybe once the scars of Amon's attacks had finally healed, although she was really close to Korhal anyway. Seriously, all she had to do was to flush herself out of the next airlock and hold her breath for a few hours and she would be there. Okay, maybe it would take a bit longer without using her powers, but she could even see the world from here. The battlecruiser she was on was inside a drydock in high orbit over the moon of Korhal. It was an old battlecruiser, one that had seen countless battles. To her, ships had never been something special. They were all replaceable anyway and unlike Leviathans, they weren't truly alive. However, this battlecruiser was different. She could feel it. It was as if the metallic walls were talking to her. And she could still feel the faint presence of its former commander. She knew this ship well.

The Hyperion.

Once it had been Mengsk's flagship, but after Tarsonis Jim had decided to take her with him. The Hyperion was a fine ship. Well, had been a fine ship. Now she was resting inside a dry dock, waiting to be salvaged for parts. None of that was of any importance to Sarah. She didn't care for the ship itself. Though she had to admit; the Hyperion had caused her more headaches as the Queen of Blades than any other vessel. That ship had managed to ruin her plans more than one time. However, she hadn't come here because of the Hyperion. She was here because there was no one around. And because she needed to go somewhere where she would be at peace, at least for a short amount of time.

 _Oh, you certainly are the Champ of Self-Delusions!_ she thought bitterly. She wasn't here because she needed a time-out. She was here because of him.

Jim.

She could sense his presence on every screw, inside every corridor. It was as if the whole ship smelled like Jim. It was a good kind of smell. The kind of scent that makes you miss someone. As she passed through yet another corridor, she saw a dented plate on the wall and stopped. She remembered that plate.

"They haven't fixed that one...?" she whispered to herself.

"My Queen?" Izsha asked, not realizing that Sarah had just talked to herself. Sarah walked over to the plate and put her hand on it. And then, for a short moment...she could see it all again...

* * *

 **The same place...**

 **Several years earlier...**

* * *

Sarah was on the way to the CIC. She wasn't actually in a hurry, but she wanted to get there as fast as possible. The corridors between her cabin and the bridge were pretty much terra incognita to her. All she knew was that they were filled with people.

Sarah wasn't a people-person.

Usually, it wasn't much of an issue. She tried to stay inside her cabin most of the time when she was off duty. When she was hungry, she went to the canteen, grabbed something to eat and returned to her quarters. If she wanted to work out, she went to the gym. If she wanted to be alone, she hid in one of the escape pods on Deck 19, right below the secondary hangars. She tried to avoid other people as much as possible. The only person she could tolerate for more than a few minutes was Arcturus Mengsk. And perhaps that Magistrate they had picked up a few weeks ago. Every time she spoke to him, she felt a form of genuine interest inside his mind towards everything she told him.

She didn't know why, but somehow, she enjoyed his company. He possessed a natural kind of authority, one that you can't learn, but one you have to be born with it. However, there was even more. There weren't many memories of her parents left inside her brain. But somehow, she couldn't help but think of the Magistrate as a father-figure. He certainly had shown her more sympathies than anyone else she had ever met. Well, except maybe that Raynor-guy. However, it was brutally clear that he wasn't interested in Sarah, he was just interested in her body.

She had met many men like him. She had called him a pig, and for a good reason. But much to her own surprise, he had apologized to her during a calm moment. And then there had been the one time where he had made her a cake for her

Sarah couldn't remember the last time when someone had apologized to her. Or apologized to her and meant it. Or made a cake for her.

She shook her head, trying to clear it. _Forget about this Raynor-guy!_ He would be gone soon anyway. Arcturus had decided to pick him and his bunch of misfits up on Mar Sara, just before the Zerg had overrun the place. There was little doubt that this ex-Marshall and his Magistrate-friend weren't interested in a permanent alliance. Too bad, the Sons of Korhal sure could have used their assets. But the thought of staying close to this Raynor-guy...brrrrr...no thanks.

 _Everything's fine, Darlin'!_

Oh, just thinking about this guy caused her blood boil!

As she was heading towards the CIC, she encountered almost no people. And those she met, tried to stay away from her as far as possible. Some even came around a corner, spotted her and turned around immediately. It was almost funny. Almost. Sarah didn't mind though. She still wore her Ghost-suit and her goggles covered her eyes. Many people told her that she had a piercing gaze, one that made people shiver when she looked at them. So she wore her goggles. Of course, then people said that they were scared because they couldn't tell where she was looking. No matter what she did; The people were never happy when she was around.

And so, Sarah wasn't happy when other people were around.

Luckily most people were aware of that fact.

 _Oh man, it's that Ghost-lady!_ she could hear the thoughts of those who passed her.

 _Dear Lord, I always thought they were nothing but a myth..._

 _Shit, she's looking in my direction._

 _What's a killer like her doing on this ship anyway?_

 _A devil with a face of an angel._

 _I wonder if it's true what they're saying...if she killed hundreds of innocents just with by thinking about it._

 _Freaks. All of them. They should all be killed!_

Nothing they thought was new to Sarah. By now she was used to it. Funny thing; once people realize that there's a telepath around, they act like their thoughts and memories are the most precious thing in this universe. However, the cruel truth was that someone's memories and thoughts were by no means more important than the ones of the next guy. No matter how much you love your mother, the other guy loves his mum just as much. And to Sarah, it didn't matter which guy thought about his mother, because it was always the same picture.

 _Dirty bitch. Can still smell the blood all over her. Should do the world a favor and snuff that worthless piece of trash. Heh...gonna ask Rhalm if he still has some of his candy, maybe we can drug that bitch and show her her proper place before we throw her out of the airlock, have some fun with her. Nice body, I bet the boys will enjoy a ride...no one will ever know..._

There was a limit to how much Sarah was willing to tolerate. And thinking something like this when you're close to someone who can read minds? Sarah believed in natural selection and there were people who were simply too stupid to be allowed to live. Seriously, she was about to do humanity a favor by removing this guy from the gene-pool.

The images in her head were more than enough to make her blood boil. It came from a technician, who was working on some valves. He had removed the panel that covered the wall and he wasn't alone; three other guys were with him. They all were nothing but big brutes with biceps bigger than Sarah's head. Their faces were covered in scars and their noses looked like they were all bar-brawl-champions. They all seemed busy, but Sarah knew the truth; neither one of them was actually working, they were just acting like they were busy so no officer would slap them. The moment she passed them, she could hear his dark and sinister thoughts and see what he had planned for her. She was already a few meters away when she suddenly stopped, turned around and walked straight back towards them. Like said; there was a limit to Sarah's patience. The guy closest to her saw how she approached them. He grunted and walked towards her, probably aware of the fact that she had heard his thoughts.

"Hey, listen...I and the boys don't want any-"

 ** _CRACK!_**

"AAAAGHHH!" he screamed in pain when Sarah's hand shot up and broke his nose. Blood shot out of his nostrils and his eyes turned glassy. He stumbled backward and fell into the arms of one of his pals.

"You bitch! You gonna pay for this!" another technician screamed and threw himself forward. Sarah could see how his huge fist shot forward, aiming for her head. She could even make out all the small scars on his knuckles. There was little doubt that he had used those fists on other people many times. And he possessed enough strength to hurt, maim and even kill a normal person. However, that was his biggest problem; Sarah wasn't a normal person. He was far too slow to pose a threat. She pulled her head down and could hear how his fist flew over her. She then grabbed his arm and...

 ** _CRACK!_**

"GHAHAA! BITCH BROKE MY ARYWEEAAA!"

 ** _CRACK!_**

Before he could even finish his sentence, Sarah broke his right arm and his right leg. The big brute yelled in pain and fell to the ground while the professional assassin looked for the next victim. Oh, she wasn't going to kill them. Just teach them a lesson.

"You ain't gonna get away with this, you stupid-" the next thug said, but instead of rushing towards her, he kept his distance. Clever kid. Too bad that it wouldn't change a thing. With reflexes faster than a snake Sarah threw herself forward. Her opponent could see how she closed in and raised his fists as if he could defend himself against her. But he completely ignored his own lower body. Now Sarah could have punched him in the balls and be done with it. But right now, she was out for blood. She dropped to her knees, slung her legs around his ankles, and rolled over. He screamed in surprise and confusion, but only for a moment. Because after a few seconds he started to scream in pain and terror.

 ** _CRACK!_**

Sarah used the strength in her thighs to break both his legs, just to release him from her grip and roll back on her feet. Within less than five seconds she had taken out three men double her size and weight...

...she was getting sloppy.

"No!" the last one shouted and stumbled backward. "No, stay away from me you damn freak!" Freak. Even though Sarah had heard that word so many times, it caused her to feel nothing but anger and rage. So, she was a freak? Why, because she had been born like this? She had never asked for any of this, yet people always came to her when they needed something. Something only she could provide. He had called her a freak? Oh, she would give him a freak! The man tripped over his own feet and landed on his butt. He tried to crawl away from her, but it was pointless.

"Don't worry..." she finally said something. "...it will only hurt like hell." Right before her eyes, she could see how the guy pissed his own pants. Pathetic. Utterly pathetic. As she stood above him, she raised her foot, ready to crush his knee with a quick kick.

"So who is going to show me my rightful place now, huh?" she wanted to know. "Who is gonna snuff me and throw me out of the airlock, hmm?" The man's eyes widened in terror when he realized that she had heard his thoughts from before. Compared to his buddies, he was a weakling. However, it were always the weaklings who thought they could get away with stuff like that...

Sarah was too focused on the guy in front of her her to realize that the one with the broken nose was back on his feet again. He grabbed a huge wrench and stumbled towards her. He raised the wrench high above his own head, ready to smash it against the back of Sarah's head. She hadn't paid attention for one second. One damn second. Like said; she was getting sloppy.

"Take that, bitchUUNFG!" The fist that hit the man's face from the side had enough force to send him flying. That punch lacked any technique, but its raw strength was more than enough to break that guy's jaw. He smashed into the wall of the corridor and his head left a nice dent in the plating. He howled in pain and pressed his hands against his disfigured face before he slumped down on his knees. Sarah's eyes widened in shock and surprise when she saw the man who had decided to help her.

"That ain't no way to talk to a Lady!" James Raynor said with a grumpy look on his face. He rubbed over his knuckles and looked over to Sarah.

"'S everything okay?" he wanted to know. Sarah, whose goggles still covered her eyes, frowned.

"I have to admit..." another voice suddenly reached Sarah's ears. "...you always manage to find the most interesting places and people, my dear James." the Magistrate said as he joined both Jim and Sarah on the corridor.

"Seriously!" Jim groaned. "Will you stop calling me James? It's just Jim."

"I will, once you're gonna stop calling me "Magistrate" all the time. In case you haven't noticed it; the place I used to administrate is gone." Sarah listened to how these two were starting to bicker about the most idiotic things. Seriously, those two guys possessed the unique ability to cause her brain to melt.

"...uckin...itch..." the one with the broken nose and broken jaw gurgled while blood was flowing out of his nose and his mouth. "...idn't...o...any...ing...ong ye sh...ju...kickd u..." The Magistrate looked up to Jim and pulled his browns up.

"Do you understand any of this?" he wanted to know and Jim shrugged his shoulders.

"I think he wanted to apologize to the Lady over here. Either that or he said: "Please punch me in the face, I was born with too many teeth anyway!" Jim mused.

"Sounds about right." the Magistrate agreed and looked down on the four thugs. "You take care of Mrs. Kerrigan, I deal with these jokers." he said with a menacing tone in his voice. Even though the Magistrate looked like your everyday guy, he possessed some kind of natural aura. One that could inspire people to accomplish many things. But he also possessed the ability to scare the living hell out of people if things didn't go his way. And right now, those thugs were at the center of his undiluted attention and scorn. Sarah, on the other hand, didn't care about any of this. She still had to head for the CIC for the debriefing. She didn't want to make Arcturus wait.

"Where you think you're goin'?" the Magistrate asked when he saw how she walked away.

"I have to go to the CIC in order to be debriefed." she just replied while looking over her shoulder.

"Not with that hand you ain't!" Jim said and pointed at her left hand. Sarah stopped and looked down on her knuckles. She blinked in surprise when she saw the red liquid dripping from her fingers. Blood. It was her blood. She had actually managed to injure herself during that fight. There was no doubt about it; she was getting sloppy.

"It's nothing." Sarah barked, clenched her injured hand into a fist and tried to rub the blood away with her other one. There was no pain at all.

"Doesn't look like nothing. Come on, let's check it out." Jim offered. Sarah froze when she heard those words.

"No, thanks. I ca-" she started.

"Can't show up like that in the CIC." the Magistrate said. "Okay, listen; I'm supposed to be at the debriefing as well. I just deal with these jokers here and then I tell those guys that you'll be a few minutes late. James, your bunk is right around the corner, right?"

"Yeeeaaaah?" Jim asked with a suspicious tone in his voice.

"Why won't you take Mrs. Kerrigan with you and treat that wound of hers." the Magistrate suggested. Sarah could already imagine Jim's idiotic smile and groaned on the inside. She was about to refuse this offer, but then she felt the hand of the Magistrate on her shoulder and looked up into his eyes. Even though she wore her goggles, she had the feeling like he was looking right into her eyes.

"Please. Let James treat your hand, then go to the debriefing. Do me the favor." the Magistrate said. Sarah opened the mouth to reply something. Without either of the men noticing it, she probed Jim's mind, looking for some dirty thoughts because he was about to lure her into his cabin. But the only thing she heard was...

 _...man, I sure hope I flushed the toilet..._

"Fine, lead the way." Sarah groaned and shuddered, unable to tolerate the insides of Jim's mind for too long. And so she decided to just give in. When Jim led her to his cabin, the Magistrate turned his attention towards the four technicians, who were still groaning in pain.

"Now, what am I gonna do with you?" he wondered before a cruel smile appeared on his face. "There's an airlock one deck below..."

* * *

Sarah's fingers brushed over the dent in the plate and a smile appeared on her face. She remembered how Jim had tried not to think about anything naughty. Most telepaths learned at young age how to control their emotions and their thoughts, but for someone without any psionic abilities, it was almost impossible to do something like that. Sarah had only met one non-psionic who had ever been able to shield his thoughts and emotions, and that man had been Arcturus Mengsk. Jim's emotions on the other hand? She had never met someone with a mind more cluttered with memories, emotions, and whatnot. But what he had lacked in control, he had made up for with heart. That was something Sarah hadn't realized at first; James Raynor was all heart...

She continued to walk down the corridor, reminiscing about the past. In case someone wondered; No, the Magistrate hadn't killed those four idiots. He had dragged them into the next airlock and left them there until someone else had found them hours later. It had been a great mystery, but no one of them ever told anyone else who beat them to a bloody pulp...

 _He never hesitated when it came to protecting you. To him, it was the only thing that mattered; to keep you safe._ She could hear her own voice echoing through her mind…

"Yeah, he was a fool. He should have known better." she whispered.

 _He knew better. That's why he loved you. That's why he still loves you._ A warm smile appeared on her face when she thought about that. Behind her, Izsha blinked in confusion when she felt how something was going on.

"My Queen?" But Sarah didn't answer. Instead, she suddenly stopped and turned her head to the side. She was standing right in front of a door. The door to Jim's old cabin. Her eyes widened in shock. How...when...why?

"My Queen, you seem distressed. Maybe we should leave?" Izsha said with real concern in both her voice and her mind. She would never say it out loud, but she knew that Sarah wasn't in best shape. And after that little stunt on Aiur's moon, Sarah's aid didn't want to risk anything. However, Sarah wasn't even listening. She suddenly raised her hand and pressed it against the cold metal of the cabin's door. She closed her eyes and she could feel how a shiver was running down her spine. Jim's old cabin. Why had she come here in the first place? Oh, she should have listened to Izsha, she should just turn around and leave now. He wasn't inside that room, she knew that. She had dimmed her powers down to the absolute minimum, making sure that no one would sense her presence. But she could still feel that the room on the other side was empty. She should go. Go somewhere else. Zerus. Yes, she should go to Zerus. At least she would be able to enjoy those beaches...

She knew that she shouldn't have come here. She knew that deep in her heart that this was a mistake. She knew all of that...

...yet she still decided to press the open-button and step into the room.

* * *

"Sorry 'bout the mess, I was just-" Jim started when they stepped into his cabin.

"...drinking like a sailor and passing out on the floor?" Sarah offered to him. Jim, who walked in front of her, immediately froze and looked over his shoulder.

"You were watching me?" he asked with a shocked voice. Even though he was an open book to her, she still needed a moment to realize that he was making fun of her.

"Where's the med-kit, I'm in a hurry." Sarah just growled. Jim sighed and turned back towards the mess he called his private bunk.

"Right, med-kit. I think I left it in the bathroom. Just take a seat, I'll get it." Sarah opened her mouth and wanted to reply something very rude, but then he was already gone, searching his bathroom for that damn med-kit. Sarah gritted her teeth and looked at her hand. It had finally started to hurt. She was used to pain, but right now she felt horrible. She didn't even know why, she just felt the urge to sit down.

"Have you found the med-kit yet?" she snarled both in anger and frustration. Jim's voice reached her from the bathroom.

"Uhm...I know I put it somewhere here. Just sit down and wait a sec, I will bring it to you immediately!" This was simply unacceptable, but instead of leaving, she sighed and decided to sit down. The only empty place that wasn't littered with clothes, equipment or bottles, was the edge of Jim's bed. She looked at the sheets and shivered in disgust. She would not ever touch that bed, that she could promise herself!

Sarah smiled when she sat down on Jim's old bed. Heh, he had lived like a true caveman back then. She remembered how embarrassed he had been when she had entered his cabin for the first time. It still smelled like Jim. It felt like Jim. It was as if the walls around her were talking to her, telling her Jim's story.

The light went out, but she didn't care. To her, it didn't matter if there was light or not, she didn't need her eyes to see things.

Like said, Jim had been so embarrassed by the sorry state his cabin had been in. So embarrassed in fact that the next time she had visited him, he had completely cleaned it from top to bottom. That night they had talked about many things. They had laughed, they had shared a drink or two. And then...

...he had escorted her back to her own cabin and told her that he hadn't had so much fun in ages.

And the worst thing?

He hadn't lied to her.

The lights in the room went back on, but she ignored that.

It had been a totally new thing for her to experience; someone was enjoying her company. Just her company, no second thoughts, no nothing.

The lights went out again and Sarah frowned, but she didn't say anything.

Of course, others noticed that Jim was spending more and more time with Sarah. His people and the Magistrate guys had been reserved at first, but when they saw how their beloved leader talked to Sarah like she was "just one of the gals", they had started to accept her as a member of their little bunch of misfits.

The third night she had kissed him on the cheek.

The fourth night...

When the lights went on again, she turned her head to the third person in the room.

"Karax, just what the hell are you doing?" she wanted to know when the Protoss switched the lights off again. The Phasesmith turned the lights back on and blinked both in surprise and gleeful joy.

"This is truly fascinating, Lady Kerrigan!" he said and switched the lights off again.

Karax, who looked at Sarah, seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that he was annoying the hell out of her. It was probably some sort of divine justice; she was the reason for him to be here anyway. Sarah sighed, knowing that she would regret her next words.

"It's a light switch, what could possibly be fascinating about it, Karax?" she wanted to know. Suddenly his eyes started to sparkle and Sarah immediately regretted asking him this question.

"This device turns the lights in this room on and off!" Karax told her like it was the most amazing thing in the world.

"Yes, I know. That is why we call them "light switches". Because we use them to switch lights on." she said to him like she was talking to a little child. Sometimes these Protoss were simply so...

"But it is not linked to a central computer system!" Karax interrupted her. "On a Protoss-vessel, all functions of the ship are linked to the central computer and can be controlled from afar. The thought of using a system that is not linked to the central computer is unheard of. Just think about the possibilities! If we would..." But Sarah stopped listening to Karax. Instead, she just lowered her gaze and her hand brushed over the old sheets of Jim's bed.

 _He always cared about you. He just wanted to make you feel loved._ the voice that almost sounded like her own said.

"Yeah..." she whispered and closed her eyes.

When Sarah opened her eyes, she saw how Jim finally returned from the bathroom, in his hands the medkit.

"Sorry about that, I had to pull it from-" he started, but she could already see the image inside his mind.

"Don't finish that sentence, please!" she urged him. "Just give me the medkit, I can patch myself up just fine." Jim sighed and sat down next to her. For a short moment she thought that he was about to hit on her, but then he just opened the med-kit and grabbed her hand. They didn't talk when he started to clean the cut. He was very thorough and made sure that no scar would remain. Sarah then finally started to relax and she allowed her eyes to wander through Jim's cabin. It was messy, yes. But at the same time, it practically screamed his name. Sarah's room wasn't filled with anything except her equipment. She didn't possess a single piece of personal stuff that could remind her of a past that she couldn't remember anyway. They had taken it away from her long time ago.

Jim was humming a tune while treating her knuckles. She was surprised at how gentle he was. It felt like he had done this many times before. Since she didn't want to probe his mind, all she sensed was some form of happiness. And sadness.

"You look like you know what you're doing" she finally said. She didn't even know why she decided to talk to him, it just happened. Jim opened his mouth and laughed before he gave her an answer.

"Oh, my boy Johnny managed to injure himself all the time. And he always wanted Daddy to patch him up. Heh, Liddy wasn't too happy about that." Sarah squinted her eyes when she heard that. She knew that he had lost his family, yet she didn't know how that happened. It wasn't her business, and even though she was considered a cold bitch by pretty much anyone, she knew better than to pry.

She didn't know herself why she asked the next question.

"Your family...what happened to them?" she wanted to know. However, when she felt his sadness, she immediately regretted her words. Jim stopped for a moment and looked at the only true personal piece of equipment he had left. It was a photo next to his bed. It showed a younger version of Jim, a fragile-looking woman, and a small boy. Jim sighed before he continued treating Sarah's knuckles.

"It's a long story..." was the only thing he said. However, it was clear that he didn't want to talk about it.

Suddenly Sarah felt something she had never felt before; she felt sympathy. She lowered her gaze and took a deep breath when the line between her memories and her imagination finally started to fade away.

"You know, at first I thought you were like all the others." she suddenly said. She had never done that back then. This was new. "And then, when you proved me wrong, I desperately tried to find some reason why I could hate you. I even..." She stopped for a moment and looked over at the photo of Johnny and Liddy. "...I even thought that you were just looking for someone to replace your family. One that would share your bed and help you forget about them." Instead of getting angry, all Jim did was to laugh.

"Yeah, well...I guess I didn't know what I was actually doing back then. Truth to be told; I hadn't thought that far ahead when I met you."

"When did you ever do that anyway?" Sarah snickered.

"Oh, look who's talking, Darlin'!" Jim shot back with a grin on his face before he sighed. "I don't know. I just don't know. But every time I saw you, I felt this...this... _sadness_. And I wondered if there was no one you could talk to. Sure, you had Arcturus..." Both of them shuddered at the same time when he mentioned that man's name. "...but it was brutally clear that he wasn't a friend." Sarah blinked in surprise when she heard that.

"You mean you kept stalking me because you thought that I was _alone_?" she wanted to know and Jim pulled his shoulders up.

"I guess. I don't know. You just looked like you could use a friend. And here's a shocking truth about me, Sarah; even though I always had a lot of comrades, I never had many true friends. Even during my time with the Heaven's Devils, I had a lot of buddies. But my only real friend back then was Tychus." He sighed again and Sarah could feel the regret in his heart. "May his rotten soul rest in peace. Tychus, you were a crook, a thief, and a liar. And the best pal a man could ask for." Sarah's chest started to hurt when she heard those words. She knew that she was the reason why Tychus was gone. Jim had done it for her. He had saved her life and killed his oldest friend to protect her. And what had she done? Left him behind.

Sarah opened her mouth. She wanted to apologize, tell him that she was sorry for all the pain she had caused to him. Even though this was just a memory, it still felt so very real. Her guilt demanded that she would say how sorry she was, but her shame kept her tongue in check. In the end, it was Jim who made the first step. He looked at her and offered her a warm smile. One that made Sarah almost choke.

"No matter what happened, Sarah, I want you to know; I ain't regrettin' a thing. You were the best friend I ever had." When Sarah heard those words, she couldn't hold back her tears anymore. What was this? Did her own memories want to drive her insane as well? Killing-me-softly-edition? Her head hung down in shame and her lip started to tremble.

"Wow...golden tears. This dream is truly amazing." she could hear Jim say. She shook her head and opened her eyes while tears of gold streamed down her cheeks.

"Dream? What do you mean?" she wanted to know. Jim laughed when he heard that.

"Ha, I always heard about it from others, but I never thought that it was actually possible. I know that I'm asleep and I know that this is a dream. I am actually aware that this is a dream. I have to admit; This is so much better than the nightmares I usually have." He looked her straight in the eyes and when their mind connected, she could finally see the truth.

This was no memory...

"JIM?!" Sarah screamed and jumped to her feet. Jim looked up at her with a confused look on his face.

"Darlin'? What's the ma-" He stopped when she severed the connection and jumped back to her feet.

* * *

"NO!" Sarah yelled both in shock and disbelief. Next to her, Izsha backed down. Her huge black tail waved around from one side to the other and caused utter chaos when it hit the surrounding furniture.

"My Queen, are you alright?" she wanted to know with a distressed expression on her otherwise calm and controlled face. But Sarah wasn't even listening. Instead, she looked at her hands. Had it been a dream? No, that wasn't right. And it hadn't been a memory either. When she had come to the Hyperion, she had decided to dim down her powers to the absolute minimum in order to fly under the radar. So that no one would notice that she was so close to Korhal. Hey, it had almost worked with the Protoss, it _should_ work with the Terrans. Hopefully.

Well, it hadn't worked. Again.

On Aiur, it had been Artanis who had figured her little trick out. But now...

She could sense him. He was close. She had tried to hide when she had arrived on the Hyperion, so she hadn't checked Korhal for any person she might remember. Now she felt utterly stupid. Because he was down there. Suddenly she could feel his presence all around her. How could she have been so stupid, so careless...

It was Jim. He was practically around the corner. All she had to do was to reach out and tell him that she was still alive. She could sense how he awoke from his dream, she could feel his confusion and his relief.

 _No nightmare..._ she could hear his thoughts. _Oh, Sarah._ It was too much. She could feel how her chest started to hurt. She fell back on the bed and took a few deep breaths, but it didn't help.

"My Queen? You don't look so good. Is there anything you-" Izsha wanted to know.

"Water!" Sarah suddenly said. "I need some water." Even though a godlike entity should be above such things, her throat craved for some cold and clean water. Izsha didn't know how to help her Queen right now, but she recognized a command when she heard one. She looked around and found an empty cup, but there was no water around.

"The bathroom." Sarah said and pointed at the door at the other end of the room. "Please, Izsha, fetch me some water." she said while gasping for air. Izsha didn't waste any time and slithered into the bathroom. While she did that, the lights went out again. Karax had removed part of the wall in order to study the light switch.

"So all it receives from the ship is power. No computer controls this. Fascinating." the Phasesmith mumbled to himself. Under normal circumstances, Sarah would have told him to stop whatever he was doing right now, but she was too busy not going nuclear.

* * *

As Izsha entered the bathroom, she looked around. She saw a lot of strange things, things that she didn't understand. She didn't possess any memories of her time before she had become part of the Swarm, and Zergs didn't really need to know how Terran bathrooms worked. She found some kind of bowl with a piece of metal attached to it. She tilted her head to the side and looked at it, but she had no idea of what a sink was. Or how a faucet worked. So she turned around and looked for something else. There was a strange object hanging on the wall. It had many tiny holes on its underside, but Izsha had never seen a shower head before, so she had no idea how that thing worked either. She was about to turn around and ask her Queen for instructions when she spotted a strange object attached to the wall. It was in a rather low position and reminded Izsha of a chair. But there was a lid on top. She slithered over to the strange seat and tipped the lid up. Her eyes widened in joy when she saw what was inside.

She had found water!

* * *

Sarah was too freaked out to notice how long Izsha was gone. When the former Zerg returned, she offered her Queen a cup of water. Sarah took it into her shaking hands and mumbled a "Thanks" before she took a gulp. As the cold water flowed down her throat, she could feel how she started to relax. The cold water felt good. Sometimes she wished she could turn into water, become part of an ocean and lose herself in it. However, she knew that this was no longer an option for her.

"Ah..." she sighed and lowered the cup. After a few deep breaths, she opened her eyes and exhaled one more time. Jim's mind...she could still sense him. He was restless. And in pain. Sarah couldn't bear it anymore, so she decided to finally pull back, leaving him alone. She had caused him enough pain.

"Is the water satisfactory?" Izsha wanted to know. Sarah looked at the liquid inside her cup and nodded.

"Yes, Izsha. It is. Thank you very much, it is just what I needed." she whispered and took another deep gulp. A relieved smile appeared on Izsha's face.

"I am glad to hear that, my Queen. I am just happy that there was enough water to fill the cup. I had to flush several times in order to fill it." Good old reliable Izsha. She would never...

 _Wait, flush?_

"Light!" a new but familiar voice suddenly reached her ears, but she didn't pay attention to that. She was too busy probing Izsha's mind, and when she saw _where_ that water had come from...

"I said; light!" the familiar voice barked. It was Karax who answered. He turned around to the man who had entered the room and answered: "Oh, of course!" And when the light went on again...

"PFFFFFFFFFRRRRRRRR...!" The water inside Sarah's throat exited her mouth with the speed of light. Izsha tilted her head to the side and seemed somewhat confused at her Queen's reaction. She could hear Karax saying something again, but she was too occupied coughing her lungs out to care.

"Greetings, my name is Karax, I am pleased to meet you!" the Phasesmith said with a happy attitude. The newcomer mumbled something that Sarah didn't understand. Until he said her name.

"Sarah?" Matt Horner asked. Sarah froze immediately and a cold shiver ran down her spine. She turned her head towards the door and when she saw him standing in the door, she knew that she was in trouble.

"Aw crap..." was the only thing she managed to say.


	27. Act II - Chapter 3

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Haven't seen You in a While...**

* * *

''Sarah?'' Matt repeated his initial question. It was a hallucination. It had to be a hallucination! There was no way that Sarah Kerrigan could be here on the...

"Hello, Matt." Sarah just replied while she looked up at him. "Long time no see. Oh, and I have to disappoint you; this isn't a dream." she said before wiping the water from her chin. She looked into the cup and sighed. "Now I know why it tasted so funny. Just my luck." Matt could hear her mumble. He closed his eyes one more time. He knew how it was to be drunk. He had looked after Jim for so many years, and one more than one occasion the Commander had convinced him to down a bottle with him. Or two. Or three. This had to be an alcohol-induced hallucination.

"Dammit...need a shower, this stuff is potent!" he whispered. He then looked at the other people in the room. The person right next to him was huge, by human standards anyway. The Protoss, who had called himself "Karax", offered his hand to Matt.

"I believe that the Terrans consider shaking someone's hand is a sign of good faith. Here is my hand. Would you like to shake it?" he asked and Matt could hear the glee in his voice. Shaking hands with a hallucination? This was just too much to...

"I told you, Matt, it's no hallucination. What you see is the real deal." Sarah sighed when she could hear his thoughts. However, Matt didn't reply to that, instead, his eyes wandered to the huge, snakelike creature that stood behind Sarah. It was Zerg, that much was brutally obvious. But it also possessed some human features, which was highly unnerving. However, the whole creature didn't look horribly deformed like most infested Terrans, so did that mean that this thing was a new kind of breed?

"Her name's Izsha." Sarah then said while listening to Matt's thoughts. "And she is..." She tried to figure out a sentence with five words or less to describe what Izsha was. Her most trusted advisor? The voice of reason? Her bodyguard? Her nanny even? Sometimes it sure felt that way. Instead, Sarah just looked up to Izsha and gave her a warm smile.

"She's my friend." Those words caused Izsha to blush, which meant that her gray cheeks turned into a dark black. She lowered her gaze and her voice was but a whisper.

"Thank you, my Queen. But I do not deserve this honor." Sarah kept on smiling and handed the empty cup with the toilet-water over to Izsha.

"Yeah, you do. Only problem is that I'm a piss-poor friend. So, I guess this drink was just made for the likes of me." Izsha took the cup in her hands and tilted her head to the side.

"I don't think I understand, my Queen." she stated her confusion, but Sarah just shook her head.

"Everything is fine, Izsha. But...would you do me a favor?" That was probably the most useless question in the history of all questions. Izsha bowed her head in respect.

"Of course, my Queen."

"Would you take Karax and go somewhere else? I would like to talk to Matt in privacy." Sarah asked. She could see that Izsha didn't like the idea of leaving her Queen alone, but she knew better than to question Sarah's commands. She bowed her head one more time.

"As you wish my Queen." She then turned towards Karax and straightened herself. "Minion! We shall leave! The Queen demands some time alone with this Terran!" Izsha proclaimed with a surprising commanding tone in her voice.

"Actually, I am a Phasesmith, not a minion. Though the members of the Conclave sometimes used that term too when they thought that no one was listening." Karax suddenly babbled and his eyes went wide in shock and surprise. He looked up to Izsha. "Were you once a member of the Conclave?" However, Izsha knew better than to waste time. She slithered towards Karax, grabbed him and slithered passed Matt who made a step to the side.

"Be quiet, minion!" Izsha then said. "The Queen wants to be alone with the Terran." She pulled Karax out of Jim's cabin and suddenly Sarah and Matt were all alone. Matt was still not convinced that this was real, so he closed his eyes again and felt a strange sense of vertigo. Sarah looked down at her feet and tried to gather her thoughts. She could hear Matt's too and how he was still in denial about all of this and...

"Oh, wait a moment!" Karax suddenly announced, his head still in the door. "You are a male Terran, is that not correct?" he asked Matt, who didn't answer that question. It wasn't necessary, however, because Karax had already figured it all out. "I see! This is where the two of you want to mate! Oh, I read about Terran mating habits, but I was never able to witness it myself! If it is not too much of a hassle, would you allow me to watch how you-"

"IZSHA!" Sarah yelled both in frustration and anger. This Karax-guy was just...just...

"Right away, my Queen!" they could hear Izsha's voice from outside the room. Suddenly her long black tail wrapped around Karax's head and yanked him away from the door before it closed behind the Zerg and the Protoss. And with it, silence finally returned to Jim's old room. A dream. It had to be a dream. The reality could simply not be this absurd. Whatever Swann had used for his moonshine, it had caused Matt to see pink elephants. Or a bunch of Zerg and Protoss dancing around him.

"Need to find some coffee..." was the only thing on Matt's mind. He too turned around and wanted to leave the room. Maybe he had enough alcohol for one, well, lifetime. Perhaps he should look for Brent, return to Augustgrad and eat a cake made out of nothing but aspirin. But then he would return to the same place where Kate Lockwell was. Hmm, maybe he should go to Char. Couldn't be worse than any place where that journalist was...

Sarah, who listened to Matt's alcohol-affected thoughts, sighed and closed her eyes.

"Don't have time for this." she said to herself and raised her hand. She snapped her fingers and suddenly Matt's whole world exploded in pain. He dropped to his knees and tried to scream, yet the only sounds that left his throat was a chocked gagging. He had never felt anything like it, it was as if the blood vessels inside his body were filled with liquid fire. His head felt like it was about to explode. Did someone vent the atmosphere from this room? Was this how he would die? Here, all alone and in the presence of...

"Quit the drama, Matt." he just heard Sarah's voice. And suddenly the pain vanished. He took a few deep breaths and looked down at his body. His hands were shaking and he could still remember the pain, but suddenly he felt fine again. What the...?

"I removed the alcohol from your body." Sarah just said. "I figured that you would continue to think that this is a hallucination. So, I sobered you up." Matt needed a few moments before he could say something. Still on his knees, he looked over to Sarah.

"You..." he panted. "...you can do that?" he wanted to know. Sarah shrugged her shoulders and looked at the wall in front of her.

"Apparently. Wasn't sure myself though. I just focused on the alcohol molecules inside your body and removed them. I'm just glad that I didn't remove anything you really need. Maybe I took a few brain cells too, but don't worry, you will hardly miss them. Maybe it cost you two or three years of your life. Oh, and you should go see a doctor every now and then. You know; stroke check-up." His eyes widened in terror when he heard that. He opened his mouth and tried to reply something, but Sarah just sighed again.

"It was a joke, Matt. Now come on, close that mouth. You look like Abathur. You even drool all over the place." Matt had no idea what an "Abathur" was, but he had his doubts about Sarah's comment being a compliment. As fast as the pain had come, as fast did it vanish. He blinked a few times and when he got back on his feet, he actually felt good, refreshed even. As if he had slept like a stone for the first time in ages. He looked over to Sarah and suddenly he realized that this was neither a dream nor an alcohol-induced hallucination.

"Sarah?" he asked her one more time. She sighed again and shook her head.

"Yes, Matt. I'm so glad that we finally worked that one out." She then turned her head towards him and looked him straight into the eyes.

"So..." she said as if nothing had happened. "...how's life?"

Sarah and Matt had never been truly eye to eye. They had worked with each other, yes. However, the only thing that both of them had in common had been Jim. Sarah had always known that Matt wasn't too fond of her presence. Like so many others, he had never been able to shake the feeling that an Ex-Confederate Ghost was bad news. However, she had to give him some credit; the Ghost-part had never been that much of a problem for him, the Ex-Confederate-assassin had bothered him more. He was an honest man and the secrets inside his minds were all work-related. He had no ambitions to conquer and rule the galaxy like Arcturus had done, and now that he was so close to her, she could sense his distress. The weight of leadership was a heavy burden and she could feel him suffering from it.

Good.

It was good that he felt like that.

Not because she was a sadistic woman, but she had worked for so many people who had enjoyed leading people. Only that for them "leading people" had been the same as "die because I tell you to". Besides, Matt had always babbled about "building a better future", so here was his chance to prove everyone that he was not just a happy-go-lucky guy with too much heart instead of brain. The thoughts and emotions Sarah received from him, however, showed that there was almost nothing left of that spirit.

"How...where...why?" Matt just stuttered. Sarah threw one leg over the other and leaned backward. This was so very different from her trip to Aiur. And while Matt was a very resourceful man, he was nowhere near Artanis' level. Now that the initial shock of her discovery was gone, she knew that she was in control of the situation again.

"You look good, Matt." Sarah then suddenly said and pointed at the uniform. "Moved up the ladder I see. So many new shiny medals and insignia. And I especially like the vomit, it gives you a certain aura of leadership." Matt, still not able to recognize a joke when he heard one, looked down at his own uniform. But there was no vomit. He closed his eyes and tried to gather his thoughts. What should he ask her? Why was she here? And why the hell did he have to deal with this crap?

"You know, Jim always said that you had potential." he then heard her say and he opened his eyes again. "Told me more than once that you could make the difference one day. I guess we will find out soon enough, hmm?" Something was strange. He couldn't really say what, but something about Sarah seemed...off. He had no idea how to describe it, but he had always felt a strange sense of uneasiness when dealing with Sarah before. And he wasn't talking about the Queen of Blades here. After a few seconds, he had finally gathered his thoughts.

"We thought you were dead." he said. "We thought you had perished after destroying this...Amon-creature." He took a deep breath and then he added: "We all did. Except for Jim." Sarah's head jerked up when she heard Matt using his name.

"Jim..." she whispered before lowering her gaze again. "He is down there. On Korhal." It wasn't a question, even Matt knew that.

"You're here for him?" Matt wanted to know.

"NO!" Sarah suddenly barked and looked at him in anger. Matt felt how his whole body started to shiver. He had never experienced anything like this. He knew what Jim had told him after the battle against Amon; that Sarah had turned into...something. He had never thought that there could be something scarier than the Queen of Blades. Well, now he had found something a lot scarier.

"Under no circumstances should Jim know that I'm here. I caused him enough trouble and pain."

There was a moment of silence before Matt asked the most obvious question.

"If you're not here for Jim...then why are you here?" he wanted to know. And again, silence reigned supreme. When Sarah finally found the will to answer that question, she only shrugged her shoulders.

"Dunno..." she then just told Matt. "I guess after Aiur I just wanted to go somewhere where the locals wouldn't greet me with pitchforks and torches." Matt's eyes widened in surprise when he heard that.

"Aiur? Wait, you went to Aiur?!"

"Yeah, well, not directly. I only made it to Saalok, then something _unfortunate_ happened." Sarah said.

"Saalok?" Matt asked. He had never heard that name before.

"Aiur's moon. A huge piece of rock filled with enough Zerg to conquer half the sector in one go. And apparently very important to the Protoss. Like almost every damn rock." she sighed.

"Zerg? You went there to get the Zerg and conquer half the sector?" Matt asked with a shocked tone in his voice. Sarah rolled her eyes to the side and looked up to him. Again, a cold shiver ran down his spine, but this time he felt her barely concealed anger. It was like staring right at a star that was about to go supernova.

"Did I say anything about conquering the sector, Matt?" she growled and he immediately realized that he should never speak about this topic again. Ever. He had to swallow hard and tried to change the subject.

"You said that your trip was...unfortunate?" he asked. "Something happened?" He sighed in relief when Sarah averted her gaze.

"Artanis happened." she just replied.

"You fought?" Matt asked again, but this time Sarah didn't scorch him with just her eyes. She shrugged her shoulders and closed her eyes.

"Let's just say that he wasn't too happy to see me again." _Then again, who is these days?_ she thought bitterly.

"Is that where you picked up this Protoss? What's his name, Kaxa...?"

"Karax." Sarah corrected him. "His name is Karax. And no, I didn't pick him up, I..." But then her voice failed her.

* * *

 **Saalok, Aiur's moon.**

 **A few days earlier...**

* * *

Karax sighed when he looked out of the window. There was so much destruction. This wasn't good, this wasn't good _at all_. He knew that he would be busy for weeks, maybe even for months! The damage to the Spear of Aiur was extensive. Even without access to the ship's systems, he could tell that the main crystal matrix had suffered extensive damage. He had urged Horrash to allow him to check on the Solarite-core, but for some odd reason, the Zealot had refused his request. It was odd because he couldn't shake the feeling that the people were trying to keep their distance towards him. Just like the two warriors who were now with him.

Karax sighed when he looked outside. The fact that the whole ship was upside down didn't help either. Oh, there was so much work to do! And he was only talking about the Spear of Adun here! He had no idea in what state the other vessels of the Golden Armada were.

The Phasesmith would never dare to question the Hierarch's authority or his competence, but he simply couldn't understand why he didn't allow him to repair the damage immediately.

Had he done something wrong? It had to be the reason, yet no matter how hard he thought about it, he just couldn't figure out the reason for the Hierarch to be mistrusting him.

Maybe Saloka knew the answer?

Yes, that's right! Saloka might know the answer! She knew fascinating things, like manipulating the atomic structure of a pylon! Suddenly everything came together inside Karax's mind. He had to find Saloka! She would be able to explain everything to the Hierarch. And then Karax could start working on those damaged systems. He turned around and looked at the warrior who was close to him.

"Warrior, I need to see someone! Immediately! Could you take me to Saloka?" he asked. The warrior frowned and looked over to her comrade, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Who is Saloka?" she wanted to know. Karax looked at her in surprise. She didn't know Saloka? But how was that possible? Everyone knew Saloka! She was one of the brightest minds the Protoss had ever produced!

"Surely you must jest, warrior." Karax replied. "Even the members of your caste must have heard about the brightest mind of our generation! Saloka! She...she has...she..." he started to stutter. Both warriors looked at each other again. It was like listening to a broken record. Karax didn't realize his mind was just repeating what Sarah had implemented before. However, that wasn't much. Sarah hadn't bothered with adding many details. Basically, the only thing she had written into his mind was "Saloka is a friend, no harm will come from her." When Karax's mind wasn't able to find any reason why Saloka was such a great individual, he simply repeated his initial statement.

"I need to see Saloka!"

"You will stay here, Phasesmith." the warrior just stated. There was no room for a "maybe" in her voice.

"But-" he tried to reason with the female warrior.

"You will stay here, you will remain calm. We will keep you _safe."_ The way the warrior pronounced the word safe sounded like it could mean a lot of things. Like that he didn't need his arms and legs intact in order to be safe. He was just about to give it a rest when suddenly a loud voice echoed through his mind.

"AAAAHHH!" he yelled in pain and dropped to his knees. He grabbed his huge head with his hand and for a second he experienced the worst pain he had ever felt. And then he heard her...

Saloka...

 **You are a fool, Artanis!** her voice echoed through Karax's mind. It was as if she was standing right next to him. The voice was so strong, so powerful. Yet there was no doubt that it was her. _Saloka_. **Without me...** she continued. **...you will never be able to get rid of the feral Zerg on Aiur! They will always be part of this world! All I wanted to do was to help you! Is that what you want?** The pain only lasted for a second and when he looked up, you could actually see the confusion on his face. Well, if you could read the facial expression of a Protoss anyway.

"What?" he whispered. "No! No, Saloka! We need your help! We need your knowledge to free our home from the Zerg! And there is so much more we could learn from your genius!" Both warriors looked at each other before they made a step backward. To them, it was clear that Karax had lost his marbles. They hadn't heard "Saloka's" words in their mind either. Before Karax could say anything else, _her_ voice echoed through his mind again.

 **Fine...** she spat out. He could feel her anger and her disgust. **...have it your way, Protoss.**

"No! No! Please, don't!" Karax yelled and then he started to panic. He didn't listen to the rest of what "Saloka" had to say. He had to act now! Perhaps it was against the Hierarch's expressive orders, but he could not allow Saloka to just leave! He jumped back to his feet and stormed towards the female warrior, who was too surprised to do anything.

"Please, you have to get me to Saloka! I need to see her now!"

"Back off, Phasesmith!" the female warrior barked when he grabbed parts of her golden armor. There was a limit to her patience, and she would _not_ allow this engineer to rampage through the Spear of Adun, even if he was a close and personal friend of the Hierarch.

"Maybe we should ask Horrash for some assistance." the other warrior offered, but she just glanced at him with an angry look on her face.

"I think that we are more than capable of containing this Phasesmith on our own. Unless you feel like you do not have what it takes for this task. If you want to leave, then leave. I can deal with this situation on my own!" she snarled. Karax had no time to listen to those two warriors arguing. He could feel Saloka's presence in the back of his mind, and how it was getting weaker. She was about to leave! No! He couldn't allow that!

Inside Karax's mind, there was a war going on. He knew that the Hierarch had ordered him to stay on the ship. But he couldn't allow Saloka to leave! He couldn't really explain why he felt that way, but to him, it was clear that he had to see Saloka and tell her that she shouldn't leave them behind. The knowledge she possessed was simply too valuable.

"...all I said was that we should ask..." the male warrior offered, but Karax wasn't even listening.

"...I will not ask this opportunist for..." the female warrior hissed. Whatever her problem was, it wasn't of any concern to Karax. His mind was starting to go into overdrive. Maybe he should ask the warriors one more time to release him? No, they were too focused on arguing. Maybe he should try to reach Horrash again, try to make him see why it was so important for him to find Saloka. But time was running out, he could feel how Saloka's presence started to fade away. He had to act!

Though that was easier said than done. He looked around, searching for something that would help him to find a solution to his problem.

Both warriors were too occupied arguing with each other, and they didn't realize when Karax checked his surrounding with keen eyes. He was still a Phasesmith! And no matter how much he respected the warriors who served the Hierarch, he knew that they cared little for how their own technology worked. The Hierarch was different, he was truly interested in how the things he used worked. Or at least he knew that others were far better suited to decide what was important and what not. Most, however, were like Executor Selendis. He too respected her, but the Executor cared only for her equipment to be fully operational. He studied the corridor they were standing in. It was a completely normal corridor, one that led to the starboard batteries and the auxiliary energy-systems for this deck, with only an airlock a few meters away and...

...wait, an airlock?

"Oh, I am such a fool!" he said and turned around. There it was! Only a few meters away! All he had to do was to go there, get out, find the Hierarch and convince him that Saloka was not a threat! Surely he would-

"Phasesmith!" he could hear the female warrior behind him barking. He turned around and saw how she stormed towards him. "What do you think you are doing?!" she demanded to know and all he could do was to "EEEEP!" in surprise.

"I asked you a question!" she demanded to know while raising her fist in anger. He could see that she was about to activate her psi-blade. What had he done to deserve this kind of treatment? Surely if he would be able to find Saloka everything would turn back to normal...

"I have to find Saloka!" he just said.

"No, you do not have to find whoever that is!" the female warrior hissed and grabbed his neck. "You will stay right here, where we will watch you until we get other orders and..." But Karax wasn't even listening. He could feel how the presence of Saloka started to fade away. Once she was gone, then everything would be lost! Even though he had no real idea what this "everything" was. However, when he felt the iron-like grip of the warrior around his neck, he couldn't help but panic. Even without the Khala, he could feel the rage and contempt of that warrior inside his own mind. He tried to free himself, but it only caused the warrior to tighten her grip.

"Quit squirming you useless little-" she yelled, but Karax was too scared to listen to her. Instead, he did the only thing he could; the moment she touched him, he grabbed the harness of her armor and accessed its emergency protocols. If a warrior was critically injured, the systems inside their armor would assess the extent of the injuries and if necessary conduct an emergency-warp to the nearest medical center. It was also the reason why there were so few dead Protoss on a battlefield. Now, most warriors didn't know any about this. It was just the way Selendis was looking at things; she didn't have to understand every tiny detail, it had to work. Karax didn't have to open the harness and access the complex mechanics inside. The thick wristbands he wore weren't equipped with psi-blades, but with highly advanced instruments and tools. It allowed him to access the warrior's system just by touching her, well, chest.

"What are you dooZZZZZZZ-" The voice of the female warrior suddenly broke up when her whole body was warped away in an instant. Karax, unable to think about anything except finding Saloka, turned around and hurried towards the airlock. The other warrior, however, charged after him and ignited his psi-blades.

"Phasesmith!" he roared! "What have you done? Where did you send her?" he demanded to know. But Karax was only looking over his shoulder.

"Fear not! I just activated the emergency recovery-protocols inside her armor! She is fine! Probably..." Truth to be told, he had no idea where the next teleport-nexus was. But he had no time to think about that right now, he had to find Saloka!

"Stop! STOP I SAY!" the other warrior barked and raised his psi-blades. "I order you to stand down, Phasesmith! This is my final warning! If you do not comply then I will be forced to-" But he was too slow compared to his comrade. Karax had already reached the airlock and pressed a button to open the door. He looked up and sighed in relief. The stale air of Saalok was a nice change compared to the smoke-filled atmosphere inside the Spear of Adun. Suddenly Saloka's presence was much stronger and he knew that he still had time to find her. As he stepped out, he knew that he had to hurry and-

That was when the Hydralisk next to the airlock noticed him.

"Phasesmith! Get back inside!" the warrior yelled. It was not just one Hydralisk, there were many. There were far too many to fight them. However, instead of jumping back into the ship, Karax just walked towards the Hydralisk and raised his hand.

"Greetings! My name is Karax!" he said to the Hydralisk who turned its huge maw towards the oblivious Protoss. "Have you seen a scientist who goes by the name Saloka? She has a companion named Izshara!" The Hydralisk waited only for a second before it ripped its maw wide open and threw itself on the mentally unstable Protoss. Behind him, the warrior just decided to close the airlock.

* * *

"You are a fool, Artanis!" Sarah yelled with all the frustration in her heart. She made sure that the words that left her throat would reach Artanis's mind. "Without me, you will never be able to get rid of the feral Zerg on Aiur! They will always be part of this world!" That much was true. Ever tried to get rid of cockroaches? Or rats? Well, good luck with that. And Zerg are one hundred times worse. She clenched her hands into fists and gritted her teeth. Right now, she possessed the power to kill every living being on this moon. Protoss, Zerg, it didn't matter. And Artanis? Instead of using this one-time opportunity, he had just decided to walk away.

He had walked away from her!

Did he have any idea what that meant?

"All I wanted to do was to help you!" she screamed in rage and confusion. To her, it was simply incomprehensible how he could decline the help of a goddess! She looked around and felt the Zerg all around her. She made sure that Artanis felt their presence as well.

"Is this what you want?" she demanded to know. And much to her surprise (and dismay) she could hear Artanis' answer inside her mind.

"Perhaps you are right." he said. "But we have placed our hopes and our dreams in the hand of almighty gods for far too long. We are free of the Xel'Naga and of Amon...and I will be damned if I allow you to take their place." Sarah gritted her teeth when she heard that. So he thought that she was just keen to take the Xel'Naga's place? What did he know! If she wanted to rule someone, she could just reclaim the Swarm! Besides, who wanted to rule the Protoss if they could rule the Zerg! But before Sarah could reply something, Artanis continued with is oh-so-righteous speech.

"And if we fail; so be it. But it will be our own failure. Now begone, Queen of Blades. Before I change my mind..."

Oh yeah? So he was gonna change is mind? And do what? Annoy the living crap out of her? Sarah could feel how her rage-meter started to go into overdrive. Seriously, she was close to ordering a Zerg-rush on Artanis simply because she could. She clenched her hands into fists and hissed in anger. It was no human sound that left her throat. It wasn't even a sound a Xel'Naga made. It was a Zerg-hiss. So it appeared there was something Zerg left inside Sarah after all. She didn't notice any of this, however, behind her Izsha seemed very happy.

She would kill Artanis! She would conquer Aiur! She would purge this annoying species from the face of the galaxy. For the Swarm!

 _That is not true. That is not you. It never was..._ her own voice echoed through her mind and she immediately knew that she had done something wrong. She gasped and lowered her gaze in all thoughts of conquering this world were gone. She could swear that she could hear an "Awwww..." coming from Izsha, but she was too focused on her own miserable state of mind to be truly certain about that. Instead, she felt exhausted. Tired. Lonely.

"Fine..." she then mumbled. Artanis was nothing but a small point on the horizon. "...have it your way, Protoss." she spat out. "But if you send someone after me...tell them that the Queen of Blades is no more. Maybe I don't know what I am, but at least I have a name." She took a deep breath and fought back her tears. "So tell them to look for Sarah Kerrigan." Before Artanis could reply something, Sarah turned around and stormed off. She didn't use any words when she told Izsha that they were leaving. Instead, she just mentally told Izsha that she was done with this place. She gathered her strength and reached out with her mind. By now Izsah was used to that feeling and didn't hesitate when the warm energies of her Queen engulfed her whole body. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of her Queen's energy flowing through her entire being. Traveling like this had been highly unnerving for Izsha, at least the first few times. But now she enjoyed her newfound freedom. And of course, the fact that her Queen had come back for her. And so Izsha didn't think of anything when she asked the most obvious question:

"Where shall we go, my Queen?"

There was a long moment of silence, and Izsha thought that her Queen had decided to ignore that question.

Suddenly, all the energy around her body evaporated and Izsha blinked in surprise. It felt like someone had tossed her into the cold water. She looked down at the smaller figure and tilted her head to the side.

"My Queen?" But Sarah didn't answer. Not immediately anyway. She took her sweet time before looking over her shoulder and up to Izsha.

"I don't know." she whispered. Before Izsha could reply anything, Sarah grabbed her own head and tried to fight that sense of vertigo. Too much. There was simply too much going on right now. What good were godlike powers if you don't have any place where you could go? If you can't use them to help others?

"My Queen...?" Izsha suddenly said with a serious tone in her voice and looked to a point on the horizon.

Helping others, pah! Who was Sarah kidding? She had never been an altruist, so why was she even trying to help the Protoss? Her records regarding helping people weren't that great anyway.

"My Queen." Izsha said again. It sounded like she had spotted something.

No, Sarah had never been a helpful person. She only knew how to blow things up or to slaughter innocents. That was her area of expertise. Maybe she should return to her old ways? Just once? To see how far she could get now that she had a shiny new body and some godlike powers?

"My Queen!" Izsha said with an urgent tone in her voice.

This whole trip had been nothing but a waste of time. Even worse, now she felt horrible. And truth to be told, she didn't even know why she had come here. It hadn't been something she had thought through, she had just followed her guts.

"MY QUEEN!" Izsha yelled and Sarah's head jerked up.

"What?!" she wanted to know and saw how Izsha pointed at a point in the distance. At first, she thought that it was Artanis who had decided to return to her. Oh yeah, now he was gonna crawl back to her on his knees asking for her to-

No, that wasn't Artanis. She could feel a familiar presence and her eyes widened in surprise and confusion. What the-

"Wait for meeeeeeee!" Karax howled while running towards the two figures in the distance. He wasn't alone, however. Behind him, several Hydralisks were slithering towards Sarah and Izsha. Sarah could see their dripping maws and could feel the hunger inside their minds. Hunger was the only thing that was now on their mind and Sarah could feel how Izsha started to grow restless. To her, these things weren't Zerg. They were lost and the only thing you could do to them was to end them quickly.

"Do you see what I see, Izsha?" Sarah asked. She already knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it nonetheless.

"I see the Protoss we have first met when coming to this moon. And it appears that he is chased by several Hydralisks who wish to _devour_ him." The way Izsha pronounced the word "devour" showed how much she despised the whole concept.

"Man, why can't this be just another hallucination?" Sarah mumbled, but the universe once again decided to test her patience. It was like Izsha had said; they knew this Protoss. His name was...Kax? Kala? Bob? Sarah couldn't remember. There were so many things on her mind that she had simply forgotten about his name.

No, that was a lie. She had never cared for this Protoss's name in the first place.

"Wait! Please wait! Saloka! Izshara! Do not leave without meeeeeeee!" Well, Sarah was used to Protoss charging at her. But usually, they didn't yell "Do not leave without meeeeee!" but "Your head for Aiur!". But seeing a bunch of Hydralisks chasing a Protoss was actually something she was used to.

"Saloka?" Sarah wondered before she remembered her other persona. She pressed her hands against her face and sighed. "Ugh...why did I just come up with this name?" she groaned. The Protoss had almost reached both Sarah and Izsha and with him the Hydralisks behind him. Just out of curiosity, Sarah reached out and looked for anything else inside the creatures' mind than "FEEEED MEEEE!". For a moment, Sarah wondered if she should just turn around and leave right now. There was nothing to be gained here anymore anyway...

"No! Please, do not go! Saloka!" the Protoss yelled and Sarah could feel his despair. It was an odd feeling: A Protoss feeling despair because she was about to leave. She couldn't remember if a Protoss had ever felt like that...

* * *

 **Shakuras**

 **During the Brood Wars**

* * *

"All too certain, young Templar. Executor! As Matriarch of the Dark Templar and custodian of this world, I hereby order you to terminate Judicator Aldaris and quell this untimely uprising without delay! There will be no dissent among us while the Zerg poised to strike!" Raszagal announced. She could see how her most trusted warrior Zeratul's eyes turned to slits when he listened to his Matriarch's words. She knew that he had started to have doubts. Doubts about this war. Doubts about the Dark Templar in general. Doubts about their future. And, most importantly; he had doubts about his Matriarch.

Oh, he was too much of a staunch Nerazim to speak out his mind when someone else was around. And even though this young Templar Artanis had proven to be an honorable individual, she could see how Zeratul didn't want to address her directly as long as Artanis was listening. It didn't matter in the end because Raszagal simply decided to cut the connection so the two warriors could do as they were told...

...do as they were told...

...do as she was told...

Her old, frail body turned away from the communicator and she lowered her gaze.

"My Queen, is the outcome to your liking?" she asked with a weak voice. Suddenly you could see her age. And you could see that she was in a great deal of pain. However, that was of no concern to her " _Mistress_ ". The Queen of Blades emerged from the shadows, not nearly as graceful as a Dark Templar would have, but it hardly mattered.

"Zeratul sounded suspicious." Kerrigan said with contempt in her voice. She didn't like that Nerazim. Fenix was bad, his boasting was getting on her nerves. Zeratul, however? He was a scheming bastard, one that possessed the abilities to look through her plans. And if the Queen of Blades hated one thing, then it was if someone ruined her plans. "Will he pose a problem?" she wanted to know.

"No. He is my best warrior and he possesses a lot of knowledge. But his loyalty is absolute." Raszagal said. More Zerg emerged from the shadows. The Hunter-Killers hissed in rage when they spotted the Nerazim Matriarch so close to them. They opened the plates on their back and pointed their poisoned needles right at the week creature in front of them. Normally Sarah would have allowed them to kill their prey, but Raszagal was different. She was still needed for the Queen's plans. And she was hers anyway.

Still...

"I sense doubt in your mind, Matriarch." Kerrigan cooed and walked around the frail alien. She was like a shark swimming circling a human in the open sea.

"It is nothing, my Queen." Raszagal said. "I am just exhausted."

"Oh, I'm sure that you are exhausted. But there is more, isn't there? You didn't tell me everything." Kerrigan simply stated. Raszagals eyes widened in shock and she looked at the Queen of Blades.

"No! My Queen, I assurAAAARRGHH!" Raszagal screamed when the Queen of Blades invaded her mind. It felt like she was grabbing Raszagal's brain with her sharp claws and gave it a good and hard squeeze. Raszagal dropped to her knees and made a choking sound. The pain was unbearable, more horrible than anything she had ever felt before. And she had felt a lot!

"So many useless thoughts." Kerrigan whispered. "So many hopes and dreams. Most of them about your people, though. Didn't I tell you that you wouldn't need them anymore?" she wanted to know. "I said that you would only have to serve me from now on, didn't I?" She dived deeper into the old Protoss' mind. She saw many things. Like the face of the legendary Adun. However, since all Protoss looked the same to her, it didn't really matter anyway. She saw a young female Protoss and felt something she had never felt before; motherly love. "Your daughter...Vorazun. Perhaps I should choose her to be my new champion. Would that not be nice?" Pain and panic flashed through Raszagal's mind.

"No! Please, my Queen! Not my daughter! I will do anything you say, just leave my AGHH!" She was cut off when Kerrigan grabbed her throat and lifted her high up in the air.

"You don't ask for anything. You will do as I say." she hissed and her yellow eyes pulsed in anger. "It is clear that Zeratul is suspicious. You will keep him occupied until I am ready to deal with the rest of your people." Instead of fighting back, Raszagal only lowered her gaze.

"Ye-yes, my Queen." was everything she could say.

"Good." A cruel smile appeared on Kerrigan's face before she released Raszagal from her grip. The old Matriarch fell on the ground and for a moment the Queen wondered if the old woman had broken her hips. Heh, kinda funny if you think about it. Here she was, the infamous Queen of Blades and she had the supreme leader of the Nerazim under her command. But she had no time to enjoy the moment. She still had to deal with all her enemies. Kerrigan turned around and stormed off.

"Order your warriors to clear a path for me and my troops!" Kerrigan barked while looking over her shoulders. "I don't want Aldaris to blow this whole show. If necessary, I'm going to kill him myself. Is that understood?" All Raszagal could do was to lower her gaze.

"Of course, my Queen." she whispered with nothing but adoration in her voice. And pain. Endless pain.

Kerrigan didn't bother about that. She boarded her Overlord and called out to her minions. And they all answered immediately. As it should be. One voice, however, seemed insecure.

 _She is dangerous. Perhaps you should kill her, my Queen._ the voice of the Cerebrate that she had brought along echoed through her mind. Even though Daggoth and his Cerebrates were probably the biggest threat to her plans, this one was different. Because it was _her_ Cerebrate. When she leaned against the fleshy wall of her Overlord, she chuckled.

"Don't worry. Raszagal is no threat to us. She is now mine and will stay that way until she dies." Sarah just said.

 _She still fights you. She is not Zerg. How can you be certain that she will not turn on us?_ the Cerebrate wanted to know. Instead of telling it to shut up, a cruel smile appeared on Kerrigan's face.

"Oh, she can't. She isn't the same Raszagal anymore. Her mind now belongs to me and no force in the world could undo that. Not even I if I wanted to..."

Sarah looked at the Protoss who was running towards both her and Izsha and suddenly those memories made her gasp in shock. She watched in horror how the Phasesmith ran towards them and the full might of what she had done hit her in an instant. She had done it again. She lowered her gaze and clenched her hands into fists.

She had done it again...

Just like when she had twisted Raszagals mind. She hadn't "just tinkered with his perception". No, she had done much worse.

"Wait for meeeeee!" the Protoss screamed again. The Hydralisks were gaining on him. They would reach him before he would reach Sarah. Perhaps it was better this way. Yes, they would rip him apart, but at least he would find freedom in death. But when she looked at his blue eyes, when she felt his innocence and nothing but the wish to help his people, she could barely breathe.

Suddenly she remembered his name.

Karax. His name was Karax.

"My Queen?" Izsha asked when Sarah raised her hand and pointed it towards Karax and the Hydralisks.

"Get ready, Izsha..." Sarah whispered. "...we're about to leave." Then she decided to end it.

* * *

 **The Hyperion**

 **Present day**

* * *

"Karax." Sarah corrected him. "His name is Karax. And no, I didn't pick him up, I..." But then her voice failed her.

It took her some time to finally say something.

"It's a long story..." she then just said and looked up at Matt. "I guess you have some questions, right Admiral?" she then wanted to know. And Matt did indeed have a lot of questions.

* * *

"We all live in an infested battlecruiser, infested battlecruiser, infested battlecruiser..." Captain Brent mumbled before he downed another glass of moonshine. It didn't taste so bad anymore. And after the sixth shot, he didn't feel any burning sensation in his throat anymore. Though he didn't feel most of his throat anymore either.

"We...*agh*...and our firebats...are all aboard..." he sang that old song they had taught him at the academy. "...with more Ghosts...and nuke...and shit...and whatever...WE ALL LIVE IN AN INFESTED BATTLECRUISER..." He was having one hell of a good time. Pfff, who needs friends? Who needs justice? Who needs a purpose as long as you got booze! Seriously, those Raiders knew how to live! When the door to the canteen opened, he turned his head around. He had some troubles seeing who entered the canteen, but since the chance of a Zerg or a Protoss entering the room were rather slim-

"Greetings! My name is Karax! Would you like to shake my hand?" a strange voice suddenly asked. Brent, still too drunk to notice much around him, looked up and blinked.

"You...don't look like an infested ba*burp*battlecruiser." he just managed to say.

"I am indeed not an infested battlecruiser. I am Protoss. It is nice to make your acquaintance." Karax said. Brent looked at the Protoss and then at the half-empty bottle right in front of him.

"Whoa, that stuff is awesome!" he whispered.

"Karax, leave this Terran alone." another voice said. It sounded even stranger. It was female, but there was a certain ring to it. Brent looked to the side and could see, well, something. Something big. He tilted his head to the side and his eyes turned into slits. He needed quite some time before he could make out any feature.

"Whoa. Big snake-lady." Izsha frowned when she heard those words.

"I am not a "big snake-lady". My name is Izsha and I am in service of her one true Majesty, the mighty Sarah Kerrigan." Brent looked at Izsha's face. Even though she had no nose, she was kinda cute. Maybe he should ask her for her number?

"Big snake-lady. Kinda hot if you think about it..." was the only thing Brent replied, still not realizing what was going on.


	28. Act II - Chapter 4

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Hey there, Sexy, come here often?**

* * *

"Questions? Are you kidding me?" Matt wanted to know. Even though the whole situation was still too surreal to accept it just like that, he knew that he had hardly any other choice but to do so. She was here. Sarah Kerrigan. In the flesh. Right now, he wished to be anywhere else. But since when did the universe ever bother about what he wanted, hmm? Suddenly Sarah started to laugh.

"Oh, trust me; I know exactly how you feel." she said. Only then he realized that she was referring to his thoughts and his expression turned sour.

"Oh, don't be such a baby, Matt." Sarah then told him. "There is nothing inside that skull of yours that is of any use for me. Or something that you should be ashamed of. In all seriousness? I don't think I have ever felt a mind that deserved to be called "boy-scout". But you're damn close to it." She gave him a warm smile. Perhaps it was meant to ease his mind. Well, it didn't.

"Why are you here, Sarah?" he wanted to know. The smile vanished from her face in an instant and she turned her head away. She took her sweet time before deciding to answer his question.

"In all seriousness? Probably because I wanted to be alone for some time. Last couple of, well, days? Weeks? Months? Wait a sec, Matt, how much time has passed since, you know..."

"Since you left us?" he offered.

"Charmer. Yeah, how long?" she asked.

"You don't know?" Matt thought that hard to believe.

"Would I ask if I would know?" Why should she ask something like that? She could read his mind, right? So, what was the point of that question? All she had to do was to check the mind of some human close by. So unless she was planning _something_...

"Enough!" Sarah suddenly barked and looked back at Matt. "I haven't come here to conquer the sector, Matt! I haven't come here to cause any trouble either. Why does everybody act like I'm about to cause the goddamn Apocalypse! In case no one has told you; I saved this damn sector from total annihilation!" Matt could hear the pain in Sarah's voice. And he couldn't just hear it, he could also feel it. He wasn't psionically gifted and he had never truly understood what it meant to possess this ability. Though he had come to the realization that to most "gifted" ones, it was more of a burden than an actual gift. However, he instantly realized that what he was feeling were Sarah's emotions, her anger as well as her pain. Instead of answering her question, he simply turned his head away and looked around.

"What are you doing, Matt?" Sarah wanted to know.

"You're the mind reader, you tell me." he mumbled. The room was a mess. It had always been a mess. Jim had never been truly someone to keep everything clean. He was the kind of guy who needed a woman in his life. It didn't mean that he needed a woman to clean after him, Jim was able to do that on his own. But he needed someone that completed him. When Sarah had been with him, this room had been so clean that you could transplant a liver without any problems. After her "death" on Tarsonis, it had turned into a goddamn Zerg-hive. Matt grabbed a chair that lay on its side and put it back on its feet. He then walked over to the heater on the wall, grabbed behind it, and pulled a bottle of booze out. He sat down on the chair and opened the bottle before he started to down it with long, deep gulps. There were so many bottles hidden on this ship, he could stay drunk for the rest of his life.

He could feel how the alcohol burned its way to his stomach and how he started to calm down.

Now he knew why Jim had turned into an alcoholic.

He lowered the bottle and took a deep breath before he looked back at Sarah.

"You have some nerves showing your face here, Sarah." he then suddenly said. Sarah pulled her brows up in surprise when she heard the tone in his voice.

"Excuse me?" she asked in disbelief. She had expected all sorts of reactions toward her return, but not this one.

"You are so full of yourself, aren't you?" Matt spat out. She could feel his hostility towards her, his barely contained anger.

"Must be nice, playing all mighty goddess while the rest of us have to deal with all the mortal crap like breathing, sleeping, and fixin' the goddamn universe."

"Are you okay, Matt?" Sarah wanted to know. Suddenly he jumped up and threw the bottle of booze against the wall. It exploded with a loud BANG! and the alcohol splattered through the room. Some of it landed on Matt's uniform. However, the drops that came close to Sarah stopped in mid-air before they simply fell on the floor.

"NO!" he screamed. "I'm not okay!" He looked at her. "Two years. You were gone for almost two years. Have you any idea...HAVE YOU ANY GODDAMN IDEA what crap we had to deal with during that time?!" Sarah didn't know how to reply to that. Like said; she had expected all sorts of reactions. Just not this one.

"I was-" Sarah started, but she was cut short by Matt.

"I DON'T CARE!" he roared, grabbed the chair before he too smashed it against the next wall. "I DON'T-" He grabbed another chair and threw it against the wall. It didn't stop there though. He grabbed another empty bottle and smashed it too. And if there was one thing inside the room in virtually infinite numbers, it was empty and half-empty bottles.

"...CARE!" he screamed and destroyed another part of the room. It was an impressive display of mindless destruction. Sarah couldn't remember the last time when Matt had lost control. Truth to be told: She couldn't remember if he had ever lost control at all...

Sarah watched as Matt decided to rearrange the room's interior. It was a rather impressive display of explosive behavior. And it lasted as long as Matt found something to smash. The only thing he didn't wreck was the bed Sarah was sitting on.

"Do you have any..."

SMASH!

"...idea..."

SMASH!

"...what we had to endure!" he roared. "We've been struggling ever since the war ended, we're trying to help people..."

SMASH!

"...every day it's the same nightmare. Trying to solve the mess others have made. YOU!" he pointed at her. "...have made!"

"Maybe I made a mistake and removed some important pieces of your brain after all." Sarah mumbled, referring to earlier, when she had removed the alcohol from Matt's body with a mere thought. Matt turned towards her and spread his arms.

"That's right, everybody! Here she is, the one and only Sarah Kerrigan! Fixin' shit no one has asked her to do! And making things worse in the process!" Suddenly Sarah's eyes widened in anger and rage. She jumped to her feet and clenched her hands into fists.

"How dare you. HOW DARE YOU?!" she roared and without even realizing it, her psionic powers reached out and smashed Matt against the wall like some sort of ragdoll. The air was pressed out of Matt's lungs and when he slid down the wall and landed on the floor, he immediately groaned in pain. The moment Sarah saw that she made a step backward and gasped in shock. She pressed her hands against her mouth when the full realization of her action hit her.

"Matt!" She hurried towards him and knelt down right next to him. He hissed when the pain from his broken bones hit him and tried to get back up, but it was out of the question.

"I'm sorry, I'm...here, let me fix this." Sarah then said and closed her eyes. In her mind, she could see his injuries. It was nothing life-threatening. Just a broken arm and a broken leg. Any half-decent doctor would probably be able to fix him up. But it didn't change the fact that she had nearly killed him in a sudden outburst of anger.

Humans were so fragile; how could she have forgotten that? She could see his fractured bones inside her mind. Fixing them was easy, all she had to do was to put them back together and then-

"GHA!" Matt gasped in pain when he felt how his fractured bones returned to their original state.

"I'm sorry." Sarah whispered. "It won't take long." Fixing Matt's injuries only took a few seconds, but when she stood up and backed away, she was afraid of Matt's reaction toward her little "outburst". But instead of running away or screaming at her he simply started to laugh

"Hahaha." His laughter started to fill the room and by now Sarah truly wasn't certain that she hadn't caused some serious damage to his brain earlier.

"Hahaha...oh, this is just perfect." he cheered and continued to laugh like he had just heard the most hilarious joke of all times. There was some blood dripping from his brow, but it was nothing serious. Still, as he wiped the blood off his forehead and looked at his red hand, he started to laugh again.

"This..." he then said. "...this has to be the worst day of my life." He leaned back and closed his eyes before he fell silent. His breath was ragged and Sarah could see that he was still in pain. Not physically, but he was suffering from something else.

"Why have you come back, Sarah?" he wanted to know. Sarah lowered her gaze.

"I just wanted to be alone for some time, that's all." she told him. "The Hyperion was just the only place I could think of."

"I wasn't talking about this particular place, Sarah." Matt then interrupted her. He opened his eyes and looked up at her. "Why have you come back here? To this sector? To our...I don't know...plane of existence? Why did you come back?" Suddenly Sarah realized what he meant. She gritted her teeth in anger, but this time she kept her emotions in check. Well, mostly in check...

"You're telling me that I should have stayed in the Void? Is that what you mean? That this galaxy would be better off without me?" Their eyes met and suddenly Sarah felt how a cold shiver ran down her spine when she saw the cold look on his face.

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm trying to say." There was no sign of fear in his voice. All Sarah felt was utter refusal.

"Well, isn't that nice." she said and put her fist on her hips. "And why would you say that, hmm?" Perhaps it was time to not throw people around and break their bones but instead to act snippy.

"In all the years we've dealt with each other, Sarah, your presence has always meant one thing; bad news. So why the hell are you here. What's your agenda?"

 _What's your agenda? Why have you come back? What is it you want? Conquer? Rule? Destroy? Devour?_ That was everybody was thinking, right? Sarah had a hard time controlling her anger. The Zerg inside her wanted to jump at Matt and tear him apart. However, that was not the nicest thing to do, so...

"You're so full of yourself, aren't you?" she finally said and knelt down next to him. She pressed her hand on his chest and pinned him down. Matt gasped in shock, it felt as if there was a whole planet resting on his body right now.

"Because we used to be on the same side, Matt..." Sarah hissed. "...I won't hurt you. Not more than I already have. I'm sorry for breaking your bones. But let me make this clear: I have not come here to conquer the sector, take command of the Swarm again, or do anything else. I'm just here, and I want you to _remember_ these words, I'm just here because I wanted to find some peace and quiet." When she removed her hand from his chest, she stood up and made a few steps backward. Matt felt how all that pressure on his chest vanished in an instant. He took a few deep gasps and enjoyed the feeling of sweet oxygen inside his lungs. For a long time, neither of them said a word. It was Matt who finally managed to start a somewhat more civilized conversation.

"Why do you look human again?" he wanted to know.

"Because I want to. But if you prefer the old look..." Sarah said while sitting down on Jim's bed. Just before Matt's eyes, her whole body started to shift and merge into something different. Something nightmarish. Something all too familiar.

"...I always looked better in purple." the Queen of Blades cooed. Matt's eyes widened in shock and terror. So she had returned. She had just played him for a fool and-

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Sarah barked and turned back to her old, human self. "Quit being so paranoid, Matt!" She shook her head and the horrible, horrible nerve cords turned into red hair again.

"You're...not Zerg anymore?" Matt asked.

"Obviously." Sarah just replied.

"So you were deinfested again?" he wanted to know. Sarah opened her mouth, but no words left her throat. Deinfested? Like when they had used that shitty Xel'Naga-artifact on her? Sarah didn't care if that thing had saved the day, it had caused her unspeakable pain. Should something like this thing ever show up again, she would destroy it immediately.

"No, I wasn't deinfested. I guess you could say that I...moved up the ladder."

"What have you become?" Matt whispered and Sarah shrugged her shoulders. That was a question even she couldn't answer.

"I tell you once I've figured that out myself. So, are we done yelling at each other? Because I'm actually not in the mood for any more drama." she sighed. She suddenly felt exhausted. Felt _still_ exhausted. She still had the trip to Aiur in her bones. Matt decided to stay on his butt. He looked at his broken arm. His _formerly_ broken arm. Strangely enough, both his leg and his arm felt amazing. And not just those two appendages felt better. He looked over to Sarah and then he raised his hand, moved it behind his head, and pulled a small panel to the side. Without even looking, he grabbed inside and pulled another bottle of booze out of the open wall.

"Where-" Sarah asked when she saw that. Matt opened the bottle and took a deep gulp. He spluttered some of the stuff on his torn-up uniform, but he didn't care about that right now. When he lowered the bottle, he grimaced and enjoyed the burning sensation in the back of his throat.

"I...*agh*...I had to look after Jim for years, remember?" he told her. "He tried to hide his booze all over the ship. Hehe, always thought that I wouldn't find his hidden stashes." He took another sip and then he finally calmed down. His eyes seemed somewhat empty right now and he stared at the wall on the other side of the room.

"Ask me how my day was." he suddenly told Sarah.

"Pretty shitty, I assume." she said.

"Ask me how my day was!" he repeated his demand. Sarah sighed and decided to do him the favor.

"How was your day, Matt?"

"Oh, thank you for asking, Sarah." he mocked her with an over-the-top sweet voice. "It was actually pretty good. Until I got up. You know..." he started. "...the shower was somewhat cold, but so what. It happens. But hey, there was water coming out of the showerhead, so all's good, right? Not like when Stetmann had linked the waste disposal system to the water purifiers. Whoa, now that was some crazy shit! Literally!" He sighed and tilted his head to the side. "I had scrambled eggs, but they were not so great either. Too squishy, if you know what I mean." Sarah couldn't remember the last time she had some scrambled eggs, so no, she didn't know what he meant. She couldn't even remember how they tasted. But Matt didn't seem to care about that. "...then the Treasury Department told me that I have to cut the budget again. Again! They want me to cut at least 15 percent. 15 percent, Sarah! You know what this means? I'll tell you; it means that all the plans we made so far are utter garbage!" Sarah could feel how his rage started to return. "And then we had the interview. Oh, the interview! I can't wait to read tomorrows papers!" he spat out. "Matt Horner! Most idiotic idiot of all idiots that have ever lived in this idiotic universe!" He leaned his head forward, only to slam it back against the wall. He did that several times and Sarah knew that it had to hurt.

"DamnDamnDamn!" he hissed with each hit. When he was finally done sodomizing himself, he looked up to her. "And to make my day perfect, _you_ decided to show up! How quaint. So, Sarah...please, for old times' sake, tell me; why are you really here?"

She looked at him for a while and then she decided to cut him some slag.

"Fine." Sarah finally sighed and fell back on Jim's back. She closed her eyes and then...

"I tried to help. I really did. After Amon's death I...I thought that I should stay behind. Give you time to escape. All that power, all that knowledge, it took me some time to figure out the most basic things. And please, don't ask me what I'm capable of. You wouldn't like the answer." she told him. "I went to Ulnar and looked for clues, for knowledge. For something that would help me understand what I've _become_." Even though Matt didn't possess any psionic abilities, he realized that Sarah didn't really know what she was now. It was somewhat reassuring to know that. A confused Sarah Kerrigan was better than a Sarah Kerrigan who knew what she wanted to do.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" he asked. She turned his head to the side and their eyes met.

"Does it look like that?" she shot back.

"Guess not." Matt mumbled and took another gulp. He lowered the bottle and took a deep breath. "And then? Why did you go to Aiur?" Sarah sighed and looked back at the ceiling.

"I...I guess I wanted to help. Undo some of the damage I've done and-"

"PFFFFFRRRR!" Now it was Matt's turn to splutter some liquid all over the room. Sarah frowned and looked back at him, but first, he had to cough out all that liquor inside his throat. And then-

"Hahahaha!" he started to laugh again. It sounded like he was truly amused.

"I fail to see what's so funny about that." Sarah snarled.

"Hahaha...oh, I bet you can't see that. Okay, let me tell you what's so damn funny..." Matt said. "You're funny. Ha! Sarah Kerrigan trying to help people! Now that is truly a good joke!" Sarah jumped back on her feet and suddenly she truly thought about smashing Matt so many times against the wall that even she wouldn't be able to put him back together again.

 _No, that isn't you. You don't want to hurt._ her own voice spoke to her, and Sarah started to wish that this voice would leave her alone. She looked down at Matt, who took another deep gulp. She could sense how the alcohol started to affect his mind again.

"They never trusted me. To them I'll always be nothing but a threat." she whispered. But instead of fading away, she heard that familiar voice inside her mind again.

 _They don't know you. They never did._ the voice answered. _People will always be people. You can't change the way they are._ Even though she knew that it was just a voice inside her fractured mind, she felt like it deserved to get an answer from her.

"If people never change, then what's the point in helping them? Hmm?" she whispered again.

 _You can't choose what you are..._ the voice then told her. _...but you can choose what kind of person you want to be. And you're better than that. I know that._

Better than that, huh? No one had ever said something like this about Sarah Kerrigan. No one, except Jim. Sarah watched how Matt continued to down ungodly amounts of alcohol. As she watched him, she felt something new, something she hadn't felt before. She felt sympathy. This Matt Horner right in front of her wasn't the flawless boy-scout she once had known. He was a tired man who reeked of alcohol and was close to a mental breakdown. Watching him like this, it made her wonder if she even wanted a "normal" human life.

"Whadda'ya know of us, Sarah." she finally heard him mumbling. His voice was slurred and it was impressive to see how fast he had managed to get himself drunk again. "...whadda'ya know of any of us." He had to hiccup and then he giggled. "You never cared for any human. So why should you care for Protoss all of the sudden? Oh, I wish I could have seen it! Watching how Artanis kicked your ass..." Sarah opened her mouth and wanted to say something like: "Actually, I kinda wrecked the Golden Armada with a mere thought." However, she decided to say nothing.

"Your whole life...is nothing but death and destruction. Nothing you ever did was for the sake of others. You're a bringer of death, Sarah Kerrigan. You never believed in something bigger than yourself." She could sense how Matt meant every single word he threw at her. But she didn't react like usually. She didn't hurl him around and she didn't yell at him. Instead, she knelt down right in front of him and looked him straight into the eyes.

"I never believed in something bigger than myself, huh?" she asked him before she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I guess that's true. But since no one ever believed in me-"

"Jim believed in you." Matt then said with an empty look on his face. "And look what you've done to him." His eyes wandered up and when he looked at her, she could see his pain and despair.

"Jim's dying, you know?"

Sarah didn't say a word. She didn't react either. All she did was to listen to him ranting. Matt turned his head to the side and closed his eyes. "Ever since you left...it's like something has changed inside of him. It's like he lost the will to live. I tried...I tried to be the friend he needs." His eyes turned watery and she could see how he fought the tears back. "I don't know what else I can do to help him. To see him like this, it hurts. Not that you would know what it's like. To see someone you truly care about just withering away. Must be nice to be a cold-hearted bitch..." The alcohol helped him to say all the things he would have never told her under normal circumstances.

Sarah looked at him for some time. His eyelids started to flutter and she sensed how tiredness started to affect him. It had been a rough day after all.

"The world..." he whispered. "...would be better off without you, Sarah..."

Just mere seconds before he slipped into unconsciousness, Sarah leaned forward. Her lips were just mere centimeters away from his ear.

"You don't know me." she whispered to him. An exhausted frown appeared on his forehead, but he was too tired to reply anything. "You never did, Matt. You're just like all the others. And I don't owe you a _thing_." It appeared as if he wanted to reply something, but then his head simply fell to the side. Sarah watched Matt for quite a long time before she finally decided to stand back up. She then turned around and walked towards the door. Suddenly she stopped and thought about erasing his memories. However, when she saw the drunken, sleeping Admiral in his torn uniform, she felt something she hadn't felt in a long time.

Pity.

"Don't worry about Jim, Matt." she then said. "I now know what I have to do." Then she left the room for good.

* * *

"...and then the female puts her sploart into the males kavis and they both share their romala by using their foliks, but only if the female is kuvnar and the male is harvv." Karax explained the last details of how Protoss "did it". Brent, who took another sip from his glass, nodded when he heard that.

"Sounds trippy. But what if the the female is kuvnar and the male isn't harvv?" he wanted to know. Karax tipped with his finger on his chin when he heard that question.

"Well, in older times it was considered a somewhat shameful thing and you would not speak about it. However, only if the two were from the same clan."

"And if not?" Brent asked.

"Then it usually led to war" Karax said.

"Ah. So basically like prom night gone wrong. Yeah, I know what'cha talking about." Brent mused. Karax sighed and dropped his shoulders.

"Still, I wish I could have witnessed it with my own two eyes. Watching humans mate would be highly interesting!"

"Meh, if you have seen it once, you have seen it all." Brent told him.

"But I have not seen even one!" Karax complained. He and Brent were sitting at a table inside the canteen. They had switched tables so Brent's little imaginary guests would have enough room. He looked at the bottle in front of him, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out how much was left inside.

"I cannot help but think that this is a missed opportunity! I want to learn new things! It is somewhat frustrating to see such an opportunity just pass without being able to do something!" the Phasesmith complained. He held a glass full of liquor in his huge hands, but he hadn't touched his drink ever since Brent had started to down more of that stuff. Though without a mouth it was somewhat problematic to drink something. However, Brent knew better than to argue with an alcohol-induced hallucination. Especially if the other hallucination next to him looked so sexy.

"I always wondered..." Brent mumbled while looking over to Izsha. "...how do Zerg make little babies?" Izsha, who couldn't hide her uneasiness, tilted her head to the side. She felt a great deal of hesitation towards answering his question, but her Queen had told her to "be nice to the humans". Sometimes she missed the old days where she could have just ordered an infestor to do its job.

"Zerg larvae are generated inside hives. The Swarm dictates what they will become. Once the decision is made, they-"

"BOOOORING!" Brent interrupted her. "Not the hive! I know you got these Queens! These...breeder queens, these..."

"If you're referring to the Broodmothers, then yes; The Swarm is led by these-"

"Yes! Broodmothers! And they make the babies, right? So, you got any males? And do all the Broodmothers look like you? All tall and dark and pretty? You don't happen to be one of them broodmothers by any chance?" Brent leaned forward and looked at Izsha as if he wanted something from her.

"No, as a matter of fact, they do not look like me. I am a special kind of breed, one of a kind."

"Oh yes, you definitely are." Brent cooed. This was highly unnerving. She was used to humans being freaked out and openly hostile towards the Zerg. But this male Terran...

"Forgive me this question..." Izsha asked. "...but do you suffer from extensive brain-damage?" Suddenly Karax's eyes widened when he heard that.

"Oh! If so, can I take a look at your brain? I have never seen a human brain before! If you could remove it, I could study it. I will return it to you once I am done, I promise!" But Brent decided to ignore that comment. He was pretty certain that he still needed his brain.

"So, beautiful..." he instead said to Izsha. "...how do you make little babies? Eggs? Eggbabies?" Izsha sighed. She would never disobey her Queen's orders, but right now she felt the urge to put as much space between her and this man as possible.

"If you want to know how Broodmothers are able to propagate; they carry a copy of all the different DNA-strains used by the Swarm inside their bodies and are able to produce eggs that can morph into various different Zerg-organisms."

"Yeah, but what about your males?" Brent wanted to know. "You know. Nuki-nuki-time and such." Izsha had no idea what "nuki-nuki-time" meant, and she was certain that she didn't want to know.

"We do not have any "males". Zerg are genderless or possess a matriarchal line. If a Broodmother lays eggs, they receive nutrients from the surrounding creep. If no creep is available, the Broodmother may lay her eggs into another organism who will provide nutrients until the Zerg is ready to hatch." Instead of being appalled by that, Brent only showed her a goofy smile.

"You could lay your eggs inside me anytime, strange yet beautiful snake-lady." he mumbled.

"As I told you before, I am not a snake-lady!" Izsha insisted. But Brent wasn't even listening. This hallucination was so awesome!

"Oh, what a dreadful day!" Karax moaned. "What a missed opportunity! The things I could have learned! All I know about human mating habits is strictly theoretical!" He looked over to Brent. "I do not suppose there is another male Terran nearby who would be willing to mate with you?" he asked with a pleading tone in his voice. Suddenly this hallucination wasn't so great anymore.

"Hey, I _am_ a male!" Brent protested. Karax blinked in surprise when he heard that.

"You are? Oh, forgive me. You Terrans all look some strange and alien to me. I just assumed you were female because you are rather...skinny."

"And now things just became awkward." Brent groaned. "What would a Protoss know about _Terran mating-habits_ anyway?" he asked with a sour tone in his voice.

"A lot actually. We studied the Terran physiology when we first encountered your species many years ago. Thanks to our advanced technology, we were even able to hide probes inside the bodies of humans. But do not be alarmed, we did not cause any harm. We only picked humans who were sleeping and warped them on our vessels. Human bodies have a lot of room to spare, so they did not find the probes nor did they bother them." Brent knew that he wouldn't like the answer, but he just had to ask.

"Where did you hide those probes?"

"Most of the times in a lower orifice between their legs." Karax then said. Brent pulled his brows up when he heard that.

"You put it in their butts?"

"What is a butt?" Karax asked, but Brent just shook his head.

"Forget it! So, what did you learn about human "mating habits" by probing people's butts?" Oh God, this was wrong on so many levels. However, at the same time so very amusing! Maybe this was just a hallucination. Yet even then Brent realized that he should probably go and see a psychiatrist.

"It is actually a rather fascinating process! Since humans are a two-gendered species, there are both males and females. During sexual intercourse, the male sperm infiltrates the female ovum and they merge, creating a new lifeform. Then the fertilized ovum will-"

"WHOA WHOA WHOA!" Brent interrupted Karax. "Where did you get that stuff from?" he asked with a sour tone in his voice. Karax seemed completely confused at Brent's sudden outburst.

"But...uhm...our data showed it and-"

"Yeah, but that's data you gathered from people's butts!" Brent shot back. "That's not how we roll." Since this was just a hallucination, he decided to have some fun. "First thing; We are not a two-gendered species. We actually have three genders!" He raised his hand and showed Karax three fingers.

"We got men, we got women, and we got jackasses!"

"Pardon me?" Karax asked. He had never heard that term before.

"S'Simple, Kajak!" Brent then said.

"The name is Karax." the Phasesmith corrected him.

"Whatever. So, this is how it really works. Men, we do have a unique organ. One that women don't have. It's called a "wallet". Before a man meets a woman, that wallet is usually pretty big. Roughly triple the size of a human liver. Now, women, they smell if a man has a big, fat and juicy wallet. And they will try to make his dragon fly."

"Dragon fly?" Karax asked.

"You know;" Brent said to him. "Choke his lizard."

"But Terrans are mammals, not reptilians." Karax told him, to which Brent sighed.

"Not that. You know, squeeze his little John. Show him the other side. Do the hustle!" But Karax had no idea what Brent was talking about. Sadly enough; neither did Brent. He was just repeating what the other guys at the academy had used to describe it.

"I have literally no idea what you are trying to tell me, Captain Brent." Karax then said.

"Nuh, so much for my hallucinations entertaining me." Brent mumbled. "Guess it's time for another round." He then pulled another bottle up from below the table and refilled his glass. This ship truly was made out of nothing but steel, cables, and bottles. He downed another couple of shots before he looked at Karax.

"Now ya' lissstens, you big, gray and cuddly bear with leather for skin..." he gargled. "...it's all in the wallet. Once the female finds it, she sucks...hehehe...I said "suck"...she sucks it empty and basically all she leaves behind is an empty and dead hu...hu...husssskkk..." Suddenly tears started to stream down his face. "Oh Tiffany, why did you leave me?!" Karax, who was completely overwhelmed by Brent's sudden outburst, looked over to Izsha.

"Is what he says truly correct?" he wanted to know. However, Izsha had no memories from the time where she had been human. She tried to remember what she had learned about humans from Abathur and the Queen of Blades.

"It sounds about right." she then simply said. Now Karax's eyes widened in shock and surprise.

"But it means that all our knowledge was incorrect! Oh, I need to write this down! This changes everything! Please excuse me, Lady Izsha, but I need to learn more about this topic!" he announced, stood up and just ran out of the room. Before Izsha could even react, he was already gone. This wasn't good! She was supposed to look after this Protoss. Next to her, Brent refilled his glass and downed another load. Suddenly he froze and for a few seconds, it looked like he had turned into a statue. He stopped crying and had to hiccup. Then his head simply smashed onto the table. Izsha's head jerked back and she had no idea what was going on anymore. She tilted her head to the side and wondered if he had finally succumbed to fatigue. That's when suddenly Brent's head shot back up in the air.

"'S fine! Was just testing the integrity of the table!" he shouted. He blinked a few times before he looked up to Izsha.

"Whoa...big snake-lady. Kinda hot if you ask me." he then said. Was this Terran broken?

"For the last time: I am not a-"

"Izsha!" her Queen's voice suddenly reached her. She turned around and bowed her head.

"My Queen! You have come to save me!" she said with a relieved tone in her voice. When Sarah entered the canteen, she looked at Izsha, then at Brent and then at Izsha again.

"What the hell are you...no. Nevermind. I don't want to know. Come, we have to go. There's something that needs to be done." With that said, Sarah turned around and was about to leave the room. Izsha sighed in relief and prepared to leave as well. That was when Brent suddenly grabbed her hand and looked up at her.

"Can I have your number, dark beauty?" Brent cooed.

"Has the whole universe gone mad while I was gone?!" Sarah shouted when she heard that. She turned around and snapped her fingers. In an instant, Brent's higher brain functions went offline and his head smashed into the table once again. This time he stayed down. Izsha looked down at the young Terran, still unsure what he had even meant by that. However, it hardly mattered. Her Queen needed her, that was all she cared for. Without wasting another second, she followed Sarah.

She had no idea where they would go next, but Izsha didn't care about these kinds of details. As long as it was far, far away from this Terran male.

Unfortunately, they didn't go to another planet right away. Instead, Sarah stopped at a nearby looking glass. Outside you could see a planet. It wasn't very pretty, most of its surface was covered with deserts and dead plains. You could actually see the craters where the nukes had detonated. Korhal had definitely seen better days, and the planet had never truly been able to recover after the old Confederacy had decided to give the inhabitants a "show of force". But there were still billions of people down there.

It was a brown, dark and gritty world, ravaged by man's wars and filled with those who lacked the strength to fight for themselves. An icy shiver ran down Sarah's spine. From the distance, Korhal reminded her of Tarsonis. And Tarsonis reminded her of...

"My Queen? Is everything alright?" Izsha asked. Sarah's head jerked up and she looked over her shoulder.

"Yeah. Yeah, everything is fine. I just need a second to gather my thoughts." Ha! That was a good one.

Matt's words still haunted her, and even though she tried her best to ignore them, it was just not possible to do so.

 _Sarah Kerrigan trying to help people! Now that is truly a good joke!_ his words echoed through her mind.

 _Your whole life is nothing but death and destruction. Nothing you ever did was for the sake of others. You're a bringer of death, Sarah Kerrigan. You never believed in something bigger than yourself._

 _The world would be better off without you, Sarah..._

She clenched her hands into fists.

 _Better off without me, huh?_ Perhaps Matt had a point. No matter which direction she turned to, there was no place where she could go. And wasn't this the most important thing? Having a home? Having a place where people would wait for you? Sarah had no place where she could go. She only had Izsha. And the only other person that she cared for was...

"Get ready, Izsha." she then said.

"Where are we going, my Queen?" Izsha asked.

"Korhal. We're going to Korhal. There's someone I need to see. Someone I have to talk to." She didn't want to say his name, but she knew that she had to do this. She had tried to avoid this whole situation for far too long. But now that he was so close...

"You are going to see the Terran James Raynor." Sarah's eyes widened in surprise and she looked up to Izsha.

"How did you know?" she whispered and Izsha lowered her gaze.

"I can feel your troubled mind, my Queen. I can sense his presence as well. You have stated that he means something to you. I might not understand the nature of your relationship, but I see that it causes you much distress. Will seeing this man ease your mind, my Queen?" her companion wanted to know. Sarah opened her mouth and wanted to say "Yes!". But then she lowered her gaze as well.

"I don't know. But I owe him an apology. I hope it will set him free. Both of us." She had tried to remove Jim from her mind on Ulnar. But perhaps it had to be the other way around. In order to be free, she had to set him free first.

"In that case..." Izsha said with a soft voice. "...we should go and see this Terran." Sarah wanted to reply something. But just then she realized how far Izsha had come. And how much she cherished her advisor's companionship. So, all she did was to nod.

"Yeah...let's go." she whispered. And then they were gone.

* * *

Rory Swann was drunk, he knew that. However, it didn't stop him to work on this highly advanced and very dangerous FTL-drive. He had no time to sober up, he had to fix this thing in order to get the Hyperion out of here. All thoughts about Matt being a dirty and rotten bastard were gone. Well, most of them were gone. He still thought that Matt had turned into an arrogant and spineless coward, but it didn't matter anymore.

Because he got the Hyperion back!

Oh, baby, he had so many ideas!

Only thing he had to do was to fix this coupling and-

"Greetings! My name is Karax! Would you like to shake my hand?" he suddenly heard a strange voice. Swann's upper body was deep inside the entrails of the FTL-drive, so he had no idea who that "Karax"-guy was. Probably one of those useless technicians that worked on this station. These kids truly didn't know anything about how to fix a battlecruiser.

"Sorry, bud. But I'm somewhat busy over here. You're one of those tech-kiddies?" Swann wanted to know.

"Tech-kiddies?" Karax asked confused.

"Technician! Are you one of the station's technicians? Jeez!" Swann groaned.

"Well, I am a Phasesmith, and therefore you could consider me a kind of technician. However-"

"YaddaYaddaYadda. Don't need your life's story. You're here to help? Then get a wrench and start diggin', cause this baby ain't gonna repair itself."

"Working? On this...antique? Oh, how fascinating! I will start right away!" Swann could hear some heavy footsteps. Like, really heavy footsteps.

"Yeah, yeah. If you want to make yourself useful, go check the underside of the engine. And don't screw it up!"

"Right away! Oh, this will be so fascinating!" Karax announced and was gone before Swann could say anything else. When he finally did, the "technician" was already gone.

"Hey! How dare you to call the Hyperion an antique!"


	29. Act II - Chapter 5

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 5**

 **Men are like Wine**

 **The older They get, the more They smell like Vinegar**

* * *

 **Korhal**

* * *

„...ood morning Augustgrad! What a lovely day it is! The sky is gray and it's raining Zealots and Zerglings! So, another day in the park. And are you all in the mood? Are you? _Are you?!_ Of course, you are! Because it's only two days until the most important day of the year! That's right, folks! Christmas is coming and you know what that mea-" Actually, Jim didn't know what that meant. And he would never find out because when he hit the snooze-button on his buzzer, the annoying voice of the radio host stopped immediately. Ah, sweet silence. How he enjoyed it.

Jim rolled from one side to the other and yawned. The bed he was lying inside was pretty comfortable, one of the most comfortable beds he had ever slept in to be exactly. Yet when he woke up, he didn't feel that much better. It was as if something was missing. Like there was someone supposed to be lying right next to him.

Sometimes, just when he was about to wake up, he could still smell her scent. It was during those short moments when he was between being awake and asleep. And it wasn't just her scent; he could feel her warm skin on his own, her voice in the back of his mind. And for a short, short moment...it felt like she was right next to him.

 _Sarah..._

"Hmmm..." he sighed. The light fell into a bedroom that wasn't his. A room inside a house that wasn't his. On a world filled with people that he used to fight for so many years and that he didn't even consider his own kind.

"Kinda early to have such dark thoughts, old boy." he told himself. Jim looked to the side and when he saw the time on his alarm, he frowned. It wasn't even seven in the morning? He sighed again and decided to get out of bed. He threw the sheet to the side and rolled off the comfortable mattress. Truth to be told, this bed was a bit too comfortable for his taste. He appreciated a good bed and he had never enjoyed sleeping on nothing but dirt and rocks. But this? It was like resting on a giant marshmallow.

Jim wasn't into marshmallows.

He threw his legs over the edge of the bed and yawned. When he looked around, he saw probably one of the most exquisite bedrooms in the entire sector. There were gold and silver everywhere and the walls looked like they were made out of ivory. When his feet touched the ground, it felt nice and warm. The whole floor was made out of marble, yet the integrated floor heating system kept the room nice and warm. They truly hadn't spared any costs with this thing and-

"Good morning, Emperor Mengsk." a female voice suddenly said. "Have you slept well?" When Jim heard the voice of the house's computer, he groaned. That's right, this house had its own computer. And a fairly advanced one too! It could even tell when he was hungry. And it told him when he should go to bed. So kinda like a virtual nanny. There was only one small problem...

"Emperor Mengsk, you have - _one_ \- appointment today."

"For the last time..." Jim hissed. "I'm not Arcturus!"

"Of course, Emperor Mengsk. From now on I will no longer address you as Emperor Mengsk, but instead, I will address you as Emperor Mengsk. Is this to your satisfaction, Emperor Mengsk?"

Yep, that's right. This house once belonged to good old Arcturus. It was one of his many, many, many, manymanymanymanymany private retreats he had created. And everyone who had known good old (rotten) Mengsk knew that he hadn't spared any costs. Only the best of the best had been good enough for that damn despot. There were rumors that some "prized" artists had committed suicide after hearing that Arcturus was no more. Apparently one of them had thrown himself off a skyscraper, yelling: "Now I can't afford this lifestyle anymore! Adieu, cruel world!" This house, well, house wasn't the right term. More like "small palace". It even had its own A.I., one that thought that he was Arcturus Mengsk. The A.I. itself wasn't dangerous, it was no military A.I., and it only controlled the air conditioning, the heater system, and the fridge. However, Jim still had his suspicions about this thing. The technicians had ensured him that it was a glitch in the system that made the A.I. refer to him as Arcturus Mengsk. Strangely enough, he was the only one it called like that.

Perhaps fate wanted to tell him something that way.

"Shall I prepare your bubble-bath, Emperor Mengsk?" Jim shuddered when he heard that. The bubble-bath. One of the many secrets Mengsk had kept from everyone else.

"No thanks, a hot shower will be enough."

"As you wish, Emperor Mengsk."

"Bet the old man would have hated you for calling me Emperor." he mumbled before he stood up and walked over to the bathroom. It took him more than thirty steps before he reached the bath and when he entered it, he could see the biggest bathtub he had ever seen in his life. It was big enough for six or seven people and was actually more of a pool, yet the A.I. insisted that it was meant for only one person. But the real kicker were the mirrors. They were _everywhere_. On the ceiling and all around the bathtub. There were even some mirrors on the floor. The floor!

What kind of naked guy wanted to see himself naked from down below?

Jim wasn't squeamish, but there were things on his body even he didn't want to see. Especially not from down below.

Thankfully, there was a rather ordinary shower in the back of the bathroom, one without any mirrors. He stepped inside and hit the button for the water. He sighed when the warm liquid hit his skin. At least it was water. The first time he had used this thing, he had been greeted by torrents of rosewater. He hadn't been able to shake the smell for days and even Matt had told him that he "smelled like he had spent a week in Kel-Morian whorehouse". As the warm water ran over his skin, he pressed his forehead against the cold tiles of the shower. It felt good. Those warm showers helped his aching muscles and bones. Pearls of water dribbled over his scar-covered skin. Every scar stood for a story. A victory. A missed opportunity. However, the scar that hurt the deepest right now wasn't on the outside. He had been able to hide this wound from the others. Well, except for Matt maybe. But his former second-in-command was a busy man these days. So were all the others. And that left Jim with a lot of time to think.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally turned off the shower and stepped out of it. He tried to avoid the mirrors on the ground and when he was finally back in the bedroom, someone was already waiting for him.

"Good morning, Sir." a tall man said. Jim looked up at him and frowned.

"Smith, what a _pleasure._ " he growled. The man called "Smith" wore a dark suit and dark sunglasses. Jim had his doubts that this guy's real name was even "Smith", but it didn't matter anyway. Matt had introduced them to each other a few weeks ago. And then he had told Jim that from now on Agent Smith would look after Jim.

And that he did.

Seriously, ever since Smith had entered Jim's life, he hadn't been able to run away or to get himself even one drink. He had never seen Smith sleeping either. Maybe he wasn't even human. Smith didn't smile, he didn't laugh and he never put down those glasses. Jim didn't even know what color the agent's eyes were. All he knew was that Smith could probably wipe the floor with him, so he had decided not to test the Agent's patience.

"It is good that you're awake. We have a tight schedule today." the bodyguard then said.

"Oh, now do "we"?" Jim wondered.

"Yes. And with "we", I mean you. Here, Sir, your clothes." Smith pointed at a chair. Well, it was more of a throne.

"What if I want to go back to bed." Jim asked. "It looks like it's raining outside."

"It certainly does." Smith agreed. "However, we have some important appointments today. So please, Sir, get ready. There will be a breakfast waiting for you downstairs. I'll be waiting for you there." Without wasting any more words, Smith turned around and left the bedroom. When Jim was finally alone, he sighed again and sat down on the bed. He looked over at the clothes, but truth to be told; the idea of getting back to the bed had its appeal to him. At least he wouldn't have to deal with a world gone mad. He got dressed and when he was done, he turned around, ready to leave. On his way out, he caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror. This time it was just an ordinary mirror. He stopped and looked at his own reflection.

He had tried to move. He really had. Matt had urged him to do that. And so had Valerian, kinda. It pained him to let those two down. However, when he looked at that man right in front of him, he couldn't help but feel useless. Useless and without a purpose.

Old soldiers don't die, they just fade away.

Many people knew that saying, yet almost no one knew who had said that. Jim didn't blame them, it came from a General from Earth who had lived long before they had ventured to other stars. His name had been MacArthur and Jim had to wonder if the good general had felt the same way like he did now, only roughly 500 years before Jim was even born. However, it was somewhat soothing to know that the people from the past had shared the same dreams and nightmares the current generation did. Only with less Zerg.

Jim shook his head and decided to head downstairs. In his case, it meant walking down several floors. Mengsk's little home-away-from-home was anything but small and Jim shook his head when he remembered how Valerian had told him that Arcturus had built at least one dozen of houses like these all over Korhal.

That man had been so full of himself.

Jim didn't go into the huge dining hall. It was big enough for at least 50 people and the table looked like something from one of those ancient movies from Earth. There were even some knight's armors standing lined up on both sides. And they didn't look like cheap knock-offs either. The first people who had come to the Koprulu-sector had been mostly convicts, that much was true. However, even then there had been people who had managed to bring some things from Earth with them. Pieces of art, paintings, sculptures. It was said that Michelangelo's David, which could be found in the Imperial Museum of Augustgrad, was actually the real deal. So Jim wouldn't be surprised if those pieces of armor were actually real vintage. He had seen stranger things.

His breakfast waited for him inside the kitchen. It was a huge kitchen and could easily belong to a five-star restaurant. When he entered the kitchen, he could smell something delicious. It smelled like eggs with bacon. Oh, it would be a good way to start the day. He sat down in front of a small table and scratched his chin. Smith was sitting right next to him, studying a newspaper. Even though they were inside and even though it wasn't very bright, his bodyguard still wore his sunglasses. It seemed as if Agent Smith was the kind of guy who wouldn't even put those sunglasses away when he went to bed. If he had to sleep. A big if.

"So, what's on the menu?" The smell was delicious and he could hardly wait to see it. He could hear some footsteps and looked over his shoulder. Someone from the kitchen staff walked up to them and put a plate right in front of Jim. Whatever was beneath it, it was covered by a cloche. But it smelled so damn good!

"Oh, I can hardly wait to dig..." Then the woman pulled the cloche away and Jim's face lost all color. Instead of eggs and bacon, he saw _something_.

"...in." he managed to squeeze out. The woman just turned around and left, leaving Jim behind with no clue what she had just served him.

"What...is _that_?"

"Health food." Agent Smith said before he skipped to another page.

"You mean you have to be healthy in order to survive it? Yeah, I believe that!" Jim replied. "Come on, this is...is..." He grabbed his spoon and put it into that strange substance. And for a second he could swear that it tried to fight back. "I ain't gonna eat that."

"Yes, you will. Breakfast is the healthiest meal of the day." Smith told him.

"Oh, yeah? Name me one good reason why I should eat this stuff!" Jim demanded. Smith looked up and straight into his eyes. Well, at least Jim thought that he was looking into his eyes. He couldn't really tell because of those damn sunglasses.

"Because if you don't eat up, I will force you to eat up." Smith said with absolutely no emotion in his voice. Seriously, was this guy even a human? Maybe he was some kind of machine. You know, the kind that acted like a human so it could be used as an infiltrator. If he truly was a machine, then he did a shitty job at trying to hide it. For a moment Jim thought about leaving the kitchen and go somewhere else, like his bed for example. However, he then remembered the last time he had refused to follow Smith's "advice". His shoulders were still sore from that time.

"Fine." he sighed and started to eat that stuff that looked like minced Zergling. And much to his dismay it even tasted like that.

"Could ushe a beer to down shisch shtuff." Jim mumbled.

"Swallow, then speak." Smith just said while studying the page with job offers. Jim wanted to tell him to shove that newspaper up his rear, but instead, he just swallowed the stuff down as he was told and shuddered. Oh, it tasted horrible. Still, he just decided to give in and eat his breakfast, his disgusting, horrible breakfast. When he was finally done, he even cleaned the spoon with his tongue and then leaned backward.

"So, what's the plan for today." he then asked with a bored tone in his voice, though he already knew the answer to that. Probably the same damn thing he had done in the last few months, ever since he and Valerian had returned from their little trip to the Combine. He would probably spend his time here in the middle of nowhere, doing nothing except staring at the desolate landscape of Korhal or watch the rather hideous shows on the Holonet. Sometimes he would try to read a book, however, he simply lacked the willpower to finish it. And so he spent most of his time doing nothing.

He probably had to blame himself for that. After their visit to the Combine, Jim had managed to smuggle some bottles of Whiskey on board of the Rebel Heart. There he had consumed most of them in one go. He didn't remember much of that time. Most of it had been an alcohol-induced nightmare. When he had regained consciousness, he had found himself inside the sickbay. Apparently, after passing out on the floor, a crew-member had found him lying in a puddle of his own vomit. Not his finest hour, that much was for certain.

It had been Matt's idea to send Jim somewhere where he could cool off. Or where he couldn't harm himself.

Jim hadn't seen Matt in some weeks now. And he didn't feel like seeing him right now either. Not because he was angry at him. It was because, well, because he was tired. He just wanted to be left alone. Every day followed the same routine. He would get up, eat, waste some time and then go back to sleep. Being awake reminded him of his loneliness.

Perhaps it was pathetic, but he couldn't care less. He knew why Matt had done it. And a part of him was happy that his friend still cared for him. However, right now he just wanted to be alone and he wasn't really able to appreciate his friend's intervention.

Agent Smith put the newspaper down and looked at Jim.

"We have an appointment at 10 a.m. Your test results are in." his bodyguard said. Test results, yeah right. Jim sighed when he heard that. Test results...that didn't sound too good...

* * *

To say that the villa was in the middle of nowhere would have been an understatement. There was virtually _nothing_ in the vicinity, not even a single dead lizard. Matt had told him that it was the most logical choice for time being. Even now, there were places inside Augustgrad where James Raynor wasn't considered a hero. And while Jim considered himself anything _but_ a hero, he wasn't too keen on meeting a fanboy of Arcturus's, who was looking for some "fun" or his 15 minutes of fame.

Of course, it was a convenient reason for avoiding the most obvious reason why Matt had sent him to this place; so he wouldn't drink himself to death. And to be brutally honest? With full access to a minibar, that outcome was very likely.

The hover-limousine they used was part of the Palace's carpool. And that meant it was filled with all kind of luxury and better protected than a goddamn siege-tank. Jim knew that this display of luxury was something Valerian despised. His father had ordered hundreds of these vehicles and never used even one of them. It would have been a bigger waste to throw them away and buy new cars for the Palace, both Jim and Valerian knew that. Both had accepted that. But that didn't mean that either one of them liked that.

The trip back to Augustgrad wasn't very exciting. By now Jim knew the road well. The driver in the front of the limousine didn't say a word and conversation with Smith was pretty much the most useless thing ever. Talking to a Zergling would have been more enlightening. Speaking of which...

"Anything new on the Zerg-front?" Jim suddenly asked while looking out of the window and at the desolate landscape they passed by.

"The answer to that is inside the dossier the Admiral has sent you." Smith just replied.

"Yeah, but I didn't read it." Jim then told him.

"Then you should." was all Smith said. And with that, the conversation was over.

"You're such a sparkling conversationalist, Smith..." Jim mumbled. He had no doubts that Smith had heard him, but the talking and walking suit didn't say a word. Jim sighed again. He sighed a lot these days. Of course, he had received the dossier. And he had even managed to read the first two or three pages. But then he had stopped. Matt had sent him away for his own good, however, that didn't mean that he didn't know what was going out there. Matt had sent him a message almost every day, asking him how he felt. After a while, those days had turned into weeks. Now it was normal if he received one message per month. But hey, Valerian had visited him a few times already. Jim had the feeling that the Emperor enjoyed these short moments where he could flee the Imperial Palace and his duties as ruler of the Dominion. However, these moments usually never lasted very long and once he was gone, Jim stayed behind in his very own fortress of solitude.

Perhaps he should have fought back. Perhaps he should have told Matt that he was a big boy and he could go wherever he wanted to. Perhaps he should just go and leave everything behind. Perhaps he should try to get a grip on his life one more time. Perhaps he should have done all of that. Or just one thing. But the truth was...

...he lacked the strength to do any of it.

As annoying this daily routine was, it was something to grab onto. It wasn't much, but it had to suffice.

When they entered the city of Augustgrad, Jim was immediately greeted by a certain kind of feeling. When he saw the big streets and huge skyscrapers, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. It wasn't just the city itself. True enough, Augustgrad wasn't exactly a beauty. The term "urban nightmare" came to mind when wandering through those endless streets. Concrete and steel, that was what Augustgrad was all about. And when you were living in the shadows, you could actually feel how the city would suck the will to live from you. No, he didn't like Augustgrad. He wasn't too fond of cities anyway, being a hillbilly.

Even though there were so many other cars hovering around, the people immediately spotted the big, black limousine. And many thought that there could be only one person inside. They couldn't actually see who was inside, and Jim was glad for that. It was strange nonetheless, though. A lot of people cheered when they saw the black limousine.

"Emperor! Emperor Mengsk!" they shouted. However, that was just one side of the coin.

"Damn fascist! Get lost! We don't want you here! You weren't even born here anyway!" other voices screamed. The war was over, yet the wounds remained. Old man Arcturus had created a huge number of loyal followers during his reign. Now that he was gone, they had to fend for themselves. They had been on the top of the food chain, now they had to fight every day for their survival. Jim found it hard to hate these guys. They had placed their bets on the wrong horse. Tough luck.

But even then, it was probably good that they thought Valerian was inside the car. Because if there was one person who they hated more than the current leader, it was Jim Raynor.

Well, they probably hated the Queen of Blades even more, but since Sarah wasn't even here anymore...

 _It is not fair that they only remember the bad things..._ her voice suddenly echoed through his mind.

"It can't be helped." he whispered. "People will always be people. Can't change the way they are." Smith looked over at him but didn't say a word. By now he was used to Jim talking to himself. Without a doubt, he had informed Matt about this little "habit" as well. Jim was aware of the fact that this voice that sounded almost exactly like Sarah's was nothing but a hallucination, probably caused by years of heavy drinking. He knew that.

But he didn't care.

 _And yet you always believed that people could change, if they only want to._ her voice asked again. It wasn't unusual these days for his hallucinations to address him directly. He had decided to just roll with it. A faint smile appeared on his face.

"You can't choose what you are. But you can choose what kind of person you want to be. And you're better than that. I know that." For a moment he felt something warm in the back of his mind. However, before he could grab it, it was already gone. He sighed one more time and opened his eyes. Smith was still looking at him.

"Make sure to tell your boss about that, got it?" Jim teased Smith, who just turned his head away and said nothing.

When their ride finally reached their final destination, Jim braced himself. He wasn't looking forward to what was about to happen next. He had been here before. The place they were heading for was white, cold and sterile. It was the kind of place you wouldn't go unless you had to. Sadly enough, he had to. The clinic was located in one of the better parts of Augustgrad. They entered it through the underground carpark. There was no one around and when both Smith and Jim got out of the car, he wondered if they had actually sealed this building off so no one could bother them.

The clinic itself was located on level 214. The lifts only needed a few seconds to take them there. Smith never left Jim's side and when they finally exited the lift and entered the clinic, Jim's suspicions turned into reality; there was no one around. No one except the front desk lady.

"Hi, there! Jim Raynor, I got an appointment for today." Jim put his arm on the desk and gave her the best roguish smile he had to offer. He knew that he could be quite the ladies' man if he wanted to and even´-

"The waiting room." the woman interrupted him with a cold tone in her voice and pointed to the right side. "The doctor will call you in once he is ready."

"Uhm...sure thing." Jim then said and decided just to wait for the doctor to call him in. He realized that something was off when he entered the waiting room. It was a working day and there was no one here. No one except him and Smith.

"Hmm..." Jim hummed and sat down next to the table with all the magazines. He hated doctors. Well, actually he hated needles and the smell of disinfectant. He had smelt that stuff so many times, usually after a battle when the Raider's doctors had performed some sort of triage. Ah, who was he kidding; the Raiders had never truly had any real doctors working for them. Most members of the "medical staff" had been former Confederate combat-medics. They had done more than Jim could have asked for, but they hadn't been real doctors. And a lot of people had died because of that. He sat down and looked at the magazines on the table next to him. Most were about utter nonsense, like hover-cars and which celebrity dated which other celebrity. However, there was one political magazine. An "old" political magazine. Jim grabbed it and looked at the cover. It showed Arcturus Mengsk.

"Emperor Mengsk. The Man. His Mission. His Vision. Pfffffff..." Jim laughed when he read the title on the magazine's cover. He opened the page and started to read.

"Hey, there's even an exclusive interview! Gotta read this." Good old Mengsk-propaganda, by now he knew what to expect. He and Matt had watched all sorts of shows and read all sorts of stuff Mengsk had published. Most of the time they had laughed their asses off. But sometimes they had studied it with nothing but cold rage inside their chests.

The interview was boring as hell and the magazine didn't really tell him anything new. Arcturus was dead, that was all that mattered. He threw the magazine away and looked at the wall. There was a poster on it.

"When was your last prostate-check-up?" the lady on the poster asked with a way-too-happy grin on her face. Jim shuddered when he remembered that moment. Unfortunately, that too was something he had to do in the near future. Remember, ladies; if your husband forgot your anniversary or treated you like an ass, don't complain about it. Don't talk about your feelings with him. Don't try to make him see reason.

Just make an appointment at the proctologist. And when you tell your husband about that, make sure to show him your most lovely smile.

Then he will understand...

Time went by and no one called out for Jim. Smith, who sat next to him, didn't seem to be bothered by the long waiting times at all. There was no doubt about it, that guy had to be a machine. Minutes became hours and no one showed up.

"Must be quite the busy bee, this doctor." Jim then said. He looked over at Smith and gave him a toothy smile. "So, how's the missus?" he asked. Smith looked at him and didn't say a word. There was an awkward moment of silence before Jim sighed yet again and turned his head away.

"Nevermind then." he mumbled and started to look around for the ninth time. He wasn't looking forward to what the doctor had to say. But then again...

"Mr. James Raynor." the voice of the woman suddenly reached his ears. He looked up and could see a loudspeaker at the wall. "The doctor will see you now. He waits for you in room 4"

"Well, at least he hasn't forgotten about me." Jim said and stood up. As he left the waiting room, Smith was right behind him. Jim looked over his shoulder and frowned.

"But you ain't gonna follow me to the toilet like last time, right?" he asked.

"Only if I have to." was the only thing Smith replied. When they walked past the receptionist, Jim offered her a warm smile. But instead of returning the smile, all the woman did was to turn around and ignore him.

"Not exactly very customer friendly if you ask me." Jim mumbled. The doctor's office was at the very end of the corridor and when Jim opened the door, Smith stopped and decided to wait outside.

"Really? Now you're gonna wait outside? Even after that stool sample disaster?" Jim joked. But Smith just looked at him and said nothing.

"Fine." Jim sighed. "But don't you dare to ask me for any details." He never got an answer. So he opened the door and stepped inside. He read the name next to the door before entering and frowned. Doctor Fairchild. Well, that was a reasonable name.

"Hello Doctor Fairchild, Jim Raynor's my name and-" But when he looked inside, no one was there. He leaned back and turned his head in the general direction of the receptionist.

"Hey! There's no one here!" he shouted.

"The doctor will come to you shortly. Just wait there for him." the cold voice of the woman reached him. Geez, talking about could-shoulder-treatment. He looked over to Smith, who didn't say a word and sighed again.

"Should have stayed in bed." Jim mumbled and decided to finally enter the doctor's office. It was a very nice office, filled with books and medical charts. Books. Actual medical books. It was kinda hard to get your hands on those things these days. And some of them looked really old. But even then, Jim felt uneasy. Everything was white and sterile, just as any good doctor's office should be. Working within such an environment day after day was Jim's own personal nightmare. Aside from that, there weren't many things that told Jim much. He shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the chair in front of the doctor's desk. He was about to put his feet on the desk when he realized that he wasn't on Mar Sara anymore.

"Old habits die hard I guess." he mumbled.

 _It's part of your charm._ her voice echoed through his mind. He chuckled when he heard that.

"Yeah, most folk from around here would call it uncivilized." The voice didn't answer. Of course it didn't, why should it? It was just a hallucination, he knew that. However, it was one of the few things that he kept to himself. He was aware that Matt knew. He was talking to himself, for crying out loud! But it didn't bother Jim, because that way he was able to hear her voice, even if it was just a product of his imagination.

He could hear the ticking of a clock. Wait a second, the ticking of a clock? Jim looked up and could see an actual clock on the wall. Huh, whaddya know. He hadn't seen an actual mechanical clock in ages. And this one looked really old. It must have cost a fortune. He continued to wait, but the doctor didn't show up. The ticking of the clock was both annoying and relaxing at the same time. Annoying because it ticked every second. Relaxing because it was always the same sound. He had to wait for at least another hour before something happened. These days he didn't care about much, but even he was getting frustrated. It wasn't like he had other appointments, but waiting for the doctor was just so damn boring. His eyes wandered to the doctor's desk and he saw a photo on it. He could see a middle-aged man and a younger woman next to him. They resembled each other a lot and shared the same basic features, so Jim assumed that they weren't lovers but in fact related to each other. Both of them were smiling and it put a grin on his face. He leaned forward and wanted to grab the photo in order to take a closer look.

"Do not touch that!" a voice suddenly startled him. He looked to the side and could see how a side door was opened. The man who entered the room was the doctor, there was no doubt about it. He was a tall and lean man and when he looked at Jim, he could see some suppressed anger in the doctor's gaze.

"Doctor Fairchild, I assume?" Jim said and decided to stand up. He offered the man his hand, but the doctor just walked around the desk and sat down behind it.

"You assume correct, Mr. Raynor." Doctor Fairchild said with a cold voice. He pushed a button on his desk and suddenly the integrated computer came to life.

"You have come here for your test results." That was no question and Jim sighed again. Matt had demanded it. He had sent some experts to Jim in order to take some blood samples and scan his whole body. Utterly ridiculous, yet in the end, he had simply allowed them to do their job. Besides, maybe it would explain why he felt so exhausted all of the time and-

"Mr. Raynor, you will need a new liver."

There was an awkward moment of silence when neither of them said a word. All Jim could do was to frown. So, had his lifestyle finally caught up with him? He wasn't in shock, not really. He was too much of a realist to have ignored the signs. He had abused his body in so many ways, it was a miracle that he could even move on his own.

"And a new pair of lungs."

Okay, maybe that was a bit much.

"Both your stomach and your small intestines show strong signs of anomalies, it could be cancerous."

Oh...

"And one of your kidneys isn't working anymore. And the other one is only fifty percent functioning."

Well, crap.

"The scans also indicate that your blood vessels show several weak spots. This especially applies to your carotid artery, your abdominal artery, and your pulmonary vein."

At least it couldn't get any worse.

"And there are signs of several minor strokes you have suffered from within the last few months."

So much for that.

At least that would explain hearing Sarah's voice in the back of his mind. Jim sighed when he heard that. It was...it was a bit much, even for him. He knew that it wasn't a death sentence. Medical technology was able to cure most of that stuff. Or replace the parts that weren't working anymore. However, it would mean spending months inside a hospital. It would mean countless surgeries and endless moments of rehab. And the one question he had to ask himself was; did he really have both the strength and the will to do that? Did he even _want_ to do that?

"All in all, I would say that you have probably one or two more years to live if you don't find someone who is willing to treat you." Doctor Fairchild said. When Jim heard that, he frowned and looked up.

"I thought that you were my doctor. Isn't treating me your job?" he asked with a suspicious tone in his voice.

"No." the doctor replied with a cold tone in his voice. "I was just asked to study your results and make a diagnosis. Besides, we cannot clone a liver inside this clinic. You would have to ask some of your terrorist-friends for that." Only then it made _click_ inside Jim's mind.

"You don't seem very fond of having me here, Doc." he mumbled. "And I could be wrong, but shouldn't doctors be, I don't know, caring towards their patients?"

"As long as those patients aren't terrorists and murderers, yes." Doctor Fairchild replied and leaned back. Now Jim could clearly see the hostility emanating from this man.

"I guess that's one way to look at it..." Jim whispered and sighed yet again. Ever since the end of the war against Amon, the people had started to rebuild their homes. Or what was left of it. And there were still many who had lost everything. He looked at the doctor. "So why did you accept to do this job if you hate me so much?"

"Because someone offered me an ungodly amount of money. So much that I couldn't refuse." the doctor replied.

"Right. You're all heart, I see." Jim shot back. He didn't want to insult the doctor, but at the same time, he couldn't contain his frustration forever.

"I guess I could ask you the same question:" Doctor Fairchild replied. "You could have asked the Emperor's doctor for their help. I asked around; the Palace asked many doctors if they were willing to take you in. Yet they all refused. I know some of the physicians who work for the Emperor. They are among the best of the best. Yet you're not going to them. Why?"

"Because they worked for the Emperor's father, that's why." Jim shot back. It was true, most of Valerian's physicians had worked for Arcturus. Most of them were just good doctors, but Jim couldn't help but feel suspicious about these jokers.

"Ah, I see." Doctor Fairchild then said and tilted his head to the side. Jim had no idea what "he saw", but he didn't bother asking the good doctor. It was clear that they were done with each other since the moment Jim had entered the doctor's clinic. Only then a question left the doctor's throat, one that made Jim look him straight into the eyes.

"Why did you do it?" Fairchild wanted to know.

"S'cuse me?" Jim asked. But Fairchild just repeated his question.

"Why did you do it? The holo-tv always portrayed you as a power-hungry anarchist. I never believed that, until you brought the war to us. Until you killed all those innocents." Jim opened his mouth and wanted to say "I didn't kill any innocents!". However, he then saw how Fairchild looked over to the photo on his desk. Suddenly he could see so much pain in the doctor's gaze. And then he realized what this was about.

"She's your sister?" he asked. The doctor nodded.

"Her name was Abigail. Even though there were almost twenty years between us, she was the best little sister a man could ask for." Fairchild took a deep breath.

"When-" Jim wanted to know.

"During the Zerg-invasion. She was injured during the evacuation and buried alive. They found her four days later. By that time, the damage had already been done." Fairchild had to swallow hard. "I took her to a disabled home. For a time, everything went well. She even managed to learn how to speak again. And then-"

"Mobius attacked." Jim said and Fairchild nodded.

"Yes." His voice was but a whisper. "Mobius attacked. The disabled home was in the south. In Old Harrington." Jim could feel how his guts started to hurt. Old Harrington had been one of the districts where the Mobius-troops had razed everyone and everything. It was obvious what had happened to Fairchild's sister.

"So why did you do it?" the doctor wanted to know. "Did you hate the Emperor so much that the lives of all the innocents were just collateral damage to you? Do you even know what it feels like to lose someone you love?"

To lose someone you love...

For a moment Jim felt the urge to laugh out loud. However, he managed to control himself. He didn't want to give the impression that he was making fun of the doctor. Because the doctor's pain was very real. Pictures of friends passed before Jim's inner eyes, comrades and war-buddies like Tychus and such. And his family, his wife Liddy and his son John. And, of course, Sarah...

He wanted to tell Fairchild that he shared his pain. That he knew how he felt. And that he was sorry for his loss. But it just never was that simple. Besides, the fire inside his chest, the fire to fight for the right kind of cause and to help the people even if they refused your help at first...that fire...

...it was gone.

"I know that you will probably not believe me, and I can't blame you for hating me. I'm sorry for your loss. I really am." Jim then said. "And I won't bother you no more after this." He then stood up and looked the doctor straight into the eye. "However, the pain you feel, the loss you have endured...this and much more happened all over the sector all the time. I understand that you hate me. I destroyed your world. But I didn't do it so I could rule others. What I...what _we_ did was to fight for those who couldn't fight for themselves."

"My sister was innocent." Fairchild hissed. "She had her whole life ahead of her! And you and your little terrorist-friends took that away from her." Jim wanted to reply something, but he knew that everything that he would tell the man would fall on deaf ears. He sighed like he had done so many times before.

"Thanks for the diagnosis, Doc'." he then said and turned around. "Be sure to send the bill to the Palace. Make it extra juicy." When he opened the door, he looked over his shoulder one more time.

"How old was she?" he wanted to know.

"Twenty. She had just started to study at the University of Augustgrad." Fairchild replied.

"What did she study?" Jim asked. There was a long moment of silence. When the doctor finally spoke, Jim could feel so much pain in the man's voice.

"Journalism. She always said that she wanted to show people how the world really was." Jim opened his mouth in order to reply something. But what could he have told the man? Sometimes it was just better to keep your mouth shut. So, he did the only reasonable thing he could; he simply left the room and closed the door behind him.

* * *

When they were back in the limousine, Jim felt tired. Well, at least he knew why taking a leak in the morning hurt so much.

He felt tired, so very tired. Not just physically, but mentally as well. He just wanted to return to the villa in the middle of nowhere, fall into his bed and pull the blanket over his head. Who knew, maybe he would dream of Sarah again. It was one of the few things he looked forward nowadays. He closed his eyes and tried to relax. From time to time he looked outside, but after a while, he realized that something was wrong.

"Where are we going?" he wanted to know. Smith looked over at him.

"The Imperial Palace. The Emperor would like to speak with you."

All Jim did was to sigh again.

"Should have stayed in bed..."


	30. Act II - Chapter 6

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 6**

 **Nobody knows the Trouble I've seen...**

* * *

The Imperial Palace was more than just the place where the Emperor resided. Arcturus Mengsk had created this place not only as a symbol of his might but also the tool to control every aspect of life inside the Dominion. The building itself was not just home to the Emperor. Arcturus's control-machinery had consisted of many different parts. His form of control hadn't just been about brute force. You could say what you want about Arcturus Mengsk; that he had been a scheming bastard, a horrible person, and a piss-poor father. But no one could claim with a straight face that Mengsk hadn't been a people-person. Because if there had been one thing that old and rotten bastard had known, it had been how to manipulate people. And if manipulating others is an art, then he had been the Michelangelo of his time.

Most of the Imperial Palace had been created for just that purpose. No one really knew how many rooms this monstrosity had, or how many secret sub-levels. However, during Arcturus's reign it had housed not just his office, but the higher echelons of the military, the police, the secret agencies and of course the Ghosts. Every single one of these institutions had its own ministry, but only now these ministries were actually responsible for those institutions. Under Mengsk's rule, they had been nothing but empty buildings where fools had done who-knew-what. Now people were actually working inside those ministries. It also meant that roughly 1000+ rooms were now vacated inside the palace.

"Maybe we should allow people to rent those rooms. We could sure as hell use the money." Valerian mumbled to himself.

"Forgive me, Emperor, is there something you may want to add?" the man at the end of the conference table asked. Valerian looked up and shook his head.

"Nothing, sorry. I was just talking to myself." the Emperor replied. All heads in the room turned towards him and suddenly he felt like a small boy again who got chastised because he had done something bad. The people inside the small conference room were all old men and women who had not just worked for his father, but also for the now-defunct Confederacy. Some would call these people opportunists and maybe even war profiteers. However, even if some of these men and women had shady backgrounds or questionable characters, there was one thing that no one could deny; they were good in what they were doing.

Should you ever come into the situation where you have to rebuild a formerly somewhat fascistic nation, there's something you should know; never get rid of the institutions. That's probably the worst part of "building a new and better future", because you have to use old and rotten assets to do that. Both Matt and Valerian had learned that the hard way. True enough, they had removed many jerks from power. Yet many more were still where his father had put them. Not because Valerian had forgiven them, but because there was no one else who could do the job.

"If the Emperor is bored by my presentation..." the man said with a calm and controlled voice. "...then I am more than happy to talk to a houseplant." Valerian groaned on the inside, but he managed to keep a straight face.

"No, Chairman Bowders, forgive me, I was not trying to be disrespectful and-" he tried to say, but then the expression on the man's face turned sour.

"I am not Chairman Bowders. _That_..." He pointed at a skinny and bald man with glasses sitting at the other end of the table. "...is Chairman Bowders. I am Director Kallis."

 _Well, shit._

The skinny man raised his hand and lowered his gaze as if he didn't want to look the Emperor directly into the eyes.

"I-it is an honor to meet you, Emperor Mengsk." Bowders managed to stutter. Valerian rubbed his temples and looked back to Director Kallis, who was the head of central intelligence. Well, that wasn't good. Kallis was known for being a hard-ass. Usually, that was not a problem because Valerian had Matt to deal with this guy. But Matt wasn't here right now, so...

"Director, I apologize for not paying attention. Please, do continue." Valerian apologized. Kallis waited a few moments before he finally turned his attention back towards his presentation. But not before looking at the Emperor one last time. The look on his face made Valerian gulp. It was as if Kallis wanted to tell him "I won't forget that." Well, wasn't that just peachy?

Valerian tried to keep up with what Kallis was telling the people in the room. Most of it was technical blabla and he had to admit that he didn't understand most of it. However, Kallis was a man known for his keen intellect and not for his forgiving nature.

"...anti-Dominion-factions have started to attack institutions and military bases on the border worlds." the Director said. "Most of them were nothing but small attacks by angry locals and didn't cause much damage. However, we have seen an increasing number of more daring attacks in the last few weeks." A map appeared behind the Director and Valerian recognized it as a star-map of the sector. He could see Korhal, Tarsonis and Tyrandor VII. He could even see Char.

Some minor worlds were highlighted and Kallis pointed at them.

"These worlds fell victim to a number of attacks that were conducted by a well-trained group of insurgents. What we know so far is..." Valerian tried to follow every word Kallis said. He was afraid that the man would shoot him right here and now if he would miss something again. But even then, Valerian couldn't help but listen with only one ear. He was still worried. Worried about Matt.

He and Matt had formed a pretty good team over the last couple of months. But lately, the Admiral had become...distant? Valerian was worried about his friend. Yes, his friend. In the last two years these two men had pulled off so many weird things together, so it was only natural that they had turned into friends. However, in the end, Matt was still working for Valerian. And that meant that one had to give orders and the other one had to follow them. And that had to lead to tensions between the two of them.

To say that Matt hadn't been happy about Valerian telling him that the current budget hat to be cut again was probably a bold understatement. The right term would probably be "mortally pissed". Valerian hadn't been able to talk to Matt after that. Right now, no one knew where the Admiral was and his adjutant Captain Brent didn't answer his calls either. Maybe Matt just needed a time-out. He had been under a lot of stress as of lately.

Like pretty much everyone else.

Still, Valerian knew that it was harder for Matt than for the rest of his staff. Matt truly believed in a better world. But progress was slow and people were starting to grow restless. The Great War had ended almost two years ago and there were still so many problems. This better world better hurried up, or someone would pull Valerian's plug. He was no fool and knew that his rule wasn't nearly as stable as that of his father had been.

"And that concludes this part of my presentation." Kallis then said. "As for the next part, I would like the ambassadors of both the Combine and the Umojan Protectorate to leave. This might contain sensitive information regarding-" The two ambassadors from the Protectorate were already on their feet and on their way to the door. The official ambassador of the Combine, however...

"Mrs. Curtland?" Kallis asked with a cold tone in his voice. Curtland, who sat a few seats away from Valerian, leaned back and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her whole body-language was hostile and the way she looked at Kallis made Valerian wonder if she wanted to beat the Director up.

"Mrs. Curtland, would you be so kind to leave this room? This is for members of the Imperial Court only." Kallis explained. But all Curtland did was to say nothing. She looked like she was about to jump up and throw herself on Kallis, only to strangle him to death.

"Mrs. Curtland, I will not repeat myself!" Kallis snarled. "Leave this room now or-"

"Or what?" Curtland finally spoke up. "You would use force on a foreign dignitary?" There was so much hostility in her voice, even more than when dealing with Valerian. It had been several months since she had joined them. And since then she had shown Valerian nothing but open hostility. She was probably the most undiplomatic diplomat in the history of diplomacy. And yet there was something about her that had an intriguing effect on Valerian. One that he couldn't really put into words.

"Your Majesty!" Kallis interrupted his thoughts. This time Valerian knew how to respond.

"Director, the ambassador of the Kel-Morian Combine is an honored guest. I allowed her to be part of our weekly briefings in order to show her something about the inside working of our nation as a sign of good faith." A few seats away he could hear Curtland's "Hmpf.", but he chose to ignore that.

"That, of course, includes the ambassadors from the Protectorate." he then added and looked over his shoulder. Both ambassadors from the Protectorate were almost gone when they heard that. They stopped, looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders before they returned to their seats. Umojan protocol demanded that always two ambassadors were present. Even though Valerian had grown up inside the Protectorate, he had no idea why.

"Emperor..." Kallis hissed. "...we are talking about sensitive information that could have an impact on the stability of the entire Dominion." Valerian could sense the hostility in this the room. It wasn't just Kallis, the other members of his cabinet felt the same and looked at Curtland and the Umojans with nothing but contempt. Some even looked at him with the same expression on their faces. Building a better world certainly wasn't easy if you had to work with a bunch of ruthless sharks. Valerian thought about his options for a moment before he finally nodded.

"I understand your point, Director Kellis. And you are of course correct..." The Director seemed to relax when he heard that. But now it was Curtland's face who showed nothing but contempt. And she was, of course, looking directly at the young Emperor. "...that is why we will finish this meeting now and continue some other time. I think we are all tired and it has been a very exhausting day-"

"It's not even two in the afternoon!" Kellis hissed.

"...and look what we have achieved in that short amount of time! Phew, that was certainly something! Anyway, if there aren't any more questions, I would like to end this meeting. I am sure that many of you look forward spending a few days with your families. I wish you happy holidays and a nice Christmas." He then stood up and looked around.

"The next meeting will be after Christmas is over." Valerian announced. He could see how the men and women inside the room looked at each other in disbelief. By now they knew that Valerian wasn't anything like his father. However, they hadn't witnessed _this_ kind of behavior before either. Kallis, on the other hand, wasn't confused. He was mad. Valerian could see how the head of the Director turned red. Then purple. And then white. You should know this; if people's faces are red because they are angry, don't worry. If they turn purple you should be worried. If they turn pale white you should run for your life. Did we mention that Kallis had been responsible for the Ghost-program before Matt had dissolved that unit? If not; Now might be the wrong moment to mention that.

"Emperor Mengssssssk!" Kellis hissed like a Hydralisk that was about to slaughter him. "This is-"

"But of course!" Valerian interrupted him. "If anyone of you has any problems or he or she wants to discuss with me, I am more than happy to talk to you in my office. In private. Alone." Office, not throne-room. Big difference, people! Kallis wasn't happy about that. Almost no one was happy about that. But the last thing Valerian needed right now was an escalation of the situation. Usually, these meetings weren't this horrible. However, under normal circumstances, he had someone next to him who knew exactly how to deal with these people. Unfortunately, the seat next to him was empty because Matt hadn't shown up.

Right now, Valerian felt somewhat naked and useless. He was by no means a dud or stupid, but there were plenty of other things he had to take care of. This wasn't a one-man-show, yet unlike his father before him, he had decided to give the men and women that were part of his administration enough freedom to solve the problems they had to face on their own...within limits of course. He knew that this whole thing would probably return to him very soon in order to bite him in the butt, but he had more important things to take care of right now.

"Are there any problems with this? No? Excellent!" he exclaimed before he stood up, not giving anyone the chance to complain. And much to his own surprise a lot of people did so too and immediately were heading towards the exit. They were still government employees and if a government employee hears the word "It's home time!", then he's faster gone that a Zergling on stim-packs. He looked at Kallis but regretted that immediately when the Director marched towards him. However, instead of punching the Emperor in the face, he just put a file on the table right in front of Valerian and leaned forward.

"I will remember this, _your Majesty!_ " Kallis hissed again. And now Valerian was certain that he had gained a friend for life. Knowing that he wouldn't get out of this alive, he did the only thing he could think of; he smiled like an idiot and offered his hand to the Director.

"Thank you for your presentation, it was very interesting. Though I would like to hear some more of it. Would you mind visiting me in my office later this day?" Kallis didn't reply anything. Instead, he just turned around and stormed out of the conference room. Valerian could swear that he heard Kallis snarl something like "And this guy's supposed to be a Mengsk? Did anyone actually check his DNA?" Valerian sighed and finally turned around. There was still something else he had to do. He looked at Curtland and opened his mouth.

"Mrs. Curtland, now that we have a moment alone, I would like to ask you something." Only then he realized that Curtland wasn't there anymore.

"Agh!" He looked around and could see how her blonde hair vanished just outside the door. Oh great. Now he had to run after her.

"Mrs. Curtland! Please wait, I need to talk to you!" he said and tried to catch up with her. Which wasn't nearly as simple as you might think. Once outside the room, they had to walk down the longest corridor in the history of long corridors. And naturally, everyone wanted to get out as fast as possible. The conference room was deep inside the bowels of the Imperial Palace. Valerian didn't even know what sub-level they currently were. Almost every room was vacated and no one used this level anymore. But it was safe and no one could eavesdrop. Of course, that whole idea was somewhat retarded when allowing ambassadors from other nations to participate. Valerian had no doubts about the fact that the Umojans and Curtland were about to hurry back to their embassies in order to write a report for the folks home. Well, the Umojans were probably doing that. Curtland was just trying to get the hell out of here.

She was fast. Faster than Valerian. And within a few seconds, she was ahead of the crowd and closing in on the elevator. Damn. Maybe if he hurried, he could still catch her! However, that meant that he had to run. And that was not a good idea. He was still the Emperor and he had a reputation to uphold!

"Mrs. Curtland! Please wait, there's something..." he said, but when she entered the elevator, she just pushed the button and just when he had reached the cabin the doors closed right in front of his nose. "...I wanted to ask you if you could...great." He sighed again and pressed the button to call the elevator back. Maybe if he managed to get back up, he would be able to catch up with her? He _could_ call the ambassador from his office and ask for a private meeting. But that would have been awkward. Just when he was about to get lost in his own thoughts, the elevator returned.

This fast? Maybe she had heard him and decided to come back down. When the elevator stopped and the door was about to open, a relieved smile appeared on his face.

"Thank you, Mrs. Curtland. I promise that this won't be awkward." First rule: If a guy says: "This won't be awkward", then it will be double-awkward.

"Sure thing, Junior." a rather un-female voice replied. Valerian looked up and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Jim?"

"HeyHey, someone remembers my name!" Jim Raynor joked before looking over Valerian's shoulder. "Uhm...am I interrupting you with something, Junior?" Valerian turned his attention back to the corridor. And when he saw who was approaching, he had to groan on the inside. Kallis was at the group's head. Oh, joy, being with that guy inside a small elevator was pretty much the last thing he needed right now.

"No, everything's fine, Commander!" the Emperor replied.

"Commander?" Jim chuckled. "No one has called me like that since...whoa!" Instead of waiting for the others to finally catch up with them, Valerian just pushed Jim back into the elevator and pressed the button.

"Emperor! Emperor Mengsk! We have to talk, NOW!" Kallis roared, but just when he was about to reach them, the doors of the elevator closed and they were finally alone.

"Thank God!" Valerian groaned and dropped his shoulders. Jim looked at the young monarch and pulled his brows up.

"Tough day?" he asked.

"Tough day. Tough week. Tough month. And let's not even talk about the year itself." Valerian replied. A big grin appeared on Jim's face.

"Hey, cheer up! Year's almost over, you can look forward to the next one!" Now Valerian looked somewhat pissed.

"Can't wait." he hissed.

"Aw, quit being such a party-pooper. Besides, you called out for me, right?"

"Yes, that is true and I..." Suddenly Valerian stopped in mid-sentence. "Wait, why are you inside this elevator? And where is Curtland?" he wanted to know.

"Dunno where she went." Jim told him. "I met her in the lobby. I asked her where you were and she just pointed at this elevator. Told me to hit the button right at the bottom. I think I wasn't supposed to do that. Isn't this, like, a secret place or something?" Valerian sighed again and pressed a button. The lift immediately started to move and Jim could feel how the acceleration pressed him against the floor.

"Where up?" he wanted to know.

"Up." was the only thing Valerian replied.

* * *

Arcturus's private refuge had been on the uppermost level. After the Queen of Blades had fought her way into the palace and left a trail of destruction, she had finally caught up with Arcturus there. Jim remembered these days well. Sometimes he wished that he couldn't. However, Jim wasn't the only sentient being in this galaxy who had lost someone that day. While he was more than glad that Arcturus was dead, he was also very much aware of the fact that he had been Valerian's father.

And no matter how shitty a father can be, he will always stay a father.

Valerian had ordered to repair the damage done by Sarah. But he had decided not to use his father's old office. Too much bad mojo. It was kinda strange; both Jim and Valerian mourned the loss of someone who had left for good that day. And in both their cases, it was a person widely regarded as a monster.

Come to think of it, maybe it was the same? Maybe Arcturus and Sarah had been turned into monsters, yet at the same time, they had possessed something profoundly human?

No.

No, there wasn't anything Arcturus and Sarah had in common. Sarah had been a victim and Mengsk had used everyone just as a tool. No matter what Sarah had done, she had done it because others had forced her to walk down this path. It had taken him a long time to realize that, but the pleading voice inside the back of his mind had helped him to see the truth. Yet at the same time, he had decided to keep it to himself. No one wanted to know what Jim Raynor thought about Sarah Kerrigan, he was very much aware of that. How could they? No one had known her like he did. Among the things he truly regretted was the fact that he hadn't been able to apologize to her.

Now she was gone...

"Like the style." Jim said as he looked around. "Very...uhm...Umojan, I guess?" Valerian, who threw himself into the chair behind his desk, closed his eyes and sighed. He enjoyed the moment of silence and Jim knew better than to disturb him. He had never visited Valerian in his office. It was actually rather small, but at the same time, Jim couldn't deny that it had a certain charm to it. Some stuff hung on the walls, mostly photos, and gifts from other dignitaries. But there was one thing that caught Jim's eye.

"To Valli, teh best Empra of al times." Jim read out loud and looked at the picture. It was clear that some small child had scribbled this. A smile appeared on his face.

"A fan of yours?" he asked and looked over his shoulder. Valerian rested inside his chair and kept his eyes closed.

"His name is Rafael. Met the little guy when I visited a child hospital in the south. I think I have never met someone with so much fight inside him." When the Emperor opened his eyes, he looked at the ceiling. "Only God knows if that'll be enough." Jim could hear him whisper. He decided not to ask for any details and instead looked at another thing that hung on the wall. He tilted his head to the side and frowned.

"What is that?" he wanted to know. He had never seen anything like it. It looked like a cube with strings on the side.

"That's a harmonium cube." Valerian told him. "It's an instrument they use in the Protectorate. Basically, it's a cube-shaped mixture between a guitar, a flute, and a doorstopper."

"You can play this thing?" Jim asked. He didn't even know which side was the top and which one the bottom!

"A bit. Though it doesn't really sound like music. More like making love to a Hydralisk." Both men shuddered at that thought.

"Sounds trippy. Guess I need to check the holo-net for a demonstration. Though I would pay real money to see the Emperor playing this thing."

"If that footage ever leaves this room, the Umojans won't have any choice but to declare war on us. And I couldn't blame them."

"That bad, huh?" Jim chuckled.

"Well, someone said that I could improve by shoving that thing up my rear." Valerian then replied.

"Who said that?"

"Curtland."

"Ah. Lovely as ever I see. How're you two doing anyway?" Jim wanted to know and Valerian sighed again. Suddenly the older man wondered if he should sue the Emperor, sighing was his trademark these days.

"Better, I guess. For the first few weeks, she refused to even leave the embassy. At least now she accompanies the Umojans when I invite them. Maybe we will be able to work on that "glare of death" next. Should only take a few years." Jim chuckled when he heard that and turned back to Valerian.

"So's that the reason why you dug me out again? That I may play Cupid for you and the lovely mean-machine?"

"What? NO! What are you implying, Jim? That I'm-"

"Relax, Valerian. I'm just joking. Though seeing you blush like that never gets old. Besides, you shouldn't be ashamed of your feelings. Some men just like it rough. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about." That was probably the understatement of the century.

"No, that's not why I've called for you, Jim." Valerian then said. "I think I don't need any help with my non-existent love life. Besides, I neither have the time nor the nerve to deal with something like that right now. Could you imagine the public outcry if the Emperor, who is already an Umojan in disguise, would date someone from the Combine? Let alone someone who's _not_ filthy rich or member of an influential family?"

"Ah ha!" Jim shouted. "Knew it! You're still head over heels into Curtland." He could see the confusion on the young Emperor's face. Only then Valerian realized what he had said. He groaned and rubbed his temples.

"Nevermind. Could we please change the topic? I have called you out here because I... require your help."

"Sounds like fun. Can't help but to wonder what kind of problem you're dealing with that you can't solve on your own. Or are the Zerg acting up?" Jim threw himself on the chair in front of the desk and put his feet on Valerian's desk. "Heh, always wanted to do this." Jim said with a smile on his face.

"I bet you do." Valerian replied. "And no, the Zerg are currently not a problem. Though that itself is already something we should be worried about. We haven't heard from any Zerg-attack in almost two years. And I'm not sure if we should be happy or worried about that." He then took a deep breath.

"The situation all over the Dominion isn't exactly peachy. We manage to get by, somehow. It's not perfect, but what can I say? Life never is." Valerian averted his gaze and looked out of the window. Out there, the city of Augustgrad lay before them while the first snowflakes started to fall from the sky. Jim took the time to take a good look at the young Emperor. There were some new wrinkles on Valerian's face. And he looked pale.

"So, what's the problem that you and Matt can't solve? By the way, where is the good Admiral anyway?" Jim wanted to know.

"I don't know." Valerian just whispered. And suddenly Jim realized why Valerian had called for him.

"What happened?" he asked. Valerian shrugged his shoulders.

"Ah...we had a little argument. The Treasury Department called in after they had checked the number for next year's budget."

"That doesn't sound good." Jim mumbled.

"We tried to keep the news from spreading, but right now we're heading for one hell of a recession. We might be able to avoid slashing the budget altogether, but-"

"Wait a second!" Jim interrupted him. "You ain't gonna ask me to lend you some money, right? Because last time _I_ received a paycheck was when I worked for the Confederacy!"

"No, that wasn't my plan, Jim." Valerian then said. "Though I thought about getting all the booze-bottles from the Hyperion and sell them in order to increase our budget. From what I heard there should be enough drinks up there to save the budget for the next five or six years."

"Cheeky Bastard." was everything Jim replied.

"I learned from the best." Only then Valerian decided to stand up and walk towards the looking glass. He put his hands behind his back and stared down at the city below him. Valerian was probably not aware of that, but right now he resembled his father a lot.

"I had an argument with Matt yesterday."

"About money?"

"Yes. When the Treasury Department told him that he had to cut his budget again he was, how shall I put it, less than pleased? I understand his point of view but told him that there was nothing I could do. We cannot afford to spend money that we don't have, not anymore. And in the past, he always accepted that. However, this time he told me, well, let's just say that he wasn't very happy. And then he started to get angry, like _really_ angry. I have never seen him like this, Jim. He was furious! If it hadn't been for his adjutant, I think he would have wrecked the office." That certainly didn't sound like Matt. Then again, Jim hadn't seen Matt for a few months now. Who knew what the constant pressure of his new job had done to the good Admiral.

"Where did he go after that?" Jim wanted to know.

"He went to the UNN-building. He was the guest on Lockwell Inside."

"Wait, that was yesterday? Aw, crap!" Jim said. "I wanted to see that! Aw, damn it!"

"Well, it's good that you didn't. Matt's performance was, how shall I put it, less than stellar?" Valerian explained.

"Could you stop saying "how shall I put it", please? It makes you sound like you're talking to an idiot." Jim mumbled.

"Sorry, I didn't want to..." But Valerian didn't even finish that sentence. Instead, he dropped his shoulders and sighed again.

"That bad, huh?"

"Depends on who you're asking. He managed to save most of his dignity and professionalism in the end, but everyone who knows him could see that he was about to burst into flames. It wasn't pretty." Jim chuckled when he heard that.

"Yeah, well, he and UNN always had a "special relationship" after all. And now he's gone?" he asked and Valerian nodded.

"Yes. I tried to reach him right after the interview ended. But he had turned off his communicator. I even tried to contact his adjutant, Captain Brent. Usually, you can reach the Captain every time and everywhere. One time he even barged into the bathroom while Matt was taking a dump because I had to speak to him."

"I've never met that guy, but I already like him." Jim mumbled.

"Anyway, I have tried to contact either of them ever since. It appears that Matt took a dropship and they are now who-knows-where." Jim listened to the story and sighed.

"I wouldn't take it too much to heart, Junior." he then explained. "Matt has worked too hard for this chance to just, I don't know, go to the Hyperion and find my stash of hidden booze and drink himself into a stupor."

"Why are you so sure about that?" Valerian wanted to know.

"Because that's what I would do, not him. Matt is probably the most responsible man I have ever met. He would never do something so reckless or stupid." Jim explained to him.

* * *

Many thousand miles away, Admiral Matt Horner groaned when he finally regained consciousness. The first thought that formed inside his head was "Never gonna drink again. Never gonna..." That's when the memory finally returned to him.

"SARAH!" he yelled and jerked back up. He looked around in shock, but then he realized that he was alone. His eyes were wide open and his uniform was soaked with sweat and alcohol and other stuff he didn't even want to know about.

"A... dream?" he whispered before he tried to get back on his feet. He failed a few times, but when he finally succeeded, he had to take a few deep breaths. A dream. It had been a goddamn nightmare, nothing. He could feel the warm glass of the bottle in his hand and looked at it. It was almost empty. His mind tried to recall what had happened and when he finally remembered the reason why he had come here, he closed his eyes and groaned. The interview. The budget-cut. His argument with Valerian. Aw damn...

Matt felt horrible. He looked around and saw the havoc he had caused. Jim's old room looked like someone had thrown a grenade inside. He walked over to one of the chairs and put it back on its feet. The chair, of course, fell back onto its side because one leg was missing. He sighed and looked at the bottle in his hand.

"Guess drinking doesn't work out for me as it does for you, Jim." he whispered. He decided to put the bottle down and walked over to the door. He opened it, went outside and looked back one more time.

A dream. Thank God, it had only been a dream. Because the last thing he needed right now was Sarah Kerrigan returning to the realm of the living. That thought alone was enough to sober him up in an instant. He headed back to the canteen, hoping that Brent would still be there. And indeed, his adjutant was where he had left him, his head resting on a table. Matt walked over to the Captain and looked down at the younger man.

"Shouldn't have brought you along, kid." Matt mumbled and placed his hand on the Captain's shoulder. "Come on, Captain. We gotta go." But Brent didn't answer.

"Captain." Matt said again. However, Brent again didn't react.

"Captain, wake up." Nothing.

"CAPTAIN!" Matt yelled and slammed his fist on the table. His loud voice and the fist slamming on the table finally caused Brent's head to jerk back up and yell in surprise.

"I'll gladly carry your eggs, beautiful!" Brent screamed before finally realizing that his drinking buddies weren't around anymore. He blinked a few times before he recognized who was standing right in front of him.

"Admiral?" Brent looked horrible, and Matt felt bad for having him dragged all the way out here.

"Come on, Captain. We should get back home. People are probably already talking." he explained and turned around. "Get up, let's get back to Augustgrad." Brent stood up and groaned when the whole room started to spin around his head.

"Oh hell...let's never do this again." the Captain whispered and tried to follow Matt, which sounded easier than it actually was. He had to plan every single step three seconds in advance and to him, this was a totally new sensation!

"One question, Admiral." Brent mumbled as he followed Matt.

"But only a short one, Captain. And not too loud, please." the Admiral replied.

"Is this how the Raider's usually used to operate?" When Matt heard that, he wanted to say "No!". But after a few seconds, he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Eh, I guess you could say that. It's more fun with the right crowd though." he told the younger man. As they headed towards the hangers where their dropship was waiting for them, he could hear Brent yawning behind him.

"Well, at least I had a trippy dream. Could get addicted to it." Matt actually had no interest in Brent's drug-induced hallucinations, but for some odd reason he wanted to know what the good Captain had "seen".

"So, what did you dream of?" he asked.

"Strange shit, Sir. I made some new imaginary friends. One Zerg, and one Protoss. They were actually pretty damn nice to me. And the Zerg was kinda sexy. Didn't even try to infest me." Brent told him.

"You should stay away from Swann's moonshine from now one, it's not good for your health." Matt didn't mention that he too had seen a Zerg and a Protoss. And someone else...

"Yeah, well, good thing that I realized that it was just a hallucination. But hallucinations are formed inside our brains, so that probably says something about my character." the Captain declared.

"Whatever it is, I'm certain that a good night's sleep will deal with those problems, Captain." Matt told him. As they walked through the long corridors of the Hyperion, he could hear how Brent sighed behind him.

"You know, I've never had a hallucination. It was so real!" Brent then said. "I've never seen a Protoss in real life, yet this Karax-guy-" When Matt heard that name he instantly froze. He turned around and looked at Brent in shock.

"What did you call him?" he whispered.

"Admiral? Are you alright? You don't look so good all of the sudden." Brent asked with a worried tone in his voice. But Matt had no time for his own well-being.

"What was this Protoss' name?" he asked again.

"Sir, it was only a hallucination. I know, I know, I should probably see a doctor, but everything is fine, I'm-" But Brent didn't get much further.

"The name, Captain! How did the Protoss call himself?" he yelled and grabbed Brent by the shoulders.

"Admiral? What's-"

"The name, Captain!" Matt yelled again.

"Karax! His name was Karax! Geez, what's with you, Admiral?" Brent asked and made a step backward. "Maybe we should get _you_ back to Augustgrad, Sir." However, Matt wasn't even listening. Karax. No. It couldn't be. It had to be a mistake. It had been a nightmare! It couldn't have been real!

"The other one, the Zerg. What did she look like?"

"She? How did you know that it was a she?" Brent wondered.

"What did she look like, Captain!" Matt yelled. The Captain blinked in surprise when he heard the fear in the Admiral's voice.

"Big. She was big. Looked like a mixture of snake and woman. Like, you know, this medusa-thingy. And her name was-"

"Izsha." Matt then interrupted him. Suddenly Brent's eyes widened when he heard that name.

"Yeah. Izsha. How did you...did I speak while I was out of commission?" When Matt heard that, he instantly froze. He looked back at Brent, who was taken aback by his superior's sudden change of behavior.

"Sir? Are you alright? You don't look so good." Brent wanted to know. But Matt wasn't even listening. Suddenly he realized that his worst nightmare had in fact not been a nightmare at all. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

"Captain, I need you to listen to me. Listen very carefully..." he then said and put his hand on Brent's shoulders. Suddenly Brent felt very, very uncomfortable.

* * *

"...would be nice if you could talk to him." Valerian then finished. This time it was Jim who looked out of the window.

"Dunno, Junior. Haven't talked to Matt in a while. Sometimes I think that he has forgotten about me. Or that he doesn't want to see me. Besides; this is your show now. I'm not sure if I should help you with this one." When Valerian heard those words, he was taken aback. Had Jim Raynor just refused to help him? Valerian would never dare to criticize Jim, and he knew better than anyone else that this man had done so much for all of them. But seeing Jim like this, it just felt wrong.

"Jim, are you alright?" the young Emperor wanted to know and the former Marshall sighed. Valerian took a closer look and could finally see that Jim wasn't looking good at all. His skin was pale and there were a lot of new wrinkles on his face. He looked like he had lost some weight, too. And then there were his eyes. They looked...tired.

"I won't always be around, you know." Jim then told him. "What if I will leave you guys? You gotta work those things out yourself. There's too much at stake here." Now Valerian truly felt like a little boy who was getting scolded by an adult. He was the Emperor after all!

"Perhaps you're right, Jim." Valerian then said. "But...if there's one thing I've learned in all those years, then it is that people need friends. And that you should never be too proud to ask others for help. My father died alone. He died while being surrounded by thousands of soldiers, but there was not even one member of his family that mourned for him. That is not what I want. Maybe I will fail as an Emperor. If so, so be it. However, at least I had people at my side who helped me. People like you. And Matt" For a moment Jim said nothing. Then he opened his mouth, ready to tell Valerian that his time in this universe was coming to an end. But instead, a grin appeared on his face.

"Hot damn, Junior. Guess I missed when you finally grew up. You've got a way with words, you know that?" Jim praised him, but Valerian just lowered his gaze when he heard that.

"I got it from my father..." he whispered.

"No."

Jim's voice was suddenly full of life. Valerian looked over at him and saw something of that old fire inside the older man's eyes.

"You're nothing like your old man, Valerian." Jim then told him. "And that gift? It's yours. You don't owe it to anyone out there, least your old man. And if the people see that, if they see the real Valerian, I think they're gonna like that guy. They're gonna say: "That's the kind of guy I want to be my Emperor." Trust me, I know people." Valerian wanted to reply something, but he decided to keep his mouth shut. Truth to be told, it felt good. No one had praised him in a long time. And certainly no one had ever praised his personality. Maybe he should have rejected these compliments, but right now he felt proud when hearing those words.

"Thanks, Jim." he then said. "It really means a lot to hear that from you."

"Yeah, well, pep-talks were always kinda my thing I guess." Jim sighed and chuckled again. Valerian's brows wandered up when he heard that.

"So you're...?"

"Yep, I'm gonna talk to Matt. Once you find him, that is. I ain't gonna find him for you." When Valerian heard that, he felt relieved. At least something seemed to work. When in doubt, ask James Raynor!

"I don't know where he is right now..." Valerian then said. "...but I'm pretty sure that he'll visit the Christmas-party tomorrow. He can't afford to stay away." When Jim heard that, his eyes widened in shock.

"What? Christmas-pa...oh, hell no! I'm not gonna do that, Valerian! I won't go to that party!" Jim refused.

"But...you said you would talk to Matt!" Valerian complained with a panicking tone in his voice.

"Oh, come on Junior! You can't go all childish on me mere seconds after I praised your maturity!" Jim shot back.

"But...please, Jim! This is really important and-"

"It's a party, Valerian! Trust me, you don't want me around. There are people with too much money and I will probably end up insulting someone very important! And then you have to deal with that!" Jim warned him.

"As long as Matt helps me, so what?!" Valerian shot back. "Please, you promise me that you help me and I... and... and..." He was probably about to say something like "will give you unlimited access to the Palace's wine vault", but he knew better than to say something like that. Jim sighed again and finally relented.

"Okay, okay. You win, Junior." he then said. "I'll be there and-"

"Emperor Mengsk!" a new voice suddenly boomed through the office. Both men looked over at the door and Valerian's face lost all color.

"Di-Director Kallis... what a... pleasure..." Valerian managed to stutter.

"We need to talk. NOW!" the Director hissed. Jim looked at the man, then back to Valerian, then back to the Director again.

"Guess that's my cue then!" he said and stood up.

"No, wait! Jim, please, there are still things I could ask you. You know, uhm, because..." It was brutally clear that Valerian just didn't want to be left alone with this man. Tough luck, Junior needed a lecture.

"Meh, everything's fine, Junior." Jim told him. "I'll be there. But first I need to find someone to accompany me." He turned around and walked to the door.

"Accompany you? Who do you want to ask to do that?" Valerian wanted to know. When Jim was right next to the Director, he turned around and smiled. It was no warm smile. It reminded Valerian of the Queen of Blades; it was cruel and heartless.

"Dunno. Probably gonna go to the Kel-Morians and ask Curtland if she wants to join me. Maybe I'm going to tell her that the Emperor is too embarrassed to ask her out or something like that." Suddenly Valerian could feel how his heart dropped down to the floor.

"No...no! No, Jim, you won't! No!" he said with pure panic in his eyes. But Jim just looked over to the Director and gave him a friendly smile.

"Do me a favor; don't be gentle." he said with a stupid grin on his face.

"Oh, I intend to, Mr. Raynor." When the door closed behind Jim, he could hear Kallis's voice one last time.

"So let me get this straight: You are romantically involved with the KEL-MORIAN AMBASSADOR?!" Kallis screamed. The grin on Jim's face became even wider.

Isn't friendship just magic?


	31. Act II - Chapter 7

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 7**

 **Playing Cupid**

* * *

The Kel-Morian embassy was located in close proximity to the Imperial Palace. The Combine used the old Ministry of Agriculture. And since there wasn't much agriculture going on in Augustgrad, no one had to move out in order to make room for the Kel-Mo's. The building itself was a typical product of Korhalian architecture, meaning that it was a huge and hideous block made out of concrete and steel. But it was in a rather quiet part of Augustgrad and that alone was enough for Leila Curtland to like it. Well, as much as you could like a heartless skyscraper on a world full of fascists.

Ever since she had come here, she hadn't been able to adapt to this cold city with its weird inhabitants. People had told her that, among the citizens living on the rich core-worlds, the Augustgradians were known for being able to endure. They had endured the chicane of the old Confederacy for decades, they even had managed to endure the nuclear "education" the Confederacy had enacted upon them. So, they could endure a lot.

Maybe Curtland and these people didn't share the same definition of the word "endure". Because no matter how she looked at it, all she saw were filthy rich people exploiting the arm. And they all were celebrating themselves while doing so. Their capital had been razed by the Confederacy, the Zerg, and the infamous Mobius-troops, and Curtland couldn't deny that the scars were still clearly visible. However, she was unable to truly feel any sympathy towards these people. Perhaps it had something to do with the weather. It was almost raining every day and she hadn't enjoyed one nice afternoon since coming here. And now the rain had turned into snow, which wasn't really an improvement.

Leila Curtland considered herself to be a true Kel-Morian. It was the place where her parents had been born, where they had raised her, and where she would die and be put to rest. Hopefully after a very long and very successful life. Though she should probably look for a new definition of the word "successful" because being the ambassador on the central world of the Combine's most hated enemy wasn't exactly good for her reputation. Sometimes it was necessary to do something that you didn't want to do. However, she had never thought that her friends back in the Combine would react so violently after hearing that she had been appointed as the Combine's ambassador here on Augustgrad. Some of her oldest friends had even told her that "she should rot in hell", as if she hadn't suffered under the Dominion like everyone else had.

Naturally, this whole thing hadn't helped to lift her spirits.

There was only one reason why she hadn't returned to the Combine. And that reason was called General Mah Sakai.

She owed the General a lot, she knew that. Not only had he supported her throughout the years, he had invested heavily in her. She had worked as his right-hand woman for many years, ever since they had met in that little and run-down refugee-camp all those years ago. Yep, that's right; Curtland wasn't born in the Combine. She was one of the many displaced war-orphans the old Confederacy had produced. Neither did she know where she was originally from, nor did she care. All she knew was that two very nice people had decided to take that little girl back to their home and raise her like she was their own flesh and blood. She had also met the General for the first time back then. He had visited the refugee-camp and decided that the situation inside the camp was unacceptable. It had been the start of Leila's new life. And even though she had been just a five-year-old child, she had promised herself back then that she would repay their kindness by being the best daughter you could ask for.

Now she was a traitor to most of them.

Her parents had sent her a message, telling her that she shouldn't worry about that. The job she was doing was important. So important that the General couldn't have asked anyone else. He needed someone he could trust with one hundred percent, someone who could think for herself if the situation demanded it.

It didn't make the whole ordeal any easier though. The whole week had been nothing but one nightmare. She had received some bad news from home. The harvest this year in the Combine hadn't been very good. They had done a lot in order to improve the situation over the last couple of years. Before that, they had imported a lot of food from other nations, usually from the Confederacy. And the Dominion after that.

Some say that the Confederacy had been a fascistic piece of trash. However, at least the Confederacy, no matter how rotten it had been, had never used food as a weapon. No, that had been the Dominion's tool of trade. That had been Mengsk.

One message from the General had contained a request. One that had caused her many sleepless nights.

 _Should the situation not change, we will have no other choice but to look for other means to acquire food. You know what this means._ The General's words still echoed through her mind. Yes, she knew what that meant. In fact, she knew so well that she pushed the free weights up one more time while snarling in anger.

She had to talk to the Emperor...

"Ambassador?" a voice almost startled her. She didn't stop with her workout, though. She needed this right now. Besides, this was the gym after all. By now, everyone knew where to find the Ambassador at the end of the day. Or at the beginning. Or in the middle. She always came here when she had to clear her mind.

"What...is...it...?" she gasped before pushing the free weights up again. Drops of sweat ran down her forehead, gathered at her brows and fell down on her shirt. The workout felt good. Korhal's gravity was weaker than the one on Moria. Most people working here seemed to enjoy that. Suddenly you felt like you could jump so much higher! But once you returned to Moria, you would feel like wearing clothes made out of lead. And she definitely wanted to return to Moria, as soon as possible.

"Ma'am..." the embassy-employee said, using a title she couldn't really relate to. "...a guest has arrived. He wishes to speak to you."

"Tell...unf...him...unf...to come back...unf...later." She took a deep breath and shoved the weight high up over her head. "I'm busy!" she managed to squeeze out.

"Uhm, I think he wants to talk to you right now. He said that it's important and about the Christmas-party." Anger flashed through her mind when she heard those words. Of course, the Christmas-party. She had tried to avoid that topic for weeks now.

Funny enough, even though the people from the Koprulu Sector had left Earth so many centuries ago, they still celebrated the same kind of festivities. Yet no one really remembered what Christmas truly stood for. Apparently, the people of Earth had, at one point, believed in a savior. This religious figure had been portrayed as a fat old man, who gave presents to kids by hoping down their chimneys. Curtland had a completely different idea when thinking about "fat old men jumping down kids' ''chimneys", but she had her doubts that they were talking about old perverts.

Though you could never be certain about that.

"Send...unf...him...unf...away!" she ordered.

"But Ma'am, he told me that he wanted to see you in person. What-" the employee whined. From the corner of her eye, she could see the man's face. By all that was good and righteous, why was she Ambassador if no one even listened to her?

"Don't...unf...care!" she shot back. "If...unf...the Emperor...unf...wants something...unf...he can come here...unf...himself." Of course, she hoped that this day would never come. Emperor Mengsk was one creepy fellow, and she tried to keep as much distance between her and him as possible.

"Very well, Ma'am. I shall relate your decision to him." With that, the man turned around and Curtland was finally alone. She sighed and felt relieved. But of course, this moment only lasted mere minutes before the man came back.

"What...unf?" she wanted to know.

"Forgive me, Madam Ambassador..." the employee said. "...but the man asks if he could get...uhm...unlimited access to our mini-bar." Now Curtland knew something was off. She looked over her shoulder and frowned. Behind the employee, another person entered the gym. A goofy smile appeared on the man's face and he took one hand out of his pocket and waved it at Curtland.

"Hey, Ambassador. How's life?" Jim Raynor asked.

* * *

Getting from the Imperial Palace to the Embassy of the Kel-Morian's wasn't that much of a deal, in theory anyway. You could reach the building by foot in half an hour. However, instead of just using their feet, Agent Smith had made it brutally clear that they would use the hover-car. During rush hour. In the biggest city on any world known to man within the Koprulu Sector.

In other words; It was a goddamn Carpocalypse.

But Smith wasn't the kind of guy who was into compromises. So they had used one of the many hover-limousines belonging to the Imperial Palace. And now Jim was certain; they were indeed all black. He had to ask Valerian at one point if there was a law that all hover-limousines owned by the Emperor had to be black. And if there was some sort of capital punishment involved if someone accidentally ordered any other color.

 _They should try purple._ Sarah's voice suddenly echoed through her mind. _Purple is her favorite color after all._ He smiled when he heard that voice.

"Don't you mean that it was your favorite color?" he whispered while looking out of the car's window.

 _I know what I said. She always looked better in purple._

Jim frowned when he heard that, but then he chose to say nothing more. Smith looked over at him, yet by now Jim didn't care if anyone saw that he was talking to himself. Besides, who should he talk to other than her? Smith wasn't exactly a born conversationalist, and as it seemed both Valerian and Matt had other things to worry about. And so Jim was forced to do nothing but sitting in a car with a goddamn mute. What would have taken thirty minutes by foot took them over two and a half hours by car. Hooray for modern urban planning!

When they finally reached the Combine's embassy, Jim and Smith got out of the car and hurried into the building as fast as possible. Jim noticed how Smith looked up to the skyscrapers around them, scanning them for any kind of threat.

"Looking for snipers that are here to take me out?" Jim joked.

"Yes." Smith answered with absolutely no emotion in his voice. That guy was scary as hell. Once inside the embassy, several members of the security approached them.

"Good day, Sir." the leader of the team said. It was a rather short guy, he only reached up to Jim's chest. But his broad shoulders and thick neck were proof enough that he was from Moria. He looked like a younger version of Matt, but with a body like Swann.

"I am Jasper Neusser, head of Security. May I ask you why you are here?" the short man introduced himself.

"Head of security? Greeting everyone personally?" he asked. The man pulled his shoulders up. Behind Jim, Smith frowned and looked at the other members of the embassy's security. And they stared back at him. It was clear that both sides were checking each other out. And they were probably figuring out how big their chances would be if things would turn out ugly.

"We hardly get any guests these days." Neusser said. "Besides, I like to greet everyone personally." Sometimes you meet a person and you immediately know that they are special. Neusser might look like his muscles were his strongest argument, but Jim could see a keen intellect behind those blue eyes. He smiled and offered Neusser his hand.

"Jim Raynor. Nice to meet you." Now Neusser finally showed a reaction. His eyes widened in surprise and his eyes wandered all over Jim.

" _The_ James Raynor? Oh my, forgive me. I didn't recognize you." He then grabbed Jim's hand and shook it. He had a strong grip but wasn't too forceful, something Jim was grateful for. Sometimes there are people (especially men) who like to grab your hand and squeeze them as hard as possible. They claim that it is a sign of respect. But Jim couldn't really see the "respect" in squeezing someone's hand so hard that it started to hurt. To him, it was just a fight for dominance.

Basically, it was just another form of warfare, handshaking-warfare. Two levels above armed insurgency, three below a preemptive nuclear strike.

"It's fine, usually people don't like to shake my hands these days though. Mostly my throat, but not my hand." Neusser started to laugh when he heard that.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that when being inside this building. We all know what James Raynor has done for the people of the Combine. But please, don't let me waste your time. Is there a reason why you have come here?" the head of security asked.

"Actually, I wanted to speak to Curtland. She's in?" Jim asked. Neusser blinked in surprise as if he had expected anything, just not Jim wanting to speak to the Ambassador.

"Yes. Yes, she has arrived a few hours ago. However, she's currently, well, busy." That sounded like she was torturing someone.

"Well, it's kinda important, so..." Jim said. Neusser sighed when he heard that. He looked over to one of his men and pointed back at the receptionist's desk.

"Have someone from the staff come down here to fetch Mr. Raynor and take him to the Ambassador." he ordered. His subordinate frowned when he heard that.

"But the Ambassador said that she didn't want to-"

"Just do it, Monroe!" Neusser cut him off. The man decided to just follow the order he was given and turned around. Neusser looked back at Jim.

"It will probably take a few minutes before someone is here. Is there something I can offer in the meantime? Something to drink maybe?" Suddenly a stupid grin appeared on Jim's face.

"Now that you're mentioning it: I could use a-"

"Glass filled with cold water." Smith interrupted him. Aw, damn.

A smile appeared on Neusser's face and Jim knew that the man knew exactly what was going on. Great. So the chance of finding a mini-bar and get wrecked basically evaporated right in front of his eyes. Oh, joy!

"Very well. Let's see if the ambassador has some time to spare for you. Right now, she should be in the gym." Neusser then said, which caused Jim to frown

"Gym?"

* * *

"Whoa, that's one hell of a gym." Jim said as he looked around. Curtland was there and when he entered the room, she put the weights away. He hadn't had much time to look at Curtland when she had stormed off earlier this day. But now that he had time to take a good look at her, he had to say; She looked good! Certainly better than either Jim or Valerian. Or himself, for that matter.

Leila Curtland was certainly a rare kind of woman. The kind of woman who didn't hesitate one second if swift action was required. And Jim understood that Valerian was intrigued by her whole appearance. Sure, she didn't fit the ideal most people here on Korhal considered "beautiful". For once, she was too big. She was almost 190 centimeters large and most men didn't like it when a woman was bigger than them. But it wasn't only that.

"Uhm... maybe this is a bad timing. I didn't know that you were in the middle of your workout." Jim mumbled. Curtland, who wore only shorts and a sports bra, glistened in sweat and walked over to the next workout machine. The way she moved made it clear that she had no problems with Jim being around.

Perhaps he saw more than he should have. Perhaps he should have made photos for Valerian.

 _She doesn't like it if you have smutty thoughts like that._ her voice echoed through his mind, but he only chuckled when he heard that.

"You see something funny?" Curtland asked. There wasn't any hostility in her voice and Jim just shook his head.

"Nah, it's nothing. I just remembered something. Don't mind me, just an old man passing through." he told her. Curtland just shrugged and sat down on the workout machine before she started to do some arm presses. Jim's eyes widened when he saw how much weights she was using. That was way more than Jim had ever used, even in his prime.

"Don't...unf...mind you...unf...coming here...unf..." she gasped. "...but what... unf... can I... unf... do for you... unf..." She didn't care that there was someone else in the room either. She had never seen that guy before. He wore a black suit and dark sunglasses and stuck to Jim like his shadow. A bodyguard? Did James Raynor really need someone to look after him? Sure, Curtland had heard rumors about a falling-out between Jim and Matt Horner, but unlike those gossip-loving Augustgradians, she didn't care about such rumors. Though she hadn't seen the Commander for some months now. And now he had come here, into the embassy? Curtland had been handpicked by the General for this job not because of her intimidating appearance, but because of her keen intellect. She knew that. The General knew that. And Jim knew that too. That's why he decided to come straight to the point.

"I'm here to ask if you could do me a favor." he said.

"What kind of... unf... favor...?" she wanted to know.

"Accompany me to the Christmas-party tomorrow." When Curtland heard that, she immediately pulled her arms back and the weights smashed back on the machine. She didn't laugh, she didn't yell, she didn't tell him to get lost. Instead, she put her arms on her legs and looked up to Jim.

"Why?"

 _More like "Why the hell should I?"_ Jim thought. Instead of bullshitting around, he decided to be straight with her.

"Because I promised Valerian to be there. Only problem is; I'd rather be defending myself against a Zerg-onslaught. The Zerg are not nearly as vicious as those rich guys that will be there." he said. Curtland took a few deep breaths in order to calm down. She then stood up and walked over to a table, where she grabbed a water-bottle. She opened the bottle and took some deep gulps. When she was done, she put the bottle down and looked back at Jim.

"I already declined the Emperor's _invitation_. I fail to see how my presence at the party would be of any use to the Combine's people."

"You could meet a lot of influential people!" Jim offered.

"Great. Rich fascists and opportunists. No thanks, I think I'll pass." the blonde woman replied. She walked over to the workout mat and started to do some stretching exercises. When she started, Jim's eyes widened in surprise. It had been some time since the last time he had witnessed someone being this, well, _flexible_.

Maybe he should take some photos after all. Could come in handy.

 _She always said that you are hopeless. I think I finally start to understand what she meant by that._ her voice whispered to him. Suddenly he felt how his cheeks turned red when he realized the implications of his own thoughts.

"It's just for Valerian, he could use those things." he tried to defend himself.

 _Yeah, right..._ her voice mumbled.

"Oh, I bet the Emperor is in dire need of rich opportunists!" Curtland hissed, totally oblivious towards the fact that Jim hadn't even talked to her. Better keep it that way.

"What? Oh... no, it's... you know, never mind that. Yes, Valerian would be very happy if you would be there. In all honesty? I'd go so far to say that he would be out of his mind." Suddenly Curtland froze when she heard that. She turned her head towards Jim, slowly.

"Why would that bast... man want me on his goddamn Christmas-party, other than to make fun of me?" she asked with a cold tone in her voice. Jim didn't answer immediately. Instead, he blinked a few times and tried to process what she had just told him. He opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but then he just closed it again.

Could it be that Curtland had no idea that Valerian was howling at the moon because of her?

Naaa, that was impossible.

Or was it?

"Sorry for askin'..." Jim wondered. He just had to be certain. "...but hasn't Valerian tried to tell you _why_ he would like you to be at the party?" Curtland shrugged her shoulders before she sighed and walked back to the table. It seemed as if the workout wasn't helping her to calm down one bit. Or perhaps she had just lost any interest in continuing. She grabbed the water-bottle and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"Said something that it would mean very much to "the Imperial Body"." she said. When Jim heard that, he had to shudder.

"His words?" he asked.

"His words", she confirmed.

 _Damn, Junior. We need to have a long talk after this is all over. You're gonna owe me!_ He then sighed and watched how Curtland took another deep gulp from the bottle. He sighed again, trying to find the right words so it wouldn't be completely awkward.

"I guess what Captain Awkward tried to say is that he..." Okay, now he had to figure something that wouldn't sound totally retarded. "...that... he... would... like... to..." He sure took his sweet time with finding a good reason. Then it finally made snap. "...introduce you to the court and the fat cats!" For some odd reason, he expected her to spit the water out. But instead of doing that, she just took another sip and then put the bottle away.

"Cutthroats and incest-products. I think I'll pass, thanks." she then replied. Damn, she was a tough nut to crack.

Okay, that sounded weird.

 _Nice try though!_ the voice that sounded so much like Sarah's echoed through his mind. He sighed when he heard that. It appeared that his brain was in a worse shape than he had initially thought, now he was hearing her almost all the time.

Not that it was a bad thing.

"Okay, maybe most of the guests aren't exactly what you and I would call "humble human beings", but it would be a good way to make, I don't know, connections?" he tried to lure her. Instead, she just returned to the next workout machine.

"I didn't want this job, I think you know that. And I... unf..." she panted as she started the next exercise. "...don't have... unf... to act like... unf... I belong here."

"All the more reason to go to the party. There will be other outsiders as well. You know, weirdos who don't really belong here." he then told her. When he saw how much weight she managed to push up, he promised himself that he would never have an arm-wrestling match against her. He liked his arms attached to his body.

"You... unf... be there?" she asked.

"Yeah. But I was actually referring to another weirdo."

"Oh yeah?... unf... and who would... unf... that be?" she asked.

"Actually, I was talking about Valerian."

SLAM!

The weights crashed back down and Jim seriously wondered how long those workout machines would last.

"You know, you have to treat those things more carefully!" he said to her. However, instead of listening to him, she just jumped up and started to walk around like a predator on the prowl. Suddenly she seemed to be very agitated.

"The Emperor? An outsider? But of course!" she spat out. "What does he know about being an outsider? What does he know about the hardship of life? He surrounds himself with cutthroats and brown nosers, who will worship every single one of his steps. And there are billions who would gladly give their own life just if he tells them too. Yeah, I can totally see the outsider there, Mr. Raynor." Jim blinked in surprise when he heard that.

"Uhm... really? I think right now he is one of the loneliest men in the entire Dominion. Seriously, the guys who swarm him are anything _but_ his friends. Most of them are indeed just cutthroats, and should something happen to Valerian, they will gladly kiss the next Emperor's ass, or whoever will be in charge. But what he needs right now is something very different." Jim explained to her. Curtland looked over at him and he could see the venom pouring out of her gaze.

"Whatever he needs, I doubt that I can provide him with it. Besides, he's a Mengsk. He is his father's son!" she hissed. When he heard that, he sighed and dropped his shoulders.

 _She doesn't want to see the truth._ the voice in the back of his mind whispered. _Someone isn't willing to look past the obvious. Like everyone else, she doesn't want to let go of her prejudices._ Even though it was just a hallucination, Jim could swear that he felt sorrow inside his chest. Only that it didn't feel like his sorrow.

"Watch me." he then whispered and looked around. He felt tired. Not mentally, but physically. It had been a long day and he felt the urge to return to his warm and comfortable bed in order to shut the whole world out. He walked over to another workout machine and sat down. He then put his arms on his legs and looked over to Curtland.

"You know how I met him?" he finally asked her.

"Who?"

"Valerian. The Emperor. Have you ever heard about our first meeting?"

"Only rumors. Some say that he approached you in order to defeat the Queen of Blades on Char. But nothing more." Curtland said with a reluctant tone in her voice. Jim started to chuckle.

"Yeah, well, our first meeting was, pretty much a disaster." He leaned back and tried to remember that time. "We had helped a few egg-heads from the Mo-" Only then he stopped. He realized in an instant that telling her about the Mobius Foundation would be a mistake. He knew that Mobius and especially this Narud-thing had played both him, Valerian and even Sarah for fools many times. But Curtland would probably only see the connections between Mobius and Valerian and come to her own conclusions. "Well, we helped some egg-heads." he then just said. "Turned out that those egg-heads were actually Valerian's egg-heads, and that we had worked for him from the start."

"Yes, that sounds like a true leader who doesn't have to hide his agenda behind others." she griped sarcastically about Valerian.

"Oh, he wasn't a leader back then, trust me. When we first met, he was a shitty, cocky and arrogant brat, who thought that he would one day become the next ruler of the Dominion."

"Let me guess..." she said. "...you showed him what it means to be a "true leader"?" Her voice was soaked with sarcasm, yet Jim knew that it wasn't directed at him. He chuckled again.

"Oh hell no. Little Valerian acted as if everything was just a game to him. He..." He suddenly remembered that time when he and Tychus and some other members of the Raiders had stormed the Bucephalus. "...he thought to be smarter than anyone else. He played with fire and thought that he was immune to it, that he couldn't burn himself. And he was completely oblivious when it came to other people's feelings."

 _I will make you an offer you can't refuse..._ he suddenly remembered Valerian's words. _A chance to save Sarah Kerrigan._

"And then you went to Char, and he learned what it meant to be his father's heir." Curtland spat out. And again, Jim laughed.

"Nope. He just went on. To be brutally honest; he still thought that his father would make him his successor one day. And even though he got a good taste of Zerg ripping through lines and lines of soldiers, it didn't change much inside of him. And I don't think much changed when we were on the run after we had saved Sa-" He stopped again. It wasn't common knowledge that the Raiders and Valerian's forces had deinfested Sarah that day. The official story was that they had just "defeated" the Queen of Blades. The entire rest, taking Sarah to Umojan space, her return to the Swarm and her later ascension to, well, godhood, all that was a secret.

 _Ascension to godhood isn't exactly right. Technically speaking, it's actually-_ her voice said, but then he simply tried to ignore it for now.

Well, the things they had done back then weren't exactly common knowledge. And perhaps it should stay that way.

"Not now, Darlin'." he whispered back. _I'm not your Darlin'._ the voice replied, yet it wasn't angry. It sounded...amused?

Curtland frowned when she saw that. Was he talking to himself? But then Jim shook his head and tried to gather his thoughts again.

"Where did I stop? Oh yeah..." he continued. "...when we were on the run, he was too scared to do much. He knew that his father would probably execute him for what he had done."

"Like father, like son." Curtland noticed.

"Probably yes. Up to that point, yeah." Jim agreed. "At least that's what I thought. But then something changed, inside him." He took a deep breath. "I don't know all the details. The Dominion had caught me and thrown me into prison that time. But when Sa...when I was freed by my best _friend_..." Jim swore that he could hear a proud hum in the back of his mind. "...when I met Valerian again, he was a changed man. And that change became even more visible during both battles for Augustgrad." He looked directly into Curtland's eyes.

"I think it's the civilians. You know, it's hard to lose soldiers. At least for me, it was. But they were soldiers, it was their job. That's just the way it is, it can hit everyone every time. That's what this job is all about. Those who become soldiers accept that. Well, those who choose to become a soldier at least." Re-socialized criminals were a whole different story, and so were drafts. "But Valerian? I remember the look on his face when he oversaw the evacuation of those civilians. He stayed to the last second on the ground, he was on the last dropship to leave the area where the Zerg were about to attack. He made sure that no one was left behind."

"How _heroic_ of him." Curtland snarled. It was clear that she detested the man.

"You know, when I first met Junior, I detested him as well." Jim then told her. "But even though I initially refused to give him a chance, he proved me wrong. He's a good man. A big kid, but with a good heart. However, you were right about one thing; he's surrounded by assholes. That's why he needs people like Matt, you know, Horner. And people like you."

"To tell him that he can rot in hell?" Curtland wondered and grabbed the water-bottle.

"Yeah. Well, probably not. He has just found someone who does that job. But he needs people that are brutally honest with him. He's just one man and carries the burden of a whole nation on his back. Think about it that way; you have the opportunity here to help to shape the future leader of the Dominion." Curtland shuddered when she heard those words.

"You sound like the General, you know that? " _It's a big chance, Leila! You should grab it!_ " he would say." Curtland growled. She took another sip from the bottle and knew that nothing Jim said would convince her that Valerian was-

"Also, he's totally in love with you."

"PFFFFFFFFFRRRRR!" The water inside her mouth exploded into all directions before she started to cough her lungs out. Jim waited until Curtland had calmed down enough to say-

"ARE YOU MAKING FUN OF ME?!" she yelled and threw the bottle into a corner. He frowned when he saw that outburst.

"Yeah, I know, you two had a rough start. But I just wanted to be honest with you and-" But he didn't get any further.

"That scheming bastard!" she roared. "Now he tries to play dirty, huh? Probably tries to give me puppy eyes and then he wants to stab me in the back! That useless little pri-"

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Hold your horses, Curtland!" Jim said. "Why are you so mad at him? Yes, I understand that he's Arcturus Mengsk's son, but he is nothing like his old man. Do you honestly think that I would lie about such a thing? I fought old Mengsk for years. I know what he has done to the people. I've seen it. And I too have lost things." He then had to gulp. "I lost my family two times, Curtland." he suddenly revealed to her. "I lost my son and my wife to the Confederacy. I lost them because I wasn't the _man_ I should have been. And when I thought that I was that man, I lost my other family. The one woman I learned to love, I lost her because Mengsk decided that she had outlived her usefulness. He sacrificed her, so he could become the ruler of the sector. Five billion people, among them the woman I loved, all dead because I was a fool. And it still haunts me to this very day. There isn't a single moment in my life where I don't blame myself for allowing my son to be taken away by the Confederacy. And there isn't one moment in my life where I don't blame myself for letting my lover go." Deep inside the back of his mind, he could hear that voice that sounded so much like Sarah again.

 _It wasn't your fault._

"I'm sorry, Darlin'." he whispered again. Curtland wanted to reply something, but when she saw that sad and empty look on the tired man's face, she lowered her gaze. After a few moments, she finally decided to speak again.

"Look at me, Commander." He looked up and did as she told him to do. She stood right in front of him. When he saw her, he couldn't help but blush. Like said, she only wore short pants and a sports bra. There was literally not a single piece of fat on her body and he could see a six-pack that made him feel ashamed of his own shape. Curtland wasn't just a big girl, she had broad shoulders and small hips. She looked like a female rugby-player. Her face was plain and she had a strong jaw, but her icy-blue eyes and her blond, curled hair gave her something intriguing.

"I know that I'm not a beauty. I know that I can't compete with those upper-class rich girls." she then told him. "I'm just a war-orphan. One that had more luck than most. I lost my parents when I was so young... I can barely remember their faces. The family that adopted me, they raised me. They loved me. And they will always be my parents. But I was always an outsider. I don't look like the usual Kel-Morian. I was always the " _foreigner_ ". But I never cared about any of that. I do this for my people, even if they don't want me to help them. There are even folks who say that the General should send me away for good. My entire life I was alone. I can live with that. I can even accept that. But I will _not_ allow anyone to make a fool out of me. I will not go there so the Emperor will make fun of me like I'm some sort of freak." Jim sighed when he heard that. Then he stood up and walked over to Curtland. He put his hands on her (sweaty) shoulders and had to look up.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Really, I am. And I won't bother you any longer. But you should know one more thing; Valerian too is an outsider. He wasn't born here. Many think that he's just a usurper. I don't tell you to like him in order to do me a favor. I just ask if you could give him a chance."

"Why?" she whispered. A smile appeared on his face.

"Because I gave him one. And he has surpassed all my expectations." Then Jim made a step backward and looked out of the window.

"It would be nice if you would come to the party. The choice is yours, of course. Now excuse me, it's getting late and I'm tired." Suddenly Jim looked like he was an old man. And he certainly felt like that. He turned around and walked over to the exit. Agent Smith, who had waited next to the door the entire time, opened it and allowed Jim to leave. However, instead of following him, the Agent went over to Curtland. For a moment she thought that he was about to do something incredibly stupid. But when he just stood in front of her, she frowned.

"What is it?" she wanted to know.

"There's another reason why you might want to be at the Christmas-party." Smith said.

"Oh, and what would that reason be?"

"It is most likely that this will be Mr. Raynor's last Christmas-party." With that, Smith turned around and left a somewhat shocked Curtland behind.

* * *

Long after Jim was gone, Curtland continued to stare out of the window for quite some time. It had started to snow and the amount that was coming down from the skies was actually enough to cover the streets and the rooftops with a white cover. It was definitely an improvement over the usual cold and gray city right in front of her. She watched how two small figures left the building and headed towards a dark hover-limousine. When they were finally gone, she started to feel her sore and aching muscles. And during the entire time, she noticed the presence of the other person in the room.

"Yes?" she finally asked after what felt like an eternity.

"You aren't really considering this, are you?" Neusser asked with a hostile tone in his voice.

"Considering what, Captain?" she asked again.

"Going to that _party_." Instead of instantly refusing, she just stared out of the window.

"I don't know..." was the only thing she managed to say. It was obviously _not_ what Neusser wanted to hear.

"You cannot be serious!" he barked. "Our people are about to face one of the worst famine in recent years, and you're thinking about going to a party? While the kids back home have nothing to eat and-"

"ENOUGH!" Curtland roared and turned around. She walked over to Neusser and looked down on him. Since he was barely 165 centimeters big, she had to look very far down. "Do not dare to lecture me about hunger, Neusser!" she hissed. "I grew up in a refugee camp. I know what hunger means! I know what it means to see mothers who can't feed their babies. I've seen it all!" She took a deep breath and managed to calm somewhat down. "But this isn't about what I want. Or what you want. This is about those who would suffer the most from the famine." Neusser frowned when he heard those words.

"So you're going there. You're going to see the Emperor and beg him for help. Is that it? We're better than this. We don't need their help. Not after Mengsk has killed our children with his blockade!" Neusser hissed.

 _He's not his father..._ Jim's voice echoed through her mind. Curtland clenched her hands into fists. She wanted to scream. She wanted to smash something. Maybe even someone. Neusser's nose looked like one hell of a juicy target right now. Just one hard punch, he could take it. She was sure of it. Or she could run away. Return to the Combine, declare that she was the wrong person for the job and look for something else. Maybe she could even go somewhere else. She had heard that Mar Sara was a great place to get lost. But there was just one tiny problem.

Leila Curtland was no quitter.

She had fought her entire life. And even if this would earn her the scorn of her people, even if they would call her a traitor, she would make sure that no child would ever starve again. Not as long as there was still some fight left in her.

"Call my secretary. It seems that I need to find a dressmaker who can do miracles within less than 24 hours." she then said. Before Neusser could reply anything, she turned around and left the gym. "Need a shower." was everything she mumbled.

When she was finally gone, Neusser looked out of the window. Oh, he hated this place so much. He put his hand into his pocket and pulled a small communicator out.

"Dee, it's me." he then said to the communicator. "Seems like we have to change the plan. Tell the strike team to get ready. We won't need that bomb anymore. But make sure that we have plenty of guns." The voice on the other end of the seemed absolutely calm.

"Understood." the female voice said. "What target?" Now a smile appeared on Neusser's face.

"The juiciest of them all. It's time for the big man to get his present. And let's make sure that they will never forget this firework."

* * *

Jim didn't return to his place. It was too far out. Instead, the limousine brought them back to the Palace. He didn't see Valerian. He asked if Matt had returned, but Smith only shook his head. Meh, he would probably see him soon enough. There were plenty of guest-rooms inside the palace and when Jim finally fell down on the bed, he groaned as the exhaustion finally got to him. His whole body ached and he felt incredibly tired. He rolled on his back and looked at the ceiling.

"Another pointless day over." he whispered to himself. But this time the voice in his head didn't answer. He sighed and realized that staying awake was pointless. So instead he closed his eyes and his consciousness immediately started to fade away. His eyelids became heavy and his breath calmed down.

It didn't stay like that for long though. Soon he was asleep, but just when he entered the realm of dreams, his body started to spasm. He threw his head from one side to the other and groaned in discomfort. Claws, shades and formless things started to haunt him until suddenly something inside his mind started to fight back. His body relaxed and the painful expression on his face faded away.

"Sarah..." he whispered while being asleep.

On the other side of the room, a figure emerged from the shadows. It wasn't even clear if this figure was truly part of this world, its whole body shifted from one form to the other. It watched Jim as the nightmares finally stopped.

"Fear not..." it said. As it moved closer, you could almost see its green eyes glowing in the dark. "...your nightmares shall soon be gone forever, Friend Raynor."


	32. Act II - Chapter 8

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 8**

 **It's Party Time!**

* * *

The Christmas-party of 2507 was not just any party. Later generations would learn in school that it was a crucial point in the history of the Dominion and in the life of Emperor Valerian Mengsk. It would go down in history as the moment where a new kind of leadership would emerge, one that would fight the bias of old days and help to overcome the scars the wars of old had caused.

In other words: the Christmas-party of 2507 would mark the beginning of a new and golden age in the history of the people of the Koprulu Sector.

Of course, no one realized that during that time. And not in the years to come. Not Valerian, not Matt, and sure as hell not Jim. And neither did they realize that this achievement would be paid with blood...

* * *

The idea of having a Christmas-party wasn't new, it was something the rich and powerful had done countless times. For once, it was a good way to bring all the rich and mighty together in one place. That way people could talk, make connections and figure out ways on how to ruin other people's lives. You know, par for the course. The Old Families, the ones who had ruled the Confederacy, had used these parties in order to celebrate themselves and to introduce their children to the "high society". Sometimes the parents had even arranged the marriage of their children on those parties. However, it hadn't been just about them. The Old Families had known that good publicity was more worth than a million soldiers. And so they had broadcasted those parties to all central worlds, making sure that everyone could see how they had enjoyed themselves.

Tasteless? Perhaps. But we're talking about the core worlds here. The people on these planets enjoyed a certain kind of luxury. And to them, those parties had been like a real telenovela. It had been especially popular among women ranging from 16 to 45 years. There had even been a red carpet where fans could greet the party's guests.

After the fall of the Confederacy, Arcturus had used those parties for his own agenda. The Christmas-parties under his reign turned into huge charity-events. It was _the_ party you had to be on if you were an important person. Or if you wanted to become one.

After Mengsk's death and the two battles of Augustgrad, both Valerian and Matt had agreed upon not having a big and juicy party to celebrate themselves. The people wouldn't have liked that. And so they had decided to skip those parties for two years.

But time moved on, and so were the people. Valerian wasn't happy about this, but he could see what Matt had meant when he had urged him to throw this party inside the palace.

"Sometimes the people just want to escape the reality." Matt had told him when they had discussed this matter. "I don't say I like it any more than you do. But it gives the people something to look at, something that helps them to focus their mind on other things."

"We would show them a fake reality. Something that isn't real." Valerian had replied. And then he had added "Worse than that, we would use some form of propaganda to show the people how awesome we are." Propaganda, the same tool his father had used.

So he had agreed on having a Christmas-party inside the Palace. And not just any party, oh hell no! Within less than two months almost _every_ important person had announced that they would be there. The Imperial Palace hadn't been able to keep up with the demand and it had led to a cruel contest on who's gonna get a ticket to the palace! And boy, it had turned into one ugly show of "Who's gonna make it to the finals?"

There were even some who called the party Valerian's own version of "The Bachelor". You know, that UNN show where a rich guy starts to date girls in order to find the one with the biggest...brain.

They had canceled the show after the last bachelor had taken a girl to the "Zergling-Rodeo".

Now everybody on the core worlds knew that there was no such thing as a "Zergling-Rodeo". And that lemons didn't repel Zerglings.

Poor Maria. So young. So beautiful...

When Valerian looked into the mirror, he had to sigh. The fact that he was the premium bachelor on Korhal and possibly in the entire Dominion wasn't really helping him lifting his spirits. The man in front of him didn't remind him of that cocky brat that had used half of the Dominion's fleet to venture to Char in order to defeat the Queen of Blades. Back then, he had believed that his plan would work. He had invested enormous amounts of resources and years of his life into making it work. And he hadn't believed that it would turn out bad for him. But it had.

If his past self could see him right now, he would probably be content, knowing that he had achieved his goal; to replace his father as the "best Emperor the people could ask for". His current self would probably vomit all over himself if that should ever happen. Speaking of "current self"...

"I still think that your old haircut was better." the man next to Valerian said. He was one of the many valets that took care of his every need. Valerian turned his head to one side and then to the other in order to take a good look at himself. Now that his pigtail was gone, he felt somewhat naked. His new haircut was short, and according to his personal valet, he looked "less than a pirate, and more like a politician right now". He wasn't sure if that was meant as an insult or not.

"Well, at least I won't trip over my saber anymore." Valerian said and checked the suit. He didn't wear his usual dress uniform, but a black suit with a black tie. The correct term would be "dressed to kill". The new look hadn't been his idea, but if he was brutally honest with himself, then he had to admit that he liked it. He turned around so he could take a good look at himself.

"Well, at least the people from the gossip press will love the new look." he muttered to himself.

"Indeed. I think that after tonight, your look will set the standards for the next year's trends." his valet said. It was probably meant as a compliment, but Valerian was too busy having grim thoughts to care about that. He then looked over his shoulder.

"Has Admiral Horner arrived yet?" he wanted to know.

"No, your Majesty." another servant in the background answered.

"Any idea where he could be?"

"Not at the moment. We will inform you once he has arrived." the man replied. Valerian sighed again, it had turned into the national sport within the last few months. Maybe he could turn it into a world championship. The winner would get a lifetime supply of aspirin. He looked at the clock on the wall and frowned. Just two more hours until the party would start and he hadn't heard anything from Matt. Perhaps it said something about Valerian's character, but he felt naked without Matt being around. They were more than just partners in crime, he considered Matt to be one of his few true friends. And maybe the only one he could talk to about all the crap they had to deal with. Who else was there? Jim? He respected Jim, really, he did. He was the kind of man you either adored or hated. His father had hated him, but he respected him. Without Jim Raynor, they would all have died a long time ago. However, right now Jim Raynor wasn't exactly in the right condition to be of any help to anyone, including himself.

Valerian looked one more time into the mirror. While staring at his own reflection, he couldn't shake an uneasy feeling in the back of his mind. Like a storm that was about to hit them.

"Anything else I should know?" he then asked.

"A lot of things, Emperor." another servant told him. "However, that can wait until the end of the party. The first guests will arrive in less than half an hour. You are scheduled to arrive at the party in one hour. Before that, there are still several dignitaries that would like to introduce themselves to you." The work of an Emperor just never ended.

"Oh, and you will meet Lady Samson in a few minutes, your companion for the duration of the party." the man said. Valerian's eyes widened when he heard that.

"Wait, what? _Who_ said anything about a companion? _No one_ said anything about a companion!" he complained. The man didn't even flinch when he looked at Valerian.

"Fear not, your Majesty. Lady Samson was handpicked. She is the daughter of Tacitus Samson, the-" he started.

"I know who Tacitus Samson is!" Valerian barked. Tacitus Samson, also known as "the Iceberg", was one of the most influential people in Augustgrad. He had earned a fortune as a banker and later had bought many skyscrapers on Augustgrad when the real estate market had collapsed. During that time no one had invested into Korhal. Instead, the rich had bought real estates on Tarsonis, a dead certain investment. Well, they got the "dead" part right...

After the loss of Tarsonis, "the Iceberg" had used his power to turn himself into one of the most important people in Augustgrad and the Dominion. He even had given the Dominion one hell of a loan during Arcturus's rule. Valerian knew not much about the man himself. Apparently, he was the kind of person who liked to remain in the shadows. But Valerian couldn't just ignore the rich and wealthy. He needed their support, even if most of them had a shady character...

Okay, pretty much all of them had a shady character.

There was one advice his father had given him when dealing with this kind of people, one that Valerian still kept in his heart.

"Never ask them how they earned their first million." Arcturus had told him.

"Why did no one tell me about that?" Valerian wanted to know and returned to the here and now. "And I didn't even know that the Iceberg has a daughter!" The servant flinched when he heard old Samson's nickname. Apparently, unofficial nicknames were things an emperor shouldn't use.

"Valeria Penelope Artemis Kunigunde Samson is not only-" the man started, but Valerian stopped listening after the first word.

"Valeria?" he yelled. "Are you kidding me?" He looked at the man in utter disbelief.

"It is a traditional name, and I fail to see why it upsets you, your Majesty." the man said with a straight face.

"Valeria. Valerian Mengsk and Valeria Samson. Seriously? That's like...Jane and John! Or Bill or Bonnie!" he ranted.

"Rest assured, your Majesty; there will be no one with the name Bill nor the name Bonnie on the party."

"That's not what I meant!" Valerian snarled and turned towards the man. "Who said that I need someone to accompany me to the party? And why is that person the daughter of one of the most influential fat cats in the entire Dominion?!" The servant shivered again when he heard the term "fat cat".

"Your Majesty, perhaps we should talk about the proper use of language before the party starts. Now, I am aware of the fact that you have spent considerable time among _less_ refined people..." That was actually a nice way of describing the Raiders. "...but perhaps you should consider _not_ using these kinds of words when-"

"Stop avoiding my question!" Valerian interrupted him. "Who said that I wanted to have this woman accompany me anyway? And why didn't anyone inform me about it?" The servant didn't answer immediately. And that short moment of silence made Valerian frown.

"What?"

No answer.

"Who's behind it?"

Again no answer.

"Since everyone calls me "Your Majesty", you might consider answering my GODDAMN QUESTIONS!" he yelled in barely contained anger. The servant looked at the other man in the room, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't look at me!" he said. "I'm just here to make sure that his Majesty looks good." The servant, who had told him about Samson, sighed.

"It is simply the policy of the Imperial Palace to make sure that his Imperial Majesty will always look good in public and that he has not to deal with certain things." Well, that was ambiguous.

"What do you mean _; certain things_?" Valerian asked.

"Certain _unimportant_ things. Things his Imperial Majesty cannot deal with because he is too busy." You know that something is wrong if someone addresses you while using the third person.

"I repeat my question; What certain things?" Valerian insisted. Now he could see the sweat on the man's forehead.

"Nothing too important. Things that normal people can do because they have plenty of time. Like finding the right person to-" Suddenly Valerian understood what the servant meant.

"Oh no! Nonononono! You did not choose her so she could be...hell no!" he yelled. He sounded like Jim right now. The servant lowered his gaze.

"Forgive me for not telling you, but we believed it to be of no importance. Valeria Samson hails from an influential family. She has attained several degrees in law and history and is known for both her beauty and her keen intellect. She speaks several languages, and in younger years she briefly considered to become a professional tennis player. She's also still young and has stated that she enjoys walks at the beach and romantic dinners. She has also told us that she wants to have several children within the next couple of years and-"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Valerian screamed. "Are you telling me that I should have sex with that woman?!" This time the servant didn't flinch.

"Well, preferably not during the party. You should meet Lady Samson and learn about her before you should consider sexual intercourse. However, as Emperor of the Dominion, you have a responsibility towards your lineage. And it is in the interest of the Imperial Throne that we shall see an heir within the next few years." The way the man talked it sounded like he was talking about stock breeding.

"Wait, is this some sick way of telling me that you intend to use both her and me for stock breeding?" The other servant almost choked when he heard that, but the one who talked to him didn't deny that.

"It is not the term we would use, but if it makes you feel better: Yes. That is-"

"Out of the question!" Valerian refused. He knew that the life as the Emperor was not just sunshine and happiness. Aw, who was he kidding; the life of the Emperor was anything _but_ sunshine and happiness. He had spent most of his childhood on the run, only protected by his father's bodyguards. So he had never enjoyed a normal childhood. And now that he was Emperor, not much had changed. He knew that his title didn't mean that he could rule like a god, that there were limits to his power and influence. But if there was one thing that he wouldn't do, then it was to bring a child into this world so he could solidify his rule. There were better reasons to have children.

"If you are concerned that Lady Samson is unattractive, rest assured. As a matter of fact, she is very pretty and considered to become a professional model in younger years before she decided to focus all her efforts on her education." Former tennis pro and former supermodel. Oh yeah, the gossip press would love that. Suddenly Valerian could see where this thing was going. And he didn't like it at all.

"When did this start? And why am I only hearing of this now?" he demanded to know.

"Well..." the man tried to avoid answering Valerian's question.

"Spit it out!" the Emperor barked and the servant finally relented.

"We had to act quickly. We had approached Mr. Samson some time ago." the servant said.

"Define " _some time_ "." Valerian snarled.

"Roughly two weeks after the, well, demise of your predecessor, the late Emperor Arcturus Mengsk and-"

"Let me get this straight:" Valerian interrupted him. "My old man's body wasn't even cold yet, and you looked for someone I could marry and make babies with?" Oh, the nerve these people had!

"Your Majesty, I swear that we only acted in the best interest of-"

"Who?" Valerian interrupted him again. "Who's "we"?" he demanded to know. The servant took his sweet time with the answer.

"The Imperial Court is responsible for both the Emperor's wellbeing and the future of the imperial bloodline. Something your predecessor wasn't too fond of and-"

"Neither am I!" Valerian barked. "This nonsense stops now, you hear me? I don't intend to be turned into some kind of...stud, so the Imperial Court can act like they know what's best for the Empire. And why the hell didn't anyone tell me sooner?! Or did you expect that I would pull your plug once I heard about that?"

"Actually...we were already asked to not pursue this line of actions." the servant told him.

"By whom?" Valerian wanted to know.

"Admiral Horner. He told us to leave you alone." Right now, Valerian wasn't sure wherever he should be mad at Matt or thank him. Mad because he hadn't told him about this ridiculous behavior. But thankful because at least Matt didn't treat him like a mindless idiot.

"Wait, why didn't you stop when you were told to? Don't tell me that you worked on this behind Matt's back all the time?" Valerian wanted to know. The servant went pale when he heard that and raised his hands in defense.

"Oh no! No, your Majesty! We just thought that... since... the Admiral... is nowhere... to be found..." he started to stutter.

"Wait a sec... you planned all of this in less than 24 hours?!" The servant had to gulp when he realized that he wasn't getting out of this unscathed.

"We had a lot of time to prepare, your Majesty. And might I add in self-defense that I-"

"I don't care!" Valerian told him. "I just don't care. Tell your buddies that I do not like it if someone wants to plan who I should marry. Is that understood?" The servant gulped again, but he seemed to grow bolder.

"With all due respect, your Majesty, but our only motivation is to do what is right for the Dominion and the imperial family. What we do is for the good of all of us." Now Valerian turned around and walked towards the man. He stopped right in front of him and looked him straight into the eyes.

" _I_ decide what's best for the Dominion and the imperial family. Is that understood?" he hissed. Perhaps he sounded more intimidating that he initially wanted to sound. But when the servant nodded and didn't say anything else, Valerian knew that he had made his point.

"Am I interrupting you guys?" a new voice suddenly reached Valerian's ears. The Emperor turned around and felt relieved.

"Jim! You're here!"

James Raynor entered the room, his bodyguard Smith right behind him. He gave Valerian a wide grin and opened his arms.

"Wasn't even gone in the first place. I spent the night here. Besides, I wanted to be here before all the fat cats arrive and _whoa_!" Suddenly he stopped and took a good look at Valerian. "Whozza, Junior! New look? I like it! Especially the new haircut." Valerian raised his hand and grabbed his ponytail, only to feel that it was gone. It was a habit he would have to get rid of as fast as possible.

"Well, I guess it was time for a change." Valerian muttered before he looked at Jim. An exhausted smile appeared on the Emperor's face. "But I'm just happy that you decided to come. Truth to be told: I didn't think you would show up after our little talk." Instead of being angry, Jim's smile became even wider.

"Naaaaa. I gave you my word, didn't I? Oh, wait...no, I didn't. Never mind, I'm not a quitter. Besides, maybe this whole party will turn out somewhat _interesting_." The way Jim pronounced the word interesting made Valerian shudder.

"Jim, what did you do?" Suddenly he remembered their little talk from the day before and his face went pale. "Oh no. You didn't." he just whispered. The grin on Jim's face became absurdly wide.

"Oh yeah, I did!" he then said. "But relax, she took it like a real man... so to speak." Valerian didn't know what to say. He had thought that Jim had just made a joke back then. For future reference; always let Jim write down what he was exactly going to do.

"So, will Curtland beeeeee..." Valerian wanted to know, but Jim just shrugged his shoulders.

"Dunno. She wasn't exactly _pleased_ with the idea of coming to the party. I would say the chances are fifty-fifty. Sorry, Junior, that was the best I could do for you." Jim added. It made Valerian sigh. He walked over to a table with a cup of coffee on it. He grabbed the cup and closed his eyes.

"Well, I guess that is more than I could have asked for. Though I'm glad that you didn't tell her that I may be interested in her or something like that. Could have been awkward." the Emperor said and took a sip from his coffee.

"Oh, I told her that you're madly in love with her."

"PFFFFFFFFRRRRR!" The coffee exited Valerian's mouth with the speed of sound and he nearly choked on it.

"Funny, that's what she said." Jim just told him with a straight face. Valerian needed some time in order to regain control over his body, and he had to take more than one deep breath before he had finally calmed down.

"No... *cough*...no, you...you didn't..." he coughed. The grin never left Jim's face.

"Oh, you didn't think that I would let you off the hook that easily. Come on, Junior, thought you knew me better than that!"

"You're the devil!" Valerian managed to gurgle, but Jim only waved his hand in front of his face.

"Yeah, yeah, remember, I used to be _the_ enemy of the state. They called me an anarchist. Well, who am I to disappoint them?" Jim said. Valerian, after he had calmed down, sighed and turned back towards Jim.

"You know, in hindsight, I should probably have asked someone else for help."

"Aaaah, quit being such a wuss, Junior!" Jim then told him. "It's party time! And you know what? I'm in the mood to party! So, where's the booze?" he wanted to know. Valerian gave him a sour look and then he turned around. He looked at the clock on the wall and sighed again.

"Guess I should greet the guests that are already here." he said to himself. The servant behind him nodded frantically.

"An excellent idea, your Majesty!" he agreed. "While doing so I will inform you about-"

"YOU!" Valerian suddenly yelled and pointed his finger at the man. "...have done quite enough. Thanks for your input, but your services are no longer needed. YOU!" he then pointed at the valet who had basically dressed him. Valerian stretched his arms out and looked at the man. "...does it look good?" The valet shuddered when he looked at the Emperor.

"The women will throw themselves at you and the men will curse you for your good looks." the valet moaned. It was actually a rather creepy display of adoration.

"I take that as a yes then." Valerian said dryly. And finally...

"YOU!" he yelled and pointed his finger at Jim. "...can come with me. I need some fresh air, care to join me?" This time the smile on Jim's face was warm and gentle.

"Sure. Lead the way, Junior."

* * *

The opening ceremony of the party was about to start. However, as Jim looked at Valerian, he knew that the young Emperor had other things on his minds. They walked through one of the many corridors of the palace. It was so easy to get lost inside this building. Smith followed them, but he kept so much distance that they could talk without having to fear someone eavesdropping on them.

"You seem worried." Jim finally said. Valerian didn't reply immediately. Instead, he looked at the floor beneath his feet. He had his hands in his pockets and right now he looked like a devilishly good-looking bachelor, not like the most powerful human in the Koprulu Sector.

"There's a lot on my mind right now." Valerian finally whispered. They walked to one of the many balconies of the palace and when Valerian stopped, so did Jim. The Emperor turned around and walked up to the balustrade. He put his hands on it and looked down on the courtyard. Jim leaned against a pillar and looked at the skyline of Augustgrad. Now that the daylight was gone, most of the city glittered in artificial light. He had to admit; there was a certain charm to it. Augustgrad could look pretty, but only from the distance. And only if it wanted to

"Wanna talk about it?" he offered to Valerian. The Emperor shrugged his shoulders.

"I doubt that you could help me with that. And I don't want to bother you with my problems."

"Didn't stop you from calling me out here." Jim reminded him, which made Valerian sigh yet again.

"That's true." he whispered and lowered his gaze. Jim looked at Valerian's profile for a while before he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"What's the matter, Junior? I can see that something's bothering you. I'm here, I can listen. But you have to talk to me."

"I..." Valerian started, but it was clear that it wasn't easy for him to speak about it. Jim was an expert on knowing people, he could tell that Valerian had huge problems talking about it. But then he saw how Valerian took a deep breath and braced himself.

"These last two days have made me thinking..." he started to explain.

"Obviously." Jim muttered, but Valerian didn't hear him. Instead, he looked down at the courtyard and frowned.

"Without Matt, I'm absolutely lost. Right now, everyone is breathing down my neck and tells me what to do. Like who I should date or who should be the mother of my children."

"Oh, so that's what this weird talk was just about!" Jim then said. "Oh, now it all makes sense." Valerian cared for none of that, however.

"I'm just not sure if I'm the right man for the job." he continued and looked up to the dark night sky. "We're doing a good job here, I know it. Deep in my bones, you know?" Jim nodded when he heard that.

"Yeah, know that feeling. Know it all too well..." he whispered.

"And yet, people refuse to accept that. They want that everything returns to the way it was. Even if that past was actually damn horrible _and_ if there's no way that it's possible. It's like they enjoyed living under a damn fascist." When Jim heard that, he pulled his brows up. It was the first time Valerian referred to his father as "damn fascist".

"You're just under a lot of pressure." the older man then said. "It's absolutely normal to doubt yourself. I would be more alarmed if you would run around like a grinning idiot, not caring about the world around you." However, Valerian didn't really seem to be content with that answer.

"I just can't shake the feeling that I'm not the right man for the job. And everybody seems to agree with that. So how did you do it, Jim? You and your Raiders, you did the impossible. And you succeeded. Compared to that, our problems must be completely ridiculous...and yet it appears I'm not even man enough to deal with that much!"

 _He is nothing like the stories tell he was. He is so much more human than I thought._ her voice echoed through Jim's mind.

"He's not his father." he told her, knowing that he wasn't really talking to anyone but himself. Valerian looked over at him and frowned.

"What did you say?"

"Nothin'." Jim then replied before he sighed. He stepped next to the Emperor and put his arms on the balustrade. "Junior, listen; what we did, what the Raiders did... that was nothing. Oh sure, we fought for others and saved the day. But at the end of that day, we were just a bunch of guys and gals who wanted to fight for a better world. You get what I'm saying?" But Valerian shook his head.

"No, not really." he told him, which caused Jim to groan.

"Okay. New try. I once had an argument with a former ally. We had just liberated New Folsom and that guy said that, even if we were able to deal with Men...your father, there would be just another Mengsk after him."

"Guess he had a point." Valerian replied dryly, which made Jim chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess. Matt didn't like that thought though. He said that this was not just about us. This was bigger. It was about a bold new future." He then took his time to gather his thoughts. "I faced death countless times. By now it has lost its terror to me. I've seen enough death, I have lost enough people that I cared for. But when I listened to Matt and how he believed every single word about that better future, I couldn't help but feel elevated. A better world. A peaceful world. That's one hell of a tall order, you know." Then he shivered. It was getting cold outside and it started to snow again.

"Back then I realized that I couldn't be a part of this brave new world. Not because I don't want to, but because I simply lack the strength to start all over again." He then looked Valerian straight into the eyes. "I know what you're thinking. There are countless people who say that the current generation can't deal with those problems. And I know that some say that the Emperor hasn't the balls necessary for the job. But let me tell you one thing; this isn't about balls, it's about another part of your body, one that is far more important than those."

"I don't think I want to know what you're talking about." Valerian muttered, but it caused Jim only to grin.

"It's your spine. Junior, you are doing something no one else could. You faced your old man's rage, you decided that you wouldn't be just another one of his puppets. So, whoever calls you a weakling, doesn't know shit about you. So, cheer up. Besides, what's life without enemies?"

"Calm and beautiful?" Valerian offered.

"Meh. Come on, it's time to blow these grim thoughts away!" Jim then told him.

"And how's that going to work? Wait, I don't want to know..." the Emperor said, but it was already too late.

"Let's get down there and greet your guests! Let's bust this party, Raider-style!"

* * *

To say that there was a crowd in front of the palace would have been a lie. It was a goddamn movement! Thousands of people had come just to witness this moment. It was _the_ social event of the entire year, and even though most people inside the Dominion had more important things to worry about, they still all wanted to witness this moment. Those who weren't here right now watched the whole thing on Holo-net. UNN had made sure that they owned the exclusive rights to pretty much everything. And even though no one wanted to admit it; both in the Combine and the Protectorate many people watched this show as well.

And like any good party where celebrities were involved, this one had a red carpet. It probably said something about the character of the people living in this city. Both the ones that waited next to the carpet and the ones who were about to walk over it. Only here the "fans" could be so close to their idols that they could almost touch them. Among the honored guest were some of the biggest holo-net-stars, not just of Korhal, but the entire Koprulu Sector.

It was even rumored that Dawn Roberts Senior would be here, even though officially she was still in rehab. But her new movie "Woman of Iron 4" was about to hit the cinemas and most critics agreed that it would blow the records set by the three predecessors out of the water.

Only a few days ago the full title was "leaked".

"Woman of Iron 4 vs. the King of Blades": An action/romance superhero movie where the heroine of the movie would finally manage to save her long-lost lover from the clutches of the horrible Zurg by using an ancient artifact that...

...oh, who came up with such a lame story, huh?

Point is; a lot of stars were expected to come to the party. It was a give and take for both the celebrities and the Imperial Palace. And stars had to walk a red carpet, period. They weren't the only guests though. Some people that were _actually_ important were already inside the palace. You know, people like this "Iceberg"-guy. The fat cats. The people who possessed so much money or power or both that they _didn't_ want to walk a red carpet. In the end, it was all a show. And every show was just as good as its host.

Speaking of which...

"Good evening and a Merry Christmas! This is your host for tonight's Christmas-show, live from the Imperial Palace, Donny Vermillion!" When Donny's face appeared on all the screens all over the sector, more than one person frowned. Vermillion? Hadn't that guy left UNN a couple of years ago? Well, apparently he was back, thanks to the help of an old friend.

As the first limousine stopped right in front of the main gate, the cameras zoomed in. A few dozen meters away stood a small podium. Donny Vermillion sitting on top of it and he smiled into a camera.

"Hello, Augustgrad! Hello, Korhal! Hello everyone else! This is Donny Vermillion, live from the Imperial Palace! That's right, your favorite host is back! And just right in time to guide you through this evening's program! Tonight we are having one hell of a show ahead of us. But first things first, let me introduce you to my co-host and good friend, Mrs. Amanda Siehlers!" Donny looked different. His hair had turned gray and there were a lot of new wrinkles on his face. He looked at least ten years older. Oh, and his mustache was gone. He was also a lot thinner. But his eyes...his eyes sparkled with life. He looked like someone who had finally regained control over his life.

As Matt locked at the holo-screen, he had to frown too.

"I always wondered what had happened to him." he mumbled. The woman who sat right opposite to him had to chuckle.

"Oh, Donny is alright. He went through a lot, but now he just wants to do what he's best at; entertaining people." the woman said. Matt looked over at her and couldn't help but blush. Right in front of him sat none other than Kate Lockwell. She wore a black dress that left surprisingly little to one's imagination. From his position, Matt had a good look at her long legs. Since you usually saw only her upper body on holo-net, not many people knew that she had _really_ long legs.

"Eyes up here, Admiral."

"Huh?" Matt just mumbled. At least he wasn't drooling.

"You're live!"

"WHAT?! THAT'S NOT WHAT WE AGREED ON!" he suddenly yelled and felt how his heart skipped a beat. But Kate just started to laugh. It was not a sinister laugh, it was just gleeful amusement that came out of her throat. Only when Matt realized that the small camera-drone hovering next to Kate's head was switched off, he sighed relieved.

"Perhaps this was a mistake..." he muttered, which caused Kate to chuckle again.

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that. Besides, you were the one who offered this whole outfit to me, remember?" That's right. Kate could still remember her surprise when the Admiral had visited her in her little apartment. However, instead of telling her that he had a secret crush on her, he had just asked her if she would accompany him to the party. And then he had asked her if he could use her shower and grab something to eat. He hadn't been alone either. Right now, there was someone else in the car aside from them. She hadn't talked to this Captain Brent before, but for some reason, she knew that she wouldn't get much out of that young man. Besides, the two officers looked like they had spent the night in the gutter. And especially Brent looked like something was disturbing him.

"And you're sure you don't want to tell me why you and your adjutant looked like you've seen a _ghost_?" Kate asked with a grin on her face. But when she said "ghost", she could see how Matt tensed up and went pale again. It was perhaps a bad choice of words, but how could she have known that he had indeed seen a ghost. Or an ex-Confederate-Ghost, to be more precise.

"Never mind that..." she could hear him whisper. Hmm, this could be an interesting story. She had to tell her people to investigate it.

"You know..." she then interrupted Matt's thought. "...I'm still somewhat sad that you left the studio so quickly. I had hoped that we could talk about one or two things afterward. Like your performance during the interview."

"I'm pretty sure that I don't want to talk about it." Matt just growled, which cause the reporter to giggle like a little school-girl.

"Oh, there's still a lot of time to talk about that. Don't worry, you won't get away from me anyway."

"Now I'm certain that this was a mistake." Matt whispered again. He then looked at the little camera-drone that hovered next to Kate's head and then back at her. He had to admit that right now Kate didn't look anything like the professional reporter that he had learned to avoid. "I hope this thing isn't on. You remember what we agreed on, right?"

"Oh relax, Admiral. I know the deal. It'll only record things when I tell it to and it only has an internal hard drive. I can't send it to our servers and you can take a look at the material afterward. Though I have to say; this whole material would have a lot more impact if we could broadcast it live." she explained. Matt looked at the little screen inside the limousine and pointed at Donny's face.

"I'm pretty sure that this guy would have ripped us a new one if he could commentate on everything you broadcast live to the public. I know Vermillion." Matt growled. A warm smile appeared on Kate's face.

"Donny is not a bad man. Sure, he has done a lot of stupid things in the past, but he has worked hard to get his life back under control. And even though he was probably the worst boss of all times, he was one of the very few who actually gave me a chance. I'm simply returning the favor." Matt looked at the monitor and failed to see any good qualities in that man. To him, Donny Vermillion had always been the face of Mengsk's propaganda-regime.

"Just make sure that he will never ever host a political discussion again." he growled while looking at the monitor.

"And here comes the next car! I can hardly wait to see which celebrity will come out next." he could hear Vermillion's voice through the loudspeakers. "Well, look who it is! It's Brandon Marlo! And he's not dead, he has just lost a lot of weight! Looking good, Mrs. Marlo!" Donny said.

"Don't worry." Kate reassured him. "Donny only gets to host the celebrity-shows and those for social events like this one. And truth to be told, I think he likes his new job. People listen to him, he gets a decent paycheck and has a lot of time to write his memoirs." Matt shuddered when he heard that.

"I don't think it's a good idea for him to do that." the Admiral just said, which caused Kate to laugh out loud.

"Ah, don't be afraid. I actually got to read the first few chapters. He's working on it for years now but hasn't managed to get very far. He likes to point out all the tiny details, like when he started to speak and what his first word was. And his second. And third. I doubt that he will reach his own puberty in our lifetime. Actually, I think that he's just doing for himself. I give you a heads-up though should he ever finish it and look for a publisher."

"That would be lovely." Matt mumbled. Their car was just about to reach the red carpet, there was only one limousine ahead of them. That's when Matt decided to turn the screen off. He wasn't interested in seeing which celebrity would get out of the car.

Perhaps he should have kept the monitor switched on because the next person was someone he might have recognized in an instant.

Or not.

It's hard to say if you can recognize a ghost if you see one...

* * *

"Well, I can hardly wait to see the next celebrity to join us at the party, what do you think, Amanda?" Donny asked from his little booth and looked over to Amanda Siehlers. The self-proclaimed "expert" on celebrities nodded frantically as if Donny had just told her the most mind-blowing secret in the whole galaxy. Like that lemon-juice was the mortal enemy of Zerg.

So, let's get one thing straight; Zerg don't care about lemons.

It was necessary to repeat this statement because there had been cases where soldiers had replaced the grenades inside their grenade-belts with lemons.

Zerg do not fear lemons. And grenades do more damage to them than citrus fruits.

The next limousine stopped right in front of the carpet and a servant opened the door. It was a rare opportunity for all those stars. Usually, only the normal people worshiped them. But today even the men and women working inside the Imperial Palace treated them like V.I.P's. Naturally, this meant a lot to their already overblown egos.

"And here we have the next guest. And that is... that is..." Donny stuttered. "Who is that?" He looked over to his co-host, but Amanda just shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't think I have ever seen this woman before." she said to him and all the watchers out there. Donny frowned and looked at his papers right in front of him.

"I can't work like this!" the viewers all over the sector could hear him hiss. "What kind of preparation is this? I need those information, people! Which imbecile..." Pretty much everyone could witness how the old Donny Vermillion broke to the surface for a few seconds. But then Donny took a deep breath and regained his composure.

"Well, people, I guess this is a surprise guest. She's not on the list and we will try to... oh my..." he suddenly stopped when the lithe figure fully emerged from the car.

Whoever she was, she looked stunning. No, screw that; on a scale of one to ten, she was a perfect twelve. There was something oddly familiar about her, but Donny couldn't really say what it was. The woman had flaming red hair and he could see her sparkling green eyes even from his position. She looked through the masses and Donny could feel how a cold chill ran down his spine. He couldn't really explain it, but it felt like this woman wasn't even human, but something else...

"That must be the most beautiful dress I have ever seen." Amanda whispered next to him. And he had to agree. The woman wore a dress made out of...silk? It glittered and looked almost like silk. However, at the same time, it looked like liquid metal. He had never seen anything like it. It had the color of copper, which was already an unusual color, especially for an expensive dress. But the woman looked like she and her dress were one. As she walked the red carpet, the crowd fell silent. There were some stars signing autographs and they seemed angry because someone was stealing the spotlight away from them. But when they turned around and saw the red-haired woman passing by, they couldn't help but gasp in surprise (and sometimes shock).

No one said a word. All you could hear was the muffled clicking of her shoes. She walked up to the guards at the entrance to the Palace. For a second Donny wondered if they would stop her. Even the celebrities had to show their invitation to them. No invitation, no entry allowed. However, the woman didn't show her invitation. Instead, she just walked towards the men and gave them a faint smile. When she had reached them, they stood at attention. They didn't ask for her invitation or who she was. She simply walked inside and no one dared to stop her.

After some moments of silence, the crowd started to get louder again.

"Oh, there's the next car!" Amanda then said. Donny blinked in confusion. Hadn't he just witnessed how someone had entered the palace? Someone who wasn't on the list?

However, he couldn't remember. It was as if there was a black hole inside his mind. Meh, it didn't matter. He shook his head and turned his attention back towards the next car.

"You're right, Amanda! Here's the next guest. Let's see who's going to come out. Oh! Oh! OH!" he screamed like he was experiencing some very intense feelings

"Look at that! It is Admiral Matt Horner! And this is something that makes my heart burst with joy! With him is my good friend and colleague, the one and only Kate Lockwell!"

* * *

When Matt stepped out of the car, he offered his hand to Kate who grabbed it with a thankful smile on her hand.

"Thank you, oh my Admiral." Kate cooed, which caused Matt to groan on the inside. As they stepped out of the car, Brent waited a few seconds before he followed them. You could see how he avoided the cameras and most of the red carpet. And the cameras completely ignored the Captain as well. Lucky him. Matt, however, wasn't so lucky. He offered his arm to Kate, who grabbed it and put on a wide smile. As they walked the red carpet, Matt could already imagine tomorrow's headlines.

"You do know..." Kate suddenly whispered to him so no one else could hear what she was saying. "...they will speak of nothing else tomorrow." He sighed when he heard that.

"You think they will claim that we're a couple?" he wanted to know, which caused her to giggle.

"Oh Admiral!" she teased him. "Tomorrow they will write about the fact that we're having an affair for years and that I'm pregnant with twins!" Imagining that was enough for Matt to start to sweat like crazy. Right next to Lockwell's head her camera-drone started to record every single word. Oh, great.

"This whole outlook doesn't seem to bother you, Mrs. Lockwell." he then whispered before he smiled into the crowd.

"Oh, it doesn't. It's a game, Admiral. If you're working as a journalist, you have to stay interesting and on people's sensors. Half of the job is just about that."

"I thought that half of the job is about uncovering the truth." Matt mumbled before they reached the guards at the entrance, which caused Kate to laugh out loud.

"Oh, hahaha! You are so cute, Admiral. That's really adorable!" Okay, now she was starting to freak him out. When they finally reached the guards, they saluted right in front of him.

"Good evening, Admiral!" the officer in charge said. Brent, who stood next to them, grabbed his jacket and pulled a card out. He handed it towards a guard, who just nodded and allowed Brent to go inside. Matt did the same thing. He grabbed his ticket, pulled it out and...

...well, he would have pulled it out. However, there was a slight problem with that.

"Oh no." he said. He opened his jacket and locked into his pockets.

"Problems?" Kate wanted to know. Instead of being worried, her grin became even wider.

"It seems that...hold on...where did I put it?" He searched all his pockets, but he simply couldn't find his invitation. Oh, it had to be in his other uniform. The one that was soaked with booze. He sighed and shook his head.

"This isn't my week." He then looked over to the guard. "Sorry, Captain. I think I forgot my invitation back at..." Lockwell's apartment. Great. Better not talk about that. The Captain nodded when he heard that.

"I understand." he just said.

"Great." Matt sighed relieved. "In that case, I would like-" But instead the Captain turned around and said something to one of his men.

"Tell a driver to come here and pick the Admiral up. He needs to get his invitation." When Matt heard that, his eyes widened in shock.

"What? No, wait...Captain, just let me in."

"I am really sorry, Admiral, but I can't do that."

"Son, you do know who I am, right?" Matt growled. The Captain didn't even flinch when looked at Matt.

"Of course, Admiral Horner. But I have my orders. Without an official invitation, you're not allowed to enter. These were _your_ orders, Sir."

Well, wasn't that just peachy _? Now_ Matt had to find an officer who had principles. He turned around to Kate, but he knew it was pointless. She was his guest and only he was allowed to bring someone along who hadn't been on the list. However, instead of being angry, he could see the gleeful amusement all over her face.

"I'm terribly sorry for that, but it appears that I will have to send Brent back to your...wait..." he turned around and looked inside. "Brent! Captain Brent!" But the Captain was already inside and couldn't hear him.

"Oh hell no." He sighed and felt the urge to return to the Hyperion in order to drink some more booze. He turned back towards Kate and pulled his shoulders up.

"I am terribly sorry, I hope you're not angry or disappointed with-"

"Are you friggin kiddin' me?" Kate interrupted him, a stupid grin on her face. "This is awesome! That is category A 1 behind-the-scenes-material!" she said and pointed at her camera-drone. "The people will love it!" Only then Matt realized how deep in trouble he was. He groaned again and looked at the guard, who tried to suppress his own amusement.

"Hehe...forgive me, Admiral. A driver will take you to the...uhm...where do you have to go?" he wanted to know. Matt wanted to reply anything _but_ "Kate Lockwell's apartment". Unfortunately, Kate was more vicious than a Hydralisk.

"Oh, we need to go to my apartment." she told the guard-captain.

"Your apartment?" he asked with a surprised tone in his voice. Kate nodded and Matt braced himself for the next thing she was about to say.

"Yes, he left his invitation in my apartment, like the rest of his clothes!" she said loud enough so pretty much everyone in the vicinity could hear her.

 _What have I done to deserve this?_ Matt asked himself.


	33. Act II - Chapter 9

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 9**

 **Bad People do Bad Things**

* * *

There were actually two parties going on right now inside the palace. Though you would probably only call one of them an actual party. The other one looked and felt more like a business meeting...

The Imperial Palace had planned this event for months now, and there was a strict plan for it; The stars, celebrities, rich and famous would enjoy themselves inside the ballroom. There was a huge buffet, there were many cameras and there was a lot of laughter, and people just were having one hell of a good time. However, that was only the official face of this whole event. The other party took place inside the throne room and was off limits to those who were inside the ballroom. It was the place where the truly rich and powerful were gathering in order to figure out new ways on how to make even more money or screw each other over. And of course, no cameras were allowed.

Now, Captain Joseph Brent didn't know any of this when he entered the ballroom. All he did was to stop and look around. He had no idea wherever he should be amazed or intimidated. So many suits and dresses! And... wait, was that Dawn Roberts Senior? The most successful actress of her generation? He managed not to stare as the woman walked right by him, at least he hoped so. He couldn't really tell since he hadn't regained full control of both his body and his brain yet. He would never drink again. Never. Again.

Yep, it was Dawn Roberts Senior, no doubt about it. He remembered having a poster of her first Iron Woman movie hanging over his bed back when he had been a teenager. He blushed when he remembered having a crush on her back then...and now he was so close, he could practically touch her!

Brent looked around and had to swallow hard. He recognized a lot of these faces, both from movies and other medias. Dear Lord, who wasn't here right now? Brent felt highly uncomfortable right now. He had never been on a high-profile society event before. The closest thing he could remember was the graduation party back at the academy. But the day before that the doctors had decided to defuse his appendix by removing it, so he had missed that party. As he watched the countless celebrities in front of him, he tried to recall what they had taught them at the academy. Not about tactic and strategy, but about etiquette. An officer was supposed to know how to dance, how to properly use a knife, a spoon and a fork and the difference between "your" and "you're".

Once _you're_ in possession of that knowledge, _your_ chances of embarrassing yourself are really small.

Or something like that...

Of course, Brent couldn't remember how to dance. Though he was lucky because there was not enough room to dance anyway. However, when he saw several huge tables at the other end of the ballroom, he knew that he was saved. A buffet! That meant finger food! Ha, the folks from the academy should see him now. Who needed their useless etiquette anyway, huh? Yeah, who's the man? He's the man!

Oh God, his head was still hurting like hell...

"So, Admiral... what's the plaaaaaaaaAdmiral?" he asked while turning around. Only then he realized that Admiral Horner wasn't there. Brent frowned and looked around. No Admiral. No Lockwell either. Where did they go? Brent sighed, knowing that he should probably look for his superior officer. But then his stomach started to rumble and he knew what it meant. He was famished! Seriously, he hadn't been able to grab something to eat for what felt like forever. And cheap alcohol wasn't exactly something that could sate your hunger. But when the smell of the buffet hit his senses, he just couldn't take it anymore. Like a starving man, he wobbled towards the tables with all that delicious food on it. On his way there he saw even more celebrities. His old pals from school would probably go crazy if they knew that he was _this_ close to Cygnie Miley, you know, former star of that child-show Dana Utah...where did they get those names from anyway? However, Brent had no time to lose, he had to eat! Everything inside his mind was only a blur. The hunger was so big that he had problems concentrating. Everything that had happened the last 24 hours was just one big... blarg. He remembered his trip to the Hyperion. He remembered their little talk. And he remembered how they had returned to Korhal, only for the Admiral to go completely crazy. But in his defense; If that thing that had happened on the Hyperion was indeed real, then it was a miracle that the Admiral was still able to formulate a straight thought.

Though in all honesty; Brent still thought that it had all been an alcohol-induced hallucination.

No. Let's not think about that. The hangover was still too powerful. He would just end up busting his own brain.

When he reached the buffet, there were two other guys standing next to the table.

"...listen, K.K.," the smaller man said. "All I say is that Luke isn't happy with the movie. He said the movie lacks something." K.K.? As in K.K. Bartholomew? The director of the new "Wars between Stars"? K.K. turned around and sighed.

"Seriously? Now Mr. Georgis is having doubts? Should have thought about that earlier. Like, way earlier." K.K. growled, but as fascinating as this was, Brent had more important things to do. When he stood in front of the buffet, he wanted to cry. So much! So delicious! His stomach rumbled again and he was ready to throw himself on the table and devour that shrimps like a Zergling would devour...anything. And guess what, there weren't any spoons, forks or knives either! It was finger-food time! Hell yeah!

"Oh, I'm so gonna enjoy this and-" he said to himself when suddenly a small woman stepped into his path.

"Forgive me, Sir." she said with a stern look on her face. "But the buffet hasn't been opened yet." Brent looked at the smaller woman both desperate and confused. Wait, did she wear a Christmas elf-outfit?

"But... there's food!" he said and wanted to make another step towards the table. The woman put her hand on his chest and pushed him away with a surprising amount of strength.

"I am awfully sorry, Sir!" the woman told him. "But you are only allowed to eat after the Emperor has declared the buffet to be opened." she explained to him. Brent grabbed his own face and started to pull it apart.

"You gotta be kiddin' me!" he hissed. "I'm underpaid, have to work overtime, have to drink poison, get hallucinations, and now I can't even grab a bite?!" But before the woman could reply anything, a loud and clear voice echoed through the entire ballroom.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" the strong voice announced and pretty much everyone inside the ballroom turned their attention towards the staircase at the end of the room. The same staircase that led to the throne room where the truly rich and powerful were having a "good time".

"Please welcome your host for today's festivities. May I present to you; His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Valerian Mengsk, ruler of the Terran Dominion and all its colonies, conqueror of the Swarm and defender of mankind!" The announcer stepped aside and a tall and lean man took his place. Brent had seen the Emperor on several occasions, they had even talked several times already. However, it took him some moments to realize that this man was really the Emperor. The face was the same, but pretty much everyone else looked different. But before he could wonder about the new look of the Emperor, he could hear a woman hissing behind him.

"Conqueror of the Swarm?" a beautiful voice whispered. "Yeah, right..."

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" the announcer said, using his strong and clear voice to reach everyone inside the huge ballroom. He didn't use any technical help as far as Jim knew. So, either he was cheating, or his lungs were huge.

"Please welcome your host for today's festivities. May I present to you; His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Valerian Mengsk!" All the heads inside the ballroom turned towards the staircase leading towards the throne room. The huge door behind them was sealed shut and several guards made sure that no one would enter the other room. The rich and influential fat cats in the throne room expected that no one would bother them. They liked to stay among themselves.

Kinda incestuous if you think about it, but it would certainly explain a lot.

"...ruler of the Terran Dominion and all its colonies, conqueror of the Swarm and defender of mankind!" the announcer declared before stepping aside. Jim shook his head when he heard that, knowing that Valerian wasn't too fond of those ridiculous titles. And apparently, he wasn't the only one.

 _She doesn't like that title. He didn't conquer the swarm._ her voice whispered in the back of his head. _She's not happy at all._

He had to laugh again.

"Meh, let them have it. I doubt that anyone here has fought the Zerg in real life anyway." he whispered, so no one could hear him.

 _They don't know her, her true self. All they see is the Queen of Blades, yet they think that is all they have to know about her._ her voice mumbled, but this time he didn't reply anything. Instead, Jim had to frown. Perhaps he should go and see another doctor. It was one thing to hear voices. But now it was as if he could really hear Sarah, as if she was right next to him. And she was referring to herself in the third person. It wasn't funny anymore either. He tried to concentrate on Junior, who stepped out into the light and spread his arms wide open.

"I welcome you!" Valerian then said. "Welcome to this year's Christmas-party! I am glad to see that so many of you have decided to join us in today's festivities. Hopefully, it wasn't too much of a hassle. I know that many of you are busy people and not everyone can have such a sweet life like the Emperor. You know, sleep till noon, having someone who dresses them and makes sure that your food isn't poisoned." he told the people with a wide grin on his face. Thankfully, most of the crowd figured it out and started to chuckle.

"By the way; the position of the royal food taster has just become vacant because, well, here's your chance to apply for that position if you want to!" And again, the people started to laugh. Jim watched the relief on Valerian's face.

"Speaking of which; I declare the buffet to be opened!" he then added. Suddenly everyone could hear another voice from the other end of the ballroom.

"Oh God, yes! Out of the way, elfie, it's munch-time!" a familiar voice screamed. Some turned around and looked into the general direction where the scream had come from, but most just thought that it was part of the show.

"Now..." Valerian then regained the attention of the crowd. "...today we have gathered here to enjoy ourselves. This is a party, people, so that's an order! I want to see happy faces everywhere. And remember, there is a charity event going on today. The Imperial Palace collects donation that will go to the children's hospital in Augustgrad. So, if you got a coin to spare, please do so. It is for those who are not as fortunate as we are." He then took a deep breath and Jim could see how Valerian's entire body language changed. Had it been casual and relaxed before, it suddenly became sober and serious. He put his arms behind his back and waited a moment for the people to wonder if he was done with his speech.

"Speaking of less fortunate people..." he then continued. "...today is a moment of joy. It is a party and people should act accordingly. Have fun, relax and have a good time. However, even then there is one thing I'm asking of you; think about those who are not as fortunate as you are." His eyes wandered over the crowd and suddenly he was very serious. "Two years ago, this world was ravaged by wars and destruction. First the Swarm, then the Mobius-unit. We can all still see the scars of those battles. And there are many people who have lost everything, who think that they were forgotten. Let me tell those watching or listening to this; we have not forgotten about you. And that is what I'm asking _you_ to do..." he said and looked at the guests. "...remember those who have lost their lives, remember those who are alone in the darkness." He stopped and waited some more moments. No one dared to say a word.

"Remember those who are not here today." he then added. It was also the sign for another servant to approach him, a woman that carried a champagne tablet and offered a glass to the Emperor. He took it, gave the woman a warm smile and thanked her before lifting his drink high up into the air.

"To life! For it shall continue. I declare this party officially opened. Have fun and make sure that tomorrow's gossip press will be filled with stories about you and not me!" It caused the people to laugh out loud once more. It was a refreshing sight for many of them. That day...even though no one had any idea how this day would eventually end, some would later remember how different Valerian was when compared to his old man. When the Emperor turned away, Jim walked over to him and chuckled.

"You're getting better and better with this speech-stuff, you know?" he told the younger man. Valerian took another sip from the champagne and shook his head.

"Can't say that I'm too fond of that. Besides, these people are not nearly as vicious as the ones waiting in the throne room."

"You're going there now?" Jim asked. Valerian nodded and looked at his half-empty glass.

"No use prolonging the inevitable. Though I doubt that I can win those folks over as easily as these guys." he mumbled and pointed at the crowd beneath them.

"Yeah well, can't say that I want to be in your shoes, Junior." Jim agreed before he slapped the Emperor on the shoulder. "I'm sure you're gonna do fine. Now excuse me, I need to do anything else."

"Wait, aren't you coming with me?" Valerian said with an expression of shock on his face. Jim just chuckled when he heard that.

"Oh hell no. You already made me do a lot of stuff that I never actually wanted to do. So, no, you can deal with those guys yourself. Besides, I'm pretty much the last guy in this universe you want as a chaperone." That image stuck. Jim reached out and opened his hand. "But I'll gladly take your glass of champagne if you-"

"There's no alcohol in it, Jim." Valerian just replied.

"What? Seriously? Oh, come on, I know that I have a problem, but this is-" the older man started to complain.

"It's not just about you. See those stars? There's not a single drop of alcohol in this room. If there would be, we could send half of the guest straight to rehab after the end of the party. That's not exactly what we would call "good publicity"."

"Party pooper." Jim just replied.

"Yeah, well, it's my party, cry if you want to." Valerian shot back, which caused Jim to chuckle.

"Fair enough. So good luck with the fat cats. I'm outta here." he then said and turned around. As he walked down the stairs, Valerian shook his head but couldn't help but smile. Well, like said; there was no point prolonging the inevitable. Valerian too turned away and instead of walking down the staircase, he walked up to the heavy doors that led towards the throne room. As the guards opened the door for him and he slipped inside, he really wished that he could just enjoy himself with the rest of the celebrities inside the ballroom. Besides, he still didn't know where Matt was.

He was starting to have a bad feeling about this...

* * *

Jim attracted a few confused looks when he walked through the ballroom. Perhaps some people even recognized his face. Old man Mengsk had made sure that everyone had at least heard about the ruthless renegade James Raynor, but people could be really forgetful. So yeah, maybe they realized that he was _the_ Raynor. Or they were just perplexed why there was a run-down lumberjack among them. Yep, he didn't wear a suit right now. Just a pair of jeans and a god-awful lumberjack-shirt. He looked like he was about to spend the rest of the day on the couch with his homies, watching slurdge-ball. Only that he had no homies. And technically he had no couch either. And he had his doubts that anyone inside this room knew anything about "slurdge-ball".

He didn't really know what to do or where to go, so he might as well check out the buffet. He saw a lot of faces that felt familiar, faces he had seen on television and the holo-net. He even recognized one of the actresses of one of the most successful telenovelas in the entire sector. Wait, James Raynor was a secret fan of telenovelas? Could it be that...?

No, Jim wasn't a fan of telenovelas. But Joey Ray was. Or had been. He and Jim had always argued about the quality of the tv's program. Jim had ended that argument by shooting that damn tv.

Hmm, maybe he should grab something to eat and look for Matt. Yeah, that would be a good idea. Besides, he still owed Matt a world of hurt, once he would find him he would find a way to embarrass him right in front of all those-

"Well, look who we have here!" Jim suddenly said to himself. Right in front of the buffet, he could see someone he hadn't seen in quite some time. A warm smile appeared on his face. The redhead was a sight for sore eyes and when he closed in on the lithe figure, he reached out and put his hand on the other person's shoulder.

"Captain Brent? Long time no see!" Jim said. Brent turned around. His mouth was so full that he looked like a hamster, but when he saw Jim, his eyes widened in shock and most at the food and water inside his mouth exited it with the speed of sound.

"PFFFFFFFFRRRRR!" he spluttered and started to cough. Unlike both Curtland and Valerian before, Brent caused quite the mess. A lot of people looked at them in utter shock and disgust, but Brent was too busy coughing his guts out.

"Whoa, now that doesn't look right. Kinda disgusting if you think about it." Jim said while looking at the remnants of the food lying on the floor.

 _Trust me, he has done way weirder things..._ her voice told him. And again, something felt different about her voice. Like it was really close. Perhaps he was suffering from another minor stroke?

"Co... *cough*...Commander Raynor...what...what are you doing here?" Brent managed to gargle. Jim frowned when he saw the younger man.

"You okay, son? You don't look so good. Is everything fine?" Brent took a few more deep breaths before he finally managed to regain some of his composure. Not much, but better than nothing.

"Yeshh...yeah, I mean yes, yes Sir." he replied.

"Oh, stop calling me Sir. I'm no longer a commander. Besides, your boss runs the show now. Hey, by the way, where is the great Admiral anyway? I owe him one or two embarrassing moments in public."

"Oh, trust me, he already had enough of those for quite some time..." Brent just muttered, which caused Jim to frown.

"Hey, where have you guys been anyway? Junio... I mean the Emperor has been asking for Matt for two days now. Is everything alright?" Jim wanted to know. Brent sighed and wiped the spit off his chin.

"Yeah, no, maybe. I don't have any idea what's going on anymore. After Lockwell had ripped the Admiral a new one, he decided to go to the Hyperion in order to-" Only then he realized that he should have kept his mouth shut. But it was too late.

"The Hyperion? Really? You guys went there without me? Oh, Matt's gonna pay for that. So, how's the old girl doing? Is Swann still trying to fix her? Anyone else from the Raiders with him? What did you do up there anyway?" Jim asked. Suddenly Brent remembered what the Admiral had told him back then...

* * *

 **The Hyperion**

 **One day earlier...**

* * *

"The other one...the Zerg. What did she look like?"

"She? How did you know that it was a she?" Brent wondered.

"What did she look like, Captain!" Matt yelled. The Captain blinked in surprise when he heard the fear in the Admiral's voice.

"Big. She was big. Looked like a mixture of snake and woman. Like, you know, this medusa-thingy. And her name was..."

"Izsha." Matt then interrupted him. Suddenly Brent's eyes widened when he heard that name.

"Yeah. Izsha. How did you...did I speak while I was out of commission?" When Matt heard that he instantly froze. He looked back to Brent, who was taken aback by his superior's sudden change of behavior.

"Sir? You alright? You don't look so good." Brent wanted to know. But Matt wasn't even listening. Suddenly he realized that his worst nightmare had in fact not been a nightmare at all. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

"Captain, I need you to listen to me. Listen very carefully..." he then said and put his hand on Brent's shoulders. Suddenly Brent felt very, very uncomfortable. Their eyes met and he could see the cold determination in the Admiral's eyes.

"Under no circumstances are you allowed to tell anyone about what you have experienced today. No one! Do you understand! Not even the Emperor can know about this. Not yet anyway." Matt hissed, which caused Brent to make a step backward.

"Sir, I have to be honest with you; you're creeping me out. What's this all about?" he wanted to know. Actually...no, he didn't want to know the details...

"No one, Captain!" Matt just told him. "That's an order. And no matter what happens, do not tell Jim Raynor about any of this!"

* * *

"What did you do up there anyway?" Jim wanted to know. Brent managed to squeeze out a "nothing" and looked around if there was someone who could help him. However, there was no one who could help him.

"Uhm... I don't think... I... uhm... I can't really remember." That was the only thing he managed to stutter. But Jim saw right through him.

"He forbade you to tell me about it, huh?" Jim told him.

"Huh?" Brent repeated Jim's "huh", which caused the older man to sigh.

"It's fine, kid. I won't force you to spill your beans. Well, bad choice of words since you already did that. All over the floor actually." Jim shook his head and pulled his shoulders up. "Bet he forced you to share a drink with him. So, did you get some of Swann's moonshine?" he wanted to know.

"Uhhh...yeah." Brent whispered, which caused Jim to whistle.

"Phew. And you're still standing? You're a lot tougher than you look, kid. I guess you don't have some of that stuff with you right now." Brent shook his head when he heard that.

"Oh God, no. I don't want to see that stuff ever again. Made me see weird shit. Like a Zerg-lady that wanted me to marry her." he said, turning the actual events upside down.

"Yeah, I know that dream." Jim mumbled, thinking about something completely different. "Too bad, I sure could use a drink right now. But these party poopers only serve alcohol-free champagne and stuff. Totally lame if you ask me."

"Then just go to the wine vault, it's filled with all kind of alcoholics and-" Brent offered to him.

"Wine vault? There's a wine vault close by?" Jim wanted to know.

"Oh yeah, it's part of the kitchen and-" But before he could finish that sentence, Jim grabbed him and pulled him away from the buffet.

"Brent...what's your first name anyway, Captain?" Jim asked.

"Joseph. It's Joseph, Commander. What are you-"

"Joseph, you're a good man, right? So how about you show me that wine vault, huh? Doesn't that sound like fun?" Jim asked with a fat grin on his face.

"Actually, not rea-"

"Good man! Just lead the way, I'm right behind you!"

* * *

 **Somewhere in Augustgrad**

 **One day earlier...**

* * *

The woman called "Dee" was nervous. It was a somewhat new experience for her. The last time she had felt nervous had been during her childhood when she had still believed that the tooth fairy would come and give her a coin for her baby tooth. Between then and now, she had seen so many things that she thought that nothing could surprise her anymore. Or make her nervous.

Well, apparently, she had been wrong about that. And all thanks to Neusser, that damn bastard.

"Dee" of course wasn't her real name. Her real name was not important anymore. Names were for people. People with families, with loved ones. People who had a future. She had none of that. The Dominion had taken that away from her. There was one relative left back in the Combine, but that bitter woman wasn't the loving and caring mother Dee had known. She was alone.

But she wasn't the only one who was like this. The rest of her team consisted of people like her; people that had lost everything. People that had fought for their home, who had sacrificed their future and their loved ones, and people who had nothing left but their will to fight on.

And people the Combine had thrown out after the end of the war.

To people like Dee, it didn't matter that the war is over. Inside her head, the war would never be over. As she walked through the dark and dirty streets of Augustgrad, she didn't see men and women amusing themselves in a shadier part of the town (though that in itself was already a contradiction, since the whole damn planet was filled with shady characters). No, she wasn't walking through the streets of an urban nightmare.

She was in a war zone. She was behind enemy lines.

"Whoa, hey, watch it, jerkface!" another drunken idiot muttered when he accidentally slammed into Dee' shoulder. The skinny woman was thrown to the side, but she managed to stay on her feet. She looked up in barely contained rage, and when the drunkard saw that the hooded figure was indeed a woman, he started to smile like an idiot.

"Hey there, cutie. What's someone like you doing in a place like this?" he managed to say. The hands inside her pockets tightened their grip on both the big and ugly combat-knife and the light pistol. She never left her apartment without either of them. Old habits die hard.

What's someone like her doing in a place like this?

His words reminded her why she had come here. Instead of showing this piece of filth the insides of his own ribcage, she decided to turn around and move along.

"Hey! Hey! HEY, you bitch! I was talking to you!" the drunken man yelled at her, but instead of running after her, he just gave her the finger and turned back to find the next woman he could molest. To Dee, it was just another proof how rotten and worthless the people of Korhal were.

As if she needed any additional confirmation. Like said, she was behind enemy lines. And the first rule any good soldier should keep in mind was; do not get caught.

Dee was a Zapper. Well, had been a Zapper. It was a nickname the soldiers from both the Dominion and the Confederacy had used for them, both as a curse and as a sign of admiration. She was a combat engineer. Among the soldiers of the Combine, they were an elite unit. Other nations' armies had Ghosts, elite fighter squadrons or mighty battlecruisers. The Combine had their combat engineers. This elite unit of misfits and ruffians usually worked from behind enemy lines and could halt an entire invasion by destroying the enemy's infrastructure. It was what they had done many times. It is what Dee had done many times. It was what had earned her the respect of her comrades...

...but not the respect of her superiors.

To hell with them. They were unimportant. They were just as corrupt as all those fat cats that would celebrate themselves in that hideous palace of that worthless Emperor.

For the last few months, she had done nothing but to work on their grand plan. And the plan itself was simple; to shake the Dominion to its very foundation. That was the goal everyone that was part of her team was working on. It was what they had agreed on when they had ventured here, into the heart of their most-hated enemy. The only question that remained was; how should they do that?

The original plan had been bold. They were combat engineers, they knew how to destroy infrastructure, buildings, and places. And there was no target better suited for their plan than the Imperial Palace. Its destruction would send a message, not only to the rotten people of the Dominion but to their people in the Combine as well. A sign that they weren't done yet. That they still got some fight left. To think that the great General Mah Sakai would just forget what the Dominion had done to them...he claimed it was the price they had to pay for peace, but the countless victims of Mengsk's rule of terror still screamed for vengeance. It was beyond Dee how the General, who had been her example, had turned into a weak politician, who would rather cooperate with the rotten son of their mortal enemy than fight like any good soldier should.

However, it was clear that people like Dee were no longer wanted. That's why they had kicked her out of the military. Because they were afraid of people like her...

Of course, none of that was the truth. Dee was too caught up in her own hatred and self-delusion. And it was always easier to hate someone in blind rage than to forgive. But that didn't mean that she and her comrades couldn't cause a lot of damage.

The original plan had been about destroying the palace. That was already a tall order, especially for a cell of only seven people. Almost impossible. Almost. While their leader was playing the role of the chief of security of the Combine's embassy, she had worked hard to figure out _how_ to tear that damn palace down. And she had finally found a solution to that problem.

Explosives. Lots of explosives.

Now that might probably sound self-explaining, but have you ever brought down a building? You need to plan this thing. From what she had heard, the palace was so sturdy that it could withstand a tactical nuclear strike. She didn't know if that was true, but it had been able to withstand both the Zerg and the Mobius-unit. Attacking it with conventional means wouldn't do the trick. So, Dee had done what she had done during the war; she had gone underground. Not figurative speaking, but literally. Like with every building, the weak spot of the palace was below its foundation. They would need a lot of extremely potent explosives, but it could work. The problem was; where do you want to get those explosives from?

Easy answer; the black market. There was only a small problem with that. The amount needed for this kind of operation was impressive. And so Dee had spent the last few months trying to find someone who would be able to supply them with the huge amount of boom-stuff. And guess what? She had finally managed to find several groups willing to sell her the tools needed for the job. They would be able to finish all preparations in roughly four or five months. They had to keep a low profile, the security forces on Korhal were many things, but not incompetent. So yeah, four or five more months. And then they would ruin the Dominion and show the entire sector that the Combine was still willing to fight for those they had lost.

...that was until "Neusser" had called her and told her to change the plan.

Damn bastard, he was about to ruin everything. Apparently, the Christmas-party was the perfect chance to send a message to the sector. There was only one small problem with that; she couldn't get the explosives within less than 12 hours _and_ place them in the right locations. So, they had changed the plan.

 _Changed the goddamn plan._

Right now, she wanted to break Neusser's neck. What the hell was this idiot thinking? They were just seven people. Even if they would manage to storm the palace, what could seven soldiers do? He had told Dee to calm down. He and the other five had found a way to get inside. What they needed was someone to get those weapons into the palace. The Imperial Palace. The most secure place in the entire Dominion. You would think that mission was nigh impossible. But that only meant that you didn't know anything about the Combine's combat engineers.

Dee had found a way to get into the palace. It meant to go through the sewers, but she had fought in sewers many times. So, in theory, she should actually be able to get those weapons into the palace. And then, well, things would happen.

But there was just one little problem with that.

Even if they would manage to get inside, get the weapons and launch an attack, they were still only seven soldiers. So they needed some help.

Getting support for this mission wasn't much of a problem. Right now, there were plenty of mercenaries out there, most of them desperate to find a well-payed job. Or any job at all. Peace was bad for business, and even a suicide-mission wouldn't be off the table for those guys. Most mercenaries hadn't learned anything decent, so they were left with little choice. To them, it was do or die time.

However, a bunch of War Pigs-mercenaries wouldn't be enough to pull this one off. What they needed were infiltration-specialists. The best of the best. The ones that possessed abilities no one else had. In other words: Freaks. She remembered what her "contact" had told her when she had called him.

* * *

 **Dee's apartment**

 **A few hours earlier...**

* * *

When her communicator started to beep, Dee didn't pick up immediately. Instead, she waited roughly one minute. That way she was certain that whoever was calling wanted to speak to her. She picked up the communicator and answered the call.

"Yes?"

"Dee, it's me." Her whole body tensed up when she heard the man's voice. He was in charge of their cell and right now the one giving orders. "Seems like we have to change the plan." She was too baffled to curse him. Change the plan? Now? Was he out of his mind? But he just continued without giving her a chance to gather her thoughts. "Tell the strike-team to get ready. We won't need that bomb anymore. But make sure that we have plenty of guns." She felt how cold rage started to flow through her veins. How could he just decide something like that without consulting the rest of the team first? She would punch him so hard that even his own mother wouldn't recognize him. But instead of telling him to shove that new plan up his...

"Understood." she hissed. "What target?" This better be good.

"The juiciest of them all. It's time for the big man to get his present. And let's make sure that they will never forget this firework." He then killed the line and all Dee could hear was a beeping sound. She didn't react for a few moments. But after that...

"You damn ASSHOLE!" she roared and smashed the communicator into the wall. It was too sturdy and didn't break, but right now she couldn't care less about this. What he had basically told her was to "deal with this situation". Great, just great. She walked up and down inside her small and dirty apartment, thinking about what to do next. The explosives, she had to get them now. No, that would never work. He said guns. He said strike-team. It was one of the secondary plans they had worked on. If they wouldn't be able to get their hands on the explosives, they would try to infiltrate the palace with a strike-team and do it the old-fashioned way. She knew what that meant. It meant that none of them would probably survive this. She could live with that fact. What she couldn't live with was the fact that he had told her to come up with a new plan in less than six hours! She sat down on her dirty couch and thought about her options. Then she finally grabbed another communicator and dialed a secret number, one only a few knew. The person on the other side answered immediately.

"Yes?" a rough male voice asked.

"This is Thresher." she just said, using her code name when she was dealing with outsiders. "I need some of your guys."

"That's what most people want from me. How many, where, and when?"

"Augustgrad. A whole strike-team. The best of the best. Money won't be a problem, we will pay whatever you want."

"Augustgrad?" the man asked. "You insane? No mercenaries allowed in Augustgrad. Too much security anyway. You need some PMC to protect one of those fat cats?" he chuckled, knowing that this was the last thing on "Tresher's" mind.

"No, I need to take out a high-value target."

"Define _high-value target_." the man wanted to know. Dee didn't answer that question.

"I need them here with me within twelve hours."

"Are you crazy? I don't have any boots on Korhal right now, it would take days to get someone to..." Only then the man stopped before he realized what was going on. "Wait... you're not seriously going after who I think it is?" Tresher cursed when she realized that the man had seen through her.

"Just give me your best men, Hill!" she hissed.

"No names, idiot!" Graven Hill snarled back. "And no matter how bad the economy is, I won't send my people into a damn slaughterhouse! This isn't a Zerg-invasion. Forget it, no deal!"

"You're a damn coward, Hill! If you don't want the job, then at least tell me someone who has the balls to do that!" Hill didn't answer immediately. It seemed that he thought about it for quite some time. In the end, he was a mercenary. He had no love for the Dominion, the Combine or the Protectorate. Or anyone else. And he knew that a war was good for business. He just wanted to make a nice and fat profit. So as long as no one realized that he had anything to do with it...

"I know a guy." he then said. "Batshit crazy, but has the skills you're looking for. Met him during my time on the Hyperion. Heard that he and his gang are in Augustgrad anyway. Uses an old whorehouse as a hideout. Apparently, he has turned into a local mobster after the end of the war. I'll send you his address. But whatever you do; don't tell him that I sent you. And do me a favor..." he then added.

"Anything." Dee said.

"Never call me again."

* * *

The "old whorehouse" was actually a nightclub. And the way it looked it, was still used as a whorehouse. And a goddamn opium den. When Dee stood in front of the building, she couldn't help but wonder what kind of "specialist" would wait for her inside.

"Hey there, cutie...how much?" another filthy swine wanted to know while approaching her. She peeked to the side and took a good look at him. He was utterly repulsive and she would rather cut herself all over her body and swim through a sewer than get any closer to that guy.

"Back off, creep." she hissed, but the swine didn't seem to care.

"Come on, I got money, you got the stuff. There's a nice little hotel right on the other side of the street. I'll be extra gentle, I proUUUHNNNNFFF!" He was cut short when she turned around and rammed her knee right between his legs. He dropped on the cold and wet concrete and started to curse like a sailor.

"...ucking bitch! I'm gonna have your ass for that and UNFFFFF!" Her foot shot forward and when her heavy boot crashed against his chin, his lights went out immediately. There was a disgusting wet sound of breaking bones, and she could see how something white and small flew out of the guy's mouth. His teeth no doubt, along with torrents of blood. Some people turned around, but no one truly cared to bother. She stared at them for a moment, ready to attack whoever wanted a piece of her. But the other people, pimps, whores and whoremongers alike, just turned away, not caring about that little show one bit.

At least there was one good thing about this place; she wasn't getting any unwanted attention.

She walked over to the entrance of the whorehouse and looked up. The front of the building was an ugly wall made out of wet concrete and dirty glasses. Just above the entry was a big yellow-glowing sign. The name of the place was "Archangel". Seriously? She was about to enter the building when a huge brute blocked her path.

"Whoa, sorry gal. No women allowed." he told her. Dee looked up and frowned. The guy in front of her was huge. He was easily three heads bigger than her and at least three times her weight. The bouncer wore a dark suit, but even then, you could see all the muscle and fat underneath his clothes. He had small and dark eyes and didn't look very smart. But at the same time, he appeared to be the kind of guy you don't want to screw with. And he wasn't alone. There were at least four more guys like him guarding the entrance. Dee peeked around the big mountain of meat and inside the building.

"Funny. I thought that there are a whole bunch of girls inside." she replied.

"Yeah, but those are no guests. They work here. Now leave." But Dee didn't back down. Instead, she looked the man deep into the eyes.

"Not here for that bullcrap, big guy." she told him. "Need to see your boss."

"Don't know what you're talking about." the bouncer growled and gave his pals a quick nod. They turned towards the both of them and came closer. Dee had no illusions about this place. Should she piss them off, they would simply drag her around the corner and beat her to a bloody pulp. And then they would do other things to her...

"Yeah, I bet you do. But I don't have time for this. I want to see your boss now."

"Perhaps you're somewhat retarded, girl." the bouncer then said and crossed his arms in front of his mighty chest. "But you're not going anywhere. Now scam it or else weeEAAAAGHHH!" Combat-engineers, remember? She had no time for this. If this guy was really as good as Hill had claimed, then he would see that she meant business. In the meantime, these brutes would get all of her affection. Dee raised her leg and kicked against the brute's knee. It didn't break, but when he screamed in pain, she knew that she had scored a critical hit. He fell backward and his buddies didn't hesitate one second. They stormed right at her, but she was faster. When the first brute reached her, she jumped to the side and rammed her knee into the bigger man's stomach. He grunted and leaned forward, but her kick wasn't hard enough to really hurt him.

Her elbow crashing into his neck was a whole different story, though.

When his face smashed into the ground, it did so with brutal force. His nose broke in an instant and he screamed in pain. Dee turned around and rammed her heel into the back of his head. She could have killed him but held back. So instead of crushing his skull, she simply knocked him out. The other two brutes stormed towards her, ready to just tackle her down. But she was too swift and nimble and she would-

"ENOUGH!" a new voice suddenly reached their ears. Both the brutes stopped and looked at the newcomer in anger.

"The hell, what's this about?!" one of them yelled and looked at his downed comrades. "This bitch is messing with us and downing our homies! We can't-" The newcomer, a slender woman with pale skin and long, blond hair looked at the bouncer and the man immediately fell silent.

"Get your "homies" to Doctor Sanders. Tell her to send us the bill. As for you..." the woman turned towards Dee and took a good look at her. Dee felt how a cold shiver ran down her spine. This woman...she wasn't normal.

"Hmhmhmhm..." the blonde chuckled. "Hasn't your contact told you about who you're dealing with?"

"He said that you possess the skills we need. And that you can deliver immediately. I need-" But she was cut short by the mysterious woman.

"I'm not the one who's in charge. My boss wants to see you. He's the one you want to talk to." Dee looked at the bouncers, who were busy putting their blood back into their bodies.

"Did Hill tell you that I was coming?" she wanted to know.

"No. The boss knows why you're here because he knows everything. Come inside, he wants to talk to you." Dee didn't know what else to do but to follow the woman. She could hardly return to her apartment and tell Neusser that she hadn't found a solution to their problem.

"Don't worry." the woman said while looking over her shoulder and walking inside. "You've come to the right place. We can help you with your little problem." To say that Dee had a bad feeling about this was an understatement. But what other choice did she have? She had to find someone who would help them with their mission. And if this guy was the right man for the job, then she just had to bite the bullet

She clenched her hands into fists and decided to follow the other woman inside.

* * *

Her first assessment of this place had been incorrect; this place was no whorehouse. Her second assessment, however, was spot on; it was a goddamn opium den. Oh, there were a lot of strippers inside the building, both male and female. But when Dee entered the building, she immediately realized that these dancers (and their guests) were just a distraction. What she saw was just a cover.

"Follow me." the woman just said and Dee did just that. A lot of people gave them strange and fearful looks, yet no one dared to stop them. They simply walked through the dancing area before reaching a door that was guarded by two men, who looked a lot skinnier but also a lot deadlier than the bouncers in front of the entrance. When Dee and the woman came closer, they just stepped aside and opened the door without saying a word.

"Heh, if you say so." one man laughed when they went inside as if someone had said something funny. Were those guys high?

The answer to that was probably yes. Behind the door was a stairway that led them all the way to the basement. As Dee followed the woman, she couldn't help but wonder if this was a trap. Maybe they wanted to catch her and hand her over to the security forces. In that case, Neusser could go to hell...

"Do not worry." the woman suddenly said before reaching another door. "The boss has no more love for the Dominion than you do." Dee stopped when she heard that, and so did the woman who turned around. Her hand was already on the door and when their eyes met, Dee felt a cold chill running down her spine.

"How do you..." she whispered. "Who are you guys?" she then demanded to know. A faint smile appeared on the woman's face and she simply pushed the door open.

"The ones who can help you with your mission. Now come on, the Boss wants to see you. You better not keep him waiting." Suddenly Dee wasn't so sure about her own resolve anymore. She couldn't help but feel as if this was one huge mistake. But at the same time, it was too late to back away and just leave. She had to do this. And so, she braced herself and followed the woman inside. And what she saw...

"What is this place?" she whispered to herself. It was the already mentioned opium den. Only without opium. It was like a scene from these cheap holo-novels, where the hero would enter a drug den. The air wasn't very clean and there was smoke everywhere. Only that it wasn't smoke. Dee started to cough when she inhaled some of that stuff. Great, the last thing she needed right now was to go on a trip. What if this stuff was...

"Don't worry. It is harmless. It will only affect those who are _special_." the woman said while going ahead. Dee had no idea what "special" meant, but she had her doubts that she wanted to know what this chick was trying to tell her.

If those guys were mercenaries, they were the most laid-back mercenaries she had ever seen. Most of the people lay on big cushions, each one large enough for one or two people. They didn't even seem to notice her. Most had their eyes closed and hummed something. Others stared into nothingness. It was really creepy. In then there were those hookahs...

She had seen those things many times, she even had used one during her teenage years. But those hookahs, should they offer her something she would refuse. Whatever they used, it looked like some kind of purple gas. What the hell was that stuff?

"The boss is awaiting you. Here, go inside." the woman suddenly said and stopped in front of a small corner that was just separated from the rest of the room by a small curtain. Not much privacy involved here. There were a thousand things on Dee's mind right now, but that had to wait. She nodded and slipped past the curtain. It was dark and she had to wait until her eyes adapted to it. She could make out a bulky figure resting against the wall. Purple smoke was coming out of the man's nostrils when he exhaled some of that drug.

 _Great. Hill gave me the number of a damn junkie._ she thought. Suddenly the man started to laugh.

"No, little one. We're not freaks. We're something else!" She frowned when she heard that.

"How did you... who are you?" she asked. She could feel how her stomach turned into ice. The man laughed again.

"Me? I'm just a man. A man who looks after his brothas and sistas." he told her with a broad accent. She gulped and pointed with her finger behind her.

"These are your men?" she asked.

"They're family." the boss said. "They're special, you know. Born into a world that refused them. Yet they cannot destroy us. Because we know the truth."

"Truth? What truth?" Dee asked, even though she didn't really want to know. The man leaned forward and now she could make out some details. His dark skin and his thick dreadlocks gave him actually a rather gentle and laid-back look. But those pale and milky eyes, they looked like they belonged to a dead man.

"The truth about the Void. The truth about the Circle of Creation!" the man whispered and started to laugh again.

"Void? Circle of Creation? What are you talking about?" Dee replied. She had never heard of those things. She was probably wasting her time anyway. The man laughed again and leaned back.

"You cannot see it, even if you wanted to. You're just like all the others; blind and gray, cold and boring. But me and my family, we are special."

"A lot of people claim to be special." Dee told him. "Not many are."

"Oh, but we certainly are special. That is why you're here. Because you need us to finish your mission."

"What do you know about my mission?" she wanted to know and crossed her arms in front of her chest. The man laughed once more.

"Hahaha. So angry, so eager. Worked so hard to find a way into the palace. Now you're mad because the one who gives orders is in a hurry. So, you need something special. Something special that can help you with your mission." An icy chill ran down her spine when she heard that.

"How do you know that?" she whispered. Once more the man leaned forward and grinned at her, showing his perfect white teeth to her.

"I know everything. It is what I do. I have what you want. And you...you will give me what I want." Dee listened to those cryptic words before she licked her lips. Suddenly her mouth felt so dry...

"What's your price?" she asked. "We can pay as much as you want. Just tell me and-"

"We don't need no money." the man interrupted her. "What we want is so much more _special_." He raised his hand and put it on a small hookah right next to him. It too had some of that strange, purple gas in it.

"You're from the Combine, yes?" he then continued. "Strong men and women. Hard working men and women. You fight the earth you're standing on, rip its riches away from her, turn it into something greater."

"You want something from us? Gold? Platinum? Uranium?" she offered. It wasn't unusual. No one knew more about mining than the people from the Combine. However, the man just shook his head.

"No, no metal. Nothing solid. What we want is something different. Something rare. Something that makes us even more special." He looked at his hookah. The expression on his face was almost...painful? When he looked back at Dee, a cold grin appeared on his face.

"Have you ever heard about _Terrazine_?" Gabriel Tosh asked her.


	34. Act II - Chapter 10

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 10**

 **Almost like Cinderella**

* * *

Each step Valerian made felt like he was getting closer to his own doom. That was probably greatly exaggerated, but he certainly felt like a little piglet on its way to the butcher. Fancy words wouldn't impress the people he was about to meet. They didn't care about speeches, they only cared about power and influence. And they already had plenty of those things.

The guard opened the heavy door that led to the throne room and saluted. Valerian only gave the man a quick nod before he slipped inside. He could have sworn to hear a "you're doooooomed..." after the door closed behind him. Great, just what he needed.

"Well, let's get this over with. All by myself, I guess." he muttered to himself. "Thanks, Matt. I really appreciate the fact that you have my back." he then added. He sighed again and started to walk down the long and narrow corridor. The throne room wasn't right behind those doors, he had to walk down that corridor before reaching his final destination. So to speak. His footsteps echoed through the empty corridor and he couldn't shake the feeling that this would be the perfect spot for an assassination attempt.

Perhaps he was getting paranoid.

He was most definitely getting paranoid.

As he walked on, he thought about what to to do next. How to introduce himself, what to say, how to react to their questions. And much to his own dismay, he knew that he had no idea what to do.

He had imagined how it would be like to be Emperor many times. But those had been the mind-games of a small boy. Now that he was actually in charge, he couldn't help but wonder how his actions would affect the lives of the normal people. As he approached the entrance towards the throne room, he wondered if an Emperor could actually go on vacation for some time.

Like, 30 years or so.

He brushed with his hand over his short hair and tried to gather his thoughts one final time. When he looked up to the huge door, he took a deep breath and prepared himself for-

"Your Majesty?" He had almost made it to the door when all of the sudden a female voice reached his ears. He stopped and turned his head to the left. For a second he wondered if a servant had managed to get lost and was about to ask him for directions. However, the figure that stood between two mighty pillars was most definitely not a servant.

"Y-yes?" Valerian managed to stutter. Not the smartest thing to say, but when the young woman stepped out of the shadows, his eyes widened in surprise. The woman was young, still in her early twenties. She was of average height and wore a white dress that looked like it had cost a fortune. Seriously, Valerian recognized Umojan silver-silk when he saw it, and that stuff was more expensive than gold. It was produced by a rare breed of moths and could only be harvested in small amounts. A dress of this size had to cost more than a single apartment in downtown Augustgrad!

But it wasn't just the dress that was special. The woman's skin was pale and flawless. She had long, black curls and big brown eyes. She was without a doubt an unbelievably beautiful woman. When she stepped closer, Valerian managed to make a step backward. The chance that this woman was an assassin was rather slim, but still...

"Forgive me my boldness, your Majesty." the woman then said and bowed down in front of him. "I am Valeria Samson, and it is a pleasure to finally meet you in person." She straightened herself and looked Valerian straight into the eyes, waiting for an answer.

"Ahg..." was the only thing Valerian managed to say. He had totally forgotten about _her_. What did Jim usually say in moments like these?

Karma's a bitch.

"May I say that it is an honor and a privilege to finally meet you in person." she then just continued. "I have heard so much about you, and I have to say, now that I stand before you, your new look really suits you. It gives you an aura of leadership." Valerian recognized empty compliments when he heard them. He was surrounded by bootlickers almost 24/7. But usually, those guys weren't this, well, attractive.

 _Head in the game, Junior!_ he could hear Jim's voice inside his mind.

"Uhm... yes! Of course... I..." he stuttered before he finally took a deep breath and managed to regain his composure. He remembered that he wasn't dealing with one the countless minions that tried to ruin his life, but with the daughter of one of the most influential men on all of the Korhal, and most likely the entire Dominion.

Had just someone turned up the heater? It was so hot all of the sudden.

"Forgive me!" Valerian then finally managed to say. He bowed down, took the woman's hand and gave it a quick kiss, just like the etiquette dictated. He noticed how the woman barely reacted towards this gesture. It was somewhat odd, because most women either blushed and started to giggle, or were completely taken aback by the fact that the Emperor could be such a charmer. But Samson? She looked like she expected to be treated like this.

"Lady Samson, it is a pleasure to meet you. And I am looking forward to talk to you over the course of the evening. However-" He actually wanted to tell her that he was kinda in a hurry. Before he could finish the sentence, she interrupted him with a stern look on her face.

"Yes, your Majesty. You are absolutely right. The honored guests of tonight's festivities can no longer wait and we should properly greet them." Okay, let's get one thing straight; there once had been a time where Valerian had appreciated sublime language. But his time with the Raiders had taught him more than just fancy drinking contests and that you could use underpants for more than three weeks before you actually have to change them (though he could have gone without that knowledge). He was probably the only Emperor in the history of mankind that could curse fluently in at least seven different languages. So instead of agreeing with Lady Samson, all Valerian did was to open his mouth in confusion and ask the one most important question.

"We?"

Valeria Samson blinked in surprise, and Valerian could see the look of confusion on her face. It only lasted for less than a second, though, and was replaced by an expression of anger, before she finally regained her composure.

"Oh, forgive me, your Majesty." she then said. "Were you not informed by the staff members of the Imperial Palace that I would accompany you and be your guide during today's festivities?"

"Uhm, they informed about... _something_." Like how many babies they should produce within the next five years for example. When Valeria heard that, she straightened herself and a look of disgust appeared on her face.

"This is absolutely unacceptable!" she then snarled. For a second, Valerian thought that she was talking about him, but instead... "The Imperial Palace has to make sure that his Imperial Majesty is always informed about what is going on. This display of incompetence is simply not acceptable." she started to rant. And much to his own surprise, Valerian did something he had never thought he would do one day; he started to defend those jokers that were supposed to work for him.

"Well, in their defense..." he said. "...after the end of my _father's_ rule, many staff members of the Imperial Palace had to be replaced because the old ones had been, well, _zerged_." The last part sounded somewhat awkward, but it was actually pretty accurate.

"Hmpf." Valeria Samson snorted with a snippy tone in his voice. "You are too lenient with these people, your Majesty. If I had anything to say in this matter, I would make sure that something like this will never happen again. _Zerged_ or not, there is no excuse for this kind of incompetence." Perhaps she thought he was making a joke about the "zerged" part, but Valerian knew that "getting zerged" was a perfectly fine excuse for pretty much _anything_.

"I will make sure to relay your discomfort to these jokers, err, I mean the staff members." he then tried to calm the waves.

"Hmpf." she only said. _Oh man, please don't let it be one of her habits._ Valerian thought. She then bowed her head slightly. "As your Majesty wishes. Still, once I get a chance to talk to the staff of the palace, I will make sure to address these problems." Valerian didn't miss that she sounded like she already owned this place. Goddamn, did those jokers tell her that he was interested in her? If so, he was in for one hell of an evening.

"You're probably right, my dear." the Emperor said. "However, even though it seems to be a crime that deserves only capital punishment, I believe that a ruler should also be benevolent towards the people under his reign. So how about we let them off the hook this time and don't call for the death squad?" It was meant as a joke, but all Valeria did was to frown.

"Hmpf. If you say so, your Majesty."

 _Oh boy._

"Now, how about we do this thing?" he then wanted to know. Valeria looked at him as if he had just told her a naughty joke. And she wasn't the kind of girl who appreciated naughty jokes.

"Thing, your Majesty? What _thing_?" she wanted to know. Valerian cursed himself on the inside but didn't miss a heartbeat on the outside.

"Let us meet our honored guests, shall we?" He then offered his arm to her and when she grabbed it, he felt an icy chill through the cloth of his suit. At first, he wondered if he was starting to hallucinate, but the skin on his arm did indeed feel cold. He looked at Valeria and frowned.

"Forgive me my boldness..." he then asked her. "...but is it too cold for you? If you want, you can have my jacket." All Valeria did was to laugh at him. It wasn't a nice laugh though. It was just as cold as her skin.

"Oh no, hahaha. Everything is fine, your Majesty. Thank you for your consideration. I am indeed not cold. It is just a new kind of beauty treatment, you know?"

"Actually, I don't." he replied truthfully.

"Hmpf." Valeria muttered and for a moment, he could see the frustration all over her face. But that moment vanished as fast as it had come. "It is the newest trend. You use a special agent to slow down the metabolism. It lowers the body temperature and helps to keep the skin cool and flawless." That sounded wrong on so many levels.

"Wait, didn't the Ghosts use something like that? To hide from infrared sensors and avoid detection?"

"Oh, I wouldn't know anything about that, your Majesty, hahahah! Oh, you are so smart." Valeria then told him. To Valerian, it sounded like she considered him to be nothing but a huge idiot. He opened his mouth, wanting to tell her that this agent was no longer in use because it could cause cerebral bleeding.

But somehow, he doubted that she cared about that...

Still, the thought of being close to this woman caused him to shudder. She felt like a dead body. Pretty on the outside, but not supposed to be touched. He couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have sex with this woman. Let's just say that it wasn't a pleasant image. Like making love to a block of ice, brrrrrr.

 _Guess it's kinda fitting that her old man's nickname is "the Iceberg"._ Valerian thought. The idea for a dirty joke came to his mind. One that would involve the term "ice crevice", but he managed to keep that one to himself.

"Well, let's not waste any more fancy words, shall we?" Valerian declared. "I'm certain that our guests are waiting for us." A smile appeared on Valeria's face, yet even now he couldn't help but feel like he was looking at a Zergling that was about to devour him. As they walked towards the doors that lead to the throne room, he could already make out the two guards next to it. When they reached the door, Valerian gave the men a quick nod.

* * *

"Thank you for your services today. If you would be so kind to open the door now." Valerian said with a warm smile on his face. The guards looked at him in surprise, obviously not used to this kind of warm treatment. He could hear a "Hmpf" next to him but decided not to say anything. Both guards saluted and opened the heavy door. Valerian braced himself and stepped into the throne room, ready to wage one of the most important battles of his entire life.

The people inside the kitchen weren't awfully busy. The good thing about a buffet was that you only had to make sure that everything was refilled just in time. Almost all of the prepared food stood on tables in the corridor outside of the kitchen. The people still had to do stuff, like cleaning the kitchen. They had worked hard so they could enjoy a moment of respite. Too bad this moment wouldn't last for long...

"Okay, folks, listen up!" a new voice suddenly echoed through the big kitchen. Everyone looked over at the entrance. "By the virtue of my authority, I hereby declare this kitchen to be a security zone!" The kitchen staff looked at each other, frowned and pulled their shoulders up like they didn't know wherever this was a joke or not.

"I mean it, people!" Captain Brent yelled. "There could be a bomb inside this room, and I need to check it out. Get out of here, now!" And much to his own surprise the people actually started to move. When they left the kitchen, he grabbed one of the men and looked him in the eyes.

"Need the key to the wine vault. Bomb could be inside." The man looked at him and shook his head.

"Bomb in the wine vault, sure thing pal. You're not the first to pull that one on us. Hey, Terrance! This guy wants the key to the wine vault."

"Oh hell, not again!" _Terrance_ just yelled from outside the kitchen. A cook returned and handed the key over to Brent, who looked at it in surprise.

"Just one thing..." Terrance said. "...if you vomit, don't do it on the bottles, do it on the floor. And if you have to take a dump, don't use the sink. We still need it to prepare food, you know." Brent had actually no idea what to reply to that, so he just gave the man a thumbs-up.

"Sure thing, pal!"

"And whatever you do, do not turn the heater on. It's a wine vault, not a goddamn sauna." Terrance added.

"Could you write that down?" Brent asked. "Otherwise I might forget it." But Terrance just turned away and stormed off.

"Cheeky bastard..." was the only thing Brent could hear him mutter. When he was finally alone, he shook his head in disbelief.

"Didn't think that would actually work." he said mostly to himself.

"See? Told you it would! You guys need to have some more faith in me!" Jim said as he entered the kitchen.

"I still think that this isn't such a good idea." Brent told him. He remembered that Admiral Horner had told him something about Jim and alcohol. Either it was "never allow Jim to drink alcohol" or "always allow Jim to drink alcohol", but he couldn't really say which was the right one. Meh, who cares. A glass of wine wouldn't hurt, right?

Right...

Jim, on the other hand, was so close to the promised land, he could almost taste it. Hopefully, the wine vault was filled with more than just wine. Maybe whiskey. Or beer. Schnapps maybe. Or a really good brandy! Vodka would be fine too. Oh, this would be glorious! He yanked the key out of Brent's hand and walked through the kitchen.

"Come on baby, where are you? Come to daddy." Jim mumbled before he found a huge metal door. He looked through the small window, but all he saw were huge pieces of meat.

"No, no booze inside." he said to himself.

"Over here I guess!" Brent then yelled and pointed at another door. "There's a lock, so I guess this is the place where they keep the stuff." Jim could feel how his hands started to get sweaty. He walked over to Brent and put the key into the look.

"It fits! Well, here we finally are. Sorry, Matt. But I've waited a long time for this." He unlocked the door and pulled it open. The thought of drowning his sorrows made his heart weep with joy. Right now, he didn't even feel ashamed for giving in to his urges. All he craved for was the sweet sensation of being drunk. When he was sober, time moved on at an agonizingly slow pace. But when he was drunk, he was content. And it helped to numb the pain inside his heart.

 _Please, you don't have to do this. There's still so much you have to do._ her voice whispered in the back of her head. Suddenly he stopped opening the door and lowered his gaze.

"Sorry, Darlin'." he whispered to himself. "But it's all that's left to me now." Brent looked at him in confusion.

"Sir, are you okay?" he asked. Jim just took a deep breath and a sad smile appeared on his face.

"No, Joe. I'm not. But I'm about to ease the pain. So, come to daddy, time to get wre-" He opened the door and froze when he looked right at a large, dark and intimating figure. There was a cold and distant look on the figure's face. Well, at least as far as Jim could say. It was kind of hard to tell since that person wore sunglasses even inside a building.

"Smith?!" Jim yelled in both surprise and shock.

"Mr. Raynor." Agent Smith just replied. He stood inside the wine vault, his arms crossed behind his back. "I need to inform you that this place is off limits to you." he told Jim with absolutely no emotions in his voice.

"How...when...why...what?!" Jim managed to stutter.

"This is the only place inside the palace where you can get any alcohol. It was only logical that you would attempt to find this place." his bodyguard explained. Jim looked at Smith, unable to believe any of this.

"Oh, come on, Smith! It's Christmas! Just pretend to be a human being and go somewhere else. Or you can drink with us, how does that sound?" Jim offered to him.

"No can do, Sir." Smith just told him. "My orders are clear. Besides, I firmly believe in being an abstainer." Just his luck.

"So, you would ruin both me and young Joe's-" Jim started.

"Please leave me out of this. And the name's Joseph, not "Joe". I'm not a goddamn trucker, thank you very much." Brent mumbled next to both men.

"...Christmas, is that it? You're a heartless man, Smith. Bet the only thing you got for Christmas as a child was a piece of coal." But Smith didn't take the bait.

"No, I will just ruin your Christmas-party. The Captain can consume as much alcohol as he wants to." Smith stepped aside and allowed Brent to enter. The Captain looked at Smith in surprise.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." the bodyguard replied. Smith looked at Jim, then at Smith, then back at Jim.

"Well, if that's the case...ah, who cares. Let me through, it's party time." Brent stepped into the wine vault and Jim was just about to follow him when Smith stepped into his path.

"Please, do not make me use physical force, Sir." he told the older man. Instead, he pushed Jim back into the kitchen before he turned around and handed the key over to Brent.

"Here, make sure that Mr. Raynor will not gain any access to this room."

"Uh huh. Can do." Brent replied and closed the door behind him. Jim could hear one final "Let's get wasted!" and groaned.

"That's just not fair." he cursed. Smith just pointed to the door on the other side of the kitchen.

"The ballroom is that way, Sir."

* * *

The woman called "Dee" couldn't hide her uneasiness anymore. When you were on a mission, there was a point of no return. Once you reached that, you could only move forward and hope for the best. She had reached that point a long time ago, some might even say that it had happened the day she had left the Combine in order to travel to Korhal. But the full weight of her situation finally started to hit her the moment she and the strike-team had descended into the sewer system in order to head for the palace. There were not many things a soldier could count on, but the one thing that was most important was that you were part of a band of brothers and sisters, people who fought side by side and looked out for each other. Because when the battle starts, no one cares about politics. It's just about the guy or gal next to you. That's the only thing that matters.

However, the six men and women that accompanied her were no comrades. They were _something_ else.

She wouldn't go so far to say that they were special like their leader had claimed. They were different. But no matter from what perspective Dee looked at them: She just couldn't see how these guys could be anything but freaks.

"Better keep those thoughts to yourself, girl." the faceless man next to her growled. She turned her head to the side, but couldn't see much. Both her and his faces were covered by goggles that helped them to see in the dark. Her goggles were big and clunky, but they would do the trick. The equipment of these people was really advanced and she had to wonder how they had managed to get their hands on it.

"You don't want to know." the man just growled again. Oh, that was something they could agree on. Dee felt the heavy weight of the combat-shotgun in her hands. It was a good feeling. It made her feel like a soldier again, a feeling she had missed. No politics, no scheming, no hiding in the shadows-bullshit. Just a straightforward combat-operation. It didn't matter that it would be the biggest and most important mission in her life.

As they walked through the darkness of the sewers, she kept a close eye on her surroundings. It was a sewer, so it was filled with all the kind of waste products a city of the size of Augustgrad produced. They were moving through a huge pipe that actually felt more like a tunnel. She could feel the cold water all the way up to her hip. Only that it wasn't really water. The smell was almost unbearable, but she did her best to endure it. It wasn't the first time that she was running through a sewer. The six members of the strike-team wore masks that covered their entire faces, so she assumed that those masks filtered the stench, making this whole trip more bearable.

Yes, that's right. Here she was, walking through a tunnel filled with shit while accompanied by a bunch of freaks.

"Who're you calling a freak, trash!" the man next to her suddenly hissed and stopped. He grabbed her by the throat and reached for the combat-knife attached to his belt. But even if these guys were "special", Dee wasn't helpless either. She too grabbed her knife, ready to see if this asshole wore anything under that black, skin-tight suit.

"ENOUGH!" suddenly another voice barked. It was the woman she had met in front of Gabriel Tosh's hideout. Apparently, this blonde woman was his second-in-command. And she was the one who was in charge of the strike team. The woman walked back towards the two and grabbed the bigger man's wrist.

"Cut it off. I don't have time for your macho-bullshit. You don't like what other people think? Then stop probing them." she snarled. It seemed that for a moment the man wondered if he should do something really stupid. But then he lowered his knife and released Dees from his grip.

"Just wanted to make a point." he snarled.

"Noted!" the woman shot back. "Now get back. You take the rear." The man didn't complain. Instead, he turned around and walked to the end of the formation. Dee could hear how he muttered something. Something about the stuff they were standing inside right now and Dee's orifices. The other woman just shook her head and turned back towards their destination.

"How much longer?" she wanted to know and started to move again. This time Dee made sure to stay right beside her. The rucksack on her back was starting to slow her down. It was filled with guns, guns, and even more guns. Enough to equip the rest of the team. The same team that was already inside the palace...hopefully.

"Half a mile, then we have to climb upwards. The entry point will be in the east wing, close to the throne room." Dee told her.

"Can't say that I'm fond of this way inside of yours. You went down here several times?" the woman wanted to know.

"You don't want to know." Dee just replied.

"Guess I don't want to." the woman agreed. "We will keep the escape route open for exactly 45 minutes. After that, you're on your own. Understood?"

"Understood." Dee replied. Both women knew that this wasn't about an escape route anyway. However, at the same time, neither of them cared one bit about that. The only thing that mattered right now was that these so-called "Spectres" possessed the skills necessary to get these weapons into the palace undetected. Dee had no idea what kind of tricks those guys had up their sleeves, but she had never dealt with Ghosts before.

"We're not Ghosts." the woman just told her. "Keep that in mind." There was a threatening tone in her voice when she said that.

"Is there really a difference between you guys?" Dee whispered.

"Call us Ghosts again, and you'll find out." the woman snarled in barely contained anger and contempt. So, Ghosts and Spectres didn't really get along. Good to know. Their trip to the palace went on and Dee tried to concentrate on the task at hand. Partially because she wanted to make sure that she would remember all the important details. But mostly because she wanted to focus her mind on non-personal things, so these freaks wouldn't see something that wasn't their business. At a certain point, the tunnel they were in got narrower. There was not enough room for them to walk side by side and they had to crouch eventually. Yet even then no one cursed or complained. The fact that they were walking through all different sorts of human waste products was actually kinda amusing. It meant that those rich bastards produced the same kind of filth everybody else did. They came to a crossing and the soldiers could see a yellow sign on the wall. It pointed straight ahead.

"You did that?" the woman asked and Dee nodded.

"There's a big room roughly 400 meters above us. We'll have to climb up a latter and can enter the second sub-basement from there." They never stopped walking and when they reached the big room, they all looked up.

"Ladder, huh?" one of the Spectres mumbled. "I can't even see the end of it."

"Be quiet!" the leader snarled and moved towards the ladder. "Let's get up there, we're on a tight schedule here." And for the first time, Dee had to agree from the bottom of her heart. The members of the team started to climb up the ladder and at a certain point, Dee didn't dare to look down. The weight of the guns inside her backpack was starting to get bothersome. There was one good thing though. The stench of the sewers was starting to become weaker and she could take deep breaths again.

Should she survive this day, she would never ever go into a sewer again.

It took them roughly ten minutes before they finally reached the end of the ladder. When they did, the Spectres looked around.

"What is this place?" the leader of the Specters asked both in surprise and disbelief. "Is this...?" Dee only nodded before she dropped her rucksack and started to look for something inside. Right in front of them were the metallic doors of an elevator.

"It's an empty elevator shaft, and it leads to the east wing of the palace. I found it when I was looking for an entrance point. It was probably meant as an escape route. There is no elevator inside and they have sealed it by simply pouring loads and loads of concrete into that hole." She pulled a small package out of her backpack and walked over to the elevator. The door was sealed shut and the concrete on the other side was making it impossible to open the doors by force. The woman behind Dee crossed the arms in front of her chest.

"So how are we going to get inside? We can't phase through concrete!" she said. For the first time in ages, a smile appeared on Dee's face.

"After I found this place, I studied the structure of the palace. Took me months to do that. Those elevators, they are not just ordinary elevators. They are the best of the best, you know what that means?" However, the woman behind her was a Spectre, not an engineer. And she was in a foul mood. So instead of asking Dee what she was talking about, she simply looked into the woman's mind. And what she saw...

"They have a secondary cable duct!" she whispered and Dee nodded.

"Nifty, isn't it? That way, should there be a fire, the cables are still safe. I checked the design, they use the same kind of elevators in several ministries." Like the former Ministry of Agriculture, now the Kel-Morian embassy. Dee placed the small package on the door and pressed a button that was attached to it. Suddenly a digital display came to life, showing several red numbers.

"The cable ducts aren't very big, but there is enough room for a technician to climb them up. And they lead all the way to the ground floor. And since they're not accessible from the outside, they are not filled with concrete either. I checked it with a scanner." She then pressed another button and the numbers started to countdown. She made a step backward and looked over to the Spectres.

"You might wanna get to safety. This is gonna be one hell of a boom!"

* * *

"The ballroom is that way, Sir. That way, Sir. Effin' idiot." Jim growled while he was on his way back to said ballroom. He had tried to talk to Smith, had tried to convince him that he would make sure that neither Matt nor Valerian would ever find out. But Smith either had principles made out of stone or he was a heartless bastard.

Probably the latter...

"I swear, coming here was a mistake." Jim mumbled. He didn't pay any attention to the people around him when he re-entered the ballroom. Why should he? He didn't know any of these jokers anyway. Now he was in a place where he wasn't allowed to do anything, surrounded by people he didn't care about, and forced to stay _God knows how many hours_ before he could finally get away.

Sure, he still had to find Matt. But at the same time; who cared about that anymore? Jim could feel how his mood started to drop below zero. Perhaps he should leave this party, get a taxi and return to his place? Which totally wasn't his place, but who cared about such fine details these days anyway. For all the things he had done in his life, there had to be some kind of punishment. For all the times he had failed his people, be it either on the battlefield or not. But had this punishment to be death by boredom?

Jim's thoughts didn't just turn dark and grim all of the sudden, they had been like this for months now. Maybe even longer, maybe even for years. He walked past all sorts of celebrities, hands in his pockets, and with a sullen look on his face. Perhaps some people recognized him, perhaps some just wondered what a grumpy lumberjack was doing among them, or if the guy supposed to be Santa had forgotten to put on his white beard. Jim cared for none of that. As he walked through the ballroom, he sighed. Was this his fate now? To spend the rest of his life as a man locked away so he wouldn't hurt himself? He knew why Matt treated him this way. Sometimes you need friends that look after you. But Jim was way past that point.

Besides, his time left in this world was limited anyway.

 _And yet there will always be people that need you..._ her voice whispered in the back of his mind but didn't help him to feel any better.

"So, everyone needs old Jimmie...but what's about the people he cared for. Who's gonna take care of him?" he mumbled to himself.

 _That's not what I wanted to say, I..._ her voice reached him, but he shook his head. Not now. As much as he enjoyed this hallucination, it was starting to get bothersome. He was too focused on avoiding all those celebrities. So much, in fact, that he almost missed something at the edge of his sight. He didn't react fast enough, but when his brain had finally caught up, he stopped and turned his head to the side. There was someone in the crowd. Well, there were many people in the crowd, but this person was different.

Red hair...

He blinked in surprise and squinted his eyes. For the fraction of a second, he could see it. There was a figure with red hair. Not just any red hair, not like that reddish-brown hair on Brent's head. No, it was flaming red, like it was made out of lava. He looked in the general direction of that figure, but it was gone. When suddenly a woman with icy-blue hair walked past him, he shook his head. Right, he had forgotten where he was. There was probably not a single woman with a natural hair color inside this room anyway. He sighed and turned away. Suddenly he felt so tired, so exhausted. He hadn't done much today, but he could feel how his strength was slipping through his fingers. So, this was what he could expect for his future? Would every day be more exhausting than the last one until he would be too weak to do pretty much anything?

Perhaps he shouldn't look for something to drink, but for a gun to end that tragedy before it was about to happen...

Jim sighed and turned away. He had no idea what to do next, maybe he should look for Smith and tell him that he wanted to leave. To hell with Matt, they had to solve their problems themselves eventually.

That was when he saw that red hair again.

"It can't be" he mumbled and rubbed his eyes. Oh damn, he was having hallucinations. Well, more hallucinations that usually. Why now of all times? He sighed and opened his eyes again. And when he did...

There she was. He could only see the lithe figure for the fraction of a second, but there was no doubt about it. She vanished between a group of people, but he was sure to see a copper-colored dress. He could only see her long enough in order to be sure that she wasn't a product of his hallucinating mind. His body moved on his own when he decided to go after her. He didn't think about how likely this whole thing was or stuff like that. The whole thing was too surreal anyway. He plunged into the group of people and could see the copper of her dress vanishing behind another crowd. She moved swiftly, but there was something else about her, something his mind hadn't realized yet. However, his subconsciousness told him that he should follow that woman. Because...because...

"Raynor? James Raynor?" suddenly a new voice reached his ear and he felt a hand on his shoulder. He stopped and turned around with a confused look on his face.

"What?" he just managed to say. That hand belonged to a man. He wore a white suit and looked somewhat ridiculous. It was a skinny guy with a lot of wrinkles on his face, and at first, Jim didn't recognize him at all. It took him a few moments to figure out the man's identity. And by then...

"It is you, isn't it? Oh my, I never thought we would actually come face to face one day." the man said and showed Jim a goofy smile. When Jim finally recognized the man, he couldn't believe it.

"Vermillion?!" he almost yelled in both surprise and disbelief. Donny Vermillion grinned like a stupid idiot and offered his hand to Jim.

"In the flesh! Though I have to admit; I didn't think that we would see you at this party! Do you have anything to say to all the viewers around the sector?" Vermillion asked. Only then Jim noticed the small holo-drone hovering next to Vermillion's head.

"Uhm... hi." he only managed to say. Of all the things in the world...

"So, what are you doing here tonight? Are you a guest? Is there anyone here with you? Anyone _special_?" Vermillion wanted to know. Jim looked around, however, the woman with the red hair was gone.

"I'm...there's no particular reason why I'm here." Jim explained. It was actually the first time that he came face to face with Vermillion. The guy was a lot smaller than Jim had thought.

"I guess even the legendary freedom-fighter James Raynor has to enjoy himself from time to time, folks." Vermillion joked to the camera-drone. When Jim heard that, his brows wandered up. Freedom-fighter? He remembered how Vermillion had called him many things, but never a freedom-fighter.

"So, Mr. Raynor..." Donnie continued to "interview" Jim, "...how do you like this party so far? A lot of important guests are here, is there anyone among the guests who has impressed you so far? Met some old friends maybe?" Well, at least the quality of Vermillion's questions was pretty much the same as before.

"Nope. But hey, have you seen Admiral Horner?" Jim suddenly asked back. The question caught Vermillion somewhat off guard as if he hadn't expected anyone to ask _him_ a question.

"Uhm...yes, actually. The Admiral arrived roughly two hours ago, but then he just left. Speaking of which; since when did he and Kate Lockwell have an affair, and were you informed about this?" Jim's eyes widened in surprise when he heard that.

"Wait, what? Matt and Lockwell? Seriously?" he asked.

"So you didn't know about that?" Vermillion asked back. "Interesting! Does that mean that Admiral Horner kept this affair a close secret to-" However, as amusing it was (and a part of Jim wished that Matt would find someone who would make him happy, just not today), Jim had little nerve to deal with this right now. He sighed and looked around. The people all seemed to enjoy themselves to the fullest, and here he was, answering stupid questions from Donny Vermillion, the same guy that had used to rip him a new one 24/7. Screw this, he had to get outta here and find _her_.

"There you are." he suddenly whispered. A couple of dozen meters away the flaming red hair appeared again, but it was gone from his sight within fractions of a second. That hair wasn't a hallucination, though, and so Jim started to move. However, Donny didn't seem to realize that the "interview" was over.

"Mr. Raynor! Mr. Raynor! Wait, there are still some questions I have to ask you." But Jim had no time for this.

"Maybe later." he just replied. He could hear Donnie sigh and then a "Camera off". The drone next to his head stopped recording and Jim felt relieved. However, instead of leaving Jim alone, Vermillion stepped into his path and looked up to him.

"Well, listen, Mr. Raynor, there's something I would like to tell you. For quite some time now, actually." But Jim had no time for that. He saw that red hair one more time before the figure vanished from his sight.

"Huh?" Jim only managed to mumble.

"I know that we have kind of a history and, well, given all that you have done and I have said about you, I just wanted to tell you; I am terribly sorry."

"What?!" Jim said when he heard that.

"I know that I haven't been exactly a good person in the past. But I'm trying to do better. It would mean a lot to me if you would, well..." Jim could see that Vermillion was serious about that. He had no love for this man, Vermillion had been a liar and an opportunist. Yet even though he had probably ruined more than a few lives, Jim lacked the strength to hate this man. He had used up all of his hatred the day Sarah had killed Mengsk with a mere thought. Vermillion offered Jim his hand and looked at him with pleading eyes.

"No hard feelings?" Jim looked around, but the woman was nowhere to be seen. He sighed and looked back at Vermillion. He really thought about telling him to shove that excuse up his, well, you know. But then he simply grabbed the hand and shook it.

"No hard feelings, Vermillion." The grin that appeared on Vermillion's face was absurdly wide.

"Excellent! Now that we got that out of the way; I'm currently working on my autobiography. I wanted to ask if you could help me with the part where I will write about myself during the reign of the dictator Arcturus Mengsk and..."

 _...write about myself during the reign of the dictator Arcturus Mengsk..._

Okay, maybe he was still an opportunist.

"...and I could really use some additional input regarding the minor role of the Raiders during that conflict."

"Minor role?" Jim mumbled before he sighed again. He just wanted to leave this place. But then he saw the red hair again. He turned around and tapped on Vermillion's shoulder. "Sure, just ask my agent to set up a meeting. He's somewhere here anyway. Big guy, wears a black suit and sunglasses inside the building. Goes by the name of Smith. Make sure keep bothering him. He's the kind of guy who likes to act like a hard-ass. So, you have to annoy the crap outta him, he will appreciate it." The grin on Vermillion's face became even wider.

"I will do that! Thank you, Colonel!" he then said.

"Commander, goddammit..." Jim hissed before he finally managed to detach himself from that guy. Besides, he had more important things to do.

"There!" he whispered to himself. She was out there, he could see her! Jim hurried towards her position and had to squeeze himself through countless numbers of celebrities. He could see her, but only from behind. It was as if she floated through the crowd while he had to fight himself past them. Her hair looked like molten lava, more intense than he actually remembered it to be. It was shorter as well. And the dress...it didn't just have the color of copper, it looked as if it was _made_ out of molten metal. Every step she made caused it to shift and change. But that wasn't the reason why he was following her. It wasn't just the hair or the dress, it was the way she walked.

He knew that gait. Only one person he knew walked like that. Every step was full of self-confidence. Yes, he knew those movements. He knew them all too well.

It just couldn't be. Not now. Not here. Why of all times now? Why? The heart inside his chest started to beat faster and faster. He felt a mixture of pain and hope, and his breath became ragged.

The woman detached herself from the big group of people and walked towards a staircase. Suddenly Jim felt how he started to panic. No, she was about to leave! He couldn't allow that. He almost had to run in order to reach her in time. When she started to go up the stairs, it looked like the staircase was lifting her up on its own. She was almost at the top of the staircase when he had finally reached her. Jim reached out to her and for a moment it felt as both time and space were starting to shift and slow down around them. But then his hand grabbed hers, giving her a soft tug. When she turned around and he looked into her green eyes, he couldn't believe it.

"Sarah?"


	35. Act II - Chapter 11

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 11**

 **Almost like Cinderella, only with Guns**

* * *

The moment the woman turned around, Jim couldn't believe his eyes. It couldn't be. Not now. Not here. He had seen a lot of things in his life and had always been able to not lose focus on the task at hand. However, right now his mind wasn't able to fully understand what was going on. Yet when he looked into the woman's eyes...

"Sarah?" His voice was barely a whisper. For a moment the look on the woman's face seemed to be...surprised? And even shocked? But it only lasted for a moment. The woman regained her composure and gave Jim a warm smile.

"Excuse me, but do I know you?" she asked. Only then Jim started to blink in confusion. Right in front of him was...was...

He let go of the woman's hand and made a step backward. He looked at her face and frowned. But...that woman...

...was not Sarah.

She resembled Sarah, but not that much. Her most striking features were without a doubt her flaming red hair and her green eyes. But her face had a different shape. Sarah's face had always had a somewhat triangular shape. This woman's face was more, well, square-shaped. She was still a beautiful woman and Jim had no doubts that everyone on this party would agree with him. But there was just one small problem...

...she wasn't Sarah.

For a moment, something inside his mind tried to fight that conclusion. Something was wrong. As if he was looking at something that wasn't even real. No. No, it had to be a mistake. The woman right in front of him was very much real. And it felt like the truth was finally able to silence the little voice of doubt inside his mind.

...this was not Sarah.

"For... forgive me. I'm awfully sorry." Jim said and made another step backward. "I mistook you for someone else. I didn't want to startle you, Miss..." Instead of turning away and leaving, she gave him a warm smile. Like said; she was an exceptionally beautiful woman. Her hair only reached to her shoulders and her face was covered with a few freckles. It gave her something youthful.

"It is okay. You just surprised me." she said with an angel-like voice. Jim had to swallow hard when he heard that voice. She turned her whole body towards him and offered him her hand.

"Jane Shepard. Nice to meet you." _Jane Shepard._ He had never heard that name before and he was sure that he would have remembered someone with that name _and_ that look. No, he was sure that he had never met this woman before. Yet why did he feel like he knew her? He looked at her hand and when he grabbed it, he shook it carefully.

"James Raynor. Sorry for scaring the hell outta ya'. Wasn't my intention." he just mumbled and could feel how the embarrassment started to creep through his body. Shepard tilted her head to the side and gave Jim a surprised look.

"Raynor? _The_ James Raynor?" she asked both in surprise and disbelief. "The leader of Raynor's Raiders? The one who fought both the Zerg and aided the Protoss?" When Jim heard that, he had to frown. Great, this woman wasn't another one of those creepy conspiracy journalists that claimed that the war against the Zerg had been nothing but a lie, staged by the old Confederacy in order to hide how they had mass murdered the people of Tarsonis. None of that made any sense, but conspiracy guys would only tell you that this was exactly the idea behind it. Jim raised his hands, knowing that there was no way to get away in time.

"Guilty as charged. Though I'm pretty sure that everything you have heard is greatly exaggerated. And before you ask; no, there is no such thing as a blood brotherhood among Protoss." Jim sighed before he looked around.

"Listen." he then told her. "I am really sorry for startling you. Like said, I mistook you for someone else. Won't happen again though. So I hope you can forgive me. Uhm... yeah... well... I wish you a nice day." Suddenly Jim felt horrible. He dropped his shoulders and was about to turn away and return to the crowd down below. For a second, for the fraction of a second, he had truly believed that it could have been her...

...that she had returned to him.

It made it all the more painful, realizing that he had just fooled himself. It wasn't her. It wasn't Sarah. He closed his eyes and had to fight his feelings for a moment. He didn't notice when Jane Shepard looked at him with an equally painful expression on her face.

 _To think that she was this close to you back then..._ he could hear _her_ voice inside his head. It helped. Helped to fight back the tears. Her voice gave him strength. At least enough strength so he wouldn't collapse on the ground right here and now.

"It's okay." he then whispered. "It's not your fault. It never was." When he spoke out those words, he couldn't see how Jane started to frown. He didn't hear her shocked gasp, nor did he see the disbelieving expression on her face when she finally realized that those voices inside their heads hadn't been just random voices...

"So you... heard it too?" he could hear Jane whisper, but he didn't care. Instead, he started to walk down the staircase, ready to do what he usually did these days, and that was nothing at all. Right behind him, Jane Shepard looked like her heart was about to explode. She reached out to him, and for a short moment, her hair started to glow. Yet it happened too fast for anyone to notice it.

Or was it because _she_ didn't want them to notice it?

Whatever the reason, Jim didn't care about any of this. Instead, he continued to walk down the staircase, his mind too numb with pain and loss to notice any of that. And he didn't notice when Shepard looked at his back while he was walking away from her. Neither did he notice when Shepard clenched her hands into fists. She took a deep breath and made a step forward.

"Mr. Raynor? Please wait a moment! There's something I would like to ask you!" Jim stopped, unsure of what to do next. He wasn't really in the mood for any fancy talk right now. Yet when he looked over his shoulder and saw the pleading look on Shepard's face, he sighed and looked her straight into the eyes.

"Please tell me that you're not one of those gossip writers that call themselves journalists around here." Shepard gave him a thankful smile and lowered her gaze.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to embarrass you or anything like that. But I have heard so much about you and I just would like to talk to someone who, well, has seen it all with his own two eyes." She could see how Jim fought with himself. He brushed with his fingers through his hair and shook his head.

"Don't get me wrong, lady..." he then told her. "...but this is kinda random. Besides, I doubt that this is the right time and place for old guys like me to tell ancient war-stories to young and beautiful ladies that should be enjoying themselves." He saw how Shepard blushed, but at the same time, she continued to smile at him.

"You think that I'm beautiful?" she asked him.

"I think "beautiful" is inadequate to describe you, my lady. And I'm probably a fool for saying this, but I think that there are many better-looking guys in this very this room. And every single one is probably wealthy as hell, which I am not" he added. It caused Shepard to laugh.

"That might be so." she told them. "But they all share the same problem."

"And what would that be?" Jim wanted to know.

"They're not the legendary James Raynor." Shepard declared. Jim frowned when he heard that and looked into her eyes. Was she a creepy stalker? No. His guts told him that she wasn't a stalker. She was something else...

"Just who are you? And what do you want from me?" Jim asked her directly.

"I am a... historian." she finally declared. Jim's eyes widened in both surprise and disbelief. He looked at her whole body, her dress and her entire appearance before he finally shook his head.

"Forgive me my bluntness, but you're not looking like any historian I've ever met." Shepard nodded when she heard that.

"It is less of a profession and more of a passion of mine, really. Still, there are so many things I would like to ask you. If you don't mind." Jim sighed again and looked around. He felt like a dork. Here he was, looking like a lumberjack without a home while the most beautiful girl at the party was asking _him_ to talk with _her_? He scanned the area for someone who would be a good match for her.

"Is there... isn't there anyone here who's with you? Like a husband, or a boyfriend? I'm certain that such a beautiful lady hasn't come here all by herself." Now the smile vanished from Shepard's face and she lowered her gaze.

"There is someone..." she managed to say, but her voice was barely a whisper. "...but... right now it seems we are worlds apart." Jim could hear the pain and guilt in the woman's voice and nodded.

"Yeah, I know that feeling. Sometimes you just wonder..."

"...where it all started to go wrong." both of them said at the same time and looked at each other in surprise. It was Shepard who spoke first.

"Forgive me, I didn't want to bother you with my personal problems. I am certain that a person of your position has many important things to do. Meeting dignitaries, advise the Emperor, make plans for the future." That statement caused Jim to laugh out loud.

"Ha! Oh, not these days it ain't." He sighed and looked back at the crowd beneath them. "These days I rarely do anything. Most of my time I'm alone and stare at the landscape. But enough about me, I'm certain that you didn't want to listen to an old man's ranting, beautiful." he declared. Shepard tilted her head to the side and took a good look at him.

"You're hardly what I would call an "old man", Mr. Raynor." she then declared.

"Yeah, well, sure feels like that though." he replied. He rubbed his temples and tried to gather his thoughts.

"Listen, I really don't want to sound rude or anything, but right now I don't think that I'm what you would call "good company". So, I guess that's-"

"Please!" Shepard pleaded and made a step towards him. When she moved, the dress around her body started to shift again. He knew that there was something called "chameleon-silk" that could change its color at any given time. But this stuff? He had no idea how that even worked. "Just a quick chat, Mr. Raynor. I promise that I will not bother you with any stupid questions. There are just things I really need to know. You do know that feeling, right? If there are questions you just have to get an answer for, or they will haunt you for the rest of your life." He looked into Jane Shepard's eyes and thought about that for a moment.

"Yeah..." he finally said. "Yeah, I know that feeling." And then Jim sighed again. "Okay. Ask your question. But I've got three demands. And they're not open for negotiations." The redhead tilted her head to the side again and looked at him carefully.

"Name them."

"First; let's go somewhere else. There are too many people inside this room. Secondly; you're gonna tell me why such a beauty has such a big interest in history." Jane nodded when she heard those demands.

"That sounds reasonable. And the third?" she wanted to know. Now a weak smile appeared on his face.

"Call me Jim."

* * *

"You know, since we will probably be spending most of this evening together, how about you call me "Valerian"?" Valerian offered when he and Valeria Samson entered the throne room. The young woman frowned and seemed to be absolutely displeased with that idea.

"No, your Majesty. That would be unwise. I will address you as "His Imperial Majesty" at all times during this evening's festivals. At least until we know each other better."

 _Would that be after the first or the second child?_ Valerian thought grimly but kept that thought to himself. _Bet neither Jim nor Matt have to deal with this kind of crap right now._

Right.

After they stepped into the throne room, the door was closed behind them. There were some more guards, but they were unarmed. The elite of the Dominion wanted to keep to themselves, and every additional person would just be a potential leak. Somewhat paranoid, but you probably had to be paranoid if you were part of this elite club of misfits and cutthroats.

At least there wasn't any announcer that would...

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" someone started to speak right next to Valerian. Oh, great. "I present to you; His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Valerian Mengsk and his companion, Lady Valeria Penelope Artemis Kunigunde Samson!" Right next to him, Valeria tensed up. Suddenly there was a look of utter disgust on her face.

"What's the matter?" he whispered to her. She looked at him in cold murderer and he wasn't sure if she would yell at him for not noticing it.

"They forgot a name!" she hissed back, only loud enough that he could hear it.

"Forgot a name?" he asked with a confused tone in his voice. What was that about?

"It's Lady Valeria Penelope _Annabelle_ Artemis Kunigunde Samson! They forgot to mention my second middle name! This is absolutely unacceptable!"

Oh boy. Valerian couldn't shake the feeling that he was in for one hell of a ride.

Though the announcer didn't use those other fancy titles his colleague had used earlier, Valerian wasn't very happy when he saw how all the heads inside the throne room turned towards him. And unlike those guys in the ballroom, these jokers here didn't grin or look up at him in adoration. And he had his doubts that they would cheer for him either. Instead, most of them just looked at him as if they were analyzing the Emperor of the Dominion. And Valerian could almost _feel_ the cold distance between them.

Instead of giving them a fancy speech, he just bowed his head, a gesture most of them returned the same way.

There was a strict protocol he had to follow. And the first thing was to properly greet all the important people and dignitaries. That meant that they all formed up in a row and he would walk past them, greeting every single one of them personally. And there were hundreds of people inside the throne room.

Valerian groaned on the inside. Well, it was time to shake hands like a true professional. He and Valeria walked over to the first guests, a middle-aged man with his, uhm, daughter? Probably not. He bowed his head respectfully and so did the honored guest. Next to him, Valeria spoke up.

"Lord Hanson Trenton and his beautiful wife, the lovely Lady Iris Trenton. I present to you; His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Valerian Mengsk." she then introduced them to each other. Wait, did she know every single person in this room?

"Your Majesty." Lord Trenton (Valerian didn't even know that they had Lords inside the Dominion) bowed in front of Valerian and his companion, so did his wife, who looked like she was thirty years younger. By the way, was child-marriage actually forbidden? If not, then he should work on that once this party was over.

"It is an honor to finally meet you in person, your Majesty." Iris Trenton whispered. Even though she looked very young, there was something humble about her presence. Valerian had learned to like humble people. Suddenly, and much to Valeria's shock and dismay, Valerian took Lady Trenton's hand into his and gave it a soft kiss. The woman blushed immediately but managed to keep her straight face. He then moved on to Lord Trenton and offered his hand to him. The surprised look on Trenton's face showed Valerian that this wasn't part of the official protocol. Too bad, he was the Emperor, he could do whatever the hell he wanted to. Well, sometimes. Trent grabbed Valerian's hand and shook it. It was a strong grip, but not too forceful.

"I am happy that you could come to this party." Valerian then said. "And hopefully we can talk some more during tonight's festivities." The look of surprise on both Mr. and Mrs. Trenton's face was a refreshing, but they immediately regained their composure and started to nod.

"That would be nice, your Majesty." Lord Trenton only managed to mumble. Valerian looked one more time at Iris Trenton and offered her a warm smile.

"And may I say; you look lovely in that dress." Iris Trenton blushed at the Emperor's words and lowered her gaze.

"Thank you for your compliment, your Majesty. But it is nothing special." she just told him.

"You are of course right..." Valerian then told her. "...dresses are just dresses. It's the person that wears them that makes them shine." Now Iris blushed even harder. Next to him, he could hear Valeria's trademark "Hmpf" and realized that it was time to move on.

"I wish you a lot of fun and that you'll enjoy this party. Until later." Valerian then said and bowed one last time. As both he and Valerian moved on, he could feel how her grip on his arm tightened. It felt as if a polar bear was trying to give him a hug.

"That dress was from the last season." Valeria hissed, which caused him to blink in surprise.

"Yeah, so?" he asked back as they approached the next guests. He could see how she shuddered when she heard his "Yeah". Apparently, an Emperor wasn't supposed to use the word "Yeah". Yeah, well, tough luck.

"To come to this event with a dress from last season is... is..." Valeria clenched her hands into fists as cold rage started to flow through her body. "...unacceptable! This is not a cattle market!" she hissed. Much to his own dismay, Valerian realized that she was dead serious about that.

 _Well, if that's the biggest problems we have to deal with, then we don't have to worry about anything else..._ he thought before he shook his head.

"I will make sure that the guests on the next Christmas-party will be informed that such an attire is not desired." Valeria then told him as they approached the next dignitary. She then added a "Hmpf", which caused Valerian to shudder. Suddenly an image flashed before his inner eye. He saw his older self, sitting at a table, eating something.

"Can I have the water, my love?" he asked his wife and Empress, Valeria Mengsk the Astonishing.

"Hmpf. Get it yourself."

Brrrrrr...

"So, what is Trenton doing for a living anyway?" Valerian wanted to know. A look of contempt appeared on Valeria's face.

"He is... selling fertilizer. Apparently, he sells a lot of this _substance_. Though I cannot see how that fact qualifies him to attend this party. There used to be standards, you know." Fertilizer. Fertilizer. Now that she had told him that, Valerian had to look over the shoulder. He could see how both Mr. and Mrs. Trenton were still both surprised and baffled by Valerian's friendliness. Now that he took a closer look at Trenton's face...

"Wait a sec..." he whispered before he looked back at Valerian. "...is that the CEO of TIA?" he then asked in shock. TIA, Trans Interstellar Agriculture, one of the biggest companies in the entire sector when it came to fertilizer and agricultural products. They made more money each year than most independent colonies in decades

"Yes, I believe so." Valeria added with nothing but contempt in her voice. "But to think that someone who earns his money with _manure_ is allowed to come to this party... it's another thing that will change in the next year."

 _She's already talking like she owns the place._ Valerian thought. Still, if that guy was the CEO of one of the biggest producers of agricultural products, then...

That's when Valerian shook his head. He had no time to think about it. The next figure was a big man, easily one head bigger than Valerian. He had dark skin and a short, militaristic hairstyle. He was in his early forties and his hair started to show signs of gray. Even though he didn't wear a uniform, you could still see the years of military service that had formed both his body and mind. As Valerian stopped in front of him, a smile appeared on his face.

"Major Warfield! It is nice to finally meet you in person." He offered his hand to the bigger man, who grabbed it and gave it a quick squeeze.

"Thank you for your kind words, your Majesty. But I am no longer a member of the armed forces, therefore I shouldn't be addressed with that rank anymore." former Major Cedric Warfield explained. He was the son of Horace Warfield (though not many people actually knew that Warfield had had a family) and it had even been a surprise to Valerian when he had heard about him. He didn't know much about the man, though.

"I see." Valerian than said and looked into Warfield's eyes. While he resembled his father a lot, he lacked the General's piercing gaze. Valerian had always respected Warfield, he had been the man who had accompanied him to Char. And he had been the man who had fought the Zerg, and if people claimed that it had been Jim's Raiders who had won the day, they simply refused the fact that General Warfield and his leadership had been equally important to the overall success.

His death on Char had been a huge loss. They could really need a man of Warfield's caliber right now.

"Forgive me my curiosity, but what are you doing these days?" Valerian wanted to know. Next to him, Valeria started to "Hmpf" again. It appeared as if she didn't like the fact that he was having a conversation without her permission.

"I..." Cecil Warfield started to say. "...I am currently trying to find a new profession for myself. One that will be more satisfying and less... destructive." Well, that sounded somewhat cryptic.

"I see." Valerian said though he had no idea what Warfield was talking about. "Well, I wish you best of luck with that. But I am nonetheless happy to see you here. It is good that we finally meet. Your father was a great man and there isn't a day where I don't miss his experience and his advice." Valerian didn't miss how Cecil Warfield shuddered when hearing about his father. A painful expression appeared on his face.

"My father and I weren't exactly close." Cecil then said. "I have little doubt that you knew him better than I did. But... thank you." Okay, that was awkward. Like said; General Warfield had never told anyone about his family. Matt had been the first one to figure that one out. He had found the name "Warfield" after the end of the war in the database of the Dominion's military. If Valerian remembered correctly, Matt had even tried to recruit Warfield, offering him the position as the Admiral's advisor. But Warfield had declined that offer, and instead, Matt had picked a young and inexperienced man called Joseph Brent.

Perhaps it was better this way. From what Valerian had heard, Major Cecil Warfield's career inside the military had been an utterly boring one. He had never scored big points, he had never failed anyone either. It would be too harsh to call him "faceless", but when compared to the successes of his father, he was...well...

...he just wasn't _Horace_ Warfield.

"Well, I do hope that you will enjoy today's festivities. Maybe we could talk a bit later on?" Valerian offered, but he could see that Warfield wasn't too fond of that idea.

"Yes..." the bigger man nonetheless said. "...that would be nice. And may God be with you, your Majesty." He then bowed his head and turned away. Hmm, what a strange choice of words, but oh well. In the end, it was Valeria who used a bit of force to make Valerian move again. The next group of people looked like a lot less fun. And of course, they were a lot more important than Warfield.

"These are members of the biggest property and real-estate fund on Augustgrad and close business-partners of my father." Valeria whispered to him. The only thing her statement lacked was the: _So don't embarrass me!_ As they approached them, Valerian had to frown.

"Speaking of which; is your father here as well?" he asked. She looked at him as if he had gone crazy.

"Of course not!" she hissed. "My father is too busy to attend to these social events. He sent me in his place." Well, at least he wouldn't have to deal with the Iceberg personally. It didn't stop Valeria to "Hmpf" again.

 _Well, let's get this over with..._

Valerian somehow managed to not embarrass either him or Valeria. Though her "Hmpf" started to sound like some kind of weird techno-song. "HmpfHmpfHmpfHmpf". That sound would probably haunt him in his dreams. The endless numbers of dignitaries and so-called "VIPs" were just not coming to an end, and at a certain point, Valerian's back started to hurt because of all that bowing he had to do. Valeria, however, looked like a fish in the water. Her smile was perfect, so where her white teeth. But by now Valerian felt just an icy chill running down his spine whenever he looked at her.

When they reached the umpteenth group of people, Valerian only noticed that they consisted of only two people, just like the Trenton's had. Though he doubted that they were a couple. He could only see the man's face. He was rather short. The woman behind him was much larger, but she had turned their backs towards him. She was rather... muscular, however, the dress she wore gave her an elegant appearance.

"Who are they?" he wanted to know. Valeria didn't answer immediately. Instead, she frowned and her face showed nothing but contempt. Even more contempt than when they had met the Trentons.

"Those are people who shouldn't be here. Outsiders. Barbarians." Valerian had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but when they reached the group, the small but bulky man made a step to the side and allowed Valerian to take a better look at the woman. When Valeria saw the strong, big figure in front of them, she just barely managed to avoid laughing out loud. To her, it looked like someone had forced a bear into a black dress.

"Hmpf, your Majesty, may I introduce-" Valeria started. But the woman just turned around and made a step forward.

"No introduction needed." the woman snarled and looked Valerian straight into the eyes. "We already know each other." Her voice was even frostier than usually. She looked at Valerian, then at Valeria and then back at him. The look on her face basically screamed; Yeah, thought so.

"Ambassador Curtland. It is a pleasure to have you here tonight." Valerian declared.

"Yeah, I bet it is." Leila Curtland replied with nothing but sarcasm in her voice.

* * *

The members of the kitchen-staff were actually not too unhappy about the fact that the Captain with the red hair had thrown them out of the kitchen. Not a single one of them had volunteered to work on Christmas. Oh no, instead of spending a few free days with their families, they had prepared food for two days straight. Most of them hurried towards the delivery entrance in order to catch some fresh air and have a smoke. Others used the break to go to the bathroom, and some managed to find a nice and calm spot to take a nap. And there were even some who simply decided to go home.

Gunther Olien wasn't very happy about this, though. To him, it was a goddamn nightmare. He too was a member of the staff, but he didn't work in the kitchen. Nope, he was a butler and his job today was to swarm the guests and make sure that they had everything they asked for. The job itself wasn't bad. They paid him well and, most importantly, he got his money on the first of the month. In times of a recession, it was an important thing to point out.

Of course, that didn't mean that his job was the best of all times. He had amassed so many extra hours within the last two months, he didn't even want to think about it. And his boss was a complete asshat. Oh, he wasn't talking about Valerian, he was talking about Chief Steward Hamilton. That guy was the worst boss of all times and a true martinet.

Plus, Gunther was certain that the old fart couldn't like him because he had made fun of him behind his back one time.

Hamilton had been pissed for two days now when they had told him that he and his people wouldn't be allowed tend to the VIP-guests inside the throne room. And of course, he had made sure that if he was in a foul mood, so was everyone else.

That's when Gunther had come up with the idea of forming a union.

"Gunther, go back to the kitchen and ask those idiots what the hell they think they're doing!" Hamilton had hissed to him while keeping a close eye on the buffet. "We are getting low on kilted sausages! This is unacceptable." he had told him.

No more kilted sausages. Unacceptable. That alone was reason enough to start another incursion into Umojan space, better not let the Emperor hear about this or he will order the fleet to move out immediately!

"I'm not responsible for the buffet, that's O'Mally's job!" he had protested. But of course, Hamilton hadn't cared about that one bit.

"I don't care one bit about that, Olien! Get to the kitchen and tell them to work harder! Get to it!" There were moments where you should stand your ground, and there were moments where you just should shut up and do as you were told. This was the latter kind of moment. And so, Gunther Olien had made his way back to the kitchen in order to tell the people that "Chief Stewart Hamilton wasn't pleased". Gunther already knew the answer he would receive. Head Chef Terrance would give him the finger and tell him to "sod off". But when he entered the kitchen, he couldn't see anyone.

"What the hell...?" he muttered, and for a moment he wondered if he was in the wrong kitchen. There were several kitchens inside the palace, so that wasn't impossible. But he could still see all the food they had prepared, so this had to be the right place. He looked around, but no one was anywhere to be seen. Just when he was about to turn around and look for the cooks, he heard a voice from behind a door.

"...all live in a battlecruiser...we all live in a battlecruiser...early in the mooooorning!" someone was singing from somewhere. Well, you couldn't really call it singing, it was more like "acoustic rape". Still, Gunther had to check it out. He followed the "singing" until he stood right in front of the wine vault. Huh, there was something inside? Singing? Oh, this should be good. He knew that the wine vault was off limits to anyone but the Head Chef and the Chief Stewart, so whoever was inside was in so much trouble...

Gunther opened the heavy door and the smell of wine and alcohol assaulted his senses. He made a step backward and shook his head. What the hell?

"...you think you're something else, lalalala...okay, so you're a Ghost-operative..." the man inside the wine vault sang. "...that don't impress me much. So, you got the stealth but have you got the touch? Lalalala..." Gunther had seen his fair share of drunken officers in the last couple of years. But this guy? This guy was on a whole different level. He sat on a box filled with what was probably the most expensive brandy in the entire sector while drinking from another bottle of equally expensive wine. A cold shudder ran down Gunther's spine when he realized that the bottle looked like it was really old. Like one of those bottles their ancestors had brought here from Earth itself...

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" he yelled both in shock and anger.

"DRINKING!" Brent yelled back at him as if this was a yelling-contest.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" Gunther screamed in rage, but Brent didn't even realize that the man who had just entered the wine vault was _not_ a tummler and that this was _not_ on a bachelor party.

"BECAUSE I WAS TOLD TO!" Brent replied truthfully. However, Gunther had no time for this. He ran over to the Captain and ripped the bottle out of the skinny man's hands. Then he looked at the label on the bottle of wine and went pale.

"2021? Oh God, no..." he whispered, realizing that this man had just opened a bottle that was almost 500 years old.

"Yeah, wasn't so great. Kinda tasted like vinegar if you ask me...*burp*..."

"Have you any idea what you have done?!" Gunther hissed. But Brent, who just looked at his empty hand before grabbing another bottle from the shelf, started to giggle.

"Freed the world from just another horrible bottle of vinegar?" he offered.

"That bottle was almost 500 years old! It's from Earth! You know; Earth? The Earth? As in; Ancient Earth?!" Brent just shrugged his shoulders when he heard that.

"Meh, wasn't so great. Just like that whiskey I tried. Label said that it was over seven hundred years old. Tasted like seven-hundred-year-old crap if you ask me." When Gunther heard that, he could feel how his mind went blank.

"You just opened a Whiskey that's over seven hundred years old?" he whispered. "You monster."

"Like sai*burp*said... not so great anyway." Brent declared before he opened another bottle of wine and started to take another deep gulp from it.

"There will be dire consequences for this. I will call the guards! I will have them lock you up! Have you any idea how much money you have just burned simply by opening these bottles?" Gunther demanded to know. Brent thought about what Jim Raynor had told him once.

"Put it on my tab."

"That's it! I'm going to get the guards. You stay here, you barbarian!" Gunther then turned around and left the wine vault. He could hear the voice of Brent yelling something behind him, but it didn't make any sense to Gunther, so he chose to ignore it.

"Hey, yo! Should you meet a dark and beautiful snake-lady on your way out, send her right my way!" But then Gunther was gone. Brent, on the other hand, took another gulp from the bottle and looked around. There was no one around and when he looked at the bottle in his hands, he sighed in disappointment.

"See, Admiral..." he mumbled to himself. "...like I told you. it was just a hallucination." He then took another gulp and sighed. "Too bad, sure as hell was one nice hallucination. Oh well, to us then!" As he continued to drink more of that wine, he wondered if he should get himself some of Swann's moonshine. Maybe then he would have those nice hallucinations again...

But that was his problem. Gunther Olien had his own problems, even though they were all closely related to that idiot inside the wine vault. He could already imagine the look on the Chief Stewart's face once he would tell him that some buffoon had just opened bottles worth millions of credits.

"Forget about the Chief Stewart, I need to find some guards!" Gunther said to himself. There were some guards inside the ballroom. He had to tell them. On his way there, he didn't see anyone. But then there was something that caught his attention.

...it was an elevator-door.

He knew that door. He had passed it many times. There wasn't actually an elevator inside, and as far as Gunther knew, no one had ever used that damn thing. The buttons weren't working either, so no one had ever bothered about that thing anyway. However, now something was different. Because for the first time ever the door was open.

"What is this?" Gunther said to himself. "Which idiot is responsible for this?" He was certain that it hadn't been open when he had walked into the kitchen earlier on. So, had just someone opened the door while he had witnessed the destruction of priceless alcoholics? There were probably some technicians responsible for that, but even then...

"This is dangerous, people! You can't leave it open like that!" he snarled in anger. Seriously, at least put a cordon around it! If somebody trips or stumbles they might fall down that shaft. And he had no idea how deep that damn thing was. Speaking of which...Gunther walked towards the opened door and peeked inside. He had never seen the insides of an elevator shaft with his own two eyes, so he was kinda curious about it. But all he saw was darkness. Still, even as he looked down, he suddenly felt a strange kind of vertigo. He shook his head and made a step backward.

"God, this is dangerous." he muttered and shook his head again, but the sense of vertigo remained. It was strange, Gunther wasn't afraid of heights.

 _Drip..._

Perhaps he should tell the guards that someone should keep an eye on this door.

 _Drip Drip..._

Whew. He should try to calm down, it was hot as hell right now. Maybe he should return to the kitchen and get himself something to drink? A glass of cold water would be nice. And the sense of vertigo remained.

 _Drip Drip Drip..._

He frowned when he finally noticed that dripping sound. It sounded like water falling down from somewhere. He looked up, but couldn't see anything.

 _Drip Drip Drip..._

The sound came from below and he turned his head down. And indeed, he could see something on the floor. Some kind of liquid, only it wasn't water. Unless it was red water. Gunther frowned and wondered where the liquid came from. Red water? Was it some kind of hydraulic fluid? Did that even make sense?

 _Drip Drip Drip..._

There was a lot of it right now. And he could see how the puddle beneath his feet became bigger and bigger. Some of it fell on his chest and he sighed. Oh no, that would ruin his entire uniform. The Chief Stewart would rip him a new one for that! He looked up at the ceiling. Where did that stuff come from? But there was no leak. The fluid seemed to come out of nowhere.

 _Drip Drip Drip..._

That was when he felt something wet right below his nose, covering his mouth and his chin. He brought his hand up and touched his own face. Yes, there was some liquid on his skin. He pulled his hand back and looked at it. How...how did that fluid get there? And why was there...there...hydraulic fluid coming out of his...his nose and...

Perhaps there was some comfort to the fact that Gunther Olien didn't suffer too much. He had no idea what was going on, how could he? When the blood inside his brain started to clump together, he didn't feel any pain. Only a strange numbness. When his body started to fail him, he tried to figure out what was going on. But when his legs finally gave out on him and he fell into a puddle of his own blood, he still didn't know what was going on. The last thing he saw before his heart stopped beating were dark figures emerging from the open elevator shaft. However, by that time his brain was already gone. And the rest followed shortly...

* * *

"Target down." the Spectre whispered. The woman next to Dee nodded.

"Get out and clear the area." The dark figures emerged from the elevator shaft and secured the area. Aside from the body of the man, there was no one around.

"Clear!" one man said.

"Clear!" another one said.

"Good. Rest of the team; move up!" They all moved like one big organism. Like they knew what the other one would do. By now Dee knew that these guys were indeed as good as Hill had claimed. And three times as crazy. The corridor was empty and when Dee looked around, she tried to figure out where they were.

"Where next?" the woman in charge then asked. Now that they were out in the light, Dee could finally see them for the first time wearing their combat-gear. They wore black suits and carried all sorts of different equipment. Their faces were covered by strange, almost alien-looking helmets. But that wasn't the strangest thing...

Dee knew that sometimes soldiers, and especially mercenaries liked to "pimp" their uniforms and equipment. But these guys? The leader of the Spectres had attached several Zerg-teeth to her helmet. Now her helmet resembled some kind of Zerg-maw. Another Specter didn't carry a gun but had a long sword attached to his back. And the big man right next to Dee had a necklace with a lot of small bones attached to it. Dee was too nervous to notice the exact nature of the bones, but she knew that those bones weren't Zerg...

"Where next?" the leader hissed again. Dee blinked in surprise and finally regained her composure. Next to them, the big man knelt down beside the body of the servant and checked for a pulse.

"Gone." was the only thing he said. There was no emotion whatsoever in his voice. Dee shook her head and took a deep breath, clearing her mind.

"We're close to the kitchen, the ballroom, and the delivery entrance. We need to get to the latter and let the rest of my team inside."

"And then?" the woman wanted to know. A cruel smile appeared on Dee's face.

"Then we will show to the entire world what kind of coward their Emperor is." The leader of the Specter didn't show any reaction. Instead, she turned towards the big man still kneeling next to the body of the servant.

"Get rid of that." she just ordered. The man nodded and dragged the body over to the elevator shaft. Before he threw the body into the deep hole, he grabbed his knife and then the hand of the dead man. Dee's eyes widened in shock and disgust when she saw what he was about to do.

"Is that really necessary?" she whispered to the female leader of the team. She watched in horror as the male Specter started to cut through skin, flesh, and blood. With a swift move, he cut the index finger off the dead man's hand and put it into a small pocket attached to his belt. Only then Dee finally realized that those bones on the man's necklace were indeed finger-bones.

She decided to say nothing when the man finally grabbed the body and simply threw it into the dark shaft. It took almost half a minute before they heard the impact.

"Alright, let's go." the leader then said. "Mark, Hoil, close the door and get rid of the blood. Check the surrounding area and keep this place clear. It's our primary escape route. The rest; with me." She then turned towards Dee, who felt an icy shiver running down her spine.

"Lead the way." was the everything the Spectre said.


	36. Act II - Chapter 12

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 12**

 **Party Crashers**

* * *

Most members of the kitchen-staff were actually quite happy about the fact that Brent had thrown them out of the kitchen. That way they could take a break and had someone they could blame for that. Hey, they were government employees after all, so what did you expect? Terrance Willford, Head Chef and responsible for most of these guys, took a long drag from his cigarette and inhaled another load of smoke. He looked up to the dark night sky and tried to find at least one star shining down on them. But with all the lights inside Augustgrad, it was near impossible to see anything up there.

Willford was from Korhal, just like most people from the staff. However, he hadn't grown up in Augustgrad, but on the other side of the planet. His home had been a small village in the middle of nowhere. It hadn't been anything special, but every night he had been able to look up to the sky and see the Milky Way. He had never seen the Milky Way in this place. Like said, too much light pollution. As he looked up, one of his co-workers approached him.

"And, seeing anything interesting?" Marvin asked, but Terrance just shook his head.

"Same as always." he replied and took another drag from his cigarette. Strictly speaking, smoking was completely forbidden within the walls of the Imperial Palace. That included the gardens and all the open places. But he and his co-workers were next to the delivery entrance, and pretty much no one cared for that. It was a good place to spent some free minutes and usually, no one bothered them here.

"It's been half an hour, I'm amazed that Hamilton hasn't come here to yell at us." Marvin said. It caused Terrance to chuckle.

"Yeah, like to see him try that. Bet he sends one of his guys to "motivate" us. What an asshat. Hope he has one hell of a bad day right now." Terrance mumbled and continued smoking.

"Whatever happened between you guys anyway?" Marvin wanted to now. Terrance just shrugged his shoulders.

"Ah, I once had an argument with him about how serious we should take this job." the Head Chef explained and ashed on the floor.

"Guess you agreed to disagree?" Marvin continued to bother him. But by now Terrance wasn't so pissed that he didn't want to talk about it anymore. He shrugged his shoulders once more and scratched his cheek.

"Ah, you know how that old fart is. He told me that once I'm Head Chef, I'm supposed to take this whole outfit more seriously. I am _expected_ to work double as hard as anyone else and spent pretty much my entire life inside the kitchen in order to live up to this new position."

"Sounds like Hamilton alright." Marvin agreed. "Let me guess, you told him to get lost." Now Terrance started to laugh.

"Yeah. Told him that I have a wife and a little son and that there are more important things on my mind than that right now. Besides, I didn't become a cook in order to live for someone else but to feed my family."

"Oh hell, hahaha!" Marvin started to laugh as well. "Bet Hamilton wanted to slaughter you when you told him that. Oh, I would have loved to see his face in that moment." Terrance nodded when he heard that.

"Oh yeah, it was epic! At first, he didn't even understand what I was trying to tell him. Then, when he realized that I was dead serious about it, his whole body started to quiver. His face turned white in anger and there was even some foam at the edge of his mouth. Seriously, I have never seen him like that before. It was awesome!" Now both of them were laughing out loud. Marvin even had to wipe a tear from his cheek.

"Oh, I bet it was epic. Too bad that he didn't suffer a stroke back then, that way we could enjoy our lives without him breathing down our necks."

"Yeah well, it's just two more years, then he will go into retirement. Until then..." Terrance straightened himself and started to speak with a high-pitched voice. "...I expect the bestest of all possssible behavior of zhe all of you!" he impersonated the Chief Stewart, which caused not only Marvin but also the rest of his team to laugh out loud again. When they had calmed down, Marvin shook his head and wiped a tear of joy from the corner of his eye.

"Oh man, how I won't miss that bastard. Oh, since you brought it up; how's the family?" the cook wanted to know. A gentle smile appeared on Terrance's face.

"Good. Ellie's still at home, but we finally found a kindergarten with an open spot for Junior. He'll be going there once the new year starts."

"My God, kindergarten? How old is he anyway?" Marvin wanted to know.

"Four." Terrance told him. "He just turned four three weeks ago."

"Already four, huh?" Marvin mumbled. "Man, time sure flies." He shook his head and gave his boss a big grin. "Before you know it you'll be an old man and he will be all grown up."

"Hehehe, oh I think that can wait for some more time. After today, I will just go home and go on a nice and long vacation with the both of them."

"Really?" Marvin asked. "Where you're going? Off-world?" But Terrance shook his head.

"Nah, too expensive. I finally managed to convince Ellie to visit my parents. Just three weeks of nothing but some peace and quiet and-" But before Terrance could finish the sentence a new noise reached their ears. It was the sound of a hover-car and it came from outside the walls. That alone wasn't anything unusual, but then they heard how the car stopped and someone started to talk to the security guards standing outside.

"Meat truck, we've got some stuff for the party." they could hear someone say. Both Terrance and Marvin looked at each other in surprise.

"More food? Did anyone tell you about that?" Marvin asked. His boss just pulled his shoulders up.

"Pfff, no one tells me nothing these days." The delivery entrance was of course not unguarded. There was a big security station with several heavily armed soldiers inside. The station itself was equipped with automatic weapons and an incredibly powerful scanner, one that could find even the smallest amounts of explosives and guns.

"Come around, move your truck over there!" they heard one of the guards say. A few seconds later a hover-truck appeared in their sight and stopped right in front of the security station. Several guards positioned themselves around the vehicle. They didn't raise their rifle, but they made sure that no one would try anything funny. Both Terrance and Marvin, along with the rest of the kitchen-staff, watched how the security-guys did their thing. There had been a time when the palace had been under the protection of the Emperor's personal Honor Guard. Basically, it had been a specially trained military unit and over 500 trained soldiers had been part of that company. Now those times were over and the protection of the palace was in the hands of a normal security (albeit perfectly trained and equipped with the best gear you could ask for). However, even if these guards were no special forces, they still took their job seriously.

"Okay!" the guard-captain said and raised his hand. "Over here and stop right there!" he yelled. The driver of the truck gave him a thumbs-up and stopped his vehicle right in front of the captain.

"Kill the engine, lights out!" the captain ordered and the driver did as he was told.

"Good, now get out. We're going to check your id's, so you better have them with you!" The doors of the truck opened and several guys emerged from the big vehicle. They were all men, six in total. They wore overalls, had broad shoulders and arms like trees. Some members of the guard-unit exchanged surprised looks, but their captain wasn't fazed one bit.

"Over there, keep your hands visible at all time." he ordered. His voice was calm and controlled, but there was no doubt that he would not allow them to do anything stupid. The men complied and walked towards a double door system. The idea behind the system was simple; people had to identify themselves one at a time while vehicles were checked by the guards and towed inside. This was still the Imperial Palace, no one was allowed to enter it just like that.

Even Terrance Willford had to go through that gate every day, and every day they checked if he hadn't turned into a Zerg-doppelgänger. Apparently, no one of these guys was a Zerg in disguise. They showed the guards their id's, who checked them and then allowed them to enter. The car, however...

"Did you find anything?" the captain asked one of his men who shook his head.

"No signs of weapons or explosives. But there is some interference in the back of the truck. Could be a jammer." One of the guys turned around and looked over to the captain.

"It's just the cooling unit. The whole truck is filled with meat, you know. Meat that needs to get into the kitchen as fast as possible." he told the captain with an urgent tone in his voice. Unfortunately for him, the captain had other priorities.

"Couldn't care less about that. I won't let any vehicle in if I don't know what's inside." the captain said and turned towards his man. "Open it up." No one really noticed when the guys from the truck started to look at each other.

"Is that really necessary?" the leader of the group asked. "We're really on a tight schedule here! If we don't deliver this on time, our boss will rip us a new one and-"

"I don't care about your schedule!" the captain barked and pointed at a yellow marked area. "Wait there and don't try to act smart." Two guards moved closer and swayed their rifles right in front of them as if they were trying to reinforce their captain's orders.

"Yeah, I'm gonna make sure to tell my boss about it!" the leader then said. "Bet he will ask which asshole was responsible for that delay!" However, the captain was no fool. And he knew better than to allow this guy to make him lose his temper. So instead he looked just at the man and pointed with his finger at himself.

"The name is Captain Alleksios. With two L and a K, make sure to tell that to your boss. Now shut up and let us do our job. Or you can call your boss and explain to him why you're spending the next few days inside a cell of this building because you weren't able to behave." The captain then nodded at the guard near the transporter.

"That's a mistake, buddy." the man hissed. But the captain didn't show any sign of nervousness.

"Open that door, Corporal!" he just ordered and the guard did as he was told. When the young soldier opened the door, it took roughly a second before he stumbled backward. The smell that hit the man was more horrible than anything he had ever smelt before. The sweet stench of death started to fill the area and more than a few guards started to gag. Even all the way on the other side of the delivery area Terrance and his people could smell the stench of rotten meat. He flipped his cigarette away and had to swallow hard. The feeling of bile burning in the back of his throat was causing him to grunt in discomfort, and when he looked to the side, he could see that he wasn't the only one having a problem with that smell.

"HHUARRRKKK..." the poor guy who had opened the truck hurled all over the concrete and stumbled away.

"What the hell?" the captain snarled and walked over to the truck while everyone else backed away. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and pressed it against his nose and mouth in order to filter some of that stench from the air. When he reached the back of the truck and peeked inside, his eyes widened in shock, but only for a second. He looked over at the men and didn't seem very happy.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean. You think this is funny, you jerks? Men, keep them at distance!" The guards immediately raised their rifles and pointed them directly at those men. Suddenly Terrance wondered if he and his people should return to the kitchen. They were too far away to be in any immediate danger, but still...

"Maybe we should go back inside, boss." Marvin said next to him, basically repeating the Chef's own thoughts. But the leader of these newcomers just pulled his shoulders up.

"What's the problem, man? It's just meat, we're supposed to deliver it to you guys and then we're gone. So how about-"

"THAT MEAT IS ROTTEN!" the captain screamed. "Who the hell do you think you are? Men, arrest these people! Inform the main gate that we're dealing with a potential security-breach, have them send more guys over to us!"

"That is a mistake, buddy." the leader snarled. Just let us do our job and-" But the captain didn't want to listen.

"Arrest them! Use force if necessary!" he barked and the other guards switched off the safety on their guns.

"Okay, we should probably get back inside." Terrance agreed. He could hear a soft sound right next to him. It sounded like someone was tearing apart a piece of wet cloth. Actually, it kinda sounded like cutting meat. "Marv', tell the others to-" He then turned his head to Marvin, but stopped the moment he saw the look of shock on the other man's face.

"Marv', what..." But only then he realized that something was wrong with Marvin. His eyes were wide open and looked in shock at the silver piece of metal that came out of his chest. His white cook-uniform was turning red where the blade had pierced him. His eyes wandered up to Terrance and he opened his mouth. He tried to say something, but no words left his throat. The blade had severed his windpipe right above the point where it split and led to both his lungs. A gurgling sound left his throat and blood dripped from his chin.

"Marv?!" Terrance managed to gasp in shock when a dark figure emerged from behind the twitching body of Marvin. Everything was just happening too damn fast and Terrance couldn't make out any details. However, for a second he could see the horrible maw of something that looked like a...Zerg? No, it was no Zerg. It was a helmet that was covered with Zerg-teeth. Suddenly Marvin made a step forward and right towards him. At least Terrance thought that Marvin was walking towards him. In reality, the figure behind Marvin simply pushed the already dead man forward.

Even if Terrance hadn't been in shock, he still wouldn't have been able to dodge the dead body of his former co-worker. When the blade pierced through his chest, his whole world exploded into pain. He gasped and felt how the sharp metal cut through skin, flesh, and bone. And finally one of his lungs. He stumbled backward and simply fell on the floor. The dead body of Marvin pushed him down and he felt how the blade went even deeper until it reached the backside of his rib cage and smashed into the cold and hard concrete.

"Ghaaa..." Terrance managed to gurgle, but there was nothing that he could do. His attacker pulled the blade out of his chest and it caused another wave of pain to wreck his body. He tried to scream, but his lungs were already filling up with his own blood. When he coughed, he could feel how a hot liquid shot through his throat. As blood exited his mouth, he knew that he was in deep trouble.

"We're under attack! Enemy fire!" someone screamed, but Terrance couldn't see who it was. Maybe the captain? Hope flashed through his mind. If the guards could kill those guys, they could still save him! He didn't want to die...

He wanted to see his family again, his wife and their little son. He wanted to visit his parents with both of them...

More screams reached his ears. And gunfire. Goddamn, it was so loud! Much louder than in those movies. His ears hurt, but he couldn't move. All he could do was to lie on the ground like a dying bug.

No. Not dying. He couldn't die. Not now. His family, they needed him.

"Get them! Get them!" someone screamed. Bright flashes of light blinded Terrance. He heard screams of pain, and then again that disgusting sound of ripping tissue.

"Pull back, pull baAAAAAIIEEE" the voice of the captain reached him one last time. And then everything went silent.

For a moment, Terrance wondered if he was already dead. Or if the guards had managed to defeat the attackers. But then...

"You took your sweet time, Dee!" the voice of the leader of those men said next to him. By now Terrance was too weak to turn his head to the side.

"Yeah, yeah, good to see you too!" a woman replied. "You're lucky that we got here in time. And why the hell did you have rotten meat inside the truck?" she wanted to know.

"We stole the truck last week, it was supposed to be our Trojan horse. But a _certain genius_ forgot to keep the cooling unit switched on."

"Goddammit. This has to be a stupid joke. You nearly blew the whole mission because one idiot forgot to keep the meat cold?!" the woman called Dee snarled in anger.

"Yeah, well, tough luck. You got the gear?"

"Yeah, everything's here. Now-" Suddenly a new voice interrupted them.

"Hate to spoil the reunion." another woman said. "But we're on a tight schedule here. So get inside and do your thing, so we can do ours." They said something else, but Terrance lacked the strength to listen to them. He had to fight it! If he managed to stay alive, maybe someone would come and save him. Right before his inner eye, he could see the faces of both his wife and his son.

He had promised his son to take him to the kindergarten once his vacation was over...

Suddenly a shadow appeared over him and he was surrounded by darkness. Someone was kneeling right next to him and he could feel how that person grabbed his hand. Then his hand exploded into pain when something hot and sharp cut through his flesh. He whimpered and tried to say something, but only a gurgling sound left his voice.

"Damn, that guy is still alive. At least put a bullet through his head before you cut off his finger!" someone said. The pain was too strong for Terrance to realize that they were talking about him. All he wanted was the pain to end and to see his family again. He opened his eyes and looked up. And when he did...

The female leader of the Specters looked at the dying chef and pulled her gun out. For the fraction of a second, their eyes met. She could see hope, fear, love, and despair. She could see the faces of his loved ones inside his mind. And he? He saw nothing in those eyes. Nothing except death.

Then she pulled the trigger and all his thoughts, hopes, and dreams came to an end.

* * *

When Jim stepped out onto the balcony, the first thing he noticed that it wasn't nearly as cold as it should be. It was winter and the city in front of them was covered by a thin layer of snow. But even then, the air around them was warm. He couldn't see the heaters around them and wondered how much it cost to keep them up and running. Though those heaters were probably the last thing he should think about right now.

"Are you cold?" he asked and turned around. Jane Shepard gave him a warm and gentle smile before she stepped towards the balustrade and put her hands on it.

"It's fine." she said. "I once visited a world that was so cold that anything on its surface would freeze within minutes. The _locals_ taught me how to deal with the cold though." _That_ was an understatement.

"If you want, you can have my shirt." he offered her. Her smile became even wider and she lowered her gaze.

"That won't be necessary. Though I am quite surprised, I didn't know that the great James Raynor could be such a charmer."

"I told you; call me Jim." he replied and stepped next to her. They both looked at the city of Augustgrad and Jim had to admit that right now the city-lights looked beautiful. It seemed as if the whole city was just one big organism, and all the highways and streets were the blood vessels. For quite some time neither one of them said a word. Jim didn't know how it was possible, but suddenly he felt really calm and relaxed. Like he had finally found the one thing he had looked for so long...

"So..." suddenly both of them said at the same time. They looked at each other in surprise and then started to laugh.

"You first." she offered to him, but Jim just shook his head.

"Ladies first." he said to her. Jane opened her mouth, ready to refuse that offer yet again. However, she then closed it and took a moment to gather her thoughts. Jim looked at her profile while she watched the streets beneath them. She truly was an exceptionally beautiful woman.

"Forgive me. I actually wanted to ask you a lot of things, but now that we're finally face to face I..." She took a deep breath and turned her head away. "...I don't know what I should ask you first." Though deep inside her heart, she knew what she wanted to tell him.

"Hmm...it's fine. There's no rush." Jim just said and straightened himself. For a long time, neither one said a word.

 _She's sorry, she never wanted to cause you any pain. And she's afraid._ Sarah's voice echoed through his mind. A smile appeared on his face.

"What reason could there be to be afraid of, Darlin'?." he whispered. From the corner of his eyes, he could see how Jane shuddered. So it was too cold for her after all. He sighed and fingers wandered to the buttons of his shirt. It wasn't much, but Jim Raynor wouldn't just do nothing while a lady was freezing right next to him. He didn't realize that the woman next to him wasn't affected by the cold at all.

Not since she had devoured the essence of that Ursadon-Matriarch on the icy world of Kaldir all those years ago.

But that was something Jim didn't need to know about "Jane".

"Maybe we should get back inside. We don't want you to catch a cold, Mrs. She-" Jim said with a soft voice and put his hand on her shoulder. It was by no means meant as an intrusion into her personal space, but when they touched, it felt as if a jolt of energy was shooting through Jim's whole body. For a short moment, for an impossible short moment, he could see through the mirage that surrounded this woman. And what he saw...

Jim wasn't a fool. And he wasn't a thick piece of wood either. There was a part inside of him that knew that this person wasn't Jane Shepard. But every time that realization was about to break to the surface, something from the outside grabbed that realization and buried it under doubts and the knowledge that she was gone for good. However, the moment they touched, that whole control slipped away and revealed her true nature.

"Sarah?" he whispered again. But that moment lasted only for the fraction of a second, and right after that, this realization slipped his mind yet again. He shook his head and when he saw that he had put his hand on Jane's shoulder, he pulled it back immediately.

"Sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't want to do that, I don't know what I was thinking..." he mumbled shook his head. He felt shame and fear. What he didn't know was that those emotions weren't his own.

"Forgive me." Jane suddenly whispered. "It was a mistake coming here. I'm sorry... I... I have to go." she said with a choking voice before she turned around and walked back inside. Something in Jim's mind screamed that this was wrong. The voice was part of his own subconsciousness, the same subconsciousness that knew more than he did. And all it told him was; don't let her go. He didn't actually make the decision, his body simply reacted. When she walked past him, he could see the painful expression on her face. His hand shot forward and grabbed her wrist. He didn't hurt her, but at the same time, he held onto her like a drowning man.

"Whoa, whoa! What's the matter? Did I do something wrong?" he wanted to know. He could feel how Jane's whole body tensed up when she heard that. She looked him into the eyes and all he could see was fear, despair, and shame.

"NO!" she told him. "No, it isn't your fault. It's me..." She didn't try to walk away anymore. Instead, she stopped and turned towards him before she lowered her gaze. "I'm a coward. Coming here was a mistake. I should have stayed away from this place." Jim could see how her eyes turned watery and he could swear that for the fraction of a second her tears looked like they were made out of gold.

But Jane turned her face away and brushed those tears away. It all happened too fast for him to comprehend that those tears were truly made out of gold. He could see how her whole body trembled and he felt the urge to put his arms around her and hug her, comfort her. But he knew nothing about this woman. Instead, he released her from his grip and just looked at her back.

"It's a guy, isn't it?" he then said and could see how Jane froze in an instant. She didn't say a word, but it wasn't necessary. It didn't matter which world or what kind of people were involved. Some things always stayed the same, and Jim had seen this kind of behavior many times.

"I'm sorry." he then whispered. "I didn't want to pry into your personal life. It's none of my business anyway and-" But then Jane turned back towards him.

"No! It's fine. I'm the one to blame. There was no way for you to know that I'm a coward." Her voice was but a whisper.

"He's here right now?" Jim asked. Jane opened her mouth, ready to reply something. But then she just shook her head. Her red hair flew from one side to the other and Jim couldn't help but blush just by looking at her red mane.

"He's...somewhere." Jane said, and then she started to chuckle. It was not a happy laugh, though. "I came here to see him. But I can't even face him. He would probably just tell me that I should get lost and leave him alone. That it would be better if I had died." The bitterness in her voice was so strong that Jim couldn't help but frown.

"Whoa, now those are some mean accusations. Is that guy really the kind of man who would do that to his lady? Because if he is; point me in his general direction so I can punch some sense into him." Much to his own delight, he could see how Jane gave him an amused "Ha!" when she heard that, not realizing that it basically meant that he should punch himself. But then she shook her head.

"No. No, it's the other way around. I guess I wish he would react like that. I wish he would tell me to leave him alone and never approach him again. That way... it would make things easier." Her voice was but a whisper.

"You must have done something incredibly stupid to think that he hates you." Jim mused.

"That's probably the understatement of a lifetime. Several lifetimes actually."

"So, got this hunk of a guy a name? Maybe some juicy celebrity I have never heard about?" Suddenly Jane felt how her heart started to beat faster. Crap. A name. Not again!

"It's... uhm... his name is..." Just a few meters ago two men walked by the balcony, talking to each other.

"I swear, that guy claims that he can trace his ancestor back to Ancient Earth, from Russia to be exact. He even says that he has the documents to prove that." the first man said, but the second just groaned when he heard that.

"Dear Lord, he's making fun of you! Garfield isn't even a Russian name!" the other man said.

Garfield... Russia. Garf... Russ...

"Garrus." Jane suddenly said and looked at Jim. "His name is Garrus." Jim frowned when he heard that.

"Garrus? What kind of name is that? Is it his for- or his surname?" Jane's eyes widened in despair when she heard that. But luckily two servants walked past the balcony only seconds after those two men.

"...yeah, one of the guests made a mess back there. Better get a vacuum cleaner and get rid of it before Hamilton gets a stroke. And we better call a car to pick that guest up." the first servant said.

"Know where the next vacuum cleaner is?" the other servant wanted to know.

"No, but ask Ian. He should know where one is."

Vacuum... car... Ian... Vacu... car... Ian...

"Vakarian. His name is Garrus Vakarian." Jane finally managed to squeeze out. Jim's brows wandered up when he heard that name.

"Garrus Vakarian? What kind of name is that? Sounds like some alien cop from a weird sci-fi-story." Jane pulled her shoulders up when she heard that.

"I think his ancestors are Germans or something like that..." she just mumbled. Gosh, she really had to stop making up names like that.

"Oh!" Jim then said. "Yeah, that makes sense. These Germans sure used to have strange names."

Uh huh...

"So what happened between the both of you?" Jim then asked. He didn't want to cause any kind of emotional trauma, but he felt nothing but sympathies towards this woman. And for some odd reason, it hurt to see her like this.

"It's... complicated." Jane sighed.

"It usually is. Until you come to the part where it gets easy." Jim replied. "Did he...cheat on you? Treat you badly?" That was the usual explanation for most issues between lovers. But Jane just shook her head.

"No! No, he isn't to blame. It's my fault. He...he..." She turned her eyes away, not able to look him into the eyes.

 _She's afraid..._ Sarah's voice whispered in the back of his mind, jet Jim disagreed.

"Give her time." he mumbled to himself, still not realizing that the voice inside his mind might in fact not be a hallucination at all.

"So, what happened?" Jim repeated his initial question. His words were soft and understanding, and when Jane looked up again, she had to swallow hard. She returned to the balustrade and put her hands on it.

"I..." she began and took a deep breath. "I screwed up. I betrayed his trust." Jim stepped next to her and put his arms on the balustrade as well. Both were now looking at the city right before them.

"Everyone makes mistake, Mrs. Shepard." he then said. "Sometimes we do stupid things because it appears to be the right thing at that time. Life isn't perfect and we just try to make the best out of it." He could see the painful expression on her face. It was as if she wanted to tell him something, something that would change his opinion for good.

"I did it several times..." she then whispered. "Not only once, but many times. He waited for me, he even forgave me... and I did it again."

"Well, I'm sure you had your reason." Jim just told her. When Jane heard that, she tightened her grip on the balustrade. Why? Why was he so generous? If he would know her real identity, would he react differently? If he knew that this was in fact _not_ about Garrus Vakarian, but Jim Raynor? Jane felt how her own determination started to waver. And with it the control over her own powers. It was too late. She closed her eyes and could feel how her disguise started to grow weaker. Right now, she lacked the willpower to go on with this charade. Here he was, so close to her. All she had to do was to turn towards him and stop influencing his mind. Once she would stop that, he would probably realize who she was in an instant. There was no point in avoiding the unavoidable anymore. She turned her head away so he wouldn't see those golden tears streaming down her face.

"...Jim... I..." she started to sob and was ready to show him who she really was.

"Hey, it's okay!" Jim suddenly said and did the one thing she hadn't expected; he took her into his arms and pulled her close to his chest. Jane's eyes widened in shock, but at the same time, she didn't fight it. He held her tightly and she could feel the warmth of his body on her skin and through her dress.

"What...?" she whispered.

"It's okay, Jane." Jim told her. He couldn't see her face, but he could hear her whimpering. "It's okay. Don't fight it. Sometimes...you just need to let it out." And then...Jane let it out. She raised her arms and put them around Jim's waist before the tears started to stream down her face. Since her head rested on his shoulders, he couldn't see the tears of gold falling down her cheeks. Nor did he see when the face of Jane Shepard started to change when the mirage finally faded away and Sarah Kerrigan finally returned to him.

"Shhh...everything's okay, Jane." Jane. He still didn't know the truth. Because "Jane" didn't want to tell him the truth. How could she? She hadn't come here to return to him. She had come to end this tragedy once and for all. However, it appeared as if she had overestimated her own determination. And she had underestimated Jim Raynor.

 _That tends to happen with the two of you..._ that voice that sounded like Sarah's spoke to them at the same time, which caused Jim to chuckle.

"Don't worry, Sarah..." he whispered to the voice inside his head, not realizing that the head so close to him was hearing the same thing. "...you will always be the only one for me." That caused Jane to sob even harder. It was not fair. Not fair. Not FAIR!

She wanted to tell him. Wanted to show him the truth. But at the same time...

 _Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump..._

His heartbeat. Jim's heartbeat. It was a strong heartbeat, and she remembered the short time they had spent together when they had shared his bed. Sometimes she had watched him while had slept. Aside from the fact that Jim Raynor drooled in his sleep from time to time, he was quite the mouth-breather. But that had never bothered Sarah. Instead, she had rested her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat.

 _Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump..._

Now it all came back to her. Now she could hear that heartbeat again.

"Jim... I'm..." she whispered, but he just put his hand on her head and brushed over her hair.

"It's fine, Jane." he told her. "You don't have to act all brave and strong all the time. It's what most people try to do. And they usually fail. No one can ever shoulder the burden of the entire world and keep a straight face."

If anyone wanted to describe what James Eugene Raynor was all about, it was one thing; heart. Jim Raynor wasn't about logic. Or reason. Or fame. Or power. It was heart. The same heart that told him to hug a complete stranger and show her that she wasn't alone in this world. Sarah wanted to run away. Deep inside her mind, she knew that there was no happy end to this story. She knew that, because unlike Jim, she didn't possess a heart at all. She had proven that time after time.

But if she had no heart, then why did it hurt so much?

Focus. Focus. Focus. Regain control. She had to regain control of both her mind and her powers and leave before he would finally realize who she truly was. She was a goddamn coward, but right now she just wanted to be everywhere else but here. She knew what she had to do. There was only one little problem...

...she didn't want to leave him.

How long had she waited for this moment? Right now, she held the only man who had ever loved her in her arms. And the full realization hit her like an asteroid; she still loved him just as much. Maybe more than ever.

 _He always believed in you..._ she could hear her own voice in the back of her mind. And much to her own dismay, Jim answered only confirmed that.

"I've never stopped believing in you, Sarah..." he whispered, not realizing that he was talking to something that wasn't even a hallucination.

So all the time, that voice had talked to the both of them. Sarah had no idea what it was, or who, but there was no doubt about it; it formed a connection between the both of them. The entire time Sarah hadn't been able to see the truth. They had always shared a special connection, ever since she had decided to love this man. This bond had helped her during cold and lonely nights when she had fought for the Sons of Korhal. The Queen of Blades had used it in order to torture Jim, teasing him for failing Sarah in the first place. And the Primal Queen of Blades? She had tried to ignore that feeling in order to do what had to be done. But that bond had never seized to exist.

The tears continued to stream down her face, yet she managed to regain her composure. At least partially. She just wanted this moment to never end. She could do that, could she not? Her powers were almost limitless, so why not use them? She had dimmed them down to the absolute minimum, so no one would find her. Her little trip to Aiur had taught her that keeping a low-profile wasn't as easy as she thought it would be. However, it had needed Artanis to see through her cover, and no matter how much she loved Jim, she knew that he wouldn't be able to figure out who she was as long as she refused that to happen.

But... maybe it was time to show him the truth?

Like so many times before, it was Jim who showed her the path.

"Better?" he whispered. She buried her face in his shoulder and managed to nod, which caused Jim to chuckle. "Man, I'm really a lucky dog. I just wanted to say hi to an old friend and instead, I get to comfort such a beautiful lady." He rubbed her backside and sighed. "You rich guys certainly have all too familiar problems, you know that?" However, Sarah didn't say anything. His words helped her to calm down. And when Jim realized it, he gave her a soft squeeze.

"Is he here?" he finally asked.

"Mwho?" she mumbled into his shoulder.

"Your boyfriend. Garrus. Is he on this party?" Jim wanted to know and brushed over her head.

"The man I love... is here, yes. But he doesn't want to see me." she then whispered.

"I don't believe that. No guy in the universe would refuse to see such a lovely woman like you are. How about this; we're gonna look for Garrus, and you tell him what he means to you. And if he doesn't believe you, I'm going to beat some sense into him."

"You don't know what I did to him..." she replied. "You just don't know..."

"Here's a truth of life; a man is nothing without the woman that loves him. And trust me, there is no such thing as "impossible" when you love someone." His words were filled with pain, but also hope and love. Sarah knew that they were directed at her. She then gathered all her strength and raised her head. She looked at the city lying before her while Jim looked back inside the palace.

"Is there anyone... in your life?" she wanted to know. Suddenly she could sense his sadness and despair. But there was something else...something warm...

"Yes." he whispered. "There is someone I care for."

"A woman?" she wanted to know.

"The one you only meet once in a lifetime." he told her.

"Where is she?"

"She..." Jim had to gasp. "...had to leave."

"She left you?" Sarah asked again.

"She had to. It wasn't her choice." Those words made her almost choke.

 _It was her choice. One that she always regretted._ Sarah heard her own voice and cursed on the inside. Was there no off-switch to this thing? However, Jim decided to talk to that voice both of them could hear.

"You did what you had to do, Sarah. If anything, then I was too blind to see it." He raised his head and looked up to the dark night sky. For a short moment, Sarah was afraid that he would see her and she turned her head away. But Jim didn't notice any of that. Instead, he stared up and a faint smile appeared on his face. "I've never stopped believing in you." he said to the mental image of his lost lover.

That was it. That was the last straw. She had screwed it up again. She hadn't come here to cause Jim any more pain, she had just wanted to see him one last time and make sure that...that...

Just what the hell was she even trying to do here?!

"So, wanna find your boyfriend?" Jim chuckled. She had to do it. She had to end it now or it would destroy her, destroy both of them. She could feel how her strength started to fail her. All that power she possessed was like a star that was about to be unleashed. And the only thing that kept those powers in check was her mind. If she would stay here, all sorts of things could happen. Even worse, Jim might realize who she really was. And so she decided to give in.

"Yes. Yes, that would be nice." she whispered and gathered the small amount of control she had currently left.

"That's the spirit, girl. Now, let's take a look at you." Jim finally released her from his tight embrace and made a step backward. And when he looked into the woman's face...

...Jane Shepard looked right back at him.

"See? Sometimes those things just have to get outside. Otherwise, they will just consume you." he told her. Jane put her hand on his chest and shivered.

 _Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump..._

She would miss that heartbeat. But she had to do this. Otherwise, neither one of them would be able to move on. He grabbed her hand and gave it a soft squeeze.

"Ready to find your loverboy?" he wanted to know. After some time, she finally nodded.

"Yes. I'm ready to face him." she whispered. It was a lie, but a good one. He gave her a warm smile when he heard that.

"I'm proud of you, Mrs. Shepard. You're a lot tougher than you look." No. No, she wasn't. Right now, she felt like she was made out of glass.

"Let's go." Jim then said. "Let's find this Garrus-guy and tell him what huge idiot he is for not spending this evening with such a beautiful lady." He then turned around and walked towards the ballroom. "You coming?" he added. Jane only nodded and made a step forward...

...before she finally decided to drop the act. Right behind Jim, her whole form changed and turned back into the person she truly was. Her short, red hair turned long again, her face returned to its triangular shape and her full lips reemerged. If anything, she looked even more beautiful. She pressed her hands against her cleavage and mustered all the strength she had left. The air around her body started to glow and Jim stopped when he felt a warm feeling in his back. It felt like wonderful sunshine.

"Mr. Raynor...there's something I need to tell you first." she told him. A smile appeared on his face and he turned around to her.

"I thought I told you: Call me Ji-" Before their eyes finally met, a new voice reached their ears. One that neither one had expected.

"EVERYONE DOWN! THEY GOT GUNS!" someone yelled before a shot was fired and everybody inside the ballroom started to scream in panic.


	37. Act II - Chapter 13

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 13**

 **FUBAR**

* * *

The firefight within the palace's walls only lasted for seconds. And so did the guards. They were by no means incompetent, but no one had trained them to deal with an enemy like Specters. And the outcome of the battle had already been determined before the first bullet had left a rifle. Dee had witnessed her fair share of firefights. She had killed people and people had tried to kill her. Her body still showed the marks of war, right where the enemy's bullets had pierced her skin all those years ago. But no matter how many fights she had witnessed before, she had never seen a battle this brutal that lasted less than four seconds. When Dee stepped out of the palace and into the delivery area, she could see how the last guard fell to the ground, his head blown apart.

The six men that belonged to her were utterly shocked and surprised. They turned around and tried to realize what was going on. Only when their leader saw Dee, he started to relax.

"Whoa. Close call there." he managed to mutter before he made a gesture to the other five men to calm down. "Relax, boys. They're with us. I hope." Dee walked over to her comrades with a cocky smile on her lips. She had removed the clunky night-vision-goggles and they could see her sweaty hair clinging to her forehead. Her muscles ached and the weight of her rucksack was finally starting to take its toll. Thankfully she was about to lose that weight anyway. Dee reached her comrades and offered the leader her hand.

"Good to see you, Lloyd." she said.

"Likewise." the leader of the team replied and nodded at the black-clad figures. Right now, the Spectres were swarming out in order to make sure no one had survived and no one had sounded any form of alarm. "So, who are your new friends?" Lloyd wanted to know. Dee opened her mouth and wanted to say something that consisted of both "mad skills" and "highly psychotic", but she managed to swallow that down. But even then...

"Hihihi, hey T! She thinks that you're a psycho!" a female Spectre giggled while walking up to the dead body of a guard. This woman wasn't the leader of the unit, but it was hard to tell them apart with their faces still covered by their strange masks. The big and bulky Spectre with the finger-necklace turned around and growled something very unflattering.

"Shut up and do your job!" the female leader of the Specters suddenly barked and walked over to Dee and Lloyd. She didn't introduce herself, she didn't offer any of them her hand. She just stood there and waited for orders. Lloyd looked around and frowned.

"That was too close. We nearly blew the whole mission. Even though I'm glad you saved our asses..." he then said. "...you took your sweet time, Dee!"

"Yeah, yeah, good to see you too." she replied, immediately regretting that she had told him that it was good to see him. Truth to be told; the only thing Dee and Lloyd had in common was the fact that they were both Zappers (well, used to be Zappers) and they both hated the Dominion. While that is enough for people to go to war, it isn't enough to become best pals. "You're lucky that we got here in time. And why the hell did you have rotten meat inside the truck?"

"Good question. Is this part of the plan, or did someone screw up?" the leader of the Specters agreed. Her voice was barely a whisper, and it caused Dirk to shiver. Behind them, the Specters started to drag the bodies out of sight. They decided to throw them into the meat-truck and closed the door. Kinda fitting if you think about it. Lloyd shrugged his shoulders when he heard the women's questions.

"We stole the truck last week, it was supposed to take the meat inside the palace. But a certain genius forgot to keep the cooling unit switched on." There was no word to describe what Dee felt right now. Frustration? Anger? Fury?

"Goddammit!" she hissed. "This has to be a stupid joke! You nearly blew the whole mission because one idiot forgot to keep the meat cold?!" There was no doubt that the amount of incompetence needed for this kind of behavior was spectacular. Should they succeed in this mission, should they SURVIVE this mission, they would never speak about this little "mishap". The look on Dirk's face showed that he wasn't really interested in continuing this conversation.

"Yeah, well...tough luck." was the only thing he had to say. It was typical Zapper-behavior. If you screwed up, shrug your shoulders and blame it on the weather. You either accepted that kind of behavior, or you better tried to find a different profession. Instead of wasting any more time, he pointed his chin at her backpack. "You got the gear?" Dee decided to drop this conversation and just nodded. When she pulled the rucksack off her shoulders, she sighed in relief. The muscles in her back felt like they were about to cramp and she flexed her shoulders once they were freed from all that weight. She put the rucksack down and opened it.

"Yeah, everything's here. Now-" The moment she opened it, the leader of the Spectres finally started to take a more active role.

"Hate to spoil the reunion." she said. "But we're on a tight schedule here. So get inside and do your thing, so we can do ours." She then turned around and joined her brothers and sisters, who were still busy cleaning up the mess they had caused.

"Such a charming person. Where did you find those bunch of freaks anyway?" Lloyd whispered to Dee, who only shook her head.

"Trust me, you don't want to know that. Oh, and you better not call them freaks. And try not to think about that either. They are crazy in ten different ways, but you don't want to screw with them." Her voice was equally filled with respect and despise. She grabbed into the backpack and pulled something out.

"Here, have a little gift for you. Forgot to wrap it up though." she said and handed the sub-machine gun over to Lloyd. A cruel smile appeared on his face when he checked the gun. Her other comrades walked over to her and she started to give everyone a gun. These sub-machine guns were relatively small and packed one hell of a punch. They were perfect for engagements in confined spaces, yet when she handed everyone two spare-magazines, Lloyd frowned.

"Could have brought something bigger, like your shotgun. At least one machine gun would have been nice." he growled.

"Sure." Dee replied. "The small girl has to carry the heavy guns for the guys. You know, next time you can crawl through the sewers with all that stuff strapped to your back. I bet you could fit that machine gun up your own ass."

"Noted." Lloyd just said and looked at the rest of the team. "Okay, check your guns. It's go-time, ladies!" The team did as they were told. They opened the zippers of their overalls and revealed gray uniforms and bulletproof vests. Some guys grumbled when they realized that everyone had only three clips in total, two spares and one inside weapon, but no one dared to complain about that.

"Ready?" Dee asked. Lloyd nodded, but then said "Just one more thing." He looked at his wristwatch, which was actually a transmitter. A cruel smile appeared on his face.

"Let's give the boss a heads-up." He pressed a button and a red light started to blink. He then gave Dee a nod and the members of their team turned towards the entrance. The Spectres were still busy when they passed one black-clad man kneeling down next to two bodies. Those guys didn't look like guards though. More like civilians.

It didn't matter. This was the enemy's territory. And the only thing that existed between the Dominion and the Combine was hatred. But even then...

A whimpering sound caught their attention. Lloyd's eyes widened in disgust when he saw how that big, dark figure cut off the finger of the man buried under his co-worker. The cook was done for, that much was certain. But even then, this was just wrong. It's one thing to kill someone, but...

"Damn, that guy is still alive. At least put a bullet through his head before you cut off his finger!" the leader of Dee's team said. The Spectre grunted something, but he didn't stop. The dying cook opened his eyes and he looked around in both pain and confusion. It was as if he was pleading for help. Or mercy.

"Can't believe that..." the leader of the Spectres hissed and walked up to her man. Instead of scolding him, she pulled her sidearm out and pointed it at the cook's head. His lips parted and he tried to say something. Something like "...I have a family..." But then the female Spectre just pulled the trigger and ended his life. Silence filled the whole area before the female Spectre looked at Loyd.

"You're ready to go?" she just asked. Both Lloyd and Dee exchanged glances but decided not to say anything about the Specters behavior. Or their state of mind.

* * *

"Lady Samson, may I be the one to introduce you to the Ambassador of the Kel-Morian Combine, Ms. Leila Curtland." Valerian said and bowed his head as a sign of respect. The moment he had said that Valeria's eyes widened in shock (and disgust).

" _You_ are the Combine's ambassador?" she asked with a disbelieving tone in her voice. Curtland's eyes wandered over from Valerian to the smaller woman. Slowly, as if she was some kind of killer-robot covered by a layer of flesh...very pretty flesh. Valerian had to take a deep breath and make sure not to stare at her...assets.

Leila Curtland was pretty much the exact opposite of Valeria Annabelle whatever Kunigunde Samson. She was half a head bigger than Valerian and her whole stature wasn't exactly what you would call "feminine", but that dress was... was...

Whoa...

"Is there a problem that I should know about, Ms...?" Curtland growled as she looked down at Valeria. The smaller woman didn't like the fact that she had to look up, but she then simply decided to turn her attention towards the smaller man next to Curtland.

"Forgive me, but I assumed that _you_ were the Combine's Ambassador. Aren't you Curtland?" The smaller man started to chuckle and shook his head.

"Me? The Ambassador? Oh, hell no!" he announced. He offered his hand to both Valerian and Valeria, completely ignoring the strict protocol. Valeria looked at his hand as if it was covered with something dirty and disgusting, yet the Emperor didn't hesitate one second and grabbed it. The smaller man had a strong handshake, but it wasn't too forceful.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr..." Valerian asked for the man's name, who gave him a friendly smile.

"The name is Jasper Neusser, head of the embassy's security." he told them. It caused Valerian to blink in surprise and he looked over to Curtland.

"Head of security? I understand that you don't have much trust in the Dominion, but is that really necessary?" he said half-jokingly. Sadly, it seemed that Curtland hadn't learned how to figure out jokes since their last meeting.

"Trust me..." she snarled. "...it wasn't my idea." That statement caused the small man next to her to laugh out loud.

"The Ambassador is greatly exaggerating. I simply asked if it was possible for me to accompany her. Call it a form of "professional interest"."

"You wanted to see the Imperial Palace from the inside? Or how our security works?" the Emperor wanted to know. There was no suspicion in his voice, just pure curiosity.

"Both, I guess" Neusser said with a somewhat mysterious tone in his voice. But even as Valerian tried to get some more information out of the man, Valeria made a step towards Curtland and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"That is a _lovely_ dress." Valeria then said. The way she pronounced "lovely" sounded like she meant the exact opposite. Well, at least she wouldn't piss off Curtland on purpose, so Valerian probably didn't have to worry about those two.

"Thanks." Curtland replied, but her voice too sounded like she couldn't care less about that compliment. Then Valeria tilted her head to the side and gave the bigger woman a smile that was so cold that even an Ursadon-matriarch would freeze in an instant.

"I didn't know that they make dresses out of tent cloth. Let alone in kingsize."

Nuclear strike detected.

"I beg your pardon?" Curtland snarled, and even Neusser made a step backward. Suddenly it felt like the temperature inside the throne room had dropped way below zero.

"Oh no, never mind me." Valeria replied. "I'm just admiring the craftsmanship needed to cover those mountains of muscles." Considering that she was supposed to be a prodigy and a member of the upper class, Valeria sure could be brutally honest. For a second Valerian wondered if Curtland would just stomp the smaller woman into the ground, but much to his own surprise she didn't go all siege-tank on Valeria. Instead, she just crossed her arms in front of her chest. And boy, those were some muscles all right!

"What would you know of muscles, little girl?" Curtland snarled. "Those arms of yours look more like toothpicks than actual arms."

"Funny that you're talking about wood since your arms look like logs." Okay, that wasn't exactly subtle. Though Valerian had no idea why Valeria had started to insult Curtland like this in the first place.

"Maybe..." he tried to save the situation. "...we should all calm down and maybe have a drink. How about-" However, he didn't get very far. Instead, Valeria made a step towards Curtland and looked up to her. It was a sight to behold; on the one hand Valeria Samson, a short woman with pale skin and long, black hair who wore a pristine white dress. On the other hand, Leila Curtland, a big woman with a dark tan and blond hair, wearing a black dress. Seriously, they were the exact opposite. How was that even possible?

"Perhaps it's a strange sight for someone who has never worked one day in _her_ life." Curtland growled, which caused the other woman to giggle.

"Oh, there are more ways to work than push stones around. Some of us use their brains instead of their muscles and achieve much more with that."

"Uhm... ladies...?" Valerian tried to defuse the situation. But it was about as successful as trying to stop a train only by asking "Pretty please".

"I like to see how that brain of yours tries to push a stone around. You would probably only break off a nail and run back to daddy." the ambassador said. Now Valeria's eyes widened in surprise.

"You know who my father is?" she asked both surprised and with a threatening tone in her voice.

"Of course. Unlike some people here, I prepare by informing myself _who_ will be at that party." the Ambassador said and you could actually see how Valeria's eyelid started to twitch when she heard that comment. For a moment it looked like she would just throw herself at the bigger woman, completely disregarding the fact that Curtland was probably double the wei...well, she was bigger than Valeria, let's just leave it at that. But instead of going all crazy, Valeria took a deep breath and finally calmed down. Valerian could see how Neusser started to remove himself from the small group and he could understand why.

"I must say, that it is nice to finally meet someone from the Combine." Valeria said with a voice that was dripping with venom. "I always wondered if the rumors about their women were true." One of Curtland's eyebrows wandered up when she heard that.

"And what kind of rumors would that be?" she asked. But Valerian knew that this had to end in a tragedy.

"Oh, you know what I mean." Valeria then replied. "The rumors that the women inside the Combine use their clubs to knock their men out in order to drag them into their caves." You know, Valerian didn't like Valeria, that much was probably obvious. However, he had thought that she was dangerous and greedy, not stupid and suicidal. Curtland made a step forward and looked the smaller woman straight into the eyes.

"Maybe you want me to hit you with my club. I'll even find a cave where you can spend some time alone. How about that, hmm?" The whole scene was really surreal. Like little red hood facing the big bad wolf. Only that Valerian was on the wolf's side.

"A fair word of warning:" Valeria then added with a cocky smile. "I used to be a professional tennis player and I have a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu." Oh. Oh, that could turn out ugly for Curtland if she-

"Six years wrestling." the Ambassador just snarled and pushed her hands together until her knuckles cracked. "Undefeated." she added. Suddenly Valerian imagined how it would look like if Curtland would powerbomb Valeria right here and now.

This wasn't a catfight, this was close to all-out war. From the corner of his eyes, he could see how Neusser turned away and walked over to the entrance. Perhaps he should ask the man for help, he seemed to know Curtland better than anyone else after all.

"Wrestling? Like in those fake shows you can watch on the holo-net?" Valeria chuckled. "Yes, that is really impressive." But Curtland just started to give her a cruel grin.

"Olympic wrestling. They called me the "Terminator"." the big woman explained. Well, Valerian could see where that name came from. Still, he couldn't allow this to go on.

"Ladies, please, there is no reason for this kind of-"

"YESSSSSSSS?" both of them looked at him and hissed at the exact same time. He could see the madness in the women's eyes. They looked like two Hydralisks that were about to devour each other. He opened his mouth and raised his index-finger, ready to say something incredibly smart. Only to realize that he valued his life too much.

"Nothing. I think... uhm... I'm going to see what's Mr. Neusser is doing." Perhaps the Emperor should be able to deal with such a situation, but he just wanted to get out of the blast radius. Seriously, he had faced the Queen of Blades, but this show right in front of his eyes was on a whole different level. When Valerian turned around, he scanned the area for the small man called Neusser. When he found him, the Emperor frowned. Was he checking the entrance of the throne room? Valerian sighed and made his way to Neusser. When he walked towards the other man, some dignitaries tried to approach him and ask him for an appointment or something like that. He only gave them a friendly smile and replied that they should ask some staff members of the Imperial Palace to solve that problem. If he remembered correctly, those guys were supposed to work for _him_ anyway, not the other way round.

Yes, he still held a grudge against those guys. Now after he had met the "lovely" Valeria Samson more than ever.

"...do you know that I can trace back my pedigree all the way to Ancient Earth?" he could hear Valeria's voice behind him.

"You know, there's something called "pedigree" in wrestling too. Want me to show it to you?" Curtland hissed back. Oh boy, better get the hell away from those two.

"Mr. Neusser. Mr. Neusser, please wait!" But Neusser didn't really notice him. He was too busy looking at, well, something? When Valerian had finally reached him, he put his hand on the man's shoulder. Neusser turned around, and for a second it looked like something had scared him. But he immediately regained his composure and bowed his head.

"Emperor. You startled me. Is there anything wrong?" There was some nervousness in his voice. Valerian just smiled and shook his head.

"No. No, everything's fine. I just wanted to, uhm, avoid getting between those two ladies." A frown appeared on Neusser's face, but it lasted only for the fraction of a second. He took a deep breath and looked at the two women in the distance.

"Yes, the Ambassador can be quite a handful. She certainly has a strong... _opinion_ on most things." Neusser declared. He then looked back at Valerian.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" he wanted to know. Valerian shrugged his shoulders when he heard that.

"Well, I just hoped that we could have a little talk." he said. That caused Neusser to pull up his brows.

"Talk? Forgive me my bluntness, but what could the Emperor of the mighty Dominion want to talk about with the head of security from the Combine's embassy?" the smaller man asked and looked back at the entry door. Valerian followed his gaze and could see how Neusser analyzed the door itself.

"A lot. At least I hope so. And I hope that I'm not talking to just the head of security, but to a citizen of the Combine." Now Neusser started to chuckle and looked back at Valerian.

"They said that you know your way with words." he told Valerian. "Guess next thing is that you just want to have a friendly chat with me. I'm sorry, but I want to be honest with you; I'm not interested in any of that." He then turned his attention back towards the door and looked at it. There were no guards on this side of the door. The guests wanted to stay among themselves, and any additional person would just be a potential security threat. Suddenly he felt a vibration around his wrist and looked down.

"What is that?" Valerian asked. "Someone is trying to call you?" he wanted to know and pointed at Neusser's wristwatch. There was a red light blinking and the Emperor could see a smile on Neusser's face. It almost looked...cruel?

"It's nothing." Neusser then declared. "Just someone who wants to tell me something. But I can call him back later." He then pressed a button on his wristwatch and the red light turned green and continued to blink. So they had entered the building. He looked back at the door and tried to figure out how to overcome the safety mechanism. If only...

"You seem to be very interested in our security measures." Valerian then said. Neusser pulled his shoulders up.

"I guess you could call it "professional interest"." the man lied. But it was a damn good lie.

"I see. Well, if you want I could answer your questions." Valerian then offered. It caused the smaller man to look at him in surprise.

"You know how the door works?" Now it was Valerian who had to chuckle.

"Well, in theory anyway. Mat... Admiral Horner forced me to learn how all the security-systems work, should there ever be an attack on the palace." It was somewhat sad that the Emperor would never realize the irony behind those words. But Neusser knew better than to let this opportunity pass without using it for his cause. He looked at the door and pointed a finger at it.

"So, what is this? It's not a blast-door from a battlecruiser. I heard that those things were used for security." the small man said.

"You are awfully well informed, Mr. Neusser." Valerian replied. "And you're right, the security-doors of the palace used to be modified battlecruiser blast-doors. They were reinforced so they could withstand even large armor-piercing ammunition and high explosive devices."

"But this isn't a blast-door," Neusser said. Truth to be told, he had no idea what this mechanism was. "What happened?" he wanted to know.

"The Swarm happened." Valerian replied with a cold tone in his voice before he sighed. "The blast-doors used a hydraulic system, just like those doors on a battlecruiser. It offers good protection against a conventional attack, but against the Queen of Blades? She ripped through those doors as if they were made out of paper." Even though Valerian hadn't been inside the palace when Kerrigan had, well, _claimed_ his father's life, he remembered walking through the devastated rooms of the palace afterward.

"And then you installed this thing? What is it?" Neusser asked again. Valerian shook his head, trying to get rid of those unpleasant memories.

"It's... ah... what's the exact name again? An "electromagnetic fortified protection system." And yes, that's its official name. We haven't come up with a nickname, you're free to make a suggestion though."

"Electromagnetic fortified protection system? I have never heard of anything like that before. How does it work?" As a former Zapper himself, Neusser had studied all sorts of defensive systems, if only to know how to blow them up. But if he could learn something vital about this system before the rest of the team arrived, well, that could be a game-changer. He put his hands behind his back and started to press the buttons on his transmitter in rapid succession.

"See this?" Valerian, of course, didn't know any about this when he showed Neusser how the system was supposed to work. He was just glad that he had finally managed to find a topic he could discuss with the other man. He truly wanted to prove to him that he was a reasonable person. To Valerian, it was not just a wish, it was a mission.

"It's part of the wall?" Neusser asked, but Valerian shook his head.

"No, it's the other way around. The wall is part of the door. It's basically a two-meter thick piece of specially reinforced steel, the same material we use for the armor-plating on our newest battlecruisers. It is so heavy that once an alarm goes off, the magnetic field shuts down and the whole thing slams down." Now Neusser looked at Valerian in confusion.

"Magnetic field? Okay, you lost me." It caused Valerian to grin. He pointed at two blue lights on each side of the entrance.

"Those are magnetic field generators. They are so powerful that they keep the door from crashing down. Should anyone sound the alarm, those generators-"

"...will go offline and the whole door will slam down." Neusser finished. "Nifty." And bothersome. But when he saw the grin on Valerian's face, he had to frown.

"What?"

"It's even better than that. The generators don't just go offline, their polarity is reversed so the door slams shut and both sides are magnetized. That way not even an atom can pass through. The whole system is incredibly tough. And it's battle-proven. It was able to withstand the onslaught of two Ultralisks when they tried to storm a research base on Char."

"But Char is lost. The Zerg retook it years ago." Neusser said.

"True. But that door is probably still there and still standing." Valerian could see the mixed emotions on Neusser's face. He thought that the small man was simply impressed. But in reality, he was worried. This system was a real threat to their plans. If this door would close, they would probably not be able to achieve their goal.

"Must have cost a fortune to install such a system. And I don't even want to know much energy these doors use." Neusser said and continued to press the button on his transmitter. He made sure that the Emperor wouldn't notice anything.

"Door, singular. That is actually the only one. The other entrances still use the old system. They are slated for replacement, but that takes time." Valerian said. "I'm not too fond of it, but I guess it's better to prepare for another attack. Though after dealing with the Swarm and Mobius, I don't know what else could surprise us." The grin on Neusser's face became wider and more menacing.

"Oh, it is always good to be prepared." he told Valerian. The finger on his transmitter never stopped pushing that button. Short. Long. Long. Short. Short. "Still, it seems somewhat odd that the Emperor of the Dominion would bother with such trivialities."

"They are not trivialities to me." Valerian said. "In fact, I believe it is my duty to learn as much as I possibly can in order to be the best Emperor my people could ask for."

"Ha!" the smaller man suddenly burst out in laughter. It sounded as if he was truly amused. It caused Valerian to frown.

"Forgive me, but I fail to see what's so funny about that statement." he declared. Neusser turned towards him, and for a short moment, Valerian thought that he would attack him. But that was of course absurd. No one would dare to attack the Emperor inside the walls of his own palace. Well, no one except the Swarm and Amon's minions. He didn't notice how Neusser stopped pressing the button on his transmitter.

"You truly believe that, don't you?" Neusser then asked. "The whole "building a better future"-stuff. To you it's not just a fancy hobby, you actually think that you're doing something good here." It was then when Valerian finally realized that Neusser was in fact _not_ happy to be so close to the Emperor to the Dominion.

"I guess you too lost someone because of my father's doing." Valerian then mused. "Someone close to you?" It was a personal question, and Valerian didn't expect to get an answer. But much to his own surprise...

"We've all lost someone thanks to your father." Neusser said with a cold tone in his voice. "I lost a brother. He died on the battlefield. And I lost a niece. She died because your father thought that starving us out would be a great idea. So forgive me if I'm brutally honest, but the name Mengsk isn't exactly one the people like to hear in the Combine."

"Fair enough." Valerian replied. "I will not defend my father or what he has done. There is no excuse for what he did anyway. All I'm asking for is a fair chance to prove that I'm _not_ my father." Suddenly something changed inside Neusser's whole appearance. He shifted from one leg to the other and looked up to Valerian.

"What makes you think that you deserve a chance to prove yourself?" he wanted to know. "What makes you think that _we_ want to see how you try to outdo your father?" Valerian opened his mouth, willing to give Neusser an honest answer, only to realize that he had no idea what to reply. For a long moment, he didn't say a word. But when he did...

"Because I think what I do is right." he then explained. And it was what he truly believed.

"Your father thought that he was right too." Neusser replied. "Guess we have to see if you're truly different from him." Valerian wanted to say something, but he knew that he had lost this argument. He wasn't angry at Neusser, how could he? That man had lost family because of Arcturus Mengsk. Valerian sighed and made a step backward.

"Forgive me, Mr. Neusser. I won't continue to bother you anymore. Please, accept my apologies. I didn't mean to cause you any form of discomfort." He then turned away, ready to leave the man alone. Neusser looked at Valerian's back and had to frown. The transmitter on his wrist started to vibrate. The others were close.

"Emperor Mengsk!" he suddenly said and Valerian turned around one more time.

"Yes?" Valerian asked.

"You can't just tell people that they should listen to you and do as you tell them to do because you want that. It's not how the world works." There was a hint of sarcasm in Neusser's voice, but not that much. It sounded more like he was truly curious. Valerian pulled his shoulders up.

"Maybe so. But I believe that the people deserve to live in a better world. That's what I hope to achieve."

"If it would be that easy..." Neusser then said. "...someone would have already done it." Then a faint smile appeared on Valerian's face.

"Perhaps everyone else just hasn't tried hard enough then." With those words, the Emperor finally turned around and decided to leave Neusser alone.

"Well, good luck with that!" he could hear the smaller man saying behind him, but then he was already gone. Neusser, on the other hand, just shook his head. He had more important things to worry about. Like to make sure that the Emperor would never forget this day.

* * *

The team moved through the corridors as fast as possible when Lloyd suddenly raised his hand and gestured them to stop.

"What now?" the female leader of the Spectres hissed, but Lloyd just looked at the transmitter wrapped around his wrist. When Dee looked at the transmitter, she could see how the green light started to blink.

Long Long, Short Long, Long Long Short, Long Short, Short, Long, Short Short, Long Short Long Short...

Even though her Morse-skills were somewhat rusty, Dee was still able to decipher the message.

 _Magnetic lock around throne room. Act quick otherwise move on to plan b._

Plan b. Oh, that was just great.

"What's plan b?" the female Specter wanted to know and both Dee and Lloyd looked at her in anger. She just chuckled when she felt their distaste for her ability to read their minds.

"I don't have to scan your thoughts, I know morse-code." But then she looked at the transmitter again. "So, what's plan b?" Both Lloyd and Dee exchanged looks before the female Zapper finally gave him a nod.

"If we are not able to reach the Emperor in time, we're supposed to turn this party into an example." He then turned around to his men. "Tiv, Ulysses, Marx, proceed to the ballroom. If we fail to get to the Emperor, you will have to buy us some time." The three Zappers nodded and prepared to leave when the leader of the Specters spoke up.

"You'll send only three to deal with those guards inside the ballroom?" she wanted to know. Lloyd gave her an angry look.

"They are soldiers of the Combine, they know how to achieve the impossible." he just snarled. It caused the Specter to chuckle again.

"Oh, so much bravado. And here I was about to offer you our help. I guess you don't need us then..." she said and turned around, but she could sense how Lloyd clenched his hands into fists. He knew that he needed their help, even though he had all sorts of strange feelings when he looked at those dark figures. He looked over to Dee, who gave him a frustrated nod.

"Fine..." Lloyd then growled. "...guess we don't have much of a choice." The Specter laughed again before she gave a nod to two of her warriors, another woman and the guy who liked to wear a necklace made out of fingers. She didn't say a word. She didn't have too. The finger-guy snorted and shook his head as he walked over to the three Zappers that were supposed to take the ballroom.

"Won't promise a thing..." the male Specter just growled as if someone had said something to him. Lloyd looked at his men and gave them a nod.

"Marx, you're in charge. Stick to the plan. Should anything happen, you know what to do." All three of them saluted and turned around. The leader of the Specter and her two minions exchanged looks one final time before they too turned away and followed the Zappers. Lloyd waited until they vanished behind a corner and then turned back towards his other soldiers. The faceless head of the female Spectre was directed right at him and he looked at the strange helmet.

"What?" he hissed, but the woman chuckled again.

"Nothing. Let's go. Lead the way, we follow." she said and Lloyd only snorted before he decided to continue. They had to hurry. If anyone would sound the alarm, they wouldn't be able to grab the Emperor. And then this whole mission would turn into one huge bloodbath. As they moved through the corridors, the Zappers checked their surrounding area with keen eyes. The Spectres, however...

Two of his men pressed against the wall and tried to peek around the corner when the leader of the Spectres just said "Clear!" and walked around that corner. Lloyd hissed in anger when he heard that and looked over to Dee.

"Who are those guys?"

"Trust me..." Dee replied. "...you don't want to know."

"That's not what I asked, Dee." he hissed again when suddenly the leader of the Spectres stopped and raised her hand.

"Contact incoming!" she just whispered and made a strange gesture with her hand, one Lloyd had never seen before. Dee, however, knew what that gesture meant, and her stomach started to revolt, remembering what had happened earlier. The other three Spectres moved forward and pushed Lloyd and his team to the side.

"What the hell you think you're doing?" he snarled, but Dee just grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back.

"No, wait. Let them deal with it. Don't look though, it won't be pretty." she explained to him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lloyd asked, but Dee just shook her head and pulled back around the corner. She pressed her back against the wall and looked into the other direction.

"Dee, what's the matter?" the leader of the Zappers demanded to know.

"Look yourself, but don't say that I didn't warn you." she just whispered. That was not part of the plan, so what was this all about?

Suddenly his thoughts were cut short when he heard steps. It sounded like heavy combat-boots. Damn, guards!

"Back! Back, back, back!" Lloyd hissed. They couldn't afford to be discovered now! They would lose the moment of surprise and then things would turn into a disaster. He could see how his soldiers chambered a round and gestured them to lower their sub-machine guns. Even one shot would probably be enough to sound the alarm. This wasn't good. Only Dee seemed to be in her own world. She leaned against the wall and had her eyes closed.

"Dee, what the hell are you doing? We need to get out of here!" he hissed. Dee opened her eyes and shook her head. For the first time ever, he saw something inside her eyes that he had never seen before; pure, undiluted terror.

"Dee, what's the matter." he wanted to know, but she just turned her head away.

"Can't watch this again," she whispered and he frowned. What was that about? But before he could do anything else, he heard the voice of the female Spectre.

"This should be fun." Her voice sounded like she was looking forward to what was about to happen. No, that wasn't right. It sounded almost... aroused? Dear God, where had Dee picked those guys up? Lloyd pressed against the wall and moved towards the edge of the corner before he peeked around it. He could only see the leader of the Spectres, the other dark figures were gone and nowhere to be seen. His eyes widened in shock when he heard how the footsteps came closer and closer. He raised his SMG, ready to do the one thing he knew he shouldn't. But then he felt the grip of Dee on his arm and looked over to her. Her head was still turned away, but he could see how her whole body was shaking.

"Don't look. Trust me, you don't want to see this." But Lloyd had no time for that. Instead, he peeked around the corner and froze in terror when he saw how two guards came into view. They carried only handguns, but if only one would fire one shot then this mission was over.

"Hello, boys." the female Spectre moaned and raised her hand. "So lovely of you to come to this party. Here, I have a gift for you."

"What? Who are you?!" the man on the left side barked. His comrade was not as slow though.

"Freeze!" he shouted and tried to grab his gun. But the moment his hand touched it, he started to gag. His comrade opened his mouth and grabbed his own head. It looked like he wanted to scream in pain, but only a choking, gurgling sound left his throat. Lloyd's eyes widened in shock when he saw how the two men started to tumble to the side and smashed into the wall. Unfortunately, it didn't stop there.

"Ghhhhhaaaa...!" the slower man started to gurgle. His eyes rolled into the back of his skull and he seemed to not know where he was. His facial expression was one of pure pain. He turned around like he was looking for something that could help him. And when he found it...

"Oh my God..." Lloyd whispered and he could hear how Dee started to whimper next to him. The gurgling sound of those two men was more horrible than screams of pain. The second man dropped to his knees and started to convulse. His fingers dug into the skin of his face and his nails managed to rip it open. Blood streamed down his face, yet his throat still wasn't able to produce any scream. The first man, however, was still on his feet. He turned towards the wall...

...and smashed his head against it.

Blood spilled all over the wall and he stumbled backward. What the hell was going on here?

However, Lloyd's shock grew only bigger when he saw how the man rammed his head into the wall again. And again. And again. More blood was spilled and soon the face of the guard was nothing but a bloody, fleshy mess. Lloyd could see teeth, he could see bones, and then he could hear the cracking sound of a breaking skull. He watched in horror how the man smashed his own head so hard against the wall until he finally died. The last smash managed to break the front of his skull. The pieces of bone penetrated the poor man's brain and he simply fell against the wall, before his dead body slid down and left a trail of blood and brain.

His comrade, however...

"GHHHAAAA!" he gurgled while rolling over the floor. He pulled his own hair out, scratched his skin off his head, all in order to make more room. The pressure! The pressure inside his skull was too much! He had to open it, had to open his skull and let that pressure out or...or...

With a disgusting sound, the man's skull simply exploded and both blood and gray matter were scattered across the floor.

"What..." Lloyd only managed to whisper. "What...was that?"

"The skills we need for this mission." Dee whispered next to him before he could hear her gag. He had seen his fair share of violence, but this? This was a whole different kind of madness.

"Hmmm." the leader of the Spectres moaned. There was no doubt about it, to her it was more than just a kill. "Never gets old." she added and Lloyd could see how she shuddered in delight. This was a goddamn nightmare. After a few moments, the Specter regained her composure and turned around.

"Get rid of the bodies." she just said and suddenly the other dark figures stepped out of shadows that Lloyd hadn't even noticed before. He saw how the woman's helmet turned towards him and he felt how a cold shiver running down his spine.

"Come on, the throne room is that way. I can sense it." Sense it? Were those guys Ghosts? The Spectre chuckled when she read his thoughts.

"Oh, Ghosts are nothing compared to us. Now let's go, I want to do that again." she told him. Loyd looked over at Dee, whose head was still turned away. But he could see her nod and knew that it was too late to have doubts. He tightened the grip on his weapon and took a deep breath. Well, all he had to do was to not look down.

It was easier said than done. As he moved past the dead bodies, he could feel something squishy beneath his boots. Like said, he had seen his fair share of violence. But this? This was on a whole different level. As he passed the bodies, the one who had smashed his own head was still twitching.

"Oh God." one of his men whispered behind him when he saw the carnage.

"No time for that!" Lloyd hissed. "Keep moving, we have a mission to complete!" He knew that he could rely on his men, yet sometimes he had to tell them to focus on the task at hand. The smell of blood was revolting, but he managed to keep his stomach under control. The female leader of the Specter joined him and so did the rest of his team. The other Spectres, however, grabbed the dead bodies and looked for a place where they could hide them. However, they could only hide the bodies, the scattered brain and blood were a whole different story. Sooner or later someone would find out, so they had to hurry.

No one said a word as they moved towards the throne room. The female Specter led the team and this time no one dared to question that decision. It only took them a few minutes to reach another corner and much to Lloyd's relief they didn't encounter any other group of guards. However, they finally reached the entrance to the throne room...

"Two more guards." the female Specter whispered. "Hmm, I'm still hungry." Loyd shuddered when he heard that, but managed to pull himself together. He peeked around the corner and could see two figures only armed with handguns. They could deal with the guards quickly, but even one shot would activate the security system. So, they had to get closer in order to avoid detection.

"Or you let me use my little trick." the Spectre moaned. He looked at her, then at the guards. No one deserved _that_ fate, but...

 **Alert! Alert! Gunshots detected!** a computer-voice suddenly shouted. **Security-system activated!** Loyd looked over to Dee and could see the shock on her face, the same shock he felt. But how? No one had discovered them yet!

"Close the door!" the guard at the entrance yelled. Then a familiar voice reached Lloyd from the inside of the throne room.

"What's going on?" That was Neusser! The boss was close.

"We need to move, go!" Lloyd yelled and jumped out of cover. He ran towards the door, but he knew that he wouldn't be fast enough. Still, he raised his gun and when the guards spotted him, he didn't give them any chance to react. When he pressed the trigger of his weapon, a stream of hot bullets was released. The men had no time to scream when the projectiles hit them. The Zapper next to him opened fire as well and when the guards' bodies fell on the ground, they were already dead.

"Run! RUN RUN RUN!" Lloyd screamed and dashed towards the entrance. He could see how the heavy door was still open. Maybe they could make it. The Zapper next to him was faster than he was. He was close to the entrance and could see how the blue lights next to it turned red.

"Get inside! Get the Emperor!" Lloyd screamed and the man next to him threw himself forward. He was so close. If only one man could get inside, they would succeed! The soldier reached the entrance and his upper half was already beneath the door.

...that's when the door was activated and the heavy steel-plate rushed down. The Zapper had no chance. The plate weighed more than 50 tons. It was supposed to withstand an Ultralisk. Within less than a second it slammed down and reduced lord's comrade into a bloody mess. Lloyd, who had almost reached the door, raised his hands to protect himself when the blood practically exploded right into his face. He looked down at himself and could feel the hot, sticky remnants of his soldier on his skin. Behind him, one of his men started to curse and another one had to throw up. That's when Dee reached the door.

"Who's responsible for that?" she screamed and pressed her hand against the door. A door that they couldn't hope to open from the outside. "Who fired a bullet?" Dee shouted again. But no one had fired a bullet. That meant that the other team...

"YAAAARRRGHHH!" the female Spectre suddenly screamed in pain and fell down on her knees. The remaining Zappers turned around, too shocked and confused to realize what was going on. Lloyd had just lost one good soldier, and now this freak grabbed her head and started to howl as pain consumed her whole body.

"What's going on?!" he demanded to know, but the Spectre was too busy screaming in agony and Dee only shook her head in disbelief.

"MAKE...MAKE IT STOP!" the Spectre gurgled. "SO HOT...LIKE THOUSAND STARS..." What the hell was going on here? Lloyd rushed over to the woman, grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back to her feet.

"Get a hold of yourself! What's going on? What are you talking about?" However, instead of answering, the woman tried to find a button on her helmet. When she did, the dark metal-plate moved upwards and revealed a pale but beautiful face. Her features were soft and delicate, and Lloyd had no doubts that she could be a very pretty lady...

...except for the blood coming out of her eyes.

"Too much..." the leader gurgled, yet before Lloyd could ask what she was talking about, she leaned forward and started to vomit. Lloyd made a step backward and managed to avoid most of the mess. The woman dropped back on her knees and moaned again, but this time her voice was filled with despair and agony. For a moment he wondered if her head would now explode as well, but that didn't happen.

"What's going on, dammit!" the leader of the Zappers demanded to know. That's when the Spectre finally looked up to him while tears of blood streamed down her face. Her voice was but a whisper.

"It knows that we are here..."

* * *

The other half of the team knew what they had to do; get to the ballroom, secure the area and make sure to buy Lloyd and his men as much time as possible. No one had any illusions about this, they all knew that this could turn into a suicide mission within seconds. Truth to be told, not a single one of the Zappers actually thought that they would survive this night. It wasn't about survival anyway. It was about hurting the enemy. And if they wanted to hurt the enemy, if they wanted to shake these damn fascists to the very core, they had to attack them where they expected it the least. But even though they had already achieved the impossible (infiltrating the Imperial Palace), they hadn't achieved their overall goal. As they approached the ballroom, they were able to avoid the remaining guards. And even though the Zapper called "Marx" would never admit it, they had only managed that because of those dark figures that accompanied them. He had heard stories of Ghosts and their skills, and he figured that they were some kind of Ghost-unit. But he had never heard that those guys worked as mercenaries. Augustgrad surely was a scary place if you could recruit a bunch of freaks that easily.

The thought of being able to kill someone with a mere thought was scary as hell. What if you would make a mistake? If you were angry at someone and can't control this power for the fraction of a second?

Marx's thoughts were cut short when the male Spectre next to him tackled him to the side.

"Better hope that we _freaks_ know how to control our powers, punk." Marx knew better than to fall for that trap. But not all of his men could control their emotions like that. The soldier called Tiv stopped and turned towards the male Spectre, the one with the necklace made out of fingers.

"What did you say, you fr-" But it was their third man who knew what to do. Ulysses grabbed Tiv and forced him to move on.

"Not now!" the old soldier barked. "Head in the game!" Getting all worked up during a suicide mission was probably not the smartest thing to do. "Focus your anger on the enemy!" Tiv wanted to say something, but he was cut short when the female Specter in front suddenly stopped and raised her hands. Both the Zappers and the finger-guy stopped as well and raised their guns.

"We're close!" the female Spectre whispered.

"Any guards?" the finger-guy wanted to know. The woman raised her hand and looked like she was concentrating on something. That's when she started to shudder.

Marx couldn't help but wonder what she was feeling right now.

"Several." she whispered.

"How many?" the finger-guy asked. But then they could see how she shuddered again.

"Jian, how many?" he asked again. But she didn't give him a straight answer.

"It's...hard to tell. There's something blocking my senses. It feels as if there's some sort of... light." She made a few steps forward and walked towards a door that was only a few meters away. You could hear many people chattering on the other side of that door. So that's where the ballroom had to be.

"What's the matter, Jian? Is it a trap?" the finger-guy wanted to know. "A psi-disruptor maybe?" But she shook the head and moved closer to the door.

"No... it's something different. Something faint. Almost as if it tries to hide from us." She reached the door and pressed her hand on it. It was Tiv who decided to say something.

"What's she doing?" he wanted to know.

"Doing your job. Now shut up." the male Spectre shot back.

"What did you say, you big piece of shit." But their little argument was of no importance to the woman. She reached out with her senses and tried to figure out what was going on on the other side of the door. She could sense the people, their thoughts, their emotions. Most of it was useless garbage, empty thoughts by empty people. But she could sense something else. There were guards, yet she couldn't tell how many. And there was something else, something _different_...

It was impossible to describe it. Like a small light, floating through the darkness. And whatever it was, it tried to evade her. Maybe her comrade was right, maybe it was some kind of psi-disruptor. But it didn't feel like a cold machine. It felt alive and... sad?

Perhaps she should have been more careful, but right now she was attracted to that light like a moth to a candle. Whatever it was, it seemed so pure, so innocent. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before, unlike during those trips she had when Tosh made her inhale that Terrazine. And she just knew that she had to touch it, had to explore it with her own mind. She tried to grab it, but it managed to evade her one more time.

"Very well, if you want to play hard to get..." she mumbled to herself and prepared to use all of her strength. Behind her, she could hear the voice of her comrade.

"Jian, what the hell are you doing?" he wanted to know. He was so impatient. But she had other things on her mind. She could feel how that light started to become slower, as if it was distracted by something else. Something that caused the light to feel sadness.

"Finally got you. And now you will show me what you truly are." Jian whispered when she finally managed to grab it with her thoughts and tried to force this presence to show her its true form. Her mind wandered over the light and she could feel many little cracks on the surface.

"Don't want to show me who you are? Then I'll have to use force." she said to herself and found a crack that felt especially promising. She gathered all her strength and poured it into that crack, ready to split this light open and see what hid inside and...

"AAAHAHHHHHH!" Jian suddenly screamed out in pain when pure light and fire engulfed her senses. The light, which had just been a spark in the darkness, exploded into pure energy. It felt like the Big Bang all over again. One moment the entire universe was concentrated in one tiny point, the next it exploded with the strength of a billion stars. The female Spectre could feel how her mind was flooded with so much energy, she could feel how her neurons started to dissolve into nothingness. Suddenly she felt something new, something so powerful, something so mighty that she was nothing compared to it. And then it turned her attention towards her.

 **Who are you?** the voice echoed through her mind. She stumbled backward and her screams of pain turned into terror. Blood was dripping out of her ears, and behind her, she could hear choking sounds coming from her comrade. That's when the leader of the Zappers realized that something was wrong.

"What's going on? Why are you screaming like mad? Shit, stick to the plan!" But she couldn't listen to those demands.

 **Who are you?** the voice asked again, but the female Spectre was unable to answer. She dropped to her knees and screamed when she realized that this thing wasn't human or a psi-disruptor. It wasn't even Zerg or Protoss. It was something else. Yet all she could do was to scream as she felt how her brain started to turn to mush.

* * *

Drinking wasn't fun, at least when you had no one else you could drink with. That's why Captain Brent had decided to leave that wine vault. Perhaps he should return to the ballroom and tell Mr. Raynor about all those delicious stuff they had inside that room. Even though most of the stuff tasted like crap. Still, he wasn't enjoying himself one bit. It had been fun at first, but after he had won the yelling-contest against that guy that had shown up earlier, nothing else had happened.

Yes, drinking was boring if there was no one else around you can share stories with. Brent wanted to be brutally honest with himself; he knew that this Zerg-lady and the Protoss-guy had been nothing but hallucinations. But those hallucinations had been fun! Seriously, he had enjoyed himself more than during his time in school or the academy. So yeah, maybe he had hoped to have another hallucination. Only, there was no such thing happening. Right now, he was just regular drunk. Drunk like a sailor, but without any hallucination. He looked around and frowned. Perhaps it was time to go somewhere else. Maybe he should go and look for the Admiral. He hadn't seen the boss for quite some time now and wondered if he was already looking for the Captain. Heh, that was probably the case. The Admiral was lost without Brent.

Well, that was probably a bit exaggerated, but still...

With a sigh, he finally decided to stand up and walked over to the door. He looked back and could see that he had caused quite the mess. Hmm, he should probably apologize to those kitchen-guys and tell them that they could now return to the kitchen and clean up, well, his mess. Not his brightest hour, that much was for certain. He opened the heavy steel door and stepped outside. The kitchen was completely empty and the food was starting to get cold. Well, that wasn't good. He just had wanted to enjoy himself, he didn't want to ruin anyone's party. And no matter what people thought about him, Joseph Brent wasn't a jerk.

All in all, he felt terrible. He started to realize that his actions had caused problems for others. If there was one thing his parents had taught him, then it was to not cause any problems to other people. Though to be fair, this had been Mr. Raynor's idea, so Brent wasn't really to blame for any of that. However, knowing his luck, no one would care about that. So, he knew what he had to do to; clean up the mess his superiors had made.

Great, even at a Christmas-party he had to work. This job was starting to get bothersome.

Brent walked out of the kitchen. Well, it was more of a wobbling, but he somehow managed to walk forward. Still, when he passed all those tables with food on it, he had to fight the urge to puke. Ugh, he had consumed way too much alcohol, and now the very sight of food caused him to feel horrible. He should probably never drink anything with alcohol inside for the rest of his life. As he walked through the corridors, he was too focused on his own dizziness to realize that there was no one around. Usually, the palace was brimming with people, yet a small part of his mind simply thought that it was because of Christmas. Normal people had to get some time off too. You know, normal folks, like Joseph Brent.

"Ah, to hell." he muttered before he continued to go...somewhere. He had no real idea where he should go, and while he knew his way around inside the palace, he was still too drunk to care. However, even then he couldn't shake that strange feeling, the feeling that something was wrong and something horrible was about to happen. Like a tragedy that was about to hit him. He could feel it deep on the inside, like a fire that was about to go nuclear. The last time he had felt anything like that had been...

"HURRRRK!" He managed to press the hands against his mouth and searched for a place where he could "unload" the tragedy that was about to happen. He looked to the left, he looked to the right, but there was no goddamn toilet nearby. The only thing he saw was an open elevator shaft. He felt how he was close to panic. If anyone would see him puking down an elevator-shaft...

"HNNNNGGG!" Well, nature didn't care for what he wanted. Unable to control his stomach anymore, he hurried towards the open shaft and let nature do the rest.

"HUUUFFFF..." Oh God, the taste of vomit and liquor filled his mouth and the smell only caused his stomach to contract even harder. There wasn't much inside that stomach, though. He didn't know wherever he should be glad or not that there was only liquid inside his belly. In any case, what excited his mouth lacked a certain "chunkiness". He didn't know how many times he had to throw up. But while he was busy evacuation the inside of his stomach, he swore to himself that he would never drink again.

Did that whole show last for minutes? Or hours? He had no idea, yet when his stomach was finally empty, he had to gag a few more times before he had finally calmed down and could take a deep breath. Oh boy...oh crap...oh hell...

But like always when you're drunk and have to vomit like crazy, you sober up really fast. At least that's what it felt like. Brent shook his head while leaning against the open door and brushed the drool from his chin. This was certainly not his brightest hour and he was glad that there was no one around to take a photo and post it on the net or anything like that. When his stomach had finally calmed down, he opened his eyes and looked into the dark abyss of the elevator shaft. He couldn't make out any details, but he could see that the elevator shaft was very deep. He felt how he stepped into something wet and looked at his own feet. Oh no, so he hadn't managed to keep the floor clean after all and...

Ah, to hell with it. He felt like trash and had to thank both Admiral Horner and Mr. Raynor for that. Why did he have to play drinking-buddy for both of them anyway? This whole party was one huge disaster.

The one thing about puking your guts out; once you're empty, you can actually start eating all over again. Yeah, that was a good idea. Get back to the ballroom, find Mr. Raynor and embarrass him in front of everyone. Who knew, maybe the Admiral would finally show up to, he still owed that man one hell of an embarrassing moment. Brent took a deep breath and straightened himself.

"Off to the buffet then." he groaned and made his way back to the ballroom. He didn't notice that there were no guards around or any other staff members, yet at the same time, he didn't care about any of that. No, instead he just wanted this day to end as fast as possible. It just couldn't get any worse than this.

When he was close to the ballroom, he took a deep breath. The corridor that led to the ballroom was long and when he stepped around the corner and stopped right in front of one door, he could suddenly see-

"AAAHAHHHHHH!" a dark-clad figure screamed in pain and a group of armed soldiers looked at her in confusion. Even in his current condition, Joseph realized that those guys weren't Dominion soldiers.

"What's going on? Why are you screaming like mad? Shit, stick to the plan!" one of the soldiers yelled and Brent understood that this wasn't just part of the show.

"Oh no." he whispered. The palace was under attack! Aside from the woman, there was another black-clad figure that started to scream in pain and fell to his knees. That's when-

"Contact! There's an enemy soldier!" one of the men screamed and Brent knew that they were talking about him. He could see how they pointed their guns at him and so he started to run. He threw himself through the closed door that was busted open and ran into the ballroom.

"GET HIM!" one of the soldiers yelled and he could hear their footsteps behind him. He stormed into the ballroom and could see the shocked expressions on the faces of all those juicy celebrities.

"EVERYONE DOWN! THEY GOT GUNS!" he screamed, right before he could hear how a shot was fired right behind him. There was a strange, tugging sensation below his chest and suddenly he could feel how something hot exploding inside his guts. Then his whole world turned into pain...


	38. Act II - Chapter 14

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 14**

 **Last Christmas I gave you my Heart...**

 **...and my Liver...**

 **...and my Spleen**

* * *

When Jim finally turned around, he could hear the soft voice of Jane Shepard behind him one more time.

''Mr. Raynor...there's something I need to tell you first'', she said to him. He stopped and started to smile. For such a beautiful lady, she sure as hell tried to keep a low profile. However, it was useless. Jim knew that she wasn't the timid woman she claimed to be. He was a people-person after all, and if there was one thing he could read, then it was people.

Only that he couldn't read people. He was horrible at reading people. Now come on, he had trusted Arcturus Mengsk at one point!

But even then, Jim Raynor knew that Jane Shepard was a lot of things. However, weak she was not. It was like there was some sort of inner strength pouring out of her, one that only a few people possessed. She was the kind of person that could stand against the entire galaxy and would succeed. He knew that, he could feel it inside his bones. Perhaps she just couldn't see it herself. Sometimes you had a bad day and you needed someone else to show you that not everything was dull and hopeless and there was more to yourself than the flesh and skin covering your bones.

So why was Jim doing this anyway? Why help a complete stranger?

Short answer; he had nothing better to do.

Long answer; since he was here, he could at least help someone who had some problems. It's true, he didn't know anything about this Jane Shepard. Except that she was a very beautiful woman. However, he might as well finish the day by doing a good deed. Finding this woman's lover was a good start. But even then...

"I thought I told you..." he said with a smile on his face and turned back towards her. When he did, he could see how something in the corner of his eye started to change. It was as if there was something wrong with Jane's appearance. "Call me Ji-" he started and was about to look into Jane's eyes. Only that it wasn't Jane anymore.

However, before that moment finally came to pass, a new voice echoed through the ballroom. Or "screamed in bloody murderer", to be more exact.

"EVERYONE DOWN! THEY GOT GUNS!" a familiar voice screamed. Jim didn't manage to take a good look at the figure standing on the balcony, so he didn't see how her whole outer appearance changed from Jane Shepard to no one else but Sarah Kerrigan. _His_ Sarah.

Jim, too much of an old soldier, knew that only an idiot would scream something like that on a party unless it was not a scam. But when he heard the gunshot, he knew that this wasn't just a joke. There was a choked yell, right before everyone started to scream in panic. Jim hurried towards the staircase and looked down on the ballroom. And what he saw...

"GET DOWN! GET DOWN! OUT OF THE WAY!" some guards screamed and rushed towards an open entrance, their handguns raised and pointing at the door. But if there were two things celebrities excelled at, then it was A: abusing illegal drugs and B: run around like headless chickens if something goes wrong. There was at least one voice that screamed "Don't worry, it's fake blood!", but no one listened to that person. They all tried to rush to the nearest exit. However, there were simply too many of them. The guards, on the other hand, had a hard time getting to the door. They had to fight their way through the masses of people, and more than one panicking celebrity caught a fist to the face when the guards decided to do their job.

Jim could see all of that from his position. He was aware that these guards knew what they were doing. Besides, he had no gun, he would only get in the crossfire and cause more trouble than...

That's when he saw the bleeding person on the floor, right next to the entrance. His eyes widened in shock when he recognized the twitching figure.

"BRENT!" he yelled and suddenly all thoughts of caution were gone. Jane said something behind him, he could hear her pleading voice, but whatever it was, it had to wait. Right now, there was someone who needed his help. Even though Jim carried no gun, he stormed down the staircase and ran towards the wounded man. Captain Brent seemed to know what had happened to him. He looked down at his own stomach and could see the growing red spot on his uniform. He groaned in pain and rolled to the side while pressing his hands against his stomach. This wasn't good. Even from this distance, Jim could see the kind of injury Brent had sustained, one of the worst you could think of; a shot to the stomach.

"INCOMING!" another person roared and Jim could see how three heavily armed figures emerged from the door. They carried sub-machine guns and the former Marshal saw how they pointed their guns at the incoming guards. The same guards that were still fighting their way through panicking civilians. Jim was too far away to do anything about it, he knew that. He ran towards Brent as fast as he could, but even then, he couldn't stop those attackers. They pointed their SMG's at the crowd...

...and opened fire.

There is a line, a line that you shouldn't cross. Jim had done many questionable things during his fighting days. He had killed many people and destroyed a lot of important stuff. But he had always considered himself a soldier. And no matter how horrible the situation had been, shooting on unarmed civilians was just wrong.

Well, apparently those guys didn't share his moral code. Because when they opened fire, they didn't care one bit about those civilians.

"DOWN!" he screamed, but it was too late. The three SMG's proved to be utterly deadly and devastating. People screamed both in fear and pain, and Jim had to watch how both guards and normal people were mowed down. One moment ago, the party had been just that; a party. Now it had turned into a goddamn carnage.

"Open fire! Open fire!" one of the guards screamed, even though most of his comrades were still caught between civilians. With so many people around, civilian casualties were unavoidable. The guards knew that, and they had to accept that. First order of business was to deal with those attackers. As for the attackers; they used the momentum to cause even more pain and terror. The enemy soldiers stormed into the ballroom and took cover behind several huge pillars, each one big enough to provide more than enough cover. They used that cover to their advantage and started to fire on the guards, killing several of them in the process. The guests ran towards the main entrance and screamed as if the devil himself was after them. Just as the doors were opened, the guards from outside the palace stormed inside, alarmed by shooting. But they too had to work their way through all the panicking guests and could not fire on the attackers.

Jim, on the other hand, had no time to analyze the situation. He was just a few meters away from Brent when the enemy soldiers spotted him. He could see how one of them pointed his gun at him. Perhaps he should have stayed in cover, but the bleeding figure of Captain Brent was still out there in the firing line.

Well, there were worse ways to die. He had avoided death for many times now, and deep inside his mind, he knew that it was a better way leave the party than to spend his last few months bedridden in some fancy villa on the outskirts of Augustgrad.

At least he would die knowing that it was for a good cause. Brent was a good kid. He didn't deserve to die like this. The kid had all of his life still ahead of him, so Jim knew what he had to do.

The time seemed to slow down and it felt as if the whole universe was coming to a halt. It wasn't the first time he experienced something like this. Some people called it "bullet time", when everything seemed to slow down and you had the feeling that everything around you was moving at only half its normal speed. Like said, he had felt like this before. The last time during the siege on Sarah's primary hive on Char, just when the last wave had attacked the Raider's fortified positions, only seconds before the Xel'Naga-artifact had ended the battle once and for all.

 _I didn't know that you were this reckless..._ the voice that sounded like Sarah's whispered in the back of his mind.

"Ha, you have seen nothing yet!" he managed to press out. Every step brought him closer to Brent. The young man howled in pain and Jim could see the panic, the fear and the confusion on the Captain's face. The enemy soldier who had spotted Jim knew what the former Marshal was trying to do. Jim could see how the tip of sub-machine gun moved around, and when it pointed at Jim, he knew that he was royally screwed. The enemy soldier looked directly into Jim's eyes and the only thing he could see was pure, undiluted hatred.

Then the man pressed the trigger.

But no bullet would ever reach Jim Raynor, not as long as _she_ was around.

Instead of being turned into Swiss cheese, Jim saw how the man was suddenly hit by _something_. But this wasn't the time to stop and figure out what was going on. He could see from the corner of his eye how the enemy soldier was thrown backward like he was nothing but a puppet. His body was smashed against the wall, and even though the noise of those gunshots was ear-deafening, you could hear the sickening cracking of his bones. There was a choking scream of pain, but Jim didn't know wherever it came from that bastard or any other victim that was currently dying. All he cared for right now was Brent.

"MARX!" someone screamed nearby. "MARX IS DOWN!"

"LEAVE HIM!" another male voice yelled back. "WE NEED TO PULL BACK!"

"BUT..."

"NO BUTS! FALL BACK!" Suddenly bullets flew right past Jim's head on the right and left. He was caught in the crossfire between both the guards and the attackers. He just hoped that the guards realized that he was on their side.

Well, if not it would at least somewhat nostalgic should a Dominion guard be the one to kill him. You know, like old times.

"Watch the civilians! Fire on those bastards!" he could hear one of the guards yelling. That's when he finally reached Brent.

"Kid! You okay?!" he yelled, but the pale face of the young man was contorted in pain and it was obvious that he was in fact not okay.

"Hurts...so much..." Brent hissed and gritted his teeth. Jim knew that he would probably cause the Captain a great deal of pain, but he had no choice. Not with bullets raining down on them.

"I got you!" Jim then said and grabbed the young man by the shoulders.

"AHHHH!" Brent screamed in pain when Jim pulled him up and dragged him over the floor. The Captain could do nothing but curse while leaving a trail of blood behind him.

"It's okay, kid. I got you. We get you out of here!" the older man told him, but Brent didn't even listen. Dragging a fellow soldier out of the fire line was all too familiar to Jim. It was something that he could have gone without.

"They're getting away!" a guard screamed when both remaining enemies managed to fall back to the door.

"Do not follow them!" another voice yelled. "We need to wait for backup!" But Jim had no time for that. Instead, he dragged the wounded body of the young Captain to cover before he knelt down right next to him and took a close look at Brent's wound. He grabbed the uniform of the younger man and ripped it open. And when he saw the wound, his face went pale.

"Oh, damn." he whispered. Brent didn't hear him, but he managed to lift his head up and looked at his own belly.

"They...shot me...agh...! he wailed in pain and tried to grab his own stomach. Fresh blood was pouring out of the wound, and it was clear that this bullet had caused a lot of damage. Brent was in dire need of medical assistance or he wouldn't survive. When he saw the wound, his whole body started to shake.

"That's it... I'm going to die." he muttered and dropped his head back on the floor. His breath was ragged and his forehead was covered with cold sweat. Jim grabbed him by the shoulders.

"No! No, you're not gonna die, Joe!" he said, using Brent's first name. The eyes of the Captain looked up to Jim, but all he saw in those eyes were pain and fear. Jim looked around and screamed "NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE!", but he had no idea if anyone even listened to him. He then looked back at the wound and frowned. Brent was losing too much blood. Whatever had hit him, it had destroyed some major blood vessels. Jim knew that every minute was critical, but it appeared that there was no combat-medic around when you need one. So Jim did what he had done many times; he improvised. He took his shirt off and pressed it against the wound.

"Ghaaaa!" Brent gurgled again when he felt the cloth touching his open wound.

"Sorry, I'm sorry, Joe. But I need to stop the bleeding. Don't worry, we got this. Joe? Joe, look at me!" Jim talked to the Captain, but Brent's face started to become ghostly pale. This wasn't good.

"Joe! Captain! Look at me! Look into my eyes!" Jim screamed. Brent managed to do that. Oh man, he was so young. He was still almost a teenager! Why the hell was this happening? The war was over, goddammit! So why did all these people have to die? Brent's bottom lip started to tremble and when he opened his mouth, Jim could hear the fear in his voice.

"Commander..." he whispered. "...I'm scared."

Jim knew what a dying man looked like. He had seen it many times, too many times. He had sent good men and women to their deaths. But there were just things that you would never get used to. Like watching someone die. The guards started to swarm out and secure the area. They did not decide to follow the attackers, though. Some checked the bodies on the floor for any survivors and barked for help. Jim looked around. There was so much blood, and it was everywhere...

"Where are the goddamn medics!" he screamed, but no one answered. Behind him, a lithe figure descended from the staircase. Even though she had witnessed the whole carnage with her own eyes, Jane Shepard's voice sounded strangely detached.

"Jim... let's leave this place. It's not safe here." But Jim wasn't listening to her. Instead, he continued to press his hands on Brent's wound. He needed help! The younger man's breath turned into ragged gasps and with every passing minute, more blood left his body.

"Don't worry, kid. We will get you out of here." But much to his own surprise, Brent wasn't worried about himself. Perhaps that kid had more courage than most other people on this damn planet, but when he looked into Jim's eyes, he could see not just pain and fair, but also something else...

"The... Emperor... and the Admiral..." Brent managed to gasp. "They're...they're still in there..." Suddenly Jim knew what the Captain was talking about. And he knew that there was a lot more at stake here than just the lives of those inside the ballroom. Neither Jim nor Brent knew that Matt wasn't even inside the palace, but it hardly made a difference. Brent raised his shaky hand and Jim grabbed it. It felt so cold...

"You need...to save them..." Brent managed to squeeze out. Right now, Jim didn't want to leave Brent's side. But he knew that the younger man was right. He took a deep breath and then he nodded. He turned his head back to the lithe figure and looked up at her.

"Ms. Shepard... Jane. Could you take care of the Captain for me?" For a moment it seemed as if Shepard would say no. She looked at Brent, who whimpered in pain, and then back at Jim.

"They...they don't owe you a thing. Leave that to the professionals. You don't have to risk your life!" she whispered. Instead of yelling at her, he offered her a weak smile.

"Doing the right thing isn't about owing anyone anything. Please...I beg of you." He pointed at the shirt he pressed against Brent's stomach and she realized what he wanted her to do. After a few moments, she lowered her gaze and nodded.

"Go..." she whispered. "...I will look after him." Jim gave her a thankful nod and they both swapped places. Brent screamed in pain when Jim pulled his hands back and Jane's warm and delicate fingers started to press the piece of cloth against his wound. She watched how the older man got up and walked over to a dead guard. The man had died with the gun in his hand. Now Jim would use that gun to make sure that no more innocent had to die. He checked the pistol and grabbed a few spare magazines from the man's body. Armed like this he could hear the voice of Shepard in his back.

"We could wait for help. You don't have to do this, Jim." she repeated her statement. Jim looked down and into her eyes. He reloaded the pistol and chambered a round.

"And in the meantime, innocents could die. I know what I'm doing. Take care of the Captain for me. And don't worry, I bet your boyfriend is alive." For a moment it seemed as if Jane wanted to tell him something, but then she just turned her head away. It was unfair to ask her to do that, to look after Brent. She was no warrior, she didn't belong on a battlefield. Of course, the truth was somewhat different, but Jim still didn't know anything about who she really was. Besides, war usually never cares about the lives it ruins...

Jim turned around and walked over to the door where several guards had gathered. But before he could reach them.

"Jim!" her voice reached him from behind. He stopped and turned around. The pleading look on her face was somewhat familiar. And he felt how his own heart started to ache. "Don't go." she whispered one more time, but he just smiled at her.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine." Then he turned back towards the guards and walked over to them. Some of these men were still busy looking for survivors among the victims. But the vast majority (roughly a dozen and a half) pointed their guns at the door the attackers had used, making sure that there wouldn't be another nasty surprise coming out of those doors. When one guard saw how Jim approached him, he raised his gun as well, unsure what Jim was planning to do.

"Sir! Lay down that firearm! We got this situation under control!" Well, at least the man realized that Jim didn't belong to the attackers and decided not to shoot him on sight.

"Son, does this look like "under control" to you?" Jim snarled and pointed at the dead bodies lying around. More guards turned towards him and he could see the anger and frustration on their faces. It was hardly surprising, something horrible had just happened right under their watchful eyes.

"Sir! I warn you: Lay down the gun or-" the guard repeated before one of his comrades interrupted him.

"Save it, Murphy! Can't you see? That's James Raynor." the other guard said and suddenly the look on the men's faces changed. They appeared less hostile and more...disbelieving?

"Glad those wanted-posters served at least one purpose." Jim growled before he finally reached the guards. "They got away?" The one who had yelled at Murphy nodded.

"Can't follow them, we don't have the right equipment to stand up against this kind of firepower." he told Jim, who just shook his head.

"That's one way to look at it. Where are the goddamn medics?" he just demanded to know.

"Don't know. I've ordered a full lockdown. No one is getting out, no one is getting in. Not until we figure out what to do." When Jim heard that, he moved forward and grabbed the man by the collar.

"We got wounded! We need medical assistance NOW!" he barked, but the guard just tried to free himself from Jim's grip and made a step backward.

"Not as long as those assholes are still inside the palace. We can't allow lifting the lockdown, not until we know that they're all dealt with."

"And in the meantime, people are dying!" Jim yelled back. As if to reinforce Jim's words, they could hear the choked wailing from Brent and Jane's soft voice.

"Hush, everything will be okay. Help will be here soon." she whispered. Jim had no time for this. People were dying. There was a moment where you should wait and see how things would turn out, and there was a moment where you should act.

"Then we have to find these bastards and clear the palace." he told the guards. Some gave him a nod and strengthened the grip on their guns, but the leader just shook his head.

"Out of the question. We're not equipped with the right gear. We have to wait for support to arrive." he said to Jim. Jim, on the other hand, just raised the gun in his hand and held it right under the guard's nose.

"So, what does this thing do? Shoot peas? Goddammit, man! This isn't about safety anymore! We need to get these guys, or things will become even uglier than they are right now!"

"There's a procedure for these things and-" the guard tried to reason with Jim.

"PROCEDURE MY ASS! Look around, son! You need a swab to mop up all those procedures off the floor, together with all that blood! Now I don't care if you think that you should stay here and guard these bodies against getting any deader, but you better let me pass so I can deal with these jokers."

"He's right, Dean. We have to go after them." another guard then said. Their leader looked over to his comrade and snarled in anger.

"Shut up, Marvin! You just say that because your brother is still inside the building." The man called Marvin only nodded.

"Yes, he is. But there are many others as well. We have to go after them." Now both Marvin and Jim looked at the leader, who just shook his head.

"I won't allow that." he insisted, but Jim just shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine, do as you see fit. Me? I'm going in. Now move out of the way." For a second it seemed as if the leader of the guards would try to stop him. But then he made a step backward and allowed Jim to pass. The guard named Marvin turned around as well.

"Where are you going, Marvin?" the leader demanded to know. Marvin looked over his shoulder and back to his boss.

"Looking for my brother." The two men walked over to the door, and Jim could hear the leader of the guards cursing behind him.

"Goddammit! Murphy, Tellis! You two go with these two idiots. Should you encounter heavy resistance, pull back immediately!" The two guards didn't seem to mind going with Jim and Marvin, and when they reached the doors, Jim looked into their eyes. Damn, they were all so young.

"Ready?" he wanted to know and they checked their guns one more time.

"Ready." Marvin replied. Then some other guards opened the door and Jim and the three men stepped out of the room and into the corridors that were filled with death and destruction...

* * *

Of course, Sarah knew that something was going on, she just hadn't realized _what_ was going on. Not until the shooting started. And even then, it had taken some moments until she realized that this gunfire was actual gunfire and what it meant. If you are a godlike entity, bullets tend to lose their scare. But it had actually started shortly before that, only that she hadn't realized it back then. Under normal circumstances, she should have been able to sense those Specters from the other side of the planet. But she hadn't come here as Sarah Kerrigan, the heir to the Xel'Naga's powers. She had come here as Jane Shepard, someone who was nothing but a normal guest...

...and who wanted to say goodbye to someone very dear to her.

She had decided to dim her powers down to the absolute minimum, only enough to keep up the mirage that covered her real appearance and make it impossible for anyone to see her true self. Including Jim. Guess that plan hadn't worked out so great after all.

Just moments before the first shot was fired, she had received the first warning. Sadly enough, she hadn't even noticed it until it had been too late. Shortly before Brent had been shot, she had felt _something_. It had felt as if someone with psionics had tried to invade her mind. That thought, of course, was utterly ridiculous. Even Amon hadn't been able to invade her mind after her ascension, and so she hadn't wasted any time on that annoying thing. But then that annoying little thing had continued to bother her. It was nothing, insignificant even. Yet it had managed to find her. And then it had tried to figure out who she was, something that she wasn't too fond of.

To Sarah, it was nothing but a small insect dancing in front of her face. She tried to evade it, but it persisted. And so, she did what every person would do; she just tried to puff it away, metaphorical speaking. She didn't use any strength, it was just a tiny reaction and she had no idea that the Specters on the other end of the door screamed in pain and agony when Sarah's boundless psionic energies liquefied their brains. Sarah didn't realize what she had caused. Perhaps it was for the better, because the last time she had _accidentally_ lobotomized someone, it had been her own father...

All she knew was that the buzzing stopped and she was glad for it. Because that meant she could focus on Jim again.

''Mr. Raynor, there's something I need to tell you first." she then said and decided to brace herself. Jane Shepard disappeared and Sarah Kerrigan finally reappeared. Sarah didn't actually know how she came up with this name. She had heard it a long time ago. Someone had used the name while speaking about some game or movie or book or anything like that.

...yes, Sarah was horrible when it came to making up names.

At least it couldn't get any worse than "Garrus Vakarian".

Still, all these thoughts were currently unimportant. She could see how Jim turned back towards her and she pressed her hands against her cleavage. Now it was her heart that was beating like crazy. Yes, Sarah Kerrigan possessed a heart. Shocking, right? However, it wasn't her heart that posed a problem. No, even though she wasn't aware of that fact, but her heart was not the problem. It was her mind. Everything seemed to slow down and almost come to a halt. She could see how Jim's eyes turned towards her, how that lopsided sneer appeared on his face. The same sneer he had always used when he had told her "Don't worry, I got this." And when his eyes finally met hers, she could feel how her heart skipped a beat.

"I thought I told you..." he then said. "Call me Ji-" And they were finally face to face again.

"EVERYONE DOWN! THEY GOT GUNS!" A scream suddenly ruined this moment. Jim had no time to realize that the woman on the balcony wasn't Jane anymore, but someone else. Instead, his head jerked back towards the ballroom and she could sense his confusion. That's when the gunshot went off.

Sarah had blocked all her senses because the thoughts of the crowd were unbearable to her. So many useless people thinking that they were oh so special. Yet not a single one of them had ever done anything that truly mattered. They were just celebrating themselves, it was the only thing they were good for. Like said, Sarah wasn't exactly a people-person. Some might argue that she wasn't even a person in the first place. But the pain she felt when Jim turned away from her was very much real. She reached out with her hand and wanted to tell him "Don't go! Look at me!" But Jim had already decided to focus his mind on the disaster right in front of his eyes. He hurried towards the staircase when more gunfire could be heard. People screamed in panic and pain and Sarah...

...did nothing.

She froze right where she stood and didn't know what to do. She could sense the presence of several attackers. For the fraction of a second, she opened her mind and it was enough for her to completely understand the situation.

Seven people from the Dominion had decided to pay the Emperor a visit. Patriots and terrorists alike. And they had brought along some high-profile friends...

She scanned those Spectres as quickly as possible. Sarah barely touched their minds, but it was enough to drive these six men and women almost insane. The two closest to Sarah's position were the unluckiest one. The first one, a woman named Jian, had taken the brunt of her "puff" and now there was hardly anything left of her. Only a drooling, comatose shell of an empty husk. The man that was with her tried to get back on his feet. Sarah could feel his anger, his rage, and his confusion. There were four others, but they too were still in so much pain that they couldn't do much.

Specters, the elite of the elite. She had heard of these creatures, even though the Spectre-program had been after her time. So these guys were supposed to be the next step in the evolution of the Ghost-program?

Sarah was not impressed.

Perhaps it was some form of professional pride, but when she felt the minds and thoughts of those Specters, she was appalled by it. The Confederacy had turned her into a ruthless killer, one that had felt no emotions, a precise killing-machine. But these guys? They possessed powers, yes. However, they lacked both control and precision. They were nothing but thugs. Powerful thugs maybe, but thugs nonetheless. She could have changed the outcome of this battle in an instant, but this wasn't her fight. She remembered the disaster she had caused on Aiur, and she had sworn herself to not repeat the same mistake. Besides, she hadn't come here for those people. She had only come here for Jim...

More gunfire could be heard, and even from her position, she could feel the pain and fear of all those civilians around them. She could have done something. She could have ended this tragedy and saved them. But she chose to do... nothing. The guards of the palace were already turning the tide of the battle, and even though she could feel how one life after another was ended, she didn't decide to interfere.

This wasn't her battle. It was just another pointless fight where innocents had to pay the price for the greed of others. She didn't want to have any part in this and refused to act.

Jim on the other hand...

"Jim! No!" she whispered when she saw how the man she loved stormed down the staircase. She could sense his distress and his panic, and it was tearing her heart apart.

"BRENT!" he roared and Jane made a step forward.

"No! Don't go!" she urged him to stay, but he wasn't even listening. Much to her own dismay, she witnessed how Jim Raynor did what he was best at; Act like a stupid hero. Both the guards and the attackers started a rather pathetic firefight. Neither side took their time to actually aim, and the only reason why the attackers were able to score some hits was because there were so many civilians around and because they had sub-machine guns. It was a goddamn carnage and all Sarah could do was to close her eyes and turn her head away. She could hear the screams of the dying, could feel their pain and the shock when their lives finally ended. But amidst all that chaos was one man who stood tall against it. Jim ran towards a bleeding man that groaned in pain. Surprisingly enough Sarah recognized that officer...

...it was the same young man that Izsha had met on the Hyperion.

All Sarah did was to watch how Jim tried to save that young man's life. He was close to that officer when, finally, one of the enemy soldiers finally noticed him. Sarah watched it all and she could see what that attacker wanted to do. The soldier turned his gun and pointed it straight at Jim, and although Jim seemed to realize that the other guy was about to kill him, he continued to press forward.

"Damn idiot!" she said to herself. And it was that voice inside her mind that answered agreed with her.

 _No argument here._

There was no one inside this room that Sarah cared for. No one except for Jim. Perhaps it was another proof of her own selfishness, but when she saw how the man she loved was about to be gunned down, only then she finally decided to act. She pointed her attention at the enemy and gave him a weak push.

That "weak push", however, was in fact powerful enough to throw the man back and slam him against the wall with the strength of an Ultralisk. Bones cracked and blood vessels ruptured. Killing the man hadn't been her primary target, but when he fell to the ground and made his last breath Sarah wasn't exactly sad about it. The only thing that truly mattered was to keep Jim safe until he finally reached the young man. He grabbed Brent and pulled him out of the fireline while telling him that everything would be fine. He managed to pull the officer into cover while the guards were already managing to force the attackers back.

"MARX!" one of the enemies screamed both in rage and terror. "MARX IS DOWN!" But Sarah didn't care about that. Neither did she care when the enemies finally pulled back. She stepped back into the ballroom and walked over to the staircase. As she descended, she looked around and wondered if she should actually feel anything. There were bodies everywhere. Some of the victims were still twitching and moaning in pain. Perhaps they could be saved, perhaps not. However, even then Sarah felt nothing.

Had she grown so distant to the people that their suffering didn't cause her any discomfort anymore?

No. No, it had never caused her any discomfort. Since no one had ever cared for her, why the hell should she care about their pain?

Because there was one person among them who cared for her pain. And that man was just a few meters away, trying to fight the pointless battle of keeping the young officer from bleeding to death.

"WHERE ARE THE MEDICS?" Jim roared while the battle was still going on. But there was no medic around. She could see how he took off his shirt and pressed the cloth against the bleeding wound. It was shot in the stomach. Sarah/Jane put her hand on her own stomach and remembered the time when this disgusting creature Narud had put a psi-blade through her guts. Dying from a shot to the stomach was pretty much one of the most horrible and painful ways to go.

"Ghaaa..." the young officer gurgled when Jim pressed his shirt against the wound.

"Sorry. Sorry. But I need to stop the bleeding." he explained to the younger man. "Don't worry, we got this. Joe? Joe, look at me! Joe! Captain! Look at me! Look into my eyes!" Sarah could sense Jim's pain and despair. It was clear that the young man wouldn't survive this. His body was already starting to get cold and his mind started to slip away. At least he wouldn't suffer for too long. But Jim only snarled in frustration. She could sense his anger, his frustration, and his despair. Not this boy, not like this. Jim was furious, this kid had his whole life still ahead of him!

Watching Jim like this was painful. Sarah realized that the moment to show her true self to him had passed. If she would show her face to him now, he would probably go nuclear. So instead...

"Where are the goddamn medics?" Jim yelled one more time. But the only person that came to him was not a medic.

"Jim..." Jane Shepard said to him. "...let's leave this place. It's not safe here." But she could see that Jim wasn't even listening. He continued to press his hands on the officer's wound. At the same time, he looked around and searched for a medic or anyone else that could help him. "Don't worry, kid. We will get you out of here." It was a lie. The young man would die here, and both of them knew it. But much to Sarah's/Jane's surprise, Brent didn't think about himself during his last moments and raised his hand. Jim grabbed it and looked into the younger man's eyes.

"The... Emperor... and the Admiral... they're... they're still in there... you need... to save them..." Every single one of Brent's breaths was ragged and full of pain. And suddenly something inside Jim changed. His anger, his frustration, and his fear all were replaced by cold determination. Sarah knew that look on Jim's face and a cold shiver ran down her spine. Jim took a deep breath and looked over to Sarah. Only that it wasn't Sarah, but Jane.

"Ms. Shepard...Jane." he said. "Could you take care of the Captain for me?" Sarah didn't say anything. Instead, she looked at Jim and wondered if she should just grab him and run away with him. He was there, right in front of her eyes! She could just take him with her, leave this place and show him her true self. And then...and then...

Then she would tell him the truth. And he would be appalled by the fact that she had done nothing to prevent this tragedy from happening.

"They... they don't owe you a thing." she whispered and looked over at the guards. "Leave that to the professionals. You don't have to risk your life!" She knew that it was the ultimate selfish thought. But it was the truth, wasn't it? These people, they had called Jim Raynor a criminal and an outlaw for many years. And now he was hellbent on avenging them?

He hadn't changed one bit. He still couldn't leave a hopeless case alone.

"Doing the right thing isn't about owing anyone anything." he then told her with a grin on his face. Then he looked back at Brent. "Please... I beg you." She lowered her gaze and knew that it was a mistake. She didn't want to do this, she didn't want to get dragged into yet another pointless conflict. None of the wars she had fought in had been her own. It was the story of her life. Perhaps she was a bit delusional about this, but let's do a headcount here; her career as a Ghost? Not her choice. Her job as the agent of the Swarm? Nuh huh. Okay, there was the time when a certain Executor had blown up the Overmind and she had become free again. Though even now she wondered how much influence Amon had had on her. And as the Primal Queen of Blades? Well, fighting Amon hadn't been much of a choice, because the alternative would have been total annihilation. So, no, she had never chosen any of this.

This wasn't her fight. And it shouldn't be his either.

But James Raynor wouldn't be James Raynor if he wouldn't plunge into chaos head first. And if she was honest with herself, it was one of the many reasons why she used to love that man. Why she _still_ loved that man.

"Go..." Sarah's/Jane's voice was but a whisper. "...I will look after him." Jim looked at her with a grateful smile and they both swapped places. The young man howled in pain when Jim released the pressure from his wound, only for Sarah's delicate fingers to take over. She watched how Jim armed himself with the gun of a dead guard. But even then, watching how he prepared himself for yet another battle was just cruel. Hadn't they fought enough battles? Was this supposed to be their fate until they would finally meet their end? To fight other people's wars, only to earn their scorn and hatred?

"We could wait for help." she tried to change his mind with a pleading tone in her voice. "You don't have to do this!" When he turned back to her and looked into her eyes, she knew that she had already lost this argument.

"And in the meantime, innocents could die." _Innocents..._ and what about _her_ innocence? What about the fact that Sarah had been nothing but a tool to pretty much anyone's own ambitions? But Jim had already made up his mind. "I know what I'm doing. Take care of the Captain for me. And don't worry, I bet your boyfriend is alive." he added with a grin. She wanted to open her mouth and tell him that her "boyfriend" was very much alive, but that he didn't have to do this. Yet when she felt his determination...

...she said nothing.

She saw how he walked over to the guards and won the shortest argument in the history of warfare. And then she witnessed how he managed to inspire the people around him to follow him into the fray. When he stepped through the door and vanished from Sarah's sight, all she could do was to curse herself. Beneath her, the eyelids of Joseph Brent started to grow tired.

Sarah could sense the dangers ahead, the threats that were waiting for Jim.

She didn't want to fight. Not anymore. The trip to Aiur had shown her that she was still a menace to pretty much everyone out there. A part of her mind came to the conclusion that everything went to hell because _she_ had come here. Maybe Artanis was right. Maybe she truly was a bringer of death.

 _No, you are not. You are so much more than that, you only have to accept that._ her own voice spoke to her. If she only could believe that.

Right now, there was just one question she had to ask herself; would she allow the man she loved to face these enemies alone?

And much to her own dismay, she already knew the answer to that question...

* * *

Matt knew that he was in deep trouble. He knew that he would have to answer a lot of painful questions tomorrow. The press would without a doubt use this to rip him a new one. Unprofessional. Incompetent. Overchallenged. Oh yeah, tomorrow would be a wonderful day. But the worst thing wasn't the fact that after today he could look for a new job. No, the worst thing was that demon of a woman sitting next to him, grinning from one end of her face to the other.

"Will you ever stop grinning?" Matt growled. Kate Lockwell, who had just looked out of the window of their limousine, turned her attention back towards the Admiral and gave him a friendly (yet frightening) smile.

"That's highly unlikely, Admiral." the journalist replied and Matt sighed. After he had retrieved his invitation from his torn-up uniform (that was still inside Kate's apartment), they had boarded the limousine and returned to the palace. Well, they _tried_ to return to the palace. But that seemed to be somewhat problematic.

"Perhaps I should have stayed at your place." Matt whispered more to himself than to Kate, but that woman could hear _everything_ , including his thoughts.

"Speaking of which..." she then wondered. "...why did you visit me in my apartment? I'm not dense, I know that you're not romantically interested in me." Matt could feel how his cheek started to get warm. She was right, Matt had always respected Kate. Aside from Michael Liberty, she was pretty much the only journalist with something called "integrity" in her bones. But getting romantically involved with her? That's like making love to a Hydralisk.

"I'm waiting for an answer." Kate insisted and Matt knew that he had no choice but to answer it.

"I just wanted to stay under the radar. Didn't want to return to the ministry or the palace until the party started. And so I looked for a place where I could, well, hide, I guess?" Yes, it had been a miserable plan. But hey, he had just witnessed the return of Sarah Kerrigan, so people should cut him some slag.

"And the first place you thought of was my apartment? My, Admiral, maybe you are in love with me after all." Kate said, but Matt just turned his head away. She was toying with him, he knew that. And he had reached the point where he realized that inviting her to the party had been one hell of a big mistake.

"Doesn't really matter now, does it?" he mumbled. "With that speed, we won't reach the palace by tomorrow noon. Driver!" he barked and leaned forward. "What's the problem? It's Christmas, so why is there a traffic jam?" Usually, it was the one time where people were actually not outside but inside their homes, so why did this have to happen now? When the car had taken them to Kate's apartment, it hadn't been this bad. Was there another party going on?

"I'm terribly sorry, Admiral!" the driver said while looking over his shoulder. "It appears that some roads have been fully closed. They try to redirect the traffic, but right now it seems that there is nothing we can do."

"An accident?" Matt wanted to know.

"I don't know, Sir. Traffic news doesn't state any reason, it just says that everyone should avoid the area around the palace."

Around the palace?

"That's a lot of police cars." Kate suddenly whispered and Matt turned his head around. He looked out of Kate's window and frowned. Several police cars rushed over the breakdown lane right next to them. Their red and blue lights were almost painfully bright. Matt frowned when he saw that. Kate was right, there were a lot of police cars out there...

...too many.

"Admiral? Hey? HEY? HEY!" Kate suddenly yelled in surprise when Matt opened the door and got out of the car. The driver looked back over his shoulder.

"What's going on?" he wanted to know.

"Looks like your boss is going for a walk." Kate just said and watched how Matt walked over to the breakdown lane and stepped right into the path of an oncoming cop car. For a second Kate thought that the car wouldn't slow down, but then she saw how the driver hit the brakes with full force. The car came to a halt only a few meters away from Matt and Kate sighed in relief.

"OUT OF THE WAY, YOU IDIOT!" the police officer screamed when he pushed his head out of his window. But Matt just walked over to him and pulled his id out of his pocket.

"It's not "idiot", it's Admiral. Admiral Horner. You know, the guy who's in charge of the military?" Matt then said. Kate could see how the face of the police officer turned pale when he recognized Matt's face. The journalist was in no good position to listen or watch the whole show, so she opened her door as well and left the car. The camera-drone followed her immediately.

"Hey! HEY! What am I supposed to do?" the driver yelled, but Kate just slammed the door shut behind her and walked over to the police car.

"What's going on here!" Matt wanted to know. The police officer looked over to his comrades inside the cars. They all seemed to be surprised.

"Sir, haven't you heard?" the officer asked.

"Heard what?" Matt growled. "What's going on, goddammit. Has anything happened?" The policemen exchanged some looks before the one in charge swallowed hard.

"Sir, there has been an attack. On the palace, Sir." When Matt heard that, he couldn't believe his ears.

"Attack? What kind of attack."

"Terrorists, Sir. The palace seems to be under attack by terrorists." For a short moment, Matt didn't say a word. But Kate could see how he clenched his hands into fists. He then walked over to the door of the car, opened it and looked inside.

"Make room. I'm going with you." None of the policemen dared to question his authority, even though technically he wasn't even their boss. The police was still directly subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, not the Ministry of Defense. But they all knew who Matt was. And no one dared to tell the Admiral to get lost. When he squeezed himself into the car, Kate knew that she had to act quickly.

"I'm coming with you!" she yelled and basically threw herself into the car.

"Not enough room!" one policeman yelled, but Matt didn't even listen. A part of his mind knew that he shouldn't allow Kate to go with them. However, that wasn't important anymore. When they finally managed to close the door of the car, he just leaned forward to the driver.

"Punch it! Get me to the palace as fast as possible!"

"Yes, Sir." the officer said and did as he was told. As the police car raced over the breakdown lane, Matt could feel how a clump of ice formed inside his stomach.

"Please be safe..." he whispered to himself, not knowing if he meant Jim or Valerian. Or both of them...


	39. Act II - Chapter 15

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 15**

 **Crazy + Reckless = What could possibly go wrong?**

* * *

The throne room was actually not just a single room, but a small complex inside the Imperial Palace, one that could be sealed off if the situation would require it. Like, you know, should someone attack, like the Swarm for example. And since that had already happened once, it didn't sound nearly as paranoid as it used to be. The throne room was meant to offer the maximum of protection to those inside, even if there weren't any guards around. And right now, there weren't any guards around. Even the small barracks beneath the throne room were empty. Like said, the fat cats didn't want anyone to listen to what they had to discuss. They acted like they were some kind of secret sect, like those famous Illuminati from stories of old.

Let's make one thing clear; Valerian wasn't part of the Illuminati. He had never met an Illuminati, and he seriously doubted that there was such an organization in the first place.

He knew that there were some conspiracy-guys out there that claimed that his father, the Queen of Blades and the "great Protoss-Fuhrer Himmissi Mammmasssi" had actually been members of the Illuminati. Obviously, those guys had never met a Protoss in their entire life.

Back to the throne room. Like said, the throne room was actually part of a complex. Sometimes even members of the staff got confused if someone told them to "meet up in the throne room", only to end up in a whole different room altogether. The complex consisted of the throne room (Duh!) and several other places. There were two conference facilities, a press room (the same his father had used most of the time during his reign), a radio room and a safe room with an emergency operating system. Much to Valerian's dismay, they had already replaced his father's blood bags with his, since they didn't share the same blood type.

They hadn't shared a lot of things.

But it wasn't all cold steel and tools to control. There was one room that was different. Though "room" was the wrong way to describe it.

As Valerian stepped into the throne room's garden, he took a deep breath and sighed. The garden was fairly large and he could see that other people had already managed to sneak inside. He wasn't too happy about that, but with no guards around it wasn't something you could prevent from happening. And he didn't want to yell "EVERYONE, OUT!". He was just glad that no one was approaching him. After his _talk_ with Mr. Neusser, he had decided to return to the remaining dignitaries. He wanted to apologize to Curtland, but once he returned, she was gone. Unfortunately, Valeria Samson hadn't been gone. She had grabbed him and forced him to meet the remaining dignitaries. At one point he had felt as if his hand would fall off from all that shaking. And during all that time the cold grip of the woman had reminded him of _why_ she had come here.

He had simply accepted this whole ordeal and once they had managed to shake everyone's hand, Valeria had told him that now it was time for him to introduce HER to the people by making a speech. As protocol demanded it. That's when he had decided to find an excuse to get the hell away from that woman. And even an emperor had to go to the toilet from time to time.

Her only answer to that had been a "Hmpf".

He had actually used the bathroom, however, instead of returning to Valeria's side, he had decided to go somewhere else.

The garden was a small oasis, a refuge and a place of contemplation. When he had first seen it with his own two eyes, he hadn't believed that his father had actually spent some time here. It was a beautiful place and just didn't match with the image of that strong and cold-hearted man his father had used to be. But, then again, who could really claim to have known the real Arcturus Mengsk?

There weren't many people inside the garden, something he was grateful for. In its center was a small labyrinth. Nothing special, but people could get lost in it easily. Valerian knew how to navigate it, however. And right now, he wanted to be alone.

As he walked through the labyrinth, he knew that he would remain hidden, at least for a while. But every minute alone would be precious to him. As he walked around another bush, a big bench came into sight. It stood right in the center of the garden and had become his favorite place when inside the walls of the Imperial Palace. However, as he walked around the corner and looked at the bench, he realized that he wasn't the first to arrive here. There was already someone sitting on the bench. _His_ bench.

"Oh, great." Valerian growled to himself. But then he took a closer look and realized something.

"Uhm... hello?" Valerian asked when he lay gaze upon a young woman that he hadn't seen before. "I'm sorry, I don't think we have met yet. You weren't among the other dignitaries I greeted, were you?" The person turned her head towards Valerian and gave him a soft and gentle smile. The Emperor gasped when he felt how she looked at him. It was as if a warm and gentle breeze was touching his whole body. It was a young woman, and there was something strangely familiar about her. Yet at the same time, Valerian couldn't really tell what it was.

"I am sorry." she said with a warm and gentle tone in her voice. "I was just enjoying your garden. It is very beautiful. You created a very beautiful place here." Valerian didn't know why, but he felt pride when he heard that, even though he had never done any gardening in his entire life. The only thing he could claim was to have plucked a flower one or two times, but that hardly counted.

"Well, thank you for your compliment. But truth to be told, I never gardened in my entire life. The staff is to praise." he asked and the young woman lowered her gaze. She wore a simple dress, but Valerian had no idea what it was made of. It was gray and looked like it was liquid metal. Valerian, who had seen a lot of expensive dresses, could only speculate about its origins.

"Sometimes we have to create. And sometimes we have merely to allow something to be created." the young woman explained, and for some odd reason Valerian felt as if there was a lot of wisdom in those words. The woman turned her head away and smiled when she touched a flower right next to her. Valerian noticed the gentle look on her face, and he couldn't help but feel intrigued by this woman.

"You seem to like flowers." he noticed. Perhaps it was an utterly ridiculous question, yet he had no idea what else he should say.

"When I was little, I used to play in my uncle's garden. I was surrounded by flowers and plants, and every day I discovered something new."

"I take it you are not from Augustgrad, then. We don't have that many gardens on this world." That was just a bold assumption, but for some odd reason, Valerian thought that this woman was indeed not a local.

"I'm not from around." she confirmed his suspicion. Valerian knew that this woman wasn't part of any official delegation. Was she one of the guests from the other party? Had she somehow managed to sneak past the guards and get into the throne room? No, he trusted his guards. They were professionals, they wouldn't allow something like that to happen. But who knew, maybe she had teased a guard and used the old "I need to go to the bathroom, but I got lost"-routine. She was exceptionally beautiful, that much was obvious. And for some odd reason, she remembered him of someone he had once known...

"Forgive me if I ask you that question, but what exactly are you doing here?" Valerian then wanted to know. The young woman didn't seem to mind, though. She closed her eyes and placed one of her hands on her chest.

"I came here to bear witness."

Well, that wasn't cryptic at all and Valerian frowned when he heard that.

"Bear witness? Bear witness to what?"

"Change." the young woman explained, yet that didn't help one bit. She opened her eyes again and looked right into Valerian's eyes. Suddenly he felt as if a surge of energy was flowing through his body. This woman...

...just who was she?

"Change?" Valerian whispered and a confused look appeared on his face.

"I'm glad that I came here." the young woman suddenly said. "It's different from how I imagined it. Simpler, yet it has its very own beauty to it." Did anything this woman say have to make any sense? If so, then Valerian wasn't able to perceive it. Yet, Valerian felt as if he didn't have to care about that.

"You...seem to be familiar." Valerian said after a while. "I am sorry if this question sounds weird, but...have we ever met?" The moment he said that the young woman started to laugh. It was not an arrogant laugh, it was genuine and warm. She shook her head and looked him into the eyes.

"No."

"But you do know who I am, right?" Valerian asked. He didn't want to sound like an arrogant ass. However, it was possible that she truly had no idea who he was.

"You are Emperor Valerian Mengsk. And I have heard so many things about you." she told him.

"Uhm... like what?" he wanted to know.

"That you are a great leader, that you care for the people, that you are one of the noblest souls that have ever existed." the young woman declared. Valerian blinked a few times when he heard that.

"That's...wow...usually people use words like incompetent, stupid, greedy, and self-obsessed. Who told you that I'm a noble soul?" Seriously, whoever had said that should get a bouquet from him!

"My parents told me about you. They always spoke highly of you, especially my father."

"Your...father? And who would that be? Is that someone I know?" However, instead of answering that question, the young woman just stood up and straightened herself. She looked up at the night sky and sighed.

"It is time." she declared, and Valerian frowned when he heard that.

"Time? Time for what?" he wanted to know. Instead of answering that question, the young woman suddenly walked up to him and looked him straight into the eyes.

"The universe will test you, Emperor Mengsk. But as long as you listen to the people that are closest to your heart, as long as you stay true to yourself, you will become the man you hope to be. And so much more." the young woman told him. Perhaps Valerian should have asked her something elaborated, maybe he should have called for the guards or tell this strange person to show him her id. But instead...

"What?"

The smile on her face became gentle again, and instead of answering Valerian's question, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. The moment her soft lips touched his skin, Valerian felt as if he was a child again. All of the sudden he remembered his mother, how she had embraced him as a little boy, how she had protected him, kept him safe from all the evils in the universe.

Just who the hell was this woman?

"You should leave now." she suddenly told him. A part of Valerian's mind wanted to know why, yet instead of asking her anything his lips parted and he said...

"Yes. It was nice to meet you." Wait, he didn't want to say that! He wanted...wanted...

Valerian turned around and walked away. That's right, he had to return to the party. He had to talk to the others, he had to brace himself for what was about to happen. Behind him, the young woman returned to the bench and sat down again. She looked up to the night sky, and for the first time, a worried look appeared on her face.

"Please..." she whispered to someone who was close, yet at the same time so far away. "...you have to endure." Then she closed her eyes and started to hum a tune.

"...hmm hmm... leavin'... on a jet plane... I don't know when I'll be back again..."

* * *

As Valerian stepped out of the labyrinth, he shook his head and blinked a few times. What had just happened? Hadn't he just tried to spend some peaceful moments in his private refuge? However, someone else had been there, someone...

No.

No, there hadn't been any person, he had just imagined things. Valerian shook his head once more and sighed. He should return to the party; the people were probably looking for him. He walked back towards the throne room when he noticed another figure sitting on a nearby bench.

"Ambassador." he said as he approached Leila Curtland. She looked at some flowers right next to her, and for the first time ever the expression on her face wasn't hateful or aggressive but...curious? Valerian made a step forward and looked at the tall woman, yet it seemed as if she hadn't noticed him at all. He thought about turning around and leaving her alone, but maybe he shouldn't. He took a deep breath and harrumphed, making sure that Curtland would hear him.

"Ahem. Ambassador, forgive my intrusion." he then added. Curtland blinked in surprise and turned her head towards him. For a second there was a childlike expression of fascination on her face, however, when she finally realized who was talking to her it vanished in an instant.

"Mr. Mengsk." Mr. Mengsk. Not Emperor Mengsk. Not "Your Majesty". Perhaps Valerian should be glad that she used "Mr." instead of "asshat". Still, even though he could clearly see that she wasn't too fond of his presence, her voice lacked the usual tone of hostility towards him.

"I am terribly sorry, Ambassador, I wasn't aware that someone was already here. I didn't want to bother you and will just..."

"...return to your little fiancee?" Curtland offered, a statement that caused Valerian to shudder.

" _Who_ told you that?" he wanted to know with nothing but dread in his voice. Curtland looked at him and started to chuckle.

"What? Is it not official yet and I shouldn't know about it? In that case, you should probably tell your little soon-to-be-Empress that she should learn to keep her little mouth shut." When Valerian finally realized what Curtland meant, he shook his hand and groaned on the inside.

"Ms. Samson and I are not engaged. Or romantically involved. Or friends. Or close. Or anything else. I just met her less than an hour ago."

"Really? From what she told me, you are both best friends and that I shouldn't expect to get an invitation to the wedding. I believe her correct words were "No bears allowed". She's such a lovely little creature." Valerian didn't really know what to say. All he did was to shake his head and feel some sort of cold rage inside his chest when thinking about Valeria Samson. To hell with her and her father, there was a line that you shouldn't cross. And he would not condone such behavior!

"Ambassador, you have to believe me if I tell you that Valeria Samson does not speak for my person, or has anything to say regarding my love-life."

"That's not the way she made it sound. She told me that both you and she were, and I believe the correct term was, soulmates." The very idea that this woman was his soulmate was so absurd that Valerian just didn't know what to say. So instead of making up any stories, he decided to tell her the truth. He dropped his shoulders and sighed.

"Some members of the staff decided to take things into their own hands. This is the result." Now Curtland seemed to be intrigued.

"What do you mean? Is this some sort of twisted shipping you rich guys are doing? Royal breeding?" she asked and Valerian opened his mouth in order to refuse that. But then he just dropped his head.

"Yes. That's pretty much exactly what this is all about."

"BWAAHAHAHAHAHA!" Curtland suddenly exploded into laughter. It was neither vicious nor cold. Well, it was somewhat vicious, but in a good way. She pointed her finger at Valerian and basically laughed her ass off. He had never seen this kind of reaction from Curtland, and perhaps it was the wrong moment to notice that her laugh sounded absolutely lovely. It took a while for Curtland to regain some small part of her composure, but when she did, she wiped a tear of joy from the corner of her eye. She then shook her head and looked back at Valerian.

"Must be nice if people actually think and act for you. Do they chew your food for you too? Maybe wipe your ass off?" she wanted to know

"Please, don't give them any ideas." Valerian just groaned and shook his head. "Once this day is over, I will have to tell these guys to get themselves a hobby. One that won't involve my private life." His statement caused Curtland to chuckle one more time before she finally turned her head away from him. He noticed how she looked at some flowers right next to her.

"So, I guess the Emperor of the Dominion can't do everything he wants to. Pretty sad if you think about it. He can't even choose his own path in life." she said and Valerian noticed that she was talking about him in the third person. Usually, that wasn't a good sign.

"Sometimes the Emperor needs to remind people that he is just a person. With flaws and hopes and dreams." he told her.

"Dreams." Curtland whispered and raised her hand. Her fingers brushed over one white blossom and for a moment, Valerian was unsure what to say. The moonlight gave Curtland a ghostly-pale appearance and again Valerian wondered if he should just leave her alone. There was no point denying it, he was attracted to her. He couldn't really tell why, but that's the problem with love, right? Perhaps he should ask Jim how he had managed to deal with his feelings towards Sarah.

Oh wait, Jim hadn't been able to deal with those feelings.

But as he watched how Curtland looked at those flowers, he realized that she was intrigued by them.

"You seem to be fascinated by those lilies. Are they your favorite flowers?" he asked, trying to change the topic. When Curtland heard that, she pulled her hands back and looked at the flowers in surprise.

"So they _are_ lilies." she whispered.

"You have never seen lilies before?" he asked. It was nothing to make fun of it. Lilies were plants from Earth, which was a few lightyears away from the Korpulu Sector. Curtland shook her head.

"No. I've only seen pictures of them. There aren't many plants from Earth in the Combine. White lilies..." she whispered and brushed over one of the flower. "...to think I would find them in a place like this."

Like this?

"Are you interested in plants and flowers?" Valerian wanted to know. "There are a lot of unique flowers and plants inside this garden. We even have roses. You know, the real ones from Earth, not the fake ones they cooked up inside laboratories." But Curtland just shook her head.

"Makes me wonder where you got them from." she mumbled.

"Well, the roses and lilies are from Earth, at least that's what the gardener claims. As for the Tyrandorian mud-snapper and the sparkle-flowers-" he started, when he was interrupted by Curtland.

"What the hell is a sparkle-flower?" she wanted to know. Valerian smiled and walked over to a bush that reached up to his chest. Unlike most other plants, it was completely blue, except for the blossoms, which were pitch black and looked almost like tulips.

"These are sparkle-flowers. Well, they have a unpronounceable scientific name, but I just like to call them that way." he told her.

"They don't look very sparkling to me." Curtland told him. A smile appeared on his face as he touched one of the blossoms.

"They are indigenous to Aiur. Please don't ask me how one of these plants ended up in this garden, I have no idea. All I know is that they respond to psionics. It causes them to bloom. They start to glow blue and their seedpods are released. They are harmless to people. It looks beautiful, though, like thousands of blue fireflies dancing through the air." he said and looked at the flowers with a painful expression.

"Sounds fascinating." Curtland muttered.

"It is absolutely beautiful. Words are not enough to describe it." he then told her.

"You have seen them bloom before?" she asked. "On Aiur?" But Valerian shook his head.

"I've never been to Aiur." he told her. "They bloomed here. I saw it on the day my father died." For the first time, Curtland didn't sneer or made any cheeky remark. When she heard about Arcturus Mengsk, she just froze. Perhaps she would hate Valerian for bringing up this topic, but he wanted her to understand that he wasn't his father. "Like said, they react towards psionics. It causes them to bloom. And the Queen of Blades had plenty of that." He remembered those days well. When he had walked through the devastated halls of the palace. Everything had been torn up. Everything...except the garden. And that's when he had witnessed how these sparkle-flowers had bloomed.

"It's not what I had expected." he could hear Curtland whisper and looked over at her.

"I beg your pardon?"

"It's not what I had expected." she repeated her statement and looked around. "This garden. It's beautiful. Far too beautiful for it to be real." she told him. Valerian frowned when he heard that.

"I'm not certain that I can follow you." His statement caused her to chuckle again, but this time it wasn't a friendly chuckle.

"When your father began his _blockade,_ we started to imagine how he would sit inside his dark palace and suck the blood from innocents. There were chains and stretching banks everywhere, and the cries of the victims could be heard everywhere. We all imagined that this building was the home of the devil himself. There's even a song for it. It's called "The 1000 rooms of torture"."

"I think I need to hear it someday." Valerian mumbled.

"Trust me, you don't want to do that. It's not very, how shall I put it, flattering towards people bearing the name Mengsk." she said to him before she looked back at the lilies. "But to think that there is such a beautiful place inside these walls. I wonder if Mengsk ever sat here on this bench and thought how he could ruin other people's lives." she wondered. Valerian shrugged his shoulders when he heard that.

"Not as far as I know. My father never truly shared his feelings with anyone. Sometimes I wonder if he had any feelings at all. But..." He then pointed at the lilies. "...these were the favorite flowers of my mother. He never said anything like that, but I think he kept them as a memento, or remember her."

"So, the horrible Arcturus Mengsk had a heart? I doubt that many would believe that." Curtland hissed. Now she sounded like the old Curtland again. But Valerian didn't mind.

"It's a good question. One I've never been able to find an answer for. And now I will never get one, he took that secret to the grave." Curtland could hear the hurt in his voice and looked up.

"But aren't you his son?" she asked as if it would explain everything. Now it was Valerian's turn to laugh. And it was a bitter laugh.

"Ha! I believed that for a long time. But the truth is; I don't even know that much about the man Arcturus Mengsk. Our relationship was somewhat _distant_. I doubt that I knew the true man behind the title. And I'm pretty certain that he never truly cared about me. Or saw me as an heir to his throne." It had taken Valerian a considerable amount of time and self-reflection to come to this conclusion. Like in so many other cases, the true problem was the one inside one's own head; to get to the point to finally accept that he had been nothing but a tool for Arcturus Mengsk's ambitions. It's pretty much the last thing a son wanted to realize when thinking about his father.

"I see." was the only thing Curtland replied. A part of Valerian wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but he didn't really want to know. He had already figured out that puzzle himself and had decided to close that chapter of his life for good. For a long moment, neither one of them said a word. It was the Ambassador who finally spoke up again.

"Speaking of realizing things..." she then said. "...I had some time to think things through as well." Suddenly her voice sounded different again. There was less hate in her voice and more, well, shame? Valerian looked at Curtland and managed not to blush. She really looked beautiful in that light.

"I had some time to do some thinking." Curtland then continued and brushed one more time over the lilies. "Sometimes I allow my temper to get the better of me. It's an _unfortunate_ weakness of character, one that I'm aware of. It was one of the reasons why I didn't want to come to this party in the first place. It's just not my kind of world."

"So, what made you change your mind?" Valerian wanted to know.

"Commander Raynor did." That answer caused Valerian to smile.

"Ah, yes. He has that effect on people, doesn't he?" he added with a chuckle.

"He has a way with words, I give him that much." Curtland then agreed. "But even then, what he said caused me to think about something."

"And what would that be?" he asked.

"You." she just said and looked Valerian straight into the eyes. He could feel a cold shiver running down his spine when her icy-blue eyes locked onto him. Wait, what did Jim tell Curtland again? Oh no...

"What...what did Jim tell you about me?" he managed to stutter and suddenly he could feel how his hands started to become sweaty.

"He told me that you need me."

Ba-Dum.

"Uhm... need you... I'm... uhm... well, that's one way to put it and..." he started to stutter.

"He said that you need someone who's brutally honest with you."

Oh...

"Oh..." Valerian then said and realized that Jim had just played him for a fool. So he hadn't told Curtland that the Emperor may have slipped that he liked to act like a small boy whenever she was around.

"And he told me something else." And BAM! his hands were sweaty again. Oh crap.

"That this would be the chance of a lifetime, the chance to help to mold the Emperor of Dominion, to make an impact on both the man and his politics."

Double-Oh. Wait, wouldn't you call that D`Oh?

Never mind.

"I know that I'm quick to judge others. And I know that once I made up my mind, I usually do not change it. Like said; it's a weakness of character I'm aware of. But Commander Raynor's visit made me think about it. About why I am here and what I have to do, even if I don't like it." Well, that certainly sounded better than "GET LOST!".

"The question that I have to ask myself is..." Curtland continued. "...am I willing to let others suffer because I don't like being here? The people back home don't need honor or pride or anything like that. What they need right now are peace and food." Curtland took a deep breath and looked up at Valerian. There was a lot of hidden rage inside her gaze. But also pain, despair and... hope?

"So, Mr. Mengsk, that's it. I put my cards on the table. Now I need to know if you're just like your father was. Or if you truly are the man you claim to be." Food? What food? The peace part was pretty obvious, but what about the food? This was a surprise and not a pleasant one. Valerian had heard rumors about the looming threat of a famine inside the Combine, but he had not received any official information about it. He opened his mouth and wanted to ask her about the food-issue when suddenly-

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" A high-pitched scream reached their ears. Valerian turned around and Curtland jumped on her feet.

"What was that?" she whispered, but Valerian had no answer for that. Instead, he just hurried back to the throne room. Curtland was right behind him, and when they entered the room, he could see shocked faces all around them.

"What's going on? What happened?" Valerian yelled, but no one answered. The people all looked towards the main entrance, and against better judgment, Valerian just ran over to the heavy door. The same door that was now sealed shut. Valerian's eyes widened in surprise when he saw that. But if the door had been activated, then that meant...

"What's going on? What...Samson? Samson, what happened?" he yelled when he spotted the lithe figure of Valeria Samson near the door. She had turned her back towards him and didn't react. When he came closer, he could smell something, something he had smelled many times before. It was a somewhat metallic smell. When he reached Valeria, his eyes widened in shock.

"Oh my God." Curtland whispered behind him.

There was blood. And not just some drops. No, it was everywhere. The floor around the entrance was covered with it, and for a second Valerian prayed that someone had just managed to spill an XXL can filled with tomato juice. But when he spotted the arm coming out of the door, he knew that this was not a fake. There was still an ugly looking sub-machine gun inside the dead man's hand. Valerian just assumed that it had been a man because the hand looked rather masculine. But now it was impossible to say that for certain because the rest of the body had been reduced to nothing but red mush.

"Samson. Valeria, are you okay?" Valerian said and stepped towards the woman. When he put his hand on her shoulder and turned her around, his face lost almost all color.

"Samson? Are you okay?" he wanted to know again. However, the daughter of the Iceberg was unable to say anything. Half of her face was covered with hot and sticky blood. Her eyes were wide open and he could see that she was in shock, which was hardly a surprise. The only good thing was that it wasn't her blood. He looked her into the eyes and could see how her lips trembled. She tried to say something, but right now her mind was simply not able to do its job.

"Saw...it...he was crushed. Right here." she managed to whisper after a while and Valerian looked back at the door. A grim expression appeared on his face and he knew what that meant. Both the gun and the uniform around the man's arm (or what was left of it) weren't Dominion standard issue. As if the system of the palace wanted to agree with him, a female computer-voice suddenly echoed through the throne room.

 **Alert! Alert! Gunshots detected! Security-system activated! Please remain calm and do not panic. Dominion security forces have been alarmed and are on their way. Please remain calm and do not...**

But Valerian didn't listen. Instead, he grabbed one of Valeria's hands and pulled her away from all that blood and gore. He felt how his own stomach started to revolt. He had seen his fair share of violence, but even then, he lacked the ability to just ignore it. As far as he was concerned, blood belonged _inside_ a body.

"Someone help me!" Valerian yelled as he led the still shaking Valeria Samson away. No one reacted. The fat cats just backed away and Valerian cursed them on the inside. Not only did they pretend to be important, now that he was actually in need of their help, they all looked somewhere else, making sure that they had an excuse for not helping him.

Worthless bunch.

"Here, let me help you!" someone finally said. The woman that hurried towards them was Iris Trenton, and when she grabbed Valeria's hand, Valerian released his grip on Samson's arm and allowed the other woman to lead her away.

"Dead... just like that..." Valeria whispered. Iris, who looked like she was even younger than the other woman, put her hand on Valeria's head and just gave her a gentle smile.

"Everything is fine. Hush, let's go somewhere else. Somewhere safe. Valeria? Valeria, listen to me. That's a beautiful dress, where did you get it from?" Iris said and proved to everyone in the room that she was not a young and inexperienced little thing. Valerian looked over to her husband, Hanson Trenton, and gave him a thankful nod. The man did the same thing and walked over to his wife and Valeria, where he tried to calm the blood-soaked woman down.

"What is this?"

"What's going on?"

"I don't have time for this!"

"If this is a joke, you better be kidding me."

"Ugh, some of it landed on my jacket!"

Whatever the people behind Valerian were saying, it didn't matter to him. Instead, he returned to the door and forced himself to look at the scene. It was horrible, but running away was out of the question. However, he wasn't the only one staring.

"Mr. Neusser, did you see it?" Neusser, who stood next to Valerian, didn't react at all. Instead, he just stared at the arm as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Mr. Neusser?" Valerian repeated his question.

"Neusser!" Curtland suddenly barked behind him and the chief of the embassy's security finally looked over to them.

"Wha...?" he asked and Curtland frowned when she saw the shock on his face. She had never seen the man like this before.

"Are you okay, Mr. Neusser? Did you see what happened?" Valerian wanted to know. Neusser looked at him, then at Curtland, and then back at Valerian.

"Yes... no. No, I didn't see anything. I just heard a scream and then... then I turned around and the door came down and..." he stuttered. But then he took a deep breath and clenched his hands into fists. It looked like he was thinking about something, yet when he finally exhaled, he looked directly into Valerian's eyes.

"I'm okay." he then just declared. Valerian nodded and looked at the people.

"Good, because I require your help. We need to keep these people safe and get them out of here. And I can't do that alone." The Emperor walked over to the arm and knelt down. He grabbed the SMG and yanked it from the dead hand (which put up a surprising amount of resistance). When he walked over to Neusser, the small man made a step backward. Curtland didn't miss the fear and rage inside Neusser's gaze, something she had never seen before. However, when Valerian handed the weapon over to her chief of security, Neusser's expression changed into a surprised one.

"Here." Valerian said. "I believe you know better how to use that thing than I do. I would probably only end up shooting myself." For a moment Neusser hesitated, but then he grabbed the gun and looked at it. There was still blood all over it, but the SMG itself was fully operational. He looked at Valerian and nodded.

"You have a plan?" he wanted to know and the Emperor gave him an exhausted smile.

"Something like that. Come on, we have to hurry. Hopefully, the guards will be here soon, but until then we have to keep everyone safe." He turned around and looked at the crowd. "EVERYONE! Back to the other side of the throne room." When barely anyone reacted, he started to get mad. "NOW, GODDAMMIT!" When the guests finally started to move to the back of the throne room, both Valerian and Neusser followed them. Curtland, however, remained behind and the Emperor stopped and looked over to the Ambassador.

"Ms. Curtland? Please hurry, we need to get out of here." he insisted. Curtland, knowing that this wasn't the right moment to question the Emperor, nodded and looked one final time at the arm. The blood was everywhere, but even then, she could swear that the remnants of the uniform had the camouflage pattern of the Combine's combat-engineers on it.

"Please, let it be a coincidence." she just whispered to herself before she joined the two men.

* * *

Under normal circumstances, it would take someone at least two hours to get from Kate Lockwell's apartment to the Imperial Palace. And we're talking about a normal day. Should you be a poor soul standing on the highway during rush-hour, well, good luck.

It took Matt less than ten minutes to reach the outer walls of the Imperial Palace. However, he had no time to appreciate the reckless driving-style of the police officer. The moment the car stopped, he kicked the door open and jumped out. The policemen behind him fell out of the car and perhaps he should have thanked these men. Or looked after Kate. But right now was not the time to be a gentleman, right now he had to be an officer. The moment he stepped out of the car, his worst nightmares came true. There were security forces _everywhere_. The flashing blue and red lights gave the whole scene something truly frightening and only reinforced the feeling of dread inside Matt's chest.

"This is..." Kate whispered to him, but he had no time for her right now. He walked over to cordon and a group of policemen that made sure no one would get close to the palace.

"Sir! Please stay back, this is an emergency situation and-" one of the policemen said, but Matt just shook his head.

"No time for that, son!" he said, even though both of them looked like they were roughly the same age. He grabbed into his pocket and pulled his id out.

"Admiral Matthew Horner, I demand to see whoever's in charge." he ordered. Technically, he couldn't give these men any orders. Currently, he was the supreme commander of the Dominion's military. However, the police didn't answer to the Ministry of Defense, but the Department of Interior. And if there was one thing Matt cared for, then it was the integrity of the political system. That meant that he was not in charge.

"Admiral, Sir!" the policeman nonetheless said and stood at attention. He looked at the id, but even then, he recognized Matt's face. "Forgive me, Sir. I didn't recognize you at first. Sir, I need to inform you that this is not a safe place. We have strict orders to not let anyone cross this line. I must ask you and your wife to leave this place, Sir."

Wife?

Behind him, Kate didn't snicker or laugh. She realized that this situation was too serious to make any jokes about it. That didn't stop her camera-drone to film it all, though. To hell with it, he would have to deal with that problem later. Right now, there were more important things he had to worry about.

"Son..." Matt said and made a step forward. "...where is the Emperor?" he asked, but the policeman, of course, had no answer to that question.

"I don't know, Sir. We're just here to make sure that no one is-" before he could finish that sentence, Matt was so close that their faces were only inches away from each other.

"Now listen..." Matt hissed. He sounded more hostile than he wanted to, but right now was not the time to be calm and friendly. "...the life of the Emperor could be in danger. Now there are two ways for me to get inside and speak to whoever is in charge. A; you let me through. B; you send me away. In that case, I will return with whatever troops I can get my hands on, and even if that means goddamn tanks. So, what shall it be?" Matt was actually bluffing, he would never do such a thing. But these guys were just regular policemen, they were just doing their jobs and Matt felt bad for treating them like that. However, there was so much more at stake here. The policemen exchanged looks and their leader finally nodded. They stepped away and allowed Matt to pass through. No one dared to stop Kate either, which was probably a big mistake. On the other hand, that way all the people in the Koprulu Sector would be able to see how they had managed to solve this mess.

Or how they had failed everyone.

The whole palace had been sealed off, and there were security forces everywhere. They had surrounded the outer walls and Matt had no doubts that every entrance was now under close surveillance. But he had still no idea what exactly had happened. He and Kate reached the main entrance and he looked around. The whole place was swarming with police and he could see members of the anti-terror-units. This wasn't good.

"Who's responsible?" he yelled at some policemen. "Who is in charge?" Some of them looked at him in confusion. They obviously didn't recognize him, and without a uniform, he looked like a normal guest. But those who did pointed their fingers at the palace and said something about the "Commissioner". Matt hurried towards a large group of people that had gathered around several armored vehicles. The vehicles had their machine-guns pointed at the palace and he could see that the palace had been sealed off. Oh, this wasn't good at all.

"Who's in charge?" he repeated his question, and when a group of men turned around, someone stepped forward.

"Admiral Horner!" the man said. He had gray hair and a mustache and looked like he had seen too much ugly things in his life. "Commissioner Rethlan, thank God you're okay. You're a sight for sore eyes." He offered Matt his hand and the Admiral grabbed it.

"Why is that?" he wanted to know.

"Well, it means that there is one less juicy VIP we have to worry about." Rethlan replied, but Matt had no time to comment on that.

"What the hell happened here?" he instead wanted to know.

"You haven't heard?" Rethlan asked.

"Would I ask that question if I knew what was going on, Commissioner?" Matt shot back. Right now, he was not in the mood for chit-chat. The Commissioner didn't seem to be offended and turned back towards the palace.

"Roughly one hour ago an alarm went off. We don't know all the details, but it seems that there has been a shooting inside the palace. The guards have ordered a complete lockdown, so we can't get inside. We haven't been able to make any contact with the security forces yet and we are currently trying to figure out how to get inside and what to do next."

Someone had locked the doors and no one had a spare key? This was embarrassing!

"What about the Emperor? Is he safe?" _And what about Jim? And Brent?_ Right now, some of the people he cared most about were in that building. Maybe they were wounded. Maybe they were dead.

"We don't know what the status of the Empe-" Rethlan started.

"This is unacceptable!" Matt hissed. "You need to get your people into that building and save him and the guests!" Suddenly Rethlan straightened himself and looked Matt directly into the eyes.

"I know how to do my job, Admiral. And I know what's at stake here. However, I will not rush into a situation without any information. First, we have to establish some sort of communication. We are already working on that. Then we will try to solve this mess."

"But...!" Matt tried to complain, but the Commissioner had no time for that.

"I'm sorry, Admiral. But this does not fall under your jurisdiction. This is our job. Now please stand back. You and the lady may stay here and observe the situation, but that's it. I want to be brutally clear; should you try to interfere, I will have my men remove you from this scene. Am I understood?" Well, that certainly was brutally clear. Still, Matt knew that the Commissioner was right. He took a deep breath and made a step backward.

"You are right. I am sorry, I didn't mean to question your authority on this one." he said when he finally regained his composure. "But still, is there anything you require?" he wanted to know. The Commissioner's facial expression softened when both men finally realized that they were on the same side. He looked at the huge palace and frowned.

"If you have some air-surveillance drones that you could lend us, that would be great. And I guess that you don't have a hidden trump card up your sleeve. Like, I don't know, a Ghost inside the palace?"

"Actually..." Matt then said and all the faces in the vicinity turned towards him. "...I do."

* * *

There were things you just don't forget. Especially if you have done them thousands of times already. Like how to ride a bike. It was something that was scary at first, but once you managed to _not_ fall on your face, it was a lot of fun.

The same could be said about fighting. Only that it wasn't fun. It was never fun. And Jim had to admit that he hadn't missed the thrill of battle one bit. The screams of the dying were still in the back of his mind. And so was Brent's pale face. However, he had no time to worry about that, he had to get those bastards. The sooner they managed to bag these attackers, the sooner they could help Brent and the remaining survivors. As he and the three guards moved through the corridors of the palace, they checked every corner for enemies. Jim was up front. Of course he was up front, he would never allow someone else to catch a bullet for him. The pistol in his hand didn't feel right, though. It was standard issue and the gun itself was not the problem. But he was used to the heavy weight of his revolver.

They hadn't encountered any enemy, and that wasn't a good sign. Jim wasn't a sucker for punishment, but the longer nothing happened, the bigger the chance got that they were running right into an ambush.

Murphy's law, you know.

The guards didn't show their nervousness, but he knew that they were scared. He would be too. When they moved towards another corner, Jim raised his hand and ordered the guards to look for cover. They knew better than to question his command and pressed themselves against the walls. Jim moved towards the corner and peed around. That's when he could hear a gurgling and panting sound. Someone was there. Jim took a deep breath...

...and looked around the corner.

"What the hell..." he whispered and lowered his gun. He could see the two soldiers that had escaped them. Or what was left of them. He stepped around the corner and pointed the gun at the bodies, even though it was a useless gesture. There was no way that these two guys could cause any harm.

Not with their heads clearly blown off.

"Oh my God." he could hear one of the guards behind him.

"Are those...are those the guys?" another one asked.

"What happened to their heads? Who, what did this?" the third guard said. When Jim knelt down next to the bodies, he looked at those wounds and frowned. Both their heads were gone. One of them still had his lower jaw attached to his neck, but everything above that was no more. As for the other one, well, there wasn't even a lower jaw left. Jim had seen his fair share of gore and perhaps it said something about his personality that he didn't even feel any kind of nausea. However, as he took a close look at those wounds, he realized that he had seen those kinds of wounds before.

"It can't be." he whispered to himself.

 _A little trick I call mind blast,_ the words of Gabriel Tosh echoed through Jim's mind. Yeah, he hadseen this kind of carnage before, back when they had destroyed New Folsom. He knew only one group of individuals who could do that. And suddenly he knew how these attackers had managed to get inside.

"Spectres." he muttered. The guards looked over to him and frowned.

"What did you say?" one of them asked.

"I think I know who did this." Jim declared and stood back up. "We need to be careful. Boys, I think we're in deep trouble. Should you see anything strange, _anything_ that looks weird, I want you to shoot it. I mean it, if you see something, shoot first, ask later. Put as many bullets in those guys as possible, because you won't get a second chance." He didn't add that even then their chances of survival had just become a lot shittier. Fighting a Ghost or a Spectre was a fool's errand. Even in his prime, Jim hadn't been able to outclass Sarah. And now he and these guards had to go up against next-generation-Ghosts. And it didn't matter that he had fought alongside Spectres in the past. He knew it was never that easy. The enemy of my enemy isn't my friend, he's just another douchebag I have to worry about.

"Sir, look!" one of the guards then said and pointed at the ground. "There's blood!" Jim looked at the corridor leading away from them and saw what the other man meant. There was a trail of blood. It looked like someone had dragged something heavy over the floor. Jim nodded and checked his gun one more time.

"Let's get them." Attacking Spectres was suicidal, he knew that. But he wasn't made out of sugar either, and he had one or two tricks up his sleeve. Besides, he had managed to deal with the two most powerful Ghosts in the history of mankind.

Well, that was probably a bit exaggerated, considering the fact that Sarah had never tried to kill him (not the Queen of Blades, mind you) and that Nova had just thrown him around like a puppet after catching him in Umojan space. But still, he had to do this. Sitting this thing out was not an option.

"Stay tight, boys! If you see anything move that doesn't look like a friendly, put some holes in it! Follow me!" he snarled and the four men started to move out again. They checked every corridor for traps or ambushes, but there was no one around. Following the trail was easy, however, since it never stopped. When they moved around yet another corner, Jim could hear someone talking.

"Damn... damn it all..." a rough male voice snarled. Jim pressed against the wall and peeked around the corner. There they were, two Spectres. The first one was a woman, yet she appeared to be out of commission. The other one was a bulky man that was dragging his comrade with him.

"Gonna... gonna kill them all!" the large man gurgled. He looked like he could barely stay on his feet, and he had his back turned towards Jim. There was no doubt about it; it was a Spectre. But why didn't he use his cloaking device? However, there was no time to think about that. Jim had to act. He raised his gun and looked at the guards.

"Get ready! We need to take that guy out as fast as possible. And whatever you do; do not stop firing!" he told them. They all nodded and he took a deep breath. "Okay, boys. Let's do this!" If they could surprise that guy, they might have a chance. Jim closed his eyes, counted to three...

...and then he stormed around the corner.

"Yo, asshole!" he screamed and pointed his gun at the Spectre. He was about to press the trigger, but all the Spectre did was to turn around and raise his hand. Jim felt how the gun was ripped out of his hands. The weapon just flew away and he tried to grab it, but then another push hit him. He was thrown backward and smashed into a wall.

"Agh!" Jim managed to gurgle when the air was pressed out of his lung. The psionic punch was not nearly as powerful as the one that had ended the attacker's life inside the ballroom, however, it was more than enough to cause one of Jim's ribs to crack. He cursed when pain flashed through his chest and saw how the other guards were smashed against the wall as well.

"Look who's here, someone who thinks he's a hero. Someone who thinks he can sneak up on me..." the Spectre growled and dragged himself over to Jim and the guards. His powers were strong enough to pin all four men against the wall. They tried to fight it, tried to free themselves from his grip, but it was useless. Jim took a good look at the Spectre. His helmet was gone and the look on his face was one full of madness. Blood was coming out of his nose, ears, and eyes and he looked like a zombie. And then there was that necklace. Jim saw it and knew that they were in trouble. He recognized human finger-bones when he saw them. As if he wanted to reinforce Jim's fears, the Spectre pulled his knife out and walked over to them.

"I could use some more trophies. How about it guys? Who wants to be first?" he snarled and let go of his comrade. The lithe figure dropped on the floor and didn't move at all. It looked like she was already dead. Jim could see the fear in the eyes of the young guards and hissed at the Specter.

"Tough talk from a freak. Bet your mother is really proud of you." he spat at the Specter. The man stopped and a mad grin appeared on his face. He then tipped on some of the finger-bones around his neck.

"Oh, I bet she is. That's why I keep her with me all the time." Well, shit _._ "I think I start with you first. You look like you won't even scream. Maybe I can change that." the Spectre then said and raised his blade. All Jim could do was to look at the knife and watch how it moved towards him. The edge of the blade touched his hand and he could feel how it started to cut through his skin. The sharp pain made him snarl in rage, which only caused the Spectre to laugh.

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy that. One little piggy..." he started.

That's when another dark figure appeared. The man was fast, faster than any ordinary man. He was so fast that his movements were nothing but a blur. The Spectre hadn't noticed him at all, but when he finally noticed the dark-clad figure, he tried to turn around and use his psionics to deal with the new attacker. But his push seemed to simply evaporate because the newcomer didn't even slow down one bit. Instead, he ducked and threw himself against the Spectre. His fist slammed into the bigger man's face and Jim could hear how the nose of the Spectre broke. He tumbled backward and released the four men from his psionic grip. They fell down on their knees and started to groan in discomfort. Jim put his hand on his broken rib and hissed in pain. However, he had no time to worry about that.

The newcomer was still attacking the Spectre, but that bastard had managed to regain his momentum. He pushed the man inside the black suit back with his psionics, and his fist shot forward, ready to knock the other man out. Yet their savior was so damn fast, Jim had a hard time keeping up. The other man grabbed the Spectre's arm, circled under it, put it on his own shoulder and yanked it down. The sound of the Spectre's arm breaking was sickeningly loud. The man screamed in pain and stumbled backward, but his opponent didn't allow him to get away. Instead, he turned his front back towards, raised his leg, and kicked with all of his strength against the Spectre's knee. Another cracking sound filled the corridor and the Spectre fell to the ground as if hitby a lightning. He was screaming bloody murder, yet his opponent just went in for the killing blow. He jumped forward and slammed his knee into the Spectre's chest. Ribs broke and the bigger man gurgled in pain. Blood gushed out of his mouth and his intact arm came up, trying to grab his attacker. But the other man just grabbed the arm and broke it too. He then slammed his elbow into the Spectre's throat. The gurgling sound turned into a choking one and more blood gushed out of the man's mouth. He looked around in shock and tried to breathe, but it was pointless. His throat was crushed and so were most of his limbs. He tried to say something, but he was unable to form any words. It took probably half a minute before he finally stopped moving. When the Spectre was finally dead, the man with the suit just stood up and walked back to Jim. He offered his hand to him as if nothing had happened.

"I want to be honest..." Jim then said. "...I had totally forgotten about you, Smith." Agent Smith didn't smile. He just looked at Jim through his sunglasses.

"You are not the first one to tell me that." his bodyguard replied. Jim gave him a weak smile and grabbed his hand. Smith helped him back on the feet while the other guards managed to stand up on their own. Jim looked at the dead body of the Specter and frowned.

"I'm glad that you're still alive, Smith. And thanks for saving our butts. But if you don't mind, I suggest we get a move on. We still need to get to Valerian." Jim said and walked over to his gun. He picked it up and looked at Smith. "Care to join us?" Instead of nodding, Agent Smith put his hand on his ear and pulled something out of it.

"Actually..." his bodyguard replied. "...there is someone who wants to speak to you first." He then handed his small radio-transmitter over to Jim, who looked at it in surprise.

"You had this in your ear all the time?" he wondered.

"Of course." Smith told. Jim sighed and shook his head. He put the transmitter into his ear and harrumphed, making sure that the other person on the line would hear him.

"Hello? Anyone home?" he asked. That's when he heard a familiar voice, and for the first time since this whole mess had started, he felt some hope returning to him.

"Jim? JIM? Is that you?" a male voice wanted to know. Jim sighed in relief when he heard that voice.

"Yes, Matt. It's me."


	40. Act II - Chapter 16

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 16**

 **Biting off more than You can chew**

* * *

"Hello? Anyone home?" When Matt heard that voice over the radio, he recognized it immediately. And when he did, he felt how nothing but relief. However, he had to make sure that it wasn't a dream.

"Jim? JIM? Is that you?" he screamed into the radio. The police officers around him exchanged confused looks, but no one dared to say a word. Just when Matt had told them that there might be someone inside the palace that could help them, he had asked for a radio. He knew the frequency of Agent Smith's transmitter, and when he had called out for Jim's bodyguard, Smith had answered immediately.

"Yes?" Smith had asked.

"Smith? Is that you? This is Admiral Horner! Please tell me that you're okay!"

"That depends on your definition of the word "okay", Sir. Right now I am somewhat busy. I need to put you on hold for a second." the agent had just replied.

"What? Wait! Smith! Don't hang up on me, what's going on!" However before he could have gotten any answer, he had heard something different. It had sounded like a fight. Then there had been a cracking sound, and then another cracking sound. Someone had gurgled, and to Matt, it had sounded like someone was trying to breathe, however, after a while, the gurgling had just stopped.

"Smith? SMITH?" When he heard Smith's voice again, he felt relieved.

"You are not the first one to tell me that." the agent declared. That sounded like he was talking to someone else.

"Smith! Don't ignore me!" Matt yelled. "Tell me what's going on!" However, it seemed that Smith was too busy to talk with someone else. That's when...

"Actually, there is someone who wants to speak to you first." Then there was some strange sound as if Smith pulled his transmitter out of his ear.

"You gotta be kiddin' me." Matt growled. No one dared to say a word, not the policemen, not the Commissioner, and not even Kate. Yet her camera-drone continued to record all of what was going on. That would probably bite him up his butt at a later date, but right now Matt had more important things to worry about. That was when...

"Hello? Anyone home?" a new voice suddenly spoke to them. Matt's eyes widened both in surprise and relief.

"Jim? JIM? Is that you?" he almost screamed. Jim was alive. He was _alive_! Oh, thank God! Jim's answer was typical for him.

"Yes, Matt. It's me. Now quit your screaming, you're giving away our position!" Jim mumbled.

"Really?" Matt wanted to know.

"No, not really. Your boy Smith dealt with that joker. Matt, where are you? Please tell me you're safe!" Jim then wanted to know. The Admiral looked at the palace right in front of him and frowned.

"I'm just outside the palace. It's completely sealed off. Right now you're our only connection to the inside. What's going on, Jim? There were reports of a gunfight. Is the Emperor safe?" Matt wanted to know. The Commissioner stepped next to him and made sure to listen to all the information Jim was about to give to them. And he wasn't the only one; several members of the anti-terror-unit moved in closer as well. And so did Kate Lockwell. Her camera-drone turned towards Matt's face in order to make sure to get a good close-up of the serious look on his face, and its microphone managed to record every tiny detail. Well, at the very least these recordings would be an interesting contemporary document. Perhaps later generations would be able to learn from this disaster.

"It's a goddamn mess, Matt." Jim declared and the Admiral could hear the anger and pain inside his friend's voice. "I was in the ballroom when they attacked the people. There are a lot of casualties. I can't tell you any numbers, but it's a nightmare."

"Who are they?" Matt then wanted to know.

"Don't know, forgot to ask them. But I doubt that they would have answered my questions. My guess? Some kind of former spec-ops. However, they're not alone."

"What do you mean?" the Admiral asked. Jim's next words caused a cold shiver to run down the Admiral's spine.

"There are Spectres here, Matt. One nearly killed me and some guys. It's thanks to your man Smith that we're all still alive."

"Spectres? But how...?" Matt just whispered. It was Kate who leaned forward and looked at the Commissioner.

"Spectres?" she said to herself. "So all those stories about Project Shadowblade were true after all?" Matt realized that this woman might know more things than he did. Speaking of which; how the hell did she know about Project Shadowblade?

"The guy who attacked us didn't want to answer that question. And now he can't do that anymore, Smith kinda crushed his throat." So _that_ had been that gurgling sound. Oh damn, what was going on inside those walls?

"How many?" the Commissioner then asked. "How many enemies are we dealing with. We need to know." Matt looked over at him and nodded.

"How many enemies are inside the building, Jim?" he relayed the question to Jim. But the answer was not what they wanted to hear.

"Can't tell for certain. At least two Spectres, though they are dealt with. That jerkface had a comrade. She's still breathing, but not much else. Looks like something fried her brain for good." Something fried a Spectre's brain? Was that even possible? "Aside from that, there were three commandos attacking the party. One was killed in action, the others are, well, let's just say that they don't pose any threat anymore. Dunno if there are any more out there, we're trying to get a fix on that right now. Should we encounter a Thor or a Goliath, I will tell you right away." Matt knew that Jim was angry, furious even. And that he would hunt these bastards down for good.

"Jim, listen; what's with the Emperor? What's with Valerian?" Matt then needed to know. He braced himself for the worst case scenario, but at least that didn't happen.

"Dunno. We're trying to get to the throne room and find out. Right now I can't tell you anything." Even if it wasn't what Matt wanted to hear, it was better than "He's dead, Matt." The Admiral lowered his gaze and nodded.

"Okay. Okay, Jim." The policemen around him were too busy sucking up every single piece of information they could use. They didn't saw the look on his face. They didn't see the fear in his eyes. And his anger. But Kate did. And so did the camera-drone focused on the Admiral's face, making sure that this expression would be recorded for future generations. Kate knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, she was present while history was happening. However, no one could say if it would be a good future or a bad one.

"Okay, Jim. You need to get to Valerian. Let's just assume that he is still safe, because if he isn't..." Matt didn't finish that sentence. He couldn't. No one could say what would happen if Valerian would not survive this night.

"I know, Matt. I know what to do." Jim just interrupted him. "Don't worry, we got this. But Matt, there is something else you need to know." Even though they were only communicating through a radio, Matt could hear the pain and guilt in Jim's voice.

 _Oh no._

"Matt..." Jim then said. "...they got Brent."

Matt didn't say a word. Suddenly the face of the young man appeared in front of his inner eye. Kate realized what Jim meant and pressed her hands against her mouth in order to muffle her own sounds of shock. The Admiral needed a moment to regain his composure. _"...they got Brent."_ Not _"Brent is dead."_ It was a big difference. That meant he was still alive.

"How bad is it?" Matt wanted to know.

"Bad. It's bad, Matt. If he doesn't get some help soon, it will be too late. Might already be." There were a thousand different thoughts on Matt's mind. Brent, he was a good kid. He was a bit weird, but a competent officer. And he was so young, so goddamn young! Matt wanted to do the right thing; call for several companies of marines, let them storm the palace and smoke these bastards out. The medics could then treat the survivors. It would be risky, but the alternative would be-

"Understood, Jim. But we can't do anything until we know more. I'm sorry, but you have to deal with this situation before we can move in." Every fiber of Matt's body wanted to scream "Bloody coward!", but he was not in charge. The police was calling the shots, and all he could do was to support them. Or ignore all the rules and laws this nation used and act like just another dictator. He didn't know if Jim knew how he felt right now. Was his old comrade mad at him? Did he believe that Matt had turned into a coward? Whatever Jim thought, his voice didn't show it. Instead, only one last sentence reached the people on the outside.

"Well, in that case, we should get going. Wish us luck, Admiral. Raynor out!"

* * *

"So, what does that mean? They expect us to deal with this nightmare ourselves?" one of the guards complained when Jim pulled the transmitter out of his ear and handed it over to Smith, who put it back into his own ear. Only then Jim realized that there was some blood coming out of his bodyguard's ears.

"Pretty much." Jim just said. "Don't worry, kids. We got this."

"This is bullshit!" another guard then replied. "I didn't sign up for this cra-"

"HEY!" Jim barked and looked at the guards. "Pull your heads out of your asses! Yeah, this is a goddamn nightmare, but we're all in this together. So stop your whining. Your Emperor, the guy you swore to protect, is somewhere inside this palace. Maybe he's wounded, maybe he's dead, we don't know that. What I do know is that we got guns and there are bad guys. So suck it up, people! It's do-or-die-time!" Not his best speech, but right now there was no time to lose. He looked over at Smith.

"You're with us?" Jim wanted to know.

"Considering the fact that my orders are to keep you alive; yes." Smith just replied and Jim knocked him on the shoulder.

"Good man. By the way, where were you anyway?" Jim asked.

"I was making sure that you wouldn't find one of the hidden wine vaults." Smith replied.

"There are hidden wine vaults inside the palace?"

"No."

"So much for that plan." Jim mumbled to himself.

"What was that, Sir?" Smith then asked.

"Nothing. Nothing. Let's get going, we still need to fix this damn mess. Come on, we have to hurry." With that, Jim checked the remaining bullets inside his gun's magazine. He was still good to go and when he started to walk down the corridor, he could hear Smith harrumphing behind him.

"Ahem. Sir, the throne room is the other way!"

"Knew it!" Jim just replied and turned around. "Follow me, I know the way!" He knew that his aura of leadership would inspire those around him.

"Do we really have to follow him?" one of the guards mumbled.

"Let's just stay behind him. Maybe he will be able to catch a few bullets for us." another guard offered. Good thing that Jim's ears weren't what they used to be. Still, they somehow managed to act like a group of soldiers. Jim was up front, while Smith was right next to him. The Commander looked over at Smith and frowned.

"Don't you have a gun?" he wanted to know. "Maybe you should get one of those smgs the other guys dropped and-" However, before he could finish the sentence, Smith pulled out the biggest gun he had ever seen. Seriously, this thing made his old revolver look like a pea-shooter.

"Why didn't you use that thing?" Jim then asked.

"I'm better with my hands." Well, no argument there. As they continued to move through the corridors, they tried to hurry and be careful at the same time, a task that was somewhat difficult to achieve. But even then Jim knew that something was strange.

"I don't suppose you know how many enemies we're dealing with?" Jim then whispered.

"I can't say for certain." Smith told him. "I encountered the attackers when I tried to return to the ballroom. There wasn't much I could do, however. These Spectres were simply out of my-" Before his bodyguard could finish his sentence, he stumbled and almost fell flat on his face. Jim reached out and tried to grab Smith's arm, but the other man managed to regain his balance, even though he had to lean against the wall. Blood dripped out of Smith's nose and fell on the ground. The bodyguard saw it and brushed the blood away with his sleeve.

"Are you okay?" Jim wanted to know. Smith took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine." It was a lie, but they had no time to deal with this right now. Still, there was one thing that Jim just had to know.

"You're a Ghost, aren't you?" he wanted to know. Smith took another deep breath and looked over at Jim. Even through the bodyguard's sunglasses, he could see both pain and insecurity in Smith's eyes. It was the first time that Jim witnessed Smith showing any signs of emotions.

"What happened?" he then wanted to know. Smith needed a moment to regain his composure.

"I tried to follow them, tried to stop them, but they were too fast. Before I could intervene, _something_ happened." he said and Jim frowned when that happened.

"Define _something_." he demanded to know, but Smith just shook his head.

"I can't. I have never felt anything like it. It was as if a fire exploded inside my mind. It almost knocked me out and I had to pull back."

"What do you mean? You were attacked? By a flashbang or something?" Jim tried to find out, but Smith just shook his head again.

"I don't know. I have never felt anything like that before. It was as if I was staring right into a star that was about to go supernova. It felt like psionics, but unlike any psionics I have ever felt before."

"And then?" Jim wanted to hear more information, but Smith just shook his head.

"I can't tell you any details. It took me some time to get back on my feet. But whatever hit me, I was lucky. All it I got was the worst migraine of all times. The Spectres, however..." Smith shook his head. There was just no way how he could describe what he had felt.

"...they weren't so lucky?" Jim then wanted to know, but Smith had no satisfying answer.

"I don't know about the woman, but that man simply went crazy. When the other soldiers returned and yelled at him, he simply killed them. I tried to sneak up on him, but then you showed up. You know the rest of the story." Now that Jim took a closer look, Smith looked like he had just seen the devil himself.

"What could have caused it?" he mused. "A psi-disruptor?" It was a possibility. Maybe they had installed a psi-disruptor in order to deal with any psionic threats? "But you're still okay. Well, kinda. Why's that?" Jim wanted to know. Smith was finally able to regain his composure and straightened himself.

"I was just a level three operative, Mr. Raynor. My psionics aren't very strong. I assume that whatever hit us, it did a lot more to those Spectres than it did to me. Please, Sir, as fascinating this might be, we should hurry. The Emperor's life is still in danger." Smith was right, they had to hurry. Jim gave him a quick nod, and together with the three guards, they continued to press forward. They decided to not take the shortest route, for it was probably the route the enemy had taken. Made sure to check every corner for enemies or traps, but there was nothing. It didn't help to ease their minds, though. The longer they were without any initial contact, the more nervous the guards got. That's when suddenly-

"What are we gonna do now?!" a female voice yelled in rage. Another voice, the one of a man, then screamed "Get on your feet! I don't care one bit about you freaks, but if you guys just blew the mission, then-" Jim raised his hand and gestured the other people to get into cover. He pressed against the wall and moved closer towards the corner. That's when Smith grabbed his arm and shook his head.

"What?" Jim hissed, but Smith just pointed around the corner and put his hand on his forehead. The gesture he made looked like a helmet covering his face. Like the face-plate of a Spectre for example. Oh crap.

"Okay, get ready. I'm gonna peek and then we're gonna take them by surprise." Jim told them. Not a brilliant plan, but hopefully it would work. He moved closer to the corner and peeked around. He could see two more soldiers and at least four Spectres, though three of them seemed to be down. But when he looked at the enemies, a female Spectre that leaned against the wall looked over to him. When their eyes met, he could feel her boundless psionic energies. She raised her hands and pointed at Jim.

"Enemies!" she managed to whisper and the angry commandos turned their attention towards Jim and his men.

"Aw crap." was the only thing Jim managed to say before the bullets started to fly.

* * *

One second. One goddamn second had changed it all. Loyd had no idea how much time had passed since the alarm had been set off, but it felt both like seconds and hours at the same time. His team was in shambles. In Unner's case quite literally so. He had fought alongside that man many times. He had been his comrade. Strong, trustworthy and fiercely loyal, those were the best words to describe the man. Now Unner was nothing more than red mush, crushed under the massive gate that blocked their path to the throne room.

Loyd had seen his fair share of death, yet he couldn't help but feel furious. This wasn't a way for a Zapper to die, crushed like some kind of cockroach. Behind him, he could hear to voice of two women. The first one belonged to the leader of the Spectres.

"She knows...knows that we're here. So much power. So much! Can't...can't stand it...make it stop!" she wailed in pain and panic. Under normal circumstances, he would have thought that someone wasn't as tough as they had claimed to be and that these freaks were simply crumbling under the pressure. He had seen it before, just not with exploding heads. But the principle was the same. However, the blood that was coming out of the woman's nose and ears told Loyd that she might not be just trying to play them for a fool.

Oh, and the fact that two of her Spectre-bodies lay on the floor and had stopped breathing. The third one wasn't far behind, but at least he was still twitching. Loyd had no idea what had caused it, but it didn't matter anymore. The whole operation had turned into one huge disaster and now he was left with four useless psycho-mercenaries and a panicking Zapper.

"Shit! SHIT! SHITSHITSHITSHIT!" Dee yelled behind him. "We blew it! Someone blew the mission! Curse that idiot Neusser, we would have needed more time! Now we're gonna die because of that asshole! To hell with him!" Loyd turned around and walked up to the female Zapper. He grabbed her by the collar and pulled her face up to his own. The remaining Zapper next to them made a step backward, it was clear that he didn't want to be involved in that mess.

"Get a grip, Dee!" he hissed. "We can still do this, we need to get to Neusser. We need to get into the throne room! So think, SemDee You know this place better than anyone else, you studied the plans; what can we do?" Usually, that was enough to calm a Zapper down, to tell them to suck it up. However, this time it didn't work. Dee looked up at the sealed door and shook her head.

"There's no way that we're gonna make it inside now. We have to get the hell out of here. If we retreat now, we might make it." Dee told him. At first, Loyd couldn't believe it, but when he finally realized what she was talking about, he tightened the grip around his smg and made sure that Dee could see it.

"We're going nowhere. We will stay right here and finish this mission, one way or the other." He was determined to end this, no matter the costs. But Dee simply refused to acknowledge that.

"This mission is nothing but a disaster!" she hissed back. "Just because Neusser couldn't wait, we're all gonna die now. And for what? Nothing! We failed, and I don't intend to sacrifice my life just because he couldn't keep his mojo in check!"

"That's insubordination, Dee. I could shoot you for that right here and now." he snarled and pointed his smg right at her midriff. And Dee? She stared right back at him and pointed her shotgun at his belly.

"Guys." the third Zapper tried to intervene. "Shouldn't we focus on the mission? And the enemy?" But neither one of them cared about that.

"We're not soldiers anymore, Loyd. And this mission is over. Dying for the Combine? I'll do that gladly. Dying for that asshole Neusser? Never!"

"You're nothing but a damn coward, Dee. And you will not just try to save your own ass. We're in this together!" However, the time for pep-talks was long gone.

"Screw you, Loyd! I'm not gonna throw my life away for _this_!" She then looked over at the door and pointed with her finger on it. Next to it, the female leader of the Spectres leaned against the wall. Blood was still dripping from her nose, but the moment both Zapper's looked at her, they could see how she pointed with her hand to the other side of the corridor.

"What's the matter, freak?" Loyd snarled, yet the Spectre was too much in pain to liquefy his brain. She was, however, able to form some words.

"There...enemies!" All three Zappers followed the Spectre's finger, and when they spotted the man at the other end of the corridor, they immediately raised their guns. An "Aw crap." could be heard just before they opened fire. The man managed to return to cover and cursed like a sailor, yelling something like "IT'S NEW FOLSOM ALL OVER AGAIN!".

"We need to push them!" Loyd screamed and the man next to him complied immediately. He advanced on the enemy's position and fired short and controlled burst. It was enough to force the enemy back into cover. Then Loyd's soldier pressed against a pillar and looked back at his comrades.

"Next!" he yelled. It meant that the next soldier should advance and lay down some repressive fire. That way they would be able to reach the enemy and finish these guys. Loyd looked over to Dee and wanted to tell her to get her ass moving, but Dee seemed to have other ideas.

"To hell with all of you!" she yelled and decided to move backward.

"Dee! Don't you dare to just run away!" Loyd screamed and wanted to turn around in order to deal with that treacherous snake, but just when he was about to do that, the enemies on the other side started to grow bold again.

"Smith, cover me!" a male voice yelled and Loyd had no other choice but to focus on the guards. He raised his smg and fired another salvo.

"I need some help over here!" the other Zapper screamed and tried to keep the enemy at bay with blindfire. However, it wouldn't be enough. Loyd opened fire as well and short and controlled bursts forced his opponents back into cover, but he knew that he was fighting a losing battle. He ran behind a pillar and fired some more rounds on the enemy before he pressed against the wall and started to curse. He looked into the direction where he and his people had come from, just in time to watch Dee vanishing around the corner.

"YOU STUPID TRAITOR!" he screamed in rage and raised his smg. Even though it was pointless, he still decided to send some bullets after her. Maybe he had managed to hit her, but when she vanished out of sight, he lost any chance to verify that.

"They're advancing!" his comrade yelled. "I need to reload!"

"Okay, let's get them!" the leader of the enemies yelled. The voice seemed familiar, like it belonged to someone Loyd had heard before. But he had no time to think about that. Instead, he checked the magazine inside his weapon. The clip was half-empty, so there were only 25 rounds left, but he still had his spare-magazines as well. Not much, but hopefully more than enough to deal with this guys. Who knew, maybe they would be so nice to just throw themselves into his bullets. When he peeked around the pillar, he could see the leader of the enemy. He didn't wear any uniform, just jeans, and a white t-shirt. But the look on his face and the way he moved told Loyd that this man was not just a dud. And strangely enough, the man seemed to be familiar. It was as if Loyd had seen his face before, he just couldn't say when and where.

It didn't matter though. In the end, that man was the enemy, that's all the Zapper needed to know.

Taking out the leader would probably not change much. And this was most likely his last fight. But at least he would go down fighting and take a damn Dominion-swine with him. Loyd braced himself, took a deep breath, and then came out of cover.

"MR. RAYNOR!" a man in a black suit yelled. "WATCH IT!" The man in the suit was just behind the leader. Raynor? Like James Raynor? The legendary hero? It couldn't be.

But Loyd had no time to stop and think things through. He had already made up his mind. He pointed his smg at the man in front, who raised his gun in return.

"Die, you fascist pig!" Loyd screamed and pressed the trigger, firing all his remaining bullets on the man that looked like the legendary Jim Raynor.

* * *

"Everybody back! Get back! Get away from the door! WHICH PART OF "BACK" DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!" Valerian screamed in rage while hushing the people to the other side of the throne room.

"This is unacceptable!" some bald and fat guy in a suit complained. "Do you have any idea who I am? You cannot treat me like this, even if you are the Emperor!" Valerian decided to ignore the comment, and the urge to punch that idiot in the face. Why did people always have to act snippy if you wanted to save their asses?

"Get back! Move it!" he screamed, but even then the people seemed to not even realize the danger they were in. The only good thing about this situation was that he wasn't alone.

"Move, or I'm going show you what a powerbomb is!" Curtland yelled and her presence alone was enough to motivate the people to hurry up. As they tried to get the roughly seventy plus people to the other side of the throne room, Curtland leaned over to him and whispered something in his ears.

"What's your plan?" she wanted to know. Valerian, who had a grim look on his face, knew that his plan was pretty pathetic, but there was nothing else he could do.

"We need to get these people to safety. There is no escape route, but a safe room. It's not big enough for all of us, but at least the women and old ones will be safe until the guards arrive." He decided not to add a "hopefully".

"That's not much of a plan." Curtland told him and put her finger right on the open wound. He managed not to sigh, but gave her a quick nod.

"I know. But that's the best thing I could come up with so far. I'm open to suggestions, though." When he said that, Curtland stopped and looked around. There were some heavy tables with food on it, and benches made out of stone next to the walls of the throne room.

"We could use the furniture to block the entrance. That way, if the attackers manage to get inside, they won't be able to just storm the room. They have to fight through the blockade first. It could buy us the time your troops need to get here. Assuming that someone is actually coming for us." It was a fair point, but Valerian allowed himself to look at the situation with a bit more optimism.

"They will come. They have never let me down, they won't start now. I have faith in my people." Next to him, Curtland just shook her head.

"Never thought that I would be rooting for Dominion-soldiers." she just mumbled to herself.

"Never thought that I would be getting shot up in my own palace. Though in hindsight, knowing what happened to my predecessor, I probably shouldn't be surprised about it." Valerian growled. He shook his head and looked around before he returned his attention towards the people they were currently trying to get to safety.

"GODDAMIT!" Valerian yelled when he saw a fat guy waddling over to the buffet and putting something on a plate. "GET YOUR ASS BACK TO THE OTHERS!" he shouted and pushed the man forward.

"Do you have any idea who I am? I am the-" the fat guy tried to say. Valerian remembered him, he had shaken his hand only a short time ago. He was a lawyer or something like that. He had to be a lawyer because only those guys thought that the deadly effects of bullets were just a matter of legal interpretation.

"I don't care! Get your fat ass over there!" Valerian barked.

"How dare you! _How dare you!_ HOW DARE YOU!" the man simply repeated the same sentence over and over again. "Insulting a person is a serious offense and I shall not-" However, he was cut short when Valerian grabbed him by the shoulder and simply pushed him forward. Right now he felt the urge to _punch_ someone in the face. When they finally reached the other side of the throne room, Curtland looked around and frowned.

"What now?" she wanted to know. Valerian walked up to the throne (yes, there was an actual throne, it had been his father's last addition to the palace and had been installed only days before his demise) and walked over to the backside. He reached the wall behind the throne and pressed his hand against a small stone. For a brief moment nothing happened, but then you could hear the whirring sound of an electric engine and right before their eyes the wall started to open up. Everyone inside the room looked at the door both in surprise and relief.

"Oh thank God! It's the way out of here!" someone behind Valerian yelled. He turned around and looked at the crowd.

"I am afraid that this is not the case. That behind me..." Valerian explained and pointed with his thumb at the door in his back. "...is a safe room. Now it's not very big and-" he tried to tell the people, but most of them didn't seem to care.

"Out of the way!"

"Let us get inside!"

"I'm too important to die!"

"I pay you money for letting me through!"

Countless voices fought for Valerian's attention, but right now he felt nothing but disgust while looking at these people.

"NO ONE will enter this room unless I say so!" he yelled.

"Who are you to decided that, huh?" someone else yelled back. Of course, that voice came from someone he couldn't see because that person was hiding behind other people.

"I'm the one who owns this damn place. Now, here's the deal; the safe room isn't big enough for all of us. And before you start to whine "why's that?"; it has its own life-support and can't handle that many people. So some of us will have to stay outside."

"And who's that going to be, huh?" another voice yelled. "Oh right, the Emperor will lock himself inside and we will just die, isn't that right?" another fat cat screamed. Curtland looked over to Valerian, wondering what the Emperor would do next. However, much to everyone's surprise, he shook his head.

"No. Whoever is attacking this place, they are after me and that could be your chance. All women and old people; get in there!" Valerian ordered. "I would say; women and children first, but there are not any children inside this room. And immature behavior doesn't count!" For a short moment, no one said a word. Valerian didn't notice Curtland's surprised expression, neither did he see Neusser' angry frown. He could, however, see the disbelieving expressions on the other guests' faces.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"You bastard, let me in!"

"I'm too important to fight and die!"

The people all screamed in rage and anger. Unsurprisingly enough, it were only the men who did so. Some of them tried to force their way through and push Valerian out of the way, but before that could happen, Curtland stepped into their path.

"Neusser!" she barked and the head of the embassy's security only nodded. He too stepped into the crowd's path and raised the smg up, pointing its tip at the ceiling. He fired a single warning shot and that alone was enough to scare these cutthroats so they would keep their distance. Valerian looked over to both Curtland and Neusser and gave them a grateful nod.

"Thanks." he whispered before he turned his attention back to the crowd.

"Mrs. Trenton! Iris, are you there?" he then asked.

"Yes, your Majesty!" a female voice answered. Iris Trenton emerged from the crowd, her arm still slung around a visibly shaken Valeria Samson. Valerian gave the young woman a warm smile.

"Please, take Ms. Samson inside." he told her. Iris looked back at the people behind her. She searched for her husband, and when Mr. Trenton emerged from the group as well, he gave her a warm smile.

"Go, I will be right behind you." He gave her a quick kiss and she nodded. When she led Samson into the safe room, Valerian could see the fearful expression on her face. He looked over to Mr. Trenton and lowered his gaze.

"I'm sorry. I know that you want to be with your wife." he whispered, but the older man just shook his head.

"It is fine, your Majesty. I understand." Trenton nodded and stepped back to the other people. Valerian took a deep breath and straightened himself.

"Okay! Let's get this show on the road. All the women move up, get inside! After that the old folks. Come on, we have to hurry! Move, move, move!" There were a lot of people complaining and on at least three occasions someone approached him and offered him a sizable amount of money for letting them just past. However, when another guy tried to get past Neusser and Curtland, the tall woman just grabbed him by the throat, lifted him up as if he weighed nothing and slammed him down to the ground. She then looked at all the people around her and said: "For future references; This is what you call a chokeslam."

They managed to squeeze roughly twenty people into that room. Not much, but better than nothing.

"Okay, that's enough. I'm going to seal the room now." Valerian then said before turning around to Curtland.

"Ms. Curtland, please get inside, so I can close the safe room." Curtland looked at him both in surprise and refusal.

"You gotta be kidding me." she just snarled. "I'm not a little girl that needs to be protected!" As if to reinforce her words she leaned forward and Valerian could see how she flexed her biceps. He didn't know if this was on purpose or not, but it hardly mattered.

"I am very much aware of that, Ms. Curtland. And I'm asking you to do that not because I think you're weak, but because I think that you are a strong and fearless person." he told her. "And that's why you are what I will never be: A natural figure of authority. Should everything else fail, I need someone I can trust to take care of the people inside the safe room."

"You're telling me that I should protect a room full of women and old folks. And I'm the only woman out here." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I didn't think that you were prone to sexism." Was it a joke? Maybe, but right now Valerian wasn't able to think about that.

"Yeah, well..." he then said. "...if things go south, you got my permission to put that on my gravestone." He then pointed at the door and walked over to the closing mechanism. "Please go inside, Ms. Curtland. It would mean a lot to me to know that you're safe." He didn't add that he simply didn't want to see her getting hurt. Besides, they were after him. Who else should these attackers be here if not for him? There was no need to drag the Ambassador into this mess. He started to press some buttons on the console. "Once I close this thing, it can only be opened from the inside. So please get inside now." His hands were sweaty, but he knew that he was doing the right thing. Curtland took a deep breath. And then she looked down.

"Okay." she whispered. "Okay, I'll do it. But before that, Mr. Trenton? Could you come over to me one more time?" Trenton, who had a serious look on his face, did as he was told. When he stood right in front of both Curtland and Valerian, the Emperor entered the command to seal off the room and just waited to press the close button.

"Yes, Ms. Curtland? What is it?" he wanted to know.

"Is there something that you want me to tell your wife?" she asked with a gentle tone in her voice. Trenton opened his mouth and wanted to reply something. But then Valerian could see how the older man swallowed hard and fought back his tears. It was clear that this was a very emotional moment for him. It could be the last thing Iris would ever hear of him. Valerian's finger hovered over the button and he too had to swallow hard.

"Tell her...tell her that I love her. And that I will be forever grateful for her love and support." Trenton managed to say. It was a surprisingly gentle moment and Curtland only nodded when she heard that.

"That's beautiful. She must be a very lucky person to have you. Actually..." she then said and looked over to Valerian. "...change of plans, your Highness." Before either men could react, she grabbed Trenton by the shirt and threw him into the corridor leading towards the safe room. "You can tell her that yourself!" And before Valerian could do anything about it, she jumped over to him and hit the close button. The door was sealed right in front of their eyes and Valerian was simply unable to say anything. Many others, however, did.

"What the hell?!"

"And what's with us?"

"Wait, why did this jerk get inside?"

"He didn't even pay you any money!"

Valerian didn't care about that. Instead, he just stared at Curtland and shook his head.

"Why?" he just wanted to know.

"You think I'm just gonna sit this one out? Forget it. Besides, there are worse fates than death." Valerian was just about to ask what she was talking about when the rest of the crowd finally started to grow restless.

"What now?" Neusser wanted to know, his eyes still directed at the crowd. Valerian shook his head and tried to gather his thoughts.

"Now?" he then said. "Now we're going to prepare for the enemy." He turned his attention towards the crowd. "Now I know that you're not happy about what just happened. And I cannot blame you. However, we're all in this together. Ms. Curtland had the right idea; we need to put up a barricade in order to buy as much time as possible. After that, the rest will hide in the remaining rooms and the garden. Hopefully, no one will find you there."

"THAT'S YOUR PLAN?!" a guy screamed and made a step forward. "You just doomed us all, you asshole!" But Valerian had more important things to worry about than to listen to this man's ranting.

"I know that it's not a perfect plan, but I hardly expected that this evening would turn out like this. Now I leave you a choice; you can either hide now or help us to prepare." He knew that this sounded a lot more heroic than it actually was. "So please, let's do this together." He looked at the crowd and waited for their reaction. Even these men would realize that if they would work together, they could do this.

"To hell with him!"

"His father was so much more of an Emperor like he is!"

"Are you kidding me? I offered you a fortune, asshole!"

They basically all ran off into different directions, looking for the best places to hide. Valerian watched this epic display of cowardice and just couldn't believe it. Among the crowd was one man he recognized immediately.

"Mr. Warfield! Please, we could really use your help!" But Warfield Junior just turned towards him and shook his head.

"Forgive me, your Majesty. But I have forsworn the ways of violence and am no longer willing to aid anyone who is willing to cause death and destruction. God forbids this." Valerian opened his mouth and wanted to reply something. But then he realized that he had no idea what to say, and so he closed his mouth again. And then he opened it once more. He looked like a fish on land. When he finally figured out what to say, it was just one word.

"Seriously?" But then cold rage started to fill his chest. To hell with them. To hell with _all_ of them. "Fine!" he roared. "Then go and hide, goddamn it!" he snarled and walked past Warfield.

"God does not appreciate it if his name is desecrated, your Majesty." Warfield lectured him, which caused Valerian to look over his shoulder while walking back to the entrance.

"Yeah? Well, neither do I appreciate it if someone shoots up my place! If God has any problems with that, perhaps he can come down here and help us with this mess! I'm totally going to apologize to him once he does that."

"That's not how God acts, your Majesty." Warfield told him, but Valerian just shook his head. He had no time for this.

"Too bad though." he mumbled to himself. "Sure could use that guy's help right now." The only people that followed him were Curtland and Neusser. So much for good old-fashioned augustgradian courage. But Valerian then just shook his head and walked over to the door.

"What now?" Curtland wanted to know.

"Now..." Valerian replied. "...we're going to buy the guards as much time as possible. It was your idea after all. Come on, let's find stuff to block the entrance. Should be more than enough heavy and expensive stuff here to do the job." He looked around and hurried over to the tables with the buffet on it. He simply threw all the plates down and started to push the heavy tables towards the entrance, but since they were made out of stone and steel, it was one hell of an effort. Neusser walked towards him, but Valerian just raised a hand.

"No! Mr. Neusser, I need you to keep that door in sight. Should they manage to open it, you have to greet them in style!" For a moment it seemed as if Neusser didn't want to listen. But then he licked his sweaty lips and lowered his smg. He looked like he was just experiencing the worst day of his life, and Valerian couldn't blame him.

"Okay, let's do thiiiuuuuunggh!" Valerian then said and tried to push the heavy table forward, only to fail miserably. "WHO...ORDERED...SUCH HEAVY...TABLES?!" he managed to press out when suddenly two more hands grabbed the end of the table and started to push.

"Wow!" the Emperor just managed to say. From one second to the next the table started to move as if it was made out of paper. He looked to the side and could see Curtland.

"Ambassador?" he asked with a surprised tone in his voice. She looked over at him and a cocky smile appeared on her face.

"You should really do something about those toothpicks you call arms, Mr. Mengsk." she said. Together they were able to push the heavy table towards the entrance. Of course, one table wasn't enough, so they did it over and over again, stashing chairs and benches on top of those tables. It didn't look like much, but they managed to create a somewhat respectable barricade. It didn't have to be perfect, all it had to do was to slow down the enemy. And who knew? Maybe they didn't even have to worry about that at all. Maybe the guards had already dealt with the intruders.

Meh, one can dream, right?

They did a good job, at least that was Valerian's opinion. Yes, it looked like crap, but right now pushing those heavy objects around felt better than hiding behind a rose bush.

"Why...umpf...why didn't you go into that...hnnnnnfff...safe...saaaaafee...SSAAAAAFEEEroom? Godthatthingisheavy!" Curtland managed to squeeze out while pushing another heavy table towards the entrance. Valerian, who was dragging a chair over to the blockade and threw it on top, looked over to Curtland.

"What kind of leader hides behind women and old guys?" he then asked.

"Your father."

These words made Valerian freeze. He looked over to Curtland and took a deep breath.

"I am not my father." he then just declared and clenched his hands into fists before he looked away. Curtland's answer to that was unexpected, however.

"Yes. Yes, you are right. You are not your father." she said with an almost soft voice. Valerian turned back at her and their eyes met.

"I never thought that I would say that one day, but...I'm glad to hear that from someone who doesn't know that much about me." he declared. He was about to turn away when he heard Curtland once again saying something.

"Perhaps..." she suggested. "...it is time that I should learn more about what kind of man the current Emperor truly is. Maybe then I can decide if he is truly the man he claims to be." For a short moment, Valerian didn't realize what she was trying to say. But then realization finally started to kick in.

"You mean-" But before he could finish that sentence, a new sound reached their ears. It sounded like a faint _Drrr-drrr-drrr_. Before he could continue to think about what Curtland had just implied, he finally realized what that sound was.

"Gunfire!" he barked and looked at the entrance. The door was extremely thick, but they could still hear the faint sound of bullets being fired. That could only mean two things. A; whoever was firing those bullets had to be right on the other side of the door. And b; obviously two sides were fighting each other. Question was; who was winning?

"Back! BACK!" Valerian screamed and ran towards a heavy table they hadn't thrown on the blockade yet. He managed to knock it over and gestured both Curtland and Neusser to get in cover. "Get over here! Move it!" he yelled and both of them knew better than to question his command. They jumped behind the massive table and Neusser pointed his smg at the door.

"What now? Can they open the door from the other side?" Curtland wanted to know and looked over the table. Valerian just shook his head.

"No, but we should be careful. As long as they don't have a nuke, a Spectre or the Queen of Blades with them. You know, that kind of stuff that never happens." Curtland looked over at him and frowned.

"What is a Spectre?" she asked, but Valerian just shook his head.

"Some kind of improved Ghost, but they're not around anymore. Which is a good thing, because those guys could really ruin our day."

Oh, Valerian. By now you should know that the universe just loves to prove you wrong.

"Well, we should be safe. Still, it's better to prepare for the worst case and hope for the best than to prepare for the best case and hope that nothing bad will happen." Valerian declared before he looked over to Curtland. "So, what did you mean by learning what kind of man I truly am?" He could see how she started to blush. Curtland looked into his eyes and opened her mouth, ready to say something.

That's when suddenly the heavy door was blown apart.

"TAKE COVER!" Neusser managed to scream, and both Valerian and Curtland just reacted. They threw themselves on the floor while strange blue bolts of lightning danced over the heavily reinforced security door. From the corner of his eyes, Valerian could see how those bolts of lightning moved in a strange pattern. They almost looked like they belonged to something like a psionic storm. But how was that even possible? All questions, however, were killed in an instant when some unknown force simply grabbed the door and rammed it with so much force up that it broke its own mechanical fastening. With a loud _bang_ , the door was blown away and crashed on the floor only a few couple of meters away from them. Valerian's ears were still ringing and the dust started to claw at his eyes. He coughed and tried to look over the table they were using as cover. Next to him, both Curtland and Neusser looked equally shocked.

"Oh damn!" was everything he could say. Right before his eyes, he could see the giant hole in the wall. It looked unreal. There was dust everywhere, but even then he could see how two figures entered the throne room. And he could see that they were carrying weapons.

"Damn!" Curtland said and Neusser pointed his smg at the newcomers. They were all thinking the same; friend or foe? There was only one way to find out.

"Mr. Neusser, cover me!" Valerian then said and stood up.

"What the hell are you doing?" Curtland hissed in panic.

"If they're my people, everything's fine. If they're the enemy, well, they're only here for me anyway. No one else has to die. My blood should be enough to quench their thirst." he declared before he jumped over the table. Curtland tried to grab him and pull him back to cover, but it was already too late.

"Mengsk! Mengsk, get back here!" she hissed. "Valerian, please!" Valerian, hmm? He looked back at her and gave her a wide grin.

"Hearing my first name from you was actually worth it. Take care, Ms. Curtland. Leila." He then turned his attention back to the figures and walked right towards them.

Valerian wasn't brave. Not like Jim or Matt or all the other heroes he had met. Right now he was scared like hell. He wanted to turn around, run back to the safe room, throw out all the women and old men and lock himself up until someone would come to save him. That's what his guts told him to do. Unfortunately, his spine and brain told him that he should go right the other way. Because there was one thing he had promised to himself years ago; that he would not end like his father, hiding behind others, trying to save his own skin while his people were slaughtered.

If this would be his end, so be it. He was ready.

He stopped halfway to the entrance and straightened himself. He put his hands behind his back and took a deep breath.

"This is Emperor Valerian Mengsk!" he barked. "This is my palace! I demand to know who you are and why you have come here!" He actually sounded really serious. That's when a new voice reached his ears. One that he knew very well.

"Damn, Junior!" Jim Raynor declared when he stepped out of the dust. Right next to him was his bodyguard Smith. "You totally have to check the guest list more carefully next time!" the former commander of the Raiders added before he lowered his gun. "You okay?" Only then Valerian realized that his whole body was shaking.

"Yes." Valerian then whispered. "Now I am."


	41. Act II - Chapter 17

...

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 17**

 **Divine Intervention**

* * *

In the years that would follow the ''Christmas of 2507", people would ask many questions. Like who had dared to attack the Imperial Palace in the first place, and what had happened to these terrorists. These were the more common questions, but there were other questions as well. Like how the heck a Ghost with a psi-rating of no more than three had been able to blast a door open that had been designed to withstand a level 12 attack. People would ask those questions and many more. Like for example how convenient everything had worked out for the Emperor and his closest friends.

Almost as if someone had watched over them the entire time.

Perhaps it was unfair that the people would never realize what Sarah Kerrigan had done that night. They would remember her for many things, but not for saving the day.

Then again, Sarah couldn't have cared less about what people thought about her.

With one small exception.

"Doing the right thing isn't about owing anyone anything." Jim had told her. Well, he had always been a hopeless case. Would he ever stop worrying about others? Probably not. It was ingrained in his very DNA. James Raynor had to help people, it was just his nature.

She had allowed him to leave. She had allowed him to fight. But why? Why hadn't she just grabbed him and taken him somewhere else? Was it because she respected his choices? Or was it because she still resented the idea of fighting other people's fights? All of her powers and abilities did not tell her what to think or how to react. And so, she decided to do...

...nothing.

Of course, that wasn't really the truth. She would not allow Jim to be pumped full of bullets. And so, she had kept a close eye on him. She had watched him from afar, had witnessed how that Specter had tried to kill him. The arrival of the Ghost had been unexpected, but his powers were pathetic when compared to those Specters. His psionics were barely a whisper amidst a hurricane. Sarah had decided not to use her powers in order to intervene. She hadn't come here to fight. She hadn't come here to reveal her existence to the world. It would only complicate things beyond good and evil.

However, even then there was a limit to Sarah's patience. And whatever had happened inside the palace wall's before, she would not allow these bastards to kill the one man that still meant something to her. Perhaps this sounded a bit melodramatic, but right now the people inside this palace either lived or die because she allowed it. Oh, these Specters thought that they were the top of the class, but even they hadn't been able to find her until one of them had tried to probe her mind. Her senses and her experience told her that this battle was already over. However, that didn't mean that these bastards couldn't cause a whole lot of damage.

And let's be honest; without her, Jim was helpless.

"Cold..." the man in her lap whispered and she was brought back to the here and now. Sarah looked down and frowned. Life had almost completely left his body. His skin was cold, his face pale and cold sweat covered his forehead. The blood was still pouring out of his wound, even with Sarah pressing her hands on it. She could have saved that man, but why should she? He meant nothing to her. She had only accepted to stay with him because Jim had asked her to do that.

"I'm...cold..." Brent tried to say again. Sarah looked at his face and realized that she had seen it so many times before. Watching a man die was nothing new to her. She could feel his pain and his fear. He didn't want to die, that much was clear. And while Sarah wasn't willing to save his life, the least she could do was to ease his mind. She put one on her hands on his forehead and leaned forward.

"It is fine. Everything will be fine." she lied to him. It was a poor lie, and even in his current state, he realized that. His eyes wandered from the left to the right and he had to swallow hard. The dead bodies were still all over the place, and the display of death wasn't exactly helpful to ease his mind. His eyes caught glimpse of a woman who lay next to them. Her face was directed at them. He could see her wide open eyes and the expression of pure terror. The moment of her death had frozen that expression on her face. He knew this woman. She was a big-time celebrity. Had been a big-time celebrity.

Realization started to creep through his body. This was it. He would die now and there was no hope left. Hot tears started to stream down his face as he lost control over his emotion. His body hurt so much and this was how he would go down? There was nothing glorious about this death. Joseph Brent wasn't a hero. To him people like Jim Raynor were heroes. He was just a guy who had joined the military because it had meant a safe job and a regular paycheck. Sarah felt how his mind started to grow restless. And like said; the least she could do was to ease his, well, transition.

"Shhh...everything is fine." she told him and brushed with her warm hand over his cold and sweaty forehead. However, he was too scared to simply listen to her words. So instead she decided to dive into his mind and find something that would help him to calm down. It was tricky because even with all her powers she couldn't be at two places at the same time. Perhaps if she would unleash all of her powers she could keep an eye on both Jim and Brent at the same time, but right now she couldn't do that. Not without showing everyone who (or what) she really was. And she didn't want to do that. She wanted to remain hidden.

She reached out to Jim and could sense that he was safe, at least right now. He was talking to the Ghost that had saved him and the other guards. She didn't want to lose her grip on Jim, but she could spare a minute for Brent. All she needed to do was to find something inside his mind that would help him, that would take away the fear. And so she turned her attention to the young man and closed her eyes.

"Ghhhnnn..." he hissed when he felt how _something_ entered his mind. Even though he was no Ghost and had literally no psionic abilities, he felt a considerable amount of discomfort. Sarah realized that she had to be careful. Human minds were so frail, so fragile. She toned down her powers until Brent stopped squirming. He sighed and looked up at Sarah. He wasn't able to understand what was going on, but he felt how their minds connected. However, wasn't the same as her connection with Jim, it wasn't going both ways. This was a one-way trip for Sarah, and when she entered his mind, she saw Joseph Brent's dreams, fears, hopes, and plans. The same plans that would soon come to an end. Most of it were the useless dreams of a young man who still hadn't left his teenage-days behind. The dreams of becoming a hero or a rich man one day were probably the most normal thing in the world. Find a girl, settle down, just relax and take it easy. You know, the usual stuff.

There had been a girlfriend, many years ago. His first love, Tiffany. He had never had a girlfriend after that. He was surprisingly nimble. He was someone who would never abuse someone else. He had a good heart. A heart that was about to stop beating.

Maybe Sarah should turn into Tiffany? She could see the young girl in Brent's memory. Become Tiffany like she had become Jane Shepard? Tell him that she was sorry and she wanted him to forgive her? She felt some resistance when she searched for more information about Tiffany, but she had no time for this. Jim was still out there, she needed to focus on him instead of Brent. She used the smallest amount of force she could and finally saw the reason _why_ Brent and Tiffany had-

Oh.

Oh, that was harsh.

Seriously?

She and the _whole_ football team?

Oh dear...

Mmm, maybe not Tiffany. Okay, change of plans. Sarah shook her head and tried to find something else, something that would help Brent to calm down. She looked for any happy memory. His graduation from the academy? He had been in the hospital because his appendix had gone nuclear. Working for Matt? He was proud of it, but it wasn't really making him happy. She just needed a happy memory and then she would just trap his mind in an endless loop. That way he would experience this happy moment over and over again until he would finally fade away. She found the most recent happy memory. It felt warm and she knew that it meant a lot to him. She pierced through the clouds of pain and fear, and when she saw it, her eyes widened in surprise.

" _Greetings! My name is Karax! Would you like to shake my hand?"_

" _I am not a "Big snake-lady"."_

" _Forgive my question, but do you suffer from extensive brain-damage?"_

" _That's data you gathered from people's butts!"_

" _You could lay your eggs inside me anytime..."_

Izsha and Karax? That...that was his most recent precious memory? It seemed to be utterly ridiculous, but when she saw those memories inside Brent's mind, all she felt was the gleeful joy of a man that had turned into a small boy again. Had he even realized that it hadn't been a hallucination? Not really. Even now the logical part of his mind told his dying brain that it had been nothing but a drug-induced hallucination. And while his mind knew that, his heart still hoped that he was wrong, that it truly had been real and that both Karax and Izsha had talked to him. But why?

The answer to that was so stupidly simple that Sarah was afraid that her own brain would melt.

 _Man, it would have been so awesome if those guys were real!_ his mind whispered to her. That was when Sarah realized that she had to hurry. Jim was still out there, and she couldn't waste her time with this man any longer. It meant that Sarah had to hurry. She would not allow him to face the dangers ahead all by himself. And even if he had a Ghost by his side, there was just one Ghost that should ever be allowed to cover his back. As for Brent...

...since he had enjoyed that moment with Izsha and Karax...

"Izsha." she whispered.

" _Yes, my Queen?"_ her trusted advisor replied. She was close, yet remained hidden.

"Do me a favor; take care of this man for me. I promised Jim to look after him." There was neither contempt nor joy in Izsha's thoughts when she answered.

" _As you wish, my Queen. But what about the other humans?"_ she wondered. Sarah raised her head and realized what Izsha meant. There were still plenty of guards around, those who hadn't joined Jim on his little expedition of madness. Sarah didn't even waste a single thought. She just gathered a tiny fraction of her strength and released it with a sudden outburst. The guards around her started to groan. Some crossed their eyes, others started to gurgle. Then they all dropped to the floor when she simply flipped their off-switches. They weren't dead and they wouldn't even suffer from any side effects. Probably.

"Done. You can come out now."

"At once, my Queen." Izsha then said when she emerged from a shadow close to Sarah. After Sarah's little disaster on Aiur, Izsha had decided to stay close to her Queen, and surprisingly enough Sarah was fine with that. Brent, who had his eyes closed, didn't notice any of this, he was too busy dying. Sarah looked up at Izsha and nodded.

"Take care of him for me, will you? Just...keep him company." she told Izsha, who lowered her gaze.

"As you wish, my Queen." When Sarah stood up, pain flashed through Brent's whole body. He gritted his teeth and a long, painful moan of agony left his throat. Sarah got back on her feet and simply turned away. She didn't have to say anything else, Izsha knew what she was supposed to do. Behind Sarah, the huge snakelike ex-Zerg slithered into the right position and put her hands on Brent's wound. He gritted his teeth in pain and had to fight the urge to scream. However, at the same time, he simply lacked the strength to do that.

"Don't worry, Izsha. This won't take long." Sarah said while heading towards the door through which Jim had left the ballroom. She could feel how he and the men following him were on the move again. That meant she had to hurry.

As she walked through the door, she started to focus her mind on everything that was right in front of her. She was still only using a fraction of her powers, only enough so she wouldn't encounter another nasty surprise. Their bullets couldn't hurt her anyway. As she walked through the corridor, the coppery dress that covered her naked skin continued to shift and move, almost as if it had a will of its own and wanted to keep its master safe. If someone had asked her what this dress was made of, she would have answered "stardust". The funny thing about that was the fact that it was _actual_ stardust. Perhaps it was a bit melodramatic, perhaps this was not the clothes you should bring to a firefight. However, right now it was Sarah that defined the rules. And when she walked out, she was hellbent on ending this strange shitshow once and for all.

* * *

Izsha didn't question the wisdom of her Queen. Maybe she should, but she was too loyal to even consider this thought. Besides, it felt good to see the Queen like this, ready to fight. Izsha had no doubts that the Queen of Blades was still inside Sarah Kerrigan's mind, and while she would never speak those thoughts out loud, Izsha was happy about that.

"Ghhh..." the man below her groaned. She looked down and frowned. She knew this man, she had met him before, on that Terran vessel her Queen and she had visited earlier. The odd one, the one who hadn't shown any fear towards her. Izsha looked at his face and studied his features. His face was covered in sweat and his expression was one of...pain? It was hard to say since she wasn't really one for facial expressions. She only possessed two different expressions; uninterested and distant. Still, as she looked at the face of the dying man, she wondered what it felt like.

Not dying, but being human.

Izsha was aware of the fact that the template the Queen of Blades had used to create her had been terran. But even if the essence had been that of a human woman (and some bones, some flesh, and some blood), Izsha considered herself by definition Zerg.

Only that she wasn't Zerg, not anymore at least. It was difficult to describe what she had become. She was no longer part of the Swarm, and while that thought alone would have scared her in the past, she had finally made peace with that fact. Primal Zerg had no connection to the Swarm, yet she wasn't one of them either. She was like her Queen; something else.

Yet her Queen had returned here because of a human, this Terran male called Jim Raynor. Did her Majesty long to be human again? This thought was puzzling to Izsha, for Sarah had obtained the power of the gods. Why should she want to return to the existence of a mere human? Especially if she could become the mighty and magnificent Queen of Blades once more? Lost in thoughts, Izsha didn't realize how the man beneath her started to groan. His skin had already turned ghostly pale. But there was still a spark of life inside him. He felt something warm, the warmth of Izsha's skin. Or carapace, to be more precise. His eyelids started to flutter and he tried to regain some focus.

"So...cold..." he managed to whisper and when he finally opened his eyes, he searched for anyone.

"Admiral? Mr...Mr. Raynor? Anyone?" he mumbled. He was afraid, that much was brutally obvious.

"I am afraid that these persons are not in the vicinity, Captain Brent." Izsha stated with a no-nonsense tone in her voice.

"Oh..." was the only thing Brent managed to say. It took his dying brain a few moments to realize who had just spoken to him. When their eyes met, a smile appeared on his face.

"Hey...Izsha. Heh...how's life?" he whispered again. She was somewhat surprised that he remembered her name. And that he spoke to her like he wasn't scared at all.

"Aren't you afraid of me?" she wanted to know. But Brent, who still thought that this was a hallucination, just started to chuckle.

"Why should I? I tried to see you again. You and Karax. Even drank too much alcohol. Figures that I need to lose tons of blood in order to see you again."

"You are an odd creature, Captain Brent." Izsha then simply stated. "Your species usually reacts differently when they meet one of my kind."

"That's just because...I know that...you won't hurt me." he explained to her.

"Is that so?" Izsha asked with a somewhat surprised tone in her voice. She raised her hand and some razor-sharp claws emerged from the tip of her fingers. These claws were strong enough to cut through steel. "And what makes you think that I will not hurt you?" she demanded to know. The grin on Brent's face turned stupid when he heard that.

"'Cause you're my friend!" he just managed to say. Izsha's eyes widened in surprise and she tilted her head to the side.

"Friend?" she wondered. She had heard about the concept of friendship, but she had no idea what it truly meant. "What do you mean by that?" she wanted to know.

"You and Karax!" Brent then told her. "You're my favorite drinking-buddies! Well, you're my only drinking-buddies..." So he still hadn't figured it out. Perhaps it was for the better.

"Izsha?" he then suddenly asked.

"Yes?" the Queen's advisor replied.

"I'm scared." Brent whispered. Fear? That wasn't a concept Izsha was familiar with. Her life had been devoted to the glory of the Swarm, and now it was to serve her Queen, whatever shape, form or name she was currently using. But fear of death? If her existence would come to an end now, she wouldn't feel any anger or shame. Because she had no higher goals in life than to serve. But humans? She knew that they were different, that they were afraid of the things that were more powerful than they are, and things that didn't make any sense to him.

"You are afraid of death?" Izsha asked again in order to be certain. Brent produced a pain-ridden gasp before he closed his eyes.

"Yes..." he managed to say. "...how...how are the Zerg doing it? Face the fear of death?"

"For the Zerg, death is irrelevant." Izsha replied truthfully. "Every Zerg is merely a cell that is part of the organism that is the Swarm. One cell dies, another one takes it place. They are all Zerg, connected by a shared mind."

"Sounds...nice. So once you die, you return to the Swarm?"

"Actually..." Izsha then said with infinite sadness in her heart. "...I am no longer Zerg." Brent, who was running out of blood, started to lose his grip on reality. As far as he was concerned, the hallucination called "Izsha" had turned into reality.

"That's somewhat inconvenient." he whispered and started to laugh, only to be wrecked by pain. He groaned and tried to calm down, but the pain simply didn't stop. He raised his hand out of instinct and tried to grab something, like a drowning man. "Someone? Anyone...out there?" Izsha looked at his hand and frowned. Humans didn't share the same psionic link Zerg did. Instead, they relied on physical forms of contact. Izsha stared at the hand for some time before she finally raised her own. Her razor-sharp claws retracted and she simply grabbed his. They were roughly the same size. Even though Brent's body started to fail him, he could still feel her warm hand in his. He opened his eyes and looked up at her.

"What do Zerg...if they're...scared?" he asked.

"Zerg are not scared." Izsha replied truthfully.

"And if they're alone...?"

"Zerg are never alone." These answers caused Brent to chuckle. Beneath him, the constant flow of blood started to slow down.

"For a hallucination,...you're a horrible conversationalist..." he said with a weak voice. She looked at his face and could see all that pain. She had seen many dead Terrans, but never like this. Never with her own two eyes. She had only witnessed their death through the eyes of overlords or other Zerg.

"The Zerg are never alone." she then declared. "They all listen to the song of the Swarm. It is everywhere at the same time. It is the sound of life. The sound of past battles and future victories."

"Sounds...bloodthirsty..." Brent whispered.

"So are Zerg."

"Heh, even then...wish I could hear it...bet it would be...trippy..."

"If you wish, I could sing it to you." Izsha then offered. She had no real reason for doing this, so why did she offer it to him in the first place? Maybe to show him during his last moments how marvelous the Zerg truly were? Whatever the reason, Brent was too far gone to realize what she told him. All he managed to understand was "sing".

"That...would be...nice..." he mumbled. Izsha put her hand on his forehead and closed her eyes when she started to sing her song. The same song she used to calm her Queen down. It was not the same as the Swarm's song, but Sarah had told her that it was beautiful in its own regard. And it remembered Izsha of her time with the Swarm. Singing it made her happy.

To Brent, it was just the final proof that this was a hallucination. Suddenly his mind was filled with colors and thoughts and visions and sounds that he had never experienced before. He saw the world like no man had ever seen. It would be a lie to say that he understood any of this. The singular mind of a human couldn't understand the grandness of the Swarm's collective mind, even though Izsha song was just a pale comparison to that. But it felt wonderful and when the pain finally started to fade away, an exhausted smile appeared on his face. His eyelids grew tired and when he closed them for the last time, the fear was almost gone.

* * *

As Sarah walked through the corridors of the palace, she looked somewhat displaced. Like said, right now she was seriously overdressed. Yet even though she was wearing the wrong attire for this kind of occasion, she moved with the grace of a seasoned Ghost. It was somewhat nostalgic and not without irony; the only other two times when she had been to Korhal had both been to kill someone called Mengsk. The first time it had been as a loyal Confederate Ghost, sent to assassinate the late Senator Angus Mengsk and his family. She had never heard about Angus Mengsk before that day, and even later on she hadn't cared about the name of the target. It had just been that; a target. She had only started to care when his son Arcturus Mengsk had _acquired_ her and turned her into his sharpest blade.

She had killed Angus Mengsk, his wife, and their young daughter, and later she had killed his son right inside the walls of his own palace. She was aware of the irony but tried to force this little nagging voice in the back of her head as far away as possible.

Now she was back again, doing what she had done before; killing people. And there was a Mengsk around. While she wasn't here for Valerian, she realized that history seemed to like to make fun of her. Every time she came to Korhal, a Mengsk would die? She didn't care one bit about Valerian, though she had to admit that he was not Arcturus Mengsk. Well, at least she hoped that he wouldn't turn out like his dad. Considering the fact that good old Arcturus had played her the queen of all fools for years, it was proof enough that she wasn't a people-person.

"Head in the game, girl." she said to herself. She moved with the grace of a woman that had been trained in the arts of killing and stealth for years. She used only a fraction of her powers to make sure that there wouldn't be any nasty surprises on her way to Jim and that nothing would happen to him. She took the same path he had, and when she walked around the corner, she didn't even flinch when the two mutilated bodies of the dead attackers came into view. Those were the men the male Specter had killed. She had seen her fair share of gore and violence and she wasn't squeamish either. When she passed the bodies, she stopped and looked at one of those bodies. It still held a blood-covered smg in its hands. An idea formed inside Sarah's mind. She still wanted to keep a low profile, so what better way was there to play the game by their rules? Only that she would cheat all the way.

Sarah bowed down and grabbed one of the blood-covered smg's up. Suddenly thousands of old memories flashed through her mind. Moments when she had grabbed a gun and prepared for a mission. This wasn't different. It was just another mission.

No, that wasn't entirely true. It was a mission of her own choice.

She didn't even have to think about. Her subconsciousness did most of the work for her. The dress that covered her body started to shift and change. It turned gray and started to cover her whole body. After a few seconds, she was wearing her old Ghost-suit again, including a set of goggles that covered her face.

Suddenly she was no longer Sarah Kerrigan. Now she was Ghost Nr. 24 again, the best assassin the Ghost-project of the old Confederacy had ever produced. And perhaps it was time to show these so-called "Specters" what a real Ghost was like.

She chambered a bullet and pulled a piece of brain from the firing mechanism that was blocking it. She snipped it away and didn't care that it once had been part of a living, breathing human.

At the very least people could cut her some slag. This time it wasn't her being responsible for this carnage!

A few moments later she came past the bodies of the dead Specters. Only that they weren't dead, at least not both of them. The man was pretty dead, though. Both of his arms and one of his knees had been crushed, same could be said about the throat. Several rips had punctured his lungs too. The Ghost who had done this had performed admirably, and as a former Ghost herself, she recognized a fellow artist of death when she saw one. As for the woman...

"Should have known better than to put your nose into other people's brains." Sarah said and stopped right in front of the still-breathing corpse. Yes, there was still a heartbeat. However, that was pretty much everything. There was no mind inside that head anymore. It hadn't been Sarah's intention, she had just reacted and pushed that intruder away. However, as she looked at the Specters, she realized something else. The mind of the woman was gone, but the memories remained. Sarah knew about Project Shadowblade. She knew that the Dominion had tried to create next-generation-Ghosts. Some of these guys had helped Jim during his fight against Mengsk and, well, her. Sarah had never been considered to be a test subject for Project Shadowblade, though. It had been just in its early stages when she had gone AWOL. And besides, even her old Ghost-self would have ripped those Specters into pieces.

However, the Specters that had helped Jim had been former Ghosts or had at least been affiliated with Project Shadowblade. The memories of this woman, however...

"Seems like you didn't even know what you were doing, little one." she then said and looked at the woman that was laying in front of her feet. Sarah knelt down and studied the other woman's face. She was young and only barely an adult. Her Asian features were utterly ordinary. She was neither beautiful nor ugly. And when Sarah looked through the memories, she finally realized the true difference between the Ghosts and these Specters.

"They pulled you out of the gutter. They drugged you. And they told you that you were special. But you never believed that, right? You just wanted to find a place you could call home." She shook her head and realized that these weren't the same kind of Specters that had helped Jim. "You never had a chance, little girl." She then reached out with her hand and closed the still open eyes of the female Specter. "Better luck next life." Sarah than just said and stood back up again. She moved on and concentrated on the situation at hand. Jim was close, very close. She could sense his presence only a couple of dozen meters away. She could feel his anger and his determination. She could also feel his pain. Not an emotional pain (though he had plenty of that too), but a physical one. He snarled in frustration but refused to slow down just because of one broken rib.

A broken rib?

Oh no...

That Specter! He had injured Jim and she hadn't even noticed it! Some demi-goddess she was! Suddenly she felt how fear started to grip her heart. She hadn't paid attention for one goddamn second and now Jim was hurt. She gritted her teeth and cold determination started to replace the shame and fear. She had failed so many people before, she would not fail Jim today. The smg in her hand felt surprisingly good.

"Like riding a bike." she growled to herself. She had to hurry and moved through the palace's corridors when-

"IT'S NEW FOLSOM ALL OVER AGAIN!" Jim's voice reached her. It wasn't inside her head, it was his actual voice. She pressed against one of the many pillars and closed her eyes. Three guards, one Ghost and Jim. They weren't pinned down, but they couldn't advance either. The enemy? Two soldiers. There was a third, a woman. But she was heading in the other direction. And there were Specters, though neither one of them was a threat anymore. One of them, a woman, was crawling away from the battle.

"We need to flank them!" the Ghost said with a calm tone in his voice.

"If we split up, they're gonna overwhelm us!" Jim yelled back before he started to blindfire around the corner. The answer came immediately in form of a salvo hitting the wall behind them. "Holy hell!" Jim then barked and turned his head away.

"We don't stand a chance against this kind of firepower!" the Ghost replied, and he was right about that. Clearly, Jim would realize that and pull back in order to-

"We gotta stay! Didn't see much ammo on them, maybe they're running low on bullets!" Jim just shot back." When Sarah heard that, she slammed her head against the pillar. Yes, that sounded like a plan Jim would come up with.

"Wait for them to run out of juice? Seriously?" she whispered to herself, but that's when she heard her own voice in the back of her mind again.

 _He was always proud of his plans, and never understood why people never liked them._ When Sarah heard that, she groaned on the inside.

"Because a fool never realizes that he's a fool." she whispered. In her frustration, she reached out with her senses, and for a brief moment, her mind touched Jim's. When he heard her voice, he believed it to be just another hallucination.

"Heh, worked before, didn't it?" Jim said to himself, not realizing that the voice inside his head was actually just a few couple of dozen meters away from his position.

"Actually, it didn't, Jim." Sarah whispered back and opened her eyes. "Face it, you're lost without me." she declared. She could sense Jim's pain and sadness.

"Trust me, Darlin', I would sell my soul to the devil to have you by my side again." During the entire time, the guards and Smith watched Jim while he was speaking to himself. Or at least it seemed like that to them. Even Smith wasn't able to realize what was going on. That's the difference between a level three and a level 11 (or later level 12) Ghost. That didn't stop the guards to doubt their decision to join Jim hunting down the attackers.

"Oh, that's just great." one guard claimed. "Now I know why this guy's plan seemed so fishy; he has totally lost it!" However, Jim didn't care about any of this. And neither did Sarah. She shook her head and tightened the grip on the smg. The Ghost had been right about one thing; in order to deal with the situation, someone had to flank these bastards. Sarah took a deep breath and made up her mind. The feeling of nostalgia was too strong to let it just go. She could have wiped these guys out in an instant. But instead-

"Let's do this." she whispered to herself and stormed off into the other direction. She was fast like the wind and stormed through the corridors with a speed only a Ghost could achieve. The smg felt good in her hands, and her physical body remembered these old days; the thrill of the hunt, the adrenaline running through her veins, the feeling of success when achieving her goal. Right now she wasn't Sarah Kerrigan. Right now she wasn't the Queen of Blades. Right now she wasn't the heir to the Xel'Naga's heritage.

Right now she was Ghost Nr. 24601. And she was out for blood.

The mission? Infiltrate the Imperial Palace without getting caught. Accomplished. Locate the primary target, the former freedom-fighter James Eugene Raynor? Done. Keeping the primary target alive at all costs?

Work in progress.

She stormed around a corner and then another one. She was a deadly tornado, and everyone who would get in her way would get wiped out. She reached the other side of the corridor with the enemies inside within seconds, and when she did, she could see the dark figure of a female Specter crawling away.

"Get...get out of my...my head...too much, too much!" the woman managed to gargle. Within seconds Sarah scanned her mind and the woman started to scream in terror again. She was a Specter, but different from the rest. Obviously, since she was still alive. However, it wasn't only that. The other Specters had lacked her mental discipline. It was the reason why she was still alive. But that could be changed in an instant. As Sarah stormed towards the woman, the Specter turned her head up and towards the Ghost. Perhaps her mind was already too far gone, but when she raised her hand, Sarah could feel how the Specter tried to use her psionics to blow her head apart.

To Sarah, it wasn't even a tickle.

"Don't have time for you!" she snarled and raised her hand in return. Ghost vs. Specter, there was room for only one of them. She couldn't really say why, but she detested these Specters from the bottom of her heart. Yet she had no time to deal with this one. So when the female leader of the Specters unleashed her psionics, all Sarah did was to flick her away.

The "flick", however, caused the body of the woman to be kicked down the corridor as if she was nothing but a little doll. Sarah heard the cracking sounds of bones, but it didn't matter. The woman was done for, she would probably die anyway. And her powers were no threat to Sarah Kerrigan. However, the bullets of the other attackers were a threat to Jim, and when she finally reached the junction, she raised the smg and peeked around the corner. The two men were still doing their best to keep Jim and his men at bay. And right now it was unclear who would emerge victoriously.

It was time to give him an edge over his opponents.

Ghost Nr. 24601 didn't think when she raised her smg, she just reacted. Even after everything that had happened to her, her body still remembered what it was supposed to do. She didn't need the powers she had gained from the Xel'Naga. She didn't even need to unleash the Zerg inside her. No, the Ghost was more than enough.

She took aim and pressed the trigger. The smg wasn't a very loud weapon. Now that she thought about it, she didn't recognize the model. It resembled a model she knew of. It was probably a newer model, something that had been created after her becoming Zerg. Did it matter? Probably not. The smg worked after the same principle all other models did. And when Sarah pressed the trigger, the weapon gave off a weird sound. It didn't really sound like an assault rifle. It was more of a hissing or sighing sound. As she fired the bullets on the enemies, she made sure that she wouldn't hit Jim on the other side of the corridor. She was an excellent marksman and-

"WHOA!" Jim screamed in surprise on the other side of the corridor when some of Sarah's bullet hit the wall mere centimeters away from his head. He returned to cover and cursed like a sailor. Sarah's eyes widened in shock and terror beneath her Ghost-goggles. For a second she didn't understand what had happened. But...she had aimed at those attackers! Then why had she almost hit Jim?

"Dee, so you finally decided to come back?!" the leader of the enemies yelled. His back was still turned towards Sarah, so he couldn't see the Ghost pointing a gun at him. All he had seen were bullets coming from behind and forcing Jim and his men back into cover. "Get over here and give 'em hell, girl!" However, Dee hadn't returned. Instead, Sarah looked at the weapon in her hands. That damn smg was unstable as hell. She had used all kinds of weapons, but she had just assumed that it would be a precision instrument. Only it wasn't. It was when she finally took the time to realize that this gun was a piece of trash.

Pathetic. She had almost killed Jim because she had lost her focus. She vanished behind the corner, pressed her back against the wall and closed her eyes before she gritted her teeth. What had she been thinking? Ghost Nr. 24601? She was no longer that person, that tool. Not since Arcturus had "freed" her, only to turn her into his own private asset. She cursed herself and could feel how tears started to stream down her face. Sarah grabbed the hood that covered her face and yanked it off. Her red hair spilled out and she couldn't fight her own feelings anymore. She hadn't come here for any of this. So why? She had promised herself that she wouldn't repeat the same mistake she had done on Aiur. She didn't want to fight anymore! Then why the hell did she just try to do that?

Behind her, the enemy soldiers started to yell in rage.

"DEE! GET OVER HERE!" But Dee wasn't there. Instead, both Jim and Smith seemed to see an opening.

"They're distracted!" Jim barked. "We need to smoke them out!" Sarah could feel how Jim was willing to go all out. Every fiber of her body told her that she should run away, grab Izsha and just go somewhere else. Get back to Char. Yes, that would be a good idea. Zagara wouldn't be too happy about it, but they could work that one out. She could become Zagara's advisor, right? Something like that. Or venture to Zerus and take a nice, long swim in the primal spawn pool. Sarah slumped down and was unable to control her feelings anymore. Hot tears of gold streamed down her face and she realized the whole absurdity of this situation. She had done the same mistake all over again; Going somewhere without having any clue what she should actually do. That's what had happened on Ulnar. That's what had happened on Saalok. That's what had happened on the Hyperion. And now it was happening again. But the worst thing?

She had almost injured Jim...

She shouldn't have come here. All she did was cause him pain, both mentally and physically. She hadn't been able to keep the Specter from injuring him. And now she almost put a bullet through his head. Was there any other proof she needed that she was a threat to him? Just because she didn't want to release her powers, just because she wanted to remain hidden. She wanted things and others had to pay the price for that.

The rest of the battle was a blur. Sarah did not really pay any attention to what was happening. However, it appeared that Jim wasn't so helpless without her after all. He used the small window of opportunity and did what he had done so many times before; be the stupid hero that he was meant to be.

"Cover me, folks, I'm going in!" Jim barked and ran around the corner. He raised his gun and opened fire. The guards did as they were told and opened fire as well. The corridor was narrow and every single bullet could hit Jim in the back. But having faith in the guys fighting alongside you was the most fundamental part of the job. Besides, he wasn't scared of bullets. He had caught more than one bullet for someone else. The last one had been the one his old buddy Tychus had fired at Sarah, only for Jim to catch the projectile with his armored shoulder. When Sarah remembered that day, she closed her eyes and pulled her legs towards her chest. This was utterly pathetic, there was a battle that had to be fought! But right now all the old wounds started to break open again. Sarah simply lacked the will and the strength to go on fighting...

Jim didn't know about any of this. Right now he was too busy not getting killed. Unfortunately, he was doing a piss-poor job at it. The enemy soldiers, who had been confused by Sarah's gunfire, turned around and looked into her direction. They still believed that their treacherous comrade had finally returned. But there was no one there. They couldn't see the weeping woman huddling around the corner.

"Smith, this one is yours!" Jim barked and pointed at the man closest to them. Smith stormed forward and reached the baffled soldier within fractions of a second. Jim's bodyguard jumped at him and rammed his knee into the soldier's chest. The enemy was thrown against a pillar, and only his body armor prevented him from getting his chest crushed by Smith's attack. It was still an incredibly powerful attack and the soldier groaned in pain when the air was forced out of his lungs. Smith was smaller and didn't weigh as much, but that hardly mattered. He raised his fist and slammed it into the other man's throat.

Jim had no idea if Smith had already killed his opponent, he was too busy running towards the other terrorist. The man was just about to turn his attention towards Jim. He was already too close to stop and take aim, so Jim decided to do it the old-fashioned way.

"Hey, buddy!" he shouted. The baffled attacker looked at Jim the second he threw his body against him. He tackled the man to the ground and raised his fist, only to ram it into the other man's face. The punch was good and right on the money. However, even then it felt like Jim had just rammed his fist into a block of concrete. What was the chin of that guy made of? Behind him, Smith was dealing with the other man, so right now they had the attackers pinned down. Jim pulled his arm back and was about to hit the enemy's face one more time when suddenly his opponent's fist shot upwards and hit the side of his own head.

Stars exploded in front of Jim's eyes and pain flashed through his whole head. The punch caught him off-guard and he lost his balance. Whoever that bastard was, he decided to not go down easily. Jim could see the man's expression from the corner of the eye. It was one of boundless rage and hatred. He had seen this expression many times. It was the kind of expression that meant that words were wasted. There was only one way to end it; one of them had to die. Smith's opponent proved to be quite a hassle as well and far more resilient than that Specter-thug, so Jim had to deal with this guy himself.

"I'M GONNA TEAR YOU APART!" the man screamed and grabbed Jim by the shoulders before pushing himself off the ground. Jim, still stunned by the hit to the head, wasn't able to fight back. When he did, it was already too late and both of them were rolling over the floor. He realized how the gun in his hand was kicked away. He tried to fight back, he really did. But that guy was at least fifty pounds heavier and in a much better shape than he was. And there was a limit to Jim's waning strength. For the first time ever he realized that he wasn't able to go head to head with an opponent. The soldier managed to get the upper hand. Suddenly Jim was laying on the ground and his opponent was above him.

"HERE, HAVE SOME OF THESE!" the attacker roared when he rammed his fist down. Jim was barely able to react. He managed to cover his face with his arm when the punch hit them. He screamed in pain and tried to kick the guy between the legs, but the other guy was simply too strong. His left arm felt like it was about to fall off, yet right now it was the only thing between his face and the enemy's fist.

"GO...TO...HELL...!" the man screamed with every punch and all Jim could do was to block every punch with his arms. And every punch felt like his arms were about to break.

"Agh...SMITH!" Jim managed to scream for help, but his bodyguard looked like he had underestimated his opponent as well. Smith and his opponent were caught in the most brutal wrestling-match of all times when Jim's dance-partner raised his fist one more time and slammed through Jim's defense. Jim's world exploded in pain, and for a second he thought that his jaw had been ripped from his skull. Blood filled his mouth, and for a moment he was too stunned to do anything. That was when another punch hit him in the face. Something cut his cheek and when he looked up, he could see the fist of his enemy. There was blood on it, his own blood. And there was something else. It almost looked like a strange wrist-watch. Only that it wasn't a wrist-watch. Even while getting the living crap getting beaten out of him, Jim realized that he had seen that thing before, during his time in the Combine, when he had met a bunch of weird soldiers that had called themselves "Zappers". That thought, of course, was cut short when the next punch hit him in the face.

He would feel that in the morning. But only if he would survive it. And right now it didn't look like that.

"Thought that I would go down without a fight? Thought that you could have your way with us? Die, you damn fascist!" the attacker screamed like he had lost all reason. Well, perhaps that was actually the truth. The next punch slammed Jim's head back against the floor and everything started to turn into a huge blur. He knew that the next blow to the head could prove fatal, but he lacked the strength to put up any fight. His head fell back on the ground, and then he felt the metallic taste of his own blood on his tongue.

 _Well, this is it._ he then realized. It was a better end than succumbing to his failing health. Who knew, maybe he and Smith had bought the guards enough time to ensure Valerian's safety. And Matt was okay, so this was not as bad as it could be. Except for Brent. Well, maybe the kid would survive. Whatever would happen, Jim knew that he wouldn't be part of it. He closed his eyes and just waited for the last punch to knock out his lights for good. He had sure come a long way and there was actually just one regret on his mind right now.

"I'm sorry, Sarah..." he managed to whisper and a smile appeared on his face. Dying with a smile on his face? They would remember that!

Around the corner, Sarah could hear that voice again, the one that had kept bothering her ever since Ulnar.

 _He needs your help. Now!_

Her head jerked back up and fear started to grip her heart. No, not now. Not like this! For a short moment, all of her insecurity and her instability were blown away. There was only one thing that she had to do. She had come here to say goodbye to Jim, not to see him die. She grabbed the smg and stood up. Like a machine, she walked around the corner, raised the weapon with only one hand, switched to single-fire and pressed the trigger.

"TO HELL WITH Y- Jim's opponent managed to scream before the bullet found its way into his head. His death was not as messy as the one of those who had fallen victim to the Specters, but it wasn't far away from that either. His fist still raised above his head (or what was left of it), the enemy soldier twitched one more time before he simply fell on Jim. All the former freedom-fighter could do was to groan when the weight of the body pressed on his broken rib. Well, at least the head had missed Jim, so he wasn't covered with blood and brain, and that had to count for something, right?

Right...

Jim took a few painful gasps and felt how every muscle inside his body burned. Damn, when had he turned into an old man? He opened his eyes and when he did, he could see a dark figure standing right over him. Smith, who had some blood on his cheek, grabbed the dead body of the soldier and pulled him off Jim, who took a deep breath and started to cough. Goddamn, he would feel that in the morning. When Smith offered him a hand, Jim considered for a second to just stay down and take a nap instead. But he could sleep once he was done with this life. And there was still a job he had to do. He had to make sure that Junior was still alive. So he grabbed Smith's hand and allowed his bodyguard to pull him back to his feet. Every bone in his body hurt, and his muscles told him to stay the hell down.

He was getting too old for this shit.

"By the way; nice shot." Jim then said and looked at the body of the downed attacker. But that was a mistake because when he saw the damage, he had to close his eyes. There were simply some things he would never get used to, like seeing the empty insides of a skull. Smith didn't seem to be squeamish about all the carnage around him, but even then he frowned when he looked at Jim.

"It was not me who fired that round."

"Oh well, in that case..." Jim replied and turned his head towards the guards that were still hiding around the corner. "...nice shot!"

"It wasn't us!" one guard replied.

"Well, whoever did shot that bastard; thanks." Jim muttered to himself. Suddenly there was a moment of silence inside his mind. It felt as if someone wanted to say something, but lacked the courage to do so. Around the other corner, Sarah had returned dealing with her own private mental breakdown. She lowered her gun and vanished out of sight. She had done it again. She had killed someone. Perhaps it seemed somewhat stupid considering the fact that Sarah Kerrigan had killed so many people in the past, but wasn't this just another proof of what Artanis had told her? That she was a bringer of death? That no matter what she did, it would always end the same way; with blood on the floor, with blood on her hands.

Jim, on the other hand, groaned and pressed his hand on his broken rib. Like said, he would feel that in the morning. Unfortunately, the night wasn't over yet. He looked over at Smith and grimaced.

"Seems like you had some problems with your guy too." Jim then said. They both looked at the other soldier, the one Smith had dealt with. There was no drop of blood visible and the body of the man looked like he was in good shape. Except for the fact that his head had a natural angle when compared to the rest of his body. A broken neck would do that.

"He proved somewhat of a challenge, but that problem has been dealt with." Smith just said. Jim looked at the broken neck of the enemy and pulled his brows up.

"That's one way to look at it." he just replied before he looked over at the other guards. "Yo, you can come out now! The battle's over!"

"You're sure?" they asked. He and Smith exchanged looks, but he decided not to turn it personal.

"Yes, very sure. Get over here."

"Uhm...no thanks. We're just fine over here. You do your thing, we provide you with cover!" was the only answer he got.

"So much faith in our skills, eh Smith? Come on, let's get going." Jim groaned and slumped over to the heavy and reinforced security-door. He looked down and could see his pistol. He leaned forward and started to curse like a sailor when his whole body screamed in protest. He still managed to grab the gun and when he straightened himself, he just wanted to return to his bed and pull the blanket over his head. But there was still a job that needed to be done. He turned towards the heavy door and looked up.

"So, do you know how to open this thing?" he then wanted to know. Smith, who stepped closer, looked up as well.

"Unfortunately, no." Smith replied.

"Can't you, I don't know, open it by using your psionics?"

"I told you; I was just a level three operative. I can barely sense the presence of other people, let alone unleash a storm inside a glass of water. Opening this door is not possible, at least for me." It was not what Jim wanted to hear. However...

"You can sense the presence of other people?" Jim wanted to know and looked over to his bodyguard.

"If they are close, yes." Smith replied. Jim walked over to the door and put his hand on the cold steel.

"Can you check if the Emperor is on the other side? If he is still alive?" Jim didn't even want to think about the possibility that Valerian was dead. And he certainly didn't want to explain that to Matt either. No more dead people!

 _If it were only that easy._ Sarah's voice whispered in the back of his mind.

"As long as we don't give up, everything is possible, darlin'." he just said, but the hallucination didn't answer to that. Still, something was different this time. It felt like the voice hadn't just been inside his mind, but as if he had heard it with his ears too. He frowned and looked over at the other end of the corridor. Was there still someone out there? He turned around and was about to walk over to Sarah's position when Smith pressed his hand against the door and closed his eyes.

"I can sense something...someone." Smith then said.

"That's awfully helpful, Smith. Come on, do your Ghost-stuff! Tell me that your boss is still alive and kicking!" Jim barked and gritted his teeth when a sudden flash of pain ran through his chest. That damn rib! If there would be another fight, he wouldn't be able to go all out. Man, he really started to feel his age. Oh, and all those years of alcohol abuse.

"Actually, Admiral Horner is my superior officer. The Emperor is only-" Smith tried to explain, but Jim wasn't in the mood for that.

"Not in the mood for that, Smith!" he basically repeated his inner thoughts. "Do your thing!" Smith looked at Jim and then he finally sighed. It was no point talking to the man, so his bodyguard simply decided to do as he was told. He pulled his sunglasses off and his blue eyes fixated the door right in front of him. He pressed his hand against it one more time and closed his eyes. His powers were rather limited when compared to other Ghosts. He couldn't even reach out like Sarah or other powerful Ghosts. All he could do was to open his mind and allow the presence of other people to touch his mind. Hiding from his senses was easy for Sarah. On the other hand, his limited powers were the reason why he was still alive. The dead Specters were the (not so) living proof of that.

"I sense people. More than one. But that is all I can say for certain."

"That ain't much. Come on, Smith. Give me something I can work with! We need to get inside and do something!" Smith wanted to reply something, but instead, he tried to focus on the people on the other side. Yes, he could sense them. And he could feel that there were more than one. However, that was everything he could sense. Perhaps if he managed to find a small gap, they could use to communicate with the people on the other side.

Sarah watched it from afar. She could sense Smith's frustration and Jim's pain and his exhaustion. Those two were like two monkeys trying to push a round block through an angularly shaped hole. Sarah could sense everything, yet she lacked the will to go around the corner and face Jim once and for all. Artanis was right, she was nothing but a bringer of death. She could have prevented this whole thing from happening, but she hadn't done that. Now people were dead. What should she do next? Run away? It was the most reasonable thing to do. She couldn't face Jim. Not here, not now, not anymore. He...he wouldn't understand why she hadn't intervened. Why she didn't want to be dragged into their petty conflicts anymore.

"Goddammit! We need to get inside! Smith, isn't there anything you can do?!" Jim wanted to know, but Smith was simply too weak. Sarah could feel Jim's desperation. Perhaps it was time to go, to leave for good. She wasn't sure about that, though. When Jim smashed his hand against the heavy door, his frustration caused her to wince in discomfort.

"Not now, not like this. Be safe, Valerian, or Matt's gonna kill me!" he whispered to himself. Right now getting through that door was the only thing on Jim's mind. It was so very much like him. He was in a lot of pain. It wasn't just his rib, but also his face. He looked like hell and his left eye was starting to swell. Jim looked like he had just lost the godmother of all brawls. But he was still standing, and he would stay on his feet until he was either dead or had finished the job.

"Maybe I can concentrate on the opening mechanism..." Smith mumbled to himself, but his powers were too weak to achieve anything. Sarah, on the other hand, could do something. She didn't want to see Jim suffer and she knew that he would not stop until he had achieved his goal. So she raised her hand and snipped with her finger.

The door in front of Jim and Smith suddenly started to dent. There was a loud BANG! and the sound of tearing metal echoed through the corridor.

"SmiiiiiIIIITH! WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Jim yelled when the door right in front of them was slammed up and ripped out of its frame. The door weighed at least 50 tons, but to Sarah, it was nothing but a thin sheet of paper. When it crashed down on the floor, she made sure that it wouldn't crush anyone beneath it. She then lowered her hand and turned around. She was done here.

Jim, on the other hand, just blinked both in surprise and shock. He looked over at Smith, who seemed equally shocked.

"Can't do that, eh? Level three, eh?" Jim mocked the Ghost. Smith looked over at him and shook his head.

"Sir, that wasn't me." But Jim just shook his head when he heard that.

"It's fine, Smith. I'm gonna keep your secret a secret. I know that you Ghost don't like to brag about your powers. Whatever. Come on." He raised his gun and stepped through the dust and into the throne room. The dust burned in his eyes, yet he decided to fight the urge to turn away. As both he and Smith walked forward, they could see how a lithe figure emerged appeared right in front of them. Both men raised their guns and pointed them at the figure when suddenly-

"This is Emperor Valerian Mengsk! This is my palace! I demand to know who you are and why you have come here!" When Jim heard that, he lowered his gun and sighed in relief. He stepped closer to the figure, and when the dust finally faded away, he could see the familiar features of Valerian Mengsk right in front of him.

"Damn, Junior!" Jim then said with a wide grin on his face. "You totally have to check the guest list more carefully next time! You okay?" When Valerian realized who was standing right in front of him, all the pressure and fear finally started to fade away.

"Yes." he told Jim. "I am now."


	42. Act II - Chapter 18

...

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 18**

 **To have Faith**

* * *

When both Jim and Valerian finally recognized each other, both of them felt nothing but relief. The Emperor was unharmed. The Commander was, well, not unharmed, but at least alive. It was the best news of the day and reason enough to have a mental breakdown and start to sob or something like that. Both men walked over to each other, and in a rare gesture of affection, they gave each other a hug.

"Goddammit, Junior. You're alive. Thank God." Jim whispered. Valerian had to laugh when he heard that.

"I think I don't have to thank any god, but James Raynor for saving my butt." Valerian replied before he made a step backward and took a good look at Jim. "Though I have to be brutally honest with you, Jim; you look like shit." All Jim could do was to chuckle, but even then he could feel his broken rib.

"Yeah, well, let's just say that I had better days. I'm just glad that these bastards didn't get here first. Were there any losses?" Jim asked, but Valerian just shook his head.

"Some fat cats probably soiled their pants or wish me to choke on vacuum, but no; there weren't any casualties. What about the other guests? What about Matt?" Only then Jim realized that Valerian had no idea what had happened inside the ballroom. He made a step backward and sighed.

"Matt is fine, Junior. He's with the police forces outside the palace, probably coordinating them as we speak." He could see how Valerian exhaled in relief and put his hands on his legs.

"Oh, thank God. I was already worried that-"

"But we lost a lot of people today, Valerian." Jim then interrupted him. Valerian froze and looked up at the other man.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"It's the ballroom, Valerian. They attacked the guests. It's a damn nightmare. They mowed the people down like they were Zerglings. They never stood a chance." Now that the immediate danger was gone, two more figures came up from behind a heavy table and walked over to the three men. Jim recognized them, it was Leila Curtland and Jasper Neusser. Both of them noticed that the newcomer was Jim, and he could see how Curtland's features started to relax. There was even an exhausted smile on her face. Neusser, however, seemed less than pleased when he looked at Jim and Smith. He almost seemed...angry? Well, it had been one hell of a shitty day, so Jim could relate to that. Neusser carried one of those sub-machine guns the attackers had used, and Jim wondered where he had gotten it from. However, that's when he noticed the blood on the floor and a severed arm near the entrance to the throne room.

"How many?" Valerian wanted to know with a choked voice.

"Many. I'm sorry, Valerian." Instead of saying anything, Valerian just turned around and walked over to some furniture that had been blown away by the heavy steel door. For a second Jim thought that Valerian would grab a chair, put it back on its feet and sit down. The Emperor did indeed grab a chair, but he didn't put it back on his feet. Instead-

"TO HELL!" Valerian screamed and threw the chair across the room. He walked over to a wooden table and started to kick it while screaming out his frustration. "NO! No, that's not right!" he roared in rage. He continued to kick the table until it finally broke. However, he was not done with venting his rage.

"I was the target! Who else should they go after? Why kill these people, it doesn't make any sense!" he roared and continued to let out his frustration against the impossibly expensive furniture. He grabbed another chair, one that was actually too heavy for him to lift it up. But when you're really angry, you don't care about physical limitations. His body managed to give him the strength needed to throw the heavy stuff around. And it didn't stop there. He grabbed one of the heavy stone tables and threw it around, the same stone table that had been too heavy for him earlier. Pretty much everyone seemed to be shocked at the Emperor's sudden outburst, everyone except Jim. He knew how Valerian felt like right now. He had been there. Smith moved closer to Jim and whispered something into his ear.

"Sir, this isn't over. We don't know if there are any more attackers out there. We have to evacuate the Emperor immediately." Smith was right, but even then, Jim knew that Valerian needed this moment. It would define the young Emperor for the rest of his life. And if there was any more proof needed that Valerian was not Arcturus Mengsk, then here it was. Jim's eyes wandered to Curtland and Neusser. The head of security of the Combine's embassy stared at the bloody stain on the floor. It looked like someone had been crushed by the door. The look on Neusser's face was unreadable. Was he angry? Or sad? His hands seemed to shake, but he didn't look like the kind of man who would break easily, so it was probably not because of fear. Whatever Neusser was thinking, it had to wait. When Jim studied Curtland's features, he realized that she looked different. It took him some moments to figure out that even though she was looking at Valerian, the hateful expression on her face was gone. It almost seemed as if she was...sympathetic?

It had been a long day, and Jim shouldn't be surprised if suddenly Artanis himself would drop from the sky to save the day.

"Sir...!" Smith urged Jim, but he just shook his head.

"Give him a minute. He needs it." Jim just said. Valerian wasn't able to calm down. He stopped throwing things around, but when he leaned against one of the ruined tables, Jim could see the pain on Valerian's face.

"It's wrong. It's all wrong! No one should die for me. I invited these people so they would enjoy themselves, not so some asshole could tear them apart! TO HELL WITH ALL!" he roared, grabbed another piece of furniture and smashed it against the wall. That's when Jim finally decided to step in. He walked over to Valerian and put his hand on the man's shoulder.

"Ju...Valerian. We have to go. Unfortunately, it ain't over yet. We need to get you to safety." Valerian turned around and looked Jim straight into the eyes. His expression was one of rage and anger, but even then, everyone was shocked to see how hot tears streamed down Valerian's face.

"I will not leave my people behind!" Valerian hissed. "Let them come! No one else will have to die for me!"

"That's bullshit, Valerian, and you know it. If they get you, they get what they want. They will win. And the sacrifice of the people inside the palace will be in vain if that-"

"Sacrifice? SACRIFICE?!" Valerian screamed like he had lost it. "Look around, Jim! These guys aren't soldiers! They're civilians! This isn't a war zone, it was supposed to be a party! No one has the right to tell normal people to sacrifice themselves! They are not soldiers, they are not supposed to fight!" Jim felt the urge to tell Valerian that not every soldier loved the idea to sacrifice himself for the greater good either. But Valerian wasn't an arrogant fool. Everyone had a different set of buttons you shouldn't push.

"Valerian, we have to go. The sooner we get you out of here, the sooner they can end the lockdown, and the sooner we can help the survivors. So please, let's just leave now." He didn't add that Brent's life was depending on it. However, Valerian's anger was too hot and too bright to just fade away.

"There are still people inside this throne room and the safe room, I will NOT abandon them! I will not run away like a coward! They want me? So, let them come! I'm not scared." Valerian spat out. Jim could sense how his own patience was coming to an end. He respected Valerian, he really did. But right now, he was acting like a little brat. Jim opened his mouth and was about to tell him that when-

"That is what your father would have done, Emperor." Everyone froze when they heard Leila Curtland's voice. Both Jim and Valerian turned around and looked at the tall woman.

"What did you just say?" Valerian hissed. Right now, he looked really scary. Right now, he almost looked like his old man.

"Your father hid behind his own people. He used them as a shield for his own ambitions, for his own safety. There was no honor in that kind of behavior. You claim to be different. But if you stay here, you're just acting like your father would have." Curtland explained with a calm tone in her voice. Jim looked at her, then at Valerian, then at her again before he finally made a step to the side. Maybe he should get out of the blast-zone before Valerian would go nuclear.

"What do you know about me, Curtland? And my father? He used people as TOOLS!" he roared. "I want to keep them safe!"

"No, you don't." Curtland replied "You act like a small boy whose toys were destroyed by a rowdy. And now you want to show everyone that it doesn't bother you by acting tough. This isn't about keeping people safe. It's about keeping up an image, an appearance! That of a strong and heartless ruler who would put his own little selfish feelings above the needs of the many!" Valerian stormed over to her and looked straight into her eyes. For a moment Jim thought that he was about to do something really stupid.

"You don't know me." Valerian hissed. "I am NOT my father." Suddenly Curtland raised her hands and for one second Jim thought that she would knock the Emperor out, throw him over her shoulder and carry him out of the throne room. Instead, she just put her hands on his shoulders.

"Then prove it!" she just said with a gentle tone in her voice. "Prove that you are the man you claim to be. By doing the one thing your father couldn't do; the right thing." she told him. Valerian looked at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he wanted to know. A weak smile appeared on Curtland's face.

"Your father acted like he was brave, but he was a coward. He hid behind others while portraying himself as a fearless leader. Now you have to do the opposite; you have to act like a coward in order to be the leader your people truly need. And you need to be brave for that." she explained to him. "If you leave your palace now, you can save many lives. So please, I beg of you, be that man. The kind of man I could respect."

There was a long moment of silence when no one dared to say a word. However, even from his position, Jim could see that Curtland had scored a critical hit.

"Damn..." Jim whispered to himself. "...why is it that women always find the flaws in men's logic?"

Valerian lowered his gaze and a legion of different emotions appeared on his face. It was clear that he was battling with himself until he finally nodded.

"Okay." he said with a weak voice. "Okay, you're right. There is no point in acting brave." When Curtland heard that, she tightened her grip on his shoulders.

"No, you're wrong, Mr. Mengsk. This _is_ acting brave." she explained to him.

"The people won't say that. They will believe that in the time of greatest need, I decided to save my own hide." Valerian mumbled.

"Perhaps. But the people who are here right now know the truth. So what's it gonna be, Mr. Mengsk? Valerian? A life where the masses adore you and where there's no true friend at your side? Or a life where the people don't worship you like a god, but there are friends that have faith in you?" _This_ was one of those moments that would define history. The choice Valerian would make now would change not only his path in life but the lives of pretty much everyone inside the Koprulu Sector. His father had always longed for this moment to come to him. To become the man that would shape the future of everyone around him. If Arcturus would still be alive, he would probably yell at Valerian to act like a man and be the strong and benevolent tyrant that this Dominion truly needed.

Valerian took a deep breath and lowered his gaze. Reason finally started to return to him and he felt ashamed for his sudden outburst. But even then-

"There are still people here, inside the safe room and hiding in the throne room. I can't just abandon them." he explained. Curtland wanted to reply something when Jim finally stepped in.

"The folks in the safe room should be okay, right? As for the other guys, I think I have an idea." He walked back to the destroyed door (and made sure that he wouldn't slip on all the blood) and looked around the corner.

"Yo! Party's over, you can come out now!" he yelled over to the guards.

"No thanks, we're fine over here!" they answered. Jim shook his head in disbelief when he heard that.

"The fight's over, so get over here!"

"Do we have to?" was their answer. Now Jim was getting angry.

"GET YOUR ASSES OVER HERE BEFORE I GET REALLY MAD!" He was about to send Smith over to them and "encourage" them to do their job, but then the three guards finally decided to move out of cover. They checked every dark shadow. When they saw the dead bodies of those soldiers and Specters, one of them gave a body a hard kick.

"And that's why you don't mess with us, pal!" he said with a proud grin on his face.

"Funny, I remember it a bit differently." Jim mumbled to Smith, who just shrugged his shoulders. When the guards finally arrived, they saluted in front of Valerian.

"Sir! It is good to see you alive and well. What are your orders?"

"Oh, hell." Jim groaned. "Now they act like they're born professionals?" However, no one except Smith heard those words. Valerian, who looked like he was still not sure about any of this, looked at Jim and then at Curtland. Both of them gave him a quick nod and he sighed before he turned towards the guards.

"Gentlemen, there is something I require you to do. And this is not easy for me to ask of you because it could mean that you will have to fight superior numbers of enemies without any support. However, someone has to stay behind and protect the people inside the throne room while we...I..." He stopped and clenched his hands into fists. This was wrong. Whoever was behind the attack was after him. The guards didn't seem to be very happy, but when they exchanged glances, they decided to be professional about it.

"We understand, your Majesty. We will hold the position until support arrives." one guard said and the other ones agreed. Jim could see how Valerian gritted his teeth. It looked like he was about to scream. Maybe he would even grab Neusser's SMG and try to hunt down the attackers himself. However, instead of doing so, he walked over to the guards and offered each one his hand.

"Thank you. And don't do anything reckless. Someone will come for you, I promise you that." The men saluted and knew what that meant. Surprisingly enough they didn't complain about it.

"What does Junior have that I lack? When I told them to move, they weren't nearly as eager." Jim mumbled to himself before he finally shook his head.

"Okay, we have to go now. Valerian, let's move. The more time we waste, the-" he tried to say.

"I know!" Valerian interrupted him before he took a deep breath. "Let's go. But one more thing." He then looked at Curtland. "You're coming with us." The serious tone in Valerian's voice caused Curtland to blush.

"And why should I do that? The bigger the group, the bigger the chance that someone will catch us." Curtland said.

"That might be true, but I won't risk losing you."

There was an awkward moment of silence and Jim wondered if they would start kissing now. However, Valerian's next words managed to turn an awkward moment into one of glorious stupidity.

"I don't want to have to explain to General Makai why I left the Ambassador of the Combine behind in order to save my own hide."

Now wasn't this a romantic thing to say? Still, when Curtland heard that, she simply started to chuckle. It was a rare sight and actually a bit creepy. Curtland then bowed down and slipped out of her high-heels. All the men watched as she started to rip the lower part of her dress open, revealing her trained tights. She sighed in relief and straightened herself.

"Should make running easier." she just explained. Valerian, who had a hard time not staring at her long legs, swallowed hard. Why was it that people always got improper thoughts at the worst possible timing?

"Okay, glad we worked that one out." Jim then intervened. "But we have to hit the road now. If we hurry and get you out of here, there might still be a chance that Brent will make it." When Valerian heard that, his eyes widened in shock.

"Brent? Captain Brent? Matt's adjutant? He's here?"

"Yeah, that guy. The kid was wounded badly, so if you want to save his life, I suggest we hurry up. Might be too late already." The last part was but a whisper and no one could hear it.

"Why didn't you say so!" Valerian suddenly barked. "Come on, let's move. I don't want to have to explain to Matt why his adjutant is dead because I couldn't get my ass moving." Jim saluted, or at least he tried to.

"Sir, yes, Sir!" he then announced and turned around. "Okay, let's try to act like professionals. Smith, you're with me. We take the front. Neusser!" he then said to Curtland's chief of security.

"Yes?" The voice of the short man was barely audible.

"You take the rear. Sorry about that, but should anyone try to jump us from behind, your SMG will provide us with the greatest amount of firepower. Hope you don't mind." Neusser, who still looked like something was nagging at him, looked over to Jim, Smith, then Curtland and Valerian before his eyes returned to Jim again. He tightened the grip on his weapon and nodded.

"I can do that." he then announced. Jim gave him a friendly smile when he heard that.

"Good man. Now come on, let's move up. Stay tight and we're gonna do this." He looked over at Smith, who finally pulled his gun out. "We take point. Follow me." And so they decided to move out. The look on Valerian's face was grim and it was clear that he wasn't very happy about it. But he had made the right decision. Now they only had to survive so they could benefit from it. Jim and Smith were up front while Valerian and Curtland were right behind them. Neusser did as he was told and followed them, making sure that no one would attack them from behind. They stepped out of the throne room and Jim looked around.

"Better take the same route we used to get here." he said.

"I agree." Smith added. When the group of four started to move out, no one noticed that Neusser remained behind. They reached the corner and when Jim looked around, he could see how Neusser knelt next to the dead soldier that had tried to kill Jim. The distance between them was too big for Jim to see the look on Neusser's face, but for a second he believed that Neusser's expression was...desperate? Or sad? Jim frowned when he saw that.

"Neusser!" Curtland barked when she saw that her chief of security wasn't doing his job. "Get over here, we're leaving!" Neusser looked up, and when Jim saw the look on the man's face, he could swear that it was an expression filled with hatred.

"Yes, Ma'am." Neusser then declared and stood up. He walked over to them, he tightened the grip on his gun. The others didn't pay too much attention to it. Instead, they turned around and continued to head to the ballroom as fast as possible. When Neusser finally reached them, he looked at the back of those four people. They walked around the corner and were no longer in the sight of the guards who had been left behind. Neusser stared at their backs and his finger wandered to the trigger of his SMG. That's when he realized that this was the chance he had waited for so long...

* * *

"Curse...them...all..." Dee managed to hiss when she finally reached the bottom of the elevator shaft. It was the same route they had used to infiltrate the palace, and now it was the same way that would allow her to save her own ass, at least in theory. Because even though she had managed to get all the way down to the entrance point, she knew that she wasn't safe yet. She still had to get back into the sewers and walk all the miles back to the manhole they had used to get in. And then she had to find a way to go into hiding and wait for this whole mess to calm down.

That alone was one hell of a tall order. And she wasn't even thinking about all the things that could go wrong. Maybe the guards were already on her tail. Perhaps someone would wait on the other side of the sewers. Like that Gabriel Tosh-guy. Maybe he wanted to know what had happened to his team of freaks.

There were so many ifs that Dee had to be honest with herself; her chances of survival weren't exactly the best. However, she was still alive, and she would continue to move on until she had no strength left. Besides, she wasn't able to think that far ahead. The pain was simply too much. When she stepped away from the ladder, she pressed her hand against her lower stomach, right where the bullet had hit her. Perhaps she should have stayed and helped her "comrades". But Dee was a patriot, not suicidal. If that was Neusser's wet dream, then he could do that himself. And take Lloyd and the rest of the team with him. As for Dee? She had still other options. She could return to the Combine and become someone else. There was no shame in that. She had tried, she had failed, she could start anew.

But only if she wouldn't bleed to death.

She had to thank Lloyd for that. The bastard's last bullet had managed to hit her in the back. The projectile had only partially penetrated her body armor, but she could feel the sharp metal inside her body with every move. When she stumbled down the narrow corridor of the sub-basement, she pressed her hand on the wound that was still bleeding, but that was the least of her problems. She still had to find a way to close the wound, because swimming through a sewer with an open was the last thing she wanted to do. Not all the penicillin in the world would be enough to keep those germs away.

Every step was hell, and when she reached the ladder that led to the sewers, she knew that this day wasn't over yet. She turned around and started to climb down. Dee had no idea how long it took her until she finally reached the bottom, but it felt like hours. She was panting hard and her whole body was covered in sweat, yet she refused to just give up. When she continued to drag her wounded and exhausted body forward, she didn't notice how _something_ started to climb down the ladder as well.

Dee felt hot. It was so hot! And the body armor was so damn heavy. And so was the shotgun in her hand. She suddenly stopped and started to open the clips on her armor before she dropped the heavy piece of trash on the ground. It felt better, now that the weight was gone. However, even then her whole body ached and her muscles screamed in protest. As Dee continued to drag her wounded body to safety, she pressed the heavy shotgun against her chest. Perhaps it would have been easier to ditch the weapon as well, but right now the cold metal felt good against her sweaty skin. It gave her a feeling of safety. When she finally reached the sewers, she stopped and frowned. The water wasn't very deep, it only reached to her knees. However, there would be tunnels where the water would reach all the way up to her chest. She still had to find a way to patch herself up before reaching that point, but right now she had to move. As she stepped into the water, she couldn't help but shudder. Once she was out of this mess, she would go somewhere warm, somewhere where the sun would never stop shining. A tropical paradise maybe?

That's when suddenly something landed in the water behind her with a loud SPLASH! She turned around and raised her shotgun. Her eyes were widened in shock and her body released the pitiful rest of adrenaline it had left. When she stared into the darkness, she saw nothing. She looked at the empty corridor behind her for what felt like minutes before she finally turned away and continued to leave this nightmare behind. Dee managed to make good speed, and after a few more minutes she reached the first checkpoint. The sound of water crashing down started to get really loud, and she could feel how the stream around her legs started to pull her forward. She stopped at the small waterfall. It wasn't that huge, one and a half meter. But Dee still wanted to avoid that filthy water and looked for another route. Maybe there was a ladder or a staircase that she could-

"THOUGHT YOU'D GET AWAY FROM ME?!" a new voice suddenly roared. Dee turned around, but when she did, she only stared directly into the eye of the leader of the Spectres. Even in the twilight of the sewers, she could see the blood coming out of the Spectre's eyes, nose, and ears. There was no time to say anything, all Dee could do was to react. She raised her shotgun, ready to deal with this freak once and for all. However, before she could solve this problem, the Spectre threw herself against Dee and tackled her to the ground. Or, to be more precise, into the germ-filled water.

Perhaps Dee should have worried about something else, but as her head was pushed under the water's surface, she couldn't think of anything else but the sewage that was about to enter her wound. And when she felt the hands of the female Spectre embracing her throat, she realized that they wouldn't be able to talk this one out.

"Thought you could use us? Abandon us? Let us die? I'm gonna tear you apart!" the Specter roared. Reason had left her mind a long time ago. The pain inside her head was still present. She didn't know what had caused it, all she knew was that these assholes had used her and her comrades as replacement targets. She started to tighten her grip on Dee's throat. She would choke the life out of that woman! It wouldn't bring her team back, but at least she would be able to take revenge! And then she would return to Gabriel Tosh and tell him about what had happened. Maybe he would decide to avenge her team? A mad grin appeared on the Spectre's face, and an equally mad laugh started to fill the sewer-tunnel. She could feel the pain and despair of Dee and she enjoyed every damn second of it.

"That's right! Take a good breath! Choke on the filth, dirty on the outside, and dirty on the inside!" She felt everything. Like when Dee was finally starting to lose her strength. You can only go so far without oxygen. The Zapper tried to fight back and her limbs thrashed around in the water. They hit the Spectre but lacked the strength to really hurt her or break her grip. Even through the dark water, the Spectre could see Dee's face. She leaned forward until own was only centimeters away from the watery surface. Her brain was too damaged to blow Dee's head apart, so she would have to do it the old-fashioned way.

Dee's movements became sluggish. Her lungs burned and her muscles screamed for oxygen. An engine doesn't work without any kind of juice. The Spectre felt how the life started to leave the Zapper's body. It would be over soon.

However, the Spectre wasn't in great shape either. Otherwise, she would have realized how Dee's hands wandered to the shotgun still strapped to her chest. The Spectre's eyes widened in shock when the big gun broke through the water's surface and was pointed directly at her own head. With the full amount of her psionic abilities, she would have been able to dodge that attack with ease. But right now, her psionics were toast, so all she could do was to throw her head to the side when Dee pressed the trigger.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" the Spectre screamed in pain. Even though most of the shotgun round missed her, more than enough managed to find its way to her face. She released her grip on Dee's throat and pressed her hands against the bloody mess that once had been a human face. She stumbled backward and fell into the water. Dee, who managed to get back on her feet, started to cough the water out of her lungs. She looked over to the screaming and thrashing woman and hoped that the filthy water of the sewer would eat the flesh right from the Spectre's bones. She decided to not waste any more time, she just wanted to get the hell out of this place. At least she didn't have to worry about how to avoid the sewage anymore because she was now covered in it. The Spectre behind her howled like some sort of sick animal, it didn't even sound like a human being anymore.

Dee hurried towards the small waterfall. She looked for a place to climb down, but she didn't get very far.

"YOU...DIE!" the Spectre screamed when she tackled Dee from behind and both women fell down the small waterfall. Above switched places with below, and for a short moment, Dee could see a horribly mutilated face. One half of it still resembled a human face, the other half was nothing but a gory mess. The Spectre didn't care about any of this. She was just out for blood. When both women crashed into the water, Dee could feel how the mad dog of a woman tried to get hold of her throat again. The Zapper managed to kick her leg into the Spectre's guts. Even under water, she could hear the gurgling sound of pain, yet Dee had no time for this. The water was much deeper here. Too deep to stand. She had to get back up to the surface!

But no matter how hard she tried to get back to the surface, something pulled her down. Her hands wandered over her body and she felt the heavy metal of her shotgun. Her shotgun! Even though she was close to panicking, she still managed to remove weapon's harness and suddenly she felt so much lighter. She tried to get back to the surface, and when she managed to break to the surface, she took a deep breath. Ah, sweet air!

It didn't last long, though. Behind her, the mad Spectre came back to the surface as well and slung her arms around Dee's shoulders.

"GONNA KILL YOU!" she screamed and it was clear that reason had completely left her. Now Dee finally started to panic. She could feel that her strength was almost depleted. She had to get rid of that crazy bitch! But it was impossible. She screamed in pain when the Spectre dug her teeth and nails deep into the Zapper's flesh. Both of them were too heavy to stay afloat. Dee felt how the other woman tried to pull her down. The water was too deep, they would both drown! So Dee tried one more time to break free. The Spectre was still behind her and she rammed her elbow back. She managed to hit the Spectre right into the mutilated face. There was a nauseating and cracking sound, and then she heard "MY EYE!". Oh, that wasn't good. That's when the Spectre finally released Dee from her grip. It was the one chance to break free! Dee managed to push herself away from the other woman and tried to swim over to the edge of the pathway next to the water. She grabbed it and pulled herself on solid ground. And not one moment too soon. She could feel how the last rest of her strength faded away. She was spent.

All she needed now was to catch her breath and-

"I'M GONNA TAKE YOU WITH ME!" the Spectre roared when she reached Dee. She slung her arms around the Zapper's lower body and all she had to do was to let gravity do the rest. Dee's eyes widened in shock when she felt how she was slowly dragged back into the water.

"No! NOOOOO!" she screamed both in terror and disbelief. She tried to hold onto something, but there was nothing around. The ground was too slippery and she hadn't any strength left. She rammed her nails into the concrete and ripped at least one off, but it was pointless. When she slipped back into the water, she didn't even manage to take a deep breath. Both women sank down, and with every passing second, Dee could see how the surface moved away from her.

When Dee finally realized that this was the end, her thoughts returned to her home, back in the Combine.

Her last thought was that she wished she could have told her mother that she was sorry. About everything.

Then everything came to an end for both of them as they descended into their watery grave.

* * *

As Neusser followed the group of four, he was still in shock. Lloyd was dead. Lloyd. It had only been a codename, his real name had been Dirk Hesterfeld, and they had known each other for many years. They were comrades. Well, had been comrades. Friends even. You don't share your foxhole with someone else for days, weeks and months, and then just claim that you don't know that guy. Lloyd had been his friend, his comrade, his brother-in-arms.

Now he was dead, and so was the rest of the team. The whole mission had turned into a nightmare. However, Neusser was still standing. And right now, he was in the perfect position to finish the job. Some would wonder why Neusser hadn't decided to grab the opportunity and end the dreaded Emperor's life once and for all, right here and now. Was he perhaps a coward? Had the death of his team shown him that he should abandon this mission?

Perhaps yes, perhaps no. It was somewhat problematic to figure out what a person was thinking if everything goes to hell. He had no idea how to escape the palace, that information had died with the rest of his team. He had no idea what was going on outside the palace's walls either. And he had no idea if they had figured out who the attackers were.

Then again, they didn't know that _he_ had been a part of the team all along. And that was important.

From the tactical point of view, this mission was a disaster, there was no point in denying it. They hadn't been able to achieve their main goal; to get hold of the Emperor and bring him to justice. But it was not just about killing the man. The plan had been to find him, bring him down to his knees, and then show the whole world what kind of a coward he really was. Unfortunately, Emperor Valerian Mengsk had decided to act like anything _but_ a coward. However, even though the mission was a failure, there was still a chance to save this. Neusser was still alive, that meant that he still could find a way to turn this thing around, he just needed a new plan. A better plan. As long as you don't give up, there will always be a path to success. It was clear that the relationship between the Ambassador and the Emperor had changed, and deep inside Neusser's chest, he felt nothing but contempt and disgust.

Should he act now? Should he kill the Emperor? It would probably cause the Dominion to fall apart. It could mean chaos and destruction, anarchy would reign supreme. It would be a fitting lesson for those fascists, to see their worlds burn and crumbling apart. And he would be able to kill Ambassador Curtland. The fact that she had decided to collaborate with the enemy meant that she was a traitor and deserved to be killed. Why the hell had General Sakai chosen her for that job? In the end, it didn't matter. She was just another traitor, like so many others. The time of her judgment would come soon enough, and there was no chance in hell that she would escape from it.

As for Neusser?

He could still save this. He could still find a way to turn this into a success. Not today, but there would be another chance. And if he played his cards well, he could manage to gain the Emperor's trust. All he had to do was to appeal to the man, tell him that he believed in him. Just like the Ambassador had done. So all he had to do was to prostitute himself, to tell lies, and pretend to be someone he was not. He could do that. However, he wouldn't act now. His dead comrades would understand that. They would want him to move on, to turn this mission into a success. It was, after all, the most important thing about this job; to get it done.

As they turned around yet another corner, Neusser was too lost in thoughts to realize the bunch of bodies lying around.

"Better keep your eyes up, people. This isn't a pretty sight." Jim then said and when Neusser heard this, he just had to look down.

Big mistake.

He recognized those uniforms. They belonged to the strike-team. He couldn't see their faces though because, well, because they had no heads left. He had seen a lot of carnage and destruction, but the sight of those headless bodies was hard to handle, even for him. It appeared that the others seemed to be shocked as well. Especially the Emperor, who was a few meters away from him. Curtland grabbed Valerian by the arm and pulled him away. She whispered something in his ear and Valerian immediately straightened himself.

"Look at me!" she hissed, and Valerian did as he was told. Neusser couldn't see his expression, but it was hardly necessary. He could only see Curtland's face, who looked over at him and gave him a quick nod. She then continued to whisper something to Valerian, who seemed to be utterly shocked.

What a damn coward. First, he had tried to act brave, now he was almost pissing his pants.

If there was anyone who had a damn good reason to break down, it would have been Neusser. These men had been _his_ men. However, he decided to move on, he had to. While everyone was busy with themselves, Jim walked over to Curtland and Valerian.

"Everything's okay? Want me to carry you, Junior?" he offered and tried to be funny. But Valerian just shook his head.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Say, Jim...maybe you want to go ahead and check the area. You know, just in case."

"We should stick together, Junior. Hopefully, there are still some guards inside the ballroom. If anything happens, I don't want you to be all by yourself." he explained. Valerian gave him a weak smile when he heard that.

"We should be okay. I just really don't want to experience another _Narud_ -disaster. Besides, we still got _Neusser_ covering our backs, isn't that right, Mr. Neusser?" Valerian then said and turned around. They looked right into each other's eyes and Neusser decided only to nod.

"Of course, your Majesty." As if to reinforce his words, he tightened the grip around his SMG. He didn't notice how Jim's frowned when he heard that. The former freedom-fighter turned back to Smith.

"Smith, can you scout ahead and make sure that there aren't any nasty surprises waiting for us inside the ballroom?" he asked and Smith gave him a quick nod. The bodyguard pulled out his gun and moved out. The remaining four people waited a few moments before Jim gave the signal to follow.

"No shots fired, I guess everything is safe. Okay, let's do this. I take point, Neusser, you take the rear" Together they moved out and managed to reach the entrance towards the ballroom within a few minutes. Smith was nowhere to be seen and when Jim stopped in front of the door, he raised his pistol.

"Smith?" he hissed. "You there?"

"Yes, Mr. Raynor. No enemies around. However-"

"What now?!" Jim interrupted him.

"...someone knocked out the guards. Whoever did it, managed to take down every single one. They're alive but unresponsive." Smith declared from the other side of the door.

"Well, ain't that just great!" Jim growled to himself before he shook his head. "Can't do anything about that right now, let's stick to the plan." With that, Jim stepped through the door and entered the ballroom. Both Curtland and Valerian were right on his heels. By now, Neusser had made up his mind. He walked towards the door and knew that he had to keep a low profile. The mission was a failure, but he was still alive. And he could find a way to turn this into a success. After today, the Emperor would trust him and that would allow him to come up with a new plan, a better one.

This was-

"NOW!" Jim screamed, and when Neusser stepped into the ballroom, something hard hit him in the back of his head when Smith knocked him down from behind.

* * *

 **A few minutes earlier...**

* * *

Curtland was nervous, very nervous. Not because there were so many dead people around, but because she knew that there was a traitor right behind them, a traitor armed with an SMG. Someone who had worked for her for months. Someone she thought to be reliable. But the worst thing was; it meant that people from the Combine were responsible for this whole mess.

From all the possible explanations, this was probably the worst. Curtland was no fool, she knew that this would change everything. The very fact that people from the Combine could be responsible for this would be enough of a reason for the Dominion to start another war, she knew that. The Dominion had started wars because of far less dramatic reasons.

Only someone who was thick as wood wouldn't have noticed it; the uniforms of the soldiers were the first indicator. True enough, the camo pattern was very popular among both Zappers and mercenaries. But even then Curtland had started to grow suspicious. Ever since she had decided to go to the party, Neusser had been strangely keen on accompanying her. It was unlike him. Curtland knew that Neusser didn't like her one bit, but he had always been able to hide his animosity behind a wall of professionalism. But now Curtland knew the reason why he had decided to join her. The last point of proof she had discovered was still on Neusser's body. Or his wrist, to be exact. She had never seen that thing before, but she had seen the same kind of transmitter on one of the dead attackers' wrist.

Inside her mind, Curtland was fighting an epic battle; tell the people the truth, or keep it to herself?

This wasn't as simple as it sounded. To tell Mengsk and Raynor about her suspicion seemed like the most reasonable thing to do (aside from the obvious risk of having a smg in their backs). But what then? If Mengsk would find out that some renegade elements of the Combine were responsible for this carnage, what choice would he have other than to go to war? This was a goddamn mess, and no matter how she looked at it, Curtland couldn't see a "good" solution.

As they turned around the corner, Jim looked over his shoulder.

"Better keep your eyes up, people. This isn't a pretty sight." he told them, and of course Curtland did exactly the thing she was told not to do. When she saw the dead bodies of those soldiers, the clump of ice inside her stomach doubled in size. They wore the same uniform as the other attackers. Just how many of these guys had attacked the palace? She wasn't the only one who seemed to be shocked. She could see how Neusser stopped in front of the bodies and looked at the dead men. The expression on his face was one of rage and pain. She could see how he tightened his grip on the weapon and the clump of ice became even bigger.

What should she do? Tell Mengsk and risk another war? There had to be some kind of answer for this attack. He wouldn't just say "Oh, okay! Renegade elements are so common these days, we just call it a day and send you the bill next week." No, this would most likely cause another war. Or would it? The Emperor had always claimed that he was different than his predecessor. He claimed that he was not his father. But could Curtland just believe that? Could she just trust this man not to start another war with her home?

That, of course, was only a theoretical question. Should she not tell Valerian about her suspicion, Neusser would probably kill them. Someone would find out the truth, and the Dominion would retaliate with so much force that the Combine would crumble and fall. And this time a mere food-blockade would be the least of their problems. No matter how she looked at this, she was left with only one solution;

She had to put her faith in the Emperor of the Dominion.

Neusser was still occupied with the dead soldiers. Curtland, who stood a few meters away, grabbed Valerian's arm and turned both of them away so Neusser wouldn't hear them.

"Emperor Mengsk, I need to tell you something."

"Can it not wait, Ambassador? As much as I enjoy talking to you, I think we should first get-"

"Neusser has something to do with this attack." she just whispered. She could see how his eyes widened in shock and how he was about to look over her shoulder and over to the embassy's chief of security, but she reacted quickly.

"Look at me!" she hissed and caught his attention. He understood immediately and looked into her eyes.

"You're telling me that one of your own men is responsible for this?" he whispered back. Curtland was very much aware of the implications and the risk she was taking, but it was do-or-die time. Either she would tell him now, or they would bite the dust later on. Whatever the future would bring, the Emperor would decide the fate of Curtland's home. She looked into the Emperor's eyes and felt the urge to take her words back, but that was impossible. Now that she had spoken these words, she could only move forward.

"Yes. I don't know how or why, but I believe Neusser has something to do with today's attack." she said. Valerian made a step closer and looked up to her.

"Do you realize what this means? Do you know what will happen if this is true?" His words didn't contain some of his usual optimism. People were dead, civilians. _His_ people. She had to gulp hard when she heard his voice.

"Yes. Yes, I am aware." Before she could say anything else, Jim stepped closer and looked at them.

"Everything's okay? Want me to carry you, Junior?" Jim asked and tried to ease their minds by making a stupid joke. However, Valerian just shook his head. He looked at Curtland, looked her deep into the eyes. Suddenly she felt very small, and it was an utterly new sensation to her. She expected him to yell at Jim that Neusser was a murderer, she braced herself for things to become even messier. Instead, Valerian just took a deep breath and looked over at Jim.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Say, Jim...maybe you want to go ahead and check the area. You know, just in case." When Jim heard those words, he pulled his eyebrows up.

"We should stick together, Junior. Hopefully, there are still some guards inside the ballroom. If anything happens, I don't want you to be all by yourself." he explained. Valerian gave him a forced smile.

"We should be okay. I just really don't want to experience another _Narud_ -disaster. Besides, we still got _Neusser_ covering our backs, isn't that right, Mr. Neusser?" the Emperor declared while raising his voice. Neusser's eyes met his and he gave him a quick nod before adding: "Of course, your Majesty." At first, Jim didn't show any sign of getting Valerian's hint. But then he frowned and turned towards Smith.

"Smith, can you scout ahead and make sure that there aren't any nasty surprises waiting for us inside the ballroom?" Jim suggested, but not without giving Smith a twinkle. It was unclear if the bodyguard realized what Jim was referring to, but when he pulled his gun out, all he did was to nod. Smith moved ahead and they all waited for a few short moments. During that time, Curtland had to force herself not to stare at Valerian or to sweat like crazy. She wanted to know what was going on inside the head of his. Was he already planning an armed incursion into Combine's space? Was he even thinking about using the same methods his father had used?

Curtland felt like she had made a huge mistake. Now the truth was out and there was no way to return to the old days. And the question that didn't stop bothering Curtland was; had she just doomed the people back home to a fate full of war and destruction? Because she had made the foolish mistake of trusting a man she barely knew?

Now she was cursing herself on the inside. If she had decided to spend more time with the Emperor, maybe she would know the answer to that question now. But no, she had decided to avoid him all the damn time. Now, in face of all this destruction and chaos, her past actions appeared utterly childish to her current self. If this thing would go down south, her name would be one of those who had been responsible for this disaster.

Oh, joy!

Before she could contemplate some more on the situation, Raynor raised his hand.

"No shots fired, I guess everything is safe. Okay, let's do this. I take point. Neusser, you take the rear." he said. Curtland felt the urge to tell them that this was a bad idea. But what could she do? Nothing. So she did the only thing she still could; she followed both him and Mengsk.

Neusser was right behind them, and she could basically _feel_ how he pointed his weapon at their backs. All it needed was one press of a trigger and everything would come to an end. Curtland wasn't really scared of dying, but the prospect of being one of the first victims of a new war wasn't exactly sugar for the soul. When they reached the door to the ballroom, Jim stopped and pointed his pistol towards the door.

"Smith? You there?" he whispered. The answer came almost immediately.

"Yes, Mr. Raynor. No enemies around. But-" Why does there always have to be a "but"?

"What now?!" Jim interrupted him.

"...someone knocked out the guards. Whoever did it, they managed to down every single one. They're alive but unresponsive." When Jim heard that, he started to curse and the clump of ice inside Curtland's stomach turned into a goddamn iceberg.

"Well, can't do anything about that right now, let's stick to the plan." Jim declared and stepped through the door. Valerian grabbed Curtland's hand, and the woman was too surprised and shocked to do anything about it. He had a strong grip but wasn't too forceful. Still, she looked to the side and could see the anger and rage in his eyes. This wouldn't end well. The moment they stepped into the ballroom, a hand grabbed each one of them and pulled them to the left side. Everything went too fast for Curtland to realize what was going on, but when Jim pulled them to the side, she could see Smith on the other side of the door, ready to strike. Neusser stepped through the door and looked like he had nothing to worry about.

"NOW!" Jim roared, and when Neusser turned around, Smith stepped behind the man and punched his fist into the smaller man's back of the head.

Bingo!

Only not.

Neusser didn't go down. He only stumbled forward, but he proved to be just as tough as the other guys Jim and Smith had fought before. He turned around and Curtland could see how his SMG followed him. All he had to do was to press the trigger and he would leave a nice trail of hot bullets all over the place. And there was no way they could do anything about it.

"Aw, shit!" Jim hissed and stormed over to the two men fighting. Smith was fast and an expert in hand-to-hand combat, but his opponent was made out nothing but muscles. It was a fight between superior technique and superior strength. Neusser took the blow to the head surprisingly well, and the look on his face was one of pure rage. He was fast, a lot faster than the other attackers had been. All the muscles underneath his suit didn't slow him down at all. His reaction time was incredible, and when he had turned around, he didn't waste any time. He pressed the trigger of his weapon and a single shot was fired.

Smith didn't scream when the projectile hit him, he only grunted. The bullet hit him in the right thigh. It wasn't a deadly wound, but when Smith was hit, he stumbled backward and was unable to keep his balance. Neusser saw a chance and pointed his gun at Smith's chest, who slammed into the wall behind him. Smith's gun fell to the ground and slid over the floor. Neusser knew that the bodyguard was the most dangerous foe, so he had to deal with him first. His finger pressed against the trigger one more time, ready to end the other man's life.

That's when Jim slammed into Neusser and tackled the man to the ground. The traitor let go of the smg, and both men fell to the ground, where they started to exchanges punches and kicks. It wasn't much of a fight, though, at least not on Jim's part. He simply lacked the strength to fight against a man that was in a far better shape and possessed double the amount of muscles. And unlike Jim, Neusser was still fresh. He took Jim's punches like they meant nothing to him. Perhaps that was even the truth, who knew. However, when Jim tried to knock him out, Neusser managed to kick Jim right between the legs.

Fresh and hot pain shot through Jim's groin. He hissed in pain and tried to ignore it as much as possible, but even then, he had a hard time to even breathe. Neusser managed to push Jim off him and then he used his other leg to kick the older man away. Jim went flying and when he crashed on the hard floor, he groaned in pain.

However, his opponent didn't waste any time. With Jim and Smith out of the picture, he had one chance to end this once and for all. Neusser's fallback plan had failed, now there was only one thing left to do. He ran over to the SMG he had dropped earlier, grabbed it and immediately pointed it at both Curtland and Valerian. Curtland couldn't do anything. She watched in horror how Neusser pointed the gun at them. The expression on his face was one of pure disgust and she realized that he was looking at both Valerian _and_ her.

"Fine, have it your way!" he hissed and pressed the trigger.

"Leila, watch out!" someone screamed. The loud sound of the gunfire was almost unbearable, yet when Curtland was hit in the side, she realized that it wasn't that painful. Shouldn't getting hit by a bullet hurt?

"AAAAH!" Valerian screamed next to her and only then she realized that it hadn't been a bullet that had hit her, but Valerian. He had pushed her out of harm's way the moment Neusser had fired his gun. Blood sprayed around, and behind Neusser, Jim screamed "NO! VALERIAN!" Valerian's push, however, saved Curtland. She fell behind one of the pillars and was out of harm's way, at least temporarily. She looked to the side and could see Valerian. He was holding his arm and hissed in pain. So her decision to tell the Emperor hadn't helped at all. Now wasn't that just awesome?

Neusser looked around and saw how pretty much everyone was unable to put up any kind of resistance. Anyone but Curtland. He walked past the groaning Valerian and gave him a hard kick in the chest. The Emperor screamed in pain, but couldn't do anything about it. Neusser just shook his head and snarled "Pathetic." Then he walked around the pillar and pointed his gun at Curtland's face.

"Certainly as hell not how I had envisioned this day would end, but at least I will get the chance to send you to hell." Neusser chuckled. She looked up and felt the cold stone of the pillar pressing against her back.

"Bet you didn't see that coming, hmm?" Neusser continued. "Little Miss Curtland, doesn't know a thing about our way of life but thinks that she can make decisions for us." Curtland listened to those words and finally started to feel something else but fear. It was anger.

"You're insane, Neusser." she just said. "Have you any idea what you've done?" However, Jasper Neusser just started to laugh.

"I did what I had to do, what no one else was willing to do. We're still at war, you bitch. And no fancy words from a weak and pathetic Emperor will change that. The only thing that exists between the Dominion and the Combine is hatred! Yet you, you pathetic little refugee-trash, you think that you can force this so-called "peace" on us?"

"I'm a proud daughter of the Combine and not just-"

"SHUT UP!" Neusser screamed and shoved his gun almost into her face. "YOU'RE NOTHING! You're just a piece of filth and the General's favorite pet! But you will never be one of us. The General is a great man, but even he makes mistakes. And allowing you to work for him was one of his biggest. But don't worry, I'm going to rectify this mistake now." He switched from full-auto to single-fire, and it seemed as if he wanted to enjoy this moment. Well, Leila Curtland wouldn't go down without a snippy remark.

"You're an idiot, Neusser. I always knew that. But now I know that you're a _delusional_ idiot. You will not go down in history as a hero. They will spit on your name for generations, the name of a man who was responsible for countless deaths." Neusser hissed in anger when he heard that.

"Let's see whose name they will spit on!" he replied and pointed the gun right at Curtland's head. There was no way that he would miss from this distance. Curtland closed her eyes and braced herself.

"I'm sorry, Mum, Dad." she whispered to herself, knowing that she had failed them. But at least she had tried to do the right thing, it had only been too late.

"And now you're gonna-" Neusser started.

"HEY, JERKFACE!" Curtland's eyes shot wide open when she heard Valerian's voice. Both she and Neusser looked to the side and could see Valerian. One of his hands pressed against his bleeding upper arm while the other one-

-pointed Smith's gun right at Neusser's chest.

Valerian didn't waste any second. He just pulled the trigger and fired at the short man. Neusser screamed in pain when one bullet hit him in the leg, and another one in the chest. He was too perplexed to react, but Curtland managed to roll out of harm's way. Valerian continued to fire and almost emptied the entire clip, yet he didn't manage to score any more hits. He was an Emperor, not a goddamn marksman. Neusser groaned in pain, but he managed to stay on his feet.

"Damn...bastard!" Neusser snarled and turned his gun around. He knew that he could take Valerian with him. The pain in both his arm and chest was almost unbearable, and he could feel how one of his lungs felt like it was on fire. Still, when he managed to point his gun at Valerian, he was about to end the Emperor's life for good. That's when Curtland finally decided to do her thing.

The tall woman jumped up and rammed her shoulder into Neusser's stomach. Her arms slung around his torso and she lifted him high up in the air like he was nothing but a barbell. She remembered all of her wrestling-experience and used the momentum to throw him up in the air. Neusser had no idea what was happening to him when he smashed into the ground face first. He let go of his gun and felt how something hot and wet streamed over his face. It took him a moment to realize that it was his own blood. Curtland hurried over to the SMG and kicked it as far away as possible. When she turned around, she saw how Valerian worked his way back on his feet again. He walked over to Neusser, who groaned and tried to roll on his back. This time it was Valerian who gave Neusser a kick to the chest.

Her _former_ chief of security gurgled in pain, and she could see how a puddle of blood formed beneath his body. However, he was still alive. Neusser opened his eyes and looked up. And when he did, he stared right down the barrel of Valerian's gun. Curtland didn't dare to say anything. The look on Valerian's face left no doubts on what he was currently thinking.

"Well...guess that...could have gone...better..." Neusser managed to gurgle. Valerian just cocked his gun and looked the shorter man into the eyes.

"If you say so." he just said before he pointed his gun at Neusser's face and started to push down the trigger of the gun.


	43. Act II - Chapter 19

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 19**

 **It's my Party, I can cry if I want to**

* * *

"Well...guess that...could have gone...better..."

"If you say so." Valerian said with a voice made out of pure ice. He pointed the heavy gun right at Jasper Neusser's head and only had to pull the trigger in order to end it once and for all. Valerian had never killed a human before. He was no soldier, but he was no fool either. He knew how to handle a gun. However, when he looked into the man's eyes, he felt something he had never felt before. It felt like a fire that burned deep inside his chest.

It was rage, pure and undiluted rage. The kind of righteous fury you only hear about. The kind of emotion that motivates people to go to war and do all kind of stupid things. And right now, he could see the very same rage inside the wounded man's eyes and in his own heart at the same time.

No one dared to say a word, not Curtland, not Jim, and not even Smith, who had managed to get back on his feet, even though his wounded leg made it impossible for him to fight anymore. Curtland wanted to say something but when Valerian looked around, she could see the painful expression on his face. Only then she realized where she was. And she finally saw the carnage around them. She gasped in shock when she looked at all the dead bodies. There was so much blood!

"This...can't be..." she whispered while Jim groaned right next to her. He rolled to the side and tried to get back on his feet, but he was too exhausted. When he was on all fours, Smith hobbled over to him and offered Jim a hand. The older man sighed and grabbed it. With Smith's help, he managed to get back on his feet and looked over to Valerian as well. However, even then no one dared to say a word. It was Neusser who finally broke the silence.

"Come on...just do it. I know you want to pull the trigger, want to kill me. Don't...kha...don't keep me waiting...I'm a busy man!" But Valerian didn't pull the trigger. Instead, he looked around, and when he saw all those dead bodies, tears started to form in his eyes.

"Look around." Valerian then said to Neusser. "Look at what you've done." A pained laugh came out of Neusser's throat.

"Got you good, didn't we...? You probably thought...that we couldn't do that, right? Hit you...where you live. Turn your home into a...khg...a battlefield. Just like you turned our homes into a battlefield."

"I never did anything like that." Valerian replied, which caused Neusser to snarl in anger.

"Your words are meaningless. You're...khgh...your father's spawn. The only thing that exists between the Combine and the Dominion is hatred!" For a second, it seemed as if Valerian would pull the trigger.

"Junior, don't do it!" Jim managed to say, but Valerian just raised his hand and silenced the former freedom-fighter with a single gesture.

"You said that before; the only thing between us is hatred." Valerian whispered. "Is that why you've come here? To place the seed of hatred among my people?"

"We've come here to set things right!" Neusser hissed. "You don't deserve to live, you damn fascist! I'm just sad...that you're not lying in a pool...of your own blood, just like all the...other disgusting pigs we killed today. And the only thing...I'm sorry for is that we didn't kill every damn whore inside this whole city and-" the man panted.

"SHUT UP!" Valerian barked in rage and made a step forward. He was just one step away from the wounded man, and right now everyone realized that Valerian was willing to pull the trigger and end Neusser's life right here and now.

"...'s goin' on..." someone mumbled next to Jim. He turned his head away and could see how one of the guards started to regain consciousness. What the hell had happened to those guys anyway? However, he had no time to think about that.

"Come on..." Neusser hissed. "Do it! DO IT!" Blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth, and there was a gurgling sound coming from his chest. Jim recognized the kind of wound Neusser had received. The bullet in the chest had probably perforated one of the man's lungs. A collapsed lung was one of the nastiest things you could suffer from because as long as the other one was still working, you were constantly fighting to breathe. And it probably hurt like hell. Valerian looked into Neusser's eyes. No one knew what the Emperor was currently thinking, and no one was as scared as Curtland.

"Your Majesty, I...!" she tried to intervene, but Valerian just raised his hand and gestured her to shut up. He looked at Neusser and gritted his teeth. Behind him, the guards finally started to get back on their feet. Whatever had knocked them out, it hadn't caused any permanent damage.

"Is that...the Emperor?" someone mumbled.

"People, get back to your feet!" the commander of the guards finally yelled. It was the same guy who had ordered the lockdown in the first place. All of this was of no importance to Valerian, however. How many people had died? How many people were bleeding to death right at this moment? But more importantly; what would happen tomorrow?

"What now, Mengsk?" Neusser managed to hiss. "Gonna wait till I bleed out? Is that it? What...kha...want me to choke on my own blood? Hehehe...want me to regret what we achieved today?" However, Valerian...

...said nothing.

He looked at the wounded man, and it appeared as if he was lost in thoughts. The guards were finally back in business, and their leader walked over to Jim and Smith.

"What the hell is going on here?" he wanted to know. Jim looked at him and frowned.

"You tell me, buddy." He then pointed his finger at Valerian. "Might help your boss out, whiz kid." When the leader of the guard followed Jim's finger, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Men! Get over here!" He pulled out his own gun and the guards started to surround both Valerian and the downed Neusser, yet all their guns were directed at the short man.

"Your Majesty, we got this! Please step back." the leader then explained, but Valerian didn't react. Instead, he made a step closer towards Neusser. He was now directly over him.

"Junior. Don't do it." Jim pleaded, but Valerian didn't even listen. Instead, he looked over to Curtland.

"Ambassador!" he barked. Curtland looked him into the eyes and had to swallow hard.

"Y-yes?" she stuttered.

"What is the Combine's punishment for murdering civilians?" he asked with a cold tone in his voice while still pointing his gun at Neusser's face. Curtland lowered her gaze when she heard the question.

"It's death."

"Death..." Valerian whispered. Moments passed with no one saying a thing. Then, after what felt like an eternity, he finally lowered his gun.

"What...what now?" Neusser gurgled. And then Valerian did something no one expected him to do; he knelt down right in front of Neusser and looked him straight into the eyes.

"I want you to remember this moment. I want you to suck in all the details. Right now, I want to kill you. I want to end your rotten life here and now."

"Then...kha...do it..." Neusser managed to say. Valerian closed his eyes and took a deep breath. You could actually see how his features softened. When he opened his eyes again, the anger was almost gone.

"No." he just replied. "Killing you would be pointless. It wouldn't bring the dead back. It wouldn't solve any problems. And it would only give you the one thing you crave so much; war." He leaned forward and now their faces were only inches apart. Neusser wanted to do something, he tried to grab Valerian and choke the life out of him, but he simply lacked the strength to do anything.

"But there won't be a war, Neusser. You won't get what you want. I won't allow it." Valerian explained.

"Empty...empty words." Neusser managed to snarl. "After today...the people will crave blood!"

"Perhaps. But I will not wait for this moment to come. I will not start another war. I will not cause more blood to be spilled. I want you to know that you've failed your mission, Mr. Neusser. But you have failed your own people long ago anyway."

"Don't...don't dare to...lecture...me!" Neusser managed to gargle.

"I'm the Emperor, I can lecture whoever the hell I want to as long as they're inside my palace." Valerian just replied. "The irony here is that you represent the past, Mr. Neusser. You are just like my father used to be; fixated on the here and now. You don't know what peace feels like. You're afraid of a future where the Combine and the Dominion are connected by something other than hatred." As Valerian spoke, Neusser's demeanor finally started to fall apart. "You fought the Dominion for a long time, Neusser. So long that you forgot what peace feels like. And that's why you're afraid of me, of her." Valerian looked over to Curtland. "Because we represent a different kind of world. Maybe the Ambassador doesn't like me, maybe she even despises me. But even then, she knows that peace is something precious, something that we have to fight for every single day. By not fighting at all." Valerian then stood up and looked at Curtland.

"The Ambassador told me something, something that made me think. And I have to admit that she's right; in order to be the leaders our people deserve, we have to do what we can to better their lives. But we can only do that if we take the hard route. And, Mr. Neusser, the hard route is not by fighting. It's by finding a compromise that will benefit all of us."

"Spare me...your fancy speeches...asshole." Neusser gurgled.

"It's only a fancy speech as long as you don't believe in it. And I do believe, Mr. Neusser. That is the difference between you and me. But don't worry, you will have enough time to think about your crimes in jail. And who knows? Maybe one day you will regret what you have done here today." Valerian then turned around and walked away from the wounded man.

"YOU...KHA...YOU CAN'T...LEAVE ME... LIKE THIS!"

"I said it before; I am the Emperor, I can do whatever the hell I want to." As he passed the leader of the guards, he just gave him a quick nod.

"Take care of him. I want you to keep him alive until the medics arrive." Valerian ordered.

"Sir, the palace is still under lockdown. Without final confirmation, I cannot-" the leader of the guards tried to explain. However, the look Valerian gave him was cold enough to freeze a star in an instant.

"End the lockdown. Now." He didn't scream, he didn't curse, he just gave an order. Thankfully, the leader knew how to _not_ push his luck.

"Right away, Your Majesty. However, it will take some minutes to power down the shields and-"

"Then get to it." Valerian just said and turned away. It was clear that this conversation was over. Instead, he moved on and stepped into the middle of the ballroom.

"Merry Christmas, everyone." he whispered to himself while feeling the dried blood of the guests beneath his shoes. He could hear a few whimpers and could see how some guards hurried towards potential survivors. But even then, it was a nightmare. And now that the rush of adrenaline was gone and the immediate danger was over, Valerian felt empty. It felt like someone had ripped his heart out. How the hell was he supposed to explain this mess to the people? They couldn't cover this up! Some of the dead were the biggest celebrities inside the Dominion, sometimes even in the entire Sector. And while the life of an actor wasn't worth more (or less) than any other life, Valerian knew that people would scream for blood.

Kel-Morian blood.

He raised his head and looked over to Curtland, who looked right back at him. Her expression was a mixture of fear and anxiety. She seemed as if she wanted to tell him something, but Valerian just turned away.

Right now, he felt the whole burden of leadership. It was his own personal nightmare. The hawks would cry out for blood, and he had no idea how to stop them. He didn't believe one second that the leadership of the Combine was involved in this attack, but it hardly mattered. It wasn't about what he believed, but what the people would want to hear. Valerian wasn't the only one who looked like he had lost someone. He turned his head to the right and could see how Jim limped over to the body of a man.

"Ms. Shepard? Jane? Are you there?" he yelled, but no one answered. When he stopped in front of the body, all he could do was to close his eyes and shake his head.

"Oh shit, no. No. It's not fair." Jim dropped to his knees and put his hand on the young man's chest. Valerian moved closer to see who the victim was. And when he saw the face, he recognized it. There is a moment when even the most battle-hardened veteran can't fight the tears. Jim shook his head and looked at the young man's face.

"I'm sorry, kid." he whispered. "I wasn't fast enough." Valerian stepped behind Jim and looked at Joseph Brent's pale body. The big red spot on his stomach showed where the bullet had mortally wounded him. Someone had put his hands on his belly, and as Valerian looked at the young man's face, he couldn't help but notice the faint smile on his lips. He had heard rumors about people dying with a smile on their faces, but to Valerian, it had always been just that; a rumor. He looked down on Jim's back and put his hand on the older man's shoulder.

"He was a good man, Jim." Even as Valerian said those words, he realized how empty they sounded.

"He was just a kid." Jim replied. "Not a boy anymore, yet not a man either. Why does it never stop? Why is it always that some asshole thinks that death and destruction are the only answers to their problems?" There was no answer inside Valerian's mind that could help to explain it. Behind them, the heavy blast doors finally started to move. But even then, it would take some minutes until they could leave this place.

When the doors were finally open, Valerian looked outside. He could see the blue and red lights from the police forces. It was over, wasn't it? People entered the palace, they were carrying heavy guns and body armor. Valerian recognized the uniforms and the equipment, it belonged to the Dominion Police Special Forces. He noticed how the men approached him.

"Your Majesty, are you okay?"

"This is Delta 9, we secured the ballroom."

"His Imperial Majesty is injured, but alive."

"Ballroom is safe, we are going to search the palace now!"

It was over. All Valerian could do was to stare at his own hands. His arm still hurt, but he tried to ignore it. It was only a graze shot that had hit him. When some medics reached him, he barely noticed them.

"Sir, you're wounded! Please, sit down so I can take a look at your arm." Instead, Valerian just pointed at the victims on the floor.

"Forget about me. Look for any survivors. They're your top priority."

"But your Majesty, we-"

"Do it!" he snarled before he turned back to Jim.

"Ghggg!" Jim hissed when he tried to pick Brent's body up.

"Jim, what are you doing?" he wanted to know.

"I'm...I'm not gonna...gonna leave him here." Jim just managed to say. However, he simply lacked the strength to pick the body up and get back on his feet. He was running on empty. His broken rib hurt like hell, his eye had started to swell, and his arms felt like they were about to fall off. He tried to get his hands beneath Brent's body, but he simply wasn't able to stand up. Not with the weight of Brent pulling him down.

"Not gonna leave you here, kid." he whispered to Brent. Valerian turned his gaze away, but only for a second. He then stepped closer and knelt down right next to Jim.

"Valerian, what do you think you're doing?" Jim wanted to do.

"The right thing." the Emperor just replied and pushed his hands under the young captain's body. When he lifted him up, he hissed in pain. The wound on his arm was not life-threatening, but it would leave a scar. Brent was surprisingly light. Valerian was not nearly as strong as Jim, but he had little trouble carrying the captain's body. Without wasting another word, Valerian started to move towards the exit. More security forces arrived, yet they all stopped and made a step backward when they saw how the Emperor himself carried the dead body of a Dominion officer through the ballroom. When he stepped out into the cold night, he knew that this day would change their world forever.

* * *

"...need more boots on the ground. Tell the chiefs that I want everything with a badge out there now!" Commissioner Rethlan said with a stern tone in his voice. Matt had decided to step back and let the police do their work. The situation was horrible enough, the last thing these guys needed was some military-guy breathing down their necks and telling them what to do. And there was little doubt that every single one of the Commissioner's people knew what was at stake.

Matt hadn't heard anything from Jim, Smith or Valerian for some time now. Though "time" was a relative term. He looked at his watch and realized that it was just around midnight. Kate Lockwell, who stood right next to Matt, turned her head towards him and frowned.

"What's going to happen next?" she wanted to know. The camera-drone behind her was still recording everything, but the Admiral had no time worry about that.

"The police are in charge now. They will handle the situation."

"But can't you just do something? Send in troops or anything like that?" Kate asked with a disbelieving tone in her voice.

"It's not that easy, Ms. Lockwell." Matt told her. "We live in a system with a separation of powers. That includes the institutions that represent this government. The military deals with threats from the outside, the police with threats on the inside. There is a reason why we have this system because the alternative proved to be not nearly as beneficial to the people as his Majesty's predecessor claimed it to be."

"You're just going to stand here and wait for the police to save the day?"

"Yes, Ms. Lockwell. It's what the Emperor would want me to do." Matt told her. "But that doesn't mean that I like it." he then added and looked around. Some of the guests had managed to escape the palace before the guards had ordered a complete lockdown. There were some injuries here and there, but nothing too serious. Most of the people had already been taken to the nearest hospitals. But even then, there were at least seventy or so guests still inside. And that didn't include the VIPs inside the throne room.

The worst thing about this situation, however, was the inability to do anything about it. Even during his time with the Raiders, Matt had always been able to do something. He missed the Hyperion right now, and for a short moment, he even thought about calling Swann and ask him to bring the ship down here and prepare for an orbital strike. Not a big one, only big enough to blow a hole into one of the walls.

"Donny's still in there." Kate whispered and Valerian lowered his gaze.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Lockwell, but there is nothing I can do. We have to wait and hope for the best."

"That's not what I wanted to hear, Admiral." Kate just replied. He looked over at her and shook his head.

"Trust me, you're not the only one." And so, they did the only thing they could; they waited. And to Matt, it felt worse than fighting the Zerg or the Tal'darim. Back then he had been able to fight back. Now the people closest to him were just a short walk away, yet there was nothing he could do. He was not a fighter like Jim, but he had no problems with standing his ground. If someone would offer him a gun, he would storm that damn palace in an instant. However, it wouldn't change anything.

What if Valerian wouldn't survive this day? Matt had no answer to that. It would mean chaos, anarchy, and war. Had they just ensured peace with the Zerg and Protoss only to kill themselves now? The word "irony" came to Matt's mind, but it just seemed to be utterly inappropriate to describe the shittiness of the whole situation.

New groups of anti-terrorist units arrived and reinforced their comrades. Matt was only half-listening to the orders the Commissioner was distributing, but from what he could hear, it sounded as if they had managed to seal off all other entrance points to the palace. Did that mean that they were about to storm the place?

"Looks like something's about to happen." Kate mumbled.

"Unfortunately, it won't change much. As long as the lockdown is in place, no one can enter the palace." he explained to her, but that's when Kate raised her hand and pointed at the palace.

"No, there's something going on inside the palace!" she then shouted. Matt turned his head around, and so did the Commissioner and his men.

"GET READY, PEOPLE!" someone yelled and the anti-terrorist guys got to cover while pointing their guns at the entrance. The heavy blast doors that blocked all the entrances and windows came to life and started to move. They vanished inside the floor and the sides of the walls, and after a few minutes the palace was finally open again.

"Move out! Come on, gogogogogo!" one of the officers yelled and the black-clad figures stormed up the stairs. They were fast, and the amount of professionalism displayed by their behavior was impressive. Perhaps Matt's troops could learn something from these guys after all. If you start to think like a hammer, you will stop seeing things as anything but nails. Yet these guys? They were like a scalpel.

Matt wanted to follow them immediately. To hell with the danger! He had to get inside and find Valerian! And Jim! And, of course, Brent!

"Admiral, stay back!" Commissioner Rethlan barked over to him. "Don't let them get inside! Secure the palace!" Before Matt could even react, several police officers stepped into his path. They just raised their hands and showed the Admiral that they would not use any kind of force, but they wouldn't just allow him to enter either. Matt clenched his hands into fists and had a hard time to keep his temper in check. There was a limit to his patience.

"Get ready, people!" someone near the stairs yelled. "Go! Gogogogo!" The members of the anti-terrorist unit stormed through the entrance, guns raised and ready to deal with any form of resistance. Matt held his breath and tried to listen. He braced himself for the sound of gunfire, but none came. All he could hear was silence. And then-

"Medics! We need medics inside!"

"Second wave, get inside!"

"Ballroom is secured, continuing to push ahead!" So many voices shouted over the courtyard, and it was hard to keep track. But that's when Matt heard the one thing that changed everything.

"Just got the message! The Emperor is safe! He's injured, but nothing too serious." an officer said to the Commissioner. Kate looked over at Matt just in time to see how he pressed his hand against his mouth. Kate's drone recorded everything, even the moment when all the pain and pressure were finally lifted from his shoulders.

"I want the Emperor brought to safety at once! Tell the men inside to search the entire palace. Get to it, men!" the Commissioner ordered, and the man at the radio relayed these orders to the officers inside. Minutes passed with nothing happening. Matt, whose patience was coming to an end, made a step forward.

"Sir, please stay back! We cannot allow you to enter the palace now!" one police officer told him, but Matt wasn't even listening. A couple of black-clad men came out of the palace. They secured the area and looked like they were protecting something that was about to come out. That's when-

"Oh no." Matt whispered when he saw a figure coming out of the palace. It was a lean man. He almost didn't recognize him, now that the man had a new and short haircut. However, any feeling of relief evaporated the moment he realized that Valerian was carrying _something_ in his hands. No, not something. Someone.

"No. NO!" Matt yelled and just stormed forward. The police officers tried to stop him, but he didn't care about those guys anymore. He ran over to the staircase and no force in hell would have been able to stop him now. No one else said a word. For a short moment, everyone stopped and no orders were issued. Instead, they all looked at the Emperor and the dead body in his arms. Matt stopped at the bottom of the staircase and looked up to his friend and sovereign. Everything fell silent and the only sound you could hear were the footsteps of Valerian as he walked down the staircase. His right arm was covered in blood, but he didn't seem to care about that. When he finally reached Matt, he could see the pain in the Admiral's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Matt." Valerian whispered. He didn't say anything else. They didn't need to use any words, both knew what they had to do. Matt raised his arms and when Valerian handed Brent's body over to him, he gritted his teeth and managed to fight back the tears, but only for a moment. Behind them, some more figures stepped out of the palace. When Jim, Curtland, and Smith appeared on the top of the staircase, Matt didn't notice them. Instead, he dropped to his knees and started to sob.

"Joseph, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." he wailed while pressing the dead body of his adjutant against his chest. "I should have never brought you along. I'm so sorry." Behind him, Kate looked up at the entrance and shook her head.

"Please, no!" she said to herself and ran up the staircase. No one tried to stop her and her camera-drone followed her. When she reached the entrance, she could see the face of Jim Raynor in the corner of her eye, but she just didn't care. She stormed into the ballroom and looked around. To everyone else, she looked like a reporter looking for the story of her life. The reason why no one stopped her was simple; they had more important things to worry about. When she saw the carnage, she couldn't believe her eyes. Here she was, wearing her best dress, walking between dead celebrities and stars. She recognized those faces, she had interviewed many of them. Some had even called her their friend. The term "friend" didn't mean much in her line of business. But that didn't mean that she had no idea what a friend was.

"Please, please be safe. No, no. This can't be right." she whispered to herself. Her eyes scanned for something, someone. But he wasn't there. Maybe he was still out there? Wounded? That's when she saw a figure on the ground a few meters away. It was a man that wore a tasteless suit. The parts that weren't covered with blood were light blue. She stumbled over to the body and dropped to her knees.

"Donny...no." Tears started to stream down her face. Donny Vermillion's eyes were wide open. The look on his face was one of pure surprise. It looked as if he hadn't realized what had hit him. Kate and Donny had never been eye to eye, but he had been the one to give her a chance. And while he had been a self-righteous asshole from time to time, he had possessed a good heart.

"It's not fair!" she screamed. Some people stopped and gave her sympathetic looks, yet no one dared to pull her away. "He had finally regained control over his life! He had plans! He wanted to do better this time!" She leaned forward and pressed her head against Donny's blood-covered chest before she started to cry.

* * *

Jim felt tired, both physically and mentally. Every part of his body ached, and he just wanted to lie down and fall asleep. Some medics hurried towards him and wanted to treat his wounds, but Jim just buzzed them away.

"Get to the guy in the suit, his leg needs some fixin'!" he told them and pointed his finger at Smith. His bodyguard tried to argue with that, but Jim just turned away and sat down next to the staircase. Beneath him, he could see how both Matt and Valerian mourned Brent. Well, Matt did most of the mourning. He was down on his knees with Brent's body in his lap while he cursed whoever was responsible for that. Valerian had put his hand on Matt's shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Matt." was the only thing he managed to say, but even then, it sounded empty and weak. Jim couldn't blame Valerian. This was what a crushing defeat felt like. This is how Jim had felt when he had lost Sarah on Tarsonis.

" _Jim...I'm sorry."_ her voice spoke to him. A pained smile appeared on his face. Perhaps it was the exhaustion, but right now it felt like the voice wasn't just inside his mind, but right behind him as well. It sounded nice.

"Not your fault, Darlin'." he whispered. He watched how Valerian turned away from Matt and walked over to Commissioner Rethlan before offering his hand to him. Jim couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could see the same expression of sadness on Valerian's face as on everyone else's. Valerian gave the Commissioner a quick nod before he turned away and walked over to an empty corner. There he pressed his hands against his face so no one could see how he started to cry. From his position, Jim could see how Curtland moved towards Valerian. She said something, but Jim only saw her backside. Valerian didn't seem to react, and then Curtland moved a step closer. Was she telling him to pull himself together? There are moments when you just didn't want to hear those words. But much to his own surprise, Curtland did the one thing he never thought he would see her doing.

She opened her arms and slung them around Valerian, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"Heh...those two sure as hell are made for each other." Jim said to himself.

" _They're worlds apart."_ the hallucination said to him. _"And who knows what the world will look like tomorrow."_ But Jim didn't want to think about that. Instead-

"You know, I really wish that you were really here, Darlin'." he then said. "I could use a hug too."

" _You're better off without me, Jim. You always have."_ That statement made him angry. Should a hallucination not be nice and helpful?

"That's not true. We could have really used your help today. _I_ could have used your help today. And more than that." Jim sighed and looked at the whole scene before him. He didn't notice when a certain redhead stepped out of the shadow right behind him. Sarah looked at the back of his head and reached out to him, but then she pulled her hand back and averted her eyes. She was so close. And he was in so much pain.

" _I only cause death and destruction, Jim. I always have. Just like to..."_ She stopped before she managed to finish the sentence. Her voice and her thoughts reached Jim at the same time, so he didn't realize that she was right behind him.

"You were never about death and destruction, Sarah. You were much more. And if you had been here today, you would have done the right thing." His words were like a huge slap in her face. Even after all this time, even after everything she had done, he still refused to hate her. But what was even more pathetic was the fact that she couldn't let go of this feeling. When he thought about her, all she received was a warm feeling.

" _No, Jim. Why do you still think that I would care for these people?"_ she wanted to know. His answer hurt more than she could have imagined.

"Because I know you, Sarah. I always have. And if you would be still around, none of this would have happened." Jim said. Sarah, who stood right behind him, opened her mouth. However, no words left her throat. Instead, she closed her lips and tears of gold started to stream down her cheeks. She lowered her gaze and felt nothing but guilt. She could have stopped this, that much was true. But she hadn't. Why the hell should she have done that? No one had ever cared for Sarah and her dreams and fears.

"I did." Jim told her. She gasped and realized that there was no fitting answer for that. Because he was right; he had always cared for her hopes and dreams. He was the one person in this galaxy who had the right to judge her. The only one whose judgment she cared for. And he decided to absolute her. Ain't that great?

Jim was tired. He just wanted to sleep. And he wanted the pain to finally end. This pointless life was starting to annoy. Sarah could feel his loneliness and his despair. He asked himself; is this my fate? Wither away while witnessing the death of more innocents? There was this deep longing for peace inside Jim's mind. He was tired of fighting. He was tired of war. And much to her own surprise, Sarah could see herself in those feelings. It was like both of them were caught in the same devilish cycle; no matter which way they turned, the only thing that waited for them was even more conflict.

However, Jim had a way to end it. His life was short. Sarah, on the other hand? She had no idea how many years were still ahead of her. Centuries? Millenniums? Maybe even more?

" _Why do you keep doing it, Jim? Why not just stop?"_ she wanted to know. A sad smile appeared on his face when he looked at the grieving Matt and Valerian.

"'Cause it's the only thing left to me."

Sarah wanted to step forward and pull Jim into a tight embrace. She wanted to hold him and tell him that he wasn't alone. But she couldn't. She hadn't come here to return to him. She was no longer part of his world and had no right to bother him anymore, cause him any more pain. Yet that was exactly what had happened, right? She could have stopped this from happening. She looked at Jim and could sense his pain, his despair, and his fear. Fear for an uncertain future. There would be war, it was unavoidable now. Sarah had never cared much about politics, but even she knew that the Dominion would attack the Combine and thousands, maybe even millions would die.

She didn't care about the Dominion or the Combine. But she knew that Jim would spend the little time he had left wondering if he could have done something to prevent this from happening. He would blame himself for her inability to do what was right.

She had done it again, she had caused him nothing but pain.

" _I'm sorry, Jim."_ she then whispered. _"I wish I could have been the woman you saw in me."_ He chuckled when he heard that.

"Oh, you were more woman than I could ever handle. And the most human soul I have ever met." Sarah wanted to reply something, but she was close to another breakdown. It was just too much. She lowered her gaze and realized that she should leave before losing her grip on reality again. She looked over at Matt and the dead body in his arms.

Human lives, they were so frail. All it needed was a tiny push with her powers to end a life. She had done it many times. As a child, as a Ghost, as a Zerg. She had killed with a mere thought. It was easy and required almost no effort at all. But what about now? She hadn't killed anyone with her newfound powers...yet. She had shot a Specter, sure, but she had used a gun. She had fried their brains, yes. But hey, they had asked for it. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the boy's body. It wasn't much, but perhaps it would help Jim to keep some hope inside his heart.

Sarah had no idea what she was doing. She looked for _...something_? Something that made sense?Something that felt right? She looked into the body of the man, saw the damage, felt the destroyed tissue like it was her own. The Queen of Blades had possessed many unique talents. And like all Zerg, she had possessed the ability to regenerate her tissue at an incredible rate. Combined with her boundless psionics, she had been able to "mend" her own wounds in an instant. She searched her memories for that knowledge. It was still there. And there was still something Zerg left in her as well. All she had to do, was to apply the same principle not on her, but on someone else. She took a deep breath and reached out. For a moment, it felt like she was connected to every living organism on this planet. She could sense their emotions, their thoughts, their hopes, and dreams. And she could sense the dark spots where their voices had seized to exist. She pointed her mind on those dark spots and did what she had done so many times before.

She started to mend those wounds...

* * *

Matt felt empty. There were a thousand different thoughts on his mind, yet he wasn't able to concentrate on even one of them. Everything had turned into a blur. Suddenly he realized that he had never met Brent's parents. And now he had to tell them that their son was dead. Killed by some terrorists during the biggest party of the year. Matt had lost many men and women, he was no stranger to this kind of loss. But even then, he had hoped that things like this would stay in the past. Now Brent was dead. So much potential lost. And for what?

"Admiral?" Commissioner Rethlan stepped behind him. "Sir, I want to inform you that we discovered additional bodies, and what seems to be the entrance point of the attackers. But there are no more attackers around. And no more casualties either."

"How many?" Matt wanted to know with a choking voice. Rethlan didn't answer immediately.

"How many?!" Matt almost yelled while holding the body of his adjutant in his arms.

"Seventy-two."

Seventy-two. Seventy-two victims. Seventy-two dead. Seventy-two reasons for the hawks to cry out for war against whoever was responsible for that. And there would be blood. From the corner of his eyes, Matt could see how Curtland and Valerian embraced each other, but he couldn't care about any of this right now.

"We will continue to sweep the palace and inform you of anything we find. Right now, we have started to evacuate the people from the throne room. Sir? Maybe you want to...?" Rethlan offered and looked at the dead body in Matt's arms. But the Admiral just shook his head.

"No. Just leave me. I want to say goodbye."

"Of course, Sir. Just give the word if you need any help, my people will be at your service." the Commissioner said before he turned around and walked over to his men. Matt had an empty look on his face, and when his eyes wandered down to Brent, he had to avert his gaze. Seeing Joseph like this was simply unbearable. Even then he had no idea how Brent had managed to die with a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry, Captain. Joseph. For everything." He truly meant it. Even though Brent hadn't worked that long for Matt, he had turned into a reliable asset. No, he had turned into a close friend. In a way, Matt's relationship towards Brent had been very much like the one between Jim and Matt when they had started to work together.

"I will make sure that your parents will know that you were brave to the last moment." Matt actually had no idea if that was true, but he didn't care. Should Brent's parents be poor people, then he would make sure that they would get enough money for the rest of their lives. Now he felt nothing but regret. He had always taken Brent's company for granted. He had never bothered to learn more about the young man, about his background. And now it was too late.

"I'm sorry, Joseph. If I could turn back time...but I can't. I can't." He could feel how the body started to grow cold. It was wrong on so many levels. Behind Matt, the medics had started to carry the bodies of the other victims out of the palace. The thought that they would take Brent's body to a morgue was almost too much for Matt to bear. But even then, he knew that what he was doing was pointless. He put the body on the ground and brushed one last time over Brent's short hair.

"Forgive me, Joseph. I'm sorry." He then stood up and turned his head away. He looked at several medics that were close by. "You can take him away now. But do me a favor; show some respect." The medics saluted and walked over to Brent's body. They laid down a body bag and were about to place Brent inside when Matt finally turned away. He didn't want to see how the young man vanished inside that black bag.

He could see how Valerian was still with Curtland. Was she...comforting him? This day was just full of surprises and seemed to be the only pleasant one. He made a step towards the two of them when suddenly a strange sense of vertigo hit him. For a short moment, it felt like his skin was both on fire and freezing at the same time. It felt like _something_ was measuring him. No, not something. Someone. He gasped in shock and almost stumbled, but then he managed to stay on his feet. The people around him seemed to have felt it too. They looked at each other both in confusion and discomfort. The look on their faces was always the same; what the hell had just happened? Matt shook his head. It felt strangely familiar. Almost like...

"Hey, this one's still alive!" someone yelled behind him. It took him a moment to realize that it was one of the medics that were right next to him. Matt froze and couldn't believe his ears when he heard that.

"Gha..." he heard someone coughing.

"It's okay, we got you! We got you! Breathe, you hear me?" When Matt finally managed to turn around, his eyes widened in both shock and disbelief. He stormed back to the medics, and when he looked at Brent, he could see how his mouth was open and his chest moving. He was breathing!

"BRENT!" Matt dropped to his knees and looked at his adjutant, but even though Brent was breathing, he was unable to answer any question. He was still ghostly pale and his expression was one of pain and discomfort. But he was alive. He was alive! Only then Matt realized that the wound on Brent's body had started to bleed again.

"Get him out of here! Get him to the hospital! Quickly!" Matt yelled, and the medics reacted immediately. Someone brought a stretcher and they lifted the wounded body of the still breathing man on it. "Brent, Brent! Can you hear me? You're going to be okay, you hear me?" Matt spoke to him as if his life depended on it, but there was no way to tell if Brent had heard him. He walked next to the younger man until they reached one of the ambulances. They pushed Brent inside and closed the doors before the ambulance drove off with sirens howling in the dark. When more groaning and twitching bodies were loaded in other ambulances, Matt started to realize that something was wrong. Or right, depending on how you look at it.

"Make way, we got more survivors over here!"

"But that guy was dead! I checked his pulse!"

"Well, now he isn't! Stop bitchin' and get him to the hospital."

The medics hurried all over the place and started to treat the people. Matt was too perplexed to understand what was going on right now. And he wasn't the only one.

"What's going on? Matt? What the hell is the meaning of this?" Valerian demanded to know as he walked over to the Admiral. However, Matt had no idea what to tell him.

"I don't know." was the only thing he could say. Right before their eyes, the bodies inside the body bags started to move.

"Get them out of there!" someone screamed. "Which idiot put them inside those bags without checking their vitals?"

"But we checked them! They were dead, man! Dead!" someone replied, but that of course was idiotic. Unless...

Matt looked around. No, it couldn't be. Not here. Not now. He had hoped that it had been nothing but a bad dream, that the person he had met on the Hyperion had been nothing but a moonshine induced hallucination. His eyes wandered up to the entrance of the palace and he saw a lot of people. Medics, members of the anti-terror unit and someone else.

"Jim!" Matt whispered and made a step forward. That's when he saw a certain redhead right behind his old friend. And this time he was certain that it was not a hallucination.

* * *

"What the hell...?" Jim whispered to himself as he saw how they started to pull the bodies out of the black bags. "What's going on here?" he wanted to know. Behind him, Sarah lowered her gaze. She suddenly realized that she had overdone it again. She had just wanted to mend the young man's wounds. Guess she still had to work on that one.

One voice after the other started to come back to life. Sarah could sense their confusion, their fear and their relief that everything had been just a bad dream.

Only that it hadn't been a dream at all.

It didn't matter. What done was done. And so was her time here. There was nothing left to say, nothing left to do.

Actually, there was still one thing she had to do. However, right now she lacked the strength to do it. There was no way to avoid it, she was aware of it. But not now. Later, when everything was said and done. Right in front of her, she could see how Jim's eyelids started to flutter. He was completely spent and could barely stay awake. Sleep was already about to claim him. Sarah reached out to him, wanted to feel the warmth of his skin on her own. But then she felt something else, someone else. She turned her eyes away from Jim and looked to a man at the bottom of the staircase. He looked right back at her.

It was Matt.

" _Sleep now, Jim."_ she whispered to the man she still loved. _"We will finish this some other time."_

"Whatever you say, Darlin'..." Jim managed to mumble before the exhaustion finally claimed him. Sarah turned away and walked back into the palace. Matt, who had still a hard time believing everything he had just witnessed, decided to follow her. He stormed up the staircase and nearly slammed into a few medics. He ran through the entrance and entered the ballroom. The same ballroom that had been filled with death and destruction. Now it was still filled with destruction, but the death was gone.

"We need a stretcher over here!" a medic yelled as he and his comrades tended to the wounded. Or un-wounded. Matt didn't really know if there were the right words to describe what was going on right now. He looked around and tried to find Sarah. It hadn't been a hallucination! She had been here! Today! With Jim! Was she behind the attack? But why?

No. It didn't make any sense. Matt didn't believe that she was behind this attack. Still, he had to know what was going on. He scanned the whole room for a certain redhead, but he couldn't see her. Sarah...was gone.

"Donny?" a familiar voice suddenly caught Matt's attention. He looked to the side and could see Kate. She knelt next to the body of a man wearing a horrible suit. He knew the man. It was Donny Vermillion.

"Hey Kate..." he managed to whisper. "...have you read the latest chapter of my autobiography that I sent you yet?" Matt saw the look of disbelief on Kate's face. It was impossible. There was no logical explanation for what was happening right now. But when she looked at Donny, she simply started to cry and buried her face in his blood-covered chest. Matt watched the whole scenery with watery eyes. The analytic part of his mind told him that there were a thousand things he had to do. Call in a press conference. Check on Valerian. And, of course, Brent. Order someone to start a thorough investigation. But the only thing he could do was to close his eyes.

"Thank you, Sarah."

* * *

It was finally over. The battle had ended, and now what remained was silence. The young woman hadn't left the garden ever since the shooting had started. Coming to this place and witness this moment had been painful. But sometimes you have to go where the hurt is, and sometimes you have to see things you never wanted to see in the first place.

Seeing these two like this, it was hard to accept.

The young woman had always known about this, but hearing about something, and witnessing it with her own senses, were two different things. She closed her eyes when she felt how something washed over her body. It felt like a wave of boundless psionic power. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on it. The young woman could sense how all that power started to focus on one person.

A gentle smile appeared on the young woman's face and she closed her eyes when she figured out what Sarah tried to do. She wanted to save the young man that meant something to Jim. But there was so much death, so much destruction. Was saving one life really enough? And so, the young woman decided to act. She didn't do much, all she had to do was to give Sarah's powers a tiny nudge, just enough to throw her off balance, but not enough so Sarah would actually notice that she was close by.

Instead of focusing her powers on only one person, the young woman made sure that Sarah wouldn't just bring this one person back to life. And a few moments later the young woman could feel how that which was believed to be lost returned to them. She opened her eyes again and noticed how a faint light suddenly appeared right next to her.

"...leavin', on a jet plane, dunno when I'll be back again..." she sang again before touching that blossom right next to her. The so-called "sparkle-flower" reacted immediately when she touched it. It hadn't done so ever since the Queen of Blades had laid waste to the palace over two years ago. It almost seemed as if they remembered the person that had caused them to bloom back then. And their psionics were almost the same, after all. It was the sign for these flowers to finally release their seeds.

The smile on the young woman's was one of childlike glee. She watched how the blossoms opened up and started to emit a faint blue light. A gust blew through the garden, and millions of seeds were released at once. Lighter as air, they started to float upwards until they engulfed the entire palace like millions of fireflies.

It was the moment people would later call "the Christmas of 2507", the Christmas that would change everything.

Only this time...

...for the better.


	44. Act II - Chapter 20

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 20**

 **Afterparty**

* * *

After the end of a battle, there was a strange moment of silence, of contemplation. When the gunfire finally stops, it doesn't mean that the nightmare is over. No, for many it only starts at that very moment. Those who end up on the wrong side of the gun usually only have to worry about their own survival. And they have to deal with the realization that their fight was for naught, that their comrades had died for nothing. It could break people. However, that didn't mean that being victorious was much better.

Well, of course being victorious was better than to suffer a defeat, but when you walk over a battlefield and witness the carnage and the destruction, if you see the dead bodies of your own people, how can you just think that it was a great victory? Every victory Matt had ever scored had been paid with the blood of fellow soldiers. There were people who didn't care about that. Like old man Mengsk for example. Ha, right now Matt envied the dead bastard for that ability.

Matt didn't feel any kind of happiness right now. Perhaps he should, but there were too many things on his mind. The thoughts raced through his head and there were so many things he was supposed to do. Unfortunately, he lacked both the strength and the resolve to do it.

It had been a short night with less than an hour of sleep. Matt was running on empty, just like everyone else. However, unlike all the others he had refused to just go to sleep. There were still too many things he had to take care of.

The Emperor wasn't among those things though. Valerian was somewhere safe, and the palace had been evacuated. Right now, over six hundred policemen were searching the building for any remaining threats. They had discovered an old elevator shaft, which had been used as an entrance point. To think that these attackers had been able to invade the palace without anyone noticing it...someone had to take responsibility for this.

In the end, it would be Matt's responsibility.

Like said; Valerian was safe. He was on board of the _Rebel Heart_ , which was currently in orbit over the city of Augustgrad. The crew of the Dominion's unofficial flagship was one hundred percent loyal to the Emperor, and right now it was the safest place for the Emperor to be. So at least Matt didn't have to worry about that. There were still more than enough other things he had to think about.

But even then; right now, he lacked both the strength and focus to do that. All he could do was to stare through the big looking glass and into the ICU-room. There were several people inside, though all but one were only doctors and nurses. They were all focused on just one patient. It was a man, he was ghostly pale and the only reason why Matt could tell that he was still alive, was the constant beeping of the monitors next to him.

The central hospital of Augustgrad was one of the most advanced medical facilities in the entire Korpulu Sector. Emperor Mengsk, the _old_ Emperor Mengsk, had been treated in this hospital during his reign. You could find experts for pretty much everything inside this building, from aching teeth to Zerg-infestation. Speaking of which...

This ICU-room was different from the others. Instead of a normal door, there was a heavy double door system in its place. Matt watched how a doctor inside checked the young man's vitals for one last time before he turned around and walked out. He stepped into the double door system and vanished from Matt's sight. There was a sizzling sound when the decontamination unit came to life and killed all the germs that might be on the doctor's clothes. When the outer door finally opened and the doctor stepped out, he pulled the facemask down and looked over to another doctor who was already waiting to get inside.

"Vitals are stable but weak. We stopped the blood-infusion, we don't want to risk an allergic reaction and have switched over to normal infusion. His temperature is..." But Matt didn't bother to listen to all the details. He looked at the pale face of Joseph Brent and sighed. When the doctor was finally done, he allowed his colleague to enter the decontamination chamber and turned towards Matt.

"Admiral." he said with a professional tone in his voice.

"How is he?" Matt just wanted to know. The doctor looked through the glass and a grim expression appeared on his face.

"Not good, I'm afraid."

"But he's alive." Matt said as if that was miracle enough.

"Barely. Unfortunately, his body has sustained a lot of damage. We're still not sure how it's even possible that he's still alive. Especially considering the strangeness of the wound he has received."

"What do you mean?" Matt wanted to know and looked over to the doctor. His face seemed familiar, but the Admiral didn't recognize the man. Had they met before?

"I have never seen anything like this before. It looks like some of his organs weren't damaged at all, while the ones right next to them need to be replaced as soon as possible."

"Replaced?" Matt asked with a shocked tone in his voice. The doctor nodded.

"Yes, Admiral. He will need a new spleen and at least one new kidney. And while his liver has stopped bleeding, it too is in bad shape. Right now, we do everything we can in order to stabilize him so we can buy some time."

"Buy some time? Don't tell me you can't clone tissue and organs inside this hospital! If you need access to a clone-lab, then just say the word and-"

"It's not that." the doctor interrupted him. "We can clone organs here, however, we still need to purify his blood and tissue before we can do that." Now Matt was confused. Why the hell did they have to do that?

"Why the hell do you have to do that?" he repeated his own thoughts.

"Did...no one tell you?" the doctor then replied.

"Tell me what? Spit it out, man!" Matt hissed. Perhaps he sounded more hostile like he wanted to, but it had been a long day. So cut him some slack, will you?

"Sir, we put the patient into the decontamination-unit for a reason. He's one of your men, so I thought you would know." Matt's patience was virtually non-existent at this point. He looked the doctor deep into the eyes and gritted his teeth.

"Enough with this bullshit. What are you talking about?" Matt demanded to know. The doctor looked at his patient, then back at Matt before he finally sighed.

"Sir, we found traces of Zerg-DNA inside the patient's wound."

"Zerg-DNA...?" Matt whispered and the doctor only nodded.

"It is not much, and the fragments seem to be inactive, so there are no mutagens involved. However, the standard protocol is very clear on this; any potential case of infection needs to be put under quarantine."

"He's...infested?" Matt mumbled and suddenly an image appeared in front of the Admiral's inner eye. He could see Brent, whose body had turned into an abomination. Tentacles and claws were breaking through his skin, and while the personnel tried to either keep him down or get the hell away from him, he turned his head towards Matt. His face was twisted with pain and rage and all he could gurgle was "Kiillll meeee..." Matt knew what infestation looked like, he had seen it plenty of times.

"No, he isn't. Like said; It's Zerg-DNA, but inactive. And there are no traces of the Zerg's hyper evolution-virus either. As far as we can say...he's not infested."

"Then what's the problem? Why don't you just replace those damn organs with cloned ones?" Matt snarled in frustration. The doctor seemed baffled for a moment. Wasn't the Admiral shocked and surprised that there was some Zerg-DNA inside one of his men? Of course, the doctor didn't know what Matt knew, what Matt had _seen...who_ he had seen.

Even then Matt didn't know all the details. Like for example that the Zerg-DNA was not from Sarah, but from a certain "big snake lady".

"Sir, as long as there's still the foreign DNA inside his system, we can't risk transplanting the new organs. We need to perform a dialysis. It will take some time, and in the meantime, we will have to keep him stabilized." the doctor explained. Matt was finally starting to realize what the man tried to tell him.

"So you're saying that he still might not make it, is it that?"

"Yes."

Matt didn't reply anything to that immediately. Instead, he stepped towards the glass and put his hand on the cold surface. Suddenly footsteps reached their ears and Matt looked to the side. A man was walking towards them. He was wearing a black suit and had some patches on his face. The most striking feature, however, was the fact that he was limping. Instead of yelling at the doctor, Matt just looked him into the eyes.

"Do everything you can in order to save him. If there's anything you need, just tell my people." The doctor opened his mouth and wanted to reply something, but then he just closed it and nodded. Matt turned around and looked at the newcomer.

"Agent Smith, you should be resting."

"I am fine, Sir." Smith just replied before he stopped right in front of Matt and straightened himself. It was brutally clear that Smith was lying, but right now neither one of them was in the right kind of shape to work with one hundred percent efficiency. Or any efficiency at all. So they had to work with what they got, which wasn't much. Matt looked once more through the looking glass before averting his eyes. He couldn't stand watching Brent like this, so he turned around and stared into Smith's eyes. Well, his sunglasses.

"Let's go for a walk, Agent." Matt mumbled and walked away from the ICU-room. He knew that there was nothing he could do anymore. Brent's life was now in the hands of the doctors. There was no point in standing at the window and stare at the young man for hours, even though that was the only thing Matt wanted to do right now. They walked slowly, so Smith could keep up with him.

"Sir, you look tired. Maybe you want to sit down." Jim's bodyguard suggested.

"If I sit down, I'll just fall asleep. And there are still too many things that need to be taken care of."

"Forgive me my bluntness, Admiral, but if you collapse, you're no good to anyone." Smith objected. That was a fair point, but Matt wasn't in the mood for constructive criticism right now.

"How's your leg?" he instead asked, trying to direct the conversation somewhere else.

"The bullet did not cause any permanent damage and it went right through it. The doctors treated my wound and told me to not engage any foe in hand-to-hand combat. However, I will be fully operational within a few days." he told Matt, who stopped and leaned against the wall. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. When he did that, he could feel how his eyes started to burn from exhaustion and fatigue. He wasn't running on empty anymore, he had passed that moment hours ago. Right now, he longed for a bed. It didn't have to be a comfortable one, one of the hospital beds would be more than enough. Hell, if someone would give him a pillow, he would sleep right here on the floor.

 _Enough with this self-pity, man!_ he said to himself and slammed his head against the wall. It didn't hurt much, but the sudden outburst released the pitiful rest of adrenaline that was still left inside his body.

"Need some coffee." he mumbled to himself before looking over to Smith. "How's Jim?"

"Mr. Raynor is just two floors beneath us. He is suffering from a broken rib and several bruises. But it's nothing life-threatening. However, he currently looks like, and I shall quote him, "like a Hydralisk with lipsticks on it"." That actually caused Matt to chuckle. Yep, that definitely sounded like Jim. Well, at least some things never changed.

"And how's he holding up? Mentally, I mean."

"Not good, I'm afraid." Smith replied truthfully. It caused one of Matt's eyebrows to wander up.

"How's that?" he demanded to know. Smith frowned and licked his lips. He seemed to be unsure what to say, but then he just shook his head.

"Mr. Raynor seems to be...confused."

"Confused? What's that supposed to mean?"

"He kept asking for a woman, a very specific woman." Smith told him. When Matt heard that, he could feel how an icy chill ran down his spine. A woman? There was only one woman Jim would care about. Matt had no idea what Jim had experienced the night before. After falling asleep on the stairs to the palace, no one had managed to wake him up again. The exhaustion had been too much for his old friend. Well, at least he was awake again.

"What woman?" Matt asked, but he already knew the answer to that question. Still, why hadn't she just-

"Someone called Jane Shepard."

Huh?

"Huh?" Matt repeated his own thought and frowned. "Who's that? I've never heard that name before." Smith pulled his shoulders up when he heard that.

"You, and apparently everyone else. There was no such person present during the party. I checked the guest list myself. Mr. Raynor asked for both her and her lover, a man called "Garrus Vakarian". But he too wasn't on the guest list. I checked everything, even the bodies of the attackers we have discovered so far. However, none fits the description Mr. Raynor has given to me." Matt looked to the side and watched the doctors and nurses doing their job. He had never heard the name Jane Shepard before. And what kind of name was Garrus Vakarian?

"What did you tell Jim?" Matt wanted to know.

"The truth." Smith replied. "There was no such person inside the palace."

"What did he reply to that?"

"That I should leave and stick my head up someone's butt. He was very agitated by it all, Sir. The only thing that kept him from losing his temper was the fact that he's still very exhausted." It didn't make any sense. He knew that Sarah had been there. Why hadn't she shown herself to Jim? Only then he remembered something, something that had happened just one day ago...

" _You're here for him?"_ he had asked her on the Hyperion.

" _NO!"_ she had yelled at him in response. _"Under no circumstances should Jim know that I'm here. I caused him enough trouble and pain..."_

Those had been Sarah's words. Did that mean that Jim still didn't know that she had returned? Matt clenched his hands into fists. To him, it was the epitome of cruelness. Hadn't Sarah claimed that she had caused him enough pain? Yet it seemed as if she didn't care for that one bit. Right now, Jim was in a great deal of pain, even someone without psionics could tell that. So why had she returned to him and-

Only then a new question formed inside Matt's mind.

"Did Jim give you a description of that woman?" he suddenly wanted to know. Smith pulled his eyebrows up when he heard that question.

"He described her as a beautiful woman with a sad look on her face."

"That's really helpful, Smith. Any visible details?"

"Well, according to Mr. Raynor, she wore a coppery dress, had flaming red hair and-" But Matt didn't bother listening to the rest. He shook his head and whispered "Not very subtle, Sarah. You used to be better at this kind of game." He had no proof that this Jane Shepard was indeed Sarah Kerrigan. However, every fiber of his body, every cell screamed the same thing; it had been her. But why? And why now? Those were questions he couldn't answer right now. The only one who could do that was Sarah herself, though he had no bloody idea where she currently was. Matt didn't know which thought was scarier; the fact that Sarah was walking among them, or the fact that he didn't know _why_ she was doing it.

Though, in the end, he could think of only one thing that was so important for Sarah to return to them. No, not to them. To _him_. Sarah's motivations were completely shrouded to Matt, yet he knew that it could only be because of Jim. Whatever the truth was, he was unable to grasp it. It wasn't the only mystery he had to deal with. There was still the question of who had attacked the palace in the first place.

"What about the attackers? Any new information on them?" he changed the topic. Smith seemed to hesitate for a second, but then he shook his head. It looked like he was dealing with some kind of unpleasant memories for a second.

"The police is still investigating the crime scene. Right now, they have secured ten bodies in total. There are three additional attackers who seem to have survived the attack, but they are unresponsive. They have been transferred to the military hospital in the south, where they are currently under close surveillance. The attackers appeared to be a mixed group, consisting both of commandos and what we have identified as, well, -"

"Spectres." Matt finished the sentence. That revelation was a scary one. It could mean a thousand different things. But even then...

"I worked with Spectres before. Those guys back then were in a whole different league when compared to Ghosts. Then why didn't they manage to achieve their goal?" he mumbled to himself. There was something wrong, Matt could just feel it in his bones. There was nothing he could do about the whole Sarah-dilemma, but that didn't mean that he just had to ignore all the other sore spots. Six high-profile Spectres should have been more than enough to deal with all the forces defending the palace, at least if they had stuck to stealth instead of carnage. These Spectres, he had to know more about them. Something was fishy, his instincts told him that. He needed to consult an expert.

Well, that was probably not entirely true, but there was just one person in the entire sector who knew at least a bit about Specters and had the scientific background to help him.

"What about the other attackers?"

"They are...were a group of former Combine's combat engineers. They are known as-"

"Zappers, I know." Matt interrupted him again. It was a bad habit, but right now he was too tired and exhausted to care about that. Just another piece of information that caused him nothing but a migraine. If active members, if even former members of the Combine's military were behind this attack, then...

"Has any information regarding the nature of the attackers been leaked to the public?" he asked Smith, who shook his head.

"Not as far as we can tell. However-" Smith said before pushing his hand into one of his pockets. He pulled something out and handed it over to Matt. The Admiral grabbed the small object and looked at it.

"What's that?" he wanted to know, realizing that it was a memory chip.

"It's the memory chip from Ms. Lockwell's holo drone. I managed to remove it while she wasn't looking. As far as I can tell, it's the only hard evidence that could compromise the integrity of the news-blockade." Smith explained to him. Matt looked at the chip in his hands and frowned. That chip contained all of Kate's recordings? Oh, that could bite him in the butt at a later date.

"You know..." Matt then said. "...the irony is that there used to be a camera in every room of the palace. Mengsk, well, the Emperor's father, he had used a system of total control. It even traced the heartbeat of all the people in each and every room. And of course, there had been listening devices everywhere. We decided to shut the whole system down because it was so creepy. Guess that was a mistake." Matt mused and put the chip in his pocket. Right now, he had enough things to deal with, Kate's chip could wait. Speaking of Kate...

"Where's Lockwell now?" he wanted to know.

"She's still at Mr. Vermillion's side. All of her shows have been canceled until further notice." Smith told him. Matt sighed. That wasn't good. Right now, the public only knew that something had happened the night before. However, they didn't know any details. And if Matt had anything to say on this matter, then it should stay this way.

"Shall we take Ms. Lockwell into custody?" Smith wanted to know. When Matt heard that, his head jerked up and he looked Smith right into the eyes.

"What?!" he barked. "Why should we do that?"

"In order to contain all the information regarding the attack."

Matt wanted to yell at Smith. That suggestion seemed to be utterly ridiculous and borderline dangerous. Silencing a reporter? It was the one thing Matt had sworn himself to never do. That was something only dictators and tyrants would do, what old man Mengsk had done. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy. It never was. If the information would leak, the public outcry could prove to be disastrous. It wasn't really a logical thing; most normal folks didn't care about those celebrities. It was more the thought that mattered: Someone had attacked their home, someone had scored a critical hit. Someone had _defiled_ the Imperial Palace.

There were many people who criticized Valerian almost constantly, but don't get the wrong impression; if someone attacks the Emperor, it's an attack on the entire Dominion. If some threat from outside emerges, people tend to band together. And once you reach a certain point, it doesn't matter if logic disagrees with you, you do what you feel is right.

Like starting a war. A war that would know no winners, but only losers.

So yeah, Matt had to choose; prevent the information from spreading, or allow the situation to go out of control. In other words; keep Lockwell's mouth shut or risk a war. He wanted to tell Smith that he should leave Kate alone. It was the right thing to do. But if this would turn into an all-out crisis, then what? Was the freedom of the press more important than preventing a war?

There was no perfect answer to that. This wasn't a video-game or a movie where the hero would make the right decision and everything would just turn out fine. This was still the reality!

"Sir?" Smith asked again, waiting for an answer. Matt looked at his own hands and frowned. What should he do? Ask Valerian for orders? Or tell someone else to do it? Maybe he should ask Kallis to deal with this problem, the head of the Dominion's central intelligence. No, he would probably grab Kate and make her disappear for good.

Was the life of one person more important than the safety of many? No. No, it went deeper than this. Was the _freedom_ of one profession more important than the safety of the Dominion's citizens? Every cell inside Matt's body knew the answer to that; the freedom of speech as not a burden, but a gift, and an obligation. His heart knew that. However, the logical part of his mind just asked one word; really? Was the freedom of speech truly worth the life of innocents?

And much to his own dismay, he realized that he couldn't find a satisfying answer.

"Sir, what should we do?" Smith continued to bother him. Matt looked up at him and took a deep breath.

"Do nothing. Keep an eye on Lockwell, keep me informed. But as long as she's not on the job, leave her alone. Should the situation change, I want to be informed immediately. Don't do anything without my explicit permission." He couldn't decide this right now. It was probably highly unprofessional, but he just couldn't do it.

"Understood. I will relay this information to your office right away." Smith didn't seem to judge Matt for his cowardice. In the end, Matt asked himself only one question; what would Jim do. Speaking of which...

"By the way, how's Jim?" he then wanted to know.

"Aside from the physical exhaustion? Not good I'm afraid."

"How's that?" Matt asked and Smith seemed to be unsure of what to say next.

"Mr. Raynor seems to be very agitated and has a hard time to calm down or come to rest. It appears that this Jane Shepard has caused him to experience a severe amount of distress. And the only reason why he's not rampaging around right now is because he's too exhausted to do that."

"He and everyone else." was the only thing Matt could reply. It was just another thing he had to do; talk to Jim. And that was something he truly did not look forward to. Not because he didn't want to see or talk to Jim, but he was afraid of what they would talk about. Or _who_ , to be more precise.

"Where is Jim now?" Matt asked.

"He is in the cafeteria. Do not worry, they do not sell any kind of alcoholics there."

Right, because that was exactly the thing on Matt's mind right now.

"Very well." Matt sighed. "I'm going to talk to Jim now. And then I'm going to see the Emperor, inform him about everything. Might as well get moving." When he turned away and started to walk down the corridor, Smith stepped to the side. He looked at the backside of the Admiral and felt the urge to ask him something. Smith was still not sure what had happened yesterday. And just like Matt, he too was worried about the Specters. However, unlike Matt, he wanted to know what had hit them. And him. Smith knew that there were military secrets he would never know about. But the next time he would walk into some kind of psi-disruptor, he wanted to know. His head was still hurting like hell. He sighed and shook his head. It was one of the rare moments when Smith showed his true feelings, but it only lasted for seconds. Then he straightened himself and decided to follow the Admiral.

* * *

Jim stared at the half-empty cup of coffee right in front of him. He hated hospitals. Every normal person hated hospitals. And Jim had a theory why people don't like hospitals; you only go there when you're sick. Unfortunately, right now he felt very sick. The painkillers weren't so bad, though. They had given him the good stuff and he almost couldn't feel his broken rib anymore. Only when he stood up and sat down. Or turned to the side. Or tried to do up his shoelaces. Or when he went to the bathroom. Or when he breathed. Or when he tried to raise the cup of coffee in order to drink of it.

But, yeah, he basically didn't feel his broken rib. Much.

He sighed and looked at the cup in front of him. It is said that the food inside a hospital is horrible, it's a law of nature. Well, this coffee wasn't far behind either. It tasted like crap, and no matter how much sugar or milk he had poured into that stuff, it's overly bitter taste hadn't vanished. The only thing speaking in its favor was the fact that it was still warm.

Right now, Jim had the luxury to only think about that poor excuse for a coffee because there was nothing else for him to do. The battle was over, his services were no longer required. He was like an old horse that was put aside after everything was said and done. He certainly felt like an old horse right now.

"Not exactly how I had envisioned my future." he mumbled to himself. However, the voice inside the back of his head didn't answer. It had fallen silent. Jim knew that it had only been a hallucination, but that voice had helped him, it had reminded him of Sarah. And it had helped him to overcome his grief. He knew that Sarah was gone and that she wouldn't return to him, but his heart simply refused to accept that. The voice inside the back of his mind had helped him with avoiding the pain. It had fought his sense of reason. Now that the voice was gone, so was his hope.

Maybe it was the painkillers. Maybe it was something else. He simply felt exhausted. Like he had finally reached the end of the line. As he sat in the cafeteria all by himself, he continued to brood about this and that. He wasn't really looking at the coffee anymore, his eyes were focused on a point far beyond the cup, the table, and even this planet. Yet all he saw was...nothing.

He didn't notice when the two men entered the cafeteria. One of them limped over to the door and watched the entrance like he usually did. Smith was still a bodyguard after all, and even with his wounded leg, he should be able to deal with most ordinary adversaries. Just no Zappers and Spectres for the next couple of days, doctor's orders.

"Jim." He recognized the voice in an instant, yet Jim decided not to look up. Instead, he continued to stare into the hideous abyss of this supposed "coffee" and did what he had done before; nothing.

It seemed as if Matt wasn't sure how to respond to that. Since Jim didn't look up, he couldn't see the worried expression on Matt's face. The Admiral hadn't been able to talk with his old friend for quite some time now. And this was the first time that they spoke with each other since the end of the attack on the palace. Suddenly Matt felt guilty. He knew that he should have kept in touch with Jim, but his duties had prevented him from doing so. As he looked down on Jim, he could see the wounds of battle on his old friend's face. His one eye was still swollen, and his face was covered with patches, and since he was only wearing a shirt, Matt could see that they had bandaged his arms. All in all, Jim looked like he had lost the godmother of all brawls. However, the most shocking thing was the look on Jim's face. It seemed as if there was no fire left in him.

Matt could relate to that feeling. Even though no life was claimed (well, except for those attackers maybe), it just didn't feel like a victory. Not with all the problems they had still to deal with. After a while, Matt grabbed a chair and pulled it over to Jim's table. He sat down right next to Jim and looked at the cup Jim was staring on.

"Could use a coffee myself. How is it?" Matt wanted to know.

"Horrible."

"Can't be more horrible than the coffee Stetmann once made. Remember? When he had tried to create a coffee that could replace a whole meal? It tasted like rotten egg, but he always claimed that "it contains everything a grown-up man needs!". Matt chuckled when he remembered that day. Jim had grabbed the coffeemaker, thrown it into the next airlock and jettisoned it into space. "You remember?" Matt asked again.

"No." was Jim's only answer.

Okay, so Jim was in a bad mood. Matt sighed. There was no point in beating around the bush. If there was one thing that James Raynor appreciated, then it was honesty.

"How are you, Jim?" Matt asked, but received no answer. A few moments later he decided to ask the question again.

"Jim? Are you-"

"Heard you the first time, Admiral." Jim just snarled. Admiral? Not Matt? That wasn't good.

"Jim, I'm sorry for eve-" But he was cut short again.

"How's the kid. How's Brent?"

"...not good I'm afraid." Matt then changed the topic.

"But he's still alive, isn't he?"

"Yeah, but he's in bad shape. He needs a bunch of new organs. Unfortunately, there have been some...complications." Complications. Right. Like the DNA of Jim's lover that was still alive. Of course, it wasn't Sarah's DNA, but Matt didn't know that. And it didn't really matter. What mattered was that he knew something. Something that could change everything. He knew that Sarah Kerrigan was still alive. The question was; did Jim know that too?

"Jim, there's something I wanted to talk with you about. Something regarding the people that were on the party and-" He didn't get very far.

"Not in the mood, Admiral." Again, what's with the Admiral-stuff? Matt sighed and looked Jim right into the eyes. Well, at least he tried. Jim was still staring at the cup in front of him.

"Jim, it's about the guests. There's something that I need to tell you and-" Man, this was getting old really fast.

"I said I'm not in the mood, goddammit!" Jim barked. "I don't want to hear it, Matt. Go find someone else." Well, that wasn't very subtle. Matt frowned when he heard Jim's angry words.

"Jim? Are you okay?" Now Jim finally raised his head and looked Matt directly into the eyes.

"No, Matt. I'm not _okay_." he hissed in barely contained anger. "Every part of my body hurts like hell, and in case you haven't noticed; last night wasn't so great either."

"Yeah, about that. Jim, I need to talk with you. It's about someone who was at the party and-"

"No." Jim cut him short again. It was getting bothersome, but Matt knew that he shouldn't take out his frustration on Jim. Besides, if there was one who had all the right in the world to be angry, it was Jim.

"No, but Jim, I only want to-"

"I said no!" Jim barked again and grabbed the cup of coffee before slamming it on the table. Some of the lukewarm liquid fell on his hand, and he snarled in frustration before he just shook his hand in order to get rid of it.

"Jim, what's the ma-"

"We had this conversation already, okay?" Jim interrupted him again. "Your man Smith already told me that there wasn't a woman named Shepard on the party. Apparently, I've been imagining things! And since it's absolutely impossible that I'm speaking the truth, it has to be a hallucination! There's no way that the poor, poor and delusional James Raynor could be right. No, of course not. The sad bastard is simply too far gone. So save your breath, Matt. I don't want to hear it." Shepard? This was about Shephard, and not about Sarah? He opened his mouth and was about to say something, but failed to find the right words. Still, Matt realized what that meant; Jim didn't know that Sarah had returned. And he probably didn't know that this Shepard had most likely been her. Matt wasn't certain about Shepard being Sarah, but it was the only logical answer he could think of. Perhaps he should tell Jim? Then what? Call out for Sarah to come out of hiding and show herself? Was she listening right now? Matt looked over at Smith, who did nothing. Smith hadn't been able to sense Sarah's presence at all. Matt shouldn't be surprised by that since Smith was only a level three operative. But even then...

The guilt he felt was tremendous. Why not just tell Jim the truth? What harm could it be? Matt took a deep breath.

"Jim, listen-" By now he shouldn't be surprised by the fact that Jim wouldn't allow him to finish even one sentence.

"I don't think I can go on anymore, Matt." his friend suddenly said and returned to stare at the cup of coffee. Matt needed a moment to process that information.

"Jim? What are you talking about?"

"I know that you know that I'm...not doing so well." Suddenly the anger inside Jim's gaze was gone. And so was the will to live. "I've been hearing things. Bad dreams. Worse memories. And there's been a voice speaking to me."

"A... voice?" Matt stuttered. Right now, Jim looked like an old man.

"I'm sure Smith told you that I'm speaking to myself." Jim just mumbled.

"He mentioned something like that." Matt said and glanced over at Smith, but the bodyguard simply ignored them.

"I think it's Sarah." Jim then said and Matt went completely pale when he heard that.

"Sa-Sarah?" he stuttered. Oh damn. But Jim didn't seem to notice Matt's shock.

"Yeah. Well, not really. But that voice, it almost sounds like Sarah's. Almost. I know it's pathetic, but whenever I hear that voice, I'm reminded of her, and it feels as if she's still around. You know, as if she's close to me." And then Jim said something that caused Matt to nearly choke.

"I miss her, Matt."

There was little Matt could do. It was clear that Jim didn't know that Sarah was still out there. And yet, Matt wasn't able to tell him the truth. How? How could he do it? He felt pathetic and like a traitor.

"How many are dead?" Jim suddenly asked. Matt blinked in surprise and looked at his old friend.

"What?"

"The victims. How many did we lose?" Jim then asked again.

"None. We got plenty wounded and even more traumatized. But no casualties. Well, aside from the attackers." When Jim heard that, he started to chuckle. But it was not a happy laugh.

"You know..." he then started. "...I really thought they had killed these people. I thought that Brent was dead, that they were all dead. Yet no one did die. You know what this means? You know what this feels like? I was certain that those people had died." Matt wanted to intervene and tell him the truth, but he was afraid of Jim's reaction.

"I'm losing my grip on reality, Matt. I can't tell the difference between reality and fabrication anymore. There are moments when I know that it's a hallucination. Like the voice. But I don't care about the fact that's not real. Because it felt nice talking to Sarah, even if it's only in my imagination. But yesterday? I have no idea what happened. I saw dead people, I saw their lifeless eyes. Yet now they breathe. If you can't trust your own senses, who can you trust?"

Matt considered himself to be Jim's best friend. However, right now he didn't feel like a friend, right now he felt like a failure.

 _Tell him._ Matt thought to himself. _Tell him that she's out there, in the shadows. He will probably be furious, but wouldn't it be better?_ However, as he looked at Jim, he felt something that he hadn't felt in a long time; shame. Right now, he felt unable to tell Jim the truth. Besides, why couldn't Sarah face him herself? Matt's expression was one of guilt and shame.

"But you know what's the worst thing?" Jim then asked. Matt looked into his eyes.

"What is that?" However, Jim didn't answer that question. Instead, he stared at the cup of coffee and did what he had done before; nothing. It was a scary sight. Matt hadn't seen Jim for some time now. He had, of course, read the reports Smith had sent him. Well, most of them. Okay, maybe one or two. Perhaps Matt hadn't been the best friend lately, but now he was here. And now he-

"...I need your help, Jim." Pathetic, really. But Matt didn't know who else he could ask for advice. Jim had always been the moral compass of the Raiders. He had led them, had inspired them. He had inspired Matt. And he still did.

"Pfff." Jim muttered. "Why? You need a replacement target?" he only half-joked.

"I... there's a dilemma I'm facing right now."

"Tough luck, I'm no longer in the "save the world"-business. Sorry, go find someone else." Jim explained to him. Matt needed a moment to process that. He had seen Jim in poor shape many times, especially when he had been drunk. However, this time it was different. This time Jim wasn't angry at himself. It was like he had lost the will to go on living.

"That's not it. I just need your advice."

"Oh yeah? Why don't you just ask one of those guys who work for you? You know, the guys who actually get paid for this kind of crap."

"I could. But I don't want to. I want your opinion."

"Why?" Jim wanted to know.

"Because I respect you. Because you are my friend." Matt said to him. Jim looked up and their gazes met. For a short moment, it seemed as if he wanted to refuse. But then he leaned back and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Alright. Shoot." he just said. Matt grabbed into his pocket and pulled something out. He took the object and put it on the table.

"What's that." Jim asked.

"It's a data-chip."

"I know that, I'm not stupid. What's on it?"

"It's from Kate Lockwell's holo drone, and it contains a lot of material from the attack. Right now, it's the only material that could compromise our news blackout." he explained to Jim, who pulled his eyebrows up.

"You...you stole that thing from Lockwell? Hahahaha!" Jim started to laugh, but it wasn't really a happy laugh. "Oh boy, that's not very nice of you, you know that?" Matt sighed when he heard that.

"Yeah, but that's not the reason why I need your advice. Trust me, that chip is just the tip of the iceberg." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "It appears that the attackers are former Zappers from the Combine. We're still working on the details; however, it seems that it was a single cell. Right now, it is the best thing to keep this thing under the radar. But-" Matt took another deep breath, but that's when he could feel how his own resolve started to falter. He still cared for Jim's opinion, and he wanted that this man would continue to call him his friend.

"But what? Spit it out, Matt, I don't want to stay the whole day in this place." Jim complained. Matt gathered as much of his courage as possible before he finally continued.

"Kate has seen...things. Things that could compromise our news blackout. Right now, she has canceled all her shows for the rest of the week. However, if she decides to tell it to the public, the consequences could be-"

"War." Jim finished the sentence. "It's always war, isn't it? No matter if it's Zerg or Protoss. And if there's no alien around, we just kill time by killing our own kind." For a long moment, neither one of them said a word. It was Matt who finally decided to speak up again.

"What should I do, Jim? Tell them to lock Lockwell up? Or risk the public outcry? If the people demand blood, what then? Is the freedom of speech more important than preventing a war from happening? What should I do?" He looked up to Jim, but the older man had decided to stare at his cup again.

"Jim?"

"Grow a goddamn spine, Matt." Jim just growled.

"Uhm...Jim?" Matt asked with a perplexed tone in his voice.

"You heard me, Admiral." Jim shot back and looked him right into the eyes. "What do you think I am? A goddamn monkey that you can just call out when you need him?"

"Jim? Is everything alright?" Matt was completely baffled. It was so unlike Jim to act like this.

"Have you even listened to anything I just said? Have you? I seriously doubt that, Matt. Because if you had, you wouldn't ask if everything is alright. No, nothing is alright. Nothing is fine and nothing will get better. So, spare me your stupid excuses for keeping me on a tight leash."

"Leash? Jim, I have no idea what-"

"STOP BULLSHITING ME!" Jim suddenly roared and jumped to his feet. He hissed in anger and pain. His ribs still hurt like hell, but right now he was too angry to care about that. All Matt could do was to watch how his old friend went nuclear right in front of him. Next to the door, Smith straightened himself but decided not to interfere.

"Why are you here, Matt?" Jim demanded to know. "What do you really want?"

"Jim, I have no idea what you're talking about. I just wanted to ask you about your opinion and-"

"Opinion? OPINION?! I don't believe that we're even having this conversation!" Jim yelled. Well, right now it wasn't really much of a conversation. "It's like the last few years haven't even happened! What happened to the Matt Horner who was elevated/elated when we freed those prisoners from New Folsom? What's with all the fancy words on "winning hearts and minds", huh?" Now something of the old fire had finally started to return to Jim. He put his hands on the table and looked Matt right into the eyes.

"Has the new admiral-insignia turned you into a coward? Is that it? Now that you're finally one of the big shots, you don't need those dreams of a better future anymore?" Jim snarled. When Matt heard that, he finally started to grow angry as well.

"Jim, watch it. I know you're angry, I know that you're frustrated. But right now, you say things that you clearly don't mean like that."

"Oh really? The great Admiral Horner can now tell what I'm thinking? Oh, I'm so glad. Does that mean that I can stop thinking for myself now? That I just have to tell him whatever the hell he wants to hear?" Now Matt felt how his own frustrations started to get out of control. He jumped to his feet as well and the chair was thrown back. Smith still decided not to intervene, but he too seemed highly unnerved by Jim's whole display.

"Jim! Watch it! I know that you had a bad day, but so did I. You better want to think about your next words or-"

"Or what? You're gonna throw me in jail? Like Lockwell?"

"WHAT? No! I would never do something like that! How can you even say something like that?!" Now Matt was angry. Jim's friendship meant a lot to him, but he wouldn't be someone's punching bag. Not even Jim's.

"Really? That's your answer? Sorry, Matt, I don't buy it. You just told me that you want to throw someone into jail. And for what? Because she _might_ be able to tell the people the truth? Dear God, are you even listening to yourself? You fought so people could speak their minds! And now you want to bury them because of a what-if scenario!" Jim barked. Matt clenched his hands into fists. He was fully aware of the dilemma, but he hadn't come here to hear insults from Jim.

"I just wanted your opinion, Jim. And I don't need to hear this crap, not from anyone, and certainly not from you." Matt snarled. The feeling of shame was gone, now he felt nothing but anger.

"Is that so? And why would that be?" Jim shot back and started to walk around the table. Matt did the same and suddenly they were circling each other like Zerglings that were about to attack. "Is that what you need me for? Tell you that you're one awesome hunk of a guy and that everything you do is good? I'm not your own private Magic 8-Ball; just shake me from time to time and get the answer you want!"

"That's not the truth and you know it!" Matt shot back. "I value your experience and your advice!"

"But only if it suits you! And only if you don't have anywhere else to go." Suddenly Jim stopped and stretched his arms out. "Do you even see what you're becoming?"

Matt froze when he heard those words.

 _Do you even see what you're becoming?_

Those had been Matt's words, back on the Hyperion, back when the Commander had experienced another breakdown. When he had doubted himself, and drown his sorrows in alcohol. Back then they had needed James Raynor's skills and his aura of leadership. However, that aura had only appeared if Jim had been both sober and in full control of his thoughts and emotions. Matt lowered his gaze and suddenly he realized what he had done.

"You know what your problem is, Matt?" Jim then said. "You don't have anyone who supports you. You decided to share the burden of leadership with no one. You think that it's your duty to shoulder it all. But that ain't right. It's what Mengsk did. He thought that he could trust no one. I never did that. I had you, Matt. You looked after me, you pulled my head out of the gutter and took the bottle away when I couldn't do it myself. And there were others. Swann, Ariel, hell even Tychus was willing to listen to me. And this is what you don't get; you can't do it alone."

"I'm not doing this alone." Matt hissed.

"Yes, you are, Matt. Tell me; where's Valerian?" Jim wanted to know.

"He's safe, he is currently on the-"

"So he's out of the picture, yes? Did he give you the order to silence Lockwell? Or did you come up with that brilliant thought yourself?" Jim asked.

"He's not out of the picture, I just wanted him to be safe. Now, once everything has calmed down, we-"

"LISTEN TO YOURSELF, MAN!" Jim screamed. "You're doing it again. You don't talk with anyone about those things. The truth is that you've already made up your mind! You just want me to give you an absolution because you claim to respect me. But Matt, I would have never done something like that. And you know it!"

"You did the exact same thing!" Matt hissed back. "When you accepted Valerian's offer, when you decided to go to Char and stop Sarah! You put the looming threat of the Zerg above our fight against Mengsk. You decided that the life of the people was more important than their freedom, at least in that moment!" Perhaps Jim was right? Perhaps Matt was looking for absolution? For someone to tell him "It's unfortunate, but there's no alternative. So, do what you have to do." However, Jim decided to not do that.

"No, Matt. I didn't. You know why I went to Chart? You want to know the real reason?" Jim took a deep breath. "It's because I wanted to get Sarah back. It's because I wanted to save her. And I never ordered anyone to follow me. It was my fight. You followed me because you knew it was the right thing to do. But this? Tell me, Matt, does what you plan to do feel right? Does it?" Matt wanted to reply something, but when he opened his mouth, no words left his throat.

"You know why I could do it? You know what's the difference between me back then and you now?" he then said. Matt gritted his teeth when he heard that question.

"Oh please, enlighten me!" he spat out.

"You don't trust people anymore."

"That's-" Matt tried to shout, but he was yet again cut short.

"The truth, Matt!" Jim barked. "You don't trust anyone anymore. That's why you keep everyone out of the loop. That's why you sent your man Smith to protect my sorry ass. You think that I will just drink myself to death. Perhaps that's even a correct assessment. You know, I thought that Valerian might end up like his old man. But it's not him we should be worried about. He has found his way. He now knows what kind of person he wants to become. But you? Matt, maybe I'm losing my grip on reality, but you're doing far worse than I do."

"I'm doing this for the people of the Dominion, Jim! It's not that I enjoy any of this!" Matt yelled.

"No, not yet. But it's the first step. It's always the same. At first, you tell yourself that it's necessary, that sometimes you have to make the hard choices. Then comes the moment where you're looking for others who tell you what you want to hear." Jim turned away and slumped over to the door. He was halfway to the exit when he stopped and looked back at his old friend.

"You know, I'm not as thick as people like to believe. I know what you did for me, Matt. That you looked after me after Sarah, well, after everything was over. And like said, I'm grateful for that. And the fact that you put me out of sight wasn't so bad either. I had time for myself. But now you're about to repeat the mistakes of the past. It's like the old Confederacy all over again. And I'm not gonna be part of this machinery, Matt. I fought against two regimes, and I won't watch the birth of a third one."

"That's not fair, Jim." Matt hissed. "We're trying our best to make this thing work!"

"As long as you don't trust the people, nothing will change, Matt."

"If I allow Lockwell to tell the people, there will be war!" Matt insisted.

"You don't know that. You assume that the people will crave for blood. And your solution is what? Give them a fake reality? One where they won't be able to decide for themselves?" Jim replied before he sighed. "You know what your problem is? You're a goddamn idealist, Matt. You have this picture of a perfect society in your mind. And now you realize that people are frustrating. That they don't listen to you, even if you have the best arguments on your side. I know that feeling, trust me, I do. I've been there. But no matter how bad our situation was, I never demanded you to follow me. It was always your choice."

Matt wanted to reply something, but deep inside his heart, he knew that he had lost the argument. He didn't dare to look into Jim's eyes and instead, he turned away. Suddenly Matt's worries doubled in size.

"You look like you've got a few things to think about, Admiral. Maybe you should find someone you can talk to, might help. But please, look for someone other than me." Jim said before he walked out of the door.

"Let's head back to my place, Smith. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight." His bodyguard looked over to Matt, who had turned his back to them, and then back to Jim before he nodded.

"Very well, Sir. Let's get out of here." Smith stepped out of the cafeteria and Jim was about to follow him. Then he stopped and turned his head back to Matt.

"Matt! Remember what I once told you; we are who we choose to be. Question is; what will your choice be?" He then turned away and left the Admiral behind.

* * *

No one said a word during the trip back to Arcturus's old villa. It wasn't exactly what Jim would consider a home. There was no one around he cared for. But at least no one would bother him there. It was doubtful that Matt would come and visit him anytime soon. Jim felt bad for what he had said to him. He was still his friend, but he just hadn't been able to keep his mouth shut anymore. There was a line, and Matt was about to cross it. If he would do that, he wouldn't be any different from Arcturus Mengsk and the ones who had come before him.

Ironic, wasn't it? Matt had always fought for freedom and opportunities, and now he was about to make the biggest mistake of his life. However, it wasn't Jim's job to keep the Admiral on track. Not because he didn't want to, but because he wouldn't be around forever. One day, Matt would need to trust others. He had to share the burden, or it would crush him sooner or later. And right now, Jim wasn't sure if he should be glad that he would probably not see this day anymore.

"I'm going to bed now, Smith. Take a bite, go watch some tv and put that leg up. That's an order." he just told his bodyguard before he went to his bedroom. Jim didn't even bother to undress. He just kicked off his shoes and fell on the soft bed.

"Ugh...!" he groaned when he landed on his still aching rib. "Worst...day...ever..." he managed to mumble before he rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling.

"Well, that was one hell of day, right Darlin''?" he whispered to himself. He hoped to hear that voice again, that voice that sounded almost like Sarah's. But no one answered. Everything was finally silent. Jim sighed and closed his eyes. It didn't take long for sleep to claim him. His breath calmed down and soon he felt how his mind slipped away.

When he was finally asleep, the room stayed quiet for some time. Until a faint light started to fill one side of the room. Jim, who was already asleep, turned his head away and grunted in discomfort. That was when a lithe figure emerged from the darkness. She stepped in front of the bed and when Sarah looked down on Jim, a painful expression appeared on her face.

"Hello, Jim." Sarah whispered. "I've come to say goodbye."


	45. Act II - Chapter 21

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 21**

 **Fancy meeting you here!**

* * *

Sarah stood in front of the (rather large and comfortable looking) bed and looked down at the sleeping man in front of her. He looked like he had lost an argument with a Hydralisk. She studied his features and a warm yet pained smile appeared on her face. She remembered the look on his face, she had seen it many times. Even in his sleep, Jim Raynor was still worried about the world around him. During their time with the Sons of Korhal, they had shared a bed a couple of times. And even though her first impression of Jim had been anything but stellar, he had proven himself to be quite the gentleman. Most of their shared nights hadn't been about hot and feverish love-making. It had been war, and believe it or not; after days and nights of fighting, marching and even more fighting the last thing you want to do is do some workout with your hips. You know, mattress-limbo. No, their time together had usually not involved that much sex.

That didn't mean that they hadn't done it. However, most of the time they had just enjoyed each others company. She remembered resting inside his arms, pressing her ear against his chest and listening to his heartbeat. It had calmed her down. Inside his embrace, she had felt not only protected but understood. Jim Raynor had been the first man, the first human, who had never judged her. Who had accepted her the way she had been.

"It wasn't all bad, was it?" she said with a quiet voice. "We had some good times, you and I, didn't we?" Of course Jim didn't answer. She could feel how he was already dreaming. What did he dream about? She could find out, all she had to do was to reach out and touch his mind. However, she hadn't come here to do that. It would only complicate things. She had come here to find closure, to set both of them free once and for all. Sarah knew that it wouldn't be easy, that she would need all of her willpower to do it. But there was no alternative. There was no room for her in Jim's life anymore. And he could not follow her. It was the end of their shared path.

After her little stunt back at the palace, she had decided to keep her distance for some time. She didn't care about what her actions had caused. The threat of a war between the Combine and the Dominion was of little interest to Sarah. She hadn't used her powers to prevent a catastrophe. She had done it because it had helped Jim to face the pain.

"...ufa..." she could hear him mumble, but it weren't even words that left his throat. It caused her to smile. Only a few people knew that Jim Raynor spoke in his sleep. It was actually really cute. Perhaps it was a mistake to be so close to him, but Sarah felt like she deserved this moment of peace and quiet. War and conflict would find her soon enough. However, this moment? This moment was hers. And if she was to leave Jim for good, she wanted to keep this precious moment inside her heart and conserve it for the rest of times.

"...con'f...do this..." Jim whispered in his sleep. Sarah sat down on the edge of the bed, right next to his feet.

"You know..." she continued. "...I never stopped thinking about you. You kept me alive. And you kept me sane. And I'm sorry that it took me so long to finally get back to you. I wish I could offer you a good explanation, but I got kinda lost on the way back." She chuckled and averted her gaze. "I wanted to see you, wanted to speak to you. But at the same time, I was afraid of how you would react. What you would say." She took a deep breath before she continued. "What you would feel." She pressed her hands together and licked her lips.

"I know I screwed up, Jim. I know I let you down. You believed in me, and most importantly, you believed in _us_. But I betrayed your faith, didn't I? You freed me, you caught me when I was falling, and you put me back on my feet. You gave me your love when the whole galaxy wanted me dead. And what did I do? I abandoned you." She sniffed and shook her head.

"I have no right to be here, I know that. But...still." She turned her head back to Jim and looked at his face. "...please, forgive me."

Some people claimed that Sarah Kerrigan didn't possess a heart. But right now she could feel it. And it felt like it was made out of glass and about to explode. Jim didn't answer, of course he didn't, he was still asleep. And she was glad that he couldn't tell her to get lost. Even though that was exactly what she was going to do after she was done here.

"...s...sarah..." he mumbled and Sarah froze. Oh great, now he was dreaming of her. She sighed and was about to turn away when she saw the pained expression on his face. She frowned, and for a moment she wondered if she should dive into his dreams and take a closer look. Yet, at the same time, she didn't want to see something like the dream they had shared before, the one she had experienced on Saalok; a dream of a life together, a life without war and destruction chasing them everywhere.

No, she wouldn't dive into his mind again, even though she wanted to do it. Jim's mind was probably the only place where she could drop all of her defenses, where she could truly be who she wanted to be.

"...Sar...ah..." he whispered again. "...no...not like...this..." Oh damn. His painful expression started to haunt her. She looked away, but she could feel how he started to groan in discomfort. "Don...'t...go...don't...leave me..." Sarah felt how her chest started to ache. He was obviously in pain, and there was little doubt that it had something to do with her.

"Don't leave me again..." he finally managed to mumble. Sarah froze and wasn't able to say anything. She closed her eyes and had to fight her tears back. She knew that it would be a mistake, but to hell with it. She didn't want to leave Jim like this. She turned around and looked at his face. It seemed as if he was experiencing one hell of a nightmare. She took a deep breath and started to move. She climbed on the bed and crawled over to him.

"Sarah...don't...go..." he groaned.

"Shhhh." she whispered to him. "It's fine. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, Jim." Like said; she knew that this was a mistake. However, her whole life was nothing but a huge mistake. The least thing she could do for him was to calm him down.

"Sarah...?" he managed to gurgle.

"Yes, Jim. It's me. It's Sarah. Don't worry, everything is fine." She was right above him and looked into his face. He looked so old! Those years hadn't been good to him. She could feel not just his mental pain, but his physical pain as well. She raised her hand and hesitated for a second. She had no right to be so close to him, not after everything that had happened. Why couldn't she be selfish just this one more time? She lowered her slender fingers, and when she touched Jim's cheek, she had to gasp. His skin, it was so warm. It was just the way she remembered it. However, this time it was different from when Jim had touched her on the party. Back then she had kept her distance so he wouldn't recognize him. To him and everyone else she had been "Jane Shepard". But now things were different. Now she was no longer Jane Shepard. Now she was Sarah Kerrigan again. Her fingers wandered over his skin and the countless patches that covered his face. His eye was still slightly swollen. When her fingers touched the swollen eye, Jim winced in discomfort. She pulled her hand back and looked at him in shock, but Jim didn't wake up. Instead, he groaned her name one more time.

"Sarah..." Her expression became pained as well. She could feel the heat of his body, not with her mind, but with her own skin. Only then she finally realized that she was so very close to him, their faces were only inches apart. She heard his breath, she smelt his scent, she felt his discomfort.

"It's not fair." she finally managed to whisper. Something started to glow between them when tears of gold started to fall from Sarah's eyes, yet they never touched Jim's face.

"It's not fair, Jim. Why can't we be together, just like normal people? Why does the universe do this to us?" She didn't hold her tears back anymore. They landed next to Jim's head and formed small pieces of gold.

"I never asked for this, becoming a Ghost, the Queen of Blades. Even this damn Xel'Naga. I just always did what people expected of me. Yet where did that lead me? Lead us?" she whimpered and put her hand on Jim's cheek.

"Sometimes...sometimes I wish we had never met. Because then I wouldn't know how much it hurts to love someone." She had to swallow hard before she was able to continue. "But then I remember the time we spent together, and how happy I was." Her hand brushed over his cheek and she could see how his expression started to relax. When her hand touched his skin, she could feel not only the wounds in his mind but also inside his body. Her eyes widened in shock when she finally realized the full extent of his injuries and the poor shape his body was in.

"Oh Jim...why didn't I notice it earlier?" she whimpered both in shame and shock. Almost every part of his body was damaged. Not just from the fight one day earlier. No, it went deeper than that. It was as if every cell was broken. If he would have been a Zerg, Abathur would have disposed of him. But Jim was no Zerg. He was so much more. And he was in a great deal of pain. He had just learned to ignore that pain. She could feel the microscopic fissures in his organs and vessels, could sense the small amount of blood that escaped through these gaps. Right now it wasn't a problem. However, these fissures would grow over time, and more and more blood would escape. And soon they would turn into a serious problem. He would simply bleed to death from the inside.

Sarah knew that. Her time as a Zerg had taught her a lot about biology, and she knew that the Terran doctors wouldn't be able to fix him completely. It would be a race against the clock, a race that he would eventually lose.

"Sarah..." he mumbled again and Sarah could feel how her lower lip started to tremble.

"Don't worry, love." she told him. "I'm here now. I'm going to set this thing right. First..." She softly pressed her finger against his forehead. "...I'm going to fix this. And then..." The fingers of her other hand wandered to his chest. "...I'm going to fix this." She closed her eyes and decided that it was time to do the one thing that she had sworn herself not to do; she would dive into his mind and take the pain away. She closed her eyes and started to work her way through the layers of his mind. She could see his most recent memories; his argument with Matt. Brent. Valerian. But it wasn't just that. She saw the Christmas-party. And then she saw herself. Or, to be more precise; she saw Jane Shepard.

Sarah froze and opened her eyes. She looked at Jim and a crazy thought formed inside her head.

What if she would become Jane Shepard?

What if she could become that person? She could bend the memories of those around her. No one would notice her true identity. The thought seemed utterly ridiculous, but who could stop her? She could meet Jim, they could become friends and lovers. They could spend the rest of their lives together and then...then...

"Sarah..." Jim whispered again and her hopes were crushed in an instant. He didn't want Jane Shepard. He wanted Sarah Kerrigan. And that was the one thing that she couldn't do. She closed her eyes and gathered the pitiful rest of her courage. She had to do this, for him and herself. She had tried to remove Jim from her memories and it hadn't worked. However, she could remove herself from _his_ memories. First, she would take away the pain and guilt, then she would cleanse his mind. And then she would fix his body. She closed her eyes again and continued to dive even deeper into his mind.

Warm...

It was so warm. All she had to do was to follow that warm feeling. It would lead her right to the place where she had to go.

She was close to his dreams, and when she finally touched the part of his mind she was looking for, she could see herself in his mind. And then-

"BEGONE, VILE CREATURE!"

A voice like thousand needles suddenly assaulted her mind. Sarah yelled both in surprise and pain. It felt as if someone was trying to fry her brain. Sarah grabbed her head and stumbled backward. She fell off the bed and groaned in pain. Even with all that noise around him, Jim was still not waking up. It was as if something was keeping him asleep.

"What...what the hell...?" Sarah managed to mumble and shook her head. "What was that?"

"Spare me your pathetic lies, Queen of Blades! You will leave James Raynor alone!" _That voice._ She knew that voice. It wasn't a human one. No, it belonged to a Protoss. And not just any Protoss. She turned her head to the side and could see how another figure emerged from the shadows. One she hadn't seen in a long time.

"No. It can't be." she whispered to herself.

"Stay away from him, defiler! Or you shall answer to me!" Zeratul announced before he made a step forward and ignited his psi-blade.

* * *

 **Dominion Battlecruser "Rebel Heart"**

 **In High Orbit around Korhal...**

* * *

The moment the dropship made contact with the hangar floor, a hard jolt went through the small vessel. Matt, who had been lost in thoughts, almost lost his balance and had to hold onto the grip next to his seat so he wouldn't fall and land on his face. He had experienced so many dropship landings that he wasn't even able to take a guess about the actual count. And he could remember more than one crash landing. However, when he turned his head to the side and looked over to the cockpit, he couldn't hide his true feelings.

"Dear Lord, man! We're in peace times! There's no need for an emergency landing!" he shouted towards the pilot, who simply raised his hand and give Matt a thumbs-up.

"We have landed, Sir." the pilot simply said.

"Yeah, I kinda noticed that!" Matt shot back and shook his head. He stood up and could feel a strange sense of dizziness due to the double-gravity. Both the dropship and the battlecruiser they had just landed on possessed their own gravity generators. When two gravity fields collide, it means that they add up. If a dropship lands, the pilot usually deactivates the gravity generators on his vessel so the generators on the bigger ship could take over. Or he could reduce the gravity so there would be a short moment of transition. Or, like this pilot had done, you did nothing and gave your passengers a nice workout.

"And kill the gravity generator!" Matt yelled before he stood up. Ugh, double gravity, how he hated that.

"Please be careful, Sir. Right now you're experiencing twice the gravity because the generator of the dropship is still active." Was that guy making fun of him?

"Just open the door, will you?" Matt groaned.

"Please be careful, I will open the hatch in a few moments."

"Are you even listening to me, man?!" Matt shouted again.

"No, thank you very much. I went to the bathroom before we came here." the pilot replied. Matt could feel how his left eyelid started to twitch. Maybe he should tell that guy that he was not in the mood for stupid jokes. However, right now he didn't have the patience to deal with this kind of crap. He decided to stand up and walked over to the access hatch. He didn't wait for the pilot to give him green lights. Instead, he just pushed a button and the after door started to open.

"Hold on, Admiral! Seems like something's wrong with the door, it has just opened on its own. Please stay back, I will contact some technicians who will..." But Matt didn't listen. Under normal circumstances, this whole situation would have been highly hilarious. It was one of the weird stories you told your friends about. You know, like "You guys will never believe what just happened to me..."

But like said; Matt wasn't really in the mood to deal with this kind of crap right now. He shook his head and walked down the ramp. The moment his feet made contact with the hangar deck of the battlecruiser, the strange sense of dizziness finally faded away. He sighed in relief when the burden of double the gravity was finally lifted from his shoulders.

Though it wasn't actually double gravity. More like 1.5 times of standard gravity and that's because...ah, screw this. He was just glad that he didn't feel like a rock anymore. He looked around and took the whole scenery in. He felt somewhat nostalgic, now that he was back on a battlecruiser again. He hadn't left Korhal for several months now and hadn't seen the insides of a warship for just that long. He immediately noticed all the things he remembered from the Hyperion. And the differences as well.

The _Rebel Heart_ was the newest addition to the fleet. She wasn't quite as big as the Bucephalus, There were many automatized systems, and the crew was smaller than on crafts of comparable size. Even though she was not as big as the Bucephalus (or the Hyperion) and had a smaller crew, she was still far more powerful than either one of those ships. The vessel possessed a lot of advanced systems that were still brand new. Like a drone-system that was controlled by a combat A.I. It was basically a copy of the system the Protoss used on their carriers, only a lot less refined and not as advanced. The _Rebel Heart_ was more than just another battlecruiser. She was a testimony to all the things they had learned during the long and bloody conflict against both the Zerg and the Protoss. Most of the systems were top-secret and still not combat-tested. Like the first true shield generator, or the combat drones that replaced most of the marines who were usually stationed on such a ship. The drones behavioral pattern copied the behavior of both Zerglings and Hydralisks. Matt had seen footage of the system's tests, when a group of Marines had tried to board the _Rebel Heart_ as part of a training exercise, and even though the drones had neither killed nor injured anyone, they had managed to deal with the attackers within minutes. Matt had to be honest about that; it was scary to see machines acting like Zerg.

As he looked around, he didn't see many people. Most of them were busy and didn't notice him. A part of him was glad for that, but he knew that it was wrong. There was still something called "military protocol", and when a loud voice yelled "Attention! Officer on deck!", all the people stopped whatever they were doing and turned towards the voice. Matt did the same thing, and when he saw a short man walking over to him, he straightened himself.

"Admiral, welcome on board." the Captain of the _Rebel Heart_ said and saluted right in front of Matt. The Admiral did the same thing before he reached out and offered his hand to the shorter man. The Captain grabbed it and looked Matt straight into the eyes.

"Thank you, Captain. And thank you for welcoming me personally. It wasn't necessary, though." Matt told him, but the Captain just shook his head.

"It is nothing, Sir. I hope that you're not disappointed that there isn't an official welcome, but I was under the impression that the crew should only concentrate on their tasks."

"I appreciate that. And don't worry, I'm not a big fan of those official visits either." he told the Captain and looked around. The crew members were still standing at attention and Matt knew they waited for someone to say something. He looked around and barked "Carry on!" And that was exactly what the men did. Matt watched them for a short moment and a smile appeared on his face when he saw that display of professionalism everywhere. Perhaps it was not very nice to think like that, but he had no doubts that this crew was far superior to the guys and gals who had worked on the Hyperion. However, there were more important things he had to worry about. Still, maybe he could do an inspection of the vessel later on? At the very least it should help him to think about something else.

"I take it the Emperor is safe?" Matt then asked. The Captain nodded.

"Yes, Admiral. He is currently resting. However, he had to take a normal officer cabin since we don't have the means to properly accommodate an Emperor." That statement caused Matt to grin.

"I'm sure that the Emperor was fine with that." he said.

"Actually, it was a compromise. I wanted to offer my cabin to him, and he wanted nothing more but a cot. We agreed on something in the middle." For the first time since this whole mess had started Matt had to chuckle. Yes, that certainly sounded like Valerian. Suddenly Jim's voice echoed through his mind. _Valerian has found his way. What about you?_ And with it, Matt's good mood vanished in an instant. He took a deep breath and tried to hide his feelings, but it was tough. On the other hand, it reminded him of why he had come here in the first place.

"I have to see the Emperor and speak to him. Someone has to inform him about the current situation and what we have found out so far."

"Of course, Sir. Please follow me." the Captain just declared and turned around. Matt followed him, and together they headed to Valerian's cabin. They didn't meet many people on their way there. It was just another reminder of how small the crew and how advanced the ship was. All crew members they encountered saluted and gave Matt and the Captain a proper greeting. Back on the Hyperion, Matt had considered himself lucky if they the technicians had recognized his face because they hadn't been _that_ drunk.

It had been different times back then.

Matt and the Captain stepped into an elevator, and when the door closed, he looked over at the shorter man.

"How is the crew holding up, Captain?" he wanted to know.

"The crew is operating at peak efficiency. The ship is ready to move out at any time. You just have to give the order." the Captain replied with a straight face.

"Were there any signs of unrest? Any voices demanding that someone should do something?" Matt asked. By now most people on Korhal knew about the attack on the Imperial Palace. They were also told that the Emperor was alive and that no lives had been claimed. However, that didn't mean that they were in the green.

"No, Sir. There were no signs of unrest among the crew. Of course, some crew members were worried when they heard about the attack, however, no one voiced any fears that the situation was out of control at any given time."

 _Well, it was actually out of control from start to finish._ Matt thought to himself. How would these men and women react if someone would tell them that people from the Combine were responsible for the attack? Before he could ask more questions, the elevator stopped and its door opened. Both men stepped outside and the Captain pointed at the corridor in front of them.

"Please follow me, Sir. The officers quarters are right this way." the Captain said and started to walk down the corridor. Everything was clean, bright and looked brand new. Swann would hate it. Speaking of Swann, Matt wondered what that old pirate was doing right now...

* * *

"I'm gonna build me, dada da da, a fancy ride, dada da da." Rory Swann _"sang"_ while he continued to work on the Hyperion's hyperspace engine.

"And once my ride is ready, dada da da, I'm gonna come and pick you up, dada da da." He tightened another bolt and then grabbed behind him. He managed to grab an almost empty bottle and guided it to his lips. He took a deep gulp and sighed when he felt how the liquid inside burned its way down his throat.

"And then I'm gonna take you for a ride, dada da da." He looked at the bottle and realized that it was empty. Damn.

"HEY, KOJAK!" Swann yelled to the other side of the engine room.

"The name is Karax, Chief Engineer Rory Swann!" the voice on the other side of the hyperspace engine said. He hadn't seen the kid ever since they had started to fix the Hyperion's systems, but Swann sure had to hand it to the kid; he knew what he was doing. While Swann was still working on the main energy coupling, Kojak had fixed the energy buffers, the emergency shutdown, the automatic fire extinguisher, and the toilet on deck nine. He had never heard how someone had said "This is so fascinating!" while fixing a clogged toilet. The kid was strange, but whenever Swann had looked for him, the boy had already finished his work and moved on to the next system. Come to think of it, he had never seen the kid face to face. Meh, he was probably shy or something like that. The kids these days were just so strange.

"Thought I told you; call me Swann! Or Rory! But not Chief Engineer Rory Swann!"

"I understand, Swann or Rory." Karax replied from the other side of the hyperspace engine. Swann sighed and grabbed for another bottle filled with his moonshine.

"Why do I even bother." he mumbled to himself before he started to work on the next piece that needed some lovin'. At least he would be able to get the Hyperion ready to take her to Meinhoff. Heh, he had to thank Matt for the kid's help. Maybe the Admiral hadn't turned into a complete idiot at all.

* * *

"The Emperor's cabin is right ahead." the Captain said to Matt before he stopped in front of a door. "Here it is. Shall I knock?" he wanted to know. Matt straightened himself and nodded. The Captain was about to press the buzzer when suddenly his communicator came to life.

"Captain Anderson, this is the bridge. Please come in, Captain Anderson." The Captain frowned and looked over at Matt.

"I am terribly sorry, Admiral, but I need to answer that." he said and Matt nodded again.

"No problem, Captain. I understand." Matt replied. Anderson pulled his communicator out and activated it.

"Bridge, this is the Captain. I think I told you that you should only contact me in case of an emergency. What is the problem?" the Captain wanted to know. His voice remained calm and controlled, and there was not the slightest amount of frustration in it.

"Captain, there is currently a dropship approaching the _Rebel Heart_. The pilot has requested permission to land." the man on the other side of the line said. It caused the Captain to frown.

"There are no additional dropships landings planned for today. Tell the pilot to return to his base of operation."

"Sir, I already said that. The pilot, however, said that she's actually not able to pilot a dropship and that she has no idea how to land it either. Currently, the dropship is heading right for the _Rebel_ _Heart_. If we won't change course, the dropship will hit us in thirteen minutes." For a moment it seemed as if the Captain had no idea what to reply. Then he shook his head and gritted his teeth.

"Understood. I'm on my way to the bridge. Tell the QRA fighters to scramble. If this thing turns out to be an attempted attack on the ship, I want them to shot the dropship down." He looked back at Matt.

"I am terribly sorry, but I have to return to the bridge." the Captain then announced and saluted.

"I understand. Please keep me updated if you can." The last thing Matt needed right now was another attack on the Emperor. The thought of a dropship filled with Zappers and Specters sent chills down his spine. He opened his mouth and wanted to say something like "If anything seems strange, just shoot it down." But then he heard Jim's voice in the back of his head again.

" _You don't trust people anymore."_

Jim's words. Matt knew that this was what Jim had meant. So instead of giving the Captain any orders, he decided to prove Jim wrong.

"I think I can handle the Emperor alone. Your place is on the bridge." Matt said with a smile on his face. The Captain didn't smile, he only saluted before he turned around and hurried back towards the elevator. Matt watched how he left and when the Captain was finally out of sight, he sighed.

"It's always something, isn't it?" he said to himself before he turned back to the door. He felt the urge to turn around and hurry to the bridge of the _Rebel Heart_. He could take command and make sure that no harm would come to the Emperor. However, that would only prove Jim right, and he simply didn't want to give him that satisfaction. He would do the right thing, but because of the wrong reasons. He shook his head and tried to gather his thoughts, so he wouldn't sound like an idiot when telling Valerian about everything that had happened.

Though he would probably sound like an idiot anyway. He sighed again and pressed his finger on the buzzer. Matt could hear the sound of the buzzer on the other side of the door and knew that someone had heard him. He waited, but nothing happened. So he pressed the buzzer again. And again, he didn't get any response.

"He's not inside?" Matt mumbled to himself before he pressed the buzzer once more. That's when he finally got an answer.

"Whoever this is, I'm busy. Please come back later!" Valerian's voice reached him from the other side of the door.

"Valerian? It's me, Matt. I'm here to brief you on-"

"MATT?! Shit...it's Matt!" he could hear Valerian hiss. Matt frowned and stepped closer to the door.

"Valerian? Is everything alright?"

"Wha...? Yeah, sure! No. No! No, there's no time. Just throw it back there. Quickly!" Valerian ranted. Matt heard footsteps, and then something else, something that he didn't recognize.

"Valerian? Is everything alright?"

"Yes! Sure, everything's fine. I'm just...no! Not there! Don't!"

Matt wasn't one hundred percent sure, but there was something wrong with Valerian's voice. It almost sounded as if he was in pain?

"Valerian? Are you okay?" Maybe he was wounded. Maybe he was still in pain? Maybe the medics had missed an injury and now Valerian was bleeding to death!

Okay, maybe Matt truly wasn't able to trust people anymore. However, if the life of the Emperor was on the line, he was not willing to take any chances.

"Valerian? I'm coming in!" he then announced and pressed a button on the door.

"No! No, don't! Everything's fine, I just-" But when the door opened and Matt stepped inside, Valerian stopped. Matt squinted his eyes and tried to make out some details. The light had been dimmed down, and it took his eyes a moment before they adapted to the twilight.

"Valerian? Is everything alright?" he asked again. The cabin wasn't very big. It consisted of a room with a bed and a desk and there was a small bathroom on the other side. When Matt finally saw Valerian, he sighed in relief. He was okay. And still in bed.

"You know, I was worried for a second." Matt said and gave his Emperor a queer smile. Valerian had pulled the blanket all the way up to his chin. He looked strange, almost as if he was in pain. "Are you okay?" Matt wanted to know.

"Yeah! Sure. Of course, why shouldn't I be okay? Hey Matt, how's life?" Valerian managed to say. His forehead was covered in sweat and he looked really exhausted.

"You don't look so good. Are you sick?"

"Wha...? No. No! No, it's nothing. I just...uhm...went to the gym. Just before you arrived. Wanted to take a shower, but I was just so tired that I fell asleep right away, haha. Ha. Haha. Haaaaa..." Okay, that was no normal behavior. Only then Matt noticed that Valerian's body seemed to be pretty large under that blanket.

"Okay." Matt mumbled. "Whatever. Listen, Valerian, I'm just here to inform you about what we found out so far and-"

"Can't that wait?" Valerian cut him short.

"DON'T INTERRUPT ME?!"" Matt suddenly yelled and nearly popped a vein. Valerian froze and looked at Matt in shock, who realized what he had just done.

"I'm sorry. Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I just...I had a little argument with Jim and he basically interrupted me after every second sentence." he explained to Valerian.

"You and Jim argued?" the Emperor asked.

"Yes. No. I mean...I don't know. Probably, yeah." Matt sighed. "Sorry, but I just don't want to talk about it right now. Could you get yourself ready so I can brief you? I don't want to rush you or anything, but there are still a ton of things I have to do." He looked at Valerian and waited for the young Emperor to get out of bed. But Valerian didn't move.

"Valerian? Would you please do me the favor and get out of bed?"

"Uhm...could you wait outside? I really need a shower and-"

"Come on, is that really necessary. Trust me, I don't swing that way." Matt just groaned.

"That's not it, it's just that...well...uhm..." Valerian looked really uncomfortable right now. Matt sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Valerian. But we need you on your feet right now. You can thank me afterward." He walked over to the bed and was about to grab Valerian and throw him into the shower himself when he suddenly stepped on something. He looked down and for a moment he thought it was a piece of Valerian's attire. There was something wrong with it, though. Matt frowned and leaned forward.

"Matt? Matt, no! Just let it go! I'll be ready right away, just give me one minute! Please, Matt! I can-" That's when Matt grabbed the piece of cloth and picked it up. He looked at it and his eyebrows wandered up when he ogled at the bra in his hand.

"-explain." Valerian finished the sentence.

There was an awkward moment of silence. Matt stared at the black bra, and then back at Valerian.

"Matt, I know what you're thinking, and let me tell you that-" But Matt wasn't even listening. Instead, he walked over to the bed and grabbed the blanket.

"Matt? What are you doing? Oh no! Nonononono! Matt, I order you not to do that! By my authority as Emperor of the Dominion, I order you to-" But Matt ignored his Emperor and pulled the blanket slowly towards him. Valerian tried to grab his end and prevent Matt from seeing whatever he was hiding beneath the blanket, but it was pointless. Matt had more strength, and when the blanket slipped past Valerian's naked chest, a head with blond locks on it appeared next to it. The head turned towards Matt and when their eyes met, his brows wandered up.

"Ambassador?"

"Admiral Horner. How nice to see you again. It's been a while." Leila Curtland replied.

* * *

"Zeratul!" Sarah hissed the moment she recognized the Dark Templar. She had no idea how that bastard had managed to sneak up on her. Additionally, she had no idea how it was possible for him to be here in the first place. Wasn't that guy supposed to be dead anyway? Perhaps she should have taken her time to calm down and analyze the situation before throwing herself at him. But if that's what you were expecting, then you didn't know Sarah that well. Her reaction was based solely on instincts. She saw an enemy and decided to end him. It was rather typical for her to act without thinking things through. Oh, Sarah was a great schemer. She had learned from the best! But when something unexpected happened, she allowed the Zerg inside her to do the talking. With a bestial hiss, she threw herself towards and concentrated her psionics. She used only a fraction of her strength, she didn't want to level this building after all. All she had to do was to pin him to the wall and then go for his chest.

The last time she had met Zeratul they hadn't been enemies, but that was of no importance right now. Like said; she was solely reacting on instincts. Zeratul took a defensive pose, ready to block any attack she might throw at him. Too bad that she had become a goddess while Zeratul was still just, well, Zeratul. However, she knew that she couldn't go all out on Zeratul.

A part of her mind warned her that something was wrong. There were too many questions that she couldn't answer. Zeratul was dead, she knew what. So how could he have returned? Ouros had used the persona of Tassadar as a disguise, was this just another Xel'Naga trying to play her for a fool? Or worse, use her as a tool? Had Amon returned? Those were good questions, yet Sarah cared for none of them. Instead, she threw herself at Zeratul, ready to rip him into pieces. As the emotions ran high, she lost control over her form, and her human appearance started to shift and blur. Right before Zeratul's eyes, the Terran Sarah Kerrigan morphed into her other old persona, the Queen of Blades. There was no better way to deal with pesky Nerazim.

Sarah catapulted herself towards Zeratul, using her deadly blade-wings for leverage. Her razor-sharp nails reached out, ready to rip his gray skin off his flesh. All of this happened within less than a second. There was no time to think, all Sarah did was to react. So she had no time to realize that something was wrong. She reached out, willing to sink her claws and teeth into the damn dark templar.

That's when she went right through him as if he was made out of thin air, and crashed into the wall face first. It was actually a rather hilarious display of strangeness. The last time Sarah had crashed into a wall face first had been...she couldn't even remember that. However, instead of turning around and taking another try of tearing Zeratul apart, she just kept her forehead pressed against the wall.

Behind them, Jim groaned something in his sleep.

"Tone it down...will ya..." he managed to mumble before he slipped back into sleep. Sarah didn't listen to him though. She blinked in confusion and finally started to sense the world around her. The moment she had gone through Zeratul, she had felt _nothing_. Even if a Templar escapes through the shrouds, you can feel a faint afterglow of his powers. But as Sarah turned around and looked at the Nerazim, she felt nothing.

It wasn't like he tried to hide his presence from her either. She could sense someone who was cloaked, she had done it before. They were like a dark spot in her mind, but once you look for those dark spots, you can find them easily. But Zeratul? She couldn't even sense the energy from his psi-blade. It was as if he wasn't even-

"You...you're not real." she managed to whisper. Zeratul lowered his blade and deactivated it.

"Indeed." was all he replied.

There was a strange moment of silence, and Sarah's body started to morph back into her human form. She looked at Zeratul and frowned.

"What are you?"

"Someone who is watching over an old friend." was the only thing that Zeratul replied. Well, whatever this thing was, it was just as cryptic as the real Zeratul.

"Zeratul is dead. He died on Aiur." Sarah explained. She hadn't witnessed it herself, but she knew about his demise.

"Yes. I heard that too. However, his sacrifice gave our people a fighting chance to live." not-Zeratul replied.

"Sarah...no...don't..." Jim suddenly started to groan. He was still sleeping, but he looked like he was in a great deal of pain. Zeratul turned towards him, and suddenly he stood right next to the man she loved. He reached out with his hand and held it right over Jim's face.

"Leave him alone!" Sarah snarled, but this Zeratul simply ignored it.

"Everything is fine, Friend Raynor. It is just a dream. Let it go." Much to her own surprise, she could see how Jim calmed down. He relaxed and turned his face to the side before he found another dream, one that wasn't so horrible. Zeratul looked at the small human in front of him, and when Jim didn't groan anymore, he lowered his hand and made a step backward. And then he just watched Jim.

"What are you? What is this?" Sarah demanded to know.

"I am but a memory, oh mighty Queen of Blades." Zeratul said while using her old title.

"A memory? How? Why? Why can I see you? What's going on here?" None of this made any sense, but when Zeratul raised his head and looked into her eyes, she felt a cold chill running down her spine.

"You claim to know James Raynor, yet it appears that he too kept secrets from you. I am not Zeratul, I am just a shadow. An echo, if you want." Sarah made a step backward when she heard that and looked at Jim.

"What have you done to him?" she just whispered. Zeratul looked at the sleeping form of Jim, and for a short moment, he almost looked like a father watching over his son.

"I am not certain myself." he then said. "I remember my past life. Everything to the point where we fought on Ulaan. And my battle against the dreadful Hybrid Maar on Zhakul. And then...nothing."

"What do you mean?" Sarah whispered. Zeratul raised his huge head and looked her directly into Sarah's eyes.

"I left a message for James Raynor. One that was meant to warn him, and guide him. I placed this message inside an Ihan crystal that I left in his care. I do not know what happened afterward to the real Zeratul. I know that he is dead. I know that the Great War is over. And I know that you slew Amon." He started to chuckle when he heard that. "I suppose I have to thank you for that, oh mighty and dreadful Queen of Blades."

"Stop it!" Sarah hissed. "Stop calling me that!" That life was over. The Queen of Blades was no more, and even if this Zeratul wasn't the real deal, it still sounded like he was mocking her with that.

"As you wish. It does not matter in the end. The war is over, and my people are safe. The only thing that remains for me to do is to watch over Friend Raynor." he explained with a sad tone in his voice.

"Just what the hell have you done to Jim?" Sarah demanded to know.

"Nothing. Everything? I do not know. I am just an echo of the real Dark Prelate that fought against the tides of war and Amon's reign of terror. I do not have any dreams, any hopes and any plans for the future. All I do is to reside inside James Raynor's mind and watch his every move from the shadows." That Ihan crystal...

Sarah had heard about them, and she remembered how Jim had told her about that thing during the short time they had spent together after he had defeated and deinfested the Queen of Blades on Char.

"You're a mental clone, some sort of copy." Sarah finally realized.

"A technical term that seems to be correct, but it does not change what I am or what I have been doing to keep James Raynor save." When Sarah heard that, she snarled in anger.

"What have you done to him!" she demanded to know, still not buying that this copy of Zeratul was just interested in helping Jim.

"At first nothing. He did not need me, he had you. However, everything changed after you left him." Zeratul explained and looked back at Jim's sleeping form.

"Sarah..." the man whispered and Sarah felt how her heart started to throb in pain.

"What do you mean?" she snarled

"The nightmares. It is strange; even though our species are so different, our dreams and nightmares are so much alike." Zeratul explained to her.

"Why didn't I notice you earlier?" she whispered, but Zeratul just pulled his shoulders up.

"That is a question you have to ask yourself. And I care little for that. I simply-" But then Zeratul was cut short by Jim who groaned in discomfort.

"No...no. That ain't true...I didn't...I didn't betray any of you...I...I..." Jim whispered. Sarah frowned when she saw how he rolled around on the bed and started to sweat like crazy. Just what kind of nightmare was he experiencing right now?

"Jim!" she whispered, but it was Zeratul who took the initiative. He raised his hand again and kept it over Jim's head.

"Calm yourself, Friend Raynor. I am here. It is just a dream. Let it go and find another one, one that will not hurt you." he said. Sarah watched both in shock and amazement how Jim gritted his teeth for a moment before he finally calmed down. "That is right, friend Raynor. Calm down and rest. Ease your mind. It is just a dream." When Jim had finally calmed down, Sarah looked at Zeratul, his memory, or whatever the hell he was.

"You'll leave Jim alone, you hear that?" she snarled. "You damn memory, or whatever the hell you are, you will leave him alone and vanish back into the Void! Or I will personally purge you from Jim's mind!" Zeratul just looked back at her. His green eyes flickered for a moment before he shook his head.

"If you destroy me, Jim will die." Zeratul just replied. That was it. That was the last straw.

"You damn asshole!" Sarah hissed and made a step forward. She knew that she could destroy this thing. It wasn't even the real Zeratul. It was just a weak and fading memory. All she had to do was to dive into Jim's mind, grab this little thing, and tear it into pieces. And here's a secret not many people know about Sarah Kerrigan; when it came to tearing things into pieces, she was a damn artist. "You _dare_ to threaten me?!" When Zeratul heard that, he shook his head.

"No. I am just stating the facts." he explained to her. "I have kept James Raynor sane by removing those nightmares from his mind. I have no doubts that you can end my existence. I am not even alive, I am just a fading memory, and soon I will seize to exist as well." he sighed. "But I can help the man who has done so much for my people. I can take away the pain. I know that this is what the real Zeratul would have done." He then looked straight into her eyes. "However, if you end me, who will fight his nightmares?"

Sarah clenched her hands into fists. She didn't like it when a not-person was winning an argument with her.

"I will just take away those bad dreams as well! I will purge everything! Then he won't have to deal with those nightmares ever again!" she explained to him. But Zeratul just closed his eyes when he heard that.

"If only it would be that easy." he said. "But these dreams are not just that. They are a mirror of his soul. The pain, the guilt, the shame, they are all ingrained in his very being. Removing them would mean to cut something away that makes James Raynor James Raynor."

"Oh, so now you're an expert on human psychology? How convenient!" Sarah spat into his direction, but he only shook his head again.

"No. The only knowledge that I possess is the one James Raynor's mind contains."

"So you tell me that I can't end you without ending Jim? You're so full of yourself, aren't you? You certainly are like the real Zeratul." Sarah snarled.

"Make as much fun of it as you like. However, I am not the thing that haunts him in his dreams, that makes him cry when he is alone and wishes to die if I am not around." When Sarah heard that Jim wanted to die, she knew that this fake Zeratul wasn't lying. She couldn't tell why, she just knew that he was speaking the truth.

"No...don't..." Jim started to groan and Zeratul had to intervene again.

"Friend Raynor, rest!" he told the man, who finally calmed down. Sarah looked at Jim's pained expression and frowned.

"You claim that you keep those nightmares away, but it looks like you're doing a piss-poor job at it." she growled. "I thought you kept him sane!"

"I try." Zeratul explained. "Unfortunately, his mind always returns to those nightmares. It is drawn to them." When Sarah heard that, she made a step forward.

"Why the hell would he do something like that! You're just toying with him, aren't you?"

"Hahahahaha!" Zeratul suddenly started to laugh. Sarah froze and looked at the Nerazim in surprise. She had never seen Zeratul laugh before, it was actually kinda creepy. "The Queen of Blades is angry because she thinks that someone manipulates someone else. Oh, the irony is delicious!"

"I'm gonna tear you apart!" Sarah hissed and made another step forward. This was going on for far too long! She hadn't come here to waste her time with another hallucination, she had enough of those inside her own mind! "What the hell do you know about Jim? What in the world could make Jim want to return to those nightmares, huh?" When Zeratul looked Sarah into the eyes, she felt yet another cold chill running down her spine.

"It is you, Sarah Kerrigan."

For a long moment, neither one dared to say a word. It took Sarah some time to finally find the courage to say something.

"Stop bullshitting me." she just whispered.

"I am not a liar. I speak the truth. No matter how hard I try, he always manages to return to those nightmares. Because it is the one place where he can find _you_." When Sarah heard that, she gritted her teeth and snarled in anger, fear, and frustration.

"You're a liar! A damn liar, Zeratul!" But the Nerazim's memory just looked back at Jim.

"If you do not believe me, you may see it for yourself. I speak the truth. Perhaps you should watch it with your own eyes. Maybe then you will finally understand." Sarah wanted to throw herself at Zeratul and tear him into pieces. She wanted to end him so badly. However, when she looked at Jim's face, she could see his pain and fear.

"Sarah...no..." he whispered.

"Just what is going on inside your mind, Jim?" she mumbled to herself. There was only one way to find out.

"I caused you enough pain, Jim. I'm going to fix this, once and for all." Golden tears started to stream down her face as she walked towards the bed. She sat down next to Jim and her hand brushed over his arm. Zeratul watched and did not intervene. She looked up at him and squinted her eyes. "I will repair the damage. And after that, I will remove you from his mind and send you back into the Void where you belong."

"Whatever will happen, shall happen." he just replied. Sarah then turned her head back towards Jim and reached out with her senses. She could feel his sleeping consciousness. It was like a stormy sea, and she was about to dive deep into those dark waters.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine. I will fix this. And then you will be free. From all the pain, the fear. And from me."

And then Sarah dived into Jim's mind and entered his dreams.


	46. Act II - Chapter 22

**…**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 22**

 **Inception**

* * *

Sarah had braced herself for all kind of scenarios. She knew that whatever she would encounter inside Jim's mind, it wouldn't be pretty and she was prepared to face all kind of horrible things. She had seen her fair share of nightmares, and by now she knew how to at least ignore them until the job was done. Broken bones, torn muscles, ripped off limbs, these things didn't even cause her to yawn anymore, mot after being responsible for most ripped off limbs that were currently laying around on Char. And there were a lot of limbs without an owner on Char right now.

So yeah, she was ready to see the worst gore-festival in the history of pretty much everything.

Maybe she should stop challenging the universe to prove her wrong.

The first thing she noticed when she entered Jim's mind was-

-nothing.

No screaming, no blood, not anger. The only thing she saw was...a door?

Well, that was anticlimactic. The only thing that surrounded her was darkness. It was the kind of absolute nothingness you could only experience inside a dream. Even a black hole wasn't as dark as the empty void a human mind could create. However, there was still an above and a below. Even though Sarah couldn't see it, she could feel how she stood on something. The ground beneath her feet felt like it was just regular dirt. The most obvious thing, of course, was the door that was right in front of her. So this was the access point to Jim's dreams? It seemed too easy, cliché even.

Then again, we're talking about Jim Raynor here. Jim was many things, but he was not known for being overly creative. No, he was pretty much straightforward. And when somebody would talk about "a door to one's mind", then Jim would think of an actual door.

"What is this?" Sarah whispered to herself. Right now, she was confused and disoriented. She couldn't feel her own body, which was probably not a good sign.

"What is this?" she repeated her words and turned around. But no one answered, at least not immediately. The thought that this might be a trap was just too powerful to ignore. The door was the only thing that she could see. She turned around, but there was nothing else. It was as if the door was screaming "OPEN ME!" to her. However, at the same time, she had experienced her fair share of unpleasant surprises within the last few days. She stared at the door and wondered if she should stop now. There was still a chance to pull out, to leave this place and pretend that nothing had happened.

No, she had come too far to quit now. She would not run away again. She would face whatever Jim's subconsciousness had in store for her.

Whatever it was, it couldn't be worse than the truth.

She took a deep breath and walked over to the door. It was a strange sensation. She couldn't really feel her own body, it was probably still sitting next to Jim on his bed. She looked at the door and when she reached it, she put her hand on it. It was a wooden door, and when she pressed her hand against it, she could feel _something_. It wasn't truly a feeling in the traditional sense. Since she couldn't feel her hand, she couldn't feel the touch either. It was more like the feeling came from within her own self. She stopped for a moment and hesitated. Should she really do this? She would probably see things that she didn't want to see. She had never seen Jim's nightmares, but she could imagine what it would be about. Sarah closed her eyes, took a deep breath and mustered all the strength and determination left inside her chest. She had to do it. For herself, and for Jim. She pressed her not-hand against the not-door. Instead of opening it slowly, it just sprang open and suddenly a bright light blinded her. Sarah turned her head away and put her hand in front of her eyes. It was so bright! But also...warm? She could hear a voice from the other side of the door.

"It's not your fault." That voice. It was Jim's voice!

"Jim?" Sarah yelled. But then she heard another voice. It belonged to a woman and Sarah had never heard it before.

"I did it. I'm the one to blame, Jim." the woman said with a weak voice.

"Nonsense. It's not your fault."

"I'm sorry...Jim..." the woman's voice whispered.

"Liddy? LIDDY?!" Suddenly Sarah felt how something started to tear at her own heart. She could feel so much guilt and pain that it nearly caused her to collapse on the spot. Liddy? But wasn't that the name of Jim's wife?

"NO! No, it's not fair!" she could hear Jim scream. And she could feel his pain, as well as his despair. She knew that she had to be careful, but when she felt his pain, she couldn't help herself. She closed her eyes and stepped through the door and into the light.

* * *

There was an awkward moment of silence when Matt stared at the woman that lay right next to Valerian. There were a thousand things he had to worry about right now. Like that damn dropship that was about to reach the _Rebel Heart_. Or the fact that Sarah Kerrigan had returned to the land of the living. Or that he still had to decide what to do with Kate Lockwell. And then there was Brent. So yeah, he had more than enough things to worry about. So the last thing he needed was another diplomatic incident involving the Emperor of the Dominion and the Ambassador of the Combine!

"Just what the hell is this?" he said with a calm yet frustrated tone in his voice. Valerian wanted to reply something and opened his mouth, but it was Curtland who beat him to it.

"I think it's pretty obvious, Admiral Horner." she explained to Matt. "The Emperor and I simply decided to exchange our opinions on the most recent events."

"Oh, I can see that you exchanged _something._ " Matt barked and stemmed his fists against his sides. "Question is; do you even know what you're doing here? This is unacceptable! If word gets out that the Emperor and the Ambassador of the Combine had sex in the aftermath of the battle, there will be an outrage! The people are on edge the way it is, the last thing..." However, neither Leila nor Valerian were really listening to his ranting. Leila turned her head over to Valerian and looked him into the eyes.

"Is he always like that?" she wanted to know. Valerian pulled his shoulder up.

"He used to be more relaxed. Personally, I just think that he's under a lot of pressure and needs some time off." he explained to her.

"...even for a second what your actions may cause? This is unacceptable and..." Matt continued to roar like he was scolding two children.

"Is he ever going to stop?" Leila then asked.

"Not on his own. You usually need to make him stop." Valerian then explained to her.

"How do you do that? Shoot him?"

"Something like that. You just have to know which buttons you have to press." Valerian said and looked at Matt, who was still at it.

"...and don't let me even start on the political favoritism people will see in this, I can't believe that two grown-up people would do something so reckless and-"

"Yo, Matt!" Valerian suddenly yelled. The Admiral stopped and looked at Valerian.

"WHAT?!" he screamed back.

"How's Mira?" When Matt heard that question, he fell silent. For a short moment, no one dared to say a word before Matt harrumphed and regained his composure. He straightened himself and crosses his arms behind his back.

"Fair enough, I didn't see anything." he just said. It caused Leila to pull her eyebrows up.

"Who's Mira?" she wanted to know, but Matt just pointed his finger and Valerian and looked at him like he was about to tear the young Emperor apart.

"Don't you dare to tell her! Don't you _dare_!" he hissed. Valerian thought about dealing his friend the final blow, but he wasn't in the mood to do something that cruel to Matt. Besides, the man looked like he had lost an argument with a Zealot.

"So, uhm, Admiral. What is it you wanted to talk about with me?" Valerian changed the topic. Matt looked at him, then back at Curtland, then back at him.

"I think we should have a private conversation." Matt told him and looked over to Curtland. "No offense, but this is something that is meant for his Imperial Majesty only." Valerian sighed when he heard Matt's words.

"Can't that wait, Matt?" he asked. Matt frowned and gave Valerian a scolding look.

"No, Valerian. Don't tell me that you rather want to lie in bed while your nation is on the brink of a crisis!"

"I just wanted to ask for five minutes so I could take a shower and put on some clothes, Matt." Valerian explained to him.

"Oh. Okay." Matt muttered. And again, there was an awkward moment of silence. Both men looked at each other, and it was Valerian who finally managed to say something.

"Uhm, you mind waiting outside? I'm kinda, well, naked, you know."

"Oh, well, in that case-" Matt said with an understanding tone in his voice. But then Leila just groaned.

"You men are just so oversensitive when it comes to your own genitals!" she mumbled and grabbed the blanket. Valerian tried to stop her, but she just threw it to the side and climbed out of bed. The only thing Valerian managed to do was to cover his privates with his own hand.

"Leila, what are you doing...?" he hissed, however, when she stood in the middle of the room, she just started to stretch. Matt's eyes widened and he turned his head away immediately. Valerian, on the other hand, couldn't stop staring. He gulped hard and was glad that his hands were covering his crown jewels, otherwise things could have become awkward.

Aw, who was he kidding, it was already awkward as hell.

If Leila Curtland felt uncomfortable, she surely didn't show it. She stretched herself and moaned satisfied before she turned around and walked over to Matt. The Admiral made a step backward and was about to say something when she simply took the bra out of his hand and said: "I think that one belongs to me." Then she bowed down and picked up the other parts of her attire from the ground. Matt had to swallow hard. Damn, just...damn.

"I'm going to take a long and nice shower. Maybe I'm going to use up all the hot water on this ship. Should give you boys enough time to talk things through. And calm down." Leila declared and walked over to the bathroom. She did so with the confidence of a woman who knew that she had the biggest... _things_ in the room. When she closed the door behind her, both men waited until they could hear the shower.

"The Ambassador appears to be very...flexible." was the only thing Matt could say.

"Oh yes, that's true. And you should see her reach. It is, uhm, impressive." Both men decided to drop that conversation at the same moment. Instead, Valerian grabbed his blanket and pulled it back over his naked body.

"So, you wanted to talk to me?" the Emperor asked while putting on an expression of pure innocence.

"I used to think so." Matt then replied before he sighed. "Not so sure now anymore, though." He looked around and could see a chair next to the desk. He grabbed it and sat down right in front of Valerian. The only thing he lacked right now was a bottle of booze. But this wasn't the Hyperion, so he wouldn't find some of Jim's old bottles in the air vent.

"How's Brent?" Valerian wanted to know.

"Not good, I'm afraid." Matt sighed. "There were...complications. The doctors are doing their best, but right now there is little we can do. We can only hope that things will turn out okay."

"I'm sorry, Matt. He is a good man."

"Yeah, he is." Matt just replied. For a short moment, neither one of them said a word.

"So, what's the word down on the planet right now?" Valerian wanted to know. Matt sighed rubbed his temples.

"The public was informed about an _attack_ on the palace, but no details were given. They know that you're safe and that no lives were claimed. Of course, that doesn't mean that the survivors are in good shape. Most of them will probably need psychological help for the next few...decades."

"I sure as hell can't blame them." Valerian agreed before he started to frown. "But that brings us to an interesting question: how did those people survive? Matt, I knew what I saw. They were dead. And so was Brent. What happened?" Suddenly Matt felt how his hands turned sweaty. Oh damn, what should he tell Valerian? That some fancy space-goddess had returned and saved them all? Matt still didn't know anything about Sarah's motivations and he didn't want to startle Valerian. He opened his mouth, but no words left his throat. He turned his head away and thought about what to tell Valerian, but he just couldn't come up with a believable explanation for what had happened. Besides, lying to his Emperor? Matt was on a dangerous path here, one that could cause more harm than good.

"You know something, don't you?" Valerian then said and Matt turned his head back to him. They looked each other in the eyes, and Matt could see that Valerian would see through any cheap lie he would present to present to him.

"Valerian, I.." he tried to say. He knew that he wouldn't be able to keep Sarah's return a secret forever. But he needed more time, goddammit!

"It's okay, Matt." Valerian just said, and it caught Matt completely off guard. However, the Emperor just smiled. "I can see that something's gnawing at you ever since you entered the room. If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine." Unfortunately, that answer didn't help Matt to ease his mind, not one bit.

"But Valerian, what if I'm misjudging the situation? What if I'm making a huge mistake here?" he asked. Perhaps a part of Matt wanted Valerian to order him to spill his beans. It would make things so much easier. Then he didn't have to solve those problems by himself, but he could just wait for the Emperor's orders. Unfortunately, Valerian Mengsk proved that he was about to become a better emperor with every passing day.

"I trust you with this. I don't have to know all the details." Valerian said to him.

Trust.

Valerian trusted him.

The question was; did he deserve that trust?

It wasn't a question that could be answered with words. Mat could only prove himself by making the right decision.

"Thanks." Matt managed to say. "I promise you won't regret it."

"Ah, don't thank me just yet. If this thing goes south and they're going after my ass, I will use you as my own personal meat shield. You know, the old "plausible deniability"-thing. "I didn't know anything, it was all the Admiral's fault!". The usual BS, I hope you don't mind." When Matt heard that, he blinked in disbelief. And then he started to laugh. It was not a cynical laugh, but an honest one. For a while he couldn't even calm down, it just felt so good. And with every laugh, a bit more of the stress on his mind seemed to fade away. When he finally managed to calm down, he wasn't free of any doubts, but a lot of that burden seemed to have vanished.

"Looks like you needed that." Valerian concluded. The shower was still running, and by now Matt was wondering if Curtland would truly use up all the hot water on board of the ship. Matt, eager to change the overall topic, looked over to the shower.

"So, you and the Ambassador...can't say I saw that one coming." he mumbled. "I thought she hates you."

"She did." Valerian said. "Or let's just say that she had a vastly different image from me than most others have. I was Arcturus Mengsk 2.0 for her."

"Wouldn't that mean that she thought what most others do?" Matt teased Valerian, who just groaned when he heard that.

"Oh, harr harr, look, someone's trying to be funny. Good, that means that I don't have to worry about you anymore." the Emperor declared. He then sighed and put his hands on his face.

"God, I so don't want to get back down there, Matt. But I guess there's no point in trying to avoid the unavoidable, right? Say..." Valerian then wanted to know and looked through the gap between his fingers over to Matt. "...we don't happen to have a doppelganger of me laying around somewhere, do we? Because then he could take over. Not for long, just maybe one or two decades." That comment made Matt chuckle.

"Sorry, no doppelgangers around. I could ask Swann to dress up like you, but I think people would see right through it." That thought was so ridiculous, it caused Valerian to laugh as well. He imagined what it would be like if Rory Swann would address the people of the Dominion. He would probably say something like: "Now listen up, you guys! I'm drunk as hell, but I'mma gonna tell you something now!"

"Too bad. Guess I need to address the people sooner or later." Valerian then said. "I should probably get back into my office and work on a speech."

"You could just distribute an official statement. You don't have to do it yourself." Matt offered, but Valerian shook his head.

"No. I have to do it myself. They need to see me, Matt. I have to talk to them. If the palace will issue a statement, it will only look like I'm not willing to carry my own weight. The only problem is; I have no idea what to tell them." He then took a deep breath. "By the way, how's Neusser?" There was no anger in his voice.

"He was brought to the military hospital south of Augustgrad. He's safe there, and we can be certain that he won't try anything funny. As for his condition, well, the bastard is surprisingly tough. They have patched him up and he will survive." Matt leaned forward and put his arms on the knees.

"Valerian, there's something we have to talk about. And I know that this is probably the worst timing of all times, but we have to ask ourselves one thing; did Curtland know anything about this attack?" Instead of yelling at Matt for keeping his mouth shut, Valerian stared at the ceiling and said nothing. It took him some moments to finally find the right words.

"We...didn't talk about that. But I don't think she had anything to do with this attack."

"You think she's telling the truth?"

"Yes, I do. You didn't see what I saw, Matt. She was just as shocked as we were. And we weren't really able to talk about what had happened inside the palace either. The opportunity simply didn't arise and we just-"

"Decided to sleep with each other?" Matt offered to Valerian, who gave him an annoyed look.

"That wasn't the plan. It just happened, okay? We both were pretty down and I didn't want to send her back to the embassy. Maybe Neusser still has some goons out there working for him. Besides, she's just as much of a victim as everyone else."

"Public opinion might disagree with you on that one." Matt replied. He didn't want to sound like a party pooper or a smart ass. He was simply telling Valerian about a reasonable possibility.

"Yeah, well, public opinion can bite me."

"That doesn't sound very emperor-like if you ask me." Matt stated.

"Yeah, well, emperor-like can bite me."

"I think something from Jim is rubbing off on you." Matt then replied dryly.

"I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a compliment or not." Valerian commented on that before he sighed. "Listen, I know that you have your reasons for asking these questions. But Leila, I mean Ambassador Curtland, she's not a traitor. And she's no threat either." And then Valerian said something that reminded Matt of those things Jim had said to him. "You need to trust me with that, Matt." When Valerian said that, Matt took a long sigh and shook his head.

"Guess trust is the new black now." he muttered to himself before he finally nodded. "Okay, Valerian. I won't ask any more questions. I trust that you will handle the situation." Before they could exchange more words, Matt's communicator came to life, and the voice of a man could be heard.

"Admiral Horner, please come in. This is the bridge. Admiral Horner, please come in." Matt sighed when he heard that. It was never over, was it? He shook his head and grabbed his communicator.

"This is Admiral Horner. Bridge, I am currently talking to the Emperor. Unless it is an emergency, I would like _not_ to get disturbed. _Is_ there an emergency that requires my presence?" he asked. Of course, it was a rhetorical question, but the man on the other side of the line didn't seem to notice that. Or he simply didn't care.

"I am not certain, Admiral. However, the Captain has asked for your presence on the flight deck. It appears that there's a problem with the dropship's pilot that has arrived here a few minutes ago."

"Is it a Spectre or a Zapper or anyone else who wants to go commando on us?" Matt just wanted to know.

"Uhm...not as far as I know, Admiral." the man on the other side of the line replied. "All I know is that it's a female officer that claims to be your adjutant." Matt frowned when he heard that. He knew that Brent was a skinny guy, but he didn't look _that_ womanly. Besides, Brent was still fighting for his dear life.

"I have an adjutant, and he's currently somewhere else. Whoever this woman is, she's not working for me."

"The Captain said that she had all the correct papers, and he requests your presence so he can find a solution for this problem." the man explained to them. Matt growled and wanted to say something very rude to the man, but he knew that it wasn't his fault.

"Maybe you should go and check it out." Valerian then suddenly said. Matt looked him into the eyes and frowned. There were still a lot of things they had to talk about, but it appeared as if it had to wait.

"Yeah, guess I should do that." he agreed and stood up. "Don't worry, it shouldn't take too long. I bet whatever the problem is, it will solve itself in no time." The shower finally stopped, that probably meant that there was no more hot water available.

"Well, I think I should get ready myself." Valerian then declared and sighed. "Too bad, I could have used some more time off." Matt laughed when he heard that and walked over to the door. He opened it, and when he was about to step out of the room, the door to the bathroom was opened and Curtland came back. This time she wasn't completely naked, she had wrapped a towel around her body, but even then, there was little left to one's imagination. Matt stopped and looked at both Valerian and Curtland.

"You know what?" he then decided. "Do that. Take another day off. It won't make that much of a difference."

"But what about the situation in Augustgrad?" the Emperor asked.

"Yeah, well, like someone once said; the situation in Augustgrad can bite you for another day." Matt told him when his communicator went off again.

"Admiral Horner, Admiral Horner. Please meet the Captain on the flight deck. He requests your presence immediately." Matt sighed when he heard that.

"It just never ends, does it?" And then he stepped out of the cabin and looked at Curtland. "Please return him to us in one piece. Would that be possible?" All Curtland did was to pull her shoulders up.

"No promises." was the only thing she replied. Matt turned away with a grin on his face, and when he closed the door behind him, he knew that Valerian had deserved some kind of happiness, even though the Admiral couldn't imagine how this would work out in the future. However, when people are under a lot of stress, they do all sorts of crazy things. Besides, an affair between the Emperor and the Ambassador of the Combine was harmless when compared to all the other stuff that was currently going on. The door closed behind Matt and he spoke into his communicator once more.

"Bridge, this is Admiral Horner. Tell the Captain that I'm on my way." Truth to be told, he was done with unpleasant surprises for many years to come.

* * *

If you know that you're about to experience a nightmare, you usually think about all the nightmarish things you could, well, think of. Sarah knew that it wouldn't be pretty. She was prepared to see a horrible and twisted version of herself tormenting Jim. So basically, what really had happened. Sarah was no angel, she knew that. However, there had been times when she had enjoyed the fact that some had nightmares about her. It had been flattering. But nowadays? Not so much.

As she stepped through the door, she knew that it was just an image for Jim's subconsciousness. The moment she entered it, she could feel an overpowering sense of guilt and shame barreling down on her. She gasped in shock and pressed her hands against her chest, but even then she realized that it weren't her feelings, but Jim's.

Like said, she expected the worst. However, when the bright light vanished and she could see the area around her, she blinked in surprise.

This wasn't a battlefield. It wasn't the Hyperion either. It was no place Sarah had ever seen before. She stood...on a field? For a moment it seemed like that. She looked up and could see a gray sky above her. Cold raindrops fell on her naked face, but even though they felt real enough, she knew that they were just a product of Jim's imagination. She lowered her gaze and looked around. Only then she realized that there was a building right behind her. She looked up and recognized it as a church. The door she had used to come here had turned into the entrance door of the building. The church itself wasn't that big, it was made out of wood and looked like one of those buildings that people used on the fringe worlds. There was no one around, and the rain had bleached the formerly white walls into a dull gray.

"Jim?" she asked but received no answer. There was no one around. She turned away from the church and checked the surrounding area. The whole place didn't look very welcoming. The only source of color were the houses in the distance. Most of the landscape was made of brown rocks and dust. There were some patches of green here and there, but not nearly enough to make it count. That's when she finally recognized this place. She had never been to this world personally, but she had seen pictures of this landscape. It was a special place, the place where so many things had started.

Mar Sara.

She shouldn't be surprised to see Mar Sara in Jim's nightmares. It was the perfect place for those kinds of dreams after all. What was actually surprising, was the fact that there weren't any Zerg throwing themselves at everything that walked over the surface of this world. No, on the contrary; it was so peaceful. At first, she thought that she was alone. It took her a few moments to notice the group of people in the distance, near the church, a few hundred meters away. It couldn't be more than ten people and they all wore...black?

Sarah felt how that clump of ice formed inside her stomach again. If something seems to be harmless, it most likely isn't. However, at the same time, she could sense something new, something she knew very well. Some _one_ she knew very well. It was Jim. And he was right down there, among those people.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. Everything around Sarah was Jim. However, it was just the fabrication of his mind, the setting of the dream if you like. Down there, she could sense his mind. She didn't possess the strength to face him in real life, she could at least try to do that inside his dreams. Sarah took a deep breath and mustered her remaining courage. This was it. She started to walk towards the small group of people. The sand didn't scrunch under her feet like real sand would. Now that she thought about it; there was no sound at all, no wind, no animals, nothing.

The closer she came to those people, the bigger the clump of ice inside her stomach became. There was something wrong with this whole picture, she just knew it. However, it took her some time to realize what was going on. Even though Sarah had killed many people and witnessed so much death, she had never attended a funeral. When she was close enough, she could see the faces of the people, even though she didn't recognize any of them. Were they friends that Jim remembered? Somehow Sarah doubted it. She literally had no idea what was going on, until she could finally see Jim.

"Oh no." she whispered to herself and stopped. There he was. He looked younger and a lot healthier. However, the look on his face nearly made Sarah cry. His gaze was filled with pain and sorrow. He looked like he had just lost someone very dear to him. It was the look of a defeated man.

"We have gathered here..." a tall and lean man in front of the group suddenly started to speak. "...to pay our respect to Lydia Elizabeth Raynor."

Sarah's whole body tensed up when she heard that. Lydia? Liddy? As in; Jim's wife? Oh God, no. Sarah didn't dare to come any closer. She could feel Jim's pain. Instead, she lowered her eyes and listened to the priest's words.

"Those who knew Lydia Raynor will always remember her as an exceptionally tender soul. Someone who always thought about others before thinking about herself. I think it is safe to say that no one of us has ever met such a kind soul before. The things she has done for us will never be forgotten. For while she walked among us, she always provided us with a smile. It was a rare gift, one that not many possess. And one that will be greatly missed." Lydia Raynor had been Jim's wife, of course Sarah knew that. However, she had never really truly tried to learn more about that woman. Truth to be told, she had never really cared about that woman anyway. But now that she looked at Jim's pained expression, she felt like a complete dud.

"Lydia was not just a friend." the priest continued. "She was a sister. She was a daughter. But most importantly; she was a mother and a wife. She had a _family_." The word _family_ caused Sarah to wince. Family. She couldn't even remember her own family. And a wife? Well, being a trained killer isn't exactly what most people imagine when they think of a "loving wife". Loving with a knife or a gun maybe. And children? Sarah turned her head away.

"Mr. Raynor, James." the priest then addressed Jim directly. "I think no one can truly understand how deep your pain is. To lose not only one, but two beloved people seems cruel, heartless even. Especially if it happens to people that are the closest to us. But I want you to know, James, that we are here for you. Both as neighbors, and as friends." Jim didn't look into the priest's eyes. Instead, he just nodded and pressed his lips together. He looked at the object behind the priest. And only then Sarah finally realized that it was a coffin.

Was this truly a dream? Or was this a memory?

Perhaps it was a bit of both.

"Life often takes strange turns, and we're not always able to understand God's great plan, but it is important that..." the priest continued. However, Sarah could see that Jim wasn't even listening, she could feel it. All he did was to stare at the coffin behind the priest. The sky was gray, water was falling from the heavens, and there was a funeral right in front of her eyes. Sarah had to admit; she couldn't think of any more depressing sight right now. The speech went on, but sometimes the priest's lips would move without saying anything. It looked as if he was only able to speak when Jim remembered it. And it seemed as if he hadn't listened to most of the speech either.

Sarah felt like she should be anywhere _but_ here right now. It was as if this memory wasn't meant for her to see it. She knew about Jim's old life, he had told her about his family, but not that much. He had kept the pain mostly to himself. And she could see that same stubbornness on his face right now. He wasn't crying, even though she could feel how he wanted to do that. He wanted to scream out in pain and rage, but he didn't. He kept it all inside.

The funeral didn't last long. A few more words were spoken, and then suddenly the scenery changed. It wasn't like reality. No, the people seemed to shift from one position to the other in an instant. She watched how the priest shook Jim's hand, how some other guests lowered the coffin into the grave. And then how they buried it with fresh earth. People came and told Jim how sorry they were. He shook their hands and thanked them, but there was no life inside his eyes. He looked like he had died, and his body was just running on autopilot.

In the end, more and more people vanished. Friends and former colleagues passed by and went into nothingness. The only thing that remained was the gray sky and the rain. And Jim, who stood in front of his wife's gravestone.

For a long time, Sarah didn't say anything. She didn't know if time was moving slower inside Jim's mind, but she wasn't in a rush anyway. She watched how Jim looked at his wife's grave, and suddenly she couldn't help but to feel ashamed. If Jim wanted to see his wife, he could at least go to Mar Sara and visit her grave. Well, as long as there weren't any Zerg around. But there was no place he could go when he wanted to grief for Sarah. When she had heard about Lydia for the first time, she had felt angry and betrayed. She had believed that all Jim saw in her was a replacement for Liddy. But how could she replace that woman? They were like day and night. Lydia had been a gentle and kind soul. Timid. And a mother. And Sarah? Well, the best thing you could say about her was that she wasn't very squeamish. But that wasn't the same thing.

Some small part of Sarah's mind wondered why Jim had decided to fall in love with her in the first place. She could understand it if she and Liddy would have had anything in common. However, there was just no common ground between those two women.

Watching Jim like this was hard. She wanted to get closer, wanted to tell him how sorry she was. However, she was still afraid that he would realize that she wasn't just a dream, but the real deal. He didn't say anything for what felt like an eternity. After a while, he knelt down in front of the gravestone and put his hand on it. He mumbled something Sarah could hear. Besides, she was certain that whatever he was saying wasn't meant for her ears. It just didn't feel right. He stood up again and for a moment it seemed as if he was about to turn away. But then he did the one thing she didn't expect him to do.

"You can come over now. No point standing in the back all the time." Jim said. Sarah hesitated. Was he talking to her? No, it couldn't-

"You're too early, Sarah. Might as well come over here."

Okay, this was strange. And unexpected. For a moment she wondered if she should pull out now. But no, she had come too far. Whatever would happen now, she wouldn't run away. Otherwise, it would never end. She would just run away from this for the rest of her life. Or his life, to be more exact. She took a deep breath and walked over to Jim. She didn't go all the way, though, she stopped a few meters behind him.

"You're not surprised...to see me?" she wanted to know.

"Why should I?" he replied. "It's always like this, isn't it? I say goodbye to Liddy. Then I say goodbye to you. Double the fun." he said with a voice that contained no fun at all. "You're early though. Never visited me here before." Sarah felt relieved when she heard that. So apparently, he was talking to the Sarah that would visit him in his dreams. She truly didn't look forward meeting her dream-counterpart inside Jim's mind. It would probably involve the Queen of Blades and a lot of violence. Sarah looked at the gravestone until she realized that there was something wrong with it.

"It's just one grave." she whispered to herself, yet Jim was still able to hear her. This was still the inside of his mind.

"They never recovered Johnny's body." he explained with a weak voice. "Shortly before Liddy died, she told me that she blamed herself for his death. At one point she even said that this way she would at least be able to apologize to him once they meet on the other side." He sighed and had to fight back the tears. "I didn't tell her, but I promised myself that I would place Johnny's body next to her should I ever find him." Jim pressed his hand against his eyes and needed a moment before he could go on.

"Didn't work out so well, now did it." he whispered with nothing but bitterness in his voice. Sarah looked one more time at the gravestone and read the inscription.

Lidya Elizabeth Raynor.

Beloved Wife

Beloved Mother

Thou shall be missed

Sarah had to swallow hard when she saw that. Perhaps it was selfish that she thought of herself right now. No one had ever put her name on a gravestone. No one shall ever miss her.

"I'm sorry, Jim." was all she managed to say. Jim just shook his head.

"Don't be. There's nothing you should blame yourself for. It was my own damn fault. I had everything, you know? I had a family. After all the crazy shit I had pulled off, I was finally happy. And then everything went to hell. Because I wasn't the man that I had to be." he told her, but Sarah felt the strong urge to disagree with him.

"But you know what the worst thing is?" he asked her. Sarah looked at the back of his head and frowned.

"What?" she asked. He looked over his shoulder and gave her a warm yet pained smile.

"After their death, I swore myself that this would never happen again. It was the only thing I cared for. In a way, it made losing you even harder. After losing my family, it took me years to accept that sometimes bad things happened. But then you were ripped away from me, and I realized that bad people will always do bad things. And I could have stopped them. I _should_ have stopped them. I didn't. Again. When the Confederacy came to take Johnny, I should have said no. When Arcturus ordered you to do that mission on Tarsonis, I should have stopped him. I screwed up two times, and both times the price were my loved ones."

Sarah didn't miss that he still called her his "loved one", and her heart started to beat faster.

"You were not responsible for what happened to me." Sarah told him. "It just...happened." That was a bold statement. Because that could also mean that she was about to give herself an absolution. Convenient, right?

"I'm done with it, Sarah." Jim than just said. "I just want it to end." Well, it was pretty obvious what he meant. She knew that she was the last person who should try to cheer him up, but she didn't want to see him suffering like this.

"You still got your whole life ahead of you, Jim. You can start over again. You can find someone else." And again, she wondered if she couldn't be that person. Not Sarah Kerrigan, but someone else. Like Jane Shepard, for example. However, Jim just closed his eyes and shook his head.

"No, Sarah, I'm done. I was done after the death of my family. I never wanted to love someone again. I was too afraid of losing them. I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle another loss." He opened his eyes and looked into hers. "You busted that plan, Sarah. I never thought that I would find someone like you. You gave me hope again." Sarah blushed when she heard that. He truly had a way with words.

"You were my second chance, Sarah. There won't be a third one. Besides-" he suddenly started to chuckle. "-no woman can compare to you. I guess you ruined me." There was a slight amount of amusement in his voice, enough for Sarah to know that he wasn't serious. At least about the "ruined"-part.

"You're not alone, Jim. You got many friends. They will always be there for you." she tried to explain to him. It only caused him to chuckle again.

"The thing with friendship is, Sarah, that it isn't the same thing as love. You once told me that you never had any friends." Well, none that she could remember anyway. "But friends and family are two different things. I learned that the day I lost mine. I could never respect a man who would abandon his family for some friends. There's a difference between the people we love and the people we like. And my friends? They're moving on. They find new friends, some might even find/have found a family. And that's the way it should be. I would be mad at them if they would continue to waste their time with an old and worthless fossil like me."

Damn, Jim was so far down that he probably couldn't even see the daylight if he really wanted to. It made Sarah wonder; who of the both of them was more pathetic right now?

She would probably win by a landslide, but still...

"Jim, I..." Sarah wanted to say, but then she heard something in the distance. Right at the edge of the horizon, she could see something. It almost looked like a thunderstorm.

"It's time." he just said and Sarah frowned. Time for what? But Jim then turned around and started to walk away from the grave. Sarah felt a sudden change in the air and watched how the sky turned black. Whatever this thing was, it appeared like the worst thunderstorms of all times. Of course, none of that had to make any sense, it was still a dream. However, Sarah couldn't help but think that things would turn rather ugly within the next few moments. Jim didn't seem to care about the thunderstorm. Instead, he simply walked up to a small hut. Sarah hadn't noticed it earlier. No, that wasn't true. It hadn't _been_ there earlier.

"Jim, where are you going?" she wanted to know. His answer couldn't have been more unsatisfying.

"You might want to stay here. Maybe this time it will be different." He reached the hut and opened the door. Behind it was only darkness. He looked over his shoulders and into her eyes. "Maybe this time you won't suffer again."

"Jim, wait!" Sarah yelled, but then he was already gone. She ran after him and didn't hesitate one second. The door closed behind him and when she reached it, she ripped it open and walked into the room. But instead the inside of a hut she-

-was suddenly somewhere else.

Creep. There was creep everywhere. Sarah blinked and looked around. Was this...a Zerg hive? She looked back, but the door wasn't there anymore. Instead, she was surrounded by so much creep. It didn't scare her, she knew creep well. She looked up into the sky and could see a sickly red atmosphere above her. The smell of burnt flesh and molten stone was everywhere, and she could hear the screams of both Zerg and humans in the distance. And gunfire. A lot of gunfire. Unlike Mar Sara, she had visited this world before. Not only that, but she had lived here for many years. One might even say that she still considered this place a home.

Char.

She had returned home.

"Jim? Jim, where are you?" she yelled, but there was no one around. He had to be somewhere. And even though Sarah had no problems with being inside a Zerg base, she knew that Jim would probably experience one hell of a nightmare right now. She had to find him. So she made a step forward, ready to look for Jim. However, her search was cut short when suddenly a whistling sound reached her ear. At first, she thought that it was a person, but then she realized that it didn't come from a lifeform. She recognized that sound and looked up.

"What the...?" she managed to say when the mortar round slammed into the ground only a few meters away from her. Even though it was just a dream, the impact sure as hell felt like the real deal. Sarah was thrown backward and fell on her back. She groaned and shook her head while dust and creep flew around everywhere. When she finally regained her composure, she heard something beeping. Confused, she looked to the side and saw something metallic stuck in the ground. It was the mortar round.

"Aw, crap." was the only thing she managed to say.

That's when the mortar round exploded right into her face.


	47. Act II - Chapter 23

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 23**

 **Looking into a Mirror**

* * *

It had been some time since Matt had seen a dropship in such a bad shape. It wasn't completely broken, but fixing it would require a considerable amount of time and resources. Swann would probably love it. Too bad that he wasn't around. The vessel looked as if someone had tried to land it without using the landing gear. Whoever had piloted that thing had to be a complete dud. It would be a lie to say that Matt had never seen such a poor display of flying skill, or should he say "landing skills"? He had seen more than one crash-landing. Not all pilots that had worked for the Raiders had been former graduates from the old Confederacy's flight training school. Hell, some of the Raider's pilots had never even seen a flight training school from the inside! Sometimes not even from the outside...

Part of the crew was still checking the dropship for any visible damage. It wasn't that easy, considering that the dropship was upside down. Matt really had no idea what was going on here, but he felt the urge to board that dropship and just kick into reverse gear. Or reverse thrusters, to be more exact. Matt looked at the dropship for some time before he saw the Captain next to two marines. And there was someone else, a female officer. A _young_ female officer. Seriously, she looked like she was still a teenager. And she looked really nervous. Matt sighed and walked over to the two officers and the marines.

"Captain, I was informed that you require my assistance?" he then wanted to know. The Captain of the _Rebel Heart_ saluted again, but this time Matt decided to not greet back. Instead, he just looked at the young woman/girl. The only thing he could say for certain was that he had never seen her before.

"Sir, I am terribly sorry for asking you to come here. However, I think that you should hear this yourself." Matt could swear that there was a slight tone of amusement in the Captain's voice. And had he just smiled at him?

"Don't sweat it, Captain. The Emperor and I have come to the conclusion that we should continue this conversation at a later date. I was about to leave anyway." That statement seemed to surprise the Captain.

"Is the Emperor not going to accompany you?" the Captain then asked. Matt shook his head.

"No, he will remain on board for at least one more day. I hope it's not too much of a hassle, but we simply require more time to sort things out in the palace. Right now it's better for everyone if he stays here. But like said; I truly hope that it's not a problem. If the presence of the Emperor is bothering you, I will find a new place for him." That sounded like the Emperor was just a child, but thankfully the Captain knew what Matt was talking about.

"That won't be necessary, Sir. The Emperor and his entourage have been role model guests. And the crew reacted exceptionally well to his presence on board. I might say that they feel a certain amount of pride because the Emperor thinks that this is the safest place for him and his bodyguard."

"Bodyguard?" Matt asked. Valerian hadn't brought any bodyguards with him. The only one that was with him was-

"Oh, bodyguard. Right." _Valerian, you cheeky bastard._ Matt shook the head and decided to not tell the Captain the truth. _That_ was something Valerian could do himself. Speaking of things you had to do yourself...

"So, who the hell are you, and why do you claim to be my adjutant?" Matt wanted to know and looked over at the female officer. She made a step forward and saluted. Well, she tried to salute, but it was probably the sloppiest salute Matt had ever seen. And during his time with the Raiders, he had seen 'em all.

"A-Admiral, S-Sir!" she managed to stutter. It was brutally obvious that she was nervous as hell. The first thing he noticed about her was the fact that she had painted her nails. That alone wasn't anything unusual. It wasn't even forbidden. However, the fact that every nail on every finger had a different color seemed to be a bit much.

"Sir, Lieutenant Maria Hernandez! I'm your, uhm, new adjutant? Hehehe." she said and laughed, but not because it was so amusing.

"Forgive me my bluntness, Lieutenant." Matt then declared. "But I already have an adjutant, Captain Brent. And he's currently fighting for his dear life. However, as long as he's not dead, he stays my adjutant. Besides, who the hell told you that you're my new adjutant anyway?" Suddenly a big grin appeared on Hernandez's face.

"I can answer that question! I got orders!" she said like this was some test. She put her hands into her pockets and started to search for something. "Where is it? Where did I put them?" Both Matt and the Captain exchanged looks. Was she serious about that? The Captain just pulled his shoulders up and said nothing.

"Lieutenant, I want to be honest; if this is some kind of joke, then I don't think that it's very funny and-"

"Nu-uh! No joke, Admiral! Wait, I had those orders when I, oh! They still have to be inside the dropship! Hold on to your potatoes!" Without waiting for any permission, she just ran back to the dropship. Part of the crew was still trying to figure out what to do and was too baffled to stop her. Instead, they just watched how the young Lieutenant climbed onto the dropship and jumped through the emergency hatch on the underside of the ship. The same hatch that was currently on top of the vessel, since it was upside down.

"Did that Lieutenant just tell an Admiral to _hold onto his potatoes_?" Matt asked. The Captain looked like he had to fight the urge to laugh. "I don't even know what that's supposed to mean!" the Admiral then complained. For some time, nothing happened, and Matt wondered if the Lieutenant was preparing to detonate a bomb.

"Did you check the ship for any weapons or explosive devices?" he asked, and the Captain nodded.

"Of course. The scanners didn't show anything. Sadly, they can't tell us what's going on in the head of the pilot." the officer said. Suddenly a crazy thought formed inside Matt's mind. That young woman didn't really look like an officer. She was rather pretty, and was searching for orders inside the dropship? Before his inner eye, Matt could see how she would climb out of the ship and started to sing: "Happy Birthday, Mr. Admiral..." Wait, was that woman a stripper?

"Got it!" they heard her voice from inside the dropship, and Matt braced himself to watch how she would step out of the vessel with nothing but a bikini on her. The very thought alone sent shivers down his spine.

But as absurd as this situation was, it didn't become even more awkward. Instead, the Lieutenant climbed out of the hatch and held something high up in the air. It was a datapad.

"Got it! GotitGotitGotit!" she explained cheerfully and jumped down from the dropship. She then hurried towards Matt and presented him the datapad with a big grin on her face.

"Found it! Must have slipped from my pocket when I landed this thing." the Lieutenant said and pointed at the dropship behind her. Well, "landing" was a very optimistic way to describe whatever she had tried to do. Hernandez offered the datapad to the Admiral and had a grotesquely happy smile on her face. Matt was still not sure if she was either a stripper or the worst assassin of all times. He grabbed the datapad and started to read.

"Sir?" the Captain asked after a while when he saw the frown on Matt's face. "Is everything alright?"

"I didn't even know that there's a section that makes sure that every admiral has an adjutant at all times." Matt said mostly to himself. "When were those orders signed?" he asked and scrolled down. When he saw the date, he couldn't hide his surprise. "Seven hours ago? Are they kidding me?" Brent was still fighting for his dear life, and the guys from the J1-section hadn't even wasted one second? Besides, what kind of replacement had they send him anyway?!

"So, Lieutenant Maria Hernandezzzzzz..." Matt pronounced her name like a Hydralisk would. "...seems like these orders are legit, though I have no idea why they picked _you_ for the job." Only then he realized how rude that sounded. He looked her into the eyes and harrumphed. "Uhm, not that I doubt your qualifications, you just don't seem like the type that, uhm, uh..." Smart move, Admiral. If Hernandez was offended, she sure as hell didn't show it.

"Oh, it's fine. I didn't plan for this anyway. They just asked me if I wanted to be your adjutant and I asked if it is better paid than my current job and they said yes and so I boarded this dropship and got here and now I showed you the orders and now everything is okay. Okay?"

"Oh God, who runs this military?" Matt whispered to himself, however, the Captain heard him nonetheless.

"You do, Sir." The Admiral decided to not comment on that. Instead, he shook his head and looked back at the Lieutenant.

"Forgive me, Lieutenant, but I just have to ask; why did the J1-guys choose you?" The Lieutenant tilted her head to the side and scratched her head.

"Not sure, Sir. Someone said something about "clean records", but I totally didn't understand what he meant by that." she told them. The Captain started to snicker but didn't say anything. Matt just groaned on the inside and shook his head.

"I want to be honest with you, Lieutenant; you came up here for nothing. I already have an adjutant. And even though he's currently in hospital, I _expect_ him to return very soon." he explained to her. However, Hernandez wasn't even paying attention. Instead, she was looking around with sparkling eyes.

"Lieutenant? Are you even listening?" Matt demanded to know.

"Whoa! I just realized that I'm on a battlecruiser. I've never been on a battlecruiser before! Can I take some pictures?" Hernandez instead answered.

"What? NO! Of course, you can't!" Matt yelled. Hernandez had already pulled out her own private communicator and was about to take a few photos when Matt handed the datapad over to the captain and ripped Hernandez's communicator out of her hand.

"Aw, that sucks!" the Lieutenant just groaned. Matt could feel how is eye started to twitch.

"Lieutenant, have you ever heard something about "acting like a professional"? I seriously doubt that, because if you had-" he started to rant. But Hernandez was just looking at him as if she didn't care one bit about what he told her. All she gave him was the same goofy smile she had used before. The Captain, however, looked at the datapad and read the orders. He scrolled further down and read something Matt hadn't.

"Admiral, you might want to take a look at that." he said, but Matt was still busy yelling at the oblivious Lieutenant.

"-and I have no idea how you managed to acquire a dropship!" he barked when Hernandez raised a finger.

"It stood on the landing platform on top of the ministry."

"That's not the point! How do you even know how to fly one of those things!"

"I don't" she replied truthfully and Matt pointed his finger at the dropship that was upside down.

"I can see that!" he yelled. "So why the hell did you think that you could fly that thing up here, huh?!"

"Admiral, you should really see this." the Captain insisted and handed the datapad over to Matt. But he didn't want to see it.

"I saw it in the pilot's head." Hernandez explained. There was a long moment of silence. Even with all the anger clouding his mind, he still understood what she had just said.

"Say what?" Matt asked again.

"I saw it in the pilot's head. You know, which buttons I had to push in order to start that thing." she explained to him. The Captain held the datapad right under Matt's nose.

"Sir, you really should read that. Trust me." he declared. Matt grabbed the pad and started to read. His eyelid started to twitch again when he read the whole thing, and after he was done, he lowered the datapad and looked at Hernandez. The young woman stared at the ceiling and seemed to be completely oblivious towards pretty much anything around her.

"You're a Ghost?" Suddenly Hernandez froze, but only for a second. She turned her head away and tried not to look Matt into the eyes.

"WHAT? Uhm...noooooo. Why would you say that? I'm no Ghost." she replied. Matt shook his head and looked at the datapad.

"It sure seems like you're a Ghost. These orders even say that you are one."

"Oooooh! Oh yeah, then I am a Ghost." Hernandez then said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"But you just claimed that you're not a Ghost!" Matt barked. He really had no time for that.

"Yeah, they told us to never tell anyone that we're Ghosts. But since you know it, it's not a secret, I guess. Or something like that. I don't really know." she mumbled. "Oh, hey! Can I fire one of those escape pods? I always wanted to see how those things work in action!"

"This is not a joke, Lieutenant!" Matt then barked. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Suddenly Hernandez shook her head.

"Nothing is wrong, Admiral. Nothing. Really. I took my medications, I did!" she assured him.

"Medications?!" Matt yelled. The Captain took the datapad back and looked for additional information. It was he who finally managed to figure everything out.

"It seems as if the good Lieutenant here is a recent graduate of the Ghost-program. She joined the program after the demise of Emperor Arcturus Mengsk. But didn't you shut that program down for good?" Suddenly Matt knew what was going on. He sighed and shook his head.

"Oh great. Yes, I shut the program down, but only recently. In the two years since the end of the war, it was still active though. But the recruits weren't trained as assassins. We just helped them to use their powers. Say, Lieutenant, what exactly did you learn at the academy?" Matt wanted to know and Hernandez started to snicker.

"I can tell you what I didn't learn. Flying a damn dropship!" she told him. Matt looked at her with an empty look on his face.

"Well, this should be interesting. I bet Valerian will laugh his ass off if he hears about this." he said to himself. That's when Hernandez's eyes started to sparkle with joy.

"Valerian? Emperor Valerian Mengsk? Ohmagosh, I'm, like, his biggest fan ever. Could you get me his autograph? My chikas will be so green with envy when I tell them about it!"

* * *

Sarah knew that the mortar-round hadn't been real, but just a fabrication of Jim's mind. That didn't mean that it hadn't hurt, though. Because it had hurt like hell. It hadn't been a real pain, not the kind you feel when you injure yourself and your nerves tell your brain that something's wrong. No, it had been an aching feeling inside Sarah's mind. There was a reason why people say that you couldn't feel pain when you were dreaming.

She opened her eyes and realized that all of her limbs were still attached to her body. Above her, she could still see the sickly sky of Char, though it looked a lot more menacing than she remembered it. Perhaps it was because this was Jim's mind, and he considered Char to be hell on earth. The screams of the dying could be heard around every corner. Now, of course it wasn't the real Char. Even though the real planet was crawling with Zerg, there weren't giant maws in the ground trying to devour everyone. However, inside Jim's mind, this place was even more nightmarish than in reality.

As Sarah walked through the fields of fire and death, she witnessed all that carnage and destruction. She saw the dead bodies of so many soldiers. Almost all of them were wearing the colors of Jim's Raiders. The creepy thing was that they all had the same faces. Sarah saw only ten or so different faces. Perhaps it was/they were the only faces Jim could think of? Like said, it was a dream. She saw at least nine dead Matts and four dead Valerians. It was unnerving, however, she tried to ignore it. She remembered some of the others, even though she had only met them for a short time or not at all; Doctor Ariel Hanson, the engineer known as Rory Swann, and there were other people as well, people who weren't human to begin with. The dead body of Fenix caused Sarah to shiver. It remembered her of her experience inside Ulnar.

Like said, it was a goddamn carnage. Sarah tried to ignore as much of it as possible. But even then, she couldn't help but to notice one thing; her own face wasn't among the dead. And that couldn't be a good sign.

Even though this was a dream, she knew where she had to go. She just had to follow the screams and the gunfire. The landscape around her was shifting constantly. She walked around a corner, only to stand in front of a huge plain. She set foot on that plain, and it would turn into a Zerg-tunnel. And that Zerg-tunnel would turn into a Nydus worm and spit her out in another place. The only thing that stayed the same were the screams.

And then she finally reached her final destination.

She remembered this place. The battlefield in front of her was covered with Humans and Zerg. It was easy to tell both sides apart. The Terrans had the high ground, their bunkers and siege tanks were hammering down on the endless numbers of the Swarm. And the Swarm was fighting admirably, fighting with a ferocity no other force in the known galaxy had to offer.

Huh, come to think of it; Sarah truly thought of the Terrans as the enemies. Old habits die hard. She knew this battle, she had seen it before, albeit from the other side of the fence. It was the second battle of Char, the battle where Jim and his allies had defeated the Queen of Blades by using the Xel'Naga keystone on her.

The Keystone...

She could see it from her location. Even from all that distance, she could see its blue glow and started to shiver. Maybe that damn thing had saved the day, but it had caused her unspeakable pain. Some things were just the way she remembered them, like the fact that the Terrans simply didn't yield. Other things were different though, like the two hundred feet huge hunter-killers. Sarah had pulled the hunter-killers from service because even though they had been highly successful as shock troops, their aggression had been too much to handle. In the end, Sarah had needed reliable minions, not ravaging beasts. However, there had never been two hundred feet huge hunter-killers.

In the distance, she could see the place that had been her home for many years; her primary hive. She could feel a sense of nostalgia when she looked at the huge hive. Inside it, she had been the biggest predator and everyone had bowed their heads or tentacles to her. Well, now the real hive was no longer home to the Queen of Blades...or any Queen at all.

It wasn't exactly a copy of her old hive. The hive inside Jim's mind was covered with more spikes than usual. And there were dead bodies impaled on those spikes, Humans, Protoss, all of them. And a raging thunderstorm above it send bolts of lightning down to the ground. If a lightning hit a Zerg, it started to scream and grow until it turned into a huge monstrosity that stormed towards the Terrans' fortifications.

"That's a bit much, Jim. Seriously." Sarah mumbled to herself. However, he didn't answer. Instead, she looked at the Terrans' fortifications and knew that she would find Jim down there. And so she started to walk down the path towards the raging battle.

Since it was just a dream, she didn't have to walk for hours. Distance wasn't really a concept right now, and it took her only a few short moments before she stood right in the middle of the Terran defenders. She looked around, and again she saw the same faces all over the place.

"We have to get inside now!" a familiar voice suddenly said. Sarah turned around and saw Jim.

"It is too risky!" Matt Horner said. He stood next to Jim and seemed to be less than pleased to be here. Sarah couldn't blame him for that. However, he wasn't alone; Sarah saw more familiar faces, people that had been or were part of Jim's life. Matt was there, and Valerian. And of course, Fenix. He always had to be around, didn't he? And there was this one guy, the one who had tried to kill Sarah. Jim's old buddy, Tychus Findlay.

"I agree with the boyscout, Jimmy!" the brute said while taking another drag from his cigar. "Bitch needs to know her place. I say we use that freaky alien-thing and then we nuke her ass. You know it's gonna work. She'll be weak and human again. Won't stand a chance."

"Sarah is still alive!" Jim shot back. "We can save her!"

"That bitch ain't worth saving, and you know it, partner." Tychus just growled. "I didn't sign on for this crap, so you could just go all lovey-dovey on us and put a round through my head because I wanted to do the right thing." Matt nodded, and so did most of the other guys around him. It was General Warfield who then took the word.

"I agree with Mr. Findlay. We need to strike hard and end the Queen of Blades as fast as possible. You have to kill her."

"I will not do that! That's not what we did before! We will use the artifact and then I'm going to take her away!" Jim declared.

"And then what?" Valerian then asked. "We already tried that, didn't we? We took her to the Protectorate and my father still managed to hunt us down. And what did she do? She became the Queen of Blades once more and killed countless innocent. She _killed_ my father." Valerian's words were just another proof that this was a dream. The real Valerian would probably not accuse Sarah of murdering his father. However, that didn't mean that the words of the dream-Valerian didn't hurt. Because they did.

"She's still out there! I can feel her! She's calling out to me and is in pain!" Jim growled, but it was Matt who shook his head.

"You just want to believe that, Jim! She's lost, and you would sacrifice all of us just to get her back!" Matt accused him. But Jim just shook his head.

"I never forced you to join me. You came here because it was your own decision." he said, but Fenix just shook his huge head.

"No, Friend Raynor, they speak the truth. Kerrigan is beyond redemption. The sooner we strike, the sooner it will be over."

"I will not abandon her!" Jim barked and Sarah could feel his anger and despair. A part of her wanted that he would listen to his imaginary friends. But at the same time, another part of her was glad that he was such a stubborn mule. "I will find her and take her away! On my own, if I have to!"

"You would ruin us all just to get your girlfriend back!" Matt snarled at him, but then Jim just turned away.

"Then stay here! Do what you think you have to do, I do what I have to do." Jim growled. As he turned around, he finally came face to face with Sarah. Her eyes widened in shock when their gazes met, and she could feel that he was looking not through her, but right at her. He walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Jim..." she whispered, but all he gave her was a warm smile.

"Don't worry, I'll get you out. And then everything will be fine." he said to her and Sarah realized that he thought that she was part of his dream. However, the worst thing was the pain in his eyes.

"You don't have to do this." she whispered, but he just shook his head.

"I made a promise to myself a long time ago; that I would free you from this madness. I won't quit now. Even if it takes me another one thousand attempts, I will free you." Sarah remembered another promise he had given her. The promise that he would be the one man to make her pay for the crimes she had committed as the Queen of Blades. What had happened to that promise anyway?

"Jim. Don't go." she just told him, but she knew it was pointless. Sarah had no idea what was waiting for him. However, she knew that it wouldn't be pretty.

"I can do this. I have to do this. I owe it to you, to _us_." he explained to her. Sarah wanted to say something, but then she suddenly felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. Surprised, she looked over her shoulder and could see Zeratul.

"You came here to see what he has to endure every night. The path is already set." the Dark Prelate told her. She watched how Jim turned away and started to walk away from his comrades and right towards the front line. And how he walked away from her. It seemed as if he didn't notice Zeratul's presence either.

"I don't understand." Sarah just mumbled. The fact that it was but a broken memory of Zeratul who had to explain this to her seemed wrong. Both of them watched as Jim walked towards the enemy while his comrades turned away from him. She could see the look on their faces, they all despised him for his decision. But their anger didn't stop him.

"Every night he follows this path. Every night he faces his own demons, only to wake up screaming. No matter what I do, he will always be drawn back to this place. To you."

Drawn back to her? Oh, he was such a fool. But then again, was she any different? They were both idiots, trying to hold on to the one thing they couldn't have.

Well, you know what they say; misery loves company.

"He does this every night?" Sarah wanted to know, and Zeratul nodded.

"Yes. I have tried to lead his mind somewhere else. I searched for memories that he treasured; the birth of his son, how he met his wife, the day of his marriage." Sarah didn't miss that Zeratul was only mentioning things about Liddy and Johnny, and not her. "However, his mind is drawn to this place." Zeratul then shook his head. "It is uncanny; even though I have more insight into the human psyche than ever before, I still do not understand why humans cherish things that cause them so much pain." he couldn't help but to wonder. Sarah lowered her gaze when she heard those words.

"It's because they remind us of better days. It's called nostalgia." she explained to him.

"Nostalgia?" Zeratul asked her, but she just shook her head. Jim was already so far away that it was hard to make him out in the distance.

"What's going to happen next?" she wanted to know.

"What always happens." Zeratul said. "He finds you." That didn't sound good. However, Sarah had come too far to run away now, even if she truly wanted to do that. She shook her head and started to follow Jim.

"Kerrigan!" Zeratul barked behind her. "You will not find any redemption inside Friend Raynors' mind! What you are about to see will not bring you any satisfaction." Sarah looked over her shoulder but didn't slow down one bit.

"I'm not doing this for me, Zeratul. I'm doing this for him." she told him. Zeratul decided to remain behind and lowered his head.

"In that case, I wish you success, mighty Queen of Blades." If Zeratul tried to be funny, Sarah sure as hell didn't notice it. Besides, Protoss didn't possess any sense of humor, that was not just some prejudice, it was a fact. Terrans like to go to war with each other, Zerg liked to eat everything that wasn't Zerg, and Protoss didn't know how to laugh. However, it wasn't important, because right now Sarah wasn't in the mood to laugh either. She had to hurry. As she followed Jim, she was again remembered that this was just a dream. With every step, the landscape around her started to change and shift into something new. The battle around them wasn't really a battle, it was shreds of memories. They basically all showed the same thing; Terrans and Protoss getting killed by Zerg. It caused Sarah to shudder because even after all that time, it wasn't the Zerg who she despised the most.

And it would seem that she was pretty much the only non-Zerg in this universe who thought like that.

Sarah was too lost in thoughts to notice when the landscape shifted yet again. The flat plains started to crack and spiky rocks emerged from the ground. Jim vanished around one of those spikes, which soon became bigger than any skyscraper on Augustgrad.

"Jim!" she yelled when she realized that he was gone. This wasn't the reality, this was Jim's subconsciousness, so Sarah's influence was limited. She _could_ use her powers to tear his dreams apart, but she would only risk damaging his mind beyond repair like she had done with Karax.

Or pretty much everyone else she had ever dealt with.

So she did what normal people would do; she started to run. It was still a strange sensation since she couldn't actually feel her own body. She reached the place where Jim had vanished out of her sight and ran around the corner.

"Jim, wait!" she shouted when suddenly-

-she was in a different place altogether.

Sarah stood inside a tunnel, but it didn't just look like any tunnel. Its walls looked like they weren't made out of stone, concrete or steel. No, they looked like they were alive. In a way, it looked like she was inside a huge, well, colon. There was no doubt that this place was Zerg. It looked real enough, but the smell was all wrong. The stench of death was everywhere, it was as if the whole place reeked of decay. In reality, the insides of a Zerg-tunnel didn't have any particular smell to them. But aside from that, it was still a pretty accurate display of a Zerg-tunnel. Except for the dead people that had been attached to the walls and who had huge holes in their chests. Sarah stopped in front of one of them and took a closer look. The man had Matt's face, but so had roughly half of all the bodies that were hanging around. The wound on the man's chest, however, seemed to be unlike anything she had ever seen before. It almost looked like _something_ had come out of the chest.

Now some of her former minions had possessed the ability to place a parasite inside a living organism. They hadn't placed that thing in the chest of the hosts but in the soft tissue of the abdomen. This wound, however? It looked like something had _exploded_ from that man's chest.

Like some kind of, well, _chestburster_?

Sarah shook her head. Whatever it was, none of her minions had ever caused that kind of wound. She just turned away and continued to walk down the tunnel. Behind her, she could hear someone groan "Kill meeeee...", but she didn't care about that. If this was a nightmare, then she wasn't exactly scared. What she didn't realize was that it wasn't _her_ nightmare. The tunnel didn't really lead anywhere, she realized that after a while. Just when she was about to stop and look for another option, she could hear Jim's voice.

"SARAH!" his voice reached her from not far away. Sarah turned around and gasped.

"Jim? Jim, where are you?" She didn't receive any clear answer. Instead-

"Sarah! No! Let go of her! Sarah!" she could hear him screaming. Sarah looked around, but there was no one, no one except the dead bodies at the walls.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Jim roared from somewhere, and suddenly she heard the loud barking of a gun being fired. At the same time, she could feel his anger and distress. And so she let go of her reluctance and started to run. She tried to follow the sound of the gun and the screams, but it was a lot harder than you would imagine. When she reached a junction, she had to decide which way to go. In the end, she trusted her guts. The tunnels turned out to be a goddamn labyrinth. Every turn Sarah took felt like it was the wrong one. She could hear Jim's screams of rage and despair, and she could feel how she too started to lose her focus. There was a limit to how much Sarah could tolerate. And seeing Jim in pain was one of the few things (maybe the only thing) that still got to her.

Other voices started to echo through the tunnels.

"You'd sacrifice all of us just so you could get your girlfriend back?" That was Matt's voice. "We fought for ideals!"

"Maybe I made a deal with the devil, Jimmy. But you sold your soul to one." the rough voice of his dead buddy Tychus snarled.

"There is not a spark of honor inside that wretched creature, Friend Raynor!" Fenix declared. "Accept that, and then you can finally move on." The voices started to become louder, and Sarah knew that she was getting closer. She turned around yet another corner and could see a big room up ahead. She didn't care about being subtle, she had to see Jim, had to see the whole nature of his nightmare with her own eyes. And when she finally reached the room, she realized that this was in fact about to turn into her _own_ personal nightmare. But even then, there was a difference between knowing that you're about to see shit turning real, and the actual shit hitting you in the face.

And Sarah was about to receive a mouthful.

* * *

Jim had to hurry. He knew that he was running out of time. He was alone, yet he had to press onward. Coming here was a mistake, he knew that. But he didn't care about that.

"Jim! Help me!" her voice reached him from the beyond. His breaths were short and he was under the impression that his whole body was in pain, even though he couldn't really feel it. Still, what he could feel was the overpowering sense of despair and dread. It was the kind of feeling you only experienced when being stuck in a nightmare, the one that you couldn't escape from. Because no matter what you did, disaster would always find you until you woke up.

However, unlike Sarah (the real Sarah), he wasn't aware of the fact that this was the inside of his mind. And so he did the only thing he could do; move on and try to do the impossible.

Even though he was inside a Zerg hive, he didn't wear his CMC armor. It gave him a feeling of vulnerability. The only thing in his possession to fend those damn critters off was the revolver in his hand. Even then he had no time to be careful.

"JIM!" her screams haunted him. "HELP ME! IT HURTS!"

"Sarah!" he yelled and ran as fast as he could. He heard a horrible scream of pain, and then _they_ finally showed up. The shadows in the corner of his eyes started to move, and when he turned around, he could see how Hydralisks emerged from the walls. Another hiss could be heard, and two more Hydralisks suddenly blocked his path.

"Damn." he snarled. There were too many of these damn monsters around, his revolver wasn't enough to deal with them. As they slithered towards him, he could see their red glowing eyes and their drooling maws. There aren't many creatures that are so horrible like Hydralisks are, everything about them was simply vicious. They were the very epitome of ruthless and malicious, and Jim wasn't the only one who had to deal with them in his dreams. There were too many though. There were _always_ too many Hydralisks. The ones in his back moved towards him like a wall made out of teeth and claws. In front of him were only two, and it was the direction from where the screams came from. Sarah's screams.

He raised his gun and pointed it at the two monsters. He fired his revolver and stormed towards the Hydralisks in front of him. He didn't really know if his bullets did any damage at all, and he wasn't really wondering why he managed to slip past these critters too. It just happened. All he knew was that the Hydralisks now where all behind him and that he had to run for his dear life.

"Jim! Please, it hurts so much!" Sarah's voice screamed, and his heart was filled with even more despair. He had to reach her! And so, all he could do was to run through the tunnels while hell itself was right on his heels.

He was alone. The others had decided to leave him behind. But it had always been like this, hadn't it? They had never understood what he had seen in Sarah. And they had never even tried to understand him. Alone, and with more Hydralisks chasing him than he could even count, Jim was only able to move forward. The tunnels felt like they were endless, and Sarah's screams of pain and agony made his chest ache. More and more Hydralisks appeared behind him, their numbers were legion. However, the tunnels didn't just go on and on and on forever like they sometimes do in other dreams. Instead, he could literally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"JIM! HELP Meeeee..." Sarah's screams started to grow weaker. Jim had to hurry. He couldn't waste any more time, he had to find her!

Even though he could see the end of the tunnel right in front of him, it felt like ages until he finally reached the exit. And when he did, he saw the same horror he had seen so many times before.

"SARAH!" There she was, right in front of his eyes. The room around him looked almost like a stadium, but Jim didn't care about any of this. In the middle, he saw a huge organic pod. Its surface looked like it was made out of green glass. He had seen this thing before, in real life actually, back when he had traveled to Char for the first time. It was the same pod from which the Queen of Blades had emerged. It was open and empty, so there was still hope. That's when-

"JIM!" Sarah' screamed both in pain and shock. Jim looked down and could see her. Her body was broken and bruised, her face covered in blood, and it looked like her arms and legs were broken. An infested Terran dragged her over to the pod, and even though Jim knew that this would end not well, he still had to try to save her. Jim didn't hesitate one second. Instead, he jumped down into the pit and ran over to the two figures. The horribly deformed infested Terran turned around and looked over at Jim. Only half of its face was still recognizable. It was the face of Michael Liberty.

"Get your hands off her!" he roared and raised his gun. He fired and hit the creature in the face, but it didn't go down. Instead, it just turned away and continued to drag Sarah's body towards the pod. Jim started to panic and fired round after round at the creature. However, it was like his bullets weren't doing any damage at all. And that wasn't the only problem he had to deal with.

All around them, more infested Terrans appeared. They crawled out of holes in the ground and turned towards Jim. Like some kinds of Zombies, they started to move towards him. He looked for a way to bypass them, but there were simply too many. He fired and fired and fired his gun. They fell to the ground one after the other, some were moaning and hissing both in pain and relief. Death was mercy to those who had fallen victim to the Zerg's infestation. But even then, the creature that dragged the screaming and kicking Sarah towards the pod didn't seem to care about any of this.

When the creature reached the pod, Jim saw no other option but to push forward. And so, he ran. He didn't get far, though. He was tackled down by another horribly mutilated monstrosity, this time it had Stetmann's face.

"You...betraaaayyyed uzzzzz..." the infested Stetmann gurgled. More infested men threw their deformed bodies on Jim and pinned him to the ground. He tried to escape, but it was impossible. All he could do was to watch how the creature grabbed the screaming Sarah and pushed her into the pod.

"NO! Jim, help me!" she screamed and he managed to free his hand. He reached out, but the distance was far too great for him to touch her. All he could do was to watch in horror how the pod started to close itself. The last thing he saw of Sarah were her green eyes, pleading for help.

"Sarah!"

Behind him, another Sarah watched how Jim tried to save her. This Sarah just shook her head and whispered "Oh Jim, I'm so sorry." to herself while Zeratul was standing quietly behind her. No matter how hard Jim tried, he wasn't able to break free. The infested Terrans were content with pinning him down to the ground and didn't try to turn him into one of their own kind. In the end, all he could do was to watch in horror how the chrysalis closed itself and sealed Sarah inside. Sarah, the real Sarah, gasped when she finally recognized the shape and form of that object. She pressed her hands against her mouth and tried not to scream out in shock.

It was the chrysalis, the same chrysalis the Overmind had used in order to turn her into the Queen of Blades.

Why hadn't she noticed it earlier? Maybe because she only remembered how it had looked on the inside?

She watched how her dream-version looked over at Jim with pleading eyes.

 _Save_ _me._ That's what the look on her face meant.

Suddenly, the real Sarah shuddered when a jolt went through her and everything around her. She could see how Jim screamed and threw himself around like crazy. At the same time, the whole place around them started to shake.

"What's going on?!" Sarah yelled and looked over to Zeratul, who stood completely still and showed no sign of distress.

"He is fighting. Not just inside his mind, but his body too. He is thrashing around, groaning in both pain and distress." When she heard that, Sarah made a step backward. She could feel how her own resolve started to wither away.

"SARAH!" Jim screamed one more time, and the real Sarah could see how he pushed against the infested forms of those creatures. It was a dream, therefore he actually possessed the strength to do this. He managed to push himself off the ground and the creatures simply let go of him. The moment they did, they just vanished. However, Jim had no time to worry about them. He ran towards the chrysalis, and when he reached it, he started to hammer with his hands against it.

"Sarah! I'll get you out of there! Sarah!" But the dream-Sarah didn't answer. He could see her, however, since the chrysalis was almost transparent. You could see that there was a figure inside, a female figure, yet he couldn't make out any details. It looked as if the woman inside was floating in some kind of liquid. Jim was hammering his hands against the chrysalis, he tried to open it with brute force. His gun was gone, and he had already forgotten about it. The surface of the chrysalis was too hard, he couldn't open it with his bare hands. It didn't stop him from trying, though, and he kept beating against the warm and hard surface of the chrysalis. He didn't stop even after his hands started to bleed. He didn't feel any pain, but it was probably due to the adrenaline or something like that.

Inside the chrysalis, the lithe female figure started to groan and convulse in pain. She grabbed her own head and screamed. Jim could sense her pain and despair and watched in horror how the figure inside the chrysalis started to pull out her own hair. It was a grueling sight, mostly because you couldn't see many details, but you could hear the screams. The real Sarah remembered it a tad bit differently. The Zerg hadn't put her inside that chrysalis just after they had grabbed her. No, the Overmind had decided to leave her in the hands of Abathur, who had performed his bloody and cruel work. She remembered how he had cut through her skin and flesh, how he had broken her bones. The bloody mess hadn't looked like Sarah Kerrigan anymore. It hadn't even looked human anymore. Only then they had placed her inside that chrysalis. Inside it, the broken form of Sarah Kerrigan had started to mutate into the dreadful creature that had haunted the Korpulu Sector for so many years.

However, Jim didn't know anything about Abathur. And it was probably for the better anyway. Because no matter how horrible her transformation inside his dreams was, it wasn't nearly as nightmarish as the reality had been.

"Sarah, you have to fight it!" Jim screamed and continued to hammer against the chrysalis. Inside it, the female figure started to twitch and the green liquid turned dark when her blood was spilled. Shreds of skin floated through the chrysalis, and when her palm suddenly smashed against the inside of her prison, you could see the bare flesh that was already changing into hard carapace.

"You have to fight it! Sarah, don't give up!" Jim yelled, but it was pointless. The creature inside pulled her clawed hand back and started to writhe both in agony and delight at the same time. Flesh was torn apart when her back was broken. Long and sharp claws emerged from her backside when her infamous blade wings formed. For a moment, the real Sarah could see how the all too familiar shape of the dreadful Queen of the Zerg started to appear. Then the blood inside the chrysalis turned everything dark.

"NO! SARAH!" Jim roared in despair, but you know how nightmares work; there simply is no happy end available. For some time, it seemed as if nothing was about to happen. Then the chrysalis started to pulse and it emitted a purple light. That was actually something the real Sarah remembered; the moment of her rebirth into the Swarm.

"Oh no..." Jim whispered and made a step backward. The real Sarah wasn't able to watch this anymore. She made a step forward and reached out to him.

"Jim! Get back!" she yelled, but he wasn't even listening. Instead, he watched in horror how the surface of the chrysalis started to crack. For a short moment, hope started to return to him. Perhaps this time the dream wouldn't turn out to be a nightmare? Perhaps this time it would be Sarah who would emerge from the chrysalis? _His_ Sarah, and not the Queen of Blades.

When the blood-chilling chuckle started to fill Jim's mind and the dream, both he, the real Sarah, and Zeratul's memory knew that this had never been an option to begin with. The cracks became bigger, and the laughter louder. Jim made another step backward, but he was still too close when the whole thing burst open and torrents of dark liquid were spilled out. Jim didn't stand a chance and was swept away. When he came to a halt, he coughed and looked up. The chrysalis was wide open, and when he saw how a figure emerged from it, he started to shake his head in shock and disbelief.

"No! NO!" he screamed, and the cruel laugh of the woman in front of him sent shivers down Sarah's spine. It was strange to see herself like that. She hadn't been very fond of the things that had happened inside Ulnar. And seeing this thing inside Jim's mind wasn't much better.

"Why, hello Jim." the Queen of Blades cooed as she stepped out of her birth chamber. She stretched herself in an almost sensual way while the remnants of Sarah's skin fell off her carapace. She licked her lips and flexed her deadly blade wings. She opened her yellow glowing eyes and looked at the man who had risked everything to get her back. "So glad that you could come and see me. It wouldn't be the same without you." She then started to walk towards him while swaying her hips from one side to the other. It was like her every move was meant to mock him.

"No. Please God, no." Jim only managed to mutter in a hoarse voice. The real Sarah watched as the Queen of Blades was getting closer and closer. She felt the urge to intervene and strangle that thing to death. But this wasn't her fight, it was Jim's.

"Since you're now all here, how about we have a nice little talk. Just you and me _and me_." the Queen of Blades teased him. She stopped next to the broken form of an infested Terran and grabbed it by the hair. The red hair. As the Queen of Blades pulled the person's head off the ground, both Jim and the real Sarah could see, well, Sarah. Perhaps it all made sense inside Jim's mind, but seeing yourself two times wasn't exactly a pleasant thing to experience either.

"Jim...you promised...to save me..." the broken Sarah Kerrigan gurgled. Her skin was torn, her limbs broken and there was hardly anything left of the once beautiful woman. She had been reduced to nothing but a clump of twitching flesh. Jim tried to get back on his feet and do the godmother of all stupid things; attack the Queen of Blades with bare hands if necessary. Now, of course that was impossible. Even inside a dream, it was impossible. However, the Queen of Blades didn't have to do anything. No, she had her minions to deal with Jim. Or, to be more precise, she had herself to deal with Jim.

The other infested Terrans started to twitch again. As they got back on their feet, their horribly mutilated forms changed as well. Their bloated bodies shrank and turned into a nightmarish mockery of a female body. Suddenly there was not one Queen of Blades, but many. And they all walked over to Jim while laughing at him.

"Look at her." the first Queen of Blades cooed while kneeling down next to the wounded Sarah. "So weak. So pathetic. So _soft._ " She raised her hand and pressed one of her claw-like fingernails against Sarah's back.

"AHHHH!" Sarah yelled in pain when her twisted other self pressed her claws into her back and pulled it all the way down to her waist.

"NO! LET HER GO!" Jim roared and ran towards the two Sarah's, but then another Queen of Blades simply used her blade wings to sweep him off the ground. The moment Jim fell, the other Queen of Blades-clones moved towards him and stepped on his limbs. They raised their claws and thorns and rammed them into his arms and legs, pinning him to the ground. And even though it was just a dream and there was no actual pain, he still screamed in agony.

"That's enough!" the real Sarah then said and made a step forward. "I can't keep watching this!" However, Zeratul just put his hand on her shoulder and kept her back.

"No. Not yet. If you do it now, you will just wake him up." he explained to her. Sarah, unsure what to do next, decided to listen to Zeratul, even though every fiber of her body told her that this Zeratul didn't know anything about Jim, the _real_ Jim.

"How can you still love this pathetic creature?" the Queen of Blades cooed while digging her claws into the other Sarah's soft flesh. "Is it because the both of you are so pathetic? Give it up, Jim. It was never meant to be. This is what I am now. This is what I always wanted to be. Powerful. Now no one can hurt me anymore." The other Queen of Blades chuckled when they heard the words of their leader.

"Let...let her go!" Jim hissed, but it was pointless. Right before Sarah's eyes, she could see how the Queen of Blades started to rip her old self apart piece by piece. And all Jim could do was to watch in horror.

It was too much. She had to pull out and-

* * *

"GHAAAA!" Sarah yelled when her mind returned to her body. She screamed both in pain and distress and looked around in shock. Where was she? What was going on? The sudden change was simply too much. She was confused and searched for the Queen of Blades that was tormenting Jim, but there was no one around.

"No. No, that's not right. Jim!" she yelled and tried to stand up, but right now she was weak and vulnerable. Her control over her powers was practically non-existent and her mind started to lose focus. Her skin started to change. She looked at her own arms and could see how they looked Zerg again.

"No. Nononono!" she yelled and stumbled through the room. The panic was now unstoppable, and there was nothing she could do about it. Even though her body was neither human nor Zerg anymore, her mind was still both. And she had just reached another breaking point. She stumbled forward but didn't manage to keep her balance. Her form was changing from human to Zerg and back human again, and when she dropped to her knees, she grabbed her own head and started to sob.

Why had she come here? Behind her, Jim groaned and his eyelids started to flutter. It appeared as if he was about to wake up. Sarah looked over her shoulder when her red hair disappeared. It was replaced by her nerve cords, and suddenly she was the Queen of Blades once more. But not by her choice. Jim shook his head. He opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. He still didn't know what was going on, but Sarah realized that the first thing he would see was her, as the Queen of Blades. Her heart started to beat faster and she tried to gather enough focus to turn back into her human self. Or to vanish into thin air. But she was just not able to-

"No, Jim. Don't look!" she pleaded. Inside her mind, she prayed for someone to help her. He shouldn't see her like this, not now. This was all wrong! Jim's head turned around and he finally realized that there was someone else in the room. Or at least he thought so. He looked at the figure in the darkness and frowned.

"Sa...rah?" he mumbled, still half asleep. Her eyes widened in shock.

That's when Izsha decided to act.

She had never left the side of her Queen, not even for a second. She had kept her distance, yes. But now her Queen was in distress and Izsha had sworn herself to protect her Queen from this kind of pain. Swift actions were required, and when the snakelike figure emerged from the shadows, she slithered around her mistress and enveloped her with her own body.

Perhaps Izsha wasn't as powerful as Sarah, but she had learned a few new tricks, too. She reached out with her mind and searched for a place where no one would bother them. And she found it, not too far away. It wasn't her preferable choice, but she knew this place. And there was still someone else in service of her Majesty there. If she could, she would have taken Sarah to Char immediately. But Izsha wasn't powerful enough to do that. So all she managed was a small trip to that old battlecruiser where this whole disaster had started.

All Sarah could do was to press her face against the warm carapace of Izsha's chest as she started to cry.

"Jim, I'm so sorry."

* * *

"SARAH, NO!" Jim screamed when he finally woke up. He stared at the wall in front of him and felt how the cold sweat ran down his spine. A dream. Another goddamn nightmare. The same nightmare that he experienced every damn night. Only this time it was different. He usually never remembered any details. It was normal, wasn't it? There was this strange sensation most people knew; the moment after waking up you could still remember all details about the dream, but only minutes later everything was gone.

That's how he felt right now. Only that there was a small detail that seemed to be different from the usual nightmares. It was as if something had changed. He shook his head and felt the cold shudder of the nightmare's aftermath. The darkness that surrounded him felt like a threat. His eyes danced from one end of the room to the other and his heart was still beating like crazy. Even then a voice inside the back of his mind told him that there was something wrong, that something had changed.

If he could only...only...

"Mr. Raynor!" Suddenly the door to his room was busted open, and bright artificial light blinded him. He was still too confused and agitated to realize that the voice belonged to Agent Smith. His bodyguard stepped into the room and switched the lights on. Smith immediately looked around, as if he was looking for something. When Jim's eyes had adapted to the bright light, he could see how Smith had pulled his gun out and scanned the room for any threat.

"Sm-Smith? What's...what...?" he panted. His whole body was covered in sweat and the adrenaline was still coursing through his system.

"Sir, are you alright?" the man said before he limped over to Jim. "I thought I felt a presence inside the room and came to check. Are you okay?" he asked and looked down at Jim. But the older man just stared at the wall in front of him.

"Sarah..." he just whispered before he pressed his hands against his face. When the tears started to stream down his face, he wasn't ashamed of them. To hell with everyone else. Should they think whatever they wanted, he was done. There was just no strength left. Smith, unsure what to do next, put his gun away and knelt down next to Jim.

"Sir?" But Jim gave him no answer.

No matter what everyone else thought; Smith respected James Raynor. He had accepted the job to guard Jim immediately. However, his job was to guard only the body of that man. It was brutally clear that the body wasn't the problem. Okay, maybe it was a problem. But they got doctors for that. Still, as Smith looked at Jim, he realized that Jim's mind was just as much in a bad shape as his body.

Right now, it was impossible to say which one would stop working first.

Smith knew that he had to talk to the Admiral. James Raynor was barely able to keep on going. Someone had to do something. Smith wasn't that guy, he was aware of that. And the only one he could think of right now was Admiral Horner. As he watched how Jim continued to weep, he realized that he should leave him alone. Nothing Smith could say would help the other man. And he didn't want to destroy the pitiful amount of dignity Jim had left by treating him like a little child. So instead, he walked back out of the room and closed the door behind him. He took a deep breath and pulled his communicator out.

"Regional HQ Augustgrad South, this is Special Agent Smith, Nr. 27953. I need to talk to Admiral Horner immediately." The female voice on the other end of the line answered at once.

"Special Agent Smith, this is regional HQ Augustgrad South. The Admiral is currently off-world and wanted not to be disturbed unless there's an emergency." Smith took a deep breath before he decided to answer.

"Oh, I got an emergency for him. Tell the Admiral that James Raynor needs his help right now. He should hurry. And tell him that it's serious."


	48. Act II - Chapter 24

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 24**

 **You can't always get what You want...**

* * *

It took Matt a whole day to finally get to Jim's place. It wasn't because he had tried to avoid his old friend, but sometimes important messages only reach you five minutes after you should have responded to them. Or half a day, to be more precise. Oh, the Regional HQ South had sent word to him right away. The only problem was that he had actually dared to go to sleep for a few hours. He had desperately needed those four hours of sleep. Without them, he would probably have just collapsed in his office. Though four hours weren't exactly much, it was just enough to keep him going. Still, every cell of his body craved for at least ten hours of sleep, but that had to wait. He was in charge and he had to lead, he had to make important decisions. However, it was no wonder that so many people in high-ranking positions had so many health problems. He hadn't noticed it yet, but this whole nightmare had caused him a lot of gray hairs.

After he had woken up, his new _adjutant,_ Lieutenant Hernandez, had told him about Smith's message. He still didn't know what to make of that woman, but right now he could use all the help he could get. One of the benefits of being such a big shot was that he could call in for a dropship to get them from the ministry to Jim's place. That way they avoided all the crowded streets of Augustgrad, and the whole trip only took ten minutes instead of hours.

During their short trip, he looked over to Hernandez, who appeared rather pale.

"You don't look so good, Lieutenant." Matt said. Hernandez, who seemed like she was about to barf, shook her head.

"It's fine, Sir." she managed to mutter. "It's just that I don't like to fly in one of those things." That statement caused Matt to frown.

"Seriously? You used one of these things yourself to get up to the _Rebel Heart,_ and now you claim that you're airsick?"

"That was different! This flight is too smooth! If things turn up and down and from left to ride, it's fine. But right now it feels like we aren't even moving!" she complained.

"Yes, it's nice to have a pilot who actually knows what he's doing, right?" Matt said with a smile on his face. Hernandez was hardly in the mood to agree with him, she was too busy not to barf. Matt had checked his new adjutant's background before going to sleep. Everything seemed to be fine with her. Okay, maybe "fine" was the wrong word to describe the fact that she threw in more pills than anyone Matt had ever seen or heard of.

However, it was also the reason for Maria Hernandez's eccentric behavior, considering the fact that she was listed as a level eight operative. Only without the "operative"-part in it. Level eight meant a lot. They were extremely rare. Most Ghosts usually had a psi-level ranging from four to six. Smith was just a level three, but he made up for that with his physical prowess. The two most powerful Ghosts Matt knew about had been a level 11 and a level 10 respectively. And at least the level 11 had become even more powerful after the Zerg had turned her into their Queen.

So yes, Hernandez possessed a huge amount of potential. That didn't mean that she was a trained assassin, though. She lacked all the training Smith, Sarah or Nova had received. In order to control her powers, she had to suppress them. She seemed to be fine with the fact that she had to eat meds like they were Smarties. All they did was to block off her powers, but even then, it was impossible to do that completely. Most of these meds had been created for people who were level one or two, not a goddamn level eight!

"Don't worry, we're almost there." Matt tried to calm her down. The words were also directed at himself. Smith's message was still in the back of his mind; Jim needed his help, and now it was not the right time to find excuses. Smith wasn't the kind of guy to exaggerate, so Matt had prepared himself to face another nightmare. Well, at least he had managed to solve a few of the problems they were dealing with. But there was always something going on, wasn't it? No rest for the wicked.

When the dropship reached their destination, the loudspeakers started to crack, and the pilot's voice could be heard.

"Sir, we have visual contact and will land in a few seconds. Please fasten your seatbelts and remain in your seat until we have landed." the pilot said and Matt checked his seatbelt. He watched how Hernandez closed her eyes and started to pant like crazy.

"You can do this. You can do this. You can do this. Ask yourself; what would Supergirl do in this situation?" she mumbled to herself. Matt wondered if he should say something to cheer the young woman up, but then he could feel how the dropship started to descend.

"Touchdown in one-five. Brace yourself." the pilot announced, but it was not really that important because it was one of the smoothest landings Matt had ever experienced. He barely felt the touchdown, and when the pilot shut down the engines, he wanted to say something to Hernandez, something like; "See, that wasn't so bad." However, the Lieutenant just jumped up and ran over to the exit. She hammered her hand on a button right next to the ramp, and when it opened, she didn't even wait for it to be fully open. Instead, she jumped out of the craft and pressed her hands against her legs while leaning forward.

"Deep breaths. Deep breaths." she muttered to herself. Matt shook his head and opened his seat belt. When he stood up, the door to the cockpit opened and the pilot entered the cabin. He looked over to the Lieutenant, and even though he still wore his helmet, Matt could see the man's confusion.

"Don't worry." he told the pilot. "I think that's her way of telling you that it was a superb landing."

"That's a weird way of showing it, Admiral." the pilot replied before he looked back at his boss. "Do you want me to keep everything on stand-by?" But Matt had no real answer to that.

"I don't know." he just said. "I don't know how long this will take. Could be minutes, could be hours. If I know, my adjutant will tell you right away." The pilot then nodded.

"I understand. In that case, I will check the systems while you are gone. Please excuse me, Sir." The pilot then turned around and went back into the cockpit, where he started a diagnose on all systems. As for Matt? Well, he knew that he shouldn't waste any more time. He walked down the ramp, and when he stepped out of the dropship, he looked around.

The pilot had landed his ship near the main house. It was an impressive villa and a reason why Matt and Valerian had to deal with an ungodly excessive deficit. Arcturus Mengsk had owned at least one dozen villas like this one, and every single one of these mansions had always had cooks, servants, and bodyguards on stand-by any given time, even if he hadn't been around. Right now, this villa was the only one with people working inside. Matt was brutally aware of the fact that they had to use tax money in order to maintain that building and pay the kitchen crew and the cleaners. Though they had managed to bring down the number of people working out here. Instead of a staff that included 50+ people, right now only seven worked in this place, including Smith.

Speaking of Smith...

As Matt looked at the villa, he could see Jim's bodyguard right in front of the building. He still looked like hell, and Matt saw how he tried not to put any strain on his injured leg.

"Lieutenant, let's go." he just ordered, but Hernandez wasn't even listening. She was still too busy fighting the urge to barf.

"One second, I need to rearrange my insides!" she mumbled. Matt frowned but decided not to scold her. He had no idea what he had done in his previous lives to deserve these kinds of people working for him.

"Very well, fix your insides and then join me when you're done with that." he just declared and walked towards the villa. Between him and the building were roughly two hundred meters, and when he finally reached it, he offered his hand to Smith.

"Agent Smith." he said with a friendly tone in his voice. Even though their relationship was strictly professional, he felt a lot of sympathies towards this man. Smith was competent and you could rely on him. And those two things weren't exactly easy to find these days. So when Smith had left a message for him saying that Jim needed Matt's help, he knew that Jim's bodyguard wasn't exaggerating.

"How is he?" Matt came straight to the point.

"He is in the kitchen right now, drinking some coffee. He has calmed down, but he hasn't said a word since yesterday. He didn't want to talk about what had happened either. I figured that it would be the best for you to talk to him. You're his friend."

 _Sometimes I'm not so sure about that anymore._ Matt thought to himself. If he was a friend, then he was probably the shittiest friend of all times. He remembered their yelling contest from the day before, and couldn't help but feel bad because of it. It was true, he was still mad at Jim because his friend had told him that he was about to turn into the same kind of man that he despised so much. However, if Matt was brutally honest with himself, he had to admit that Jim got a point. The only thing the Admiral was looking for was a decent solution for this problem. Well, he hadn't found one so far.

"Right, friend." Matt muttered before he shook his head. "Take me to him, I want to talk to him." Smith nodded before he looked at the female figure in the distance.

"What about your entourage?" he wanted to know. Matt looked over his shoulder and sighed.

"That one?" he asked. "That's my new adjutant." he explained. Smith looked at him in shock.

"Is Captain Brent...?" he asked, but Matt just shook his head again.

"No. His condition hasn't changed. But the guys from the J1 decided that I can't walk around without an adjutant. Too bad they had to pick the biggest weirdo they could find."

"I don't think I understand." Smith replied, which caused Matt to chuckle.

"Heh, neither do I. Don't mind the Lieutenant, she's just...different." He didn't tell Smith that she was a fellow Ghost. It was probably not important anyway, those two might both be Ghosts, but they were as different as night and day. Besides, there are more than just three Ghosts working for the Dominion, the chance that these two knew each other was rather small.

"Please take me to him, Smith." Matt then ordered and Smith nodded.

"Follow me, Sir." The bodyguard turned around and walked over to the entrance door. It opened automatically when the camera identified both Smith and Matt. The door closed behind them, and Matt made a mental note that someone had to allow Hernandez to enter once she had managed to calm her insides. But that could wait. Instead, he decided to think about what he should say to Jim. However, that was a strictly theoretical question. In the end, he would probably have to think with his feet anyway.

The villa was huge, and when they left the entrance hall, they had to walk down a corridor that rivaled those inside the palace.

"The kitchen is just ahead, Sir." Smith informed him. When they reached the door, the bodyguard stopped and peeked around the corner. When he saw the sad man sitting at a table, he turned back to Matt and nodded.

"He is inside." he told the Admiral, who took a quick look himself. He could see Jim's profile and felt how his guts started to turn into a clump of ice. Matt took a deep breath and looked back at Smith.

"I got this. Could you do me a favor?" he then asked.

"Of course, Sir." Smith just replied.

"Could you look after Lieutenant Hernandez? She's still somewhat new to this whole job." He could see how Smith pulled his brows up when he heard that name.

"Of course, Sir." Smith replied and turned away. He knew someone with that name. Could it be...? But no, that was impossible. Besides, the Admiral had bigger things to worry about than answering questions about Smith's old acquaintances. As for Matt's old acquaintances...

He stepped into the kitchen and didn't say a word. There was no one else around, just Jim who looked at the cup of coffee in his hands. Matt took a good look and realized that his old friend looked horrible. He didn't just look exhausted or like he was in pain, he looked downright old. Jim was only 37 years old, however, the man in front of Matt looked almost double his actual age right now. They all had to face age at one point. But to see the great Commander James Raynor like this? Matt had to admit it, it hurt to see what Jim had become; a lonely and sad old man.

It was an end a man like Jim Raynor didn't deserve. He deserved better. Unfortunately, that was not for Matt to decide.

Jim's eyes were still reddened, and his skin was ghostly pale. When Matt went closer, he tried to not show his uneasiness.

"Jim..." he just said. "...I just wanted to say hi." It was probably the most stupid thing he could have said, but he had to start somewhere, right? It reminded him of their conversation inside the hospital the day before. Only this time he would not yell at Jim, he had promised himself that before coming here. Jim, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice Matt at all.

"Jim." Matt said again. "How are you?" This time there wasn't a "Whadda'ya think?" waiting for him. Jim just stared at the coffee and said nothing. Matt didn't possess any psionic abilities, but he could swear that something was different from the day before. It was as if the air around them was thicker somehow. He had problems to find the right words, but something felt wrong. He watched his old friend for a while, and neither one of them said a word. After a while, Matt grabbed a chair and sat down next to Jim. He folded his hands together and looked into the empty eyes of his closest friend. Instead of bullshitting around, he decided to be as honest as possible. Jim deserved that much.

"Smith called me here." he mumbled. "He said that you, uhm, are not doing so well. And that I should talk to you." He pulled his eyebrows up and gave Jim a sympathetic look. "Is there anything you want to talk about?" However, Jim had nothing he wanted to talk about. Or so it seemed. There was an awkward moment of silence and Matt sighed.

"Jim, I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. I said a lot of things that I didn't mean that way. And I didn't want to scream at you, you have to believe that." Under normal circumstances, most people would probably say that both parties were to blame. But right now, Jim was hardly able to talk about something like that.

"Listen, I know that you probably don't want to hear that right now, but...I'm worried. We all are." Matt continued. "Me, Valerian, Smith. We're worried that you are..." He couldn't finish that sentence. What should he say?

"Smith told me that you had a nightmare." Matt then mumbled. Most psychologists would probably tell him that talking casually about something traumatic was beyond stupid. But Matt didn't care, he wasn't a psychologist, and he knew that Jim was a lot tougher than most ordinary guys. Well, under normal circumstances.

Circumstances weren't normal, though.

"Maybe you want to talk about it?" Matt suggested. For a long time, Jim didn't say anything. All he did was to sit there and stare at his coffee. When he finally spoke, it was just one word. One name.

"Sa...a..." His voice was but a whisper, and Matt had a hard time to understand him.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Sarah." Jim repeated, and Matt felt how a cold shiver ran down his spine. Sarah? Had she visited him?

"You dreamed of...of Sarah?" Matt asked. Oh man, he really wished that he knew what Sarah had done to Jim. Or what her true intentions were. But it was pointless. He wouldn't get any answer from Sarah. He didn't even know where she currently was. He could see the pain and despair in Jim's eyes, and suddenly he felt like the godfather of all douchebags. He knew something that Jim didn't, he had the duty to inform the man in front of him that the woman he loved was still alive. If Matt wanted to continue to call himself Jim Raynor's friend, then he had to tell him the truth. It was a question of integrity.

Needlessly to say that Matt was scared as hell. The best outcome would be for Jim to yell at him because he hadn't told him about Sarah in the first place. Matt clenched his hands into fists and knew that he had to spill his beans. It would probably ruin their relationship for good, but Jim deserved to know the truth.

"Jim, listen, about Sarah...there's something you need to know. I-"

"She was there." Jim suddenly interrupted him, and Matt's face lost all its color. He knew? But how? Oh crap...

"Inside my dream. I saw her. I always do." Jim explained to him and Matt didn't really know what to say. What was he talking about? Jim closed his eyes and sighed.

"I have that dream, every damn night. It's always the same dream." he whispered.

"It's about Sarah?" Matt asked and Jim nodded.

"What...is that dream about?" the Admiral then wanted to know.

"It's about me. Me failing her. Again and again and again." He raised his hand and his finger circled through the air. "It's always the same. I see my family. You know, Liddy and Johnny. I bury my wife and I mourn them. And then...I lost Sarah."

"Why haven't you said anything about those dreams." Matt wanted to know. "You could have talked to us." Suddenly Jim started to chuckle, but it didn't sound as if he was amused.

"You're busy enough, Matt. You don't need to waste your time on an old fossil like me." When Matt heard that, he wanted to tell Jim that he was wrong. They were still friends, and he would always find a moment for his best friend, right?

Right, because he had totally done that in the past. Let's face it; in the past few months, Matt hadn't been the friend Jim deserved. However, now he was here, and he still wasn't willing to tell Jim anything about Sarah.

Oh damn, he was a horrible friend.

"Jim, I'm-" It appeared there was a new protocol in place; never allow the Admiral to finish a sentence."

"I didn't say anything not because of you, Matt. Or Valerian. Or anyone else. At least I could see my family again. And Sarah. Perhaps it's pathetic, but it's not like I have anything left." Jim explained. Matt didn't dare to say anything.

"But you know what the worst thing is?" Jim then asked.

"What...?" Matt said in a quiet voice.

"This time it was different. I know this sounds crazy, but I feel like Sarah's still around." Now Matt started to sweat like crazy. Oh damn. "It's like she's somewhere out there, you know? My mind tells me that it's impossible, but I can't stop thinking about it. What if she's still out there? What if she's still alive? She stayed behind to seal the Void, but what does that even mean?" Jim finally opened his eyes again and a single tear streamed down his cheek.

"And then...then there was this dream. It's always the same dream. Every damn detail is the same. Just not this time. It was like she was there too. Like she wasn't part of the dream, but actually with me. I could _feel_ her inside my mind." Oh, double damn. Jim shook his head and pressed his hand against his face in order to hide his tears from Matt. "And that is the worst thing, Matt; I just can't let go. I can't." He took a deep breath and shook his head. "After I lost Liddy and Johnny, I was dead on the inside. It might sound horrible, but at least I was able to say goodbye. Not to Johnny, but to Lydia. I am able to go to her grave and say that I'm sorry. And Johnny? It was harder, but I knew what happened to him. I couldn't keep my promise to bring him back to Liddy, but I know what happened to him. And even though he didn't deserve this, it was a normal death. Bad things happen, and I managed to accept that. But Sarah?" He lowered his hands and looked into Matt's eyes.

"During her last moments, who was at her side? Who, Matt? She was alone. We survived thanks to her." He shook his head and closed his eyes yet again. "You know...maybe she is still alive. Who knows, maybe she's still inside the Void. Maybe she needs help. Maybe she's in pain. And that's the most horrible thing; I just don't know."

Someone once said; What's crueler? To rip someone's heart out or to allow a wound to fester? Matt knew that he should tell Jim about Sarah, but at the same time, he was a damn coward because he was afraid of Jim's reaction.

"With Liddy and Johnny, it took me years to find closure. I managed to pull myself together because there were so many things I had to do. There were people depending on me. And it felt good to be needed." he managed to say.

"Jim. We still need you." Matt tried to explain to him, but Jim just shook his head.

"No, Matt. I'm a child of my time, and my time's up. And if I'm brutally honest, then I don't want to see what's behind the horizon. I'm tired." Matt didn't know what to respond. He had thought that Jim just needed a friend talking sense into him, but that wasn't true. Jim needed professional help. His bad mood had turned into an all-out depression. And even though both men had seen their fair share of crazy shit, Matt knew that something like a depression was serious business.

It didn't really help that Jim's girlfriend was still alive. And a goddamn space goddess.

Where the hell was Sarah anyway? Couldn't she do something about this?

Matt realized that talking to Jim wouldn't help, he had to act. But what should he do? He needed some fresh air. And so, he stood up and walked over to Jim before he put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Jim, don't worry, I won't let you down again." he promised to him, but Jim just shook his head.

"You never let me down, Matt. So stop talking out of your ass." the older man just muttered. Matt pulled his hand back and thought about saying anything else, but then he just shook his head.

"I just need to go to the bathroom." Matt then lied. "You stay here, yes?"

"Where else should I go, huh?" Jim mumbled and stared back at his cup of coffee. Matt just shook his head and turned away. He walked out of the kitchen and realized that there was no one around. Right, he had sent Smith away. He sighed again and followed the corridor back to the main entrance. When he opened the door and stepped outside, the cold and fresh air felt good on his skin. He then walked a few meters, stopped and closed his eyes.

"Damn...just damn..." he whispered to himself. That's when he heard a new voice in the distance.

"...can't believe it's you! How in the hell did you manage to end up here anyway?" Lieutenant Maria Hernandez yelled and Matt opened his eyes again. He could see his adjutant a couple of dozen meters away. And she wasn't alone. Smith was right in front of her and had put his hands on his back. While Smith appeared as calm as usual, Hernandez looked like she was about to barf...again.

"I was appointed to be Mr. Raynor's bodyguard." Smith just replied with a cool voice.

"The hell? You? Bodyguard? How the...wait, Raynor? Like in Raynor's Raiders?" Hernandez suddenly asked with a disbelieving look on her face. Matt walked up to them and frowned.

"That's the one." the Admiral replied. "Smith, Hernandez, I wasn't aware that you two know each other." It was Smith who answered first.

"Just briefly. I used to train young cadets during my time in the Ghost-academy. The Lieutenant here was one of the last graduates before the program was shut down."

"Train? TRAIN? You didn't train us, you tortured us!" she whimpered and shook her fists in anger. "You're worse than the Queen of Blades and white chocolate combined!" she declared.

"White chocolate?" Matt asked, but Smith suddenly looked over at him and shook his head like crazy, signaling him to not say a word. However, it was already too late. Hernandez's eyes widened in shock and she started to shiver.

"White chocolate, there's nothing more evil than white chocolate. It has caused so much death and destruction. The horror. The horror..." she then repeated over and over again. Matt went closer to Smith and whispered something in his ear.

"Is "white chocolate" a code word for something?" the Admiral wanted to know, but Smith just shook his head.

"No, Sir. She's actually talking about white chocolate. Still, I have to ask this; why is _she_ your adjutant?" Smith asked. Matt just dropped his shoulders when he heard that question.

"I don't know, Smith. I just don't know."

"White chocolate. Oh, the horror." Hernandez whispered to herself before she shook her head and looked back at Smith. "Oh yeah, don't think that I've forgotten about what you've done to us! I can still remember how my both my butt and my throat were sore after your training sessions!" she complained and Matt looked over to Smith.

"Smith? What is she talking about?" he demanded to know while all sorts of images appeared before his inner eye. Smith sighed and dropped his shoulders.

"It's not what you think, Sir. She's talking about the obstacle course. Most students didn't manage to climb the wall at the start of the course. If they did manage to climb it, they usually dropped down on the other side and fell on their rears. I told those who didn't manage to climb the wall to take a run-up and charge the wall while screaming. I thought it would help them to focus."

"Yeah, well, thanks to that I not only had a sore ass but a sore throat as well!" Hernandez complained and Smith shook his head again. However, Matt was just relieved that it was something so harmless.

"Well, good to know that you didn't abuse the students." Matt muttered. Now it was Hernandez's turn to frown.

"Huh? What do you mean? Why should theyoooooohhh..." she then stopped when she realized what Matt was talking about. She made a step backward and gave Matt a disgusted look.

"Oh, eeeewww. That's gross, Admiral. You've got a smutty mind!"

"What?! Wait, no, that's not what I... ugh, nevermind." Matt just groaned and pressed his hand against his eyes. "I don't have time for this. Smith!" he barked and looked over to Jim's bodyguard."

"Sir?" the bodyguard asked.

"I need to get back to Augustgrad. I talked to Jim, but I think that he needs professional help. I will return to the hospital and see if there's someone who can help me with that. In the meantime, I need you to keep Jim safe until then, yes? Right now, I'm not sure if we should leave him unsupervised. Make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid." Matt could see the mixed emotions behind Smith's sunglasses, but then the man just nodded.

"Yes, Sir. I understand, Sir." Smith said with a reluctant tone in his voice. Even though knew that this was the best course of action, he still didn't like the fact that he had to protect Jim from himself.

"Will you leave immediately?" Smith wanted to know and Matt nodded.

"Yes. Staying here would be pointless right now. Jim needs help, but I'm not the right person for that right now." He sighed and looked over to the dropship that was still waiting for them. "Lieutenant, I hope your stomach has calmed down. Because we're about to fly back."

"Aw, hell no." Hernandez just replied.

* * *

As Matt sat down and fastened his seatbelt, he took a deep breath and shook his head. The four hours of sleep were starting to wear off, and he could feel how the exhaustion returned to gnaw at him. Right now, he longed for a soft bed and the tender embrace of sleep. But then he remembered Jim and his reoccurring nightmares. Matt had experienced his fair share of nightmares, but nothing could compare to what Jim had just told him. The same nightmare every night, over and over again? It was a miracle that Jim was still sane.

"Curse you, Sarah. First, you save the day, and now you ruin everything." he whispered to himself.

"Who's Sarah?" the young woman in front of him suddenly asked and Matt's head jerked up.

"No one!" he barked before he realized that he was overreacting. "Sorry. I didn't want to sound rude. You don't have to know who that person is. You won't meet her anyway."

"Ooookay, if you say so." Hernandez mumbled and shook her head. When the dropship started to shake, both of them realized that they were about to take off. "Ugh, here we go again." the Lieutenant groaned and pressed her hands against her stomach. Matt was too lost in thoughts to notice anything around him. Not until he heard Hernandez's voice again.

"So..." she then started. "...that was Jim Raynor inside that villa, yes? Jim Raynor. _The_ Jim Raynor." she wanted to know.

"That's none of your business, Lieutenant." Matt just growled, but Maria Hernandez had a different perception of reality than most other people. Meaning that she didn't know when to stop.

"Might there be a chance that I can meet him one day?" she suddenly asked, and Matt frowned when he heard that.

"Why the hell would you want to do that?" he wanted to know. "You're not someone who hates the Commander, are you?" Matt growled. But Hernandez just looked at him with an expression of pure innocence on her face.

"What? Me? Hell no! But that guy's a celebrity, right? Seriously, if I could get an autograph from him, boah! That would be so awesome!" Okay, Matt knew that this Lieutenant was different than other lieutenants, but he had no idea what she was trying to tell him with that.

"Autograph? What are you even talking about?" he wanted to know. Hernandez blinked in surprise and tilted her head to the side.

"Why, I'm talking about my hobby! I'm an autograph hunter!" she declared with a proud tone in her voice. This time Matt managed to suppress the twitching of his eyelid, but only barely.

"Autograph...hunter?" he repeated her words. "Are you serious? Wait, no, nevermind. Don't answer that question, I don't want to know any details." he groaned.

"Oh, okay. Too bad though, because I got a really nice collection already. And the autograph of the legendary Jim Raynor? Wozza! My chikas would be so envious!" Matt wondered what kind of chikas she was talking about. He had never heard that young women were totally into autographs of old freedom fighters. Instead, he turned his head away.

"Don't worry, you're not missing much. The Commander isn't exactly the man he used to be." he explained. There was a lot of bitterness in his voice.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hernandez wondered and Matt sighed. Perhaps it was wrong to talk with her about this topic, but she was now his adjutant. And that meant that he had to learn to share his thoughts and plans with her.

"The Commander is going through some rough times. And I'm not certain if he will be able to make it through those times."

"He's sick or something?" Hernandez asked.

"You could say that. But it's not his body that concerns me, it's his mind. Ever since Sa...no, nevermind." he then just said and shook his head.

"Sarah. That was her name, right? Is she the woman he loves?" the Lieutenant then asked and Matt looked her into the eyes. Perhaps Hernandez was not just weird, maybe she did possess a keen intellect. And maybe he had misjudged her and-

"Oh, I bet it was totally romantic! Jim and Sarah, a match made in heaven!" she started to giggle. "What happened? What happened? Was there a happy end?"

Okay, maybe he hadn't misjudged her. Matt sighed and lowered his head.

"No. There was no happy end." he then replied.

"What happened?" Hernandez continued to pry. Matt had no reason to tell the Lieutenant anything, but it felt good that someone was actually listening to him. When had been the last time that someone had just heard him out? He leaned forward and put his arms on his knees.

"It was never meant to be. She and Jim were close, but it just didn't work out. It's better that they're not together anymore. For all of us." he explained. That's when Hernandez's expression turned sour.

"Bullshit!" she just hissed, and Matt's head jerked back up.

"Say what?"

"That's bullshit!" she barked again. "Let me guess; it was good for everyone else, just not for the two of them!"

"Lieutenant, you should watch what you're saying! You are out of line!" Matt growled and Maria's eyes widened in surprise.

"I... I'm sorry, Admiral." she suddenly stuttered. "I didn't mean to insult you, it just sounds so familiar." she told him. That caused Matt to frown. What was going on here?

"Familiar? What are you talking about?" he demanded to know. Hernandez turned her head away and lowered her gaze.

"I'm sorry. It just sounds like what happened to my grandparents, you know?" she explained with a faint voice.

"I seriously doubt that you can compare those two things with each other." Matt mumbled and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Dunno. Sounds pretty much the same to me." she insisted and Matt sighed.

"What happened to your grandparents?" He knew that he hadn't any right to ask the Lieutenant about her personal life. But maybe it would help to make the time move faster. Suddenly Hernandez sniffed.

"Grandpa was always a good man. Strong, courageous, and humble. And Grandma was just the same. But when they diagnosed him with dementia, everything changed." She shook her head. "At first they managed to stay together. But the more he started to lose his grip on reality, the harder it got. Grandma was fighting, but no one wanted to believe her that she could do it. Even my parents didn't want to help her." She took a deep breath and Matt could see that she had to fight back those tears.

"In the end, they came and took Grandpa away. They put him into a nursing home, treated him like some kind of vegetable." When she said that, Matt felt how a cold shiver ran down his spine. To put someone away and treat them like a living vegetable? That sounded exactly what he had done to Jim, didn't it?

"What happened then?" he suddenly wanted to know. Hernandez shrugged her shoulders.

"My grandparents just wanted to spend their remaining time together. Grandma wanted to be with Grandpa and even said that she would move to the same nursing home. But they didn't allow it, said that the nursing home was just for people like Grandpa. You know, the kind of people who forget everything." Hernandez had to swallow hard. "So in the end, they weren't allowed to be together. Because people said that it was for the best. But you know what? It wasn't. It was the best for everyone else, including my parents. That way they didn't have to look after them. But Grandma and Grandpa? For them, it wasn't great." She sniffed again and shook her head. "So after everything was said and done, Grandpa was sitting inside his nursing home and was crying alone because he didn't know why his wife wasn't with him. And Grandma was sitting inside their old house and was crying alone because she wasn't allowed to be with him. Yeah, totally worked out for them. Only that it didn't. It was just _convenient_ for everyone else." She looked over at Matt and swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry." she just whispered. "I shouldn't have said anything."

However, Matt thought differently.

"Best for everyone, except for them, huh?" he mumbled to himself. And suddenly something changed. He stared at the wall behind Hernandez's head when everything inside his brain finally started to come together. After a while, he gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists.

He finally knew what he had to do.

* * *

As Matt stepped out of the dropship, he looked around and frowned. The pilot had brought them back to the ministry in Augusgrad, and Matt was thinking about his next move. Actually, he knew what he had to do, he just tried to come up with a solution to _how_ he should do it. Strangely enough, he felt good. The moment he stepped out of the dropship, it was as if a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders. After months of months of not knowing what to do, he had finally an idea.

That didn't mean that it had to be a decent idea, but it was an idea nevertheless.

Only time would tell if it was actually a _good_ idea.

He felt the cold air on his skin and shivered. Inside his mind, he tried to figure out what to do next. Just behind him, Hernandez stepped out of the dropship and immediately started to walk away from it. She leaned forward and took some deep breaths.

"Never gonna get used to that..." she mumbled to herself. After a while, Matt started to feel the cold. He shivered again and put his hands into his pockets. That's when he felt something inside his pocket, something he had totally forgotten about. He pulled the small object out and took a good look at it.

It was Kate Lockwell's data chip. The one that contained all the records her camera drone had made during the Christmas party.

You know that moment? The moment when you finally realize what's going on? When all the small pieces finally come together and you can see the bigger picture? That's how Matt felt right now. It wasn't just about Jim. As he stared at the chip, he could hear Jim's words in the back of his mind.

 _You don't trust people anymore._

"What's that?" Hernandez asked and pointed her finger at the chip in Matt's hand. He closed it and shook his head, not to deny her an answer, but in order to clear his head.

"It's...a chance. To gain someone's trust."

"Oh God, you couldn't be any more cryptic, could you?" Hernandez groaned when she heard that and a faint smile appeared on Matt's face.

"I guess so." he mumbled before he closed his eyes and planned his next steps. First, he had to establish contact. But how? He searched his mind for a solution, and then he found one. Good thing that the dropship was still ready to take him somewhere else.

"I need to go somewhere else Lieutenant." he said and turned back towards the dropship. Hernandez whined behind him.

"No, not again! My poor little stomach can't take another trip!" she told him. Matt stopped and looked at his closed hand with the chip inside.

"Actually..." he then started. "...there's something else you could do for me. And you can take a car if you want to."

"I don't have a license." Hernandez just replied and Matt sighed. He turned towards her and opened his other hand.

"Your communicator, give it to me." he ordered. Hernandez made a step backward and gave him a suspicious look.

"Whyyyyyy? I swear, I didn't take any photos of anything!" she told him, but he just shook his head.

"Just give me your communicator, Lieutenant. That's an order." She did so, but you could see that she wasn't too happy about it. He actually had to rip it out of her hand, and when he took a closer look at the communicator, he could see that it was pink. And there was a cute comic version of a Zergling on the display. Matt didn't even know why someone wanted to create a cute version of a Zergling anyway.

"Did you do that?" he asked and pointed at the communicator.

"Noooo? Yeeees? Maybeeeee? Can I have it back?" Hernandez just whined. Matt sighed again and started to tip something into the communicator.

"I'm giving you an address. I want you to go there and talk to the person who lives there. Tell her that I have to speak to her, in person and in private."

"Uuuuuh...a mysterious stranger? That's like in those secret agent movies! Uhhh, who is it? _Who is it?!_ " the Lieutenant demanded to know. Matt hesitated for a second and looked at her. Perhaps thiswas a bad idea after all. The Lieutenant didn't seem to be the most _stable_ kind of person. But then he shook his head. It was just a normal errant run, she should be able to pull that one off.

"Actually, no. She's not a secret agent. I want you to go to her place and tell her that Admiral Horner wants to talk to her. And I want you to give this to her." He then handed the communicator back to Hernandez and opened his other hand.

"What is that? A chip?" Hernandez asked.

"She knows what it is. And if she asks why she should come and see me, because that's what she's going to do, tell her that I have the one thing that she craves more than anything else." Matt had no dirty things in mind when he said that, but when he saw how Hernandez blushed and made a step backward, he realized that she thought about something very different.

"I knew it!" she whispered. "Admiral, you _do_ have a smutty mind!" He groaned when he heard that.

"Not _that_ , Lieutenant! Tell her that I got what she wants; I got answers."

"Oooooooh." Hernandez then said and pulled her shoulders up. "Oh yeah, that makes sense. I guess. So, who is that strange woman? Someone I should know?" Matt had already opened his mouth when he suddenly stopped. Kate would probably hate him for that, but he just shook his head.

"You'll see soon enough. Now be on your way, Lieutenant. We're on a tight schedule here. Tell her that I want to talk to her tomorrow. In my office." Then he turned away and walked over to the dropship.

"And where are you going, Sir?" Hernandez yelled after him. He stopped halfway on the ramp and looked over his shoulder.

"I'll try to make a call. And hope that there's someone on the other side willing to listen." Of course, Hernandez had no idea what he was talking about, but that was something she didn't need to know. When he was back in the dropship, he walked up to the cockpit and pressed the button on the intercom.

"Pilot, I need you to take me to another place." he said and the pilot answered immediately.

"Right away, Sir. Where do you want to go?" Matt took a deep breath and realized that he had reached the point of no return. From now on, the only way he could move was forward. But even then he knew that it was the only option left for him. And for Jim. For everyone.

Even for Sarah.

"Take me to the Sky Shield installation."

* * *

The orbital defense system of Korhal, better known as Sky Shield, was the most important part of the global defense system. It was extremely powerful and should be able to withstand most conventional attacks with ease. However, many people had started to question the use of such a monstrosity, especially after the Zerg had pretty much wrecked the original platform during the attack of the Swarm two years ago. And the fact that the infamous Moebius-unit had almost succeeded in using Sky Shield against the very city it had been built to protect hadn't helped much either.

Even then Sky Shield was an important part of Korhal's defense systems. Since Matt's budget was not very big (at least when compared to what Arcturus Mengsk had spent on the military), the Admiral had decided to cut spending as much as possible. Sky Shield hadn't been affected by those budget cuts, however. It had been updated and equipped with new technology that had been put into service after the end of the Great War. A lot of lessons learned from the conflicts against the Zerg, Mobius, and even the Protoss had been implemented into the defense system.

One lesson they had learned was that a psi-disruptor wasn't enough to stop the Zerg anymore. When Sarah had attacked Korhal, Arcturus Mengsk had trusted his psi-disruptors to do the trick. Unfortunately, the Swarm had adapted. Matt didn't know anything about the Primal Zerg and the fact that they didn't possess the same psionic link like the members of the Swarm did. However, he had seen the footage of those Zergs who had moved through the _supposedly_ Zerg-free area created by the psi-disruptors.

Yet, even then psi-disruptors were still one of the few things that had an impact on the Zerg. And so, the scientist working for the military had worked day and night to create the next generation of psi-disruptors.

Matt hadn't called that project into life, he had merely adopted it from old man Mengsk. The old Emperor hadn't known anything about the true nature of the Xel'Naga artifact in his possession, he had only seen its potential use against his foes.

After Matt had taken office, it had been one of his first decisions to use the data they had gathered from studying the Xel'Naga keystone in order to create something new. It was his very own black project, and he had hoped that he would never actually have to use it.

Though he had never imagined that he would use it for that _specific_ purpose.

When the dropship landed on the station, its commanding officer was already waiting for him, including a full detachment of marines. Matt had no doubts that the crew thought that this was an unannounced inspection. However, he hadn't come here for that. He had come here just for one reason.

"I need to see the prototype of the new psi-disruptor." he just told the officer, who frowned.

"Sir? The prototype hasn't been integrated into the system yet, it's still in the early test stage." he explained to the Admiral. But Matt just shook his head.

"I know what I said, Commander. I need to check something. Please take me to the prototype." The officer recognized an order when he heard one and led Matt through the station himself. The people seemed to be surprised to see him in person. Like said; everyone who saw the Admiral expected an unannounced inspection. Much to Matt's own relief, everything seemed to be perfectly fine.

"Is the prototype active?" Matt wanted to know and the officer looked over his shoulder as they walked through the corridors of the station.

"Yes, Sir. But it is still undergoing the standard test protocol. We haven't fired it until now. Sir, may I-" the officer wanted to know.

"No, you may not, Commander." Matt cut him short. "I am sorry if this sounds rude, but this isn't something that is of any concern to you. Speaking of which; I expect that you will keep quiet about my little visit here. Is that understood?" Perhaps Brent or Hernandez would have said anything funny or stupid. But this officer was too much of a professional to complain about that.

"Understood, Sir." he just replied.

Not many people knew about this project. In fact, not even Valerian knew that it existed. And if Matt had anything to say on this matter, it would stay like that.

The prototype was not just laying around somewhere, it was deep in the bowels of the station. It was locked behind thick doors and plenty of security systems. When they reached the security zone, the number of marines and guards dropped drastically. Instead, more and more automated systems and both scientists and engineers appeared. They all seemed to be utterly confused by Matt's presence, but he had no time for that. He consequently ignored all the people around him, and when they finally reached the last door, he looked over at the Commander.

"Thank you, Commander. That would be all." he said. The Commander seemed to be both confused and unsure of what he should do next. He was in charge of the station and everything and everyone on it. That included the project.

"But Sir, shouldn't I be-"

"That would be all, Commander!" Matt interrupted the man and he had to admit; It felt good to be the one not getting interrupted. The Commander saluted and stepped backward. It was brutally obvious that he didn't like any of this, however, he knew better than to question his superior officer. Matt would send him a bottle of wine or something like that. When the Commander was gone, Matt turned towards the heavy security door and pressed his hand against the scanner next to it.

"Fingerprints and genetic data confirmed. Welcome, Admiral Horner." a computer voice then said and the door opened with a loud hissing sound. Matt waited for the door to be fully open before he stepped inside.

"Close the door!" he ordered. "Seal it behind me."

"Yes, Admiral." the computer replied, and Matt felt how the door was closed behind him. A loud clicking could be heard when the door was sealed. Now he was locked in. But that wasn't everything.

"Deactivate the security and surveillance systems, including the internal scanners." Matt told the computer.

"Warning, deactivating the security and surveillance systems demands type one security clearance or higher." One had to wonder what's higher than a _type one security clearance_. Luckily, Matt was higher than that.

"Just do it. Security code 289-44-6 Alpha." The moment he spoke those words, the cameras and the security systems went offline. Good, it would make things easier that way. He hadn't come here to leave any traces. What he was about to do was crazy enough.

"Security systems deactivated. Please mind the gap." the computer then said and Matt wondered if that was supposed to be a joke. He walked up to the big object in the center of the room and took a good look at it.

It was still inside its container. That container was specifically designed to shield the device both from scanners and anyone with psionics. The fact that Sarah hadn't found and destroyed it was the proof that the system was working. Hmm, maybe this stealth-technology had more potential than the device inside the container? Well, he would find out soon enough. Matt walked up to the container and tipped something into the keyboard attached to it. The system asked him if he truly wanted to proceed and he just pressed the yes button. He made a step backward and watched how the container opened itself.

"Well, Sarah, let's see if you're still around." he said to himself as he looked at the next generation psi-disruptor, which looked exactly like the Xel'Naga keystone.

* * *

"Whoa, whoever lives here has some serious cash." Lieutenant Hernandez said to herself when she finally stood in front of the apartment's door. It was the right address, there was no doubt about it. Well, maybe the Admiral had made a mistake. He wasn't the youngest anymore, maybe he was starting to forget things. She looked at the doorbell, however, there was no name next to it. She had no idea who lived here.

"Meh, it will probably be a nobody." she mumbled. Because let's be honest; who's interested in such a boring guy like the Admiral? She rang the doorbell and waited for someone to open the door. But nothing happened.

"Aw, come on!" she then groaned and pressed the doorbell again and again and again. It was a sure-fire method to get someone to open a door. Or to drive them insane.

"Who is there?" a female voice suddenly reached Hernandez's ears. The Lieutenant frowned because that voice sounded familiar. Could it be...?

"Uhm, Lieutenant Maria Hernandez here!" she then said with a happy tone in her voice. "Uhm...I was sent here to relay a message from my boss."

"Yeah? And who would that be?" the woman asked. She sounded exhausted.

"Admiral Matt Horner. I'm his adjutant." There was a long moment of silence. When the woman talked again, you could hear the suspicion in her voice.

"Admiral Horner's adjutant's name is Captain Brent, not Hernandez. So who are you? And just so you know; I had a really shitty day, so if your answer is stupid, I will call the police!"

"Uhm...I'm the new adjutant?" Hernandez replied. "Listen, I'm just here to relay a message; the Admiral wants to talk to you. In private."

"Why? What does he want from me?" the woman then demanded to know, but Maria just shrugged her shoulders.

"Beats me! That guy doesn't tell me anything. But he wants to tell _you_ something. I was just supposed to tell you that he has _answers_ for you. Whatever that's supposed to mean." the Lieutenant explained.

"Touching. But I don't believe it. You better leave now and-"

"Oh, and he told me to give you this!" she pulled the chip out of her pocket and looked around. There was a camera right above the door and Maria held the chip against the lens. "Is that yours?"

"Mother of...!" she could hear the woman on the other side, and seconds later the door was ripped open from the inside. The woman that appeared in front of Maria yanked the chip out of the Lieutenant's hand and looked at it.

"That son of a bitch!" she hissed. Even though the woman looked like she had just slept in a barnyard, Hernandez still recognized her.

"Oh my gosh! You're Kate Lockwell! I'm, like, your biggest fan ever! Can I have an autograph? My chikas will never believe that!"


	49. Act II - Chapter 25

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 25**

 **...but if you try sometimes you might find you get what you need**

* * *

It was not like Sarah had planned for any of this. It had just...happened. She had come here to end both her and Jim's struggle once and for all. However, she had come to the realization that she couldn't do that. She lacked both the strength and determination necessary to get the job done. The only thing she had managed to achieve since coming to Augustgrad, was to cause even more chaos. Sarah lay on Jim's old bed on board of the Hyperion and stared at her own hand. It looked human again. She focused her mind on her appendage and watched how it changed. The skin turned into carapace and her nails into claws. She studied her hand and wondered if everything would have turned out differently if she hadn't accepted Ouros "gift". They could have tried to fight Amon with nothing but their own strength. And then? Back then she had already decided to hand the Swarm over to Zagara, even before the final battle. Maybe she could have used the Xel'Naga keystone one more time, to become human once more. Maybe she would have returned to Jim? And maybe he would have accepted her apology?

Of course, that was a strictly theoretical question because neither the Terrans nor the Protoss would have accepted the fact that Sarah "was now done". They would have either killed her, imprisoned her, or put her up for a trial. And then probably have her executed. The options of having a normal life after the end of the war had been somewhat limited to Sarah.

Or maybe she could have stayed Zerg and convinced Jim that the life as a member of the Swarm wasn't so bad. At least dying of old age would have no longer been an issue, and that's something, right? She could have taken him to Zerus, show him the place where she had become the Queen of Blades once more. He was the only man, the only person she would have shared her powers with. And that said something.

"Oh yes, he would have _loved_ it." she whispered to herself, knowing that he would have never agreed to it. Whatever she felt for the Zerg, she knew that Jim didn't share her sentiments.

"My Queen? Are you feeling better?" Izsha suddenly asked and Sarah rolled her head to the side. Next to Jim's bed, Izsha looked down at Sarah and made sure that no harm would come to her. Good old reliable Izsha, she would never leave Sarah's side, right? Sarah sighed and watched how her hand turned human again before she shook her head in order to clear her thoughts. The Hyperion had been a good choice. Izsha lacked the strength to travel as far as Char, but the Hyperion was a reasonable place to calm down. And now that Sarah was on board, she could only sense two other individuals on the ship aside from herself and Izsha. There was that grumpy engineer that had worked for Jim, Rory Swann. And then there was Karax.

"Damn...!" Sarah whispered to herself. She had totally forgotten about Karax. Again. She had to tell Izsha to remind her of the Protoss more often. Some almighty space goddess she was...

"My Queen?" Izsha asked again and Sarah sighed.

"Yes. Yes, I'm fine." That was a lie, but if Izsha noticed it, she sure as hell didn't show it. Sarah looked around and could see countless small golden pebbles on the dusty sheets of Jim's old bed. She didn't remember how long she had cried. She didn't even remember when she had finally fallen asleep. Yes, she still had to sleep. And the last few days had taken their toll on her conviction. Sarah had experienced worse; however, things had been different back then. Everything that had happened to her in the past had never been her choice. People and creatures had made all the important decisions for her. Now there was no one to tell her what to do. And it was a shitty feeling.

What to do next? Where to go next? There was no one who could give her a satisfying answer. Right now, she was nothing more like a drifter. Pathetic, really. But she was a lost soul now, without a home and without a purpose. Izsha, on the other hand, was different. She had a purpose; to protect her Queen from all different sorts of harm. Sometimes more successful, sometimes less successful. But always eager to do her best.

Sooner or later Izsha would realize that her mighty and beloved Queen wasn't around anymore, that she had turned into a weak-willed... _thing_. Would she decide to return to the Swarm then? She was no longer Zerg, and Zagara had made it clear that she had no more use for Izsha. However, Sarah had changed her, made her even more powerful. With her newly acquired abilities, she could probably take out Zagara in an instant. Would that be Sarah's legacy? To slay a god and create a creature that could become another one?

"My Queen, I know that I don't have any right to criticize you..." Izsha then said. "...but coming to this world seemed to be a mistake." Sarah closed her eyes and didn't dare to say anything for quite a while. Izsha was right, though; Sarah had come here without a real plan, and as a result, she had achieved nothing. On the contrary, now everything was a mess. She was like a bull in a china shop, no matter where she went, it all ended in tragedy. It seemed as if Artanis had been right about her. Well, maybe she should return to her old ways, you know, galactic conquest and all that. She could give herself a handicap, fight only with a fraction of her powers. It would be a great solution for everyone! The Terrans loved it when they had a common enemy, and the Protoss surely wouldn't mind either. And the Zerg would love to claw and bite their way through the galaxy. A win-win-win-situation, if you want.

Only that Sarah didn't really want to do that anymore. She sighed and pressed her hands against her face. The urge to fight, it was gone.

Well, at least she had run out of tears.

"You're right, Izsha. This was one big mistake." She opened her eyes again and stared at the ceiling. "Wasn't that much of a great plan to begin with, huh?" she muttered to herself. After a while, she rolled her eyes to the side and looked up to Izsha.

"What would you like to do, Izsha?" Sarah asked. Izsha lowered her gaze and pressed her hand against her carapace-covered chest.

"My Queen, it is not my place to tell you what to do." she replied with a diminutive tone in her voice.

"But you want to return to the Swarm, right? It's what you told me before. You miss the Zerg, don't you?" Sarah said. However, much to her own surprise, Izsha didn't confirm that right away. After a while, Sarah looked at her and frowned.

"Izsha?" She could see the mixed emotions on her trusted advisor's face. "Izsha, what's the matter?"

"I am unsure how to reply to your question, my Queen." Izsha explained.

"Then try it, please. Just tell me what's on your mind." If anything, it would help Sarah to think about something else.

"I am not certain I am able to do that, my Queen. I am unsure how to describe what I am feeling." Izsha told her.

"Welcome to the club, Izsha." Sarah told her. "Just try. Maybe it'll help if you talk about it. Besides, I would just like to listen to someone's else voice right now." Izsha then took a deep breath and looked away.

"When you left us, my Queen, I felt useless. Zagara is a competent leader, and I understand why you picked her as your successor. However, she never shared her thoughts or plans or visions with me. I could only watch from afar. My services were not needed anymore. It was confusing. And frustrating. I was created to serve the Swarm, but suddenly the only thing I could do was to watch." She now pressed both of her hands against her chest. "Being Zerg was everything I ever wanted to be. And even if my existence would have come to an end, I wasn't scared. Because I knew that the Swarm would continue to exist. However, when you departed, things changed. The Swarm changed. And it was right because change is the way of the Swarm. But I..." She stopped and Sarah closed her eyes when she realized what Izsha was talking about.

"...you didn't change." she concluded, and Izsha nodded.

"It was strange because I didn't want to change. I wanted to remain who I was. I wanted that everything would stay the way it was." She looked at Sarah and frowned again. "I wanted you to return to us and become our Queen once more." When Sarah heard that, she opened her eyes and looked at Izsha.

"I'm sorry, Izsha." she whispered. "I gave you a promise that I wouldn't leave. But I broke that promise, didn't I?" Much to Sarah's surprise, Izsha shook her head.

"No, you didn't. You fought to save us from the Dark God. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for us. And you kept your promise in the end; you did return to us."

"Yeah, but I didn't take over the Swarm again." Sarah muttered and Izsha nodded.

"Yes. At first, I was confused, but I think I understand now. You have moved on, and so have the Zerg. This is now a new part of your life, and you allowed me to be part of it. And that makes me happy." Izsha explained. Now Sarah had to chuckle, though it sounded bitter.

"Maybe you should raise your standards, Izsha." Sarah suggested. "I took you with me for my own selfish reasons. Truth to be told, I didn't even know what I did back then. All I knew was that I gave you a promise. And that I could use your help. That's not exactly how you treat your friends."

"You are my Queen. I do not have the right to question your motivations. The only thing that matters to me is that you kept your promise. You returned, just as you said you would. You kept your word."

"For all the wrong reasons, Izsha."

"You kept your promise." her advisor just repeated her statement.

"I don't think you understand..." Sarah whispered. "...I didn't do it for you. I only did it for myself."

"As any good Queen should. And you kept your promise." She repeated those words as if there was a higher meaning to them. If there was, Sarah couldn't see it. Maybe she should just probe Izsha's mind and find out what her advisor was talking about.

"Why would you say such a thing?" Sarah instead asked and looked into Izsha's yellow eyes.

"It's difficult to find the right words to describe what I feel." her advisor replied.

"Try it. Please." At the very least, it would help her to better understand Izsha. The large snake-lady gathered her thoughts for a while and then she nodded.

"When I came into this world, I knew what I was. I was Zerg. I knew my place and was content with doing what I was supposed to do. I saw the outside world through the countless eyes of the Swarm's overlords and thought that there was no greater way of experiencing the universe; as part of a larger organism." Izsha then stopped and turned her head away. "However, things then changed. You left, and the Swarm fell into disarray. It was no longer a single organism, but every broodmother was fighting for her own selfish reasons. Zagara was just like all the others, although she was the most vicious and dominant one. And then you changed her. You taught her vision, something even the Overmind hadn't been able to. You were the influx that turned the Zerg into something new. You sparked a new form of evolution. And that was when I realized that it wasn't the Swarm that made me happy." She looked back at Sarah, who didn't know what to reply.

"It was your presence that made me happy." When Sarah heard that, she didn't dare to stop Izsha. "You shared your plans and visions with me. I always took that for granted, but when you were taken away by Terrans, it was as if the Swarm had lost its purpose, its color, and its light. And when you decided to leave us after the Battle of Korhal, the Swarm changed once again. Do not misunderstand me; Zagara is a competent leader, and it was a wise choice to appoint her as your successor. However, she is not you." Sarah couldn't help but blush when she heard that. It was actually the nicest thing anyone had said to her since, well, a really long time.

"I don't know, Izsha. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't have turned you into a Zerg. The Terran you used to be was probably-" she mumbled. That's when Izsha suddenly raised herself above Sarah while her long snake-like tail trashed the room.

"No!" Izsha hissed. Sarah's eyes widened in surprise (and a bit of shook). She couldn't remember when Izsha had ever lost her temper. Even during their little adventure on Aiur, she had never lost her calm demeanor. But now it appeared as if Izsha was not willing to accept that.

"Izsha?" Sarah wondered, but her advisor just shook her head.

"I do not care for the human that was used to create me. I do not possess any memories of her, and I do not wish to know who she was. I am Izsha, servant of her one true Majesty, Sarah Kerrigan. It is the only thing I want." Izsha declared with a proud tone in her voice. Sarah sighed when she heard that.

"The life I have given to you is just a pale comparison to what you could have been without me, Izsha." she then said. "Perhaps you would be better off if you would rejoin the Swarm once more. I doubt that they will decommission you anymore, now that you have changed." Izsha shook her head again when she heard that.

"I could never return to the Swarm, not anymore. Not after you have shown me this universe, and all of its miracles." Miracles? Had Sarah missed something?

"What do you mean? Our trip has been nothing but one huge kick to the face." Sarah growled and stared at the ceiling. Izsha tilted her head to the side when she heard that.

"I do not know what that means, but I am grateful for what you have shown to me."

"And what would that?"

"A life unimaginable to me a short time ago." Izsha declared and Sarah looked her into the eyes.

"What do you mean?" she wanted to know. Izsha calmed down, and so did her tail. Instead, she returned to her position next to Sarah's, well, Jim old bed.

"As I said; I used to watch the world through the eyes of the overlords and other members of the Swarm, and I thought that it was the most wondrous thing in the universe. But then you returned and took me with you and I finally saw this universe with my own two eyes." Suddenly Sarah could see the childlike glee in Izsha's gaze.

"I stood on the surface of a moon and fought a Protoss. I traveled among the stars while not surrounded by the safety of your Leviathan. I saw the sunrise on many worlds and realized that they all look different. Seeing things with my own two eyes is so different. Now I serve you, together with a Protoss. I am able to not just offer advice my Queen but to protect her if I have to. And a Terran offered me his friendship. All these things seemed to be impossible a short while ago. And that made me realize something." Izsha said. Sarah could feel how a chill ran down her spine. The way Izsha explained everything to her made it almost sound like she had done something right.

"And what did you realize?" Sarah wanted to know.

"The Zerg evolve, they always do. If we do not evolve, we die. Or worse, we become like those creatures on Saalok; old, outdated, without a purpose, _useless_." Izsha hissed. "But thanks to you, I can continue to evolve. Even though I am no longer part of the Swarm, I am still Zerg. And because of you, I can become even more than I was. In a way, now I can truly call myself Zerg." She then tilted her head to the side and gave Sarah a gentle smile.

"And that makes me happy." she declared. Sarah wanted to reply something, but she had no idea what to say. So instead, she lifted her upper body off the bed and pressed her head against Izsha's carapace-covered stomach. She didn't say anything, she didn't have to do. Izsha knew what Sarah was looking for. She slung her arms around her Queen and offered her a moment of peace and quiet. Right now there was something strangely motherly about this whole scene. For a long moment, no one said a word. It wasn't necessary. And then, after a while, it was Sarah who finally said something.

"Just for the records..." she mumbled. "...I should have listened to you in the first place."

"It is the privilege of the Queen to make mistakes. And it is my duty to stay at her side and catch her should she fall." Now Sarah had to chuckle. The old Izsha sure as hell would have never dared to imply that Sarah could actually screw things up. Perhaps she should keep a close eye on her companion. Not because she was afraid of what Izsha could do next, but she realized that she didn't want to miss what kind of person Izsha was about to become.

Who knew, maybe one day she would realize that she didn't need Sarah at all. Maybe she would forge her own fate one day.

And then Sarah would be alone again.

It was pathetic, really. But when Sarah thought about that possibility, she couldn't help but think something selfish.

"Izsha. Could you promise me one thing?"

"Anything, my Queen." Izsha said with her usual calm voice.

"Promise me..." Sarah then whispered. "...promise me that you won't leave me behind. Please, I don't want to be all by myself anymore. Could you promise me that?" She closed her eyes and waited for Izsha's answer.

But the answer never came.

"Izsha?" Still no answer. Sarah pulled her head back and looked up. A part of her was scared that Izsha would deny her this promise, but when she saw the pained expression on her companion's face, she realized that something was wrong.

"Izsha! What's the matter?!" she demanded to know. Izsha shook her head and slithered backward.

"I... I am not certain...my Queen." she panted. Her hands grabbed her own head and she started to groan in pain. "It...it hurts! Like a fire...inside my mind!" she hissed and her whole body started to twitch in pain and agony. She fell back and started to roll around like she had lost control over her limbs. Her tail was like a giant whip and laid waste to everything inside the room, including the bed, the table and the chairs (those who hadn't been wrecked by Matt). Sarah had no idea what was going on. She jumped up, and when Izsha fell to the ground, she grabbed her advisor and pulled her into her lap.

"Izsha! What's going on?!" she yelled. Izsha's eyes sprang wide open and looked around both in pain and panic.

"It hurts! Like a fire, inside my mind! Make it stop! Please, your Majesty! Make it stop!" Izsha screamed. Sarah had never seen her like that. A fire in her mind? That could only mean one thing; someone was attacking Izsha's mind psionically. But why hadn't Sarah felt it?

Oh right, she had shut her powers out. Unlike Izsha, she possessed the ability to block everything off. Sarah put her hand on Izsha's forehead and closed her eyes. She had to find out what was happening. And when she opened her own mind in order to dive into Izsha's, she suddenly felt an agonizing pain. It was like someone was trying to blow her head into pieces, like thousands of bolts of lightning attacking her brain at the same time.

However, the worst thing was that she knew this kind of pain.

Because she had felt it before.

"No...it can't be." she whispered to herself. There was no doubt about it. Izsha groaned again and Sarah felt the pain of her companion. There was no time to lose. If this thing was the real deal, then it could kill Izsha within seconds. How it was possible for this thing to still exist? Sarah didn't know that. What she knew was that she had to act quickly. This thing had crushed the old Queen of Blades within seconds. And while it felt somewhat different from back then, it just had to be the same thing.

The Xel'Naga keystone...

Sarah did what she had done back then, back when Jim and his buddies had used that artifact on her. She had shielded herself with her psionics in order to protect herself from the keystone's powers. A good plan, in theory anyway. However, she had clearly overestimated her own abilities back then, because the shockwave of the keystone had ripped through her defenses like they had been made out of butter. If something grabs your body, tears the carapace off your skin (and most of that skin with it), and basically fries every damn piece of DNA in your body, you remember that kind of pain immediately the moment you experience it again.

This time she did the same, but there were two major differences. One; she wasn't the Queen of Blades anymore. she had become so much more now. Creating a shield that was able to block that pain off was simple. However, that was only half of what she did. The second thing she did, was to create that shield not around herself, but around Izsha's mind as well.

The moment she did that, Izsha sighed in relief. The pain started to fade away immediately, and her tail stopped wrecking everything inside the room. Truth to be told, there wasn't much left that she could break anyway. Whatever Sarah was doing, it worked. And soon Izsha had calmed down enough for her to open her eyes and look at her Queen.

"My Queen, are you alright?" she then asked and Sarah felt how her guts turned into ice. Even now the first thing Izsha thought about was the well-being of her Queen. Right now there was a whole bag of mixed emotions inside Sarah's chest. The two most predominantly feelings were probably being worried about Izsha...

...and being furious for someone daring to use that damn keystone again.

Whoever was behind this was gonna pay for it.

"I should be the one asking that question, Izsha." Sarah whispered and started to reach out with her mind. At least there's one thing she now knew; the keystone wasn't really a threat to her anymore. Now that she actively reached out with her mind, she could sense it. But something was strange. The memories of the keystones powers ripping her old self apart were still firmly embedded in her mind. The overall sensation was the same. It was a pulsing pain, like a thunderstorm that was about to go off inside your mind. Think of a migraine that was crossbred with a nuclear warhead. But this? The pulsing was different. It was slower and weaker and didn't reach out that far. It felt more like a beacon than an actual weapon. And Sarah could sense something else. She realized that the pulse followed a pattern.

Short Short Short...

Short Long...

Short Long Short...

Short Long...

Short Short Short Short...

It was morse code. Somebody was relaying a message, and that message repeated itself over and over again. That alone was crazy enough, because who in hell would be able to receive this message anyway? Who except her? Sarah could sense that it wasn't the same kind of pulse that had wrecked her on Char. It felt like it was specifically created to destroy Zerg. And as far as she knew, there were only two Zerg out there (or former Zerg) that knew morse code; she and Stukov. And even though she had no idea what had happened to that guy, she was pretty certain that this message was meant for her.

Besides, the actual message was pretty obvious.

S...

A...

R...

A...

H...

Sarah. Someone was calling out for her. Who in their right minds would...?

That's when Sarah realized who was behind it. She found the source of Izsha's pain in high orbit above Korhal. It was that huge defense station the Terrans used to protect their world. The psionic pulse almost made it impossible to sense the person who was right next to it, but thanks to her abilities, Sarah realized who it was the moment she found him. Her eyes turned into slits and she growled like only a Zerg could.

"Matt...!"

* * *

The moment Matt activated the psi-disruptor, he knew that people would ask questions. He wouldn't be able to keep this hidden forever. This weapon was still untested, and he had literally no idea what he was doing right now. All he knew was that it seemed to be the most reasonable thing to do in order to contact _her_. If this thing wouldn't work, then maybe he would just install a huge searchlight on top of the ministry and put that comic Zergling into the night sky. He could ask Commissioner Rethlan to take care of that thing. Matt didn't know why, but something inside his mind told him that it should be a commissioner operating that damn thing.

He had no idea how long he should wait either. And when the psi-disruptor suddenly started to pulse, he wondered if this thing was actually safe for humans. He remembered that Dr. Ariel Hanson had told them that the original keystone was harmless to Terrans. But standing near a barely tested device that was based on alien technology and that emitted radiation just couldn't be healthy.

Maybe he had to get a check-up, just to be on the safe side.

Well, that second question had to wait. But the first one was answered a lot faster than he thought it would. She arrived the same way she always had; flashy and in style. There was a gust of wind that announced her arrival. What he saw next was something he would never forget for the rest of his life.

He had seen the pictures of Sarah after she had, well, ascended. And he had heard Jim's descriptions. But to actually see that golden body and those flaming red hairs...suddenly he felt very, very, very small.

There she was.

Words weren't able to describe what he saw, what he _felt_. Matt had never met the Queen of Blades in person, he had only talked to her via com-link. And that had been scary enough, even when Sarah had actually helped them during the battle of Augustgrad. He had sensed her raw psionic potential inside his mind several times though. However, that couldn't compare to what he was experiencing right now.

Her body wasn't as big as on those pictures he had seen. She had returned to her normal size, yet that was pretty much the only normal thing about her. Matt could feel her presence inside his mind. It was like there was a goddamn star right next to him, and even though he didn't possess one bit of psionics, he could sense the limitless amount of power she possessed. He felt the urge to go down on his knees and worship her like she was some kind of goddess. Every single cell inside his brain told him that it was wrong to think something like that, but unfortunately, all the other cells in his body disagreed with that.

She was, to put it in one word, _magnificent_.

Sarah ignored him completely. The energy that was coursing through her body felt good. Shutting her powers down had also meant that she had reduced herself to something mortal, something ordinary. Well, something _almost_ mortal and something _almost_ ordinary. But now she was in the game again, even though it was just for a short moment. She descended from the ceiling, and it seemed as if gravity meant nothing to her. All she did was to look at the psi-disruptor and an annoyed expression appeared on her godlike features. She reached out with her hand, but never actually touched the state-of-the-art prototype. Instead, Matt could see how she opened her hand...

...and then how she clenched it into a fist.

The psi-disruptor started to glow, but only for a second. Then the device started to crack and was compressed to the size of a crushed can of soda. The prototype alone had cost a fortune, but Sarah destroyed it as if it was made out of cheap tinfoil. Matt knew how much effort the scientists and engineers working for him had put into this thing, however, to Sarah it was nothing but a nuisance. The psi-disruptor pulsed one last time before it simply fell to the ground and stopped working altogether. Then Sarah lowered her hand and turned herself towards Matt, who had to gulp hard.

Suddenly he felt very, very, very small.

Sarah descended even further. Even though she was naked, he had no funny thoughts right now. Besides, her body was too bright to make out any details. However, even then Matt realized that she had reached a level of perfection that wasn't meant to be witnessed by mere mortals.

Suddenly his whole plan didn't seem so clever to him anymore. Maybe he should have thought this through more carefully. For a short moment, he wondered if Sarah would crush him just like she had crushed the psi-disruptor. But when her toes touched the cold metal of the floor beneath them, her body changed once more. The light started to fade away, and suddenly he could see Sarah in all her (naked) glory. He was too baffled to say anything, but he could feel how his cheeks started to turn red. Sarah Kerrigan had always been an exceptionally beautiful woman. Ghosts usually possessed a body near physical perfection due to the hard training regime they had to endure. But even then Sarah was a beauty. Though before he could get the wrong idea, the air around Sarah started to shift and blur and covered her skin like it was some sort of fog. That fog circled around her body and started to solidify itself within seconds. When it finally stopped, Sarah wore her trademark Ghost-suit.

The raw energy around them finally started to fade away, and when Sarah opened her eyes and looked at Matt, he knew that he was in deep shit.

"You _called_?" was the only thing she hissed. Matt had to swallow hard and wondered if he would manage to find an excuse to save his own ass. He straightened himself and actually managed to face her piercing gaze head-on without bursting into flames.

"I have to admit, I didn't think you would show up. And certainly not that fast." he replied. Sarah made a step forward and looked him straight into the eyes.

"Your little toy caused a good friend of mine a lot of pain. So I hope for your sake that you got a good reason for calling me here!" Matt could see that Sarah was pissed beyond good and evil. And he had caused pain to someone she considered a friend? Was that a good or a bad sign? Knowing his luck, it was probably the latter.

"I'm sorry, Sarah. You have to believe me if I tell you that I didn't want to hurt you. I just needed to talk to you. It's important and-" Unfortunately, she too knew that it was absolutely fine to interrupt the Admiral at any given time.

"I don't give a damn about what you want, Matt!" she hissed again. This time it didn't even sound like a human voice, but as if a Zerg was talking to him. She raised her hand and pointed with the finger at the remnants of the psi-disruptor. "You created this thing, didn't you? Do you have any idea what it can do?!" Matt looked at the broken psi-disruptor and frowned.

"You want the truth?" he asked. "Of course, I don't know what it can do. It's the next generation psi-disruptor, so I can only _hope_ that it does what the old one did. Only more successful."

"Why would you build something like that anyway?" she demanded to know. Now Matt felt how his own frustration started to grow.

"What do you think, Sarah? I'm sorry if this thing caused you pain, but I had hoped that it would draw you out. It's not like I have your number." he tried to defend himself.

"So you created another keystone. Did you want to use it as a last resort should I ever return? Or as a weapon against the Zerg?" she demanded to know.

"As a matter of fact; both." Matt replied truthfully, something that caused Sarah to stop and looked at him in confusion.

"Wait, what?" she asked and Matt looked at the psi-disruptor.

"Sarah, I admit that I considered using that thing should I ever have to. The original keystone had proven itself against the Zerg on Char, and I would be a fool if I would just ignore that. And yes, I wondered if it could help us against you, should you ever return to us. But at least give me some credit, woman! I didn't know as _what_ you would come back." he tried to reason with her. Sarah just crossed her arms in front of her chest when she heard his excuses.

"You've never seen anything other in me than a threat, you jerk." Jerk? That was a new one.

"Listen, I know that you're probably thinking about tearing me a new one, and we both know that there's nothing I can do about it. But at least hear me out before you do that! Please!" Unfortunately for him, Sarah wasn't in the mood to listen to reason.

"No, I'm done listening to you, Matt. I don't care why you want to talk to me. Coming here was a mistake, _my_ mistake. But don't worry, I'm on my way out anyway. So you don't have to tell me to hurry up and leave." she snarled. Suddenly Matt blinked in surprise.

"You're...leaving?" he then asked. "Where do you want to go?"

"To Char, I'm going to retake control over the Swarm and bring peace to the sector." she said with a cold tone in her voice. When Matt heard that, his face lost all color.

"Really?!" he whispered.

"No, Matt. Not really. I just wanted to see the shock on your face." Sarah growled before she turned around and looked back at the destroyed psi-disruptor. "I'm done with this place. You don't have to know where I'll be going, but you should be happy because I don't intend to come back here for the next thousand years." And even then, that would be too soon.

"A fair warning though; should I ever find out that you produce more of these things, I might do something _you_ will regret." she then added

"I didn't just start this project to have a deterrent against you. The keystone has proven itself against the Zerg. Should they ever return, we need a weapon that could change the game in our favor. We need that weapon and I-"

"I don't care, Matt." was the only thing she replied. And when he looked into Sarah's eyes, he realized that she truly didn't care about that.

"Why have you called me out?" she then just wanted to know. Matt gathered all his remaining courage and took a deep breath.

"I need to talk to you. That's why I used that thing. I had hoped that you were still around. You have to believe me that, Sarah." She could feel the honesty in his words, but Sarah wasn't exactly a people-person. At the same time, she didn't want to enter his mind and find out the truth.

"You wanna talk? Then spit it out, but be quick about it." she growled. Truth to be told; Matt hadn't planned this far ahead. He could feel how he started to sweat like crazy.

"Not here. Not now. I need you to-"

"You called me out here, and now you want to give me an _APPOINTMENT_?!" Sarah roared both in anger and rage. She made a step forward and Matt could see how her hands turned into the Queen of Blades's claws. Oh boy.

"No! Sarah, please! I didn't want to insult you, it's just that-"

"I am not a little genie you can call out whenever the hell you want to! Maybe you don't get it: we're no friends! We never were, and we never will be, and the only reason why I haven't used you for target practice is because you're Jim's best friend!" That was only partially true. Yes, she didn't consider Matt a friend. And she was pretty certain that feeling was mutual. However, she didn't hate him either. She just didn't care one bit about that man. And that's why she simply wanted to leave.

"That's why I have called you! It's about Jim!" Matt yelled and raised his hands as if they offered any protection against her. Sarah froze when she heard that name. Then her eyes turned into slits.

"What are you talking about?" she growled. Matt could see how she hesitated. This could be the opening he had been looking for. And he knew that he would never get another chance. So he straightened himself and prepared to meet his maker.

"You were there, weren't you? You visited Jim yesterday." When Sarah heard that, her eyes widened in surprise and suddenly her anger seemed to vanish.

"How do you know?" she whispered. Maybe she should probe his mind to find out what he truly had planned for her. But then-

"I visited Jim today." Matt explained. "He said something to me. Something about the dreams he has. And that the dream last night was different. It was you, wasn't it? You came to see him. And that's also the reason why you came here in the first place. Because you-"

"SHUT UP!" Sarah roared and glared at him in a murderous rage. Well, perhaps it hadn't been such a great idea to talk with an all-powerful space goddess about her lover's psychic problems.

"What to do you know about his dreams? About his nightmares, about his pain?" she hissed. Well, if she was honest with herself, she hadn't been fully aware of Jim's pain either until just a short while ago. But Matt didn't have to know that. He lowered his eyes and stared at the floor in front of him.

"Not much. Not as much as I should have." he whispered. "Sarah, listen..." he then continued. "...this is not about me. And not about you either. This is about Jim. And that's why I ask you, no, that's why I _demand_ of you to hear me out!" Sarah walked up to him and looked him straight into the eyes.

"You _demand_ nothing of me, Matt." Even though it felt as if he was staring into a goddamn volcano, he couldn't back down now. No one said being Jim's friend was supposed to be easy, right? Well, this was it. This was the one chance he had of doing the right thing. For Jim. And for his own soul. Because in the years to come, he would have to ask himself; had he done everything in his powers to save his best friend?

"Yes, I do." he then replied and faced her anger. "Because I know why you're here. And I can't let you go, not until you have heard me out. Even if that means that you will tear me apart. But I owe it to Jim. And so do you." This time she didn't answer immediately. It was a risky move to involve Jim, but Matt knew that he was the only thing that could be used to reason with Sarah.

Still, when she finally turned away, he felt as if someone had stopped pointing a gun at his head. A planet-sized gun.

"I thought that I owed it to Jim to say goodbye." Sarah whispered. "That's why I went to the party. But then..." She never finished that sentence. Instead, she shook her head and looked back at the psi-disruptor as if she expected it to do something.

"You saved those people. You brought them back." Matt then said. "Why?" Now Sarah started to chuckle.

"I didn't care about these people. Truth to be told, I didn't even want to bring them all back. I just did it for Jim. I couldn't stand seeing him in so much pain. I just wanted to get that boy back. Guess I overdid it a bit." Yep, that sounded like Sarah alright.

"I hate you, Sarah. I really do." Matt then said, and Sarah's head jerked back up. She looked him into the eyes but didn't pulverize him in an instant. She watched how he clenched his hands into fists.

"What I told you back on the Hyperion was the truth; I wish you had never returned to us."

"Oh, now you're just asking for some punishment, aren't you?" Sarah growled, but Matt shook his head.

"No. No, I don't. I fear you, Sarah. But I also _hate_ you. However, this isn't about me. I finally understand that. It was the one thing that I didn't realize before. I needed someone else to show me the right way. I just couldn't see it because, well, I didn't want to see it."

"In case you believe that I enjoy this cryptic crap; no, I don't. Get to the point, Matt!" Sarah replied.

"Jim's dying."

For a long time, no one said a word. These words felt wrong, for both of them. Unfortunately, both of them knew that it was the truth. Matt turned away and stared at the wall in front of him.

"His health is failing him. But that isn't all. It's like he has lost the will to live. I tried to protect him, tried to keep him safe. I thought that by keeping him away from everything and everyone I would help him. That he would just become the old Jim again, that all he needed was time to get over it, get over you. But I was wrong. The truth is..." he muttered and clenched his hands into fists once more. "...the truth is that there's nothing that I can do for him. He's too far gone. The pain cripples him and sucks the life out of his body. And the reason for that is you, Sarah." He turned his head back to her and looked her into the eyes. "And that's why I hate you."

Sarah decided to keep her mouth shut and felt a sting of guilt inside her chest.

"I thought that this was about helping Jim. But as someone told me; it wasn't the best thing for him, it was the most convenient thing for the rest of us. Because if we had allowed the right thing to happen, it would have meant to accept that there's nothing we can do, nothing I can do. And I have to admit; the thought that you could do what I can't makes my blood boil in rage."

Again, she didn't say anything. Matt took a deep breath and gathered his remaining strength.

"That's why I have come to a realization:" he then declared. "I can't help Jim anymore. None of us can. With one exception." He relaxed his hands and pressed his palms together.

"I will send Jim away. Far away." he explained and Sarah's eyes widened when she finally realized what he was trying to tell her.

"I don't do it because I want to do it. But I know that it's the only option that's left to us. To him." He took another deep breath and Sarah could feel how he had to fight back his tears. Was he serious about that?

"He said that he's done with his life. Perhaps he is right, I don't know. The only thing I do know is that there's only one thing that could change his mind. And sadly that's no one I care about. You're the only one who can save him now. Because even after everything you have said and done...he still loves you from the bottom of his heart, as crazy as that might sound." He took another deep breath and finally shook his head.

"I never understood what he saw in you. You're a coldhearted bitch. Even before the Zerg turned you into the Queen of Blades. People's lives never truly mattered to you, did they?" But this time Sarah didn't decide to go nuclear. No, instead she tried to remain calm.

"Give me one good reason why I should have done that." she spat out. "What did humans ever do for me, huh? Must be nice to judge others from your golden throne." His answer, however, did baffle her.

"You're right. I did judge you. And I shall never change my mind about you. But it's not important anymore. Because I'm done with you, Sarah. I am, however, not done with Jim. And that's why I have decided to do this." He took another deep breath before he continued.

"So yeah, I'm going to send him away. The rest...will be up to you I guess." That's when Sarah finally realized what he was talking about.

"What do you expect me to do?" she said both angry and unsure at the same time. Matt shrugged his shoulders and turned away. He walked back to the sealed door and shook his head.

"That you do it better this time. That you do the right thing. For me. For you. But, most importantly, for Jim. I decided to stop being a coward. Now it's your turn." he told her. Sarah wanted to make a snippy remark, but she couldn't think of anything right now. So instead she just watched how Matt walked to the door and entered a code to unseal it. But before the door opened, he looked over his shoulder.

"One more thing though..." he then snarled. "...should you screw this up again, Sarah, then I hope that you know how to return to the Void. Because if you do, I will find you and I will make you pay. I don't care what powers you now possess. _Don't screw this up!_ " he then said and opened the door.

"Oh, and get off my station." was the only thing he then added before he closed the door behind him. He remembered that one time when she had walked out on him, right after Arcturus's troops had found them in Umojan space. And now it was the other way around.

If he was honest with himself, then it felt damn good. The only problem was; he had just sealed the fate of his best friend. And from now on he could only hope that it would turn out fine. When the door closed behind him, Sarah stared at the floor beneath her.

"I won't." she then whispered to herself.


	50. Act II - Chapter 26

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 26**

 **Eureka!**

* * *

The problem with being the boss is that sometimes people tell you the things that you _want_ to hear, not the things that you _need_ to hear. "Everything is a-ok!" is probably good for the soul, however, it doesn't help to solve any problems. Yet, at the same time, hearing nothing but bad news was a good way to nurture suicidal thoughts. Perhaps Valerian had found a brilliant compromise between those two extremes. One the one hand, he would hear nothing but the truth from Leila Curtland's mouth. On the other hand, he could feel those soft lips on his own.

So yeah, that was actually a nice middle ground. Valerian sighed as he slipped his feet into his second shoe and shook his head. He knew that he couldn't stay in that bed forever. However, the thought of getting back down to Augustgrad and his palace wasn't exactly filling his mind with joy. Unfortunately, that was just the duty he had to deal with. You know, being the Emperor and all that. Still, at least not everything was bad. When he remembered the last few hours, a warm smile appeared on his face.

"Watch it, you're drooling!" Leila Curtland said when she stepped out of the shower. Again. Valerian heard that and looked up to the Ambassador and, uhm, what exactly were they now anyway? Friends? Lovers? Business partners? He hadn't the courage to ask her directly. Instead, he brushed with his sleeve over his chin and realized that there was no drool dripping from it. He looked over at her and could see how she started to chuckle.

"You know, for an Emperor, you're actually somewhat cute. A bit dimwitted, but cute." Leila said and walked towards a chair with her attire on it. _Cute_. That was a big improvement from "I hate you with every fiber of my body". He sighed and checked his suit. Right now, Valerian was glad that he wasn't wearing his old uniform. All those medals and insignia took forever to put them back on. And let's not forget the saber! Oh God, how he had loved his saber! Not anymore, he didn't. However, even then his suit looked pretty rundown. There was still blood on his sleeves, and when Valerian saw it, he frowned. Leila could see how he stared at his arms and walked over to him. The only thing that covered her body was a towel, but when she stood right in front of Valerian, he didn't blush. Not anymore.

"It wasn't your fault." she then said with a surprisingly gentle tone in her voice.

"Well, someone is to blame. And given the alternatives, I think it would be the best for me to be the one drawing fire. Besides..." He looked her straight into the eyes. "...you're not to blame either."

"That..." Leila replied. "...remains to be seen." She then turned away and walked back to her clothes. "There will be questions, you know that." She dropped her towel on the floor and leaned down in order to grab her underwear. That's when Valerian realized that he could still blush. Like a tomato, actually.

"There are always questions." Valerian declared. "Don't worry about the media. If Matt says that the situation is under control, then it's under control."

"Even if the people will find out that the attackers came from the Combine?" Leila wanted to know and looked over her shoulder. Valerian turned his head away, simply because he didn't want to act like a thirteen-year-old boy that was staring at his first true love. Though he certainly felt like that right now.

"They won't because that's not the truth. The truth is that some _misguided_ individuals have tried to attack the Dominion, but they failed. There are misguided people everywhere." Maybe they could blame some extremist group. It wasn't exactly a nice thing to do, however, there were enough crazy nut-jobs out there who craved attention. If Valerian remembered right, there was a small extremist group making trouble on the fringe of Dominion space. What did they call themselves again? Defenders of Man or something like that? Perhaps it morally questionable to put the blame of the attack on those guys, but if you terrorize civilians, you should expect that something like this happens.

"I have my doubts that it will be that easy." Leila replied and grabbed some of her clothes. She started to slip back into her underwear and dress, and even though her wardrobe was rumpled beyond good and evil, she still looked stunning. However, as Valerian looked at her, he couldn't silence that question in the back of his mind, one that he just couldn't ignore anymore.

"You know, if you don't spill it out, your head might explode." Leila then suddenly said. Valerian cursed himself. It appeared as if she had no problem reading him like an open book.

"I've been thinking." he then said with a quiet voice.

"That is no crime. Still, it seems that I won't like it." she said to him.

"No, probably not." he replied truthfully and took a deep breath. How the hell was he supposed to ask her about that anyway?

"Let me guess; now you're wondering _how_ you should ask me what you want to ask." When she said that, Valerian looked at her and blinked in surprise.

"How...are you a Ghost?" he wanted to know. Suddenly Leila started to laugh. It seemed as if she was truly amused about what he had just said.

"Oh God, no. I'm not a Ghost. But it's not that hard to figure out what you're thinking about. I can see it all over your face." she explained to him, and Valerian felt how anger started to well up inside his chest. He didn't like it when people teased him.

"Oh, is that so?" he muttered. Leila turned back towards him and gave him a cocky smile. He averted his gaze because she was still half-naked. However, she just walked up to him and lowered her upper body so their eyes were on the same level. Even though they had spent the night together, he still felt somewhat unsure on how to act when she was around. The truth was; Leila Curtland was a whole lot of woman. More than most could handle.

"Your face. You always get very serious and defensive when you have to talk about something that's important and that might cause problems. And you always pull your brows up, like you try to give everyone else puppy eyes. It's actually cute." And this was the moment when he blushed again. Leila's smile became even wider when she saw that, but then she just turned around and continued to slipped back into her clothes.

"You want to ask me something, but you have a hard time telling me what it is. I know that it's not about me since you already told Admiral Horner that you trust me." she declared. Matt frowned when he heard that.

"How...how did you know that?" he stuttered. Leila laughed again and gave him a warm look.

"Well, aside from the fact that we had sex with each other; I heard you say it to the Admiral."

"But you were under the shower!" Valerian said.

"Not the entire time." she replied and his eyes widened in surprise.

"You were eavesdropping?!"

"Oh, don't look that way. Like a little puppy left in the cold. Don't worry, I didn't listen to everything. I know that it's none of my business. But since it's not about me, I guess it's about something Combine-related. So, either it's Neusser or something else." she then concluded. Damn, she truly possessed a sharp mind.

Did Valerian mention that he was attracted to strong, independent and highly intelligent women?

Maybe now was the right time to mention it. He took another deep breath before he nodded.

"It's something." he then agreed.

"Ah, that helps to narrow it down." Leila said and put her bra back on.

 _Damn shame though_. Valerian thought, but then he realized the implications of his own dirty thoughts and shook his head.

"Leila..." he mumbled. "...I just have to ask; do you think that General Sakai knew anything about this?" Now Leila actually froze for a moment. She lowered her head and it looked as if she had to search for the right words. However, after a while, she simply shook her head.

"No." she whispered.

"That doesn't sound very convincing." he said, but the look on his face wasn't a hostile one. He simply had to know the truth.

"I entrusted Neusser my life and safety for several months. He never showed any signs of treason. So, what do you expect me to say?" she suddenly shot back before she turned around and showed her broad shoulders to Valerian. "I don't believe that the General knew anything about this. He's a good man. And unlike many others, he's truly interested in ensuring peace between our two nations. So, did he knew anything about this? No. No, I'm sure that he did not." When she turned back to him, he could see the frustration in her eyes. "You won't get any other answer from me." For a while, no one said a word, not until Valerian started to nod.

"Okay. Okay, I believe you."

"You're not just saying this because we had sex, right?" Leila then wanted to know and Valerian blushed again. Oh God, she could be brutally honest.

"No. I say this because I trust you. Just like I trust Matt, just like I trust Jim."

"You're taking a huge risk." Leila mumbled, but Valerian just shrugged his shoulders.

"Not really. My father failed because he never trusted anyone, not even his own son. If I will fail as an Emperor, then so be it. However, if that's going to happen, then I will fail because I _chose_ to trust people. That is the difference between me and him." he declared. Leila finally slipped back into her dress and turned towards around. She walked up to him and tilted her head to the side.

"No. That's not the only difference between the two of you, Valerian." When she used his first name, he felt a surge of joy. "There's much more to you than just that." She then sighed and brushed her hands over her dress. "Well, it seems that I'm almost presentable. I really wish I could change my clothes, though. But I guess it can't be helped."

"You're going back to the Embassy?" Valerian asked and she nodded.

"I have to. I have to send a report to the General. Don't worry, I won't tell him any compromising details about your government."

"Like the fact that we slept with each other?" Valerian offered and Leila froze for a short moment.

"The General doesn't have to know everything. That includes my personal life." she just said before sighing again. "Besides, in the end he will only want to know if I found a solution to the food crisis."

"Food crisis?" Valerian asked and Leila shook her head.

"Didn't they tell you?" she wanted to know, but Valerian just shook his head.

"I heard that there are some problems with the food supply inside the Combine, but only through the media." When Leila heard that, she shook her head.

"You should really fire your advisors and get some new ones. Because they're not worth the money you pay them."

"No argument here." Valerian muttered to himself before he shook his head. When he looked up to Leila, he pulled his brows up. "Since you seem to be the expert on it, tell me; what's going on? What's _really_ going on?" Leila brushed over her dress and decided to sit down on the chair in front of her.

"It's the reason why I actually came to this party. Can you believe that?" She then shook her head. "The Combine is currently facing a food shortage of extreme proportions. I don't know if you're aware of that, but we always had to import additional food, simply because most of the Combine's industry is centered around heavy mining and not farming. Besides, even if we would try to change our economy, we don't have many worlds that can be used for agriculture. Before the fall of the Confederacy, we used to import the food from them. But then..." She stopped and lowered her head.

"...then my father happened." Valerian said and she nodded.

"The embargo hit us hard. We were completely unprepared. The old Confederacy had been bad, but they had never tried anything like that!" Leila explained to him. "After the embargo was lifted, the General ordered to find other means and other markets to get the food from. We turned to the Umojans and made a few trade deals with independent colonies. It worked, but only barely. The Protectorate isn't exactly a huge food producer either and we had to pay ungodly amounts of money."

"And now the Protectorate has decided to stop selling you food?" Valerian asked. Why the hell had his advisors not told him about that? Those were important, no, critical information! If the Combine would face another food shortage, it could destabilize the entire nation. And that was the last thing the Dominion needed right now. Leila shook her head.

"No. But they're not selling enough either. Immediately after the end of the original crisis, the General ordered to buy as much food as possible and put it into storage. We can probably feed the entire population of a planet with nothing but crackers for more than a year now. The people will hate it, but at least they won't starve to death. But still..." she took a deep breath." ...we won't be able to endure this for very long. A year at max. Maybe one and a half. And then it will be like during the embargo all over again." Valerian saw how Leila clenched her hands into fists and gritted her teeth. To her, it wasn't just some theoretical problem. She had seen the effects of Valerian's father's actions.

"Then you came to the party in order to..." Valerian began.

"...ask you for your help. Yes." Now she started to chuckle. "Didn't think that it would turn out like this, though. But yeah, that's the problem I'm facing right now."

"How serious?" Valerian asked and Leila frowned.

"I told you; we can hold out for a year, maybe a year and a half." she explained to him again, but he shook his head.

"No, that's not what I'm talking about. How serious is the General about this? He sent you to the party, yes. But he probably told you what you should tell me and what not." Valerian assumed and Leila nodded before closing her eyes.

"He...he left everything to me. Basically, he told me to come up with a solution."

"Let me guess; he still got others breathing down his neck, telling him not to approach the Dominion directly in order to ask for help."

"Pretty much, yes." she agreed. "And that's why I have no idea how I can solve this problem. Even if you would send countless aid convoys into the Combine, I doubt that many people would accept the help of the Dominion. There are probably even enough people who would call it an act of aggression. It wasn't enough to let us starve, now the Dominion is teasing us with the fact that they have the food we need."

"Is that what you think?" Valerian then wanted to know and her head jerked back up. Their eyes met and he could see her surprised expression. But then she lowered her gaze again.

"Not anymore." was the only thing she whispered. Valerian sighed and stood up. He walked over to the door but didn't leave the room.

"So the problem is; how do we get food to the Combine? And not just once, but how can we improve the overall food situation?" Suddenly he turned around and started to walk to the other end of the small cabin. "Sending aid convoys wouldn't work. Besides, right now the Dominion's transport corps is stretched thin as it is. We can hardly supply all of our colonies and outposts. No, the transport corps is out of the question." He reached the other end of the room and turned around again. "The only institution under my command that could do something like that would be the fleet, but delivering that food with warships would be enough of a reason for many to go to war." He walked back to the door and turned around yet again. He was walking up and down and looked like he was lost in thought.

"Valerian?" Leila asked both surprised and baffled. She had never seen him like that. He looked like he was thinking very hard about this problem.

"The Dominion can't use its own means to solve this. Besides, we can't send food for free to the Combine. I would if I could, but the Dominion is currently facing one hell of a recession. The people would probably start to riot if we would do that." He continued to walk up and down and tipped with his finger against his lips. So Leila decided to just listen to his monologue.

"But then again; we _are_ facing a recession. And why is that? Because my _awesome_ father thought that an economy only needed guns and even more guns in order to work. But now we're all smarter, aren't we, you old _bastard_." he hissed before he shook his head and his thoughts returned to the problem.

"We know what the problem is. However, what means do we possess to solve this? Military? No. And my government should stay out of this. Still, even though we're facing a recession, the Dominion's economy is still the biggest around. Hmm..." He crossed his arms in front of his chest and stopped. He then looked at the floor beneath his feet and suddenly a smile appeared on his face.

"What's with that smile?" Leila wanted to know. The smile turned into a big grin and he looked over at her.

"I think I got an idea. One that could help both sides."

"Must be one hell of an idea." Leila muttered.

"Remember those guests you met at the party?" Valerian then asked and she frowned.

"What, the fat cats and cutthroats?"

"Exactly, the fat cats and cutthroats. And what is the only thing these guys care about?"

"Money and saving their own asses." she told him and he nodded.

"And what is the only thing that is even more important than money and saving their own asses?"

"I don't think I can follow you." Leila replied. By now his smile had turned absurdly wide.

"Making even more money! And we can use that for our own purpose."

"How?" Leila had a hard time following Valerian.

"I need to talk with a few guys, but I think it could work." He nodded to himself and looked at Leila. "The Confederacy and my father believed that the foundation of a strong nation needs to be a strong military. It's the oldest rule in the book; if your domestic policy stinks, don't fix it. Instead, invade another country and try to profile yourself as a strong leader. History is full of moments like these. However, they usually never last long. So instead; what if we use the weakness inside both the Combine and the Dominion to find some sort of common ground. Leila!"

"Yes?!" she yelled in surprise.

"I need you to talk to the General. Tell him; what if there were a lot of companies and corporations from the Dominion that would like to invest into the Combine? We got a lot of filthy rich guys who want to become even filthier and richer. But they need new markets for that." Now Leila was finally getting what he was talking about.

"Economy isn't exactly my area of expertise." she admitted. "However, if I remember correctly most companies inside the Combine aren't exactly top notch. Most of our production facilities are old and outdated." Then her eyes widened when she realized something. "The biggest problem is that they have almost no money to invest in better equipment!" They looked each other into the eyes and suddenly both knew that they were thinking the same thing.

"I need to talk to the General." she then said.

"And I need to talk to some other guys. Need to make some calls too." Valerian walked back to the door and pressed the open button. The heavy door slid to the side and he made room for Leila to get out first. You know, lady's first and stuff like that. When she was right beside him, Leila suddenly stopped.

"Oh, there's one more thing." she then told him.

"What? Did you think of something else?" he wanted to know.

"You could say that." Leila then leaned forward and pressed her lips on his. Valerian's eyes widened in surprise, but only for a moment. Right now the door to the cabin was wide open and anyone who would pass by would see the Emperor and the Ambassador of the Combine kissing each other. Yet, he just didn't care about that. Perhaps it was wrong to enjoy this moment, but he knew that there would probably not many more of these moments in the near future.

But a man could hope, could he not?

When their lips finally separated, he could see how Leila was blushing as well. It looked...cute.

"I guess this is better than a mere "thank you", wouldn't you agree?" she asked. However, all Valerian managed to do was to give her a goofy smile.

"Who knows, if this works out you might even take me out on a real date one day." she then added.

"Now that's one hell of a way to encourage a man to do the impossible." he replied.

* * *

When Matt entered his office, he felt...different. He couldn't really say if better or worse. Well, his body felt better, that much was for certain. After returning from the Sky Shield installation, he had actually managed to go to his little flat within the ministry and sleep a bit. Originally, he had planned to sleep maybe four or five hours, but once he had fallen asleep, the beeping of his alarm clock hadn't been enough to wake him up.

And so, he had slept for at least ten hours.

There were no words to describe the feeling when you get a good long sleep after working your ass off. He couldn't remember having any dreams, though it hardly mattered. Right now, dreams couldn't be any weirder than the reality around him. When he had finally woken up again, he realized two things.

A: It was already past noon.

And B: He was starving.

So, he had done the most selfish thing he could have thought of; taking a shower, putting on a fresh uniform, and then grabbing something to eat in the ministry's cafeteria. He had gotten a lot of strange looks from everyone else. Usually, the Admiral (and de facto Secretary of Defense) didn't eat in the cafeteria. People would bring him something to eat in his office. The food wasn't anything spectacular, but it was warm and of decent quality. And that alone was already a gift to Matt. A good bed, a hot shower, and a stomach full of warm food. The three things every soldier craved more than anything else.

Well, except for a working gun, maybe.

After he was done, he decided to return to his office. And when he entered it-

"YOU! YOU KNOW KATE LOCKWELL!" Lieutenant Hernandez yelled the moment he entered his outer office. His adjutant jumped on her feet and almost threw the chair against the wall. She pointed her finger at him, and the expression on her face looked like a mixture of anger and respect. Matt stopped and sighed.

"A good day to you too, Lieutenant." he then said. "I just got one quick question; you do know that you're supposed to salute when you see me and say something like; good day, Admiral!"

"Say what? No one said anything about that when they offered me this job!" Hernandez just replied and Matt sighed again.

"Nevermind." he mumbled and shook his head. "But since you already brought that name up; what did Ms. Lockwell say?"

"That you're a fascistic pig, a damn liar, a coward, and that they should hang you by your own balls."

Well...that didn't sound too good.

"And I kinda agree. You can be quite the dick, you know that?" the Lieutenant said. Instead of yelling at her, he groaned and walked over to his office.

"Yeah, I heard something like that several times by now." he mumbled before he turned back to the Lieutenant.

"But aside from my character deficiencies; what did she say, Lieutenant?"

"That you're an asshole. A self-righteous asshole. A stupid asshole. Oh, and then she called you a stupid and self-righteous asshole. And then she-"

"Not that!" Matt barked and interrupted her. "I want to know if she'll come here." But Hernandez only shrugged her shoulders.

"She...didn't give me a straight answer. Maybe. She wanted to visit her pal in hospital first or something like that. Oh, speaking of hospitals; I received a message for you. Bridget is reacting well to the dialysis, and they hope that they can operate her within the next few days." And while this was good news, Matt just shook his head.

"His name is Brent, not Bridget." he growled.

"Yeah, that guy too!" was all Hernandez replied. Matt decided to not pursue this conversation any further, simply because it felt like it was pointless. Still, he made a mental note that he should go and visit Brent in the hospital if he would find some time.

"Any other calls?" Maybe Valerian was already back to Augustgrad. In that case, it would have been nice to know. However, the answer he got was not what he had expected.

"Oh yeah, some weird hobo-guy called. Told me that he knows you, but I totally didn't believe that."

"Weird hobo-guy?" Matt asked. He didn't even know what a hobo was.

"Yeah, all grumpy and small. Kinda looked like a dwarf if you ask me. And he sounded like he was seriously drunk. I think his name was Duck, or Goose, or Fat Eagle, or something like that and-"

"Swann. His name is Swann." Matt then explained and sighed. Right, he had totally forgotten about Swann.

"Oh, right! Swann. Seems like you two know each other. Is he some sort of old pal of yours?" Hernandez asked. Matt pulled his brows up when he heard that question.

"Not really. We worked together for a long time but weren't exactly close. What did he want?" Though Matt could already imagine that it was about the Hyperion. Or...or had he met Sarah as well? Oh no, that would complicate things. He could feel how his hands started to get sweaty when Hernandez just pulled her shoulders up.

"Dunno, I had a hard time understanding him. All I did was to stare at that giant mustache. Seriously, he looked like some kind of walrus! You know, that mythical creature." she said to him and Matt frowned.

"Walruses aren't mythical, they're real." he told her, but she just laughed when she heard that.

"Pffff, yeah right. Get off, Admiral! Everyone knows walruses only exist in legends and fairy tales, just like unicorns and the postman." While Matt was aware that not many people knew anything about the species of Earth these days, he wasn't willing to let this one go unanswered.

"Walruses are real, Lieutenant. They are a species indigenous to Earth. You know, the planet where the human species originates from. And there used to be postmen as well, back when there were no computer networks and mail had to be delivered by hand."

"Yeah, when was that? When the cavemen discovered fire?" Hernandez asked with an amused tone in her voice.

"No, but shortly after that." Matt replied.

"But these walruses have horns! Like unicorns! Next thing you're gonna tell me unicorns exist as well." she insisted, but Matt just shook his head.

"No, Lieutenant. Unicorns don't exist. And those things that grow out of a walrus's mouth are not horns, those are tusks. There isn't anything magical about them, Zerg have tusks too." Now Hernandez's eyes widened in surprise.

"Ohhh! Yes, that makes actually sense. Still damn ugly, these walruses. Speaking of ugly walruses; your pal Swann wanted me to record a message for you, I saved it on your computer." Lieutenant Hernandez wasn't exactly good with words, but Matt decided to ignore that comment. Once Brent would return, and he _would_ return, he would resume his job as the Admiral's adjutant. Matt would find something for Hernandez. Something where she couldn't do any harm.

Maybe public relations...

"Oh, I totally forgot to invite my chikas over here. They will go crazy if they see where I'm working now!"

Okay, maybe not.

"I'll be checking that message then." Matt sighed and went into his office. He didn't even dare to ask if Hernandez could make him some coffee, he was too afraid of the answer he would receive. So instead he closed the door behind him and shook his head. He looked around and realized that nothing had changed. Of course, nothing had changed, how could it? His office was still the same as when he had left it. Still, it was somehow reassuring to know that at least one thing was still normal. Because everything else sure wasn't, starting with that feisty Lieutenant in his outer office.

He sat down behind his desk and looked out of the window. The view from his office was breathtaking and he could even see the Central Plaza from here. The sky was light gray, and a thin cover of snow lay on most buildings. The city of Augustgrad seemed to be surprisingly peaceful right now, as if the attack the other day had never happened.

He looked back at his desk and his computer. His electronic calendar showed him that there was nothing to do. No one wanted anything from him, and there was no one he wanted to talk to right now. Okay, there was someone he wanted to talk to, but he had no idea if Kate would actually show up.

So, for the first time since, he couldn't even remember since when, he had nothing to do. And so, he looked for Swann's recording. He found it immediately and when he started it, he saw the exhausted (but happy) face of his old comrade.

"Hey, bigshot! How's life?" Swabb happily announced. Truth to be told; the engineer looked like shit. He was pale, his eyes were reddened, and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. So pretty much like always. However, he seemed happy. "Listen, I just wanted to give you a call. Thought that I owed you a little piece of head ups. Besides, I still need to thank you! The kid you sent me, this Karax, he's one hell of an engineer!" Matt frowned when he heard that. He had no idea what Swann was talking about. But Karax...he had heard that name before and-

"Oh, crap." Matt muttered to himself. Karax. That was the name of the Protoss that was with Sarah!

But Swann didn't seem to be baffled about that. He just continued to speak as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"But seriously, what do you teach these kids in engineering school these days?" Swann asked. "They're far too shy and don't show their faces! You know that a real engineer needs to be like a real woman; with hair on the chest and an attitude!"

Matt shuddered when he heard that. It was one of those pictures that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"Still, the kid is awesome. You wouldn't believe how much we managed to repair in just those few days. He even installed an autopilot that runs via voice command! From everywhere on the ship! Shit, I didn't even know that the old girl had that in her!" Swann chuckled before he got serious again.

"But that's not why I called. Listen, I just wanted to tell you that I should be able to take the Hyperion off your back a lot sooner than I thought I would. Give me two or three more days and I'll be on my way to Meinhoff." Then Matt saw how Swann took a deep breath. "Okay, and I wanted to tell you something else. Ain't exactly easy for me, I'm not good at this." The engineer looked to the side and grabbed a bottle of booze. Matt watched how Swann took one, two, three deep gulps and then threw the empty bottle away. The Admiral heard how the bottle smashed into pieces in the background. "I wanted to apologize for what I said. I know that it ain't easy for you either, and I didn't want to leave without telling you that." But then he chuckled again. "You're still one stiff asshole, but that's part of your charm."

Now Matt actually had to laugh as well. He was certain that he had reached his "asshole"-quota for this week.

"So yeah, I just didn't want to leave without letting you know about that. Just do me a favor; try not to turn into a jerk every time you see an old pal. Oh, and make sure to look after the Commander, will you do that for me?" Now Matt's smile vanished. What would Swann say to him if he knew what he was about to do? He would probably punch him in the face.

"I just don't want to leave without telling you that." Swann continued. "No matter what we said to each other, we still were a pretty good team. And we did a lot of crazy stuff together. Besides, I will need at least two more days. If you want, you can always come up here and have a drink. It'll be just like old times! Maybe you can bring the Commander with you?" Now that wasn't probably the smartest idea.

"Yeah, well, anyway...see you around, Admiral!" Swann then ended his message and the monitor in front of Matt turned dark. He didn't say or do anything for a long time. It was clear that Swann wasn't aware of Sarah's return, and Matt was glad about that. Because it meant that he had one less problem to worry about.

It was funny; now that there was no immediate crisis craving for attention, he could actually relax and do something other than being an Admiral. That's when he realized that he had neither friends nor any hobbies he could waste his time with Maybe he should learn how to play an instrument. Something loud that caused people to flee the moment they heard it. Matt stood up and walked to the window. He put his arms behind his back and looked out of the city.

Many people considered Augustgrad not exactly to be a beauty. "Urban nightmare" was one of the nicer things they said about the city. However, Matt couldn't shake the feeling that there was a lot of potential hidden beneath those huge skyscrapers. All this city needed was a decent urban development plan. And a lot of soap.

Matt felt how his own thoughts started to wander off. He could hear Hernandez on the other side of the door, it seemed as if she was talking to herself or something like that. However, it hardly mattered to him.

"...okay, I'm gonna tell him you called." the Lieutenant said when she opened the door and put her communicator away.

"Admiral? There's someone who wants to meet you. He asks if you can come to his office as soon as possible." Well, so much for having nothing to do. Maybe learning an instrument had to wait after all. He sighed and turned around.

"Who is it?" he wanted to know.

"Dunno. Just called himself Valerian and-"

"The Emperor called?" Matt interrupted her and suddenly Hernandez's face went pale. "Oh crap, that was the Emperor?!" she hissed. "Oh crap, oh crap, ohcrapcrapcrapcrap!" Okay, that wasn't a good sign.

"Lieutenant? What's going on?" Matt wanted to know, and she gave him an apologetic smile.

"Nothing! Ehehehe...nothing. Hell, how the crap was I supposed to know that you're all buddies with the Emperor. Uhm...just tell him that I was joking about that thing with the lube and the Zergling. Ehehehe...eeeeeeh..." She then turned away and left the office as fast as possible. "I'm so dead."

"Lieutenant? WAIT, what did you tell the Emperor? Did you speak to him personally? Hey, Hernandez!" But damn, that girl was fast!

"Can't talk, need to take my meds!" she just said and walked over to her desk. She grabbed a small box of pills, opened it and then...

...she just threw her head back, opened her mouth and popped them in like they were some kind of skittles. Matt watched how she swallowed an ungodly amount of these pills. Hernandez closed her mouth and twitched a few times before she sighed and walked back to the Admiral's office.

"Admiral, someone calling himself Valerian has just tried to reach you. Said that he wanted to talk to you inside his office." she said as the last few seconds had never happened.

"Uhh...did he say anything? Anything specific?"

"No, Admiral." Hernandez said with a stern tone in her voice. Huh, those meds weren't so bad. Maybe she should take them more often.

"Okay." Matt then took a deep breath. If Valerian wanted to see him, then he shouldn't let the Emperor wait. This was probably important anyway. "Okay, I'll be on my way then. Please call the palace and tell them that I'm on my way to meet the Emperor." That's when Lieutenant Hernandez's eyes widened in shock.

"Wait, THAT was the Emperor? Emperor Valerian Mengsk?!" she shouted in shock and Matt made a step backward.

"Yes. Yes, he is. We just established that, Lieutenant and-"

"Hell, how the crap was I supposed to know that? Uhm...tell him that I was just joking about the thing with the lube and the Zergling! Oh, I'm so dead!" She then turned around and ran back to her desk. Wait, was she serious?!

"Lieutenant, what is the matter with you?" Matt demanded to know.

"Can't talk, need to take my meds!" she screamed and grabbed the almost empty box of pills. She threw them all in, but when they were gone, she simply pulled a drawer out and grabbed another box that was still full. She almost emptied that box as well before she started to twitch and sighed in relief. Then she put those pills away and walked over to Matt.

"Admiral, someone called Valerian wanted to speak to you, said he was in his office right now." she told him with a straight face. Matt opened his mouth and wanted to ask if she was trying to make fun of him, but then he decided to drop it.

"Okay. I'm on my way then." he just said and took another deep breath. At least things never got boring around here.

* * *

Being back inside his palace felt strange, knowing that it had been a battlefield a short while ago. And Valerian felt the urge to enter through a side entrance, get to his office, and ignore everything else. Unfortunately, he couldn't do that. His duty was not just to tell people what to do, but it was also about _how_ to tell the people what to do.

It felt like that there were at least thirty police officers per square meter inside the palace, these guys were everywhere. The moment Valerian walked through the gates of his palace and into the ballroom, he stopped and looked around.

"Welcome home." he muttered to himself, but his good mood was already gone the moment he saw what once had been his ballroom. It was a surreal sight; the victims had been taken to safety, the guns and the empty shell casings were gone too. The only thing that remained was the blood on the floor. It was an odd situation. Now that he saw everything during broad daylight, it seemed less horrible than it had during the party. There was a lot of blood, yes, but not as much as he remembered. Most members of the police were looking for evidence and trying to reconstruct what had happened. As Valerian watched them, he knew that the professionals were now dealing with this thing.

There was no one shouting anything like "Attention!". These men and women weren't soldiers, they weren't supposed to salute. They still recognized the face of the man standing beneath the entrance, though. Some started to whisper and pointed their fingers at him, others waited what Valerian would do next. And some just shrugged their shoulders and turned back towards their work. It didn't seem as if there was anyone around who was in command.

Instead of heading to his office right away, he walked towards a group of police officers and started to talk to them.

"Hello, Valerian Mengsk." he just casually said as if he was just another guy from the night shift. A lot of these guys and gals looked at him both surprised and baffled when he offered them his hand. He asked every single one for their names, and after that, he asked them what they were doing.

"We're checking the holes in the walls in order to find out what kind of weapons were used." one of the men explained to him. It was truly interesting. Valerian hadn't been aware of the police's procedures until now. They explained to him that they had to make sure what kind of weapons were used. So far, they had identified the sub-machine guns of the attackers, and of course the pistols of the guards. However, in order to be certain that no other weapons had been used, they had to investigate everything. The police officers were very friendly, and it seemed as if they truly enjoyed talking to him. They explained that there was a slight chance that the attackers had acquired their equipment on the black market, here on Korhal. If that was true, then they could use all the information in order to find the people who had supplied the attackers with guns.

Valerian took his time and listen carefully. He asked questions when something was unclear, and he thanked everyone for their hard work. Perhaps some of them would later call him an ass-kisser, but it seemed as if the vast majority appreciated the fact that their Emperor was actually an approachable person, someone who wasn't distant towards his own people.

It took him at least one hour to simply get through the ballroom. However, when he was done, he felt a lot better. He hadn't seen any hatred or heard anything like "We gotta punish those who are responsible for this attack!" Like said, these men and women acted like true professionals and like people who were simply interested in solving this mystery. The crew of the _Rebel Heart_ had been exactly the same. There had been no signs of aggression whatsoever. Everyone had been on edge, yes. But nothing more.

When Valerian entered his office, the bodyguards waited outside. He sat down behind his desk and the first thing he did was to switch on the holo-screen.

"...ood Day Augustgrad! This is Fimmy Jallon, your host for today's morning show since our colleague and friend Kate Lockwell is still at home, recovering from this Christmas's events. But fear not, I talked with Kate yesterday and she is doing fine. So, you will probably see her again far sooner than I hope!" the host said with a wide grin. He was a bit too cheerful for Valerian's taste. The Emperor switched through the programs, he simply wanted to know what the people were thinking. Or what the media was telling them to think.

"...yesterday's events are still somewhat shrouded in mystery..."

"...the attack on the palace is the topic we want to talk about..."

"...yet no lives were claimed during the attack..."

"...as for who could be behind the attack, no statement was issued by the authorities so far..."

"...we hope to hear a statement from his Imperial Majesty later this day, but until then we can only wait and..."

Of course, it was _the_ topic. However, as he watched all those shows, he realized one thing; there was no one demanding to take action, to invade, to retaliate. Most likely because they had no idea _who_ was behind the attack. It seemed as if the authorities had managed to keep the origin of Neusser and his buddies a secret. But how would the public react once they would find out the truth?

Still, there was no panic, no cries for blood. Valerian had to wonder; how much had the propaganda of his father done to the people in the past? It was only a theoretical question, yet he still had to wonder if some tragedies could have been avoided if no one had stirred up the public opinion back then. He checked his computer and realized that the people from the palace had already left a tight schedule for him. So, he simply decided to delete all of that and pressed a button in order to make a call.

"Call Admiral Horner." he just said and the computer complied with a "Yes, your Majesty." It took a few seconds before an unknown female voice echoed through his office.

"Hernandez." the woman just said as if that would explain anything.

"Uhm, who is there?" Valerian then asked. "Is this Admiral Horner's office?"

"`Course it is, what else should it be?" the woman said with a somewhat snippy tone in her voice.

"Uhm...is the Admiral currently in office?" Valerian then wanted to know.

"Last time I checked he was." Again, what kind of answer was that?

"Ah, could I leave a message for him?"

"I don't know, can you?" she asked back and Valerian looked at his computer. Had it used the wrong number?

"Okay...could you just tell him that Valerian wants to talk with him? I'm in my office. Now. Could you do that, Mrs...?"

"Hernandez! What are you, deaf? It's the first thing I said when you called!" Okay, now that was truly not what he had expected. However, he then simply decided to give it a rest.

"I am sorry, Ms. Hernandez. I didn't want to bother you, please just tell the Admiral as soon as possible, and I just forget what happened."

"Oh, aren't you _precious_ , Valerian?" Hernandez shot back. "Say what; how about you get yourself some lube and go and find a Zergling, I'm busy over here! I need to sort my damn pills or I get cranky!"

"Uhh...is this truly the Admiral's office?" he just wanted to know, but he could hear the frustrated groan of the woman on the other side.

"Okay, okay! Just wait a second, I tell him right away. So, you can go and annoy someone else!" Before he could answer anything, he heard how someone on the other side of the line opened a door and then how the woman said: "Okay, I'm gonna tell him you called." There was a short pause and then the line was cut.

"Uhm, hello?" Valerian asked, but no one answered. What the hell was that about? Hmm, maybe he should try it again later. Besides, Matt could wait. Right now, he had more important things to do. He decided to look through the guest list and searched for some names. Most of them were useless to him, but in the end, there were two names left that seemed to be promising. He called for a secretary and told the man that he wanted to invite these two people to the palace as soon as possible. She recognized at least one of those names and her eyes widened in surprise, but in the end, she just nodded and did as she was told. After that, he opened a new file on his computer and started to work on that damn speech he still had to deliver.

Oh, joy!


	51. Act II - Chapter 27

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 27**

 **Leading by Example**

* * *

The difference between Arcturus Mengsk and his son was that the older Mengsk had never planned for a time _after_ his reign. And he had never truly cared about anything that had nothing to do with maintaining his iron grip on both the nation and its people. For a long time, Valerian had thought that a keen tactical and strategic intellect was the most important trait of a good ruler. He had studied under some of the greatest military minds in service of his father, people who had been renowned for their intellect. Like the late General Warfield.

He had also studied historical military tactics order to please his own father. By now he knew that he should have spent those days studying less about battles and great warriors, and more about politics and economy. He couldn't help but think that he had wasted most of his youth with little war games that didn't seem to have any purpose now.

Well, there was always room for improvement.

The moment someone knocked on the door of his office, he looked up.

"Yes, come in!" The door opened and a man in his mid-fifties stepped inside. When Valerian recognized him, a smile appeared on his face.

"Mister Trenton, it's a pleasure to see you again!" Valerian said with nothing but honesty in his voice. There are people you just like the moment you meet them. And Hanson Trenton was just that kind of person.

"Your Majesty, it's good to see that you're uninjured. After the police got us out of the safe-room, we had no chance to properly thank you." he said with a quiet voice. Valerian stood up, walked up to Trenton and offered him his hand. The entrepreneur and CEO of the largest agricultural company within the Dominion seemed to be still surprised by Valerian's warm welcome. He grabbed Valerian's hand and gave it a soft squeeze.

"I'm just glad that you are okay, Mr. Trenton." Valerian then said. "How is your wife?"

"She is fine. Still a bit shaken, but she's fine. She's a lot tougher than most people would think. She wanted me to relate her thanks as well, your Majesty. I suppose I am in your debt for keeping both me and my wife safe. And together." It caused Valerian to chuckle before he went back to his desk.

"Oh, I think you should rather thank Ambassador Curtland. She was the one who threw you into the safe-room after all. Please, have a seat." Valerian said and pointed his hand at a chair in front of his desk. There were actually two chairs, and it seemed as if Valerian was awaiting another guest.

"I guess you're right." Trenton mumbled. "By the way, how is the Ambassador? I hope she's alright." When Valerian heard that question, he couldn't help but blush.

"Uhm, yeah. The Ambassador is fine. Probably not even exhausted, unlike me..." he added.

"I... see. That's good to hear. Still, to think that no one was killed, well, no one except those attackers. It seems like a miracle." Trenton mumbled and walked over to the chair. It appeared as if he felt highly uncomfortable being here. Valerian could only muse about the reasons, but given Trenton's humble nature, it seemed as if he simply felt out of place.

"Please, Mr. Trenton, take a seat. I just wanted to talk with you about a, uhm, I guess you could call it a business proposition." Valerian could see both the surprise and confusion on Trenton's face, but the man did as he was told and sat down on the chair.

"First of all; let me thank you for coming over here on such a short notice. I understand that you probably have more important things to worry about." Valerian said, but Trenton just shook his head.

"It was hardly a problem, your Majesty. Once my wife and I were released from the hospital, we returned to our apartment here in Augustgrad. After everything that has happened, we decided to not to return to our farm in the south." When Valerian heard that, he pulled his brows up. That little piece of information was good to know because it allowed him to do some small talk before the other "guest" would arrive.

"Oh, you're living on a farm?" Valerian asked and Trenton nodded.

"Yes, it is the farm of my grandfather. My family had no use for it for many years, however, my wife and I decided that it was a good place to spend the rest of her remaining time there." When Valerian heard that, his eyes widened in shock.

"What? Your wife...she's sick?" When Trenton heard that, his eyes widened as well, but then he shook his head.

"What? Oh no, that's not...I'm sorry, I wasn't talking about Iris, I was talking about my first wife, Cynthia." Trenton took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." Valerian whispered, but Trenton shook his head again.

"No, don't be. I'm actually glad that you didn't know any about this, that way you probably don't think that there's something wrong with me and my wife."

"Why should I do that?" the Emperor wanted to know and Trenton sighed.

"You probably noticed that Iris is quite a bit younger than I am. The reason for that is because she used to be my wife's nurse. She lived with us for almost three years until Cynthia finally passed away." Hanson Trenton shook his head. "I know that many people talk behind our backs and say that it's the typical story of a young girl marrying an old guy who's rich, but Iris is different. She was always at our side and did everything for my wife. And after Cynthia's death, she remained at my side. She had become a true friend. And that friendship turned into something different over time." Hanson took a deep breath. "She is the most important thing to me, your Majesty. And I will be forever grateful that you decided to do everything in your power to keep her safe. So, the least I could do was to accept your invitation. Even though I have no idea what I could offer to you."

For a moment Valerian didn't know what to make of this. He liked Trenton, he really did. His honesty was disarming and the Emperor remembered something Leila had told him; he should fire his advisors and find new ones. Perhaps that wasn't such a bad idea.

"I thank you for your honesty, Mr. Trenton. And trust me, there's a lot of things you can do. Not exactly for me, but for all the people out there. The reason why I called you out is-"

"I did not come here so you could tell me to wait outside! The Emperor wanted to see me, so here I am. And I am a busy man!" a new voice suddenly reached them. It was the voice of a man, one that Valerian recognized immediately, even though he had never met that man in person. However, Valerian wasn't the only one who recognized that voice.

"Is that...?" Trenton mumbled. The door to Valerian's office was opened and a servant entered.

"Your Majesty, your other guest has-" But he didn't get much further. The man who entered the office was big, almost two meters large, and looked like he was made equally out of muscles and fat alike. He was bald, and below a bushy pair of brows, dark and intelligent eyes stared first at Trenton, then at Valerian. The man had his arms crossed behind his back and he looked like he owned this place.

"Usually I do not answer random calls from others, Emperor Mengsk." the man then said with a cold tone in his voice. "However, I was told that you have something important you want to discuss with me." He didn't wait for Valerian to say anything. Instead, he turned his eyes back to Trenton.

"Mr. Trenton. It appears that I'm not the only one who is of interest to you, Emperor Mengsk." Both Valerian and Trenton stood up and the Emperor walked around his desk. He went over to the bigger man and offered him his hand.

"Mr. Samson. It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

Tacitus Samson, father of Valeria Samson, and most likely the richest man in the Dominion and probably within the entire Koprulu Sector. The name alone was legendary, and Valerian was aware of the fact that there were many people who regarded Samson to be more powerful than the Emperor himself. Samson looked at Valerian's hand. For a short moment it seemed as if he would not grab it, but when he did, Valerian regretted it immediately. Samson's handshake was so strong, it was borderline painful. The only way how to make sure that his hand wasn't crushed was to adjust to the pressure Samson's hand.

Perhaps it was truly like Jim had once told him; for some guys, handshaking was a form of warfare and a way to fight for dominance.

"Let me get one thing straight, Emperor Mengsk..." Valerian didn't miss that Samson didn't say "Your Majesty", but "Emperor Mengsk". "...the only reason why I have decided to come here is because I want to thank you for saving my daughter's life." That sounded like it was more a nuisance than gratefulness. However, speaking of Valeria...

"Forgive me my curiosity, Mr. Samson, but how is your daughter doing? It was quite the chaos after the attack, and I actually had no chance to talk with her."

"I was told that my daughter is fine." Samson just replied before he finally released his grip on Valerian's hand. The Emperor immediately put his fingers behind his back so the bigger man couldn't see how he wiggled them so the blood would start to flow through them again.

 _He was told that his daughter is fine?_ Valerian thought to himself. _No wonder they call him "the Iceberg". And no wonder Valeria is the way she is._

"However, I have to admit; I am less than pleased with your security. There used to be a time when the palace was considered the second most guarded place inside the entire Koprulu Sector." Samson said and looked Valerian straight into the eyes.

"Only the second most guarded place?" the Emperor wondered.

"The safest place is, of course, my home. I must say, the security was a lot better under your father's rule."

"Yeah, well, security isn't exactly enough when Zerg try to storm your home." Valerian answered, but Samson made a "hmph" and frowned. Okay, at least now Valerian knew where Valeria had her trademark from.

"I do not appreciate petty excuses, Emperor Mengsk. I told that to your father and he understood it. I was under the impression that he had informed you about that before his passing." Now there were a lot of things Arcturus should have told his son before he had been blown to pieces by Kerrigan. But even then, Valerian seriously doubted that Tacitus Samson's personal preferences were exactly "high priority". Besides, Arcturus was gone and now Valerian was in charge. He straightened himself and fixated Samson's gaze with his own.

"The Zerg are many things, Mr. Samson. But let me assure you; petty they are not."

"They are animals, Emperor Mengsk. Nothing more. And if an animal tries to bite you, you kill it. I have never understood why your father hadn't been able to deal with this problem." Was this guy serious?

"Have you ever dealt with Zerg yourself, Mr. Samson? Were you even on Korhal when the Swarm attacked?" The Iceberg's answer wasn't all that surprising.

"Of course not. I have more important things to worry about than petty critters." Petty critters, huh? Damn, right now Valerian didn't even know if that guy was serious or not. He probably was, and that said a lot about this guy.

"Well, in future I will make sure to ask for your expertise on that topic." Valerian replied dryly, but the Iceberg didn't even flinch.

"They say that sarcasm is the trade of a feeble mind, Emperor Mengsk. Your father tried to use it once on me, but never again. You do well to remember that." he said with a matter-of-fact tone in his voice.

"I am not my father, Mr. Samson." Valerian just told him.

"Of course, you're not. If you were, you wouldn't have dared to call me out like some sort of ordinary citizen. However, I knew that this day would come sooner or later, so let's get this over with, shall we?" Valerian had always assumed that the nickname "the Iceberg" was a testimony to how cold and unstoppable this man acted towards his business opponents. But now he wondered if it was due to the man's character. It truly felt like he was talking to a humanoid iceberg.

"So, you know why I called you here?" Valerian wanted to know, but Samson didn't even look him into the eyes when he answered.

"Because you want to lend some money, just like your father did. However, your father knew how to properly ask for a loan."

"I haven't called you here because of that." Valerian then told him. Now Samson turned his head back to him and fixated him with his eyes.

"You did not call me here to tell me that my daughter is fine, did you? I know that, I was informed about it by my men." Suddenly Valerian felt something he hadn't felt before for Valeria Samson; he felt sympathy. After seeing her father, Valerian finally realized how it was possible for a child to turn out that way. But then again, he was the son of a power-hungry megalomaniac, and he had turned out okay. At least he thought that he had turned out okay. History would be the judge of that.

"No, I haven't. I have called you here because I want to _give_ you money." For a short moment, Samson didn't say a word. But then he lowered his head and started to growl. He looked like a bulldog that was about to smash into Valerian. Or like an iceberg that was about to sink Valerian's battleship.

It was a rather fitting nickname.

"I was under the impression that you were somewhat competent. A coward just like your father, but competent. But calling me out here to make fun of me? Boy, do you have any idea who I am?"

"You are Tacitus Reginald Samson, owner of the three largest real estate companies on Korhal and probably the richest man in the entire Dominion. You weren't always rich, but when you earned your fortune you always tried to avoid the Old Families that ruled the Confederacy, because unlike them, you actually earned your fortune yourself. There are no official estimates, but your wealth is supposed to be in the trillions. You never took a side in political squabbles and made business with anyone, as long as there was some profit to be gained. You are married for the ninth time, an impressive feat if you ask me..." Valerian then added while shrugging his shoulders. "...but you only have one daughter. Only one that you acknowledge as your daughter anyway. Rumors say that you got at least five more children, but they're not on Korhal. You gave a hefty loan to my father when he was in dire need of some money and in return he allowed you to go after your business opponents without having to fear the authorities. And it is said that you don't take a piss without having a plan. Is that enough for you?" Valerian then finished and straightened himself. "In case you're wondering; my father was a great schemer, but his plans sucked. I don't scheme, but I plan in advance." And that's when Valerian decided to find out who the alpha-male inside this room was. He stepped closer and looked the Iceberg directly into the eyes.

"You would do well to remember that, Mr. Samson."

Too bad that Leila wasn't here right now. She would probably enjoy this display of two guys trying to figure out who had the bigger...shoes.

Samson didn't reply anything. He just stared at Valerian and it seemed as if he was trying to figure out what kind of man Valerian was. The Emperor stepped to the side and pointed his finger at the chair next to Trenton.

"How about we all take a seat and talk about what I have to offer to you. And rest assured, I didn't call someone as important as you out here just to waste your time. I want to talk _business_." Valerian then simply turned around and walked back to his seat. He sat down and both he and Trenton waited for Samson to do something. When Samson finally walked over to the chair and sat down, a big grin appeared on Valerian's face.

"Trust me, you won't regret this." he then said.

* * *

Regret. If one word could describe Sarah's whole range of emotions she was currently feeling, then this word would be enough to do the job. She had returned to the Hyperion, mostly because she knew that no one would bother her there. However, she hadn't returned to Jim's old bunk. Izsha's little seizure had destroyed most of the things inside his cabin anyway. Sarah had returned to the ship nonetheless, simply because she had no idea where else she could go. Matt's words still lingered in the back of her mind.

 _I'm going to send Jim away._ he had said to her. _The rest is up to you I guess._

And: _Don't screw it up._

Was he serious? Probably yes, Matt had never possessed even one funny bone in his entire body. However, the implications of those words caused Sarah to question her own resolve.

Because it meant Matt had just handed Jim over to her.

The question was; was she able to do that? Should she do that?

 **Ah, hell...what am I even doing here? What should I do, Jim?** she whispered to herself before she raised her chin and looked up to the stars. She could see a nebula a few lightyears away. If there was no atmosphere, the stars looked like they were sparkling diamonds. And it was even better if there wasn't a glass between your eyes and the stars. Sarah floated a few meters from the outer hull of the Hyperion, and even though she had dimmed her powers down to the bare minimum, anyone who would look out of the window would see the glowing figure of an all-powerful being that had no idea what to do next.

Sarah felt the vacuum pulling at her molecules, but she didn't even shiver. Space was no threat to her. Her flaming hair danced around her head like it was an actual fire, and when her bright, glowing eyes stared at the endless number of stars above her, she wondered if there was one world out there that she could call home.

If she would do what Matt expected her to do, then what? Take Jim with her and settle down somewhere? Would he even want her back? She had her doubts about that, considering the nightmares she had given him.

Being in space like this felt nice. There was no sound except her own thoughts. Unfortunately, it was the only thing she couldn't shut out. Even a Zerg couldn't survive the cold nothingness of space like this. Well, unless it was specifically bred for space operations, like a leviathan. But they had a special carapace, a special kind of skin that shielded them from the danger of space. Sarah didn't need that anymore. Floating through space was like floating through water, only with less fish around. Still, even in her current form she couldn't just lay back and ignore what was going on around her. It felt as if the whole universe was speaking to her with a thousand different voices at the same time, and every single one of them cried for help.

This was her true self now. Not the human one, not the Zerg one either. The golden body looked like just another navigation light on the hull of the Hyperion, at least from afar. And the chance that someone was walking over the hull of the ship was practically nonexistent, which meant that she was certain that no one would bother her out here and-

"Lady Kerrigan! I did not know that you were out here!" a familiar voice suddenly echoed through her mind. She turned her head to the side and saw none other but Karax standing right next to her. His feet stood on the surface of the Hyperion as if they had somehow been magnetized. And it appeared as if the vacuum of space didn't affect him either.

 **Karax. What are you doing here?** she asked. Using her vocal cords in space was pointless, so instead, she used her psionics, just like Karax did.

"Oh, forgive me! I just wanted to check on some systems that I could not access from the inside. I must say, Lady Kerrigan, working on this antique has truly been a fascinating experience, and I am so grateful for this opportunity!" Well, at least someone was happy. Karax was just another proof of her failure. The thing with power is; if you use it, it has consequences. If you apply too much force on a bone, it will break. And if you flood a mind with too much psionic energy, the same happens to a mind; it breaks.

Sarah had been careless, she had used her powers to bend Karax's will in order to appear like a friend. If a human puffs some air at another human, nothing happens. But if a human puffs some air at some ants, it is like a hurricane to them. She hadn't realized the consequences of her action right away, only after Artanis had banished her from Aiur and all Protoss worlds. When Karax had tried to catch up with her, she had thought about killing him. Not because she hated this particular Protoss, but because she had doomed him to a life without the chance of ever returning to his people.

When she had implemented the thought that she was a friend, she had applied too much force. Now it was an integral part of Karax's mind.

She had turned him into her minion. Go, Sarah.

Even though Karax wasn't in pain, it wasn't his own choice to accompany her either. Ending his life would have been an act of mercy, but Sarah had hesitated. She had heard her own voice in the back of her mind, telling her that she was better than that. And much to her own dismay she had realized that she wasn't the only one hearing that voice. It appeared as if she was still somehow connected to Jim...

 **Seems like you've been busy.** she just said.

"Indeed! Did you know that this vessel uses cables in order to transfer information and commands from one end to the other? It is fascinating to see how it works! The things I can learn from this technology!" he explained with a lot of glee in his voice. A part of Sarah was annoyed, she just wanted to be left alone in order to think things through. Or not. Sarah had taken the whole "being a drifter"-thing to a whole new level. However, as she looked at Karax, she watched how he walked over to a hatch and opened it. The cables and systems that came into view looked like they had seen better days.

 **How can you withstand the vacuum, Karax?** Sarah wanted to know. Izsha could do that, albeit only for a short amount of time. But she could do it because Sarah had given her that ability. Yet she hadn't changed Karax. Twisting the DNA of a Zerg was one thing, but that of a Protoss? Knowing her luck, Sarah would probably have created another hybrid. The Phasesmith looked at his new and shiny mistress and tipped with his finger against his chest. Some sort of tight force field appeared around him.

"This is an energy shield. It protects me from the effects of cold space and blocks off the harmful radiation." he explained to her. It wasn't that much different from what Sarah was doing to shieldherself from the coldness of space. The only difference was that Karax had to rely on technology while she only had to focus her mind. The Phasesmith then turned back towards the hatch and started to work on those cables. Like said; they looked like they had seen better days. Sarah watched how the Protoss started to work on those parts. Even though he had never been on a human vessel before (at least Sarah assumed that he had never been on a human vessel before), he seemed to know what he was doing. At least nothing exploded, and that was usually a good sign. Still, as she watched Karax, she couldn't help but wonder about something.

 **Karax.** Sarah then spoke to him. **Why are you so fascinated by this ship? It's not nearly as advanced as the ones the Protoss use. It must be completely obsolete in your eyes.**

Karax seemed to hesitate for a second and pulled his hands back. He turned his huge head towards her and didn't seem to be baffled at all by her flaming appearance at all.

"Forgive me if I have to disagree, but I do not think that this vessel is obsolete. Maybe it is not as advanced as a Protoss carrier, but it is nonetheless a testimony to the spirit of engineering. It does not matter how _advanced_ something is, the mere fact that it was created shows someone used both thought and skill to put it together. And as long as there is this kind of spirit present, people will find a way to create new marvels." He then looked back at the cables.

"Besides, this technology is truly fascinating. It is completely different from what the Protoss use. To use cables and hydraulic system in order to send information through the ship and make things move! Someone has thought about this hundred, maybe thousands of years ago. The principle seems to be so primitive that no Protoss scientist would actually think of using it, but look at it! These technologies may appear crude at first sight, but if you put these things together, you get a ship that was able to stand up against a Protoss fleet carrier!" Now Karax had to chuckle.

"My colleagues on Aiur would probably be insulted by the fact that something so crude can be so effective!" Now that was an interesting picture. And not only that, Sarah felt how a question formed inside her mind.

 **Karax, what would you do with the knowledge you can gain from this ship?** she wanted to know. Suddenly Karax lowered his head and it seemed as if he was sad. Well, sad for a Protoss. It was still hard for Sarah to truly tell what Karax was feeling. Human emotions were simple because she had been a human. Once. And Zerg emotions weren't exactly hard to figure out either. But Protoss? Their minds were different and truly in the sense of the word _alien_. But by now she believed that she had figured out at least the most basic emotions. And right now, Karax felt sad.

 **Karax?** Sarah asked again and her body started to move closer to the ship's hull. She turned around, and when her feet connected to the cold steel of the ship, there was something like above and below again.

"Forgive me, Lady Kerrigan, I did not want to avoid your question. It is just...difficult for me to find the right words. All this knowledge I have gained so far is truly fascinating. Yet at the same time, I know that my colleagues would never truly appreciate it."

 **What do you mean?** Sarah asked again before she looked over Karax's shoulder and watched how he started to bypass the damaged systems. Sarah had no idea what he was doing. It looked as if this system had died a long time ago, yet no one had bothered to replace it. Since it was directly on the outer hull, it was probably not that important.

"In the past, my colleagues have always frowned upon my fascination with the things that were not directly related to our duties. I was always intrigued by it but was never able to study these things. When the Conclave was still in power, they always denied us the chance to study anything that was deemed dangerous. Or that was an insult to the Conclave's beliefs and convictions. And when the Conclave fell, there was no time to do anything about it. We had to focus all of our abilities on simply finding a way to survive. But then..." He stopped and pulled his hands back while he looked at the damaged system in front of him.

 **Go on.** Sarah encouraged him and Karax sighed.

"I do not wish to insult the Hierarch. He is a hero amongst my kind! And the name Artanis should forever be revered as the one who led us to victory. He certainly deserves as much praise as the great Tassadar, maybe even more. Maybe he truly is on the same level as the great Adun himself." he explained. Sarah was able to suppress a shudder. If there was one thing that was certain, then that both she and Artanis would never want to see each other again. And to her, he would never be this knight in shiny armor.

"However, when I approached him after the end of the battle, after we had reclaimed Aiur, I urged him to let me study the technology of Ulnar and the Xel'Naga. Yet he refused." It was hard for Sarah to figure out a Protoss's emotions, but she was pretty certain that he was sad when he told her about this.

 **Why would he do that?** Sarah asked and Karax shook his head.

"The Hierarch explained to me that this knowledge was forbidden. It was beyond our understanding and that it wasn't meant for mere mortals to approach it. Besides, he also told me that the Xel'Naga were no longer our gods and we should not try to worship them, but rather find our own way in life." Yep, that sounded like Artanis.

 **But you disagreed.** she then said. It was no question, but Karax shook his head again.

"I did not question his decision. It was not my place. Besides, I still respect him. He is truly everything my people claim he is. And even more."

 **And yet you disagree.** she basically repeated her statement. Karax lowered his head, and now it seemed as if he was truly ashamed.

"Yes." was the only thing he whispered.

Perhaps Sarah had no right to talk to Karax like they were friends. But since he was now part of her life and she couldn't just abandon him, she could at least try to better understand him. Who knew, maybe there was something she could do for him, something that would give him some purpose again. She had her doubts that repairing an old and rundown battlecruiser was extremely satisfying to a Phasesmith.

 **Why?** she then wanted to know. Karax sighed and dropped his shoulders before he continued to work on the damaged system.

"The Conclave told us that there is dangerous knowledge and good knowledge. They always told us which was which. But I was never able to believe that. Knowledge is knowledge. It is neither good nor bad. It simply is." he explained to her. "If we acquire this knowledge, we have to decide how to use it. And I am not only talking about the Xel'Naga." he pointed at the damaged system. "This vessel too is full of technology that we could learn from. Of course, we cannot install the systems of this vessel on ours, but we could use the principles! And not only the Terrans could teach us many things, we could learn from the Zerg as well!" When Sarah heard that, she tilted her head to the side and her flaming red hair danced around like it was truly made out of fire.

 **A Protoss willing to learn from the Zerg?** Sarah chuckled, however, Karax wasn't able to hear the amusement in her voice. The idea seemed to be utterly ridiculous to her. **What could a Protoss learn from the Zerg anyway?** Other than creating a being that was both Protoss and Zerg, and we all know how that worked out. But if there was one thing that caused Karax's heart to jump in joy, it was to answer someone else's questions.

"A lot, Lady Kerrigan!" he announced, stood up and turned towards her. Sarah had no idea why he called her _Lady_ Kerrigan. Well, it was certainly better than "Your Majesty". A Protoss calling her like that just felt _wrong_. He started to gesture with his hands while he told her all the fascinating things about the Zerg.

"Aside from the physical strength and their ability to share all their thoughts, their biggest strength is that they have managed to eliminate the planning phase when it comes to creating new machines. They simply introduce a new system and then they let natural selection do the rest."

 **New machines? The Zerg use no machines.** Sarah told him, but Karax just shook his head.

"No! I mean yes! I mean, no! I mean...I am sorry. Of course, the Zerg do not use machines that are made out of crystal and metal. Their machines are made out of organic cells. Instead of hydraulic systems, they use muscles. Instead of energized crystals, they use nerve cords. Our bodies, no matter how advanced they are, are still nothing more than biological machines. Unimaginable complex, yet once you accept that fact, there is a strange beauty to it. I do not perceive the Zerg like my brethren do. I do realize that they are dangerous, but they are also so complex! A Zerg larva possesses the ability to morph into a gigantic hive, the only thing that it needs is nutrition and-" However, before he could finish that sentence, Sarah had to know one thing.

 **Karax, how do you know so much about Zerg?** By now her lips had started to move, even though no sound left her throat since they were still in space. Karax lowered his head and it seemed as if he was embarrassed.

"Forgive me, Lady Kerrigan. But when I was alone with Lady Izsha, I asked her about the Zerg and she seemed to be very eager to explain everything about her kind to me. Several times over actually. And she spent a lot of time explaining a lot of details to me. She is truly an exceptional teacher, Milady." he told her. Well, that certainly sounded like Izsha. Still, Sarah was still not sure wherever the "Lady"-title was a bit too much. But how was he supposed to address her anyway? Kerrigan? Sarah? Bitch-that-caused-me-nothing-but-pain-and-despair?

 **I see. And you consider the Zerg-nature to be fascinating? You think you could learn from it?** she asked and walked past Karax. She knelt down in front of the open hatch and looked at the damaged system.

"A lot. But you would have to understand the bigger picture and accept that someone else possesses a more advanced knowledge of certain systems than oneself does." He watched how Sarah's fingers brushed over the broken systems. "Just think about it; a single probe, equipped with an advanced system of nano-machines. It could use them to multiply itself and then start to construct a base or a vessel or even a whole city!" Now he sounded truly excited and Sarah didn't want to interrupt him when the fried circuits seemed to repair themselves right before their eyes.

"And not only that! The Zerg can communicate over long distances with each other. The Purifiers are Protoss, yet they are not bound to a single body! They could travel through the stars, follow that probe and settle down on that world with ease. And maybe this is only the beginning. Maybe, one day, other Protoss too could use this technology. Maybe they could upload their minds to our machines like the Purifiers do, and maybe that way a Protoss could travel through space and upload his or her mind into a Purifier's sentinel on another world! Physical distance would no longer have any meaning!" Even though Sarah only listened with one ear to what Karax told her, she understood the implications of what he was talking about. And she realized that not many would look at it the same way Karax did.

She had either picked up a dreamer and maniac, or a true visionary.

 **That is an ambitious dream, Karax, one not many** **people** **share.** she then said to him and she could feel how he mentally sighed.

"Yes, I know." he replied. "And I know that many people are afraid of it. They only see the teeth and claws and think that it is everything you need to know."

 **But you know more, don't you, Karax.** Again, it was no question. Karax watched how Sarah repaired the broken system by just using her psionic abilities. As a Zerg, she had been able to manipulate strains of DNA with nothing but her mind. But now she was able to rearrange the molecules and atoms inside those cables and boards almost at will. Almost. It was still tricky as hell and she was kinda new to this.

"I would never claim to know more than others. Everyone is a master at something else. The Hierarch is a great tactician and knows more about what it means to be a Templar than anyone else I have ever met. But he...he..."

 **He is no scientist.**

Karax lowered his gaze.

"Yes. He does possess an open mind, though. At least for a Templar. Others are not as open to new ideas as he is, like Executor Selendis for example. And others like Alarak would only use that knowledge for their own selfish reasons. I never thought that I would get the chance to study this technology. Not until you and Lady Izsha arrived on Saalok. I guess I am truly blessed with meeting you that day and-"

 **No, Karax.** Sarah interrupted him and stood up. The system was operational again, and as Karax looked at it, it seemed as if it was brand-new. She didn't dare to turn around and look him into the eyes. He was a sentient being, and the only reason why he felt gratitude was because Sarah had effectively lobotomized him. Karax was the living proof of her own failure and a part of her mind told her that it would be the best to end him. She would do it swiftly, he wouldn't suffer. And if there was truly a higher plane of existence where all Protoss would go after death, then he would surely be welcomed by his kind. Sarah floated away, her body pulsing with raw energy.

"Lady Kerrigan? Is something wrong? Did I say something that caused you discomfort?" Oh God, why did he have to be so submissive towards everything she said? It made it even harder. She floated past him and pointed with her finger behind her.

 **You should check the system now. Perhaps I made a mistake. You are the professional here after all.** That was only partially true. Sarah knew that she hadn't done any mistake. The systemwas working again, and it was better than new. However, listening to Karax was painful, because it was a constant reminder of her own failure. She could have avoided this tragedy if she had only been more careful.

"As you wish, Milady." Karax then said and walked up to the hatch. She stayed behind him and waited until he had knelt down and started to inspect the system. Sarah then turned around and raised her hand. She pointed her palm at Karax and reached out with her mind.

"Hmm...it all seems fine. This is truly remarkable!" Karax said while Sarah looked at him with the eyes of a godlike entity. She didn't even see the whole body right now. Instead, she could see the molecules that his body was made of. She could do it, she could sense the atomic bonds that kept his body together. And she was certain that she could undo all of these bonds in an instant.

He would simply fall apart and turn into dust immediately. He wouldn't even realize what was going on. It was a merciful death, wasn't it? Quickly, clean, and he wouldn't even have time to feel pain or be afraid. Not many could hope to find such an end.

Artanis would probably be pleased as well. That way, Karax would be free from Sarah's control. Oh, who was she kidding; no matter what she would do, Artanis would always hate every damn bone inside her body for the rest of all times. If she would kill Karax and Artanis would find out, he would hate her for that. If she would keep Karax alive and he would find out, he would hate her for doing that too.

She watched how Karax studied the fixed system and wondered what he wanted to do. It was hard to say since she had changed his mind for good.

She had done it so many times.

Put your finger on the trigger.

Pull it down.

End a life.

So many times.

Take a deep breath, hold it, take aim. And shoot.

And later she had sliced her way through her enemies.

Feel the rage inside your chest, smell the blood of your enemies and dig your claws and teeth into their flesh.

Primal.

Feral.

Free.

The result had always been the same; death. However, she had never felt what she was feeling right now. She felt guilty. Taking a life shouldn't be this hard. She had done it too many times. But when she had Karax's life literally in her hand, she hesitated.

 _You are more than that. The lives that you have taken do not define you._ her own voice suddenly spoke to her again, and Sarah sighed. Right, just when she had forgotten about that one...

 _You can choose your own path. Just trust your instincts._

Her instincts, huh? The same kind of instincts that told her to kill, maim, and destroy?

 _No._ the voice told her firmly, which was somewhat surprising to Sarah. _That wasn't you. That was never you. The real you is different. It is kind and gentle, you just have to accept._

Sarah wanted it to stop. Whatever this voice was, it was starting to become bothersome. She assumed that it was something that was a leftover from her short trip to Ulnar, a piece of her mind that tried to haunt her. Who knew, maybe it was her subconsciousness that had learned to speak for itself.

She had experienced weirder stuff.

Yet, as she stared at Karax's back, ready to take his life, she could sense that this voice had a point.

She couldn't. She couldn't do it.

Not anymore, no more killing. It was the easy way, wasn't it? That's what Jim would probably tell her. And so, she lowered her hand and watched how Karax shook his head in amazement.

"You truly have to teach me how you have done this, Lady Kerrigan!" he just said.

Maybe...this wasn't such a bad idea. Instead of ending him, she could help him to at least learn about the things he always considered "fascinating". Sarah had no idea what she should do, but when Karax looked over his shoulder, she could sense his curiosity.

She should probably worry about something else right now. About someone else, to be more precise. However, all she could do was to wait and see what would happen next. She sighed and realized that her other options were somewhat limited. So instead she floated back towards Karax and pointed her finger at the system.

 **When I reach out with my senses, I can feel the molecules and atoms. And how they're all bonded to each other.** Sarah explained to him. His eyes widened when he heard that.

"So that means that you can rearrange an object from the inside? Could you show me?" There it was again, that childlike glee. Sarah sighed again and nodded.

 **You better watch carefully, Karax. 'Cause I don't do it for the fun of it. Here, take a look.** She then pointed at another broken system and started to reach out with her senses. Karax watched in amazement how everything returned the way it was. He watched carefully and studied every tiny detail. It would be a lie if he said that he understood any of this. But maybe one day?

 **By rearranging the molecules, I can return this to its original state, as long as there's enough material present. By that...** Sarah then started to explain. And Karax listened to every damn word.

A few meters away from them was an observation window. From the inside of the ship, Izsha watched how Sarah explained something to Karax like a teacher would. Her Majesty's closest advisor observed how the two talked about this and that.

Whatever her Queen would have done, she would have accepted it. Even if that had meant the death of Karax. However, her Queen had decided to spare his life. The old Queen of Blades would have ended him with a smirk on her face. The new Queen of Blades would probably have killed him as well, only without the smirk. But now?

It was like Izsha had said before; Zerg always evolve and change. It is the one thing that made them Zerg. And this Queen of hers? She was changing as well, and Izsha could hardly wait what kind of Queen she would become.

A smile appeared on Izsha's face when she watched the scene in front of her eyes.

"I still owe you an answer, my Queen." she then said to herself. "And that answer is yes. Yes, I shall never leave your side."

* * *

"Admiral, Sir! His Majesty will have time for you shortly. He is almost done." the secretary said with a friendly look on his face. Matt looked at the secretary and then at the crowd of big and muscular men standing in front of the Emperor's office. Bodyguards, and a whole lot of 'em. Matt recognized that half of the men in this room belonged to the Imperial Palace's security force. The other half...looked like Smith, only a lot less dangerous. Their biceps were thicker as Matt's head, and they looked like a bunch of gorillas wearing expensive suits. Here's a tip; if you deal with bodyguards, _professional_ bodyguards, you shouldn't be worried about the ones with the huge muscles, but the skinny ones.

"Seems like his Majesty has some important guests. Anyone I should know about?" The secretary just shook her head when he heard that question.

"I am sorry, but I can't tell you anything about this. The people who are currently talking to his Imperial Majesty do not wish to be seen with him right now, at least not in public."

 _Say what?_

"Say what?" Matt repeated his own thoughts.

"It is nothing personal, I assure you that." the secretary explained. "But at least one of his Majesty's guests do not wish to be seen here. It could prove problematic for his business."

"Wait, who the hell are we talking about here anyway?" Matt wanted to know, but the secretary just shook his head.

"I am sorry, but I cannot tell you that. It is-"

"Yeah, yeah, the Imperial Palace's official policy. You do know who I am, right?" Matt mumbled. He didn't want to sound like an arrogant jerk, but if the most important and closest advisor of the Emperor wasn't able to get this information, then who could?

"Of course, Admiral Horner. But orders are orders. And I cannot tell you who's currently inside that office."

"You know, I can still ask the Emperor directly. You do realize that." Matt then added, but all the secretary did was to give him another creepy smile.

"Of course you can do that, Admiral, but I will not answer this question. You will have to wait for the Emperor himself to tell you." Suddenly Lieutenant Hernandez didn't seem so bad as an adjutant anymore.

"Can I at least get a coffee?" Matt muttered and the secretary nodded.

"Of course, Admiral. I will call for someone to bring you a coffee immediately. In the meantime, why won't you have a seat?" The secretary then pointed his fingers at a few chairs in front of the Emperor's office. Matt just sighed and wondered if there were at least some magazines lying around.

The short answer?

There weren't any magazines.

However, the coffee was actually damn good. Matt waited in front of the office for what felt like hours. Ha, it was actually somewhat funny. The last time someone had let him wait had been a really long time ago. Now it felt like that one time, back when he had been with the Raiders when both he and Jim had tried to get several tons of penicillin from a pirate. Not by fighting, but by negotiating. He had spent almost two days inside the outer office of the pirate before they had finally reached an agreement. Of course, the _agreement_ had meant to blow up the pirate's base while Jim had managed to steal all of the penicillin shortly before that.

Matt had never met a pirate with his own outer office ever again.

That guy had even had a parrot.

The day outside was coming to an end, and the sun was about to set when the door was finally opened.

"...honesty of my offer. I understand if you have to think about it some more time, but I hope that you will look at it the same way I do; as a chance." Valerian said and stepped out of his office. The first man who followed him was someone Matt had never seen before. He was a middle-aged man of average height. The only thing that was interesting about him was the relieved expression on his face. The other man, however...

"Oh, damn." Matt whispered when he saw the bulky figure. He had never personally met that man before, but he recognized the face. Of course, he knew what Tacitus Samson looked like, even though the man rarely showed his face in public. But when you're supposed to lead a nation, you have to know who the most influential people are. And this guy? He was the biggest shark in the pond.

"Your offer is certainly... _interesting_." Samson then said. He walked out of the office and didn't bother to shake Valerian's hand. The look on his face was strange. On the one hand, it seemed as if he didn't like Valerian one bit. Yet at the same time, it appeared as if he was still thinking about what Valerian had told him.

Speaking of which; what the hell _had_ Valerian told him anyway?

"However, I will require some time to let my people look through your numbers. I am certain that you understand that. An endeavor of this size and magnitude is nothing you can simply wish to happen. It needs to be examined first." Samson explained to Valerian with a cold tone in his voice.

"Of course it does. Still, I believe that you too will see the benefits of this endeavor. And to show you my good faith, I will give you a full week to have your people to look over my plans before I will approach other people who might be interested in this business endeavor." Valerian then replied. Samson straightened himself, and for a second he looked like someone had taken a dump on his cornflakes, but he just took a deep breath before he answered.

"I understand. Now excuse me, there are other things I need to take care of. Emperor Mengsk, Mr. Trenton. Have a nice day." he declared, yet his voice sounded like he wished for them to die in a tragic accident. When he turned around and walked out of the room, half of the bodyguards followed him. In the end, only Valerian's bodyguards remained, and when Samson and his crew were gone, Matt could see how Valerian's people sighed in relief.

"Man, those guys are dicks..." a female bodyguard whispered next to Matt. It was Valerian who gave her an answer. But it was an answer no one expected.

"I doubt that. They probably swallowed so many anabolic drugs that there isn't much going on down there anyway." Valerian explained and everyone looked at each other both in surprise and a bit of shock. However, that moment only lasted for a few seconds before the people started to chuckle.

"That's not funny, people." Valerian then said, but the huge grin on his face showed that he wasn't serious about it. "Anabolic drugs can do a lot of harm and cause your brain and testicles to shrink. Makes you wonder if those two things _are_ indeed one and the same." Now the bodyguards weren't able to suppress their laughter. But Valerian just shook their head. "I don't understand why you're laughing about this!" he continued, but he too had a hard time suppressing his laugh. "By the way, what's the official position regarding anabolic drugs?" he then wanted to know and looked over to the secretary, but the man just shook his head.

"I, uhm, I am sorry, your Majesty, but I don't know."

"Well, it would be nice if you could find it out. It's no rush though. I just want to know if I should brace myself for big, muscular men with boobs on their chest." Now the bodyguards couldn't help themselves anymore. Some started to laugh out loud, some managed to only giggle. But everyone seemed to be truly enjoying this moment until Valerian turned serious again and turned towards the other man.

"Mr. Trenton, I want to thank you so much for coming here today. You were a great help, and I truly appreciate what you did for me. And for the Dominion." Trenton. Trenton. Trenton. Matt recognized the name from somewhere, but he couldn't really tell from where.

"Your Majesty, please, that isn't necessary. I could hardly say no to your invitation. And it was an honor to help you." When Valerian offered his hand to Trenton, the man seemed to hesitate for a second before he finally grabbed it.

"Nonsense. I truly value your opinion, and I think we were a good team today." Valerian then said and it made Matt wonder just what the Emperor had offered to Samson. He even felt a little sting in his chest when he realized that Valerian had decided something without consulting the Admiral first.

 _Don't take yourself so goddamn important, Matt. You're not the only fish in the pond._ Matt thought to himself. It was only natural that Valerian had more than one advisor. It was actually a good sign, that way he wouldn't only listen to Matt's suggestions.

Besides, what did Matt know about the economy anyway?

"Well, I have to admit, the look on Samson's face when you explained your offer to him was truly priceless. That alone was worth the trip." Trenton chuckled.

"Oh, I do hope that it will be worth a lot more. But I don't want to keep you here forever. I guess you too have to ask your people to run some numbers on what I offered to you."

"Yes, but I won't need a week. Let me assure you; there are countless other business-people who would _kill_ for such an opportunity. And I'm not exaggerating." Trenton explained to him. "I know at least five men who would accept your offer in an instant. Samson may act like an iceberg, but he will come around. He can't afford to ignore this offer. It would make him look like an idiot, and that's something he will never allow to happen."

"I certainly hope that you're right. Forgive me if I have to end our conversation now, but I still need to talk with the Admiral." Valerian then said and looked over at Matt.

"Oh, I understand. Besides, it is getting late and I think we achieved a lot for one day." Trenton agreed and both men said goodbye to each other like they were old friends. When Trenton left the office, no bodyguards followed him. So, he had come alone here, that was interesting.

"Looks like you've been busy." Matt mumbled when Trenton was finally gone. Valerian sighed and went back into his office.

"Come in, Matt. I want to collapse on the floor." The Admiral did as he was told, and when he closed the door of Valerian's office behind him, he watched how the Emperor threw himself on his chair and put his feet on his desk.

"Man, that was some crazy stuff..." Valerian whispered. Matt sat down on one of the two chairs standing in front of the desk and pulled his brows up.

"What was that all about?" he wanted to know.

"An attempt to fix several things at once." Valerian explained.

"Sounds ambitious." Matt said. "What did you do?"

"Trying to solve three crises at once. I talked to Leila, uhm, I mean Ambassador Curtland." Matt saw how Valerian's cheeks turned red when he spoke about the Ambassador. "Apparently, my advisors did not tell me that the current food crisis inside the Combine is a lot more serious than I thought it was. If we won't be able to improve the food situation within the next twelve to eighteen months, people might starve. Again."

"So, you want to do something about it?" Matt asked and Valerian nodded.

"Yes, but given the history between the Dominion and the Combine, I figured that it would be better to find a solution that doesn't involve the Dominion itself. Or at least none of our institutions." Valerian leaned back and closed his eyes. "Anyway, I called Trenton and Samson here to make them an offer; to invest in companies inside the Combine. The deal is simple; they get full tax refunds for any kind of investment they make and have only to pay half of the standard tax rate for all of their revenue should they decided to transfer it back into the Dominion. If they decide to reinvest it somewhere in the Combine, they don't have to pay that tax at all." When Matt heard that, his eyes widened in surprise.

"That sounds like the wet dream of any rich guy." he said and Valerian chuckled when he heard that.

"When I told this to Samson, he told me that I'm an idiot and that I'm just wasting his time."

"How did you convince that guy anyway?" Matt wanted to know.

"I didn't. It was Trenton. His company is perfect for this kind of job, and his people possess the know-how to make this work. What he needs is someone who keeps his back clear and who will provide him with the funds. And that is the third idea that I had; we won't put any strain on our budget because the corporate sector will do it."

"When did you come up with that plan?!" Matt asked, both surprised and impressed. "And when did you turn into an expert in economics?" Now Valerian started to laugh.

"Hahaha...oh, I'm no expert in economics. But I think I finally found someone who is." the Emperor then declared. "Samson and Trenton are as different as day and night, but their ideas and solutions are truly fascinating. We should have done that a lot earlier, you know?"

"There are a lot of things we should have done a lot earlier." Matt muttered and Valerian opened his eyes again. He remembered where he was and put his feet back on the ground.

"You're right. But with everything that has happened, I think we need to start solving one problem at a time. And if this thing works, we might solve three problems at once." Valerian sighed and looked at Matt. "I realized something, Matt. We made a mistake, all of us did. We allowed others to make the call for us. We were pushed around and forced to make decisions that we didn't believe in. How about we start to lead and make our own mistakes from now on? We need to act and take the initiative."

"That sounds so stupid, it could actually work." Matt declared and Valerian laughed again.

"I know, right? What can possibly go wrong?"

"Oh God, that's the godmother of all jinxes, you're aware of that, right?" Matt then laughed too.

"Maybe. But that's not why I called you here. By the way; what's wrong with that Hernandez-lady I spoke to. Is she a civilian?" Valerian suddenly wanted to know. Matt froze for a second before he sighed.

"Uhm...no. Not exactly. Lieutenant Hernandez is my new adjutant. And no, that's not a joke. It's a long story, one that I will gladly tell you. But not today. I think my head would explode if I would do that."

"Speaking of adjutants; how's Brent?" Valerian suddenly wanted to know.

"Better. I think. Hernandez told me that the hospital can start treating his wounds soon. But it's still too early to throw a party." When Valerian heard that, he leaned forward and put his arms on the desk. He tried to make eye contact with Matt.

"Matt, listen." he then began. "About Brent, about that party...something happened back then, I know it. I heard how a lot of the guards were certain that the guests had been killed. If so many people see the same thing, it usually means that there is something true about that story." Valerian took a deep breath.

"I still need to address the public. They expect a speech. And I intend to tell them what truly happened. Minus the "attackers from the Combine"-part. But Matt, what did happen?" Suddenly Matt's good mood vanished. Oh yeah, he knew what had happened. Point is; should he really tell Valerian about it? About Sarah's return?

About his plan?

Short answer: Yes.

Short but complex answer: Yes, but not now.

"Sorry, Valerian. But I can't tell you what's going on. Not yet anyway." he told the Emperor. Valerian seemed to be baffled for a second, but he managed to remain calm.

"I want to be honest, Matt, that's not the answer I was expecting. Matt, what's going on?" he continued to ask. But Matt clenched his hands into fists and lowered his gaze. He knew that Valerian had the authority to order him to spill his beans.

"Valerian, I know that you want answers. But not now. I can't. Not yet."

"I could order you to tell me the truth. You know that." Matt nodded when he heard that.

"I know."

"So, what would you do if I order you to tell me, Admiral?"

"I would refuse."

There was a long moment of silence, and all Valerian did was to frown. When the Emperor finally started to speak again, Matt felt how a cold chill ran down his spine.

"I trust you, Matt. I really do. And I won't force you to tell me what's going on. But I want you to understand one thing; keeping secrets was something my father did all the time. I made a promise to myself that I would not end up like him, bitter and alone. Matt, _secrets_ will turn you into a lonely man." Now it was Matt's turn to take a deep breath.

"Valerian, I want to tell you what's going on. But not now. I need more time. I can only give you my promise that you will hear the truth from me one day. But not until everything is said and done." Being cryptic is not nearly as much fun as you might think it is. And so Matt decided to give Valerian one small hint.

"All I can say that it's about Jim." When Valerian heard that, he leaned back and thought about it for a few moments. Then he finally nodded.

"Okay. Okay, I believe you. And I won't bother you again. But once this thing is done, I want you to tell me. Is that understood?"

Matt wasn't angry or hurt. Valerian was still the Emperor, and even though both men considered each other to be friends, someone had to be in charge. And Valerian had most of the arguments on his side.

"I will." Matt just replied. Valerian then sighed and shook his head.

"I guess you came here for nothing then. That's basically the only thing I wanted to ask of you. Guess we could have done that with a simple call." the Emperor muttered.

"Actually, I wanted to come here and ask a favor of you. Or two favors, to be exact." When Matt said that, Valerian pulled his brows up.

"Uh...what?"

"There are two things I need from you, Valerian. Don't worry, it's nothing hard. But it's something only you can provide."

"I don't think I'm going to like that, am I?" Valerian groaned.

"Probably not. But don't worry, it will be fun. If you will be able to remember anything."

"This is getting better and better." the Emperor said. "What is it.

"Well, I need you. Tomorrow, to be exact. There's something I have to do, and I could use your help. Like I said; you don't have to worry. It _should_ be fun. Just make sure that you don't have any appointments tomorrow and the day after that."

"Maaaaaatt? What is this about?"

"Don't worry, it will be fun. Someone will pick you up and take you to the Hyperion."

"Hyperion?" Valerian asked surprised. "Matt, what are you up to?" But Matt just shook his head.

"Sorry, it's a secret. But don't worry, you will see what I have planned soon enough." Then Matt finally stood up and straightened himself. "Maybe you should wear something comfortable though. And something that you can clean easily. Or throw away afterward."

"That sounds like fun." Valerian replied dryly. "But you said something about two favors. What else do you need?" Now a grin appeared on Matt's face.

"I need the most expensive and exquisite bottle of wine you have in your possession."


	52. Act II - Chapter 28

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 28**

 **Here's to us!**

* * *

Jim felt sick. And old. Every bone in his body was aching, and when he looked into the mirror, he could see an old and tired man. One that had reached the end of the line. Two days had passed since his, well, mental breakdown. Men like him usually were very eager to hide those signs of weakness. If you work with tough men and women on a daily basis, you have to show no fear and doubts. It was the old "alpha-male"-story. Be the biggest shark in the pond or shut up and fall in line. Many of his Raiders had been idealists, but not all of them. For every guy like Matt, Jim had commanded at least two guys like Tychus; crooks and thugs that had only joined their little freak show because the Raiders had offered them a bed, warm food and a reason to shoot at Dominion soldiers.

And let's not forget the mercenaries. Those guys had been the worst. We're not talking about the professionals, but the wannabes. You always have to act like you're the toughest son of a gun in the entire galaxy in order to earn their "respect".

Jim had played this role for almost his entire life. For many years he had even believed that he truly was a badass. Fight hard, drink a lot, flirt with the ladies, you know, the usual stuff. However, at one Jim had realized that he had just fooled himself. He wasn't meant for this kind of life. He didn't want to live like that. He had realized that when he had met Liddy, and then again when their son had been born. Some would call it boring, but he had finally found what he had always wanted; a home and a family.

Hadn't worked out so great, now had it?

Too bad that people will always remember you for the stupid stuff you've done in the past. Even though a lot of the Raiders had followed him because he had fought for a better world, they had only done it because he had acted like a tough and rugged soldier, one who would never quit, no matter what.

However, every journey ends someday. Everybody reaches the point where they can't go on anymore, where they have to admit that it had all been nothing but an act.

Jim wasn't embarrassed anymore. He knew that Smith had watched him crying. And neither did he care that Matt knew about it. In the end, it didn't really matter anymore. He looked at his own image in the mirror and frowned.

"You sure have seen better days, old boy." he whispered to himself. "Whadda'ya think, Sarah? Not much left of the man you once loved, hmm?" But Sarah's voice didn't answer. Even though he knew that it had just been a hallucination, it had been _his_ hallucination. He stared at his own image for what felt like hours, though it were probably only minutes. The edges of the mirror started to turn steamy. The shower was still running and the hot water was raising the temperature inside the bathroom to sauna levels.

It was a colossal waste of hot water, but Jim didn't care. The hot and humid air felt good on his skin, and it helped him with his aching bones. The years of fighting had taken their toll on his body. If you mistreat yourself like Jim had, you will have to pay the price one day. It was especially bad when it was cold. His scars started to ache and his head started to pulse in pain.

If this was what getting old felt like, then he was glad that he had not that many years ahead of him anymore. The thought of spending the next 20+ years like this was simply unbearable.

Jim groaned and pressed his hand against his chest. Those damn pains, they simply wouldn't go away. It was especially bad after getting up. His lungs burned like fire and then he started to cough. It was a sick, wet cough, one that made you shudder when you heard it. And the stuff that left his throat? Jim had no idea what it was, but he didn't really want to know it anyway. He looked into the sink and saw the dark substance. It almost looked like tar, mixed with his own blood. Perhaps all that smoking hadn't been so clever after all.

Almost every breath was painful, and once he had freed his lungs from that stuff, he felt so tired that wanted to return to the bed immediately. And this happened every morning.

It hadn't been that bad until the Christmas party. All that action and fighting had been too much for his bruised and exhausted body. He probably should go and see a doctor, but what could those guys tell him? That he was dying? Boo Hoo.

He wasn't afraid of death. And he was bored with his life. He wouldn't just hang around in order to please Matt or anyone else. The only one who could have changed that wasn't around anymore...

Jim opened the faucet and flushed the stuff down the drain. There was no need for anyone to see it. If Smith would find out, he would only tell Matt. And the Admiral would then have someone clone a new pair of lungs immediately.

When Jim was done, he turned off the shower and the faucet and prepared for the day. He put on some clothes and when he left the bathroom, Smith was already waiting for him.

"Mr. Raynor. I hope you have slept well."

"Hnnnn." was the only thing Jim replied. He simply walked past Smith and out of his bedroom. He knew where he had to go, what was expected of him. If he wouldn't do it, Smith wouldn't stop bothering him anyway. Both men walked down the staircase and when they entered the kitchen, his breakfast was already waiting for him. He sat down at the table and a member of the kitchen staff poured some hot and black coffee into his cup. Even though Jim hated this place, there was one thing that was excellent, and that was the coffee. He should probably not be drinking this stuff, considering his poor health. However, that coffee was just what he needed right now. Not only did he enjoy the feeling of the hot liquid streaming down his throat, but after one cup his headache usually started to fade away.

The breakfast was good. No, not good. It was _exquisite_. Old man Mengsk had employed the best of the best. The cook was probably a not just any random ship's cook. Everything Jim ate was both fresh and of the finest quality.

Jim Raynor wasn't exactly a breakfast-guy. The only thing he wanted was one warm meal a day. But he had to admit; he had gotten used to these breakfasts.

No one said a word until Jim was finished. Smith just waited next to the door, like he always did. When Jim was done, he stopped and a pained expression appeared on his face. This time it weren't his lungs, this time it were his muscles that screamed in protest.

"Mr. Raynor, are you alright?" Smith asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Just a bit stiff." Jim lied. "The damn bed is simply too soft for my tender young bones." He then straightened himself and groaned. Maybe he should spend the rest of the day in the bathtub. There was even a holoscreen in the bath, he could watch all the shows he had never cared for before.

"Tell you what, Smith, I would like to go out for a walk." Jim instead said.

"That sounds like a good idea. Do you wish to drive somewhere else or should we go from here?"

"Actually..." Jim told Smith. "...I wanted to go alone. You can stay here, don't worry, I won't get lost or anything." But when he saw the look on Smith's face (or the lack of any look), he realized that even a lone walk through the landscape would prove to be difficult.

"I will accompany you, Sir." Smith explained. Jim stepped back from the table and walked over to the door.

"I'm a big boy, Smith. You don't have to look after me and make sure that my shoelaces are done up." The moment those words left Jim's mouth, he could see how Smith's eyes wandered down to the older man's shoes.

"You did not just check if my shoelaces are untied, did you?" Jim growled.

"I cannot confirm or deny this, Sir." Smith just replied, and Jim shook his head both in anger and frustration.

"Bah, just let me through. I need some fresh air." Jim barked and walked towards the door.

"Of course, Sir. I will, however, stay close to you."

"Do what you want. It's not like I have anything to say about my life anymore anyway." Jim growled and walked through the door and out of the kitchen. Smith followed him like a shadow. A very quiet, very deadly shadow. Most people would probably consider it highly unnerving if a Ghost would shadow them, but Jim was used to that. In fact, he and Ghosts went along pretty well and...

Ah, who was he kidding? Nova and Tosh hadn't exactly turned out to be reliable allies. There had only been one Ghost that had been a true friend, and even more than that.

Sarah...

Jim put his hands into his pockets when he walked out of the villa. It was cold and he wore only some pants, boots, an undershirt, and a sweater. It was still planetary winter, and when he stepped out into the cold, he shivered and could see how his breath became visible right in front of his face.

"Sir, maybe you should grab a coat. It is cold out there." Smith then said, but Jim just ignored him. It was a cold, yes. But just like hot and humid was good for his skin, cold and dry helped his aching bones. He took a deep breath, which turned out to be a mistake. When the cold, clean air cut deep into his bronchi, the oxygen burned through his lungs and he had to cough several times. Like before it was an ugly sound of a wet and sick cough. Smith, of course, noticed that and decided to come closer when Jim continued to puke his lungs out. The older man pressed his hand against his mouth and he felt something wet coming out of his throat.

"Sir? Are you alright?" Smith asked and put his hand on Jim's shoulder. The former freedom fighter managed to calm down and nodded. When he pulled his hand back, he could see something red on his palm. He immediately put his hand into his pocket in order to hide the blood from Smith.

"Ye...*cough*...yes. I'm fine." he lied. Of course, Jim knew that Smith would report this to Matt, but he just didn't care. Not anymore. So instead, he simply decided to take a walk.

The area around the villa was pretty much only barren wasteland. Korhal was still suffering from the nuclear bombardment the old Confederacy had performed on this world all those years ago. Most of the planetary fauna and flora had been affected. But that didn't mean that Korhal was dead. It was only _mostly_ dead.

At least there weren't any Zerg around. And that was a goddamn miracle. Usually, if Zerg invade a world, they would always stay a part of it. If Jim remembered correctly, the Protoss were still trying to purge the feral Zerg from Aiur. And even though he wished Artanis only the best, he had his doubts that they would succeed.

Jim had no real target location in mind when he started to walk down the dusty path that led away from the villa. It didn't take long for him to be out of breath, though. This place wasn't much above water level, yet when Jim started to walk up a small hill, he could feel how that burning sensation inside his lungs returned. It was utterly pathetic. A few days ago, he had been able to fight some guys a lot fitter than him. But it appeared as if this fight had been a bad idea. It seemed as if his body was failing him fast.

When he had finally climbed the hill, he felt utterly exhausted. And not only that. Aside from his burning lungs, he felt dizzy and sweated like crazy.

"Mr. Raynor, perhaps we should go back to the villa. You don't look so good." Smith said behind him. Jim looked over his shoulder and realized that Smith wasn't sweating at all. Bah, kids these days.

"And you think I would look better once I would go back to bed and sleep like a good old fart should?" Jim snarled at Smith. He didn't want to sound like an ass. He knew that Smith was just doing his job. However, at the same time, Jim had run out of patience. He wasn't some kind of vegetable you could simply pull out of the fridge when you needed it.

"That's not what I meant, Sir." Smith then said. "But maybe we should make another appointment with a doctor. It seems that you're not doing well. Maybe we should look for another doctor and-"

"No doctors, Smith. And just do me a favor and be quiet, will you?" Jim growled. "I just want to be left alone. Is this so hard to understand?" The hill was actually a nice location to sit down and look at the landscape. And Jim knew that he wouldn't be able to climb the next hill. So he sat down on one of the dusty rocks and stared into the distance.

"Sir, I understand your feelings. But there are still people who need you and don't want to see you suffer." Smith tried to reason with him. It only caused Jim to produce a bitter laugh.

"Friends, right. Like who? Matt? Or Valerian? They're busy with their own lives." He took a deep breath and then looked over at Smith. "Let me tell you something, buddy. When you feel like it's time to leave, don't hesitate. We all have a purpose in life, something we have to do. But once that duty is over, we have to move on and find another reason to live. That's my failure. I failed to find a new purpose. Heh, maybe I even refused to find a new purpose, unlike Matt and Valerian. Hell, even Swann knows what he wants to do." Jim took another deep breath, but he regretted that immediately when the cold air burned inside his wounded lungs. He coughed again and leaned forward in order to ease the pain in his chest.

Smith frowned when he saw that. This man wouldn't last another six months.

"I asked for this job." Smith suddenly said. When Jim had finally stopped coughing, he looked up to his bodyguard.

"What?"

"I asked for this job." Smith then repeated. "To be your bodyguard."

"Seriously? Why?" Jim asked, even though he didn't really want to know the truth. Smith would probably only tell him something that was supposed to make him feel better. Smith knelt down next to him and looked into the distance.

"I never worked as a Ghost-operative." Smith mumbled. "After my...graduation...I was assigned to protect several important people. It was back when the Confederacy was still in power. It was strange at first; I had trained for years to assassinate people, yet I was only used as a bodyguard." He then did something he had never done before; Smith took off his sunglasses and looked at the horizon.

"I never had many friends. We Ghosts aren't exactly party people. But there were two or three other Ghosts that I liked. I suppose they were the closest thing to a family I ever had." Smith explained. "When the Confederacy fell, we all ended up somewhere else. Some of us stayed with the Confederacy until it was swallowed up by the Dominion. I was one of those guys. Others decided to not join the Dominion, and either became mercenaries or died fighting for the now defunct Confederacy." Smith shook his head when he told that part of the story.

"A war between Ghosts?" Jim asked, but his bodyguard just shook his head.

"Hardly. Like said; I'm just a level three operative. We never trained or worked with anyone above level five. Those guys were the real deal. But there were plenty of us, even though I only kept track of a few of my old comrades. Sometimes I got letters or messages. Some tried to find their old families again. Others simply vanished. But there were a few who had actually decided to join a certain freedom fighter in order to fight the Dominion." Now Jim shook his head.

"I worked with Ghosts from time to time." That was probably the understatement of the century. "I think I would have known if these guys had been under my command."

"You probably didn't notice it because they were like me; barely able to use their psionic abilities. I read your file, I know that you worked with and against the two single most powerful Ghosts the program has ever produced." So he knew about Sarah. Hmm, didn't change anything in the end, now did it?

"Are they still around?" Jim wanted to know. Maybe Smith could provide him with a few names. Names that he would recognize. But Smith shook his head.

"The last time I got a message from them was before your attack on Char. After that...nothing."

"Sorry to hear that." Jim mumbled. So Smith hated him because he was responsible for his buddies' death?

"That's war." Smith just said. "We were trained to fight and die should anyone order it. That was our only purpose. And I never questioned that purpose. Even now most of us still just think that way. But then I got those messages from the ones working for you." Jim knew that he wouldn't like it, but he would not run away from this either.

"What did they say." he wanted to know.

"That they finally felt like they were part of something bigger." his bodyguard explained. Jim looked over at Smith and seemed to be surprised.

"Say what?"

"It's true. Even though they were scared of the upcoming battle against the Zerg, they felt good because it was for the right purpose. For a good cause." Smith sighed when he said that. "I never truly thought about that. I was still guarding some fat and stupid inbred of former senator and didn't care about it. But then we received word from your victory on Char. Of course, the Dominion's propaganda was doing its best to cover the whole thing up. But I will never forget the look on their faces of my comrades that sent me those messages. Even though they were about to march to their death, they looked like they were happy. And then I finally realized it." he said.

"Realized what?" Jim wanted to know.

"They had things straightened out with themselves." Smith said and looked Jim into the eyes. "I don't know if you understand that, but for a Ghost, this is the ultimate goal. We were always trained to be nothing but killers. They made us do things during our training...horrible things. Guilt is an integral part of breaking a young trainee. They made us believe that we're less than human, that we're just a number. And when they release us from service, they don't really tell us how to deal with this crap either. That's why many decided to end their lives." He sighed. "But to see the look of hope on their faces...I couldn't stop thinking about it. And when I heard that you would join the Dominion, when I heard that you would come to Korhal, I asked for this position." Jim could see how Smith fixated him with his eyes.

"I wanted to see the legendary James Raynor with my own two eyes. I wanted to know what my comrades had seen in you."

"And? Disappointed much?" Jim growled, but Smith just shook his head and did another thing he had never done before; he smiled.

"No. On the contrary, I think I finally understand what they saw in you. But I have to be honest; it took me a while to see it. Only during the party, I finally managed to witness your true self." Smith got back up and put his sunglasses back on.

"When action called, you didn't hesitate. You led by example and you risked your own life for everyone else. Even though you took every stupid risk I could think of, even though you basically just stumbled from one firefight into the other, I still felt like it was the right thing to do. You inspired the people around you. And that's when I finally realized why my old comrades had joined you back then." Smith then straightened himself. He put his hand on his leg and Jim could see that the wound was still bothering him. "And it makes me wish that I had joined you back then."

"Then you would probably be dead, Smith." Jim told him.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. But I would have done something meaningful. You only know the good parts of me, Mr. Raynor. There's blood on my hand. Blood of innocents. And you're not the only one suffering from nightmares that haunt you every night." Now it was Smith who took a deep breath before he turned around and walked away.

"I will leave you alone now, Sir. Please don't do anything foolish. Shouldn't you be back in a few hours, I will call for a battlecruiser to look for you." With that Smith simply went away. Jim watched how his bodyguard became smaller and smaller until he was gone from sight. Well, at least now he could finally enjoy some peace and quiet.

But it wouldn't be quiet for long. A roaring sound reached his ears, and Jim recognized the sound immediately. At first, it was barely a whisper, but it soon became louder.

It was a dropship. And it was heading straight for the villa. Jim wasn't in the mood to go back. Whatever it was, it could wait.

But then Smith returned and when he reached Jim, he seemed to be just as baffled as the older man.

"Sir, you have to come with me. There's a dropship here for you. The Admiral wants to see you." he said to Jim, who groaned.

"Well, at least we don't have to take the car to Augustgrad." he just muttered, but then Smith shook his head.

"No, Sir. You won't go to Augustgrad. The pilot said that she's supposed to take you to the Hyperion."

* * *

The Hyperion looked almost exactly the way Jim remembered her. The only real difference was the fact that most of her navigation lights had been turned off. Only the lights that were truly needed still blinked, both the red and green ones. And as the dropship came closer, Jim could make out familiar features.

The Hyperion had been heavily modified by Swann and his people. Some additional plates of armor here, some fake turrets there. The ship possessed even a secret hangar that could store up to six additional Wraith-fighters for rapid deployment. The hanger itself was shielded from scanners. Truth to be told; they had only used it one time as a fighter hangar. Most of the time they had smuggled illegal stuff in it. Like booze, medicine, refugees. You know, the usual stuff.

The pilot didn't say much, and Jim was grateful for it. She landed her vessel in the primary hangar. There were two other dropships already waiting, and their pilots sat on a few crates near their ships. And they were...playing cards?

Perhaps Jim should have asked for more information, but even Smith hadn't been able to tell him anything else but "to get to da dropship!" Smith had remained behind, and Jim was glad about it. Not because he hated Smith, but because he was finally alone. Well, there was still the pilot, but that woman was like a mute. The landing was actually pretty smooth, he was used to much rougher landings. When the dropship came to a halt, the pilot opened its rear ramp and stood up.

"Sir, we have arrived. You may now leave the vessel."

"And do what? No one ain't told me nothin'!" Jim complained. The pilot stopped and pulled her helmet off.

"Is that even a sentence?" she wanted to know.

"It is now. What is going on here?" Jim then asked, but the pilot just shrugged her shoulders.

"Sorry, Sir. I was just ordered to bring you here. If you excuse me, I'm going to check my dropship now." She squeezed herself past Jim and walked down the ramp. Jim watched how she walked over to the other two pilots.

"What are you two jokers doing?" she said while laughing.

"What does it look like?" one pilot replied. "Got nothing else to do. Want to join? But be warned; we're playing with high stakes here."

"What's the stake?" the female pilot wanted to know.

"My integrity and Jeff's virginity." the first pilot then said. It caused the second pilot to look up.

"Hey!" he barked. "You don't have any integrity!"

"Call me in." Jim's pilot then said and sat down on another crate. For a moment, Jim thought about just staying inside the dropship and do nothing. He could also just steal this damn thing, he still knew how to pilot one of these. Hell, he once even had a dropship of his own. And not just any dropship. Swann had tuned that baby until it had been one of a kind.

Matt had told him that Sarah had used his dropship to go after him after Nova had caught him in Umojan space. He had no idea what Sarah had done with it afterward. It probably wasn't important anyway. Besides, right now he thought about taking _this_ dropship and use it to crush into the nearest moon.

But then he decided that today wouldn't be the day to commit suicide. He was back on the Hyperion, he might as well find out why Matt had called him here. And he could take a tour through his old vessel. Who knew, maybe it would help him to think of something else for a while. When he stepped out of the ship, one of the pilots looked over to him.

"Sir, I was ordered to tell you that you should head to the cafeteria. The Admiral and his guests are waiting there for you."

"Guests? What is this about?" Jim wanted to know, but the pilot just shrugged his shoulders.

"Beats me, Sir. That's all I was told. But you should better hurry, looks like the Admiral was really worried about something." Well, that didn't sound good. What did Matt need now? A hug? A kick in the butt? Both? Jim sighed. He really wasn't in the mood for this kind of crap. He remembered their talk that had turned into an all-out yelling contest. He had said a lot of things he hadn't meant like that. If anything, he could at least tell Matt that he was sorry about some of the things he had told him. Not anything, but some things. And so, Jim decided to do as he was told, even though it had started to get old ages ago.

At least no one tried to explain to him how to get to the cafeteria. And as he walked through the empty corridors, he felt a certain sense of nostalgia. It almost looked like he remembered it. But there was one thing missing; there wasn't anyone around. The whole ship was silent, it almost felt like a grave. And it was in bad shape. A ship of this size required constant maintenance. Even if you don't maintain it for just one month, things start to break. And if a system breaks on a vessel this big and complex, it affects other systems as well.

The Hyperion was leaking, there was rust everywhere, and half of the systems seemed to be inoperable. In a way, she was just like Jim's own body. She was about to fall into pieces.

Jim wasn't in a rush and he thought about going to the bridge first. But then he decided to head to the cafeteria. Whatever Matt wanted from him, it was important enough to call him up here. Bah, it had probably something to do with their other talk. Now Matt felt bad and wanted to apologize or something like that. Should that be the reason for calling Jim up here, he would just refuse to talk about it.

Inside his mind, he thought about all possible reasons for Matt to call him up here, and each reason caused his mood to drop even further. When he stood in front of the cafeteria's door, he could already hear some voices on the other side. And they were...yelling?

"Oh, this better be good." he growled to himself and pressed the open button next to the door. And when the door opened and he stepped inside, he couldn't believe his eyes.

"...rink, drink, drink, drink, drink, drink!" both Matt and Rory Swann yelled while they watched how Valerian was emptying a bottle of what looked like Swann's infamous moonshine with long and deep gulps. You could actually see the pained expression on Valerian's face, but he didn't give up. Instead, he managed to empty the entire bottle, much to Matt's and Swann's enjoyment. They cheered when he put the bottle on the table and grabbed his own throat.

"Oh God, it burnssssss!" Valerian managed to gurgle before he fell off his chair and started to roll over the dusty floor.

"Wohooo, kid! That's the spirit!" Swann cheered before he put another bottle on the table. "And now do it again!"

"He's right, Valerian!" Matt then said. "You can only stop after your skin starts to get numb." When Jim saw that display in front of him, he frowned.

"What the hell is going on here?" he then wanted to know. That's when both Matt and Swann looked over at him. And they looked like two Zerglings that had just found the juiciest steak in the entire galaxy.

* * *

Matt had to admit; seeing the Emperor rolling over the floor while gasping for air was actually pretty damn amusing. Perhaps he should have acted more like a professional (or an adult), but he was already too drunk to care about any of this. Swann's moonshine was many things. Like for example life-endangering. But it was also the most potent stuff Matt had ever tried or heard of. The thing is; this stuff is just bad. Bad for your health, bad for your throat, and bad for your long-term memory. However, it was hilarious to watch others suffering from it.

"What the hell is going on here?" a new voice suddenly reached his ears. Both he and Swann looked up, and when they spotted the man who had just entered the cafeteria, both of them started to grin like two sharks.

"Heyhey, look who it is! The great Commander Raynor has finally arrived. About damn time if you ask me!" Swann said. Jim was actually glad to see his old chief engineer again. It had been some time since they had talked to each other.

"I repeat my statement; what's going on here, Matt?" Jim demanded to know. Swann's head turned back to Matt and his eyes widened.

"Uuuuuhh...you didn't tell him? Bold move, shiny, bold move."

"Shiny?" Matt asked and Swann started to gesture with his hands.

"Yeah, that's my new name for you. Shiny! Because of all those shiny medals you wear. Well, that you usually wear." Right now, Matt wasn't wearing his uniform. Instead, he just wore normal pants and a sweater. He looked like a random guy from nowhere particular. And Jim had to admit; he couldn't remember the last time he had seen Matt wearing anything else but a uniform or some sort of formal attire.

Valerian, who was still laying on the floor, looked very un-Emperor-like. Unlike Matt, he wasn't even wearing normal pants or a sweater, but a gray jogging suit. He too looked like some random dude, not like the Emperor of the Dominion.

And the fact that he was rolling over the dusty floor of the cafeteria while gurgling in discomfort was not really helping either.

"Oh, God, it burns! It burns so much!" Valerian gargled. Jim pulled one brow up. He knew that feeling. Swann's moonshine was more than enough to make grown-up men beg for their mommies. And Jim knew what he was talking about.

"I don't even want to ask what this is about. And I'm pretty certain that I won't like the answer. But what in tarnation you think you doin' here?!" Jim then growled. Swann leaned backward and looked over at Matt.

"You tell him, he hates you anyway." he said with a big grin on his face.

"Thanks, Swann. You're a real pal, you know that?" Matt shot back before he too leaned back. He turned his gaze towards the gurgling mess that once had been a promising young Emperor, and tipped his foot against the younger man. Yet neither Matt nor Swann did seem to care about that.

"The Hyperion will leave tomorrow. Swann will take her to Meinhoff and from there I don't know where. And that made me thinkin'." Matt explained.

"Uuuh. That's dangerous." Swann mumbled and took another gulp from his bottle. "Better stop doin' that!" But Matt and Jim decided to ignore the drunken engineer.

"Valerian spent so much time on this ship, yet he never truly did become a member of the Raiders. This is pretty much the last chance we have. We got three Raiders and the Hyperion. Given everything that has happened in the last few months, I just wanted to do something for us. And for him. So yeah, how about it, Jim? Wanna introduce the boy to the Raiders, Raider-style?" Matt wanted to know with a grin on his face. It was brutally obvious that he too was drunk. Jim crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"If I remember correctly, then you said that filling someone up with Swann's moonshine was barbaric and should be banned. Besides, we don't have any tattooist with us. And you need that tattoo if I remember correctly. Even you have one, Matt." Jim said with an annoyed tone in his voice. This was ridiculous. He hadn't come here to watch how those three would get wasted.

"Actually..." Matt suddenly said while grinning like an idiot. "...Swann has prepared a little something." The Admiral looked over to Swann, who pulled a tattoo gun up from under the table.

"You gotta be shittin' me." Jim then said. "Are you guys out of your mind?"

"The short answer? Yesssss." Matt replied and had some more moonshine. Unlike Valerian, he wasn't screaming in pain, but judging from the expression on his face, it was rather painful.

"Oh man...oh hell...why did I agree to this..." Valerian panted and rolled on his back. He didn't look so good. Like someone who had just downed a bottle of industrial detergent.

"You didn't call me up here so I could witness how you destroy the Emperor both physically and mentally, now did you?" Jim then wanted to know.

"That might be one of my motivations, yes. But not the only one." Matt replied before he pointed his finger at a chair next to him. "Come on, have a drink. It's my treat."

"Actually..." Swann interrupted and pulled another bottle of his moonshine from under the table. Just how many of those things did he have down there? And how did he manage to hide them under the table anyway? "...that's my stuff. And you didn't give me any money!" he complained.

"I gave you a battlecruiser, Swann. I think that's worth some more bottles of your poison. Now hand me over the next bottle!" Matt then ordered

"YaddaYaddaYadda. Still a stick up your ass, I see. Here, take it and choke on it!" Swann mumbled and handed him another bottle. Matt turned to the table next to them and grabbed two (not very clean) glasses.

"Come on, Jim! Time to enjoy ourselves a bit!" Matt explained.

"You kept me away from any booze for almost two years. And now you want to share a drink with me?" Jim snarled. Matt's eyes widened and suddenly he looked like he had made a mistake.

"Jim, listen. I'm sorry for-"

"Shut up and fill up that glass." Jim interrupted him and sat down at their table. "And fill it to the brim." Even though Jim's expression was sour, Matt couldn't help but smile. He had expected Jim to yell at him, but it appeared as if this argument was already over. Phew, lucky him.

Matt knew that it was wrong to allow Jim to drink something with alcohol inside. Even though it was debatable if Swann's moonshine could truly be considered alcohol or just poison, it was still a bad idea to hand that stuff over to someone who was addicted to alcohol. They had managed to keep Jim clean for several months now. Every doctor would tell you that the last thing you should give to an alcoholic was a "good job on staying dry!"-beer.

But this was different. After today, Matt wouldn't have to worry about Jim's health anymore.

Hopefully.

"Haven't seen you in a while, Cowboy!" Swann said to Jim while Matt filled up their glasses. "It's good to see you, even though you look like crap. Oh, hey, by the way; Merry Christmas everyone!" That's when the eyes of Matt, Jim, and Valerian widened at the same time.

"Uhm, haven't you heard the news?" Jim mumbled and Swann started to laugh.

"News? Ha! Whadda'ya think I've been doing here? Sit on my ass and watch shows on tv? No, I've been working on my baby! No time to watch no stinking news!" Swann said and took another gulp from his bottle.

"Ah, nevermind. I didn't call you here so we could sulk about the past." Matt declared and looked Jim into the eyes. "Jim, I know that the last few months have been rough for you. I just thought, that after everything that has happened, we would deserve a day off. And since Swann will take the Hyperion out of here tomorrow, it is the last chance to show our young and promising Emperor what it means to turn your liver into a nuclear reactor. Besides..." he then added and Jim could see the pained expression on his friends face. Yes, he still considered Matt to be his friend. "...you were right; I had no right to keep you out of the loop." He grabbed one of the glasses and handed it over to Jim.

"Consider this a peace offer." he said and put the glass down in front of Jim. Jim didn't grab the glass immediately. He had craved a glass of booze for such a long time, and now it was standing right in front of him. However, Jim wasn't just a thick piece of wood. He knew that he had a problem. He knew that he was an alcoholic. And he knew that without Matt, he would already have drunken himself to death.

Handing Jim over a glass of alcohol was like offering a Zergling a cow; it would result in carnage.

And since no one on board seemed to be the voice of reason, why the hell should Jim do that job?

So he grabbed the glass and put it to his lips. The moment the alcohol touched his tongue, his brain remembered all those drinks he had consumed before. The liquid streamed down his throat and the burning sensation felt all too familiar. It was like water falling on a dry sponge. His body remembered the sweet taste of alcohol, and any progress he had made so far on staying clean evaporated in an instant. His addicted mind started to release tons of happiness hormones. It was his very own drug-rush, and under normal circumstances doing something like this to Jim was not just madness, but plain cruel.

However, circumstances weren't normal.

Jim closed his eyes and enjoyed the taste of Swann's moonshine. Truth to be told; the stuff tasted horrible and you could barely consider it drinkable. But he didn't care. One more drink wouldn't kill him. Of course, this wouldn't be his last glass. Drugs aren't exactly a good way to solve your problems, but the moment the alcohol started to flow through his body, he felt everything around him became a lot more bearable. Oh yeah, that was the good stuff!

Matt watched how Jim enjoyed the taste of the booze and a sad smile appeared on his face. He then looked at his own glass and frowned.

"Well...to us, I guess." he whispered, grabbed it and took a deep gulp. Even though Matt couldn't tolerate alcohol like Jim, he still was more than able to empty the glass and feel how the moonshine started to affect both his body and mind.

For a moment no one said a word. Not until Valerian finally managed to get back on his feet and sat down next to them.

"Phew...that stuff is horrible." the Emperor managed to gurgle. "I hereby declare it to be banned!"

"You can't!" Swann shot back.

"Of course I can! I'm the bloody Emperor!" Valerian shot back.

"No, you can't. Because it's already banned!" Swann then explained to him.

"Oooh, I see. So, what now? Am I already a Raider?" the Emperor wanted to know, but Matt and Swann just grinned at him.

"Oh, isn't he cute? Thinks that one bottle makes him a Raider!" Swann chuckled.

"Give him some credit, he has never done this before." Matt replied. Valerian groaned when he heard that.

"So how much more do I have to drink?" he just wanted to know. That's when Swann put one, two, three, and finally four bottles on the table.

"You gotta be kidding me!"

* * *

There are several laws of nature no one can escape. Like gravity. Or aging. Or the fact that the silent ones are the worst. However, among the most hideous and wretched things in this universe were a bunch of guys drinking and making fun of everyone and everything.

Seriously, if guys drink and "have a good time", it usually means that they make all sorts of nasty jokes and tell the dirtiest stories you can imagine.

And guys like Jim and Swann? Let's just say that Valerian learned a lot of new words that evening. And not a single one was meant for an Emperor to be used on _any_ occasion.

"...and that idiot did just that. He said: No worries, I drank a liter of lemonade! These Zerglings won't do shit to me!" Matt said and shook his head. "So, he opened the hatch, and of course everyone was making a step backward, and he walked straight up to that Zergling. Said: "See, see? Told you so! Saw it on tv!" And that was when the Zergling threw itself at him. Oh, it was glorious!" Swann then took over for him.

"Oh, but the best thing was that no one was offering him any help! Seriously, he lay there and the Zergling was gnawing through his shiny new power armor!" Then Swann leaned back and took a deep breath.

"EEEEEEEHHH, take it off! Take it oooooofff!" he screamed like a little girl and shook his head before he started to laugh. "Oh, it was glorious! There were like twenty or so marines just standing around and doin' nothin' while Stetmann was pooping his own pants. But this guy over here was the best!" Swann pointed his finger at Matt.

"When Matt asked via radio what was going on, someone told him that Stetmann was about to get devoured by a Zergling. And you know what this son of a gun did?" Swann asked. Valerian, who looked like he was totally drunk, shrugged his shoulders.

"No, what did he say?" he said with a slurred voice while taking another gulp from the bottle.

"Put his comm on the speakers!" Swann recalled. "The whole ship listened to Stetmann's cries." And now it was Matt who screamed like a girl.

"Aaaaah! Take it oooofff!" the drunken Admiral imitated the former Raider's chief scientist. "I'm too young to die! I'm still a virgin! I… I think I pooped my pants! AAAAAAAHHH!" Then Matt calmed down and sighed. "Oh, that was so worth it."

"You're one mean bastard, Matt." Valerian mumbled. "And here I always thought that you were a true boyscout."

"Hehehe, oh, you should never do something that could piss off the boyscout. Or he will make you suffer." Swann explained. Valerian looked over at Matt and frowned.

"Wha...wha...whaddid Stetmann do to you." the Emperor said, and it was clear that his tongue was starting to get heavy.

"Flooded the ship with shit, that's what he did." Matt growled and Valerian started to laugh.

"Hahaha...what kind of shit?" he wanted to know, not realizing that Matt wasn't talking about some strange shit, but the one and only.

"The stuff that comes out of your butt, Junior." Jim chuckled. His mood was still way below zero, but at least he seemed to enjoy the alcohol. When Valerian heard that, his eyes widened in shock.

"Say what?" It was Swann who then told him about all the glorious details.

"That idiot thought that he could improve the energy consumption of the Hyperion by combining some systems. And he thought that he should start with the sewage and the drinking water. He wanted to add a filter, but of course he forgot about that. And not only that, when he turned it on, he accidentally reversed the flow of water." Now Swann couldn't stop laughing. He pointed his finger at Matt and tears of joy streamed down his cheeks.

"The boyscout over there was in the shower when it happened. Oh, you could hear his screams of rage on the entire ship!" the engineer said and Matt just shook his head.

"That wasn't the worst thing. The worst thing was that this idiot opened all the valves on level 8 and flooded the whole section with that stuff! We had to seal off the entire level!" Matt growled and Valerian shook his head.

"I bet cleaning this level must have been fun!" But then both Matt and Swann gave him an annoyed look.

"What?"

"Actually...we never cleaned it. We just sealed the level off and never spoke about it again." Matt mumbled.

"Anyway, when that Zergling started to claw through Stetmann's armor, no one wanted to help him. They all just stared at him and started to bet how long it would take until the Zergling would eat him."

"Meh, the Zergling didn't even want to eat him." Matt growled. "And I lost twenty credits because I thought that the Zergling would need less than a minute."

"Must have been hilarious." Valerian mumbled when he heard that.

"Oh, you should have seen Matt! He was cursing like a sailor! He even said that he would send Stetmann into one of those Dominion's death camps, you know? The things the Confederacy had used before? Matt was so furious that everyone was scared of him." Swann said and even Matt chuckled.

"Yeah, guess I went a bit overboard. But damn, I was so mad at that guy."

"You know..." Jim then suddenly interrupted them and looked at the three men with a cold gaze. "...my uncle died in one of these death camps."

Oh shit.

You know when there's this awkward moment of silence? When you know that you've just said something incredibly stupid and now a volcano was about to explode? Everyone turned pale in an instant. And you could see that Matt realized that he was in deep shit. Literally.

"Jim, you never told me...I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Yeah, that bastard was so drunk, he fell down from the guard tower and broke his neck!" Jim then told them. There was another moment of silence before they saw how the corners of his mouth went up.

"BFFFFFFFFFF..." It was Swann who couldn't hold back anymore first.

"BAHAHAHAHAHA!" Valerian started to laugh, even though he shouldn't. And soon all four men were laughing their asses off.

Hey, if grown-up men decided to drink themselves into oblivion, things like this can happen, you've been warned. And yes, it ain't a pretty sight. So here they were, making ungodly indecent jokes about everything and everyone while having the time of their lives.

"So, there's a whole level on this ship that you can't access because it's filled with...?" Valerian wanted to know after they had calmed down.

"Shit. Yep. It took us several weeks to make sure that the smell would stop. Oh God, I can still smell it when I close my eyes." Jim groaned before he took another gulp. Then he started to laugh.

"But you know what? We actually lost someone that day." Now he snickered like a little child and Matt leaned back.

"Don't tell him, he won't believe it anyway. Besides, it's a horrible way to die." Matt growled and Valerian looked at both men.

"What? What happened?" the Emperor wanted to know and Matt groaned, knowing that Jim would tell him the story anyway. Jim, on the other hand, leaned forward and had a hard time finding the right words.

"There was a mercenary on board. His name was Davis something, something." Jim then said.

"Davis Terrenzi." Matt told them.

"Right. So Terrenzi had joined us only recently. Bit of a hardass. And a huge dick. Seriously, no one liked him."

"What we didn't know..." Matt then added. "...was the fact that he was a Dominion spy."

"That's why Matt's so pissed. That guy was a spy and the Admiral over here didn't know that. When he joined us, he did so under a false name and claimed to be a farmer's son from Shiloh. You know, the sad story that makes anyone weep; lost his family to the Confederacy and now wants to fight the Dominion. He still had a mother though, and he always wrote her letters." Jim went on.

"Most people wrote letters and we never bothered checking them." Matt explained. "But those letters weren't meant for his mother. They were encrypted and meant for the Dominion's intelligence service."

"Yeah, but we didn't know that back then." Jim chuckled again. "So when no one heard anything from Terrenzi for several days, we went into his cabin and..." But Jim couldn't continue. He was starting to laugh and Valerian pulled his brows up.

"He was dead?" the Emperor wanted to know and Jim just nodded. He tried to continue, but he couldn't. He was laughing too hard. So Matt sighed and continued for him.

"We found him in a rather... _compromising_ position." he explained.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the Emperor asked.

"Means that he had shoved his head down the toilet." Swann then said. Valerian's eyes widened when he heard that.

"What? Oh, now you're making fun of me!"

"No! No, seriously!" Jim laughed. "That guy had shoved his head down the toilet. Don't ask me why, but he had this strange loverbot with him. You know, these androids that people use as hookers?"

"Uhm...no?" Valerian replied truthfully, but Jim just shook his head.

"Anyway, we found him still bowed forward, on his feet, with his head shoved down the toilet. Oh, and his pants were open as well."

"Why would his pants...eeeeewww. Nevermind. I don't want to know." Now both Jim and Swann giggled like little girls and Matt shook his head.

"We stood there for minutes and didn't know what to say or to think. Seriously."

"So he had died because...?"

"Because when he had shoved his head down the toilet, Stetmann switched the new and improved system on and, well, Terrenzi found out what happens if you put your head down the rabbit hole." Jim laughed.

"Damn." Valerian muttered before a smile appeared on his face. "What a _shitty_ ending."

"BWUAHAHAHAHA!" the others started to howl. It took them some time before they had finally calmed down. That's when Jim shook his head.

"Oh, story ain't over yet. The best thing is still to come." he declared and looked at Valerian. "Now I've seen my fair share of strange shit, pun totally intended." Everyone started to snicker. "But I still thought that I had to tell his people about his, well, demise." While Jim said that, Matt had a hard time to keep a straight face. He had to bite his lip in order to not laugh out loud.

"So, we only knew that he had a mother, and we still had no idea that he was actually a spy." Jim continued. "So, I spent like two days trying to figure out how to tell the good lady that her son had died because, hahah, because, hahahahaaaa!" Jim wasn't able to finish that sentence, so Matt did that for him.

"Because he had forced his head into the toilet." the Admiral finished.

"I still remember that I had no idea how to write a letter to that woman!" Jim yelled. "Dear Ms. Terrenzi. I have the grim (and hilarious) duty to inform you that your son died in a tragic toilet accident!" Now all four men started to roar in laughter.

"He was so young, but unfortunately he had his head in the wrong place!" Matt added.

"You could even say; shit happens!" Valerian added and they had to laugh so hard that some of them fell off their chairs and held their bellies. It was just too much! Like said; drunken men can turn into small boys. But it wasn't the lowest level they could reach. Oh no, it would only get worse from here on out...

* * *

So the talk continued, and so did their dirty jokes. However, after a while Valerian was done listening to stories.

"See, kid? You missed all the fun!" Swann gargled, almost too drunk to sit upright. "All that fancy Emperor-stuff. Bet'cha never took a piss without people wiping your butt!"

"Swann, don't be an ass." Jim then said. Even though he was just as drunk, his body could handle all the alcohol much better. Or it was because of all the holes in his liver? Meh, who cared.

"What? Kid knows I'm not dissing him. It's just a fact. He dudn' dosn' dieaon dosn'...ain't know shit about, well, shit." They all giggled again, and Valerian suddenly started to shake his head.

"Actually...I got a story. One that will probably ruin my reputation should you ever tell anyone about it. Oh, it's not nearly as crazy as the stuff you did, but it's _something_. I guess."

"Uuuuuh." Jim grunted. "Dirty stories of the Emperor? We could sell that to the press! Bet Lockwell would love to hear about it, whadda'ya say, Matt?" When Jim mentioned that name, all Matt did was to shudder.

"Okay, so here's my story. You know that most little boys want to become a pilot or something like that? Well, when I was four or five years old, I wanted to become a cartographer." The three men looked at Valerian in both surprise and amusement.

"A cartographer?" Swann asked. "Why the hell a cartographer? Wait, what's even a cartographer anyway?"

"It's someone who makes maps." Matt told him and Valerian nodded.

"One of my teachers always read me stories about Earth and the time before humanity had traveled to the stars. They had used ships made out of wood in order to travel the huge oceans, and there was a time when they hadn't known anything about what was on the other side of those oceans. It had been the grand age of..."

"YaddaYaddaYadda, get to the point, kid!" Swann interrupted him and Valerian sighed.

"Okay. Well, I loved those stories. And I wanted to become a cartographer. But I was only four or five years old and couldn't pronounce cartographer. And then there was Willis."

"Willis?" Matt asked.

"One of my father's bodyguards. He was a grumpy asshole that cursed all the time. Seriously, he knew how to insult you in at least fifteen different languages. But he was still a nice guy when we were alone. And one day I told him that I want to become a cartographer. Of course, I asked him what he wanted to become."

"Oh, this should be good." Jim chuckled and Valerian shook his head.

"He was a real asshole. And a sexist pig. He was later fired because he had abandoned his post in order to go into a brothel. So, when I told him that I want to become a cartographer, he said that he wanted to become a..."

"Oh God." Matt groaned.

"...cuntographer. Yep. And, of course, I had no idea what he was talking about. I thought it was some kind of cartographer." The three men started to laugh, but the story wasn't over yet.

"I asked him what he meant, and he only told me that a cuntographer is far cooler than a cartographer. And of course, I believed every single word." Jim, Swann, and Matt tried to suppress their laughter, but they failed miserably. Valerian's expression showed both shame and amusement at the same time.

"Naturally, the whole thing wouldn't end well. A few days later a friend of my father would come and visit us in our hideout. He was an influential politician, and father had instructed my mother to show how well behaved I was. And when we met, what was the first thing he asked me?"

"What you want to become when you're a grown-up?" Jim asked and Valerian nodded, so everyone snickered again. Even Valerian.

"So, I looked up to the man with big, sparkling eyes and told him that I want to become a _cuntographer_." And again, the drunken men started to roar in laughter. Valerian just shook his head. "My mother almost fainted and my teachers were furious. But that guy? You know what he did? He knelt down in front of me, put his hands on my shoulders and said: I too would like to be a cuntographer from time to time."

"Oh, I bet your father must have been proud of you!" Jim snickered, but Valerian shook his head one more time.

"He never heard that story. He would probably have executed my teachers, and everyone agreed that we should forget about this whole thing immediately. I was still grounded until I reached puberty."

"I don't know, Junior." Jim then mused. "It could be a good title. His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Valerian Mengsk, Royal Cuntographer."

"Oh God!" Matt groaned.

"Yeah, well...I just wanted you to know that I too can tell stupid war stories. Only without the war. Oh, by the way; am I already a Raider now? 'Cause my liver kinda hurts, you know." he then mumbled. That's when Jim and Swann exchanged looks.

"Not yet. We still need to perform a certain ritual!" Jim explained.

"What ritual?" Valerian wanted to know. The smiles that appeared on Jim's and Swann's face were truly creepy.

"Time for a carrier landing!"

* * *

The carrier landing. You put a bunch of tables behind each other so they form the "landing strip". Then you put some liquid on it in order to make sure that everything is nice and slippery. And then you do a belly flop and look how far you get.

It was utterly stupid and everyone who was too drunk to count to three loved to do it.

"I'm not sure I want to do this, boys!" Valerian mumbled. He wasn't on his feet. Instead, sat on Jim's and Swann's shoulders. They called it "the carrier landing deluxe".

"Don't worry, it'll be fun!" Jim said.

"Yeah, fun!" Swann agreed.

"So what, you're gonna throw me on the table and look how far I will get?"

"Pretty much, yes. If you hit the other end of the wall, you win the jackpot." Jim told him.

"And what do I win if I manage to do that?"

"Dunno. A concussion?" Swann offered. Matt, who stood next to the tables, looked at the three men and raised his hand.

"Enough talk! Get ready! On my mark!" he barked and both men started to get ready.

"Go!" Both Jim and Swann ran towards the table, but they were far too drunk to run in a straight line.

"Guys!" Valerian managed to scream, but it was too late.

"Left, Swann! Left!" Jim shouted.

"I try, I try!" Swann shot back. "I need to go to the other left!"

"We share the same left!"

"Ah, nevermind. Off you go!" When they reached the tables, they threw Valerian forward. But pretty much everything went wrong. He was too fast, they threw him too hard and he had the wrong angle. Instead of sliding over the tables, he bounced off them and crashed into the pile of chairs that stood next to those tables. Head first. The young Emperor groaned in pain.

"Aaahhh...I think I just...broke my pelvis..." he managed to gurgle, but his "friends" just started to laugh when they saw how Valerian's upper body was buried beneath all those chairs.

"Well, I've seen better carrier landings." Swann then said.

"True. But I've seen worse, too." Jim then added.

"Solid five?" the engineer asked.

"Hmm...it was a nice bounce at the end. I would say a 6.5. Matt, what do you mean?" They looked over to the Admiral, who made a "meh"-gesture with his hand.

"Meh, I would only give him a 3. He tried to protect his face. You should always break with your face first." Matt mumbled, remembering his own carrier landing.

"I don't think I want to be a Raider anymore..." Valerian groaned while the room was still spinning around his head, but no one listened to him. That's when Matt felt a certain urge and stretched himself.

"Well folks, I need to get rid of some liquid. Don't try to break the Emperor while I'm gone. Well, not any more than you already did." The moment he turned away and walked over to the door, he only heard both Jim and Swann snicker.

"No promises, Admiral!" both men said at the same time, but Matt was too drunk to care. He walked over to the door and pressed the open button. When he stepped out, he yawned and couldn't remember the last time he had laughed so hard. It was truly-

"Sounds like one hell of a party." a woman said while leaning against the wall right outside the cafeteria. Matt froze in an instant. Even in his intoxicated state, he still realized that this wasn't a hallucination. He grabbed behind him and managed to press the door button. The door to the cafeteria closed and then he turned towards the redhead.

"Hey, Sarah."

* * *

"I think we overdid it, Swann." Jim said while he looked at Valerian, who was still half buried beneath all those chairs.

"Meh, I've seen worse. Besides, the kid can handle it." the engineer replied.

"Can I go home now?" Valerian groaned, his voice sounded tired and exhausted.

"Hmm...he did a carrier landing." Jim then said and looked over to Swann.

"And he downed several bottles of my moonshine." Swann agreed. That's when an evil grin appeared on both men's faces.

"Guess the only thing that's still missing-" Jim started.

"...is the tattoo." Swann finished the sentence and pulled the tattoo gun from his belt.


	53. Act II - Chapter 29

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 29**

 **My Girl**

* * *

"Sounds like one hell of a party." The moment Matt stepped out of the cafeteria and heard Sarah's voice, he froze in an instant. He took a deep breath before his hand wandered to the button behind him and closed the door, so the folks inside the cafeteria couldn't see or hear what was going on outside. He was drunk, but even then, he realized what was going on.

"Hey, Sarah." he just whispered. Sarah Kerrigan leaned against the wall right next to him. She looked like her regular human self again. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest and stared at the floor beneath her. For a long time, neither one said a word. It wasn't necessary, Matt knew why she had come here.

It was time.

Perhaps it was a bad idea to let a godlike being like Sarah wait, but when she turned her head towards him and opened her mouth, he just raised a finger.

"Hold that thought, I need to do something first." Matt told her and simply turned away. Sarah pulled her brows up but didn't say a word. She watched how he walked down the corridor and stepped into another room. The bathroom, to be exact.

Wait, he wasn't seriously...

But yeah, Matt had to prioritize. And right now, Sarah was only the second most important thing he had to worry about. His bladder came first.

This entire moment seemed to be utterly absurd, but then again; what wasn't absurd these days? Matt was still drunk, and that gave him the courage he needed to let Sarah wait in order to take a piss. When he was done, he went to the sink, washed his hands and looked into the mirror. The alcohol made thinking hard, but it also meant that he could ignore the doubts and fears inside his mind.

Matt took a deep breath. He had no idea what was about to happen next. But at the same time, there was a strange sense of comfort to that. It wasn't in his hands anymore. All that was left was to do was to find closure.

Sarah was still there when he returned. It looked like she hadn't moved even one centimeter. Matt looked at her and then at the closed door. He realized that both she and Jim were so close and he remembered what Lieutenant Hernandez had told Matt about her grandparents. They hadn't been allowed to be together because it had been more convenient for everyone else, excluding them.

There were a lot of things he wanted to ask Sarah. However, he knew that he wouldn't get an answer. Or worse, he would get an answer that he wouldn't like. He looked at the door that led to the cafeteria and could hear the other men's laughter and how someone yelled: "That ain't the Raider-symbol!" A part of him simply wanted to go back into the room and ignore the pink elephant waiting outside. Or the almighty godlike entity that had listened to everything they had said and done.

"You were listening?" he then mumbled.

"Every single word." Sarah replied and Matt started to feel uneasy. He knew that Sarah wasn't really fond of him, and the fact that the four men had just said things that no sober person would ever dare to say wasn't helping much either.

"You've been here all along, haven't you?" he asked, but Sarah didn't answer. Her silence was answer enough. Matt went back to the door and was ready to press the open button. But then he hesitated. He lowered his hand and sighed.

He wondered what was going inside...

* * *

"So, where do we put the tattoo?" Swann mused. They had managed to pull Valerian out of the pile of chairs and had simply thrown him on one of the tables. He lay on his belly and it looked like he was knocked out for good. Speaking of good, he didn't look so well either. Crashing into those chairs hadn't been exactly healthy. His left eye was already starting to swell, and he looked like he had lost the godmother of all bar fights.

"Dunno." Jim replied. The privilege of tattooing an Emperor was a first for either of them. Though Jim had always hoped for something like that to happen. However, he had hoped that it would be Arcturus Mengsk, and the tattoo would have been some kind of insult.

However, the thought of putting a tattoo of the Raider's on Arcturus' son was pretty ironic. In a twisted, yet satisfying way.

"The arm?" Swann suggested, but Jim shook his head.

"No, we can't put it anywhere visible. No arms. Hmm, maybe the chest?" Jim then wondered.

"Pfff. And what if the kid wants to go swimming? No, that won't work." Swann replied. "Maybe his ankle?"

"If he goes swimming, they will see both his chest and his ankle. Hmm, this is tricky." Jim huffed. "We never had a Raider that had to deal with paparazzi before." Truly, a tricky one.

"Bottom of the foot? That's where Matt's tattoo is." Swann offered.

"Hmm...good, but still not good enough. We need a part of the body no one will see." Jim explained.

"Maybe we should shave him and put it on the back of his head? That way if the hair grows back, no one will notice it!"

"Hmm, hair will take too long to grow back." Jim groaned again and looked at Valerian's unconscious form. Where to put that tattoo. Where to put that tattoo. Where to...

That's when a grin appeared on Jim's face. It was the perfect location. If some paparazzi would take a picture of _that_ part of his body, it would be a scandal anyway. This wasn't the part of an Emperor's physique that was meant to be seen by anyone. Well, no one except Leila Curtland maybe.

"Give me that gun." Jim said and Swann handed the tattoo gun over to him. It was a crude piece of tech and not really what you would call a true tattoo machine. Instead of putting ink under the skin, it basically burned the logo into it. So it was more of a branding device. But it was easy to use and it was easy to regret using it. Jim walked up to Valerian, and when he started to pull at the Emperor's pants, the unresponsive man started to groan in discomfort.

"Oh yeah, that's the perfect spot!" Swann agreed. "Left or right?" Jim looked at the buttock of the Emperor and frowned. It was a tough choice! One that could change the fate of the whole sector! The left or right ass cheek? It was a question that would bother generations to come. In the end, Jim decided to answer that question like a true professional would; he pointed his finger at the bare butt of Valerian and started to say: "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo."

In the end, his finger stopped at the left ass cheek.

"Left it is!" Jim proudly announced and was, of course, too drunk to figure out which side was left. He put the tattoo gun on Valerian's butt and was about to pull the trigger when Swann suddenly intervened.

"Oh, hey! Wait! Don't shoot!" the engineer shouted and ripped the tattoo device out of Jim's hand, who seemed to be less than pleased.

"Hey! Whadda'ya did that for?!" the former Marshal wanted to know, but Swann simply decided to work on that tattoo gun.

"I used that thing to mark a few steel beams that need to be replaced. Still have to dim the power down, or the tattoo will come out on the other side of his ass."

"Oh. Well, we wouldn't want that to happen, right?" Jim mumbled, and when Swann handed the tattoo gun back to him, he took it and shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay, here goes nothing!" He pressed the device on Valerian's butt cheek and pressed the trigger. There was a sizzling sound and Valerian's body suddenly jerked up like he had been hit with a taser gun. But he didn't scream or anything. His back bent backward and he looked like a seal screaming for some fish before he simply went slack again and slammed back on the table.

"Uh...is that supposed to happen? I can't remember this happening last time we tattooed someone."

"Hmm, haven't used that thing on any human for some time. Maybe it's broken or something." However, before they could worry about the tattoo gun, Jim looked at Valerian's butt cheek. He squinted his eyes and tried to figure out what was wrong with it. And there was something wrong with it! Unfortunately, he was so drunk that his eyes couldn't really focus on the Emperor's ass.

"What's that?" he said and pointed at Valerian's backside.

"That's his Imperial M-ass-esty." Swann giggled.

"No, I mean the tattoo. What's that supposed to be?"

"Whadda'ya mean? It's your symbol, you dud!" Swann shot back. "It's the Raider's symbol."

"No, it ain't." Jim replied, and now both men looked at the Emperor's butt. "What is that?"

"Wait, let me take a closer look." Swann then replied and leaned forward. Jim too had to get closer in order to see what it was. In the end, two grown-up men were only centimeters away from another grown-up man's ass.

"Kinda looks like a noodle wrapped around a brick." Swann muttered.

"That ain't no noodle, those are wings." Jim then groaned.

"Wings? What wings? Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Dude, we just put a butterfly-tattoo on the ass of the Emperor of the Dominion." Jim explained to him.

"What's a butterfly?" Swann wanted to know, but Jim just shook his head.

"Meh. Matt's gonna kill us if he finds out about it. We have to fix it."

"How?" Swann asked. A normal person would probably say something like; we have to get the Emperor to a doctor in order to remove that thing from his butt. But that's what normal people would do. Neither Jim nor Swann were normal. And they were far too drunk to realize what they were doing. Logic dictates that you should get help. Drunken logic dictates that there was still an empty butt cheek left.

Jim pointed the tattoo gun at himself and looked at the tip. It was like staring into the barrel of an ordinary gun. There was a small switch and when he flipped it, the symbol started to change. Nifty!

"Swann, why's there a unicorn-tattoo inside this thing?" Jim asked.

"What's a unicorn?"

"Nevermind." When he finally found the symbol of the Raiders, he pressed the gun against Valerian's empty butt cheek and pressed the trigger. There was another sizzling sound and when he pulled the tool away, he saw a shiny new Raider-symbol.

"See? Looking good!" Neither Jim nor Swann cared about the butterfly-tattoo anymore. However, it would turn into a legend. It would prove to be quite resilient, and since Valerian wouldn't show his bare ass in public for the rest of his life, he would never truly care about it.

Rumors would later say that his future wife, the much revered and respected Leila Curtland, was very fond of this little secret. Or, how she would call it; very feminine and very fitting.

Jim, of course, didn't care about any of this. Instead, he just wanted to congratulate himself and raised his hand.

"Yep, job well done!" And then he smashed his hand on Valerian's freshly tattooed butt cheek.

"AAAAAAGGHH!" Valerian screamed in pain and rolled off the table. He crashed on the floor and groaned in discomfort.

"Oh God! My ass is on fire!" he yelled, but naturally neither Jim nor Swann showed a lot of compassion. They only giggled when they saw the suffering of the most powerful man in the entire Koprulu Sector.

They would probably have continued to torment Valerian if Matt hadn't decided to bust their party for good. When the door opened and he stepped inside, it didn't look as if he was appreciating what was going on.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he barked and Jim just hid the tattoo gun behind his back.

"NOTHING!" both he and Swann yelled at the same time while Valerian had managed to pull his pants back up. However, that was pretty much the only thing he could do. When Matt walked up to them, something seemed odd. Like something had changed...

* * *

"You were listening?" Matt mumbled.

"Every single word." Sarah replied and Matt started to feel uneasy. He knew that Sarah wasn't really fond of him, and the fact that the four men had just said things that no sober person would ever say wasn't helping much either.

"You've been here all along, haven't you?" he asked. But Sarah didn't answer. Her silence was answer enough. Matt went back to the door and was ready to press the open button. But then he hesitated. He lowered his hand and sighed.

He wondered what was going inside. Jim and Swann were probably telling Valerian more nasty stories. He looked at his own hand and could feel a certain kind of numbness inside his own body. Matt realized that he was far too drunk to do what had to be done. Besides, he knew about the importance of this moment. And no matter how much he had enjoyed the last few hours, he needed a clear mind for what was about to happen next. He made a step backward and looked over to Sarah.

"Could you do me a favor?" he asked. All Sarah did was to pull up her brows.

"I think we already established the foundation of our relationship, Matt. If you don't remember, then let me repeat it; go to hell." she just said. He had a snippy remark on his tongue, but he then decided to swallow it down. Instead, he closed his eyes.

"Remember what you did to me when we met again?" he asked again.

"I smashed you against the wall." she said.

"No, not that."

"I fixed your bones after I broke them."

"That neither." he sighed. "The thing where you made me sober again. Could youuaAAAARGH!" He didn't manage to finish that sentence. Sarah just snipped with her fingers, and suddenly it felt as if pure fire was running through his veins. It was even worse than last time. Back then he had been drunk. Now he was not just drunk but wasted. And since there was a lot more alcohol inside his body, it burned even brighter. Matt dropped to his knees and started to cough and gargle in pain. For a second he thought that Sarah had decided to end him, but as fast as the pain came, as fast did it vanish. He fell on all fours and when the pain finally subsided, he took a few deep breaths in order to clear his mind.

"Oh God." he groaned. He knew that he would never get used to that kind of feeling.

But even though it hurt like hell, it was also frightening effective. Because when he raised his torso up again, he felt the effects of Sarah's treatment instantaneously. He hadn't imagined things; the first time she had done this to him, he had felt better afterward. Not only sober but at least ten years younger. He wondered if this was just a side effect of what she had done to him or if she had decided to make him a present. He looked up at her and when he saw the cold expression on her face...

...he realized that it must have been a side effect.

Suddenly he remembered everything; the nasty jokes, the carrier landing. Oh, damn. He closed his eyes and cursed. He was such a fool! Everything he had done had served no purpose at all! No purpose other than to prolong the inevitable.

"So..." he then mumbled. "...have you made up your mind yet?"

"None of your damn business, Matt." Sarah just replied. Then she turned her head towards him and gave him yet another cold look.

"Have you changed yours?"

Matt managed to get back on his feet and straightened himself. He could feel how his heart started to race. He was afraid. Not of Sarah. Well, not _just_ Sarah. All his decisions and experience had never prepared himself for what he was about to do, what he was about to say.

"I guess not." he mumbled before he shook his head and looked back at Sarah. "Just give me a minute, will you? I want to say goodbye."

"Whatever. Do your thing. It's not like it will change anything." Sarah just whispered. There was a lot of regret in her voice. Was she having...second thoughts? However, Matt realized that it was nothing he should worry about. Because he couldn't do anything about it anyway. So he turned away and walked back to the door. He took a deep breath, braced himself, and pressed the open button. The moment he stepped into the cafeteria, he looked up. And what he saw...

"AAAAAAGGHH!" Valerian screamed in pain and rolled off the table. He crashed on the floor and groaned in discomfort.

"Oh God! My ass is on fire!" he yelled, but all Jim and Swann were doing were to giggle like a bunch of little girls. That's when Matt realized that this party had gone out of control a long time ago.

Hell, it hadn't been under control to begin with.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he barked, and Jim hid something behind his back. For a second it looked like a gun, but it had to be a mistake. There was no way that Jim would try something like Russian roulette.

"NOTHING!" both Jim and Swann yelled in unison, but Matt just shook his head. Not now. He walked up to the men and looked down on Valerian.

"Oh, damn." Matt just groaned. Valerian rolled onto his back and looked up at Matt. He looked like he had been tortured. His left eye was so swollen that Matt couldn't see the eye, and there was a bump on his forehead, courtesy of the "carrier landing". Now that the alcohol was gone from Matt's system, he realized what they had done. They had almost broken the goddamn Emperor! Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), Matt had no idea that they had already put that tattoo on his Majesty's butt.

"Heeeeyyy, Maaaaaatt!" Swann gargled. "Good that you're back, we were just about to-" But he didn't get far.

"Party's over, boys." Matt then declared.

"No, it ain't!" Swann shot back.

"Yes, it is." Matt insisted and looked at Swann. Jim, who had a hard time staying on his feet, looked for a chair and sat down.

"How late is it anyway?" he mumbled. He felt tired and exhausted.

"What the hell, party hasn't even started yet! We still need to put the kid in a space suit and let him clean the toilets on deck eight and-"

"No, Swann. The party is over!" Matt barked. He felt how his frustration grew exponentially.

"Whoa, what happened to you, boyscout?" the engineer wanted to know. "Went to the bathroom and couldn't find your own dick?" That statement caused Jim to snicker.

"No, but there are still a lot of things both the Emperor and I have to do. So let's call it a day, shall we?" the Admiral offered.

"YaddaYaddaYadda. Do what'cha want, me and the Commander will have some more drinks." Swann declared.

"No, you won't." Matt shot back. "You will stop drinking now and go to bed." Now Swann started to laugh.

"Ha! And why the hell should I do that? Huh? Huh?! HUH?!" Unfortunately for Swann, Matt knew how to win an argument against the drunken engineer.

"If you think that I will allow you to steer the Hyperion out of here while being totally wasted, you are dead wrong. If you want to head out tomorrow, get some sleep. Now." he explained to Swann, who stared at him for what felt like minutes. It looked as if the engineer was preparing to unload the godmother of all insults. However, instead of saying something Matt would probably regret (because let's face it; if Swann says something, he never regrets it), he just walked over to his table, pulled another bottle of moonshine up from beneath it, and walked over to the door. He stepped outside and then Matt realized that he walked the way where Sarah had been. Hopefully, she was gone by now...

* * *

"Stupid asshole-admiral-too-good-for-his-old-pals-asshole-admiral." Swann growled when he walked out of the cafeteria. He would finish his bottle and then fly the Hyperion out of here the way he was. He could fly this ship even with half a brain!

When he walked around the corner, he could see Sarah Kerrigan leaning against a wall. But his drunken mind was too slow to realize that it was truly her.

"Hey, redheaded monster bitch." he just said as he walked past her.

"Hey, one-armed smelly dwarf." Sarah shot back without looking at him.

He walked a few more meters before he stopped and blinked in confusion. He then looked at his bottle of moonshine and simply put it down on the floor before he decided to walk back to his bunk. Perhaps Matt was right, perhaps he should stop drinking that stuff.

He was already seeing things!

* * *

"Dear Lord, what did they do to you, Valerian?" Matt whispered while looking at the groaning and twitching mess that had once been the Emperor of the Dominion.

"Ah, don't act so surprised. Besides, this was your idea, wasn't it? And if I remember correctly, your carrier landing was way worse." Jim mumbled next to him.

"Yeah, but I didn't break someone important." Matt shot back. However, the next words Jim told him caused Matt to wince on the inside.

"You are just important as everyone else, Matt. When will you finally realize that?" Jim explained to him. Matt froze and stared at Jim, who had closed his eyes. The older man looked as if he was about to fall asleep. Maybe it was better this way. Matt wished to sit down and talk with Jim, to come clean. He knew that this was his last chance to do that.

However, at the same time he knew that it wouldn't sever any purpose. It would only prolong the inevitable. He walked over to Valerian and helped him back to his feet.

"Are you okay, your Majesty?" he said with a rather formal tone in his voice. Valerian looked like he had lost a fist fight with a Zealot, and when he managed to look into Matt's eyes, he looked really tired and exhausted.

"I wanna' go home, Matt. And I wanna' thsat thast thill...the...the room stops spinning around my head. And my butt hurts. Why does my butt hurt?" the Emperor asked.

"It's fine. Let's get you back to the palace." Matt told him. "I just wish to speak to Jim for a second. Could you...wait outside?" Right now, he didn't care about the fact that Sarah was on the other side of the door. Besides, Swann hadn't screamed in terror, so she probably hadn't shown herself to him. And if she would show herself to Valerian, Matt at least would have a good reason to come clean and tell him the entire truth.

"I know the way..." Valerian groaned. "I'll be waiting inside my dropship." the exhausted Emperor explained and turned around. Without wasting another word, he waddled away. It looked like he had hurt his back or there was something wrong with his butt, but Matt had no time to worry about that. He watched how Valerian left the cafeteria, but he still heard no screams of terror.

* * *

When Valerian stepped out of the cafeteria and stumbled towards the elevator, he walked past a certain redhead.

"Hey, Sarah." he just mumbled.

"Hey, kid." Sarah replied, still not looking up.

Valerian wouldn't remember this moment anyway. Just like he wouldn't remember how that butterfly-tattoo had gotten on his ass.

* * *

Matt waited for a scream, but nothing happened. So at least one thing less to worry. Matt sighed and turned back to Jim.

"Jim, I..." he started, but then he stopped. What should he say? Tell him the truth? That Sarah was just waiting outside the door, ready to do whatever she wanted to do with him? A part of Matt was glad that Jim was seriously drunk. It made things a lot easier.

"Just sit down and have another drink, Matt. It's on me." Jim told him. Even though Matt felt the urge to do just that, he knew better.

"Sorry, Jim. I have to go as well. Duty calls, you know."

"Heh, as a matter of fact, I don't. Don't take it personally, but I spend most of my times doin' nothing." the older man replied, and Matt felt a sting of guilt inside his chest.

"Jim, listen..." he began. Time was almost over, but there was at least one thing he wanted to tell his friend. "...I know that I've been a lousy friend. I... I just thought I was doing the right thing. It was wrong to see you like that. Without any hope. You've been our backbone for so many years, I guess I couldn't imagine for you to be anything else. And-"

"Oh, shut up, Matt." Jim interrupted him and started to chuckle. He opened his eyes again and looked up to the Admiral. "You're my best friend, Matt. And I wanted to apologize for what I said to you in the hospital. I was angry and frustrated, and I just wanted to be alone." When Matt heard those words, the guilt inside his chest only grew even bigger. What kind of friend keeps his best pal locked away, even if it is for his own good?

"You have no idea how much that means to me." Matt whispered. Memories flashed up in front of his inner eye; the moment they met for the first time, all the crazy shit they pulled off together, their fight for freedom and against Mengsk. He had seen how James Eugene Raynor had stood tall against the entire sector, with nothing but his wits and his determination. And he had succeeded. People would probably remember the mighty Hierarch Artanis. And the dreadful Queen of Blades. He was even certain that Valerian's name would be remembered as well.

But who would remember Jim? His strength and his determination? The man that had saved the entire sector?

"You are my best friend, Matt." Jim said again. "Nothing will ever change that. You stood by my side when no one else did. You pulled my head out of the gutter when I just wanted to be left alone. And you were the best second-in-command anyone could ever have asked for. Matt, serving with you was the greatest honor I can imagine. I wanted you to know that."

Matt wanted to reply something, but he couldn't. His throat felt like he was about to choke. He closed the eyes and felt horrible.

"Thanks." he managed to squeeze out. "I want you to know that working for you...it was the greatest time of my life. And I will never forget what you have taught me." Matt didn't use the term father-figure, but sometimes it sure had felt that way. Jim started to chuckle and shook his head.

"Oh God, it sounds like we're saying goodbye or something like that." When Matt heard that, he started to laugh. It was a fake laugh; however, Jim was too drunk to notice that.

"No, no. I would never do something like that." Matt lied. He then took a deep breath. Perhaps it wasn't very manly, but the Admiral had to fight back his tears. He clenched his hands into fists and cursed the entire universe. He cursed Sarah, he cursed Arcturus Mengsk. But most importantly, he cursed himself.

"I... I need to leave now, Jim." Matt whispered. "But there will be someone waiting for you." It sounded as if he was talking about the dropship that had brought him here.

"Meh, if you don't mind I would like to stay here for a bit. At least before Smith will come up here to haul my ass back to that villa." Jim just mumbled. He then stood up and walked over to the bar. He sat down with his back towards the door and suddenly Matt saw how old and sick Jim looked like. The once strong and roguish looking man had turned into a shadow of his former self.

There was simply no alternative. However, it still hurt, knowing that Matt couldn't do anything about it.

Matt had to go. He didn't want to, but he had to. What was the alternative? Wait here and stare at Jim? Talk to him and try to avoid the unavoidable? No, he couldn't. Matt looked at Jim for a few more moments before he finally turned away. Every step towards the door felt like one hundred thousand. When he was halfway to the door, he suddenly stopped.

"Jim?"

"Here's one!" the older man replied and giggled. But Matt didn't smile. Instead, he stared at the door in front of him. When he didn't say anything, Jim turned around and looked at Matt's backside.

"What's the matter? So drunk that you can't find the exit?" But Matt didn't answer. Instead, he remained silent for quite some time. After a while, Jim started to frown.

"Matt, what's the-"

"Promise me one thing." Matt suddenly interrupted him.

"Promise you wha-"

"Promise me..." Matt then said and took another deep breath. "...if you see that one thing that makes you happy, if you find the one thing that can make you whole again..." Now tears started to stream down Matt's face.

"...grab it. Grab it and don't you _dare_ to ever to let go of it again."

Of course, Jim had no idea what Matt was talking about. So he chuckled and pulled his shoulders up.

"Just what are you talking about, Matt?" he wanted to know. But then Matt looked over his shoulder and Jim could see the tears in his friend's eyes.

"Matt, what's the matter?" Jim wanted to know.

"Just promise me."

"Matt, I have no idea what-"

"Promise me!" Matt yelled almost desperate. Perhaps Jim should have asked him if he had any problems, but when he saw the pained expression on his friend's face, he only nodded.

"Okay. Okay, I promise." he whispered. "Just what are you talking about, Matt?" But the Admiral just shook his head.

"Nothing." he replied and gave Jim a sad smile. "It's in your hands now. Both your hands. Remember that, will you?" Jim pulled his brows up when he heard that, yet he then had an idea what this could be about.

"Tell you what, Matt." Jim mumbled. "Tomorrow morning, I will ask Smith to find me a doctor who will treat me and doesn't hate every bone inside my body. How does that sound?" It was a genuine offer. Matt smiled when he heard that, but the sadness inside his gaze did not vanish. Then the Admiral nodded.

"That..." he whispered. "...would be nice." He then lowered his eyes.

"Farewell, Jim." Matt declared and walked over to the door. He had chosen his words on purpose.

"'Till later, Matt!" Jim replied, but when Matt stepped out of the cafeteria, he just turned away and vanished around the corner. He didn't say anything to Sarah, he didn't even look at her. It was over. It was all over now.

Matt didn't care about anything anymore. Everything seemed to turn into a blur. He couldn't really remember how he had managed to get back to the hangar, but when he entered the dropship, he just ordered his pilot to stop playing cards and get him back to Korhal. When the dropship finally launched and left the hangar, the pilot closed the door to his cockpit and left Matt alone. The Admiral was thankful for that because that way no one saw how he started to cry.

Because deep inside his heart, Matt Horner knew that this was the last time he would see James Raynor ever again.

* * *

The cafeteria was so quiet, it felt wrong. After Matt was gone, Jim poured some more booze into a glass, but even then, there was something missing. There was no crowd around. Drinking all by yourself was boring. He couldn't create company out of thin air, but when he looked around, he saw a big box in the corner of the cafeteria. One he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Well, I'll be damned." Jim whispered and stood up. He walked over to the object and put his hands on it.

"Hello, baby! Who the hell fixed you up?" Jim said as his hands brushed over his old jukebox. That thing was an antique, and after Tychus had wrecked it, no one had been able to fix it. Whoever was responsible for it, that person must have possessed an incredible amount of skill. So, it couldn't have been Swann. No offense, Swann was great at making things work again. However, that wasn't the same thing as really _fixing_ things. And how the hell should Jim have known that a certain Protoss Phasesmith had worked his magic on this thing.

He remembered all those parties where his old jukebox had entertained them. When he pressed a button, the lights actually came to life and the small mechanical arm inside started to move. It was still working! And someone had plugged it in!

He watched how the mechanical arm pulled a record out and a few moments later the all too familiar sound of music started to fill the room.

" _Big wheels keep on turning..."_ Jim closed his eyes and his lips started to move. He didn't say anything, he just sang the song inside his own mind.

" _Carry me home to see my kin."_ He knew that most of his pals had never understood his fascination with this kind of music.

" _Singing songs about the Southland."_ He had always tried to explain Matt that this song was actually of historical significance. But no one had believed him that it was actually from Old Earth.

" _I miss Alabamy once again."_ There was a world called Alabama, one of many backwater colonies. How should people know that the original Alabama had been a place on Earth?

 _"And I think it's a sin, yes."_ A song could say more than a thousand words. It could speak to you like no politician could. When Jim heard this song...he thought of home. Of the things that his soul longed for. It was nothing you could describe with words. Well, Jim couldn't. Perhaps there were some poets who could.

" _Sweet home Alabama"_ he now started to sing.

" _Where the skies are so blue."_

" _Sweet Home Alabama."_

" _Lord, I'm coming home to you."_

He had no idea what Alabama on Earth looked like, if it was a continent or an isle or just a city. Instead, he thought about the clear blue skies of Shiloh, his home. And like said; he felt it inside his heart. Whoever had written that song had been far better with words then he was. The music went on and Jim felt thirsty again. He walked back to the bar, sat down and started to drink some more.

It felt nice. The music and the alcohol kept him company, and soon everything started to turn into a blur. Perhaps it wasn't nice, but the pilot of the dropship had to wait. He was enjoying himself far too much.

He didn't notice when the door of the cafeteria was opened again. He thought that he heard some footsteps, but whoever it was, it didn't matter. He put his glass to his lips and a grin appeared on his face.

"Wish you'd be here right now, Darlin'." he whispered.

" _Looks like you and the boys had some fun."_ her voice suddenly reached his senses. He closed hiseyes and the grin turned into a relieved smile.

"You're back. I thought you left me for good." he said to the voice of Sarah inside his mind. So, the hallucination had decided to return after he had consumed ungodly amounts of alcohol. Go figure.

" _Took me some time. I encountered a few bumps on my way back here."_ Sarah replied. Something was strange though. It felt as if he could hear her voice both inside his mind and with his ears at the same time. He had felt the same way back inside the palace. As if it hadn't been a hallucination, but the _real_ Sarah.

"Heh, yeah, I know that feeling." he just replied. He kept his eyes closed and didn't say a word. He just enjoyed hearing her voice again. These days, it was one of the few things that still brought joy to him.

"So, where have you been?" he asked the voice.

" _Hmm, you wouldn't believe it."_ she sighed and strangely enough it felt as if she was frustrated. He took another sip and felt how the alcohol started to cloud his senses even more.

" _You look tired, Jim."_ her voice whispered.

"Yeah, well, it has been a long day. Week. Year. _Life_." He refilled his glass and opened his eyes again. When he stared at his own hands, he could feel a certain numbness in his fingertips. It was the sign that he should stop to drink any more alcohol. Instead, he raised the glass took another sip.

" _You never knew when it was time to quit."_ she told him.

"So I was told. By Matt. By Arcturus. By everyone."

 _"Yes. But here's something I've never told you; it's one of the reasons why I love you."_ Warm. Her voice felt warm. And it was nice that her words weren't in the past, but the present. It helped him to keep up the illusion of her being still around.

"You always had a weird taste in men, Sarah." he then chuckled.

" _True..._ " her voice replied. That's when suddenly someone put an empty glass next to his own. Jim could see that it was the hand of a woman. He turned his head to the side and when he looked into her beautiful green eyes, his heart stopped for a moment.

"...how about it, Jim? Care to offer me a drink?" Sarah Kerrigan asked him.

* * *

Being drunk can be fun. It doesn't have to be fun, but it can be fun. The problem is if the kind of fun you experience is better than anything else you can imagine. It means that you're addicted to alcohol. Or that your life sucks. Jim knew that he was drunk. And even when drunk he knew that there were two different probabilities. Probability A: Sarah had finally returned to him. Probability B: His hallucination had reached the next level.

Jim was a dreamer, he really was. But as he looked into those green eyes, his mind told him that it couldn't be real. His imagination was playing tricks on him. He couldn't really remember what he and Swann had done to Valerian either. It was all a blur. Even if this wasn't the real deal, he could still enjoy the moment, right?

Tomorrow he would be alone again, but right now he could enjoy her company, even if it was only a hallucination.

"You never liked to drink this stuff." Jim then said and Sarah chuckled. It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

"Well, people can change, can they not? What does a girl have to do in order to get a drink?" Sarah wanted to know and sat down right next to Jim. He looked at her, partially because he was entranced by her, partially because he was amazed by how realistic this hallucination was. But it wasn't real, he knew that. Because she was even more beautiful than he remembered. Her red hair looked like it was almost alive. And her lips were so full and soft. He felt the urge to lean forward and kiss her, but that would have been awkward. He didn't want anyone to enter the cafeteria and see how Jim was kissing nothing but air.

"Hehehe...that would actually be a nice image. So, can I have a drink, or do I have to find one myself?" Sarah wanted to know. Jim sighed and decided to do as he was told. He poured some alcohol into the other glass and after he put the bottle away, he watched how Sarah grabbed the glass and took a small sip. He saw how she grimaced and put the glass back down.

"Ugh. Now I remember why I don't like this stuff." she said and shook her head. It caused Jim to chuckle. She truly sounded like the real Sarah.

"If I had known that I could make you appear by drinking like crazy, I would have done that a long time ago." he said mostly to himself. For a second Sarah's eyes seemed to widen in surprise, but then she shook her head and regained her composure. Both remained silent for quite some time before Jim finally said something.

"You are so beautiful, you know that?" he told her. Sarah froze for a second, but then she lowered her head and a faint smile appeared on her face.

"That's another thing I love about you, Jim." she explained to him. "Your compliments are as simple as they get, but they are genuine. And therefore, so very precious."

"Liddy always said that I'm just too lazy to buy pralines." Jim replied, and for a moment it appeared as if Sarah felt offended by what he had said. She then shook her head and sighed. She took another sip from the glass and put it back on the bar.

"Now I know why you drink so much of that stuff. That way what others tell you won't bother you anymore." she whispered.

"Heh, tell you what, Darlin'; the most important thing is not the alcohol, but the company. You're drunk, yes. But so are the others. And during those moments, you're all equals. No one is better than the others, we all share the same state of mind...and liver." He then turned his head towards her and looked into her eyes. Those beautiful green eyes.

"During these moments, I can at least pretend that we were equals." When Sarah heard that, she could sense his pain and guilt. It was still running deep inside his mind, it was as if it had been ingrained into his very soul.

"You never needed that stuff to be my equal, Jim. The only thing you ever needed was inside of you all the time." She raised her hand and pointed her finger at his chest. "It's like they say; James Raynor's all heart." Jim chuckled when he heard that.

"All heart, no brains. I'm like the tin man from Oz, just the other way 'round."

"Never heard of that story. What's it about?" Sarah asked. It was strange, wasn't his own hallucination supposed to know that? Then again, hallucinations probably had their own rules.

"It's about a little girl that wants to find her way back home. And on her way, she encounters some strange fellows. A guy with no heart, a guy with no brain, and a guy with no courage. And there's an evil witch they have to defeat before everyone gets what they want."

"Guess the witch would be me then." Sarah mumbled and took another sip from her glass.

"Actually, I always thought that you were the little girl, lost in the darkness, all by yourself. With no one around you could call a friend." Jim told her and Sarah felt how her cheeks started to turn red.

"Everybody needs friends, Sarah. Even if we sometimes think we can take on the world all by ourselves."

"Hmm, never had many friends. I was always more of a minions-type myself." Sarah mumbled. "I guess I never saw the purpose in having friends. Until I met you. There were others, but it wasn't the same." Now she started to laugh. "You know, I always feel like a fool when I think about us, Jim. Our time was so short, yet it changed so much. In me."

"Yeah, I know that feeling." he agreed.

"The friendship you gave me was always with me." she whispered, but then Jim shook his head.

"No, Sarah. We were never friends."

That comment caused her to freeze. No friends? But...but did that mean that...

Oh crap, don't say that he had finally managed to move on. Of course, now that she had finally found her way back to him, he no longer needed her.

Go, Sarah.

"When we're young..." he then continued. "...we often mistake the one thing for the other. But that between us? It wasn't just friendship. It was more than that." He looked into her eyes again and Sarah could feel how her heart skipped a beat.

"It was love."

For a moment no one said a word. Not until Jim took another sip and sighed.

"You know, I never considered myself a true romantic. And I never really believed in love at first sight. But if I have to be brutally honest, then it was probably just that." Jim's words caused Sarah to shudder.

"It's strange, and I feel really guilty if I think about it because I had a family. I loved Liddy, ya' know?" he started to reminiscent.

"Jim, you don't have to do this." she whispered, but he shook his head.

"I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to tell you that again. And even if this is just a hallucination, I _have_ to tell you. Otherwise, it'll kill me eventually. Heh, well, I'm gonna die anyway. But at least I want to get it off my chest before I bite the dust."

To Sarah, Liddy and Johnny were a sore topic. Perhaps it was selfish beyond reason, but she didn't want to share Jim with anyone. Was it part of her Zerg-nature? Or was that what regular women felt?

"I loved Liddy. She made me happy. But it wasn't the same. She was like a fair wind, caressing my skin. But you? You were like a hurricane. One moment you were all over the place, tearing things apart." Uhh...maybe he truly wasn't a romantic. "...but then, when I stood in the eye of the hurricane, I saw your true self; passionate, caring, a great sense of humor. And so very fragile."

"Fragile?" Sarah whispered.

"Yes. Just the right amount. Not too much and not too little."

"Always thought that being fragile is a bad thing. You're no good to anyone if you break." she told him, but he shook his head.

"There are different kinds of fragileness." Jim explained to her. "Liddy...she was too fragile for this world. Johnny's death broke her, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fix her. It took me a very long time to realize that, and even longer to accept it. I'm grateful for the time I had with them. All the good memories, all the bad memories, everything will always remain in my heart. But it was just not meant to be." His words touched something inside Sarah, but she was too scared to say anything.

"Being fragile is something beautiful, Sarah." he then continued. "Because it means that there's someone who wants to protect that fragileness. Someone who wants to keep you in one piece. And who wants to _put the pieces back together_ when you're broken." He again looked into her eyes. "You put my pieces back together, Sarah. You made me whole again."

She had no idea what to reply to that. It made sense. Kinda. In a "James Raynor"-kind of way. But if these words had scored a critical hit, the next one delivered a fatal blow.

"That's why I think that I loved you the moment I saw you for the first time."

Sarah closed her eyes, and when tears of gold started to stream down her cheeks, Jim tilted his head to the side.

"I wonder what those golden tears mean. I mean, a hallucination usually has a meaning, right?" he mumbled to himself.

"It means that you're an idiot." she just replied, before she opened her eyes again and looked at him.

"And it means that I never stopped loving you, you huge dimwit." And then both of them just smiled.

"Maybe...maybe there will be a next life. And maybe we will meet each other again. Whadda'ya say, Sarah?" he wanted to know. The music was still playing, but it wasn't _Sweet Home Alabama_ anymore. Of course not, that song had ended quite some time ago. Sarah didn't recognize most of those songs. Had someone changed the records inside that thing?

"Why wait for the next life?" she then wanted to know. However, Jim wasn't listening to her. Instead, he looked over to the jukebox and smiled. He knew that a very special song would be up next.

"You know what I just realized?" he asked.

"No, what?" she wanted to know. Sarah refused to read his thoughts. Not because she didn't want to hear them, but out of respect.

"We never had a song." When Sarah heard that, she blinked in confusion.

"A... song? What do you mean?"

"A song. A song! Every couple needs a song!" Sarah didn't miss the fact that he still considered them to be a couple. And if she was honest with herself, it was what she had hoped for. Before she could say or do anything, Jim turned around to her and grabbed her hand. Sarah was too surprised to do anything. His hand! His hand was touching hers. Oh, how she had missed his touch.

Jim was surprised as well. It felt so real! However, he was still too drunk to realize what was going on.

"Jim, what are you doing?" Behind them, the jukebox stopped playing and the mechanical arm inside grabbed a new record. It took some time before the music started to play again. Enough time for Jim to give her a warm smile.

"Care to dance?" For a short moment, Sarah was too baffle to reply anything. But then she shook her head.

"Jim, I can't dance." she said to him. They had taught her many things. Mostly how to kill and how to stay invisible. But dancing wasn't exactly something a Ghost should be able to do. And Zerg weren't known to be great dancers either. Some godlike entity she was, she couldn't even dance.

"Don't worry." Jim then told her. "It's easy. Here, I'll show you." Sarah hesitated at first, but then she sighed and allowed Jim to pull her into the middle of the cafeteria. She put both her hands into his and just stared at Jim's feet. Like said, she had never learned how to dance. But she was a quick learner, maybe...

"Hey, eyes up here." Jim then told her and she looked up.

"But if I don't see where your feet are, I will just step on them." she explained to him.

"That's not how dancing works." he replied. In the background, the jukebox had finally found the next record. "Besides; I never learned how to properly dance either. And no, I don't know how a square dance works." he chuckled. That thought had actually entered Sarah's mind one or two times before.

"Then how does it work, Jim?" she whispered. Behind her, she could hear how the music started again.

"Just listen to the music and let it take the lead." he told her and started to move. The sound of a single guitar started to fill the room.

" _All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go..."_ the singer of the song started to sing.

" _I'm standin' here outside your door."_

" _I hate to wake you up to say goodbye."_

She had never heard that song before. However, when she looked into Jim's eyes, she felt so very calm. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt like this. Jim started to move, and at first Sarah had a hard time keeping up with him.

"Shhh." he then hushed her. "Just let the music take the lead." What the hell did that even mean? "Close your eyes." She looked at Jim and wanted to ask if he was serious, but then she realized that he had closed his eyes already. And there was a content smile on his face.

" _But the dawn is breakin'."_ the singer continued.

" _It's early morn."_

" _The taxi's waitin'."_

" _He's blowing his horn."_

And so, Sarah did just that. She closed her eyes and pressed her head against Jim's shoulder. The moment she felt his skin on hers, all the pain, fear and doubts started to fade away. Probably everyone in the entire galaxy would say that those two shouldn't be together, and Sarah's mind would probably agree. But right now, her heart told her that this was the only place where she wanted to be.

" _Already I'm so lonesome I could die."_

And so, they started to move. It wasn't really dancing, it didn't follow any rules. They were just circling around while holding each other in their arms. But to Sarah, it was the most wondrous experience of her entire life. And so it was for Jim.

" _So kiss me and smile for me."_

" _Tell me that you'll wait for me."_

" _Hold me like you'll never let me go."_

And then something happened. Something Sarah had never experienced before. The music...it started to speak to her. It was as if those lines were not just any random lines of any random song. It sounded crazy, but it felt as if this song had been written just for her. And for Jim. And for this specific moment in time.

" _'Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane."_

" _Don't know when I'll be back again."_

" _Oh babe, I hate to go."_

Sarah opened her eyes and looked up. Jim kept her in a tight embrace, and the smile on his face was that of a man who had finally made peace with himself. She remembered what he had told her...

... _you put my pieces back together..._

The song continued, and Sarah felt how the words started to sync with her own heartbeat. And that of Jim.

" _There's so many times I've let you down."_

" _So many times I've played around."_

" _I tell you now, they don't mean a thing."_

She gasped when she heard those lines. It truly felt like someone had brought her thoughts, her emotions and her guilt to paper. She closed her eyes and fresh tears started to stream down her face. And she wished that this moment would never end.

" _Every place I go, I'll think of you."_

" _Every song I sing, I'll sing for you."_

Damn straight. She had tried to ignore it, but just like Jim, she hadn't been able to do that. They were both like moths drawn to the fire. And the fire was the other one.

" _When I come back, I'll bring your wedding ring."_

Wedding...ring? Be with Jim? The thought seemed to be ridiculous. He once had had a family. A loving wife and a small son. And let's face it; Sarah wasn't exactly the caring-wife-material. And a mother? What if they ever would have children, and one of them would meet the same fate as Johnny?

 _You don't know that yet..._ the voice in the back of her mind whispered.

"Don't worry, Jim!" she would tell him. "We do it the Zerg-way! We simply produce more larvae!"

She couldn't imagine herself to be like that; a caring wife and mother. Besides, that path was no longer available to her. But still...

"So kiss me and smile for me." Jim suddenly started to sing along.

"Tell me that you'll wait for me."

Sarah closed her eyes yet again and pressed her head against Jim's chest. She could feel his heart beating. Right now, there was no pain. It was as if his body had decided to cut him some slag. His _failing_ body. She listened to his heartbeat and his voice while her powers started to reach out. She didn't even have to think about it, her powers did it on their own volition. They poured into every organ, every cell and started to repair the damage that had been done. Blood vessels stopped leaking blood. The remnants of an unhealthy life vanished from his lungs. And his organs started to do their intended job once more.

"Hold me like you'll never let me go." Jim continued and Sarah did just that. She wrapped her arms around his body and decided to enjoy this moment to the fullest.

"'Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane."

"Don't know when I'll be back again."

"Oh babe, I hate to go." After that Jim just started to hum. It appeared as if he didn't know all the lyrics that well. And so the voice of the singer was once again the only one that spoke to them.

" _Now the time has come to leave you."_

" _One more time let me kiss you."_

" _Then close your eyes and I'll be on my way."_

Sarah felt a sting inside her heart. There was still something she had to do, somewhere she had to go. She couldn't just wait, she had to do it right now. She owed it to someone. So yeah, she too had to go. Truth to be told, she hadn't made up her mind if she should stay with Jim. But then the song told her what she should do.

" _Dream about the days to come."_

" _When I won't have to leave alone."_

" _About the times, I won't have to say."_

"Oh kiss me and smile for me." Sarah then whispered, and both she and Jim looked into their eyes. And for a short moment, an impossible short moment, Jim's drunken mind realized that this wasn't a hallucination.

And that's when their lips finally met.

" _Tell me that you'll wait for me."_

" _Hold me like you'll never let me go."_

" _'Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane."_

" _Don't know when I'll be back again."_

" _Oh babe, I hate to go."_

Sarah now knew what she had to do. She had to leave. But not for long. Inside her mind, she told him that she would come for him. He just had to be patient for a little while longer. However, that didn't stop them to enjoy the moment, and the tender kiss they shared. It felt like the whole universe had stopped to move, and all the stars and atoms alike were just staring at them.

Because this moment...was _theirs_.


	54. Act II - Chapter 30

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 30**

 **Farewell Blues**

* * *

 **''** Hnnnnn... "

Shit. Noun. Another word for feces. Can also be used as a verb. I shit, you shit, he/she/it shits. Or an adjective. In this case, you can actually compare it. Shit, shittier, shittiest.

That's how Jim felt.

"Ugh..."

He had no idea where he was, nor what had happened. Hell, he didn't even know what day it was. All he remembered was a whole lotta' _nothing_. He tried to open his eyes but failed miserably. He had _enjoyed_ many hangovers; however, none were so brutal and inhuman as those hangovers you get from Swann's moonshine. That was actually the first thing he realized when his brain tried to regain some traction.

Swann's moonshine.

Okay, that had been an easy one.

The next question was; how did Swann's moonshine get into his body?

The most obvious answer was; he drank it. Unfortunately, he wasn't so certain about that. He had his doubts because only an idiot would drink some of Swann's moonshine. Perhaps he should open his eyes and find out where he was. That would help, right? And so, he opened his eyes and-

"Ah, shit!" Jim groaned when the light above him nearly blinded him. Okay, bad choice. Should have kept his eyes closed. It wasn't that bright, though. He took a few deep breaths and tried to regain his composure. After a while, he tried to open his eyes again, but slowly this time. He raised his hand and put it on his eyes. He lay on...something. That was the next thing he realized. It felt like a bed. The question was; which one? It felt a lot less comfortable than his bed in the villa back on Korhal. But at the same time, it felt awfully familiar. And there was something in his back. His other hand wandered to the object and when he grabbed it, he realized that it was a bottle.

"That's not a good sign." he muttered to himself and started to blink. His hand shielded his eyes from the bright light and gave him time to adapt. And when he was finally ready, he pulled his hand away and looked up.

"Wait a second." he whispered to himself. "I know that ceiling." Of course he knew it. He had stared at this ceiling for many years. He raised his head and looked around. He was in his room! His old bunk on the Hyperion! How the hell did he...

"Oooohhh...hell." Jim groaned and dropped his head down on his pillow. Yep, definitely Swann's moonshine. Only his poison could cause this kind of a headache. Jim remained in his bed for what felt like at least an hour. Strangely enough, it was only his head that hurt. The rest of his body felt surprisingly good. And that couldn't be a good sign. Usually, his body always hurt like hell when he woke up. But not now. He still needed time to recuperate. And he had no idea how he had gotten here in the first place. Seriously, his memory was like a big black hole.

When his head finally stopped pulsing, he sighed and tried to get up. He needed several attempts, but when he finally managed to swing his legs over the edge of his bed, he moaned in discomfort. Damn, just how many drinks did he have the day before? He looked around and when he finally saw his quarters, his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Damn. What kind of party did I miss?"

His room looked as if someone had performed a bombing inside it. Seriously, everything had been thrown around. His table, broken. His chairs, broken. Broken bottles galore. And even his bed had seen better days. It appeared as if a fight club had held its annual meeting in here! Jim stood up and knew that he had to do the most annoying thing in the morning; get into the bathroom and let nature do its thing. It was always the same procedure. And so, he walked into his bathroom and realized that at least his bathroom was still in one piece. He did what every person had to do in the morning, however, much to his own dismay, there wasn't any hot water available. So when he stepped into the shower and turned the water on, the only thing that hit his skin was cold water. But at least it _was_ water. There had been times when that couldn't have been guaranteed.

Luckily, Stetmann wasn't around, so everything was fine.

Still, when Jim turned the shower on, he waited a while in order to be certain. When no brown surprise happened, he looked at the shower and sighed. Cold water. By now he hated cold water. It made his skin hurt. All these scars were quite bothersome. His skin wasn't what it had used to be, and most people treated their skin like a bunch of old slippers. Unfortunately, you couldn't replace it. And when you get older, the scars start to hurt. The skin can lose its elasticity and then any sudden move can hurt. Sometimes it feels like it was about to rip open. It was a sharp and sudden pain, one that caused Jim to wince in pain and discomfort.

Cold and wet weather was especially bad for Jim's skin. And a cold shower had the same effect. Unfortunately, the alternative would have been to walk around sweaty and stinkin' like a bunch of Zerglings that had been dead for a few weeks.

The cold water was truly ice cold, and Jim cursed like a sailor. However, he somehow managed to get every single part of his body wet. Even though some parts of his physique tried to retract into his own body...

He turned off the shower, and when he stepped out of it, he straightened himself in order to stretch his stiff skin. He braced himself for the pain and discomfort...

...but the pain never came.

"Huh?" Jim blinked and started to stretch some more, however, his skin didn't yell at him to stop. That was strange. Usually, he needed at least 15 minutes every morning under the hot shower in order to do this. And even then, he could still feel his aching bones.

Perhaps he was still drunk. Considering the fact that he had (probably) consumed some of Swann's moonshine, that possibility wasn't too far-fetched. Still, freezing his own ass off was the best way to catch death, so he toweled himself dry and got back into his clothes. His barely clean clothes.

"Guess I could have saved the water then." he muttered to himself, but the alternative would be to run around naked. When he was good to go, he walked towards the mirror and took a quick look. However, that quick look turned into a long one. Something was wrong, but Jim was unable to put his finger on it. There was something about his face, something different. It sounded crazy, but he could swear that some of his most recent wrinkles had _vanished_.

"Oh God, I think I need a coffee." he then just mumbled and turned away from the mirror. Besides, he had more important things to worry about. Like how the hell he had gotten on the Hyperion in the first place. He faintly remembered that Matt had something to do with it, but it was all still very fuzzy. When he went back to his cabin, he finally noticed the full extent of the chaos. It looked like someone had decided to totally wreck his room!

"Gosh, that must have been one hell of a party." He then shook his head and groaned. God dammit, his head was still a mess! Whatever had happened here, Matt would tell him. Hopefully. For a second he wondered if he should start to clean this place up, but then he shook his head again. He left his cabin and stepped out and into the corridor.

"Hello? Anyone out here?" However, no one answered. He could feel some vibrations beneath his feet. That meant that they sub-light engines were running at full power. Oh, that wasn't good. Somewhere in the deepest back of his mind, a small piece of information reemerged.

... _Hyperion leaves tomorrow..._

"Oh crap!" Jim yelled and decided to hurry to the hangar. The dropship! A dropship had brought him here! He remembered that much. And maybe he was lucky, maybe it was still there! He didn't encounter anyone on his way to the hangar. And as he hurried through the corridors of his old ship, he started to remember some things.

Matt. Valerian. And Swann. A lot of moonshine. And a carrier landing gone wrong. But he couldn't remember who had performed that exquisite display of a crash landing. Had to be Swann, because there was no way in hell that Valerian would have done something like that. There were more images, but they didn't make much sense to him. Still, as he walked through the corridors, a warm smile appeared on his face.

"...so kiss me and smile for me." he started to sing.

"Tell me that you'll wait for me."

"Hold me like you'll never let me go."

He had no idea why this song had just come to his mind right now, but for some odd reason, it filled his chest with a warm feeling. His mood was surprisingly good when he finally reached the hangar. He opened the door and when he stepped inside...

...the dropships were gone.

"Are you KIDDING ME?!" Jim yelled and looked around. However, there was no dropship around. "You damn assholes! Could have at least left a message for me!" Now how was he supposed to get back to Korhal? Not that he really wanted to go back to Korhal in the first place, but he knew that Smith would sooner or later show up and drag him back down to the planet. Still, he didn't want to stay here and do nothing. He looked out of the hangar and could see the endless black of space through the force field that kept the atmosphere inside. The stars looked all too familiar. Since he was in no rush, he just relaxed and stared at all those suns. Like said, they looked all too familiar. Yet something was wrong. Why hadn't he noticed these stars before? He recognized a few constellations. And that's when he finally realized it.

"Oh hell, no!" Those constellations were all wrong! At least if you were on Korhal! But Jim still recognized them. No, it couldn't be. You could see these constellations only from one system.

"SWAAAAAAAANNN!" Jim screamed in rage and turned around. He stomped through the corridors and entered a lift. It took him only five minutes to reach the bridge, and when he entered it, he could see his former chief engineer sitting next to the pilot's seat. He had put his feet up and nipped at a cup of coffee.

"SWANN!" Jim roared and the short man screamed in surprise and shock. He dropped his cup of coffee and started to curse like a sailor.

"'The hell, cowboy? What are you doin' here?!" Swann shouted back. He seemed to be surprised to see Jim. Oh, this wasn't good. When Jim stormed towards him, the engineer could see the serious expression on the former Marshal's face.

"Swann, tell me that we aren't in orbit around Meinhoff!"

"We aren't in orbit around Meinhoff." Swann then told him, and Jim stopped and sighed in relief.

"Whew. Thank God. I really thought for a second that those constellations outside meant that we were near that damn rock, no offense." Jim said, but Swann, who got back on his feet, just shook his head.

"None taken. We're not there yet anyway, it will take at least one more hour until we reach Meinhoff."

"Oh good, that means SAY WHAT?!" Jim then yelled. "I JUST ASKED YOU IF WE WERE NEAR MEINHOFF?!" But Swann seemed to be really calm. Way too calm.

"Nope, you asked if we were in orbit around Meinhoff. Well, we ain't. But we will be. In roughly 52 minutes to be exact." That was not the answer Jim had wanted to hear.

"What? Why? How?" he just snarled, but Swann walked over to the card table and poured in some more coffee into his cup.

"Uhh...not sure myself. When I woke up, I just programmed the auto-pilot and then I took a long nap."

"Must be one hell of a nap if we're already at Meinhoff!" Jim spat out and stemmed his fists against his hip. "That's a three-day trip!"

 _Just how long did I sleep?_ he thought to himself.

"Nope, it ain't!" Swann then replied with a chuckle and a smile on his face. He pulled a bottle of his moonshine up from under the table, opened it as if it was the most normal thing in the world, and poured even more of his poison into the cup.

"Swann, what are you doing?" Jim wanted to know.

"Why, I'm about to drink a cup of coffee. Why are you asking?" the engineer replied.

"That's no coffee." Jim said.

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it isn't."

"Yes, it is!

"No, it ain't!" Jim barked. "That's not coffee! That's...I don't even know what it is!"

"Coffee blue." Swann then said and Jim blinked in confusion.

"Coffee blue?"

"Yep. One part coffee, nine parts booze. Puts the ink in the pen, if you know what I mean." When Jim heard that, he couldn't help but shudder.

"That can't be healthy." he muttered and watched how Swann took a long and deep gulp from his mug of...something.

"Look who's talking, Mister Men's Health! Hey, when I created this drink, I thought of you!"

"For the sake of our friendship, I will not ask why you did that." Jim muttered and shook his head.

"Seriously, Swann! No matter how drunk I was, I never tried to steer a goddamn battlecruiser while being intoxicated!"

"I don't pilot this thing." Swann explained with a smug grin on his face. Jim froze for a second and then he looked around. There truly wasn't anyone around.

"Uhm, how the hell did you manage to get this thing moving? Have the others gone sleeping?" A ship of this size needed a crew. The thought of a single person piloting this thing was utterly ridiculous. We aren't only talking about the pilots (since you actually need two guys to steer a capital ship), but also a navigator and a sensor-officer. They all had to work together in order to make a ship of this size move from point A to point B.

"Nope, as far as I know, we two are the only ones on this ship. Unless there is another blind passenger hiding somewhere." Swann replied.

"Bullshit. How the hell did you get this thing moving without a crew?"

"Simple; I used the autopilot!"

…

…

…

"Swann, there is no autopilot on the Hyperion. I would know that." Jim then deadpanned. That was when a grin appeared on the engineer's face.

"Now there is! Matt sent me an engineer, name was Kojack or something like that. Real shy, but boy! That kid knows how to fix a machine! He not only helped me to fix the main systems, he tuned the hyperdrive and installed an autopilot. Dude, have you any idea what this means?"

"That you let someone else do your job?" Jim offered.

"Cheeky bastard." Swann replied. "That means that this ship needs only a minimal crew!" Jim just sighed when he heard that and walked around the card table. He stepped towards one of the huge looking glasses and stared out into the endless black.

"How long have we been traveling?" Jim then asked.

"Hmm...12 hours I think." 12 Hours? That was incredible. Usually, the trip from Korhal to Meinhoff took at least 72 hours. If everything went according to plan and there was no delay. And there was always some sort of delay involved when traveling such a long distance. Now that Jim took his time to study the stars, he could see two very bright stars in the distance. It looked like at least one of them was moving, albeit very, very slowly. Jim realized that the star that wasn't moving had to be Meinhoff's central star. And the other one wasn't a star at all. It was a planet, reflecting the star's light.

Meinhoff.

"Has been some time, hasn't it?" Jim muttered, mostly to himself though. Swann stepped next to him and looked out of the window.

"Can't say that I missed that rock." the engineer said and took another sip from his mug.

"Then why did you decide to return here?" Jim wanted to know and looked over to his former chief engineer, who scratches his own cheek.

"Ugh, needed a place where I could fix the Hyperion. Kajak did a good job, but there are still tons of things to do. And the only dry dock that can handle a ship of her size is around Meinhoff."

"By the way, what do you want to do with her anyway?" Jim wanted to know, but Swann just shrugged his shoulders.

"Dunno. I thought about using her as a relief transport. You know, take supplies to the colonies that need that stuff. Or I could use it as a cruise liner." When Jim heard that, he started to laugh.

"Cruise liner? Hahaha! Where did you get that idea from?"

"Hey, don't laugh, Cowboy!" Swann complained. "It could work! Matt made me remove all the offensive weapon systems, so this thing will never be a warship again. But look at her! She has room, she's still in good shape. Of course, you have to do a lot of things, but think about it; a cruise trip on board of a former battlecruiser, now a five-star cruise ship! Hey! HEY! What's so funny about that?" Swann yelled when he saw how Jim couldn't help but to laugh his ass off.

"Oh, I'm not laughing at your idea. I just had to imagine how you would look like in a white captain's uniform, greeting all those guests. Do me a favor; if there's a captain's dinner, don't serve them coffee blue."

"Cheeky bastard." Swann repeated his initial statement, but then both men started to laugh. The idea of Swann wearing a pristine officer's uniform was just too ridiculous to ever become reality.

Of course, neither Jim nor Swann knew that the grumpy engineer would end up as commander of the Dominion's Academy for Engineers and that he would indeed wear a white uniform for the rest of his active professional life. And neither one of those two dared to imagine that "Admiral Grump Grump" would go down in history as the founding father of modern-day engineering.

But that was still years away, and right now Swann had other problems to worry about.

"Attention, unknown vessel! This is Meinhoff Space Command!" a voice suddenly came out of the loudspeakers. Someone was trying to contact them. Swann looked over at Jim, who just pulled his shoulders up.

"Don't look at me, I ain't gonna do your job. It's your ship now." Jim just muttered and Swann sighed. He walked over to the comm-station and pressed a button.

"Uhm, this is the independent battlecruiser Hyperion. We, uhm, come in peace?" he then said and Jim pressed his hand against his face.

"Smooth, Swann. Real smooth."

"Uh, independent battlecruiser Hyperion? Is that even a thing?" the man on the other side muttered. Independent vessels were nothing unusual. But an independent battlecruiser? But they were lucky since the guys from the local space command seemed to realize who they were dealing with after a short while.

"Hyperion! We have identified your IFF, you've been logged in our systems. Hyperion? _The_ Hyperion?" Now a proud smile appeared on Swann's face.

"Yep! The one and only!"

"Can't believe that death-trap is still afloat! Hey, you don't intend to leak the insides of your reactor all over our atmosphere again, now do you?" When Jim heard that, he started to snicker while Swann's expression turned sour.

"What? Now listen, you little shi-" But then Jim decided to intervene. He knew that Swann wasn't a bad person, but sometimes it's better to keep your emotions in check. It was one of the things the man still had to learn. It was completely fine to curse at a machine. But now they were dealing with the most ruthless force in the universe; bureaucrats. So Jim turned around and hurried to the comm-station. He pushed Swann aside and cleared his throat.

"Sorry, sorry! I'm awfully sorry, Space Control. That was my chief engineer. You know how these guys are, they don't know how to behave when real people are around."

"Yeah, we got those guys here too. Still, who are you and why did you bring a battlecruiser out here?"

"James Raynor's the name. We brought the Hyperion here for-" But he didn't get much further.

"Raynor? _The_ James Raynor?" the operator then asked and Jim sighed.

"Oh man, let's hope he's a fanboy and not someone he holds a grudge against me." he whispered to Swann, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Is there really a difference these days?" the other man asked, but Jim just shook his head and returned his attention back to the com-station.

"Yes, the one and only. So please don't shoot, because we come in peace and we don't have any weapons on board anyway."

"Then why are you here?" the operator wanted to know.

"Refit and repairs. Our little baby is done with fighting battles, now she wants to enjoy a good fixin', and then let's see what's going to happen next."

"So, you're here for the repair yards?"

"You got it."

"Okay. Well, we have to relay that information to the folks at the repair yard, but that's none of my business. Still, power down your engines and prepare for an inspection." When Jim and Swann heard that, they looked at each other and frowned.

"Uhm, command, is that really necessary? The ship's totally empty and we're running on fumes over here."

"I am sorry, Mr. Raynor, but yes, it is necessary. We had some rather serious incidents the last few weeks and every ship has to be checked from top to bottom before it may enter Meinhoff's orbit. That is not open up for debate, Sir."

"Aw, crap." Jim muttered. He could already see how they would wait hours or even days until someone would finally get to the Hyperion in order to check them out. "Just how long is it gonna take until someone gets here?"

"Well, there are roughly 60 ships before you, so it could take a while." the operator explained and now both men groaned. "But tell you what, we don't get many battlecruisers out here these days, and especially none that have the famous Jim Raynor on board. I will tell someone to get to you right away. Be warned, however; should you decide to move in closer, the defense force will use all means available to stop you."

"No offense, but who shitted in your breakfast?" Jim then asked. Instead of yelling, the man on the other end of the line just sighed.

"Eh, shit in the breakfast, that actually sums it up pretty well. You can ask the inspector about that, I answered the questions for too many times in the last few weeks." The next thing the man said caught Jim unprepared.

"Let's just say that we got some Zerg-problems."

* * *

It appeared as if Jim and Swann were lucky; the inspector turned out to be an ok-guy and not a bureaucratic asshat. The moment he left his ship and stepped onto the floor of the hangar, he appeared to be rather impressed and whistled when he looked around.

"Interesting vessel you got there, guys." he said before he introduced himself. They shared some small talk before they went right down to business; checking the vessel and making sure that everything was in order. On their way through the Hyperion, Jim couldn't help but ask why they were so eager to check _every_ ship that entered the system.

"Not because we want to, that much's for certain." the inspector replied. "Six weeks ago, a vessel entered the system and headed straight for Meinhoff. It was a small corvette, heavily damaged. All attempts to establish communication remained unsuccessful, and the ship simply crashed in the Northern Badlands."

"Huh? Any survivors?" Jim asked, but the inspector just shrugged his shoulders.

"Dunno. Rescue parties arrived there shortly after, but they had to evacuate. The infested had already claimed the vessel and have been acting weird ever since."

"Infested?" Jim asked. "They are still a problem?"

"Yes and no. There are still plenty of those freaks out there. They pretty much all hide in the wastelands and we had not a single incident within the last 13 months. But they still roam the badlands. However, after that crash they started to get more active, even attacked a forward supply base in the middle of nowhere. They destroyed the base. Luckily, no one died and everyone managed to flee. Unfortunately, the base had two dropships that went missing. Command thinks that some pirate used the opportunity to steal them, that's why we have to check every vessel once it enters and once it leaves. Especially those vessels who are big enough to house a dropship. Which your battlecruiser qualifies for I'm afraid."

"That'll be a problem?" Jim wanted to know.

"Not really. But whatever your business is here, once you prepare to leave, we will search every deck for those dropships. So, do us both a favor and keep all the doors open. That will speed things up." During a moment of privacy, Jim leaned over to Swann and flashed him a cruel smile.

"Make sure that they search deck 8 first."

"Ugh, I so don't look forward to explaining _that_ to these guys." Swann shot back. The rest of the inspection wasn't that exciting. Like said, this was just a simple visit. The real inspection would take place after the Hyperion had been fixed up. But there was one thing that Jim still had to ask. When the inspector and the two men were back inside the hangar, Jim wanted to know something.

"Say..." he then asked. "...do you know how I could get back to Korhal? Truth to be told, I'm not even supposed to be on board." The inspector frowned when he heard that, but then he just shrugged his shoulders.

"You could always look for a civilian flight at the spaceport. I don't have the flight schedule memorized, but there should be at least one or two flights to Korhal every day."

"Great, spaceport. Sounds good. Now I only have to get there." Jim mused and the inspector looked over to his own shuttle.

"Tell you what, I can take you there. This is my last tour of the day anyway and once I'm done here, I'm off duty." the inspector offered.

"You are my hero." Jim just replied, which caused the inspector to laugh.

"Yeah, well, don't be. My ride's not exactly as comfortable as your fine and mighty ship."

"Hehe, he called the Hyperion fine and mighty!" Swann laughed, but then the inspector shook his head.

"What? This trashcan? No, I was talking about this new ship you got, the _Rebel Heart_. Saw her on holonet. Now that's one hell of a fine ship." the inspector explained. Jim started to snicker when he saw how Swann's expression turned sour.

"Hehe, well, you could say that." Jim then added and shook his head. "Still, I would really like to accept your offer. Need to go back to Korhal before Matt loses his mind. Bet he doesn't even know that I'm out here."

"Right..." Swann growled. "...because we totally don't want the boyscout to go crazy or anything like that. God forbid!"

"Of course, Mr. Raynor. However, we have to leave immediately. I don't want to sound rude, but I want to go home now."

"Okay." Jim nodded. "Just give me a sec, will you. I want to say goodbye to my pal over here." The inspector nodded as well and turned around.

"I'll be waiting for you in the ship." When the man was gone, Jim turned towards Swann and gave him a warm smile.

"So, you good?" he wanted to know.

"Yeah, I'm good. Can't believe that I now own this baby. I always wanted to have my own ship, but I never thought it would be a damn battlecruiser."

"Well, just treat her better than I have, will you?" Jim told him. "And should you ever need some help, you know where to find me."

"Ha! Sounds like our old Commander has finally returned to us! Hey, where have you been all this time?"

"Whadda'ya mean?" Jim then asked.

"I mean...ah, nevermind. It's just good to see that the fire is back in your eyes. And you look a lot better than I remember." Swann then added. Hmm, strange. Because it meant that Jim did not only feel better but looked better as well. Behind them, the engines of the inspector's ship came alive and Jim knew that it was time to go. He offered his hand to Swann, who grabbed it and gave it a hard squeeze.

"Take care, Swann."

"You too, Cowboy."

When Jim entered the ship, he didn't turn around. He thought that he would see Swann again sooner or later. Both men didn't know that they would never see each other again...

* * *

 **I forgot how much I hate this place.**

Sarah's voice and thoughts echoed through the darkness. Her body produced enough light to illuminate the area around her, but even then, she could only see the dark floor beneath her feet. The place was darker than she remembered. It appeared as if someone had turned the light off since the last time she had been here. Even then she still felt the strange presence of this place in the back of her mind. It was as if the walls around her were only waiting for her command. Her old self would have liked that, but her current self wanted to be anywhere else but here.

 **Guess it's pointless to search for a light switch.**

While her lips weren't moving, her voice still echoed through the empty corridors. Her feet didn't even touch the ground. Her flaming red hair acted like a real-life lava lamp, and when she turned her head around, she stared into the darkness.

 **Those damn Xel'Naga could have at least put some signs on the walls!**

"This is fascinating!" Karax just said and looked at the floor beneath him. Sarah mentally sighed, but then she turned around and stared down at the Phasesmith.

 **Karax, it's just the floor! How can a floor be fascinating?** In her current state, which could be considered her true self by now, her voice was both part of the physical and the psionic realm. Words became thoughts and vice versa. At first it had been confusing, even for her. Because if she thought something, she spoke it out at the same time. And that could lead to awkward situations. Karax pointed his fingers at the tiles beneath them. There was some weak green light emitting from them, but it was too weak to illuminate their surroundings.

"There seems to be some sort of computer network integrated into the floor. If I could access it, I might be able to find the command to turn on the lights."

 **Karax, I want to be honest; I don't want to spend ages here until you find-**

That's when Karax tipped something into his own personal computer he wore around his wrist and suddenly the light beneath them started to pulse and became stronger by the second. Soon the whole ground beneath them emitted a bright green light and it started to spread until it reached some walls. Right before their eyes, a gigantic room appeared. It was so large that several dozen leviathans would have had more than enough place to float around freely. Sarah looked up and sighed again.

 **But of course. I search my ass off and he just wriggles with his fingers and finds the light switch. Go me.** There had been a change in her behavior. Ever since they had left the Hyperion, Sarah had become more relaxed. For the first time since...ever? Well, for the first time in a long time she had a plan. A plan that didn't involve genocide or waging war on a sentient species. But the night was still young, so there was still enough time to screw things up.

 **No, not this time.** she said to herself. Karax looked up at her.

"My Lady? Do you wish me to stop?" he wanted to know, but she shook her head.

 **What? No... no. I wasn't talking to you, Karax.** She sighed again and shook her head. **I just** **don't like this place. It's like it's talking to me, but I don't understand what it's trying to tell me.**

"Hmm, that sounds fascinating." Was there anything that didn't sound fascinating to Karax? The next thing he said caused Sarah to feel even more confused. "So, it would be proof to my theory." Now Sarah turned towards Karax and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

 **Care to elaborate?** She wasn't threatening him, she just wanted to know what he was talking about. Karax looked around and pointed his fingers at the green lights dancing over the floor and walls.

"I have studied pieces of Xel'Naga-technology. Unfortunately, I was not able to study pieces that were still working. Though they all shared one trait; there was no interface to interact with the systems. At first, I believed that they were broken or had been removed, but now I believe that the Xel'Naga used an interface that relied on psionics."

 **Uh...huh?** Not what a godlike entity was supposed to say, but she had no idea what Karax was talking about. It appeared as if Karax realized that she didn't understand what he was trying to tell her. And so, he switched over to teacher-mode.

"I believe that the technology of the Xel'Naga is controlled by their psionics. Instead of pushing buttons, they used their powers to tell their ships and machines to do what they wanted them to do. I continued to explore the possibility of Protoss using these devices, but it was not possible."

 **Why not?** If what Karax said was correct, then shouldn't Protoss be able to use this technology? Hell, even Zerg should be able to use it! And, more importantly, why couldn't she use it?

"I have not proven my theory yet. All I can tell you is what I believe, but I do not have any proof that-"

 **Karax, just spit it out.** she then told him. The Phasesmith seemed to be baffled for a second, but then he shook his head.

"Of course, Lady Kerrigan. You see, my theory is that the Xel'Naga used their psionics to control their devices. But psionics are different, every species has another way how they use them. The wavelength harmonics are simply too different to call it one and the same kind of psionics. Zerg psionics are completely different from the ones the Protoss use. It would only be reasonable to assume that the Xel'Naga used some sort of psionic pattern that only they had access to. That way they could ensure that no one would abuse their technology or use it against them." When he told her that, Sarah had to frown.

 **But Artanis interacted with this place. And so did Zeratul on Ulaan.** Sarah interjected, but it only caused Karax to nod like crazy.

"Yes! Exactly! That was what made me think. We have records of other Protoss being able to interact with the technology of the Xel'Naga. But they all had one thing in common; they had been trained in the arts of the Dark Templar." Now it was Karax who sighed. "That was when I reached a dead end in my research. I asked both the Hierarch and even the Matriarch Vorazun if they would allow me insight into the Dark Templar's arts. But both denied my request."

 **Did they say why they didn't allow it?** Sarah asked and Karax dropped his shoulders. He appeared to be...disappointed? Well, at least Sarah seemed to be able to read the Protoss's body language better and better with each passing day.

"They only told me that this knowledge was not meant to be shared with those who are not Dark Templar themselves." Karax's sense of disappointment was truly overpowering.

 **And you think that that knowledge could have helped you?** He nodded and looked up at her.

"It was frustrating. Without this knowledge, I was not able to verify or falsify my theory. Can you understand how that feels? If there is a question and you just crave to find an answer, but all you receive is silence?"

 **I think I know what you're talking about, Karax.** While Sarah didn't share his scientific background, she knew that feeling all too well. She then took a deep breath and looked back up before Karax continued.

"I still believe that the Dark Templar are able to interact with the technology of the Xel'Naga because their psionic powers are somehow related. However, without any more knowledge, every explanation is just unscientific, and therefore highly dubious in nature." He was a careful fellow. Truth to be told, Sarah actually liked that. She had never met a careful Protoss. And Karax? He was _very_ careful with everything he said or did.

"It makes sense, though." he then added and started to tip with his finger against his chin.

 **What makes sense?**

"What you said, my Lady. That this place speaks to you. Perhaps it tries to communicate with you, but you speak different languages."

 **But I was given the powers of the Xel'Naga, Karax. Then why do I only understand gibberish?** It was strange, but it appeared as if Karax truly knew more about this place than she did.

"Power does not equal insight, my Lady." Karax then explained. "You possess the power of the Xel'Naga, but do you speak their language?"

 **Uh...nope.**

"Perhaps that is the reason why this place does not make any sense to you. I was not allowed to study the ways and arts of the Dark Templar, but I pieced together that they spend decades, sometimes even centuries of learning how to decrypt the language of the Xel'Naga. And even then they had a hard time understanding what these inscriptions truly meant. It was never a real translation, just an interpretation of what it could mean." When Sarah heard that, her eyebrows wandered up.

Now it all made sense!

Back when she had come here and met Artanis again, he had explained to her that these inscriptions were not just pictures, but that you had to read them with a specially trained mind in order to unlock their secrets.

 **But wouldn't that mean that Artanis too didn't understand what the Xel'Naga were trying to tell us?** Karax shrugged his shoulders when he heard her question.

"Possibly. I cannot give you a satisfying answer to that question. Like said, it is all-"

 **Yes, Karax, I know, a theory.** Sarah interrupted him. **But it is the best damn theory I have heard so far.** She then looked around and shuddered. **When I returned from the Void, I came here first. I was looking for answers, but what I saw made little sense to me. It became better the longer I stayed, but even then** **,** **I wasn't able to truly understand all of it. It was...frustrating.** Among other things.

"Hmm...it would appear that while you possess the powers of the Xel'Naga, your mind is not like theirs. It is not surprising, given the fact that you are human." When Karax said that, Sarah felt how a shudder went through her whole body. Human? That's right, her mind had been human once.

Or was it still human?

Sarah floated towards a wall and placed her hand on it. The tile in front of her started to glow. She could feel that there was something inside. It felt like an entity, but not as if it was alive. She lacked the words to describe what she was feeling. The only thing she knew was that this place still held countless secrets. Secrets she had to figure out sooner or later.

 **Can you help me with that, Karax?** Sarah then asked and looked over her shoulder.

"Help you, my Lady?" he asked in confusion.

 **This place was abandoned so long ago, but it's knowledge still remains. I'm not too fond of this place, but I know that I've done you wrong, Karax. So here's the deal; you can stay here and study this place as long as you want. All I ask you to do is to share that knowledge with me. Could you do that? Could you teach me how this place works?** The moment Sarah said that Karax's eyes widened in surprise.

"Are you...is this...my Lady, are you saying that you will allow me to study the halls of Ulnar?!" He seemed to be in utter disbelief, but Sarah just nodded. Karax was different from any other Protoss she had ever met. Perhaps because he wasn't a warrior, but there was a certain childlike glee emitting from him. Besides, the only reason why he was here was because of what Sarah had done to him. She had made a decision; that she would not kill him. She was now responsible for him, but she wouldn't drag him along like some sort pet. And fixing battlecruisers was simply a waste of his talents.

No, he deserved this. Well, he deserved far more than this, but it was everything Sarah could offer to him right now.

Perhaps one day she would find a way to undo the damage she had done to his mind. And perhaps he would be able to return to his people, should they be willing to accept him.

"Milady, thank you so much for this opportunity! It will truly be a wondrous experience, and I promise you that-" Before he could finish the sentence, Sarah sighed yet again.

 **Just promise me to not push any buttons that might destroy the universe as we know it, okay? That will be enough.**

"Uhm...very well, if that is what you wish." Before they could continue their conversation, someone else approached them. From a side corridor, the dark figure of Izsha emerged. She slithered towards Sarah and Karax and bowed her head.

"My Queen, I have searched the area for any possible intruders or anything else that might be of interest. However, this place is far too big for me alone to search every part of it. My apologies." Izsha explained.

 **It's fine, Izsha. I can't feel anyone around either. Let's just call it a day. Besides, we still should get going. I didn't want to stay here any longer than necessary.**

"Did I hear correctly; will Karax remain on Ulnar alone?" Izsha then wanted to know. Sarah sighed yet again and lowered her head. It was probably a bad idea to leave him behind without anyone looking over him. But who should stay with him? Sarah didn't want to leave Izsha behind, she wanted her trusted advisor to be at her side.

 **Man, things were so much easier when I commanded the Swarm...** Sarah mumbled.

"Forgive me my bluntness, my Queen, but I might have an idea, a solution to this problem." Izsha then offered. Sarah looked at her and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

 **Go on.** she just said and Izsha tilted her head to the side.

"I believe that this place is dangerously unguarded. It is not just about Karax, who would require protection. This place contains power. Power others will sooner or later try to usurp. While I do not believe that the Swarm will come here to gain control over this power, the same can't be said about the Terrans and Protoss. I believe that someone will come here in order to unlock the secrets of this place." Izsha then straightened herself.

"We cannot allow that." There was no doubt in her voice.

 **You've been cooking up something in that head of yours, haven't you?**

"As any good advisor should, my Queen." Izsha just replied.

 **Why should we care about what others want to do with this place?** Sarah asked.

"This place contains the knowledge of the Xel'Naga. And while you have become so much more, we have to assume that this place contains secrets that could cause harm to you. We cannot allow that to happen." There was a certain kind of finality to Izsha's words. Damn, it appeared that Sarah had picked up a scientist that was actually worth his money and an advisor who thought three steps ahead in advance.

"I have thought about this problem, and I believe that there is a potential solution for it. However, I will require Karax's help. I want-" Izsha started, but then Sarah just interrupted her.

 **Do it.** Sarah just said. Izsha frowned when she heard that.

"My Queen, should I not tell you about my plan?" Izsha asked, but Sarah just shook her head.

 **No, it's fine. I trust you, Izsha. Just do it.** The expression in Izsha's face was one of gratitude and utter devotion. Her Queen trusted her with such an important task? It was everything she had ever hoped for. She bowed her head in respect.

"As you wish, my Queen. I shall leave immediately."

 **Leave? Wait, where do you...no, nevermind. Do as you see fit. But don't take any unnecessary risks. I don't want to lose either one of you.** While Karax seemed to be indifferent about what she had just told them, Izsha's cheeks turned into a darker shade of gray when she started to blush.

"As you wish, my Queen." her advisor declared and bowed her head one more time before she turned towards Karax.

"Minion!" she barked.

"I really wish you would stop calling me like that." Karax mumbled, but it only caused Sarah to chuckle.

"We shall depart immediately!" Izsha announced with a surprising commanding tone in her voice. Was she...enjoying herself?

"But...but I want to study this place!" Karax protested. "Lady Kerrigan even permitted it!" But if Izsha says no, it means double no!

"And you shall, minion, but not now. First, we need to secure this place. And for that we need troops. I have already formed a plan, but I require your aid." Troops? Had Sarah missed out on something? Where had Izsha found troops, let alone troops that were willing to do this job? She wanted to ask Izsha just what kind of plan she had come up with, but that would have meant to break her promise to allow Izsha to go ahead without having to ask for permission. So she kept her mouth shut and her thoughts to herself.

"Why do you not ask for Lady Kerrigan's assistance?" Karax whined. Izsha's answer caused Sarah to blush hard, and her fiery hair almost exploded into a bonfire.

"Because her Majesty has to prepare in order to reunite with her mate."

* * *

Jim stood in front of the central terminal of the spaceport and looked up to the destination board. The civilian spaceport was just that; a civilian spaceport. He studied the available flights and realized that there were actually three ships traveling to Korhal today. Two were regular commercial flights, the third one was a freighter accepting passengers. In the end, the decision was a rather technical one. Jim had still a few credits left in his pocket. And if he truly needed some money, he still could send the bill to the Dominion. There was an account just for these kinds of things.

As Jim stared ad the destination board, he wondered if Matt was already looking for him. Hmm, maybe he should give his old friend a call, telling him that he was on his way back.

However, as he stared at the destination board, he hesitated. He should return to Korhal, yes. Pretty much everyone he knew was on that world. Smith, Matt, Valerian. Where else could he go?

Well, there was Haven. He hadn't heard anything from Ariel Hanson in quite some time, and he wondered how the colonists were doing. It would be a nice change of scenery. Perhaps it was not such a bad idea. The winter on Korhal would still last for a few months, but the colony on Haven was near the equator. The weather was warm and there was no loud and noisy city. He could spend the cold months of Korhal's winter on Haven and return to the imperial capital when the summer came.

There was another crazy thought; maybe he should find someone who would take him to Aiur. Visit the Protoss, meet Artanis again. It would be interesting. Jim felt a renewed vigor inside his chest, one that he hadn't felt in a long time. He felt the urge to travel, to go out there, to see people and to meet old friends. Just like Swann. Or Ariel Hanson. Or maybe he would find Michael Liberty below some rocks.

The whole sector was right in front of him and he could choose to travel wherever he wanted to. Well, everywhere except Char maybe. When he looked at all those names, he sighed. So many worlds. Where should he start?

That's when he finally read the name a very special world, one that he hadn't visited for quite some time and that had been his home for many years. He suddenly knew where he wanted to go. No, where he _had_ to go. He walked over to the terminal and smiled at the lady at the desk.

"Hey there. I would like to book a flight to Mar Sara."


	55. Act II - Chapter 31

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 31**

 **That's what you get for leaving the Engine running**

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Please stand up for his Imperial Majesty, Emperor Valerian Mengsk!" the valet announced, and all the people inside the room did as they were told. The stage was not very big since they were inside the pressroom of the Imperial Palace. Behind the lectern hang a huge version of the Dominion's flag. But it wasn't the only one, it shared the space with another flag. It was white and had large black letters on it.

It was the flag of the Kel Morian Combine.

Many people applauded when Valerian entered the room. He gave the crowd a quick smile before he stepped onto the stage. A few seconds later two more people entered the room. The first one was Leila Curtland. She too looked at the crowd, but she didn't smile. During her short time on Korhal, she had learned to be careful when dealing with journalists. When Valerian walked up to the lectern, their eyes met for a short moment. She gave him a quick nod and it made him smile. Their relationship was still a secret, and as far as Leila was concerned, it could stay this way.

In the end, they would manage to keep their relationship a secret for almost five years. However, secrets usually come with an expiration date. You either need to come clean eventually, or you have to bury everyone who knows about it alive. In pretty much five years from now on, Leila would tell him that they were in deep shit. And when she would tell him why, he would only hug her and tell her that a child was not a problem, but a chance.

And that day Valerian Mengsk would make a promise to himself; that he would become a better father than Arcturus Mengsk had ever been. And that their daughter would receive all the love both her parents had to offer. And Valerian, like the true romantic that he was, would announce those happy news himself. Along with his proposal to marry her.

But that was still many years away. Right now, they had to worry about more pressing issues.

After Leila, another person entered the room. It was a man in his late fifties, and he wore a gray uniform with the insignia of a general on it, but it wasn't a Dominion's uniform. The people inside the room started to mumble when they recognized the man's face. There had been rumors going around, but to think that he was actually here, on Korhal!

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your time." Valerian then started to speak, and the journalists knew better than to ask him right away why this man was here on Korhal. The Imperial Palace had made sure that only those journalists were present who knew how to behave themselves. So, no Xof-news guys today. It was funny, usually those guys were always eager to rip someone a new one should that person just _dare_ to have a different opinion. But the Emperor? There was a new wind blowing through the streets of Augustgrad. The attack had caused a new feeling to emerge. One that included the people and didn't exclude them. While Arcturus would have used the momentum to point the finger at someone to take the blame, Valerian had done the exact opposite. He had just told everyone to remain calm, go home and spent these days with their families.

Funny, those few calm days had helped to ease the anger of the people. Though the anger hadn't burned very brightly to begin with. The horrors of the last war were still in the back of everyone's mind, and Valerian's calm approach had hit a nerve. The people longed for peace. And he would give it to them.

Oh, and _then_ he would blame someone and have them wiped out.

He was still a politician!

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you to this press conference. First of all, please let me apologize for my absence during those last few days. I am brutally aware that I should have addressed you a lot sooner, but the truth is that we lacked information. And I wanted to give you answers that would hopefully satisfy you." Now the patience of some of those reporters had come to an end. One man jumped up and raised his hand.

"Your Majesty! There are many rumors about the attack and about the identity of the attackers. It is true that they are from the Com-"

"Please!" Valerian interrupted the man. "Please. I will answer these questions, just give me the time." The journalist looked like he was about to complain, but then he saw the looks of the security around him and growled something before he sat down again. But even then, Valerian gave him a grateful nod.

"Thank you. Since you all seem to be eager to hear this official statement, let's start right away." He harrumphed and looked at his lectern, right where his speech was. Where his speech was supposed to be. But he had no script, he had memorized every detail inside his mind.

"As you are all aware, the Imperial Palace was attacked on December 24th, during the Christmas party, by a small number of attackers. During the course of the night all the attackers were killed by the palace's guards, and while many people were injured, no lives were claimed. Something we should all be thankful for." It was only natural that the people would figure out the truth behind the attackers. But it was still a rumor and that gave Valerian the time to _tweak_ the truth a bit.

Uh, _tweaking_ the truth. That sounded nice. A lot better than _lying_!

At least no one knew that Neusser was still alive. Alive and locked up for good.

"For the last few days we tried to identify the origin of these attackers, and I personally want to thank the men and women of the Augustgrad Central Police Command, and their Commissioner Mr. Rethlan, for their efforts and their diligent work. As some of you might have heard, there were rumors saying that the attackers were from the Kel Morian Combine. And the first evidence seemed to prove that. However, we know now that these men and women were indeed not from the Combine, but part of a Dominion splinter faction."

Lying is always bad. However, what if a lie can lead to peace and prosperity? For a short moment, Valerian looked down at the woman sitting in the front row. He saw Leila's frown, but then she gave him a nod and he almost smiled.

"This faction responsible for this attack calls itself "The Defenders of Man", and it has already performed terrorist attacks throughout the Dominion, claiming that it acts in the interest of the people." There was truly a group calling themselves like that. And they had started to cause trouble one the fringe worlds of the Dominion. They weren't behind the attack on the palace, but to quote Matt: Who cared about that, they were terrorists anyway.

"Why would they attack the Imperial Palace?" one journalist asked. "It doesn't make any sense. They stand loyal to the Dominion!"

"No, they _claim_ to be loyal towards the Dominion." Valerian replied. "But if you claim to be loyal to the Dominion, you do not terrorize civilians. And that is exactly what the Defenders of Man have done in the past. By now we have to assume that their plan was to cause a situation where the Dominion would be forced to go to war with the Combine." That's when Valerian grabbed the lectern and leaned forward. "Let's make one thing clear, Ladies and Gentlemen." he then said with a stern look on his face.

"There won't be a war between the Combine and the Dominion!"

For a moment no one dared to say a word. Right now, Valerian looked a lot like his old man. It was the same posture. Arcturus had used it to scare others. However, unlike Arcturus, Valerian's message wasn't war, but peace.

Now a smile appeared on Leila's face.

"Why should we believe that? There are many in the Combine who hate the Dominion!" someone else said. And these guys and gals were the journalists with the best behavior? Oh dear...

"The same can be said about the Dominion, can it not?" Valerian just shot back and the journalist realized that he had overstepped his boundaries. He sat back down and decided to say nothing for the rest of the press conference.

"The true nature of the attack is still under investigation; however, we still wanted to tell you what is going on. From the outside, it might look like we are putting the blame on some random splinter group..." Which they totally were. Oh, the irony! "...but this was a carefully planned attack that was meant to disturb the intensive talks that were taking place between the Combine and the Dominion." Now the people started to mumble and Valerian was forced to raise his hands and signal them to calm down.

"People! People, please!" he told them. It was a rather casual way to address them, but who cared about that right now.

"Talks? What talks?" someone barked and most people agreed with her.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this was actually supposed to be a secret until we would reach the next stage of the negotiation. However, the attack during Christmas has changed that. And both I and my honored guest have decided to come out of the closet. Well, so to speak. Speaking of which, I think you all know him, but it is still my pleasure to introduce him to you; please welcome General Mah Sakai." At first, no one knew what to do, but when Leila stood up and started to applaud, the other people finally realized what they were supposed to do.

General Sakai looked over to Valerian and gave him a grateful nod. There had been times when the General had been considered a war criminal and the leader of an enemy nation. He had never been on the same level of infamy as the infamous James Raynor, but his name hadn't been liked very much either. And now that man was here, inside the Imperial Palace. And he was the honored guest of the Dominion's Emperor? Valerian stepped back from the lectern and allowed Sakai to take his place.

"Please, General." he then said and the older man gave him a grateful nod. Valerian stepped down from the stage and handed the spotlight over to the General, just like they had agreed on.

"Thank you, your Majesty." General Sakai then said and looked at the journalists. Unbeknownst to them, this press conference was live. Everyone on Korhal, the Dominion, and even the Combine could see this right now. And not only that, it was also broadcasted to the Umojan Protectorate. Next to Leila was the Ambassador of the Umojans. Of course, Valerian had informed the man about what they were doing here. And he had told him that the Umojans were more than welcome to join their talks.

"Thank you for your warm welcome and your friendly words." the General started. "Let me first tell you that I am truly grateful to be here. Not as a potential enemy, but as the sovereign of an independent nation. I say that because it is not to be taken for granted, especially given the history between our two nations. Nevertheless, being here today is not just an honor and a privilege, but also a chance." During Arcturus' reign, it would have been inconceivable for a foreign dignitary to hold a speech inside the Imperial Palace.

Of course, no one knew that there hadn't been any "extensive talks" behind the scenes. Everything they were about to present to these people had been cooked up within the last 50 hours or so. They even had managed to get Sakai here by sending out the _Rebel Heart_ , the only ship that could make the trip from Korhal to Kel Moria and back in less than twenty hours.

But details, details. It's the thought that matters.

"What the Emperor said is true. Both the Combine and the Dominion have been in extensive talks for several months now. The ultimate goal of these talks is a trade agreement, one that will benefit both nations. Of course, this agreement is open to other parties as well. It is our utmost belief that we can..."

Valerian didn't really listen to the speech, he already knew what the General was about to say anyway. What most people didn't know was that after hearing the truth about the attack, the General had offered all assets available to him to aid Valerian, should he require it.

It's funny how history sometimes works. Right now, a full brigade of combat engineers was on their way to the Dominion. Those Zappers would link up with units from the Dominion and attack hidden bases belonging to the Defenders of Man. Hidden bases that Ghosts from the Dominion had identified. Perhaps it was wrong to smile when thinking about it, but Valerian couldn't help himself. For the first time in ages, he could see a silver lining on the horizon.

That's when Leila leaned over to him and whispered something in his ear.

"Someone earned himself a treat tonight."

When he heard that, his smile became even wider.

* * *

 **Mar Sara**

 **A few weeks later...**

* * *

The moment the shuttle left the civilian cruiser, Jim felt a short moment of discomfort when the artificial gravity of the bigger ship seized to pull them down and the gravity-generator of the shuttle kicked in. But it wasn't that much of a deal. Actually, it was a pretty smooth ride and it seemed as if the pilot knew what he was doing. Even then, Jim was still somewhat baffled how long this trip had taken. If you are used to traveling from one planet to the other on board of military-grade vessels, you can forget how long the actual distance between two worlds is. The Hyperion would have been able to make this journey in less than four days. The _old_ Hyperion. However, with her new and improved jump-drive? Only Swann knew that answer.

Perhaps Jim should have asked the engineer to drop him off here before returning to Meinhoff. That way he could have saved at least three weeks' worth of travel.

Like said, if you're used to military-grade hardware, you tend to forget how long it takes for a normal vessel to travel from one end of the Dominion to the other. The cruise liner he had used to get here had just been that, a civilian cruise liner; unarmed, poorly protected, and as slow as a Colossus with one crippled leg. Still, he had never actually been on one of these ships before. Traveling like this was a strange new experience for him. From a soldier's point of view, this ship was utterly useless.

But it had a goddamn swimming pool, so who cared about tactical value?

There were a thousand things that Jim could have done during that trip. Instead, he had done nothing. You know the moment when you wake up and you don't know what day it is? It's a certain sign that you are finally starting to relax. That's how Jim felt. He saw the New Year's celebration on Korhal on the holonet. He hadn't listened to Valerian's speech, though. It appeared as if the people of Korhal (and Augustgrad in particular) were still somewhat shaken by what had happened during the Christmas party. Jim had no doubts that it was still the juiciest topic in the Imperial capital, but it hardly mattered to the people on other worlds. In a way, Korhal was its very own microcosm. What happened there was important to the people of Korhal, but not necessarily for everyone else.

There were some outcries for war and bloodshed, but nothing you should take too seriously. There were always extremists who wanted to use their situation to their own advantage.

It appeared that the officials blamed a Dominion splinter group for the attack. They called themselves "Defenders of Man". The group had declared that they hadn't been responsible for the attack on the palace, but a swift attack by a highly skilled group of Zapper's from the Combine on a secret stronghold had unearthed a lot of secrets. Dirty secrets.

Of course, the Defenders of Man hadn't been behind the attack, but no one cared. Jim didn't know about any of this, including that the Defenders of Man had been turned into scapegoats. As a sign of good faith, the Combine had used their elite troops to hunt these traitors down. When General Sakai had been informed about _who_ had attacked the palace, he had offered Valerian all assets available to him. And the Zappers? Had performed _flawlessly_.

Only much later people would realize that it had been the very first joint operation between Zappers from the Combine and Ghosts from the Dominion.

Those were all things Jim didn't know anything about. Nor did he care about them anymore. It was nothing personal, but he seriously doubted that an aging freedom fighter could help them with their problems. And as it seemed, they didn't need his help and advice anymore anyway. There was a strange sense of contentment to it. Jim could do whatever the hell he wanted to do and there was no nightmare or catastrophe waiting for him around the next corner.

Well, aside from his usual nightmares. They were still present, but he somehow managed to go on. What had changed? He didn't know that. It was as if there was _something_ keeping him on his legs. As if he had found a strength he hadn't known anything about before.

"Mum! Look! Look! There are ships!" the voice of a small boy suddenly reached his hears. Jim turned his head to the right and saw a small boy and a woman, who appeared to be the boy's mother, sitting right next to him.

"Hush, child! Not so loud, there are other passengers here as well." his mother then told him, but the boy just looked at her with big, sparkling eyes.

"But there are so many ships! Look, they glow!" the boy continued. The mother, who looked like some sort of businesswoman, leaned over to her son and made sure that he still had his seatbelt strapped around his waist. They were about to enter the atmosphere, and while this wasn't a combat drop, re-entry could always turn unpleasant within seconds.

"They are glowing because they move through the atmosphere. Our shuttle will start to glow too." she explained to him. Now the boy looked into his mother's eyes with nothing but disbelief.

"But how?" he wanted to know. The mother pointed out of the window and at one of the vessels that looked like a shooting star.

"See this? That is a shuttle, much like our own." the woman started to explain. "You see, when a ship enters the atmosphere of a planet, it hits all those gas molecules. That causes friction, and this friction turns into heat. Now, this ship was designed to withstand that heat. That's why we are safe. But even then, the plasma is thousands of degrees hot. If this ship would have a hole in its heatshield, we would burn up and explode." When Jim heard that, he pulled his eyebrows up. It wasn't exactly what he would say to a child, but the boy didn't seem to mind.

"Whoa! We could explode? Awesome!" That was one way to look at it. Jim realized that most other passengers didn't seem to enjoy their conversation very much.

"So, do you remember what plasma is?" the woman asked. That question didn't sound like she was just any businesswoman. Jim decided to take a closer look and realized that she somehow reminded him of Ariel Hanson. Oh, she didn't look anything like Hanson, but the way she talked reminded him of his former science-wizkid.

"Uhm...it swims in the sea, right? It's really small." the boy then said and Jim started to snicker.

"No, that is plankton. Plasma, what is it? I told you just yesterday." She didn't yell or anything, she just wanted to hear the answer. The boy didn't seem to mind either. He frowned and started to count with his fingers as if that would give him the answer.

"Plasma is..." You could see that he was thinking very hard right now.

"Yes? Plasma is...?" his mother encouraged him.

"Plasma is...is...hot!" he then finally announced. His mother sighed when she heard that. It wasn't exactly the answer she had hoped for, but Jim couldn't help but snicker again. Technically it was the correct answer, yet somehow Jim had his doubts that the mother would be satisfied with that.

"Yes, plasma is hot. But what else is it? Come on, we spoke about it just yesterday, right after breakfast."

"I had sandwiches for breakfast!" the boy then shouted. "And they were yummy!" Now Jim couldn't help but laugh out loud. The woman finally took notice of him, and the look she gave him was priceless.

"Yours?" Jim asked and she just nodded.

"Though sometimes I wonder if he's truly mine, he's so much like his father." It caused Jim to laugh even harder.

"He's your only child?" Jim asked. It was a nice change, just some small-talk would help him to waste some time until they would finally land. The woman shook her head.

"No, but the oldest one. We have one daughter, but she's too small to make the trip. She stayed behind with my _illustrious_ husband."

"Don't worry, it's normal for kids this age. It will get better once they can remember what you told them five minutes ago." When the woman heard that, she frowned.

"And when will that happen?"

"Shortly before they hit puberty. Unfortunately, when they reach puberty, they will pretend to forget what you just told them after five seconds." he told her with a grin.

"Marvelous." she sighed. Then she shook her head and looked back at Jim.

"I take it you have kids yourself?" she wanted to know. Suddenly Jim's good mood evaporated in an instant. He didn't show it, but that question scored a critical hit. A sad smile appeared on his face and he looked at his own hands.

"Yeah, I've been there." he just said. He shook his head and looked at the small boy. He couldn't be older than six, maybe just five. Painful memories started to emerge, and so he shook his head again in order to keep these memories below the surface. If the woman realized that Jim was currently battling some nasty memories, she didn't show it.

"Sometimes it's maddening." she then said. "Yesterday he asked me all kind of stuff. About plasma and about molecules and whatnot. I explained everything to him, but right now he only wants to get a real dinosaur as a pet."

"It's normal. You've probably heard that a thousand times already, but they grow so fast. One moment you blink..."

 _...and the next moment they're gone._

"...and the next moment they are already grown up." He didn't continue and then the boy started to count all those shuttles and ships entering the atmosphere. His mother turned around and helped him to figure out that between seven and nine was still eight. The rest of the trip to the surface was pretty quiet. Jim watched the woman and her son, and all sorts of emotions were running through his mind right now. However, he knew when it was time to bail out. He opened his seatbelt and wanted to stand up in order to go the toilet. Before he could get back on his feet, he felt the hand of a man on his shoulder.

"Excuse me, Sir! I am sorry, but I need to ask you to remain seated. We will land in approximately ten minutes." the steward said to him. Jim groaned on the inside, but he relented. He didn't want to cause any ruckus, and so he threw himself back into his seat and put the seatbelt back on.

"Sure thing, can do." he just muttered. He could feel how the ride started to get bumpy. Heh, funny, he had done thousands of planetary landings, most of them under combat situations. But now that he was in this shuttle, he thought about all the things that could go wrong. A little crack in the heatshield and the hot plasma would burn its way into the shuttle within seconds. He had witnessed it before. He had seen it with his own eyes; dropships re-entering the atmosphere of some nameless world, getting hit by missiles, gauss-slugs, plasma-balls or Zerg-spit, being torn apart in mid-flight. Sometimes the crew had screamed for help while their ships had burned up.

If a ship disintegrates during re-entry, there is nothing you can do.

Navy personal usually called incidents like that a _Columbia_ , but even Jim didn't exactly know why. One would assume that there once had been a vessel bearing that name who had met that fate.

It was probably beyond tasteless to think about such a fate right now, especially with that family sitting right next to Jim. But then again; this was how Johnny had perished.

"Damn..." Jim whispered to himself. Of course, he had questioned that piece of information many times. Maybe Johnny was still out there, maybe the Confederacy had just faked his death so they could use him for their dirty projects. But Jim was no fool. He had searched the files of the Dominion, which included everything they had salvaged from the old Confederacy. He had even found Sarah's operation logs.

If Sarah's past was inside those files, but nothing on Johnny, then that could only mean one thing; that one time the Confederacy hadn't lied to him.

What's more shocking; if an honest person lies to you, or if a notorious liar tells you the truth?

The transition from deep space into the atmosphere was actually rather smooth. While this shuttle lacked some serious armor plating, the internal dampeners were top-notch. For a short moment, the black space outside on the other side of the looking glasses turned into pure fire.

"Look, Mum! Plasma!" the little boy shouted and pointed his finger at the bright light that engulfed them. Well, at least someone was having fun. The windows immediately dimmed down, so the bright light wouldn't blind the passengers. The transition phase didn't last long, and when the plasma faded away, a blue sky appeared before them. Jim turned his head towards the looking glass and when he saw that blue, his eyes widened.

Mar Sara.

He had come home.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for traveling with our vessel. We will arrive shortly and..." a voice started to speak to them over the loudspeakers, but Jim was barely listening. He looked out of the window and suddenly he felt an overpowering sense of nostalgia.

Jim wasn't from Mar Sara, he was born on Shiloh. But he had spent some of his best years on this world. And some of his worst. This was the place where he had managed to turn his life around. He had even turned legit when they had made him the local Marshal. And he had met Liddy, his wife.

And this was where he had put her to rest.

The planet and Jim Raynor shared a history, both a good and a bad one. And an ugly one. This was the place where he had met the Zerg for the first time. This was the place where his old buddy Tychus had found him again. Once their shuttle entered the atmosphere, it only took the pilot a few more minutes to reach the spaceport. He remembered many things and the sense of nostalgia became almost unbearable.

"Sir? Mister?" he suddenly heard the voice of the woman next to him. He looked around and could see the worried expression on her face. "Are you okay? You don't look so good?" But Jim just offered her a warm smile.

"Nah, it's nothing. Just a few bad memories, that's all." And so the small-talk continued!

"I see. So, you are from Mar Sara?" she asked. Jim pulled his shoulders up.

"Yes and no. I spent many years here. Was my home for a long time. Haven't been here for a long time too. A lot of memories, really." Jim then mumbled.

"So it would seem. You were here when the Zerg attacked?" she suddenly asked. Jim opened his mouth and wanted to reply something, but no words left his throat. The woman seemed to realize that she had hit a sore spot and apologized immediately, but Jim just shook his head.

"It's fine. Unpleasant memories, but who hasn't those these days. Is this your first time on Mar Sara?" Jim wanted to change the topic and the woman nodded. "In that case; just stick to the locals. And if your son finds a living dinosaur, that ain't no dinosaur, but probably a Zergling." When the woman heard that, she went pale and swallowed hard.

"Don't worry, on Mar Sara the Zerg are nothing more than big critters. Just don't travel all by yourself through the wastelands." Jim gave her as advice. It was probably the worst advice he could have given to that woman, but at least it was a fair warning. Still, he had done his good deed for the day; scared a woman and basically told her son that there were real-life dinosaurs on this planet. The kind of dinosaurs that would love to eat your face.

The shuttle landed smoothly and when they reached their parking position, the steward opened the access door and soon an all too familiar scent reached his nose. The air. It smelled like Mar Sara, like home. Jim sighed and waited for most people to leave the shuttle before he stood up and made way for the woman and her son. She tried to get her heavy bag from the storage compartment above them. When Jim saw how she struggled, he did what any good gentleman should do.

"Thank you!" she sighed when he handed her bag to her. The woman turned around and looked at her son.

"Okay, let's get...oh no! Where is he?!" she suddenly yelled when her son was nowhere to be seen. Jim blinked in surprise and looked around, but the little boy was gone.

"Hmm...maybe he slipped out of the ship?" Jim mused. He could see the panic on the mother's face and it touched something inside Jim's heart. A mother in need, how could anyone choose not to help? Well, Jim sure as hell couldn't. And so, he walked over to the steward, who was still standing near the open door.

"'Scuse me, did you see the small boy that was with the lady over here?" he asked. The steward blinked in surprise, but then he looked at the door.

"I think the boy just left, why? Wasn't that man his father?"

"WHAT?!" the mother yelled when she heard that. There was nothing but panic in her eyes right now. She dropped her bag and ran towards the steward. "Where is my son!" The steward went pale when he heard that. Jim sighed and realized that his good deed wasn't done yet. Instead of listening to the woman yelling at the poor guy, he stepped out of the shuttle and took a deep breath.

"Hello, old friend." he mumbled to himself as the blue sky of Mar Sara shined down on him. It was a beautiful day and the warm sun felt nice on his skin. However, he had little time to enjoy the view. The shuttle stood on the tarmac of the spaceport and the terminal was roughly two hundred meters away. Jim saw the other passengers, but there was no small boy among them. He walked down the ramp and when he looked around, he started to frown.

"Come on, he can't be far away. His legs are way too short!" Jim said to himself. He scanned the area and almost missed the small figure walking towards a dropship near the shuttle.

"Of course, little boys want to ride in a dropship." Jim sighed and hurried towards the boy. "Hey! Kid! Kid!" Jim yelled, but the boy wasn't even listening. Jim didn't even have to run, he reached the boy almost instantly. He put his hand on the kid's shoulder and the little boy looked up at him.

"Hey, Cowboy!" Jim then said. "You can't just run away like that! Your mom is worried about you!" he explained to the boy, but the child just pointed his finger at the dropship.

"I want to ride in that one!" the boy shouted, but Jim just laughed.

"Oh, you still got time for that. At least 15 more years to be exact. Say, how about we get back to your-"

"JOHNNY!" a woman screamed and Jim froze in an instant. He looked over his shoulder and could see the mother. She was running towards them while dragging her heavy bag after her. Jim made a step backward, and when the woman reached her son, she slung her arms around him.

"Johnny! I was worried! I told you not to walk off on your own, didn't I?" the mother wailed.

"But Mom! I want to see that ship over there!" the boy just replied. Jim made another step backward and looked at those two.

"Johnny?" he whispered to himself. No, it couldn't be...

"Don't do that ever again, okay? Don't run away! I was worried sick!" the mother whispered. The little boy didn't truly understand what he had done wrong, but he just nodded.

"Okay, mum." In order to make sure that her little boy wouldn't run away again, she simply lifted him up and decided to carry him back to the terminal. The weight of the heavy bag didn't seem to bother her anymore. She was already a couple of dozen meters away when Jim finally decided to say something.

"His name is Johnny?" he wanted to know. The woman stopped and turned back towards him.

"What? Oh, actually it's John. His father chose that name. But we just call him Johnny. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr...?" she then asked. But Jim gave her just a sad smile.

"It's fine. Just remember; they grow up so fast. Soon you won't be able to carry him like this anymore." Sadly, Jim had never reached that point. The woman and her son Johnny were soon gone from his sight. All that remained behind was Jim and that numb pain inside the back of his mind.

"Take good care of him, will 'ya?" he whispered.

That's when he realized where he should go first.

* * *

Meinhoff was a rock. Calling it a planet would have been too much of an honor. While Swann had experienced a lot of good things on this world, the bad outweighed them by far. Had lost a lot of good friends here, had even tried to instigate a revolt against the Kel-Morians at one point. Hadn't worked out so well for him. He even had lost an arm in the process. But that was all in the past now. Returning to Meinhoff wasn't something he wanted to do, but what he had to do. It was the only place where he could fix the Hyperion for good.

Progress was coming along nicely.

Well...so to speak.

Truth to be told, he hadn't even started yet. There were only three dry docks around Meinhoff that could handle the Hyperion, and all of them were currently used by other vessels. The first one would leave in four weeks, so he couldn't even start until then. But that didn't mean that he couldn't do anything.

He had spent the last few days looking for more engineers and crew members. And there were at least enough interested in order to get this show on the road. He also had done an inventory and made a list of all the spare parts they needed to get the ship back into shape. The list was longer than the Hyperion itself, but even then, Swann wasn't afraid that his plan wouldn't work. He still had a lot of connections on Meinhoff, and there were plenty of guys who owed him a favor. Some might call him a dreamer. Or worse, an idiot. However, he didn't care about any of them.

He would turn the Hyperion into a true beauty, and then even Matt would curse himself for giving her away.

"'Sup, Jake." Swann said to the quartermaster of Meinhoff's naval repair shipyards when he stepped into the man's office. The quartermaster, a man called Jake McGully, was an old acquaintance of him. Not exactly a friend, but not an enemy either.

"Hey, Swann. What can I do for you today?" the man asked, not even looking up from his newspaper. Swann stopped in front of the counter and put a datapad on it.

"Latest list of the stuff I need. Could you log it into the system so I can see what's here and what's not?" It was a standard procedure. If a ship needed repairs or spare parts, it would log these things into the system and the quartermaster would then look if there were technicians available and if the spare parts were lying around somewhere. A good quartermaster was just as important for a shipyard as the technicians and the material.

"Sure, just leave it here. I will log it into the system later." Jake McGully said and Swann sighed. He really wished that this guy would just do his job, but that was just the way things were. Like said; a good quartermaster was very important. But no one had ever said that Jake McGully was a _good_ quartermaster.

"Heard the news?" the man then said and looked up to Swann, who just chuckled.

"Asks if I heard the news. Boy, what do you think I've been doing over there?" Swann laughed and pointed with his finger out of the looking glass behind them. The Hyperion was just there. Her navigation lights had all been turned on and she truly looked magnificent. Letting her rot in that dry dock around Korhal had been a mistake, Swann was certain of that.

"Just askin'. Your boys inside the Dominion are currently really busy, thought you knew about it." McGully mumbled.

"Meh, they're always busy with something. Matt probably lost his pants, and now he ordered the entire fleet to look for it or something like that." Swann just growled.

"Well, if you say so." McGully muttered. "What is it, will we see an attempted coup every month from now on?"

 _Coup?_

"Coup?" Swann repeated his own thoughts. "What coup?"

"The one they just sucker-punched. Seriously, you should listen to the news! Rumors say that some general was behind it, locked her up for good."

"Meh, it was probably nothing. Matt is just a drama queen." Swann replied. "More importantly, did they find those shuttles that vanished from the base? Please tell me they did, because that means that there won't be a stinkin' inspection once I'm done." He really wasn't looking forward to showing them deck 8. Not because he cared about a deck full of shit, but he was afraid that they would only enter the deck after he had cleaned it. And he was aware of the cruel truth; no one would help him with that. No. One.

"'Fraid not, shuttles are still missing." McGully muttered. "Not that it matters. I bet they won't find these dropships anyway."

Behind Swann, a small object suddenly came into view. It almost looked like a star, but it moved too fast. The object changed its course several times, it was obvious that it was some kind of ship. But if it was a ship, its pilot had to be the worst pilot of all times.

"So what, they gonna continue that search until the end of all times?"

"Na, only until they get a replacement." McGully explained. "But wanna' hear something funny? There's a rumor going on that the Zerg captured those dropships." Now Swann started to laugh.

"Ha! What? That has to be the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a while. Those infested can't tell a dropship apart from their own head. And one of those freaks should pilot those things? I heard better rumors." Like that of Zerg reacting allergically to lemons. Behind them, the vessel started to get bigger and bigger.

It was a dropship.

And it was heading straight for the Hyperion.

Well, not straight. It more looked like it was _trying_ to get to the Hyperion.

"Dunno, heard a lot of crazy shit about 'dem infested." the quartermaster then said. "Like that they can turn into beautiful ladies that'll lure you in with their beautiful voices."

"Those are sirens, buddy. And infested ain't look pretty. Unless you're into zombies." Swann explained. Behind him, the dropship finally managed to land in one of the Hyperion's hangar. When it was out of everyone's sight, Swann tipped with his finger on the datapad.

"Listen, I don't want to sound like an asshat, but I can't start working without those parts. So do me a favor, just log them in, will ya'?" Swann growled.

"You ain't gonna leave me alone until I do it, eh?" the quartermaster wanted to know.

"Whadda'ya think, genius?" When McGully heard that reply, he sighed and put his newspaper away. He grabbed the tablet and started to transfer the data to his own console. He then looked up and pointed at the ship behind Swann.

"You know, you should really lock the doors on that ship when you're gone. You're basically screamin' for someone to take your precious battlecruiser away from you."

"Bah, this is safe space, no pirates around. Besides, I'm just here to give you the list of the stuff I need. Just give me your okay and I'll be on my way back to the Hyperion." Swann told him. The quartermaster sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"If you say so. Okay, here. Done. Everything has been logged into the system. But it will take some time to go through that list." When Swann heard that, he started to frown.

"How long?" he wanted to know. That's when McGully grabbed his newspaper yet again and leaned back.

"Depends on how long my break will be."

"Asshole."

"Yep. I'll give you a call when I'm done. Now excuse me, I'm busy doin' nothing." the quartermaster said and Swann mumbled something very offensive, but the quartermaster didn't care about that. The engineer just shook his head and turned away. He stepped out of the quartermaster's office and looked out of the window. There she was. The Hyperion. Every time he saw her, his heart started to beat faster. She was a beauty! Perhaps there was something seriously wrong with Swann, but to him, she was the most beautiful girl in the entire 'verse. And unlike his two ex-wives, she would never betray him. She would never look at some other guy and she would never be unfaithful. And he would treat her like the princess she truly was. A stupid grin appeared on his face. It would be the beginning of a true love story. Just a man and his ship and the endless stars and...

That's when the Hyperion jumped out of the system.

For a second Swann didn't realize what had just happened. But when he did, he dropped to his knees and threw his arms in the air.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

The Hyperion was silent as a grave. Without Swann, there was no one else on board. Sometimes you could hear a beeping sound when one system announced that it was about to explode or something like that.

" _Eeeaaaaagggh..."_

An eerie moan echoed through the empty corridors of the ship. However, there was no one around to check it out. Besides, that would have been rather unhealthy.

" _Aaaaaahhh..."_

The bridge was the brain of the vessel. You could control almost every function from this place, not just after Karax had installed that autopilot. But usually, you need a rather large crew to operate it. Finding a respectable crew would prove to be one hell of a challenge, Swann knew that. But maybe he could call some of his old Raider-pals. Who knew, maybe they would love the idea to work on the Hyperion again.

" _Haaaeeoooo..."_

The moaning became louder and louder. There was someone in the corridor outside the bridge. No, not someone. _Something_. The voices were barely human. And they sounded like they were in a lot of pain. Footsteps echoed through the Hyperion. A lot of them. They got louder and louder, and if there would have been someone on the bridge, he would probably have soiled his pants.

Then everything went quiet.

It was like in those cheap horror movies. The monsters are outside the door and for a moment no one can hear a thing. And that's when the monsters attack.

There was a loud BANG! when something hit against the door. But nothing happened. It took a few moments before the next bang could be heard. And then another one. And another one. Someone, or something, was banging their head, arms or tentacles against the door. Inhuman screams started to fill the air and it sounded like hell itself was on the other side of that door.

"YAAAAAGHHH!" a creature roared like a mystical banshee. And more creatures started to scream in pain and agony. That's when-

"By all that's good and proper, shut up!" a male voice suddenly barked and all creatures fell silent. "There's a button. BUTTON! Press it! The last three doors had a button! It can't be that hard, now can it?" The voice had a strange accent, one that you usually won't hear in these parts of the galaxy.

"Yes, that's the button. Now press it, will you?" the male voice ordered, and mere seconds after that the door to the bridge was opened.

"Ghaaaaa...kiiiiiilll meeeeeee..." the infested gurgled as it stumbled onto the bridge. It wasn't the only malformed creature. There was at least a dozen of these freaks. Their bloated bodies reeked of blood and decay, and most of them left trails of blood, slime, and stuff that was indefinable. They immediately started to search for any potential enemy, but the bridge was empty. They looked around with empty and dead eyes, and when they couldn't find any enemy, they turned towards the door and looked at their new master.

The man who entered the bridge was only half a man. A large portion of his body showed signs of infestation, but unlike the other infested, he appeared to be still sane. He looked around and a grin appeared on his face.

"Now that is truly nostalgic." the man/Zerg said, and when he looked at the bridge, he couldn't help but sigh. The bridge of a battlecruiser had been his home for many years. He took a deep breath and enjoyed the moment.

"All men! To your stations!" former UED officer Alexey Stukov yelled. Instead, all the infested just turned towards him and the only thing they could say was: "KIIIIILLL MEEEEEEEE!" Stukov sighed and walked over to a seat. He threw himself on it and put his feet on the console in front of him.

"You there! Larry!" he barked and pointed his finger at an especially ugly infested. The poor and malformed creature looked like it was made out of two humans and something that resembled a crab.

"Maaaaasssstteeeerr...it hurrrrrrrtsss..." the poor creature screamed.

"Yeah, yeah. It always does. Say, do you know how to steer a battlecruiser?" Stukov wanted to know.

"Kiiiilll meeee..." it wailed.

"Excellent! Then plot a course!" Stukov said and leaned backward. He applied a bit too much force and the base of the chair started to crack. That's when a small panel sprang open and something rolled out of it. Stukov looked down and when he saw a bottle of booze, he blinked in surprise.

"Well, what do we have here?" he muttered to himself and leaned down. He grabbed the bottle and picked it up. A smile appeared on his face and he didn't even hesitate a second. He opened the bottle and put it against his lips. When the alcohol burned itself down his throat, he felt something that he hadn't felt in a long time. Not since he had shared some drinks with his old friend Gerard. He pulled the bottle away from his lips and raised it in order to honor his old friend.

"To you, Gerard! Farewell, mon Capitan!" He looked around and a smile appeared on his face. It was time to move out.

"Okay, people! No more slacking around! Set a course and power up the hyperdrive! Punch it, Larry!" The infested "Larry" turned towards him and opened his three mouths at once.

"KIIIIIILLL MEEEEEEEE!"

And thus, Space Pirate Stukov was born...


	56. Act II - Chapter 32

**...**

* * *

 **Act II**

 **A Christmas to remember**

 **Chapter 32**

 **See you Space Cowboy**

* * *

The moment Matt entered his office, he simply walked around the desk and just dropped into his chair. He was tired, so damn tired. The last few weeks had been nothing but one constant rollercoaster. And not the fun kind of rollercoaster, the one where you scream in glee. No, more like the kind of rollercoaster where the guy just in front of you has to barf in a sharp corner.

Who the hell could have known that the Defenders of Man had actually been the private army of General Carolina Davis? Truth to be told, he had never dealt with that woman before, but now that she was locked up for good, Matt could finally sleep again. Well, if he could still remember how to sleep. He looked out of the window and sighed. The day was already over again? God dammit, maybe they should have relocated the capital from Augustgrad to some world that had days with more than 50 hours. Or a world without any rotation, that way the day would never end.

Right now, that was what Matt would consider "paradise".

Let's just say that he had lowered his standards within the last few months.

The real problem was that there wasn't just one problem, but a buttload of problems. And every time they solved one, another one would pop up. Sometimes Matt wondered if it would be like that for the rest of his life.

One thing that he could add to the list of "Hell no!" was the fact that someone had managed to steal the Hyperion.

Yep, that's right.

Swann had done it again.

Oh, that guy was so lucky that he was still on Meinhoff. When Hernandez had told Matt the "funny story about a stranded dwarf", he hadn't laughed. It was good that Swann wasn't on Korhal, Matt would have skinned him alive.

A battlecruiser.

A goddamn battlecruiser!

It didn't matter that Swann had removed all the offensive weaponry on that thing; there was still the black market. The thought of someone using the Hyperion to raid some distant colony world was unbearable. And what if these guys would somehow manage to get the Yamato-cannon operational again?

"You look like shit, Admiral." Lieutenant Hernandez said when she stepped into his office. Matt didn't tell her to use proper language, by now he had given up on that. Besides, Hernandez had a point, he certainly felt like shit, so it was only good and proper that he looked like it too.

"Noted. Any other "good" news I should know about?" Matt then mumbled.

"Depends on your definition of the word good. But hey, no one stole a battlecruiser within the last few days. So that has to count for something, right?" she said to him. Matt looked up to his adjutant, but then he just shook his head.

"Just hit me." he ordered.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you." Hernandez said with her typical "go happy me"-attitude. Well, that sounded promising. "General Davis has been transferred to the New Folsom installation. As instructed, she wasn't allowed to speak with anyone. Officially, she was relieved of her command because of mental health issues."

"Well, technically that isn't even a lie." Matt mumbled to himself. If someone tries to usurp the power by sacrificing innocent civilians, that person can be considered insane.

"Yeah, well, tough luck I guess." Hernandez agreed. But even then, to think that Matt would one day send someone to New Folsom...

Irony sucked.

"What else?" Matt then wanted to know and Hernandez looked at her tablet.

"That blonde they retrieved from that secret base? She has finally regained consciousness. What was her name again? Nuke? Norad? Noob?"

"Nova. Her name is Nova." Matt said and sighed. Well, at least they had managed to get her back. They still had no clue what the Defenders had tried to do with her. "How is she?" he asked. Hernandez only shrugged her shoulders when she heard that.

"Tit's'n'butt is fine. Still can't remember much of what happened, or why the Defenders grabbed her in the first place, but the medical staff said that she should recover within the next few months. She just needs time." When Matt heard that, he knew that he would regret asking. But he just had to know.

"Tit's'n'butt?" he asked. Hernandez frowned and turned her tablet around so Matt could see a picture of Nova.

"Have you seen that woman? She's like a goddamn super-super-super-hyper-ultra-model. Seriously, when I saw that photo of her, I thought she was some kind of actress!"

"She's also one of the best agents the Ghost-program has ever produced. Looks can be deceiving." However, that answer didn't seem to satisfy the Lieutenant.

"Looks? Looks?! Look at her, she doesn't even look like a _normal_ human being! And those legs! How many women do you know that have such long and slender legs? Seriously, that woman looks like she's some character from a movie or a video game! Normal women don't look that perfect. She even wears make-up! What kind of Ghost operative wears makeup?!" Strangely enough, Matt had no answer to that question. Well, no good answer.

"Oh, trust me; she's very real. And she can be truly vicious if you end up on her bad side."

"Right." Hernandez mumbled. "Sounds totally believable. She got the looks and the skills. Oh, come on! No one is this perfect! Her file says that she has done countless missions, all sorts of crazy things. Humans, Zerg, Protoss, she has fought them all. And she still looks like a goddamn supermodel? Yeah, right." Matt was about to tell Hernandez that Nova wasn't the only attractive woman that had been part of the Ghost-program. The same could be said about Sarah.

But then he realized that he would have to tell Hernandez about Sarah in the first place, and he felt no urge to do that.

"You know, my brother used to have a poster of a video game in his room. Said it was the best game of its generation, with the best graphics you could imagine. But you know what it was really about? Tit's'n'butts." Hernandez mumbled.

"I think you're overthinking things, Lieutenant." Matt told her. "We are not talking about a video game here. Agent Nova is a real person. And she's just in a very good shape. You should know, you saw what they did to Smith." However, that answer did not satisfy his adjutant.

"Meh, Smith still looks like a normal guy. Okay, a very _scary_ normal guy. But he has scars all over his body. And he has never fought Zerg!" Even though Matt was not really in the mood for conversation, he sighed and decided to let this conversation take his natural course...if there was such a thing.

"So what, you say that Nova isn't real?"

"No, I just say that she represents an idealized picture of a female role model most men would consider to be highly attractive. She is strong, independent, yet at the same time so attractive that no one would even dare to call her ugly. She's a trained assassin, which probably means that she has no family. And what's better than a hot and deadly chick as a girlfriend? A hot and deadly chick that has no family, so you don't have to bother with that. Jackpot!"

"Lieutenant, that's a rather cynic way to talk about a fellow Ghost." Matt sighed.

"Ohohoho! Don't put me in the same boat as boobs'n'bacon!" Boobs'n'bacon? Was she serious about that?

"Did you forget to take your meds again, Hernandez?" Matt then wanted to know. It happened now and then. It was actually a really interesting thing, because every time that happened, her actions became _erratic_. Well, more erratic than usual.

"My meds have nothing to do with it. You know I'm right. That woman is just like the poster on my brother's wall. Armor piercing eye candy. She's a living cliche." Hernandez insisted and Matt sighed yet again.

"Okay, you made your point. Just one question; what are you trying to tell me?!" Seriously, Matt had no idea what Hernandez was getting at. The young Lieutenant raised her finger and opened her mouth, but then she stopped.

"I don't know." she then admitted. Yep, that sounded like Hernandez all right.

"I will make sure that you two will never meet. For everyone's sake." Matt then mumbled and started to rub his eyes. "Anything else? Aside from the blatant sexism when dealing with female Ghosts?"

"Your dwarf-friend lost his battlecruiser." Hernandez said.

"I know, you already told me that a few days ago. Anything else that I _haven't_ heard yet?"

"Your pal Raynor is on Mar Sally."

"Mar Sara." Matt corrected her and looked up. "Wait, he's on Mar Sara? How did you find that out?" Hernandez just shrugged her shoulders.

"It wasn't that hard. He used an account that belongs to us, the computer informed me about it. It seems that the guy who worked for you before me made sure to get the notice if anyone would charge that account. Kinda paranoid if you ask me."

Brent. That guy was truly something else.

"And Jim's on Mar Sara?" Matt then wanted to know and Hernandez nodded.

"Yep. Arrived there roughly two weeks ago, has gone silent since then. He took a civilian flight from Meinhoff, but that's all I know. Want me to find him? Or relay a message?" There were moments when Hernandez sounded like a real adjutant. But those moments usually never lasted long.

"No..." Matt whispered. He had made up his mind. It was no longer in his hands. But still...why was Jim on Mar Sara? There was something wrong. Had Sarah decided to change her mind? Had she decided to leave Jim behind for good? Oh damn, he should have never allowed Jim to leave. If Sarah wouldn't show up, it would end in tragedy. And now there was no one around who could stop Jim from doing something stupid!

"Admiral? Are you okay?" Hernandez asked when she saw the worried expression on Matt's face. He looked up at her and frowned.

"Do me a favor; there's someone you have to call here. Tell him it's urgent." Matt then ordered.

"Oooookay. But remember, you're still supposed to give that speech to the troops in a few hours. So do us both a favor and don't drink yourself to death."

* * *

There are things that will never be easy. Like telling a mother that her child has died. The look on a mother's face when she realized that her child wouldn't come home was one of the most horrific things Jim had ever witnessed. He would rather plunge into a spawning pool head first than to do that again.

Jim had done it many times; told parents that their children wouldn't come home. He had written letters, so many damn letters. At one point it had turned into a routine. A horrible routine, one that still haunted him to this very day.

The first time he had actually visited parents in order to tell them about the demise of their child hadn't been as a soldier. No, it had been worse.

If a soldier dies, it hurts. Those guys or gals were not just folks with the same insignia on their uniforms, they were brothers- and sisters-in-arms. But they were _soldiers_. And no matter how tragic such a death is, it is the way of the soldier. No one wants to die, but it's part of the job. If that's your profession, you have to accept it. And Jim had accepted it a long time ago. Only that the golden bullet had never managed to find him.

It was hard to tell a mother that her child wouldn't return from the battlefield. But what if it hadn't been a soldier in the first place?

Jim remembered that one boy, just fifteen years old. Had tried to run away from home. Hadn't made it very far. It had been Jim's first case after becoming Marshal on Mar Sara. They had searched the entire northern parts of the local desert, but with every passing hour, hope had continued to fade away until nothing was left. When they had found him, it had already been too late.

The boy had been careless. He had tried to cross a ravine during the night. Climbing down a crag without any training or the right equipment was already stupid beyond reason. But climbing down a crag in the middle of the night? The boy had never stood a chance. He probably had tried to reach the highway on the other side of the ravine. But when they had found his smashed body on the ground of -the ravine, it was clear that he had overestimated his own abilities.

What can you tell a mother in that situation? The truth? That her son had died a horrible death? That he had suffered for hours until he had finally bled to death? That he had screamed in pain and fear, but no one had heard him? What? What would you have done?

"Mrs. Winston. Mr. Winston. My name is Marshal Raynor. We need to talk. It's about Raleigh." Raleigh Winston. He still remembered that name, even after all those years. If someone tells you that the screams of thousands of Zerglings will make you scream for God to save you, you haven't heard the cries of a mother who realizes that her child wouldn't come home again.

Parents shouldn't survive their children. It was unnatural.

Back then Jim had hoped that he would never have to endure something like that. In the end, it had been nothing but wishful thinking. As he stared at the gravestone in front of him, he couldn't stop thinking about that boy. Raleigh. It was a good name. Jim remembered how he had suggested it to his wife when they had looked for a name of their unborn child.

"Hey, Liddy." Jim then whispered. "Sorry for not coming here any sooner." He looked down at his wife's grave and felt how a clump of ice formed inside his stomach. The last time he had visited her grave, he had burned his ring and a lot of personal pieces he had found in their old home. He had tried to burn away the pain. Hadn't worked out so well. And so, he had decided to drink himself into a stupor. Hadn't worked out so well either. It hadn't been his finest hour, that much was for certain. After Liddy's death...he had buried himself in work, work, and even more work. At some point, it had turned into more than just a job. It had been the only thing left to him. It had helped to numb the pain.

"But in my defense; it was quite the crazy ride these last couple of years." And that was probably the understatement of the century. He looked up to the tree that stood right behind her grave. It wasn't very far away from their old home, you could even see it from here. She had always loved this tree, so putting her here to rest had seemed like the most reasonable thing to do. Behind him, in the distance, you could see the ruin of their old home. But he wouldn't go there. Not now. Not ever again.

"I know that's no excuse for not coming here. And I understand if you're angry with me. Really, I do." Perhaps it didn't make much sense to talk to a grave, but now that Jim was here, he was glad that he had come. Not because it was such a pleasant experience, but because it was the right thing to do. He probably owed it more to himself than Liddy or Johnny.

Some people say that the worst thing a soldier may be forced to do is to kill another soldier.

To be frankly; Jim thought that this was a load of bullshit. If killing was so goddamn horrible, then why did people it all the time? No, killing another soldier was too damn easy. Living with it was a whole different story. However, when you're fighting for your life, you don't care about that. It's a primal way of fighting, man against man.

But that's just one side of it. The most horrible thing one can force you to do in war isn't to kill an enemy soldier. It's to kill your own comrades.

Sometimes you have to do it. If you send some boys out to scout ahead. Or if you have to retreat and you need someone to buy the rest of your people enough time. That moment...when you look into the eyes of those men and tell them that they have to hold the position for as long as possible. They won't get any support. They won't see another day. However, the worst thing is when they realize that.

You send them to death, and they _know_ it.

Imagine it; someone orders you to sacrifice yourself, and you're aware of it. Would you do it? Would you try to run away? Perhaps it was beyond selfish to think that those guys were the lucky ones. Because they didn't have to live with this guilt for the rest of their lives. But what about the officer who issued that command? If he's not a coldblooded bastard (like for example Edmund Duke), then he will remember that moment for the rest of his life.

Jim knew what he was talking about.

No, killing an enemy soldier wasn't the worst thing that could happen to you. Sending your own men to their certain death was. At least for Jim.

However, losing someone who isn't a soldier? There was nothing that could have prepared Jim for that. In the military, there will always be a comrade who will help you. Who will tell you that you did the right thing, even when you didn't? Comradeship is like a net; it catches you when you fall. However, after the loss of his family, no one had caught him.

He had burned his ring and those private pieces because he hadn't been able to bear the pain anymore. Because no one had helped him with his pain.

It wasn't a sign of weakness, Jim knew that now. It had taken him a lot of time to come to this realization, though. He had learned that after losing Sarah. Because people like Matt had helped him. Matt... he had never been a comrade. He had been more. A friend. A brother. Someone who had caught him and pulled his head out of the gutter.

"Heh, I'm so pathetic." Jim then chuckled. "I wanted to tell you so many things, but now that I'm here, I don't know what to say." He could feel how the emotions inside his heart started to get the better of him. Jim clenched his hands into fists in order to hide how much they were shaking.

"I still remember what you made me promise, Liddy. That I wouldn't doubt myself. That I would stand up for what I believe in." His voice started to fail him and he felt how his whole body started to shake. Painful memories were starting to return to the surface, and his own resolve started to waver. He wanted to run away. Sure, not very manly. But to hell with that. He had suffered enough defeats and losses, he didn't have to prove anything to anyone anymore.

There was no one around to see his tears. At least he couldn't see anyone. But even if someone had been around, he couldn't have cared less.

"I tried." he said with a choking voice. "I really did. I tried to not doubt myself, but...but..." Jim dropped to his knees and now his eyes were on the same level as the gravestone. He could see the inscription, it was right in front of him.

Lidya Elizabeth Raynor

Beloved Wife

Beloved Mother

Thou shall be missed

He knew that inscription well. So well that he saw it every damn night in his nightmares. The same nightmares that kept him going while dragging him down at the same time.

"I'm sorry. I promised you that I would find Johnny and bring him back, so the two of you would be together. But I couldn't do it. There was just..." And now his voice finally failed him. Hot tears started to stream down his face. He knew the truth inside his mind, but speaking it out loud was just too cruel.

There was nothing left of Johnny. No body to bury. Jim's lip trembled and he leaned forward. His fingers dug into the dirt around Liddy's grave. Shortly after Liddy's death, he had knelt in front of her grave too. And back then he had felt the urge to dig her up, to pull her out of that grave, and to make her alive again. But no one possessed that power. Perhaps it was better this way because Jim would have sold his soul to the devil himself in order to bring Liddy back.

"I never deserved you. I know that. If we hadn't met, then you would still be alive. And happy with someone else. And that hurts." He took a deep breath and a sad smile appeared on his face.

"I met someone. I did as you told me, even though I didn't want to." Shortly before Liddy had passed away, she had made him promise that he would go on living. That he would find a new reason to live. That he would find someone who would make him happy again.

"I tried to stay away from that life. For everyone's sake. I didn't want to lose anyone again. Not like this." Then he chuckled again.

"But you should've seen her. You would have loved her, I'm sure of it." He took a deep breath and shuddered. "Heh, the first time we met, she called me a pig. She was so full of life. And really fragile, even though she always refused that. And she knew everything better." There was a long moment of silence.

"But then I screwed things up again, Liddy." He shuddered again and wiped a tear from his cheek. "It was just the same. Just the same as with Johnny. I should have said no, I should have told her to stay. But I didn't. I didn't. I didn't." He repeated those lines over and over again before he dropped his head down on the dirt.

"You made me promise that I would stand up for what I believe in, but I broke that promise. I knew that I should have stopped her, but I didn't. And she had to pay the price. Just like Johnny. And you." He then started to laugh, but it was a bitter laugh.

"There are people out there who call me a hero, Liddy. Heh, what kind of hero fails his family twice? I'm not a hero. I'm not even a good man. I'm a coward, Liddy. And I'm so sorry that you had to pay the price for my weakness." He swallowed hard. "If I had been the man I should have, then Johnny wouldn't be dead. You wouldn't be dead. And Sarah...she...she..." But now his voice failed him again. It took him a long time before he managed to go on. He looked up and put his hand on Liddy's gravestone.

"But you know what the worst thing is?" Jim then shook his head and his next words were barely a whisper.

"I don't want to die."

There was another long moment of silence before he continued.

"At first I wanted to perish. I threw myself into battle. And after Sarah's dea...after she left...I saw no purpose in my life anymore. I felt empty. And hollow. Because I knew that I failed both of you. Perhaps Matt was right to lock me away, I would have drunken myself to death. But at least it would have been an end. Not a good one, but an end nonetheless. But then something changed." He clenched his hands into fists again and felt the dirt between his fingers.

"The last few weeks were bad. And then something changed. I can't even describe it, but it feels like my soul has finally found a purpose again. I don't know why, but when I wake up, I don't want to die anymore." He then shook his head. "And that frightens me. Because I'm afraid that I will meet someone. Someone that will make me feel loved once more. And I'm afraid of that. Because I can't. I can't do that. I lost you and Johnny. I lost Sarah. I can't lose another one. I can't."

Here he was, down on his knees and his heart out in the open, for anyone to see it.

Sometimes Jim envied men like Arcturus Mengsk and Edmund Duke. Men that had sacrificed their own people without showing any sign of guilt. It made things so much easier. But a heart is nothing you can turn on or off whenever you feel like it.

Right now, Jim looked utterly pathetic, he was very much aware of that. He just didn't care. Watching Liddy wither away and die in his arms had been one of the most horrible experiences of his entire life. He had thought that it couldn't get any worse. Then the Zerg had claimed Sarah, and he had learned to shut his mouth.

Like said, you can't turn a heart off. And you can't force it to accept logic just like that either. Jim's mind knew that he wouldn't survive another loss. That he would rather put a bullet through his head than to fall in love again. His heart, however? His heart was beating faster every time he thought about it. It felt as if something was out there, calling out for him, waving at him from the distance. As much as Jim hated to admit it, some part of him felt like he wasn't done with this life yet.

"Heh, look at me, crying like a little boy. Whenever Johnny cried, you told him that he had to be brave, just like his father was. Guess I'm not much of a role model, now am I?" But no one answered. Jim sniffed one more time before he took a deep breath and managed to regain some of his dignity.

Ah, to hell with dignity. What good was dignity if there was no one around to witness it?

"When I lost you...both of you, it felt like something had died inside of me." he then continued. "And you know what? I like that thought. Because that means that a part of me is with you right now. And it means that I'm not a total failure as a husband. Or a father" Not that it mattered though. He wiped another tear from his cheek and shook his head. He felt exhausted. Not physically, but mentally.

"I know that I wasn't the husband you deserved. But I want you to know that you will always be a part of me. And that I'm grateful for the time we had together. But...but I don't think I'm ready to meet my maker yet. I'm sorry." Then he finally got back to his feet and looked down at her grave. It was hard to describe, but even now he felt like someone was watching him. Someone that reached out from the distance and wanted to tell him that he wasn't alone. And even though he knew that it was impossible, he didn't want to let go of that feeling.

"Maybe next life. Farewell, Liddy." Jim said and finally turned away. Always stand by your lady, huh? Well, that hadn't worked out so great. When he walked away, he pressed his hand against his eyes and felt the urge to drink himself into oblivion again. Well, at least he knew the perfect place to do that...

* * *

The grave remained behind. And when Jim was finally gone, the only thing you could hear was the blowing of the wind and the rustling of the leaves. There was no other sound. No other sound except a sad whimper.

Sarah huddled against the cold tree, knees pulled up to her chin and arms slung around her legs. Her eyes were closed, yet the tears of gold found their way down her cheeks. She knew that she had no right to be here. It was supposed to be Jim's moment, one that he could spend with his wife. Right now, Sarah felt like a goddamn intruder, like she didn't belong here. Tracking down Jim had been easy. His presence was like a light in the darkness. No matter where she was, Sarah would always be able to follow that light. At first, she had thought that she was like a moth, drawn to the fire. But now she wondered if he was like a lighthouse, guiding her home in the darkest of nights.

Seeing him like that...it hurt. When he had been on his knees, she had wanted to jump up, walk over to him and put her arms around him. She wanted to embrace him and never let go of him again. Never.

But she had done nothing. Instead, she had just listened to his cries and his wailing.

They said that Jim Raynor was all heart. If that was true, then what about Sarah? She had no idea what to do. Go to him?

"Hey, Jim! Look who's back! Hey, wanna go for a trip? Boy, it sure has been some time!"

She had no idea how to do this. She had come here to end this pitiful charade once and for all. She wanted to come clean, but listening to Jim's words had shattered her frail conviction.

Liddy was a sore topic for her. She had never told Jim about that, but she felt like she couldn't compare herself to Jim's wife.

Sounds crazy?

Well, let's do a headcount here. Liddy Raynor, a normal gal from Mar Sara; clever, beautiful, smart, and resourceful. And incredibly headstrong. Oh, and a caring and loving mother. And Sarah? Well, she was deadly. However, that's not exactly something most guys are into. She had killed her own mother. And that wasn't exactly a good thing either. She had killed a lot of bad guys, though, like for example Arcturus Mengsk. A lot of things Sarah had done involved killing.

Oh, Liddy had probably been a really good cook.

Sarah couldn't cook for shit. But she was great when you had to kill someone!

Jim's words had just reminded her how little she had to offer to him. She raised her head and pressed it against the cold bark of the tree behind her. Jim was still close, she could sense him. But he was walking away. She could even feel how he tried to stay away from his old home as far as possible. By now it was nothing but pieces of rubble. She could only speculate why Jim tried to stay away from it. She didn't want to dive into his mind in order to find out the truth, she respected him too much. And she was scared to see those nightmares again.

Being so close to him reminded Sarah of her own fear. But sensing Jim's pain was almost as horrible as her own. Perhaps this was all a mistake. It felt as if she couldn't distinguish between her own emotions and that of Jim anymore. If that was the case, then she was in deep shit. How was she supposed to make a decision if she didn't know wherever she was following her own intuition or not?

Then again; if Sarah had an idea, that usually meant for everyone else to run for cover.

She waited. She waited until she felt that Jim was finally gone. The urge to finally face him was still there, but not when he was dealing with his own demons. Like said, right now she felt like an intruder. She possessed the power to restore life, but that power was limited. The people she had saved in that palace hadn't been dead for long, they hadn't even turned cold. However, restoring that which had perished years ago? Sarah knew that she couldn't do that. Perhaps it was tasteless to think about something like that, but there wasn't much left of Liddy anyway. Some bones perhaps.

So what could she do? Take a sample? Recreate Liddy? She could take those bones to a hive, take control, and use the Zerg to breed a new Liddy.

Extreme? Maybe. But Sarah had done weirder stuff.

She wouldn't create an infested version of Liddy. She could keep the DNA human. And then? It would be a body, but nothing more. It would breathe, it would walk. But it wouldn't be Liddy. But what if...what if she would pull all those memories of Liddy from Jim's mind? And transplant them into that clone's brain? It wouldn't be the same, yes. Memories aren't the real deal, Sarah was aware of that. But what if she would manipulate Jim's mind? Make him believe that Liddy had indeed returned to him?

Sarah could do that. She couldn't restore Liddy to life, but she could create a new Liddy. And then she would send this new Liddy back to Jim. And they would be happy again. Jim deserved that much.

However, she didn't do it. Not because Sarah knew that it was wrong, but because she didn't want to. She didn't want to do that because that would mean that she would remain behind. Perhaps she was the last person in this universe who had the right to be selfish, but that was exactly what she wanted to be right now.

She wanted to be selfish, even if it was only this one time.

Would Jim see it the same way? If he would realize that Sarah was back, if he would realize that she possessed the power to do something like that...

"Give me Liddy back. And then leave." The thing with demons is that they don't have to make a lot of sense. And they don't have to be realistic either. She was so close. _So close_. But now that she was here, now that there was nothing between her and Jim, her mind searched for things that could go wrong.

It was a very human trait; if you're afraid of failing, you look for excuses, for reasons why it wouldn't have worked in the first place. When Jim was gone, she remained silent for a little while longer. There was no one around. She was finally alone.

She thought of what Jim had told Liddy; that he had failed both her and Sarah. That moment Sarah had felt the urge to jump up, run over to him and yell at him that he had never failed her. If there was one person in this universe who had _never_ failed her, it was Jim Raynor. God, she had caused him so much pain. After a while, she sighed and got back on her feet. Perhaps she should leave and go somewhere else in order to think things through once more. Thinking was good because it meant that she didn't have to face Jim.

Maybe she should check out what Izsha and Karax were doing. The only thing she knew was that Izsha needed Karax's help to track down a very specific Protoss-vessel. That didn't really sound like a good idea, but she trusted Izsha's instincts.

She walked around the tree with hanging shoulders. Right now, she didn't look like an almighty goddess, but like a pathetic little girl who couldn't make up her mind. She looked at Liddy's grave and was already on her way out when she suddenly stopped.

Jim's words had touched her heart. He had talked to someone who was long gone. Sarah didn't really know if Jim believed in God or an immortal soul, but he looked like the kind of guy who had faith. Sarah believed neither in God nor an immortal soul. Which was somewhat ironic, because she had turned into a being that would resist the maws of time indefinitely. Some would probably call her a true goddess.

Wait, Jim believed in God and he had always believed in her. Wouldn't that mean that she was his gode...no. Better stop here. She was already prone to arrogance, it was better not to finish that thought.

Yet, as Sarah looked at Liddy's grave, she couldn't help but feel angry. She had never met that woman. Who the hell was Liddy Raynor anyway? Some farmer girl from a backwater planet! She had never done anything special! Sarah had saved the whole goddamn sector, maybe even the whole galaxy. Yet there was no gravestone with her name on it anywhere out there. She had done a lot of horrible things, true. But she had also saved everyone else.

They had abused her, abducted her as a child, turned her into a killing machine, and then sold out to a fate worse than death. She was turned into the bringer of death, something she had never chosen in the first place. They had called her a monster for that. But she was just as much of a victim as everyone else. The only one who had stood by her side had been Jim.

She was so much more than Liddy had ever been. But which of these two women had a grave? A grave where the man she loved would weep for her? That's right, the _little farmer girl_.

Sarah knew that it was selfish beyond reason, but she just couldn't help it. And unlike Jim, she didn't believe in a soul. Or an afterlife. But when she looked at the grave, she frowned and turned towards Liddy's resting place. She clenched her hands into fists. The thought was absolutely absurd! But...but maybe it would help her?

"Hello, Mrs. Raynor." Sarah then started to say. "Liddy." She felt like an idiot. There was nothing beneath that gravestone but dust and bones. And she wouldn't receive any answer anyway.

Ah, to hell with it. At least there was no one around who could question her sanity.

Because let's face it; she had none.

"You probably heard of me. I'm Sarah. I'm...heh...I guess you could say that I'm your husband's ex-girlfriend." That was probably the most horrible way you could introduce yourself to the deceased wife of the man you love.

"Jim told me a lot about you." That was a lie. She knew a lot about Liddy, but not because Jim had told her about his wife.

"We've never met, but I feel like we know each other." Sarah took a deep breath. "I heard what Jim said to you. I know that I shouldn't eavesdrop, but I just couldn't help it. I just want you to know..." She took another deep breath and straightened herself. "...that Jim didn't fail me. It was me who failed him." Her head turned away from the grave and she looked at the old ruin that had been the Raynor's home.

"He's an insufferable man, but you probably know that." she then chuckled. "Always so righteous. Always trying to do the right thing. The galaxy needs more men like him." But then her chuckle faded away. She looked at the gravestone and frowned.

"I want to be honest with you." Sarah said. "Even though we never met, I always hated you. I never told Jim. How could I? Tell him that I hate the woman he loved. But yeah, I never liked it when he mentioned you." Sarah then shook her head. "He truly loved you, you know that? And what did you? You died. Just like that." Suddenly Sarah felt how her anger started to get the better of her. She clenched her hands into fists and gritted her teeth.

"Pathetic." she hissed. "You're pathetic!" It was good that Jim couldn't hear her. "You had it all. You were just a little farm girl, yet you found a man who truly loved you. And what did you do? You died because you gave up!" She looked at the destroyed house once more.

"So you lost your son, big deal. We all got dead people. They wanted to turn him into a Ghost. You don't even know what that means. But I do!" she continued. "I know what it means to be turned into a monster! If they take away your humanity and turn you into a tool! That's what they would have done to your precious little Johnny!" A part of her was shocked by her own words. But Jim had once told her that it was better to let things out than to keep them in.

"Little Liddy...couldn't accept the fact that the world wasn't such a nice place. And what did you do? You gave up!" Righteous fury filled Sarah's chest, but this time she didn't go nuclear. "And what did you get for giving up? That's right, he _still_ loves you. And there are still people who remember you fondly." She shook her head and golden tears streamed down her face. "I never gave up! I fought. And I _survived_. Yet does anyone remember me? No, of course not. At least not as a human being. Only as a monster!" It was unfair. She was still standing, even after everything they had done to her.

Liddy's life had been a calm one, a peaceful one. And she had just lost her will to live, just like that. Sarah never had a life, not after the Confederacy had taken her. Yet, she had fought to the last breath. Several times actually.

"You gave up because your son died. Perhaps it will help you to know that death isn't always the worst fate. At least Johnny was still an innocent child when he died. I killed my mother because I was angry at her. I lobotomized my father because I was careless. The Confederates, they made me kill so many people. It would have been his fate too." She then turned her gaze back towards the grave and tilted her head to the side. "You should be glad that they didn't turn him into a monster. Like they did with me." Suddenly a painful feeling shot through her mind and she closed her eyes.

"But you know what was the worst thing? That Jim didn't care about that. He knew what I was...and what people like me had done. Yet, he didn't care about that. He looked at me...and saw a person, not a weapon." She stared at the gravestone.

"And you gave it away, you stupid thing!" She turned away and started to laugh, but it was a bitter laugh. "Look who's talking...the Queen of Stupidity!" Only then she realized what she had said. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

"Oh Jim, I'm so sorry." she whispered to herself. She knew that it was wrong to say something like that. It was even wrong to _think_ something like that! She pressed her hand against her mouth and sank down to her knees. Now it was she who was kneeling in front of Liddy's grave. Golden tears fell from her cheeks and onto the ground and she sobbed like so many times before. But it wasn't the kind of crying that could help you to clear your mind. Like when a heavy burden is finally lifted from your chest. No, it was just the same old sobbing she had done so many times before.

"I still love him." she then whispered and looked at the grave. "I know that I'm not like you, not like a normal woman. I was never normal to begin with. But..." The tears never stopped running. "...but don't I deserve at least some sort of happiness?" Hadn't the universe done enough to her? Sarah knew that imagining things wouldn't serve any purpose, however, she remembered that dream she and Jim had shared during her little _adventure_ on Saalok. Had it been Jim's dream? Or hers? Maybe her subconsciousness had tried to tell her something, that she too longed for a normal life.

But it had just been that; a dream.

The question was; what could Sarah offer to Jim?

That might sound like a stupid question. She possessed abilities no one else had. She could prolong his life indefinitely. She had already healed his wounds. She could turn him into a king among kings. There was only one small problem with that; Jim didn't care about any of this. If anyone tells you that they don't want to live forever, it's probably a lie. They're just too embarrassed to admit it. However, Jim was different. An eternal life was probably pointless to him if he couldn't spend it with his loved ones. And he didn't want to rule anyone.

So what was the alternative? For Sarah to turn herself into a normal woman? She had never been normal to begin with. Or worse, become a mother? The thought of Sarah being a mother was utterly ridiculous. No, if there was one thing she was certain of, then it was that she wasn't the motherly type.

"Look at you. You were _nothing_. Just a random girl from some backwater planet. Yet, you made him happy." Sarah whispered.

"How? How did you do it?" she then pleaded, but no one answered. Of course, no one answered, Liddy was dead. And dead people cannot talk. It was pointless, standing here in front of Liddy's grave wouldn't accomplish anything. She just tried to avoid the unavoidable. Her mind still tried to find excuses, but her heart had already made up its, well, _mind_. Who knew, maybe Jim wouldn't even recognize her. Maybe he didn't want her back at all.

No, now her mind was just trying to find excuses. She knew the truth. She was just really scared of it.

"I'm sorry for what I said." Sarah whispered and changed her position. She sat down on her butt and pulled her knees up to her chin. "I know that you loved him. It's just..." She stopped and took a deep breath. "...I guess I'm not very good at sharing stuff. He was good to me, and I repaid his kindness only with pain and misery. While I'm not exactly a professional when it comes to relationships, I'm pretty certain that's not how you do it." There there was a moment of silence before Sarah continued.

"I want to do better this time. I really do. But I just don't know if I can. I'm scared that I will hurt him again, and that he will leave me for good this time." She stared at Liddy's grave. "And you know what the worst thing is? I couldn't blame him for that, not after everything I've done." She looked up at the blue sky. It was a beautiful day. A bit hot though, but this was still Mar Sara after all. Still, it felt unfair. It should rain, at least then the weather would be like Sarah's mood.

"I guess it's pointless to sit here and wait for a sign. Listen to me, I don't even believe in this crap! You're dead, there's nothing left of you but dust and bones." She got back on her feet and was about to turn away. Maybe she should go back to Ulnar and check out what Izsha and Karax were doing. Or she should go somewhere else and think about it some more. She had time, she would find Jim wherever he was. But then she stopped and stared at Liddy's grave.

"If you could only give me a sign." she then whispered. "I don't know...give me your blessing? I want this to work, Liddy, I really do." That's when she realized how utterly absurd this whole thought was. A blessing! From Jim's dead wife?!

"What am I even doing here." she whispered to herself and finally turned around.

That's when suddenly a warm gust hit her.

There hadn't been any blow of air or anything like that before, and even though it was not much more than a warm gust, it made her shudder. Behind her, the leaves of the tree started to rustle. The warm air caressed her skin, it almost felt like the touch of a person. It... couldn't be.

For the first time in a long time, Sarah was truly speechless. Even with all her powers, she couldn't tell where the gust of wind had come from. No, it had to be a hallucination. She was imagining things. But then she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the warm air on her cheeks. It reminded her of something, a long-forgotten memory. How her mother had brushed over Sarah's cheeks. Long before Sarah had killed her when she had been nothing but a small child. An innocent child.

It was probably just her imagination, but it felt like someone was truly speaking to her. She closed her eyes and shuddered while more tears streamed down her face. The leaves rustled behind her as if they were trying to speak to her.

Sarah didn't believe in souls or God or anything like that. But when she opened her eyes again and looked at the silent grave, she had to swallow hard and lowered her head in shame.

"I won't let him down again, I promise. And thank you." she whispered. And then she finally walked away.

It was time.

* * *

She watched. She watched how Jim left, and she smiled. The young woman felt the urge to tell him that he was a good man, but she had kept her distance. And after Jim was gone, she had watched how Sarah had talked to the grave. Seeing those two like this was strange. When she heard Sarah's pleas for a sign, she knew that she shouldn't intervene. The young woman had her instructions. Yet, as she sensed Sarah's despair, she reached out with her hand and moments later a gust of wind brushed gently over Sarah's cheek, who gasped in surprise.

And then the young woman continued to watch. She watched how Sarah vanished into thin air, something that didn't baffle her one bit. She still waited a few moments until she was certain that Sarah was gone. And then she walked over to the grave.

No one had visited Liddy's grave in years, and now she got three guests in one day. However, this last guest was the one best prepared.

The young woman stopped in front of the grave and bowed her head in respect.

"Thank you...for listening to them." she said with a warm smile on her face and placed a bouquet on the grave. She turned her head to the side and looked at the ruined house in the distance.

"I wish I could have met you. He told me so much about you." And then the young woman looked back at the gravestone. "I want you to know that he never stopped loving you. Or Johnny. But...soon he will be able to tell that yourself." The young woman then turned around and started to walk away. And just like Sarah, she simply vanished into thin air...

* * *

The moment Jim walked up to the bar, he recognized the old man sitting in front of it. A disbelieving smile appeared on his face. The old man looked up from his reclining chair and squinted his eyes. There weren't many people around, so every newcomer had to be checked out carefully. But when he saw Jim, a disbelieving expression appeared on his face.

"Well, I'll be...Marshal Raynor?" the old man said with a weak and creaky voice. Jim stopped in front of him and started to laugh.

"Sanders! Long time no seen. You're looking good!" Sanders was one of the farmers Jim still remembered from the old days. A normal guy from Mar Sara. Had never spent a single day in school, but had always had the best crop. Sanders potatoes were known to be the biggest on all of Mar Sara.

"Wish I could say the same thing, Marshal. But you look old!" That comment made Jim laugh out loud.

"Yeah, well...it has been some time. How's life?" Jim asked. The farmer shrugged his shoulders.

"What? What strife?" Okay, so his hearing had made a turn for the worse. Sanders had to be at least eighty, maybe even ninety. Since that guy couldn't really read, he didn't know how old he was either. His wife had done all the reading.

"How's Annabelle?" Jim wanted to know. "She's still doing all the reading for you?" Suddenly old Sander's facial expression became sad.

"My Anna passed away two summers ago." Jim opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but then he realized how stupid his question had been.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that."

"It's fine, Marshal." Sanders replied. "She was old. Hell, we're all old now. She went to bed one day and just didn't wake up the next one. But still, why don't you know that? You're the Marshal of this place, you're supposed to know that!" Sanders complained.

"Mr. Sanders, I haven't been the Marshal of this place for over six years now. Ever since the Zerg came." Not everyone had left Mar Sara. And the Zerg hadn't managed to kill everyone either. But to think that Sanders was still here was truly something else. Jim had returned several times to Mar Sara, but never as a Marshal again.

"Huh? The Bergs? They're gone too!" Sanders then muttered and Jim sighed.

"Zerg! Not the Bergs! ZERG, Mr. Sanders!"

"Oh, yeah! Those things! I remember! My Anna made a wonderful stew out of them!" That's when Jim realized that Sanders was probably living in his very own world. He pointed his finger at the door of the bar. Above it, you could see its name; JoeyRay, named after its owner.

"I'll go inside, see if Joey is around. You need anything?"

"Oh yes, it is a beautiful day!" Sanders just replied and Jim sighed. He shook his head and walked up to the door. It wasn't a normal door, but an old hydraulic door you use on spaceships. The reason for that was simple; this bar was something the very first settlers had brought to Mar Sara. Not many people knew that, but when settlers start to colonize a new world, they usually disassemble their ships and use them as living quarters. That's why most doors looked like this one. Perhaps JoeyRay's had once been a container on board of a huge colony vessel. Whatever it had been, it was still around. And back in the day, JoeyRay's had turned it into Jim's second home. He pressed the button and the door opened with a soft hiss. He stepped inside and the heat of the day vanished, at least partially. He looked around and sighed again.

He remembered this place. It looked just the way he had left it. Well, except for his jukebox. That was still on the Hyperion. Speaking of which; maybe he should give Swann a call and ask him if he could send that old thing to him on Mar Sara. But hey, someone had replaced the TV!

"Yo, nerf-herder!" a bulky man suddenly barked. He stood behind the bar and had his back turned towards Jim, so he couldn't see who the newcomer was. "In or out? But close that damn door!" Ah, that voice! Jim started to chuckle.

"Is that a way to greet an old friend?" he asked and the man froze.

"It can't be..." the barkeeper muttered and when he turned around, his eyes widened in surprise.

"James Raynor. I'll be damned, look who has finally come back." Joey Ray, the owner of the bar with the same name, leaned forward and put his arm on the bar. "You owe me money!" Now Jim started to laugh out loud again.

"Hahahaha! Oh, it's good to see you too, buddy." The moment Jim laughed, Joey dropped his tough-man attitude and shook his head.

"Damn, I thought you were on Korhal! Saw you on the news. What the hell are you doing out here?" But Jim just shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, I'm just traveling around these days. I was in the neighborhood, thought that I should come here and say hi. Oh, hey! You got a new TV! And it's even bigger than the one I shot!" That comment made Joey laugh again.

"Yeah, well, tell you what, the old one was crappy as hell anyway. Just do me one favor and don't shoot this one, I still need it." When Jim heard that, he stretched his arms out and looked down at himself.

"Don't worry, I don't carry a gun with me these days anymore." Then he walked over to the bar and sat down on a barstool. _His_ barstool. He sighed and chuckled again. It was as if his butt remembered this stool. And like this stool remembered his butt. He had spent so many days on it, usually drinking himself into a stupor. He looked at the bar and brushed with his hand over the wooden surface.

"Glad to see that this place is still in one piece. How have things been?" Jim wanted to know.

"You mean after you decided to leave in order to save the whole goddamn 'verse?" Joey asked and then shrugged his shoulders. He looked around and sighed. "As you can see, we're still here. Some more scars, some less old faces, but some new faces as well. Live goes on." Live goes on. Cheers to that.

"And the Dominion? Are they giving you a hard time?" Jim wanted to know, but Joey just pulled his shoulders up.

"Guess you could say that. But not the same way they used to. Nowadays the worst thing they send after us is the taxman. Annoying as hell, but still better than those marines that used to slaughter people just for the fun of it." Well, that sounded not so bad. If the Dominion was misbehaving on Mar Sara, Jim wouldn't hesitate one second. And that's when he started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Joey wanted to know, but Jim just shook his head.

"Nothin'. I was just thinkin'..."

"James Raynor thinking is always dangerous. Come on, hit me." Joey insisted and Jim chuckled again.

"I was just thinking...if the Dominion would still cause you some trouble, I would do something against that. A few years back I would probably have ordered a raid on one of their supply bases. You know what I would do now?" Joey shook his head.

"Call the guys in charge on Augustgrad and tell them to get their shit together." Oh, he remembered what his Raiders had done during his exile on Mar Sara. And now? Well, things had changed.

"Heh, right. Now you're all buddy with the _Emperor_. Even saw it on the news." Joey didn't try to hide his sarcasm, but Jim knew better than to feel insulted. The people of Mar Sara had suffered dearly under the Dominion's rule.

"He's not his father, Joey. He's still young, but he has a good heart."

"If you say so." Joey replied, but the tone of his voice sounded like he had resigned to his fate a long time ago. Whatever will be, will be. Before Jim could say anything else, Joey grabbed a glass and put it on the bar. He then pulled a bottle up from below the bar and Jim could see that it was a very special bottle. It was part of Joey's private stash and he usually never shared it unless there was a special occasion.

"Well, I guess you've earned yourself a treat, buddy." Joey said and was about to open the bottle when Jim suddenly raised his voice.

"Stop." Joey did as he was told, but he looked rather surprised.

"What? What? Is there something wrong?" the barkeeper wanted to know. Jim looked at the bottle and sighed. That whiskey...Glenn's reserve, 2377. It was one of the best whiskeys out there. Jim could still feel its taste on his tongue.

"I just...I stopped drinking." Well, that was probably only partially true. However, right now he looked at the bottle containing some of the most delicious whiskey he had ever tasted, yet he felt no urge to taste it again.

It was like his body simply didn't crave it anymore.

"Uh...seriously?" Joey groaned. "Dude, you know why I didn't throw you out after you shot my TV? Because you spent so much money in here that I could send my kids to college! All three of them!" And the worst thing was; that wasn't even exaggerated. Jim sighed yet again.

"Yeah, well...a lot of things have changed in the last few years."

"Sure seems that way." Joey muttered. He put the glass away but left the bottle on the bar.

"Oh, hey! By the way, I've got something for you. Think it belongs to you anyway." Jim frowned when he heard that. For a second he thought that Joey would pull up a revolver with only one bullet inside. He liked sick jokes like that. But when he put the small object on the counter, Jim's eyes widened in surprise.

"What the hell..." he muttered. "...where did you get that thing from!" It was a badge. His badge. The badge of a Confederate Marshal.

"Few of your boys came by roughly a year ago. They were heading to some colony, Heaven or Hoven or Hiven..."

"Haven." Jim corrected Joey and the barkeeper snipped with his finger.

"That's the one! Said that you left that thing on the Hyperion when the Dominion shut down your ship. They knew that you had spent many nights here, left it with me, in case you should ever return." Jim stared at his old badge. It was true, he hadn't seen the badge since...oh God, he couldn't even remember.

"You know, you could have sent me that thing!" Jim then complained.

"'Ey, you still owe me money for that TV!" Joey defended himself and Jim just groaned. He stared at the old badge and suddenly a lot of old memories started to reemerge. Not all of them were pleasant.

Joey was one of those old-fashioned barkeepers. You know, those guys who think that they have a degree in psychology because they know how to make a stiff drink. Well, if Jim was honest with himself, drinks had helped him more than talking to a mind-screwer, sorry, _psychologist_.

Not that he had ever tried to speak to any psychologist in the first place.

He sighed and suddenly he felt very uneasy. It was like there was something in the back of his mind, probing him, trying to speak to him. It reminded him of a certain someone, but maybe it was just a ruptured blood vessel inside his brain.

"You look tired, boss." Joey then said and Jim took a deep breath.

"It's been a long week."

"Hm... know that feeling. Tell you what, I need to leave for a short while. There's someone I need to talk to. But hey, I'll leave the TV on." Joey switched the screen on and looked at Jim. "If you change your mind about drinking; be my guest. But please, only open one bottle at a time."

"Heh, still angry because of that one time?"

"Yep. Now excuse me, I need to tell Fletcher that I still need those energy cells. That asshat has been avoiding me for days now."

"Wonder why he would do that." Jim mumbled to himself, but he was too lost in thoughts to listen to Joey's reply. The barkeeper walked around his bar and patted on Jim's shoulder.

"How about it? Once I'm back, we have a nice long talk."

"Can't wait for it, Chief." Jim lied. Joey chuckled and walked over to the door. He opened it and stepped outside. And when it closed behind him, Jim was finally alone.

He stared at the badge lying in front of him. Damn. So many years had passed. So many friends had died. And now he was finally back where he had started. The war was over. At least for now. What would the future bring to them? Would the Zerg return? Would the shaky alliance with the Protoss crumble? Jim didn't know that. The badge was upside down and he suddenly grabbed it and took it into his right hand. As he looked at the badge, the lady on the TV next to him said something, but he wasn't really listening.

"...today marks the third anniversary of the fall of the Arcturus Mengsk-regime..." Three years, huh? Man, a lot had changed in those three years. Would Arcturus even recognize his Dominion anymore?

"To memorialize this milestone, Emperor Valerian Mengsk held a monumental celebration in the capital wing of Augustgrad, heralding a new age of peace and prosperity in the Terran Dominion." the speaker continued. As Jim stared at his badge, a sad expression appeared on his face. Valerian would be a good emperor, he knew that. The kid got a good heart, and that was the most important thing. Yeah, Valerian would do good. He was already so much more than his father had ever been.

Heh, Jim remembered the day they had met for the first time.

 _I will make you an offer you can't refuse._ Shitty little brat thought that he knew everything better. But Valerian had proven Jim wrong. He had matured and grown into a decent man.

"On the senate's steps, Admiral Matthew Horner reaffirmed the military support of the new Dominion government." Jim looked up at the screen and could see the face of his old friend and comrade. And brother. Matt too was a good man. He and Valerian, they would succeed. Jim was sure of it.

"...and expresses optimism..." the lady on the TV continued, but Jim stopped listening. Instead, he turned his head to the right. Next to him on the wall were some photos of old friends. The left photo showed Jim and Matt, each one having a big beer in their hands, smiling for the camera.

 _Hearts and minds, man._ he could remember Matt's words. _Just like you always said._ Next to the photo was another one. It showed Swann and two of his pals. So many faces that no one would remember but him.

"You know Matt, someday you're gonna wind up leading this bunch of misfits." Jim whispered and repeated his own words from back then. Then his eyes wandered to some other photos. One of them showed a group of ruffians, all of them carrying guns and even more guns and a lot of attitude. And in the middle was no other than Jimmy himself. His old crew, the Heaven's Devils. All of them dead by now. All of them misfits and liars and thieves and brutes. The guy next to Jim on the photo had a bare chest and looked to the other side.

 _I made a deal with the devil, Jimmy._ No matter what people would claim, Tychus had been his friend. Yeah, that man had been a bastard. But if you lie in the dirt and face death, the guy next to you will turn into your brother. They had endured it all together. Killing Tychus had been one of the worst decisions of his life. Jim's eyes wandered to the other photos and stopped when he saw the cause of Tychus' death.

The photo was still there. She looked just like he remembered her. That red hair. Those green eyes. And that faint smile.

 _You will hold her life in your hands._ Zeratul had said that to him. It had been the truth. And Jim had done the one thing only he could have done; he had set her free.

How many times had he cursed himself for that. He should have stayed at her side. Not just after Amon's death, but even after Arcturus' death. He had failed her. And now she was gone. He lowered his gaze and looked at his badge again. Sadness started to engulf his heart. He had lost both women he had ever loved. And in both cases, he had to blame himself for that. He closed his eyes and wondered if he should open that bottle and drink his sorrows away.

Behind him, the door was opened again. A warm breeze entered the small and sticky bar. It didn't feel like the stale heat of Mar Sara. It felt...like a soft breath.

The light seemed to be different as well. Too bright, but at the same time it didn't blind him. And it too felt... _warm_. The presence inside the back of his mind suddenly became stronger and stronger.

Jim heard footsteps. Not the big and heavy footsteps of Joey, who hadn't returned yet. Nor did the footsteps sound like his old friend Tychus, who had found him in this place all those years ago. No, these footsteps didn't belong to a man. They sounded like they belonged to someone light. The person stopped and didn't say a word, not at first. Jim frowned, and when he looked around, he needed a second to make out any details against the bright light.

Suddenly he remembered what Matt had told him on the Hyperion.

 _Promise me...if you see that one thing that makes you happy, if you see the one thing that can make you whole again..._

 _...grab it. Grab it and don't you dare to ever let go of it again._

It was a dream. He was hallucinating. It was just another illusion, it had to be. But when he heard her voice, his mind finally started to accept the truth. Her red hair waved behind her and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

"You 'bout ready to get out of here, Cowboy?"

A long time ago, Joey had asked him why he continued to fight the Dominion with everything he had. He had told Joey that he was done the day his ghosts would lie silent.

But that was no longer an option.

Because his _Ghost_ had finally returned to him...

* * *

The moment Sarah looked at Jim's back, she knew that this was it. No more running away, no more lies, no more deceptions. She wouldn't turn into Jane Shepard or any other persona. She stopped and saw how Jim turned around.

This was it. Full circle. They had reached to point of no return.

There were so many things she wanted to tell him. That she was sorry. That she should have come here earlier. That she was a goddamn coward. But when she tilted her head to the side and gave him a faint smile, she just came up with the lamest line she could have thought of.

"You 'bout ready to get out of here, Cowboy?"

Not; hey Jim, look who's back! Not; I love you. Not; I am so sorry. She saw his confusion, but it only lasted for a second. She could see it in his eyes, she could sense it in his mind. He wasn't drunk and he was fully in control of himself. She knew that. Whatever would happen now, she would accept it. Even if he would tell her to go to hell.

But sometimes your worst nightmares are just that; nightmares. And if you wake up, you realized that the reality might not be so horrible after all. She could see how his surprised expression was replaced by a gentle smile. She could feel how her heart started to beat faster when he put his old badge on the bar and stood up. And then he gave her the answer she had hoped for.

"Hell, it's about time."

And all those nightmares and fears?

They were silent.

* * *

The door closed. But it only stayed closed for a second. It was as if time and space were somehow acting strangely. One second a man had walked out of the bar, the next second two other men walked in, but it seemed as if they hadn't seen the first man at all.

The man in front was a skinny dude. He wore a tasteless Hawaiian shirt, short pants, and a straw hat. He looked like a tourist, not like an officer of the Dominion's military. Even though his clothes looked like a nuclear waste accident, they offered at least some relief from the scorching heat of Mar Sara. Well, when compared to Korhal anyway. The man behind him looked completely different; he wore a black suit and it seemed as if the heat didn't bother him at all. He scanned the bar, but when he found no one, he frowned behind his dark sunglasses.

"He was supposed to be here." the man said. The other one looked around as well. That's when he saw something lying on the bar. He walked over to it and grabbed it.

"What is that?" Smith wanted to know.

"A badge. Of a Confederate Marshal." Major Joseph Brent said.

"Maybe he's around somewhere." Smith mused, but Brent just stared at the badge.

"Well, we did our best." the Major then said.

"Shouldn't we look for him?" Smith asked, but Brent just shook his head.

"Admiral Horner's orders were clear. Besides, I'm tired. I should be in bed anyway; half my organs are not even four weeks old."

"Then why did you accept this mission?" Smith wanted to know. Major Brent shrugged his shoulders. Who knew that getting shot in the back earns you a promotion. The Major didn't know if this was the cheapest or toughest way to earn a promotion. Well, he would try to become colonel the old-fashioned way.

"Who knew. Guess I wanted to see a certain snake lady again in order to thank her."

"Snake lady?" Smith asked. He had no idea what Brent was talking about. But the Major just sighed and shook his head.

"Forget it. Come on, let's go back home." He took the badge and put it into his pocket. Maybe the Admiral would have some use for it. On their way out, he stopped one last time and looked at the bar in front of him.

"Bon voyage, Marshal. Say hi to Izsha for me."

And then they were gone as well.

* * *

 **...**

 **End of Act II**

 **...**

 **Coming Up Next:**

 **...**

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **...**


	57. Act III - Chapter 1

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Public Relations**

* * *

 **A Place Between Worlds...**

* * *

The moment Jim stepped out into the open, he was engulfed by light. It was not coming from a star above them. It was everywhere at the same time. He wasn't standing outside Joey Ray's anymore either. No, this place was different. Perhaps he should be asking himself where he currently was. But truth to be told; he didn't care about that. All he could do was to look at the woman right in front of him. His eyes wandered over her body, over her face. He wasn't scanning her, he wasn't staring at her like some kind of creep either. He was simply looking at all those details. He was searching for signs that she wasn't real. She looked exactly how he remembered her...before she had fallen victim to the Zerg. There was still a part of his mind who couldn't believe that this was real. That it had to be a goddamn hallucination.

Maybe a blood vessel had finally decided to pop inside his brain, and in truth he was lying on the ground of Joey Ray's bar, twitching and drooling while slowly dying. But that part of his mind was starting to get weaker by the second.

She wore her old Ghost-suit, just like on that photo he had kept with him all those years. Jim raised his hand. If this was a hallucination, then it was the most wonderful hallucination he had ever seen. His hand wandered up to Sarah's face and when he cupped her cheek, he gasped in shock and disbelief.

"No hallucination, Jim." Sarah then whispered. He heard her voice not only with his ears but inside his mind as well. He shuddered and his eyes frantically looked for any flaw, any mistake. But he couldn't find any. It felt real. Her hands wandered up and embraced Jim's own. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of his fingers against her skin. It felt good. It felt right. She was unable to keep her tears in check anymore and soon gold started to stream down her cheeks yet again. When Jim saw that, his eyes widened in shock.

"So, it hadn't been a dream? It was you? All the time?" he whispered to himself. The moment Sarah heard that her eyes opened wide. Oh no...

She could see it before her inner eye; how he was yelling at her for playing him for a fool. For teasing him from afar. For all that pain she had caused him. All the small pieces were finally coming together inside Jim's mind.

"Jim, I'm...I'm sor-" But she didn't get any further. He made a step forward, faster than she had anticipated. He slung his arms around her slender frame and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"You're back!" he cried. Suddenly her face touched his, and she could feel a new kind of wetness on her skin. It came from even more tears. But this time it wasn't her. "You've come back to me." There was so much pain in his voice, yet at the same time, she could feel his relief, his hope, and his disbelief. Sarah wanted to say something. She wanted to apologize to him, wanted to explain to him why it had taken her so long. That she had screwed up again. But when she felt his arms around her own body, she too allowed her feelings to just take the lead.

Jim pressed her against his chest. A bit forceful maybe, but she didn't mind. Besides, she wasn't made out of sugar. He held her as close to his heart as possible and repeated the same line over and over again.

"You've come back."

Back.

Yes, she had come back.

She had prepared herself for this moment. She had braced herself to face his anger, his rage and how he would reject her. She had surrounded her heart with an impenetrable wall, one that would protect it against everything and everyone.

But of course, James Raynor smashed right through that wall as if it was made out of paper.

Sarah just slung her arms around Jim's chest and returned the hug. She pressed her face against his shoulder and hot tears started to stream down both their faces. She felt how his hands brushed over her hair and realized how much she had missed his touch. It was completely unlike the dance they had shared back on the Hyperion. This time it wasn't their bodies doing the moving. This time it was their hearts.

The light around them was not real light. It was...hard to describe it. The moment Jim had stepped out of the bar, he had left Mar Sara for good. Traveling through space had become really easy for her. All she had to do was to reach out with her mind and search for the place where she wanted to go. But there were still rules in this universe she had to follow. Crazy, right? Even she couldn't travel from one place to the other in an instant. It only seemed that way if the other place was really close. However, the place where they were heading wasn't close, so it would take time.

Sarah had expected to spend that time explaining to Jim why it had taken her so goddamn long to return to him. She had thought of at least 61 different excuses.

"You're back..." Jim sobbed and pressed her even tighter against his body. If she was honest with herself, then she had to admit that she hadn't envisioned this possibility. And you want to know something funny?

It was so much better than every possibility she had come up with. Jim kept her close to his heart. His hug was so strong, it felt as if he never wanted to let go of her again. And she felt the same. This was different from the other times. There had always been some kind of distance between them. Not because Sarah had wanted to do that, but because she had been scared. She had used the persona of Jane Shepard to be close to him, but it hadn't been the same. Or when she had entered his dreams.

Or when they had danced on the Hyperion.

Every time there had been some kind of distance between them. Because Sarah had tried her best to remain outside of his perception. But now that wall wasn't around anymore. It was just like feeling his skin on her own. It was the real deal.

Their tears continued to flow for some time, but after a while Jim pulled his head back and looked at her. And Sarah did the same thing. Their eyes met and she could see all that pain and fear in his gaze. He was still scared that this was a dream. And that it would turn into a nightmare again. Or that he would wake up and realize that she wasn't there. That it all had been a construct inside his own mind. Sarah's hand wandered up and now she put it on his cheek. She felt his ragged breath on her own lips and his gasp made her wince. Both of them were unable to say anything, to form any coherent thought at all. However, they didn't need any words, their emotions were out in the open anyway.

There was a battle going on inside Jim's consciousness right now. His heart screamed that she had returned to him. And for the first time his mind agreed. But it was hard to just accept it with the snip of a finger. And then he felt her hand on his cheek. He closed his eyes and grabbed her hand like she had done with his before. Her fingers were just the way he remembered them to be; long, slender, and surprisingly gentle. Yet there was strength in those fingers. A cynic would say it's because of all that neck-breaking she did as a Ghost. But Jim remembered a softer side. He remembered her soft touch, gentle and caring. There was a side to Sarah Kerrigan no one knew. No one except for him. And right now, it felt just how he remembered it.

That was when he finally accepted the truth.

"You're back." he said one more time and a weak and exhausted smile appeared on his face. "You're truly ba-" That's when Sarah leaned forward and pressed her lips on his own. Those lips, those soft lips. They felt just the way he remembered it. And the smell of her hair, it was just the same.

Some would say that a woman smells like strawberries. Or that her lips taste like cherries. In Jim's experience lips usually taste like lips. And the hair? Well, that scent usually depends on what kind of shampoo they use. But Sarah? She was different. She always had been different.

Sarah...didn't taste sweet. Her lips tasted spicy. Like peppers and spice. And she smelled different like most other women he had met too. Someone had once joked that Sarah smelled like iron, because of all that blood that she had spilled. But that wasn't true. She smelled like...salt. And earth. Not very romantic? Well, to Jim it was a beautiful scent. And not just because was the son of a farmer.

To Jim, Sarah smelled like _life_.

Okay, maybe her scent reminded him of his childhood. But it wasn't just that.

It reminded him of a feeling, one that he had thought lost a long time ago.

Jim was a damn good kisser. He had never bragged about it, and perhaps Sarah lacked a lot of experience when it came to comparing different kissers with each other. But the moment their lips met, it felt like he knew what he was doing. He wasn't forceful, he never had been. It wasn't a lust-filled and passionate kiss, no one tried to shove their tongue down the throat of the other. No, it was a tender moment between two lovers. How long did the kiss last? Neither one could tell. It felt like the time itself had stopped to move on.

When their lips finally parted, they opened their eyes and looked at each other.

"Like riding a bike." Sarah whispered.

"Like riding a bike." Jim agreed and brushed with his hand over her cheek one more time.

"Sarah? It is you, isn't it? This...this is no dream." he asked her and she closed her eyes. Then she lowered her gaze and some more golden tears streamed down her face.

"No dream, Jim. No fake either. It's me. I'm back."

Back...

For a long time, Jim didn't say a word. Sarah didn't want to say something either, she was still afraid he might reject her. There were thousands of questions he could have asked her. How had she managed to survive the collapse of the Void? What had she done afterward? Why hadn't she returned to him right away? However, instead of asking those questions, Jim started to laugh while tears of joy streamed down his face.

"You're back." Sarah realized that she wouldn't get much else out of him today. But it was okay because every time he repeated that line, it felt as if his words did something to her.

…

 _...back._

 _...come back._

 _...have come back._

 _...you have come back._

Then she pressed her head against Jim's chest and closed her eyes.

"Yes, Jim. I'm back. And I won't leave ever again."

And that was a promise she would never break.

And so she leaned forward one more time. Their lips met again and this time their kiss wasn't just tender, but also passionate.

Hey, they had six years to make up for.

 _Yep..._ Sarah thought to herself, but even then, Jim could hear her warm voice inside his mind. And the only thing he thought to himself was that it felt right.

 _...like riding a bike._

And then the light completely engulfed them.

* * *

Matt looked at the badge that lay right in front of him. He was inside his office and had stared at the badge for what felt like hours. The other man in the room had just put it there and said nothing. He still wore an awful Hawaiian shirt, it was his way to tell Matt that he wasn't supposed to be here, but inside a bed.

"Anything else?" Matt then asked.

"Nothing. The barkeeper later said that Raynor had been there when he left." Major Brent shrugged his shoulders. He didn't look good. Considering the fact that he had survived a lethal wound, it was a miracle that he was still standing. Well, actually he hadn't survived that wound. _Someone_ had saved him. He looked skinnier than usual and was very pale. And his gaze looked colder. Like he had lost some of his innocence. Matt had seen something like this, many times. Some called it the "gaze of a survivor", of someone who had witnessed death in a way that you shouldn't. And it looked as if a bit of the fire inside of him had faded away.

"How was the trip?" Matt then asked.

"Horrible. The ship was uncomfortable and Smith never let me out of his sight. I mean, like seriously, he _never_ let me out of his sight. He even accompanied me to the bathroom!" Brent muttered.

"And how do you feel?" the Admiral wanted to know, but Brent didn't answer right away. That's when Matt looked up at his former adjutant.

"Major?" Brent looked at the badge and he frowned.

"It was no dream, right? It all happened." the Major muttered. Matt looked at the badge again.

"It would be best to keep that to ourselves, Major." Matt growled. He didn't want to sound like an ass, but he still knew that no one would believe them anyway. Besides, he was still mourning. It was over. And right now, he wished nothing but to undo what he had done, to find Jim and tell him the truth; that Jim was still needed. That Matt still needed him. As a friend.

"Sure, no one's gonna believe any of this anyway." Brent said. Something had definitely changed. The goofy young man Matt had met all those months ago was no more. In his place was a man who had faced death. And who had not succeeded.

"Thank you, Major. That would be all. Say what, take a few months off. Visit your family, go on a nice vacation. You deserved it." Instead of making a snippy remark, Brent did what he hadn't done many times. He merely saluted, but Matt had to admit; it was the best salute Brent had ever offered to him. The Major then turned around and simply walked out of the Admiral's office. On his way out, he encountered Lieutenant Hernandez.

"Whoa, someone hugged a color-bomb!" the Lieutenant said as she stared at Brent's tasteless shirt. However, the Major didn't care, he just wanted to get out of here. The moment he left the outer office, Matt sighed. Hernandez entered his office and pointed her finger at the door.

"Who shot that guy in the back?" she wanted to know. When Matt heard that, he groaned.

"What?" the Lieutenant asked.

"Bad choice of words, Lieutenant. The Major _was_ shot in the back. Almost killed him." Matt explained to her. That was actually not the whole truth. Because the truth was that Brent hadn't survived that injury.

"Oooohh...sucks to be him I guess." Hernandez mumbled. She looked over her shoulder and frowned. "So, that guy was my predecessor? I don't want to sound like a bitch, but I hope he won't come back. I start to like working for you!"

"Hernandez..." Matt sighed. "...you're using your loud voice again." When the Lieutenant heard that, she turned pale.

"Oh crap, not again." she whispered to herself.

"New meds?" Matt asked and Hernandez nodded.

"New meds." she confirmed. "Sorry, it's always a bit hard to figure out if I say things out loud or if I just think them."

"It's fine, Lieutenant. I know where it comes from. Besides, right now I don't think that the Major will return anytime soon. So, rejoice, your job is safe. And truth to be told, I'm scared who the guys from J1 will pick as your successor should you ever decide to quit." Knowing his luck, they would probably find an infested Terran for that job.

"You look tired, Admiral." Hernandez then said and Matt started to chuckle.

"Well, comes with the job, Lieutenant. Trust me, you will get there eventually." he explained to her.

"Pah! Nope! I'm still young and sexy and won't work for you guys forever. Once I'm thirty, I'm gonna use my then honed skills to enchant some rich guy and turn him into my minion. Then I will live the rest of my life like the Queen that I truly am!" she said with an innocent look on her face.

"Hernandez, that was your loud voice again."

"Aw, crap!" the Lieutenant hissed. "I, uhm, I mean that I will probably look for a normal job once the opportunity arises."

"Uh huh." Matt just replied and sighed again. He turned his head away and suddenly he saw a bottle on a shelf next to him. He remembered that bottle, it was the one Valerian had given to him. It was a bottle of red wine. But not just any wine, it was from Earth. That reminded him of something.

"Say, Lieutenant...have you heard anything about Kate Lockwell?" Matt then asked.

"Uhm, nope. But I don't watch UNN. I'm more into My little Zergling. Did you know that Zerglings react allergically towards lemons?"

"I mean; did she leave a message? Here, in my office?" Matt explained to her.

"Uh...no? Why?" Hernandez wanted to know. Matt stood up and walked over to the shelf. He grabbed the bottle and looked at it. He still had to apologize for everything that had happened. All that stuff had happened _weeks_ ago.

"Grab something to write. It's time to add Kate Lockwell's autograph to your collection." That's when a big grin appeared on Hernandez's face.

"Oh yeah, I'm so gonna sell that on Dbay!" she yelled.

"Loud voice, Hernandez. Loud voice."

"Aw, crap!"

* * *

Jim didn't really remember much. The last thing that he could still recall was light. Warm, bright light. And the lips of his long-lost lover touching his own. His eyes shot open and he jerked back up.

"Sarah!" he yelled and looked around, but there was no one else. He was alone. Again. The ocean in front of him looked beautiful and its small waves washed over the pristine white sand. An illusion? Just another hallucination? What had he done to deserve th-

Wait, ocean?

"What the...?" Jim whispered and stared at the scenery right in front of him. This...this wasn't Mar Sara. There was water on Mar Sara, yes, but no oceans! And this wasn't just any ocean, no. It looked like a goddamn tropical paradise. The water had a beautiful azure tone to it. And when he looked up, he couldn't help but gasp in awe.

Jim prided himself in knowing almost all constellations inside the Koprulu Sector. He just had to look out of the window and at the stars in order to know where he was. But this place? He didn't recognize any of those constellations because there weren't any. He looked at the most beautiful nebula he had ever seen. It covered the entire sky, from one end of the horizon to the other. It was red, green and yellow and you could see single stars inside it, like diamonds swimming on the surface of molten steel.

He had never seen this nebula before. And being so close to a nebula was actually not so healthy. The radiation inside those things was deadly as hell. Jim stared at that sky for a long time. Its beauty was simply breathtaking. But...where the hell was he?

"Sarah?!" he yelled. But there was no one around. He turned around, but all he saw were palms. Well, at least they resembled palms, but there was a distinctly alien look to them. Some of them even glowed. He had never seen anything like that before. If someone would ask you how you would imagine paradise, this would be pretty damn close to it.

"Anyone? Hello?" Jim looked around again, but no one answered. That's when he saw footprints right next to him. He looked down and realized that someone had lied next to him in the sand. It had been a lithe figure, that much he could tell. And then there were footprints. They belonged to a woman. And they were leading away.

Jim managed to get back on his feet in an instant.

"Whoa...the hell?" he mumbled to himself. This place, it had a weaker gravity than what he was used to. It made him feel a lot lighter. He shook his head and straightened himself. Jim took a deep breath and looked at those footprints. They were barely visible. Whoever had left them knew how to walk both carefully and gracefully. And so Jim decided to follow those footsteps.

The sound of the sea was beautiful. Even though he followed the footsteps, he couldn't stop staring at that blue ocean. There was no other island around, it was all just water. The beach seemed to go on forever though. Was this truly an island? Or was it a continent? He had never heard from a world like this before. As he walked over to one of those strange alien palms and put his hand on it, its green leaves started to rustle as if it was an animal. However, it didn't do anything to him. Still, it felt strange; the surface felt like a plant but was as warm as if it was an actual animal.

He shook his head and resumed to follow those footsteps. After a while, his heart started to beat faster. There, in the distance, there was someone. A figure! Even with all the distance between them, he could still see that red hair. She too stared at the sea, and it seemed as if he wasn't the only one intoxicated by the view. His heart was beating like crazy and yet he forced himself not to run. As he came closer, he expected her to vanish right in front of his eyes, like a mirage. But she didn't vanish. She just stood there and stared out at the sea, as if she was waiting for something. Someone.

For him.

When he finally stopped, she was just a few meters away from him.

"Sarah?" He could see how she froze for a second. When she turned towards him, she did so slowly. She looked into his eyes and a sad smile appeared on her face.

"Hey, Jimmy."

Hey, Jimmy. Two words, but he had waited for those words for so long. The next time he opened his mouth, only one question left his throat.

"How is that possible?" he wanted to know. Sarah turned her head away and looked back at the ocean.

"It's...a long story. I didn't perish after Amon's death. But became lost."

"Lost?" Jim asked and Sarah nodded.

"When I became...the moment Ouros transferred his powers to me, something happened. It was as if...good, I don't even know how to describe it, it felt strange. Like everything had changed, including me. I looked at people, but I didn't saw them as people anymore. Instead, I saw their cells. I saw how all the molecules inside their bodies were connected to each other. I heard their hopes and dreams, their fears and their ambitions all at once." she told him. Jim's next words made her wince.

"What have you become?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I don't know." That was the truth. "I don't even know what I am now, Jim. I'm not human anymore, but neither am I Zerg." Well, at least the last part should make Jim happy.

"You're Xel'Naga now?" Jim wanted to know, but Sarah shook her head.

"No. Well, at least I don't think so. I don't know what I am, Jim. I am... myself?"

 _Whatever that's supposed to mean._ she thought to herself.

"What do you mean?" he continued to ask her and she sighed.

"I don't...I don't know, Jim. I can't answer your questions because I can't answer them myself. I was afraid of this moment. When you would ask me those questions. Why I'm here, why I have returned? And where I have been all those times. I was afraid, Jim, because..." She then turned towards him and looked him into the eyes. Tears of gold streamed down her cheeks yet again and he finally realized that he had seen those tears before. In his dreams. And while he was drunk.

And on that Christmas party...it hadn't been his imagination.

"...because I don't have any good answer for you." she said with a choked voice.

"You were there." he then whispered. "All the time." Sarah nodded and lowered her gaze. Now her secret was no longer a secret. How would he react to that? She could try to probe his mind, to find out what he was thinking right now. But she didn't want to do that. Partially because she didn't want to see what he was thinking right now, but also because she still respected him. That's when Jim finally walked up to her. For a second, she wondered if he would yell at her, maybe even slap her in the face.

She had received worse punishment for what she had done, and she wouldn't blame him for doing something like that.

Even though Jim had done many questionable things in the past, he was still a knight in shining armor at heart. And beating a woman? He had never done anything like that!

Well...actually, that wasn't true. He had hit a woman once. Well, he had tried to hit a woman. Back when they had retrieved Sarah from Char and he had stumbled into Nova. He had tried to defend himself, but that hadn't worked out so well. He had managed to deliver one punch to her gut. In return, she had tossed him through the entire room. And through the wall. And the next room. And the wall at the end of that room. And at least four more rooms.

But hey, don't judge Jim for that!

Still, Sarah wasn't Nova. And Jim was grateful for that.

So, no, when he reached her, he didn't slap her or shout at her either. No, he did what he always had done; he destroyed her defenses by just being himself. The moment he put his arms around her, Sarah tensed up, but she allowed it to happen. However, when she heard his laughter, her eyes widened in surprise.

"It was you! It was you all along! Oh God, oh dear God, thank you. I thought that I had lost my mind." That wasn't the reaction she had expected. Still, if she was truly honest with herself, her heart had hoped for something like that. Unfortunately, her heart usually didn't get what it hoped for, so she had decided to always expect the worse. And suddenly they were hugging again. Perhaps it seemed a bit odd that the only thing they did was hugging. There were a lot of things they had to talk about. But it seemed as if they still had time because talking was the last thing Jim wanted to do right now.

And so, they spent their time with nothing but holding each other in their arms and listening to the sound of the sea.

Perhaps there were plenty of things they should have done instead, but they simply didn't care. Six years. Six _goddamn_ years they had waited for this moment. They had earned the right to do nothing but to embrace each other. Jim opened his eyes and looked at that beautiful scenery.

"So, is this...are we inside the Void?" he then whispered.

"No. We are still in your realm." Sarah replied. And that caused Jim to frown.

"My realm?" he asked and Sarah gritted her teeth.

" _Our_ realm. Sorry, bad choice of words. Better get used to it though, I mix up a lot of things these days."

"Then what is this place?"

"I... don't really know. All I know is that I was drawn to this place. When I reached out with my mind, it almost felt as if it was speaking to me. You like it?" Sarah wanted to know.

"It's...beautiful." was the only thing Jim had to say. "But where is it?"

"This place has no name, Jim. It's far away from the Koprulu Sector. I doubt that any human has ever come here. Or any other sentient species for that matter."

"But why? Why travel all the way out here? Sarah, what's wrong?" Jim was no idiot. He knew that Sarah was trying to avoid talking about certain topics. He felt how she escaped his embrace and turned away.

"Sarah?" he asked and she stopped. She stared at that magnificent sky above her head and sighed.

"I wanted to talk to you. And I wanted to do it somewhere private."

"Could have looked for a bench around the corner." Jim told her. "But this? How many lightyears are we away from-"

"Thirty-two thousand lightyears corewards. Give or take a few parsecs." Sarah said and sighed.

"Isn't that a bit extreme?" Jim wanted to know and Sarah started to laugh. But it was not an amused laugh, it was a bitter one.

"A lot of things I say or do these days tend to be extreme, Jim. I was told that by various sources."

"I don't think I can follow, Darlin'." he muttered and Sarah sighed again. She turned back to him and looked him into the eyes.

"I brought you here because...because I wanted to talk to you. Explain to you what had happened. To me, to you, to everyone. But I'm afraid."

"Afraid of what?" he asked.

"Afraid of you judging me." she then admitted and shook her head. "Jim, I did a lot of stupid things since we defeated Amon. And I was scared that you would be angry. Or maybe that you would be furious to see me again because it took me so long."

"And why would I do that?" Jim wanted to know. He made a step forward and grabbed her hands. "Sarah! You saved us!" he told her. "You did what no one else could have done, you saved this whole damn galaxy! You realize that?" he explained to her.

Saved...the galaxy? Wasn't that a bit much? Well, sure, she had stopped Amon. And it was also true that no one else could have done that. But to be proud of it? So far no one she had met had thanked her for that feat. Not Artanis, not Matt, and even Zagara had thrown her out of her old home. Only Jim seemed to think that way. She looked at Jim's hand and a pained expression appeared on her face.

"You're probably the only person in this universe who thinks like that. I know for a matter of fact that Artanis still hates me." she whispered.

"Artanis? You met Artanis?" When Sarah heard Jim's question, she opened her mouth, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she let go of his hands and simply walked away.

"Sarah?" She didn't get far, though. She stopped and sat down on the warm beach while looking at the wonderful ocean in front of her. She pulled her knees up to her chest and took a deep breath. Jim hesitated for a second, but then he followed her and sat down right next to her. Both stared at the ocean. Even though the sky above them was red and green, it had a blue hue to it due to the oxygen in the atmosphere. It looked like the most beautiful painting one could imagine.

"I did a lot of stupid things since we parted, Jim." Sarah whispered. He could see her pain and her hesitation on her face. Strangely enough, he wasn't shocked. He knew Sarah better than anyone else. He knew that she wasn't the cold bitch everyone believed she was. There was a frail yet beautiful spirit beneath that skin, a soul that had endured unspeakable horrors.

The question everyone has to ask themselves is this; what would you have done in her place?

Oh, the right thing? Really? It's easy to say something like that when one never walked in the shoes of someone else. Jim had done a lot of questionable things in his life, some of those things had been nothing but crimes. So who was he to judge her?

"Sarah, there's something I have to tell you. Something I wanted to tell you a long time ago." He opened his hand and grabbed hers. Their fingers intertwined, and right now they looked like just another couple staring at the horizon. They turned their heads toward each other and Jim gave her a sad smile. "I wanted to apologize, Sarah." Now it was her turn to be confused.

"You? Why the hell should you apologize? Jim, you have done nothing wrong."

"I allowed you to do that mission on Tarsonis. I didn't stop you from going. Everything that happened afterward...was my mistake. If I had stopped you back then, you wouldn't have suffered all that crap."

"It wasn't your fault. How could you have known what would happen?" Sarah wanted to know.

"Really? You would forgive me that easily?" he asked her, but it sounded like he was getting at something else and Sarah frowned when she heard that.

"Forgive you? Jim, I never blamed you in the first place!" Now the smile on his face turned into a gentle one.

"I know. You've been blaming yourself for everything. Sarah, I'm just like you. I blamed myself for everything that has happened. So how about this; how about we stop the blame-game, at least for now. How does this sound?" When Sarah didn't answer, he pulled both their hands up and held them in front of their eyes.

"I dreamed about this moment, Sarah. That I would get the chance to see you again. That I would get the chance to _apologize_ to you, to tell you how sorry I truly am. But now that you're actually here? Sarah, I just want to enjoy this moment. Because if this isn't real, then it is the goddamn best dream I ever had. And I want to stay in this moment for as long as possible." And when he gave her a wide and toothy smile, Sarah could feel how her heart started to beat faster.

"How about it, Darlin'? No blame-game, at least until I wake up again?" he offered to her.

That...was actually a good idea. That way she could avoid telling him what she had done in those two years. And the years before.

"Not being judged by anyone for some time?" she whispered. "That sounds nice." That's when Jim pulled their hands over to his lips and kissed her fingers. After that, he looked into her eyes and smiled again.

"Sarah, I judged you a long time ago. And you know what? I was wrong. I once told you that I would be the man to hunt you down. And I'm ashamed of that. Because I only did it in order to distract myself from the fact that I should have stopped you from doing that mission on Tarsonis. I projected my rage onto you." Those next words he told her Sarah would never forget them for the rest of their shared existence.

"I can't judge you, Sarah. Because it wasn't your fault."

That was a rather exclusive way to look at things. She turned her gaze away from him.

"I doubt the rest of the galaxy will see it that way, love." she whispered.

"Sarah, I spent the last two years dreaming about this moment." Jim then explained to her. "A part of me always hoped that you weren't dead, that you would return to me one day. And I wondered what I would do then. What I _should_ tell you. I thought about what you did, about what I did. And I came to one realization, one thing that I wanted to tell you all those years." He tightened his grip on her hand as if he never wanted to let go of her again.

"It wasn't your fault."

A pained expression appeared on Sarah's face. It felt too easy. She knew what she had done, who she had killed. Not just Fenix, who hadn't deserved it. Not just Arcturus, who _sure as hell_ had deserved it. But countless others had died because of her. Because of her ambitions and her rage.

But...had those really been her ambitions at all?

"Why?" she whispered again. "Why are you so lenient with me? After all I have done?" And they weren't even scratching the surface.

"Because..." Jim then explained to her. "...I'm tired, Sarah. Tired of all those lies, tired of those excuses. Of hiding in the shadows, of keeping secrets from others. I saw how everyone was happy when you were gone. Everyone. Even Matt and Valerian. Those two tried to hide it in front of me, but I knew the truth. And you what I felt when I listened to them?"

"What?" Sarah asked.

"Anger. No, fury. They spoke about you like you were the devil herself. Like all you did was your own damn choice. Like you were born for one purpose, and one purpose alone; to destroy."

 _Perhaps they're right about that._ she thought to herself.

"No, that's not true!" Jim then shouted. She blinked in surprise. Had he just...read her thoughts?

"Sarah, we all did horrible things. But the more I thought about you, the more I realized that you were just a victim, like everyone else. And those who judge you? They just put all the blame on you, Sarah. I watched it. Even the stuff you didn't do, they just said "It was her!" and no one questioned it. I..." He stopped and looked up at that beautiful sky.

"Jim?" Sarah pleaded with him. The way he tried to defend her, it felt good! It meant that there was at least one person who cared for how she felt.

"...I became angry. At the others, because they didn't even hesitate one second to put the blame on you. And myself, for allowing them to do that. But I lacked the strength to tell them to go to hell." He then looked back into her eyes and an exhausted grin appeared on his face.

"See, I can play the blame-game, too! It's only fun if you do it yourself though. Not much fun seeing someone else doing it, right?"

"You could say that." Sarah agreed.

"So, no more blame-game, yes?" Jim told her. "At least until I'm sure that this isn't a dream. Deal?" It took Sarah some time, but after a while she finally relented.

"Deal."

She stared at their hands for a long while, and so did Jim. For a long time neither dared to say a word. It was Jim who finally decided to say something. He pulled his shoulders and brows up.

"So, how was your day, Darlin'?" he suddenly asked. When Sarah heard that, her expression became empty.

"What?"

"Your day!" Jim repeated. "How was it? Fine, let me tell you how mine was. When I got up this morning, I fell out of the bed. Weird, I know, but I'm still used to that huge ass bed they gave me on Korhal. Did you know that Arcturus preferred waterbeds? And here's the kicker; apparently, he had a serious case of hemorrhoids! Perhaps that's the reason why he was always so cranky." When Sarah heard those words, she blinked in disbelief. Was this a joke?

"Oh yeah, I just fell out of the bed and right on my face. See? See this cut? I got it then. Should have seen it, gracefully as a pregnant whale!" All Sarah could do was to watch and listen how he continued to tell her about his day.

"And then there was the breakfast. It was a good breakfast, really. I had scrambled eggs and it tasted really good. And the coffee? Whoa, they don't serve that kind of coffee on Korhal, I tell you that. I even told the lady that those were the best scrambled eggs I had in ages. That's when she told me it hadn't been scrambled eggs, but cereals." He sighed. "Strange, really, 'cause those cereals truly looked like scrambled eggs. Even tasted like that!" A weak smile appeared on Sarah's face. There he was again, Jim Raynor! Making fun in the most inappropriate of times.

"But hey, I tried to be nice. Said that those cereals were the damn best I ever had and she must have perfected that recipe over decades, the proof of a good cook. Because, you know, she looked like she was fifty or so. Of course, that's when she told me that she's 26." Jim grimaced.

"Okay, maybe my day wasn't so great. And yours?" That's when Sarah started to snicker. That snicker turned into a chuckle, and from there on out she couldn't help but laugh. Jim's joke hadn't been very good, but it touched something deep inside her. When had been the last time that someone had acted silly near her. She was used to people acting scared or appalled, but not like this. And so, her chuckle turned into an all-out laughter. It was as if a dam broke and she grabbed her own belly before she fell on the warm sand and started to roll around. And during that whole time, she laughed like she hadn't done in ages.

And Jim?

Perhaps her laugh was contagious because his smile turned into laughter as well. He simply lay down and started to join her. They soon reached the point of no return where they just laughed because it felt good. Like said, the joke hadn't been that good. But even then, Sarah just couldn't stop laughing. Tears streamed down her cheeks, but this time dreams of joy. Her belly started to ache, but she just couldn't stop.

They laughed for what felt like hours, and when they finally managed to calm down, both lay next to each other and stared up at that wonderful sky. Both had to take deep breaths in order to calm down and when Jim felt how Sarah's hand grabbed his own once more, he looked over to her.

"Better?" he wanted to know and she nodded.

"Better. Kinda tired now though. It was a long trip."

"Yeah, I second that. How about it, wanna take a short nap and continue our blame-game afterward?" he suggested and yawned. So did Sarah. She truly was tired. Traveling like that was exhausting. And it had been a tough day for both of them.

"Can you promise me one thing, Sarah?" Jim then whispered. She slung her arms around him and nodded.

"Anything."

"Just promise me that this isn't a dream. Promise me that you'll still be there when I wake up."

"I promise." Sarah then said. And for the first time since ages, both of them had a smile on their faces when they fell asleep in each other's arms while the soft sound of the waves surrounded them.

* * *

From the distance, the young woman watched. Seeing these two like this felt right. And the young woman's heart was actually overflowing with joy when she witnessed this moment. However, all good things must come to an end. She lowered her gaze and sighed. She didn't want to do it, she didn't want to cause them any more pain. But she knew that she had to. Still, as she looked at those two, she decided to give them some more time.

They had deserved that much.

And after that...they would face the biggest challenge of their lives.

"I know that you can do it." the young woman said, and a sad smile appeared on her face. She looked at the man in the distance and placed her hand on her chest. "Please, keep her safe. You are the only one who can."

* * *

When Matt pressed the doorbell, he made a step backward and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. He knew that she was home. Kate Lockwell hadn't hosted any show for weeks now. The gossip magazines were already speculating wherever she and Matt were now a couple. You know, because she had accompanied him to the party.

The reality was a lot less fun. He hadn't seen Kate ever since Christmas, and she had never tried to contact him. Reliable information was rare, but UNN had told the viewers that their favorite TV-host was currently working on a story. A _big_ story. Matt had told his people to stay away from Kate. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to make a wrong move.

He pressed the doorbell once. But again no one opened the door.

"Looks like _fuuuuuuun_." Hernandez said. She stood right behind him and looked at her communicator.

"You sure she's home?" Matt wanted to know and Hernandez nodded.

"Yep. My sources say that she's home right now." When Matt heard that, he looked over his shoulder.

"Sources? Since when do _you_ have sources? And what sources are we talking about here?" the Admiral asked. Hernandez sighed and turned her communicator around, so he could see the display.

"It's called BookFace. See? Kate Lockwell's profile, status: at home. Jeez, you old people are so out of touch!"

"You get your information from social media?" Matt deadpanned.

"Yeah, why? Is there a problem with that?" his adjutant wanted to know, but Matt just shook his head.

"No, everything's peachy." And so, he pressed the doorbell once more. But again no one came to open the door. He sighed and shook his head.

"Damn, should have known." He then turned around and was about to walk away, when Hernandez gave him a surprised look.

"What? That's it? You give up?" she wanted to know.

"Let's try something else. Maybe you can call her tomorrow and ask for an appointment." Matt mumbled, but the Lieutenant didn't seem to be very happy about that.

"Oh, screw this! You simply don't know how to annoy the crap out of someone! Here, watch and learn!" She handed her communicator over to Matt and walked over to the door.

"Lieutenant, what are you trying to do?" Matt asked, but she started to stretch herself and then she put her finger into her mouth and gave it a good lick.

"Lieutenant? What the hell are you doing?" Matt demanded to know, but when she pulled her finger out of her own mouth, a mad grin appeared on her face.

"Don't question greatness!" she just said and positioned herself right in front of the doorbell. "This is what I call the "machine gun bell"!" Then she pressed her finger on the doorbell and started to press it faster than any human had ever pressed a doorbell. Over and over, her finger moved so fast, Matt had trouble following it with his eyes.

"Lieutenant, stop it! We didn't come here to make Lockwell even angrier!"

"DON'T QUESTION GREATNESS! I CAN DO THIS!" Hernandez yelled as if she finally had lost it. Well, she probably had lost it a long time ago. She was so fast that the doorbell eventually gave up. Instead of one ringing tone after the other, it turned into a constant buzzing sound. A very nasty buzzing sound. It went on for a few more seconds until the door was finally ripped open.

"STOP!" Kate yelled. "For the love of God, stop it!" The moment the reporter appeared, Hernandez ripped her arms high up into the air and started to jump around like crazy.

"Wohoooo! Done it again! That's it! Who's your mommy? I'm your mommy! There's no defense against the machine gun bell!" That woman was truly something else. However, while Hernandez was celebrating herself, Lockwell just looked over at Matt. And she had only two words for him.

"Fuck off!"

She was about to close the door again when Matt made a step forward.

"Ms. Lockwell, Kate! Wait! Please, I want to talk to you!" He tried to get the foot in the door. It wasn't a metaphor, he literally tried to _get the foot in the door_. However, he shouldn't have done that because the wellbeing of his foot was of no concern to Kate. She slammed the door shut, with his foot still in the way.

Well, that was the foot's problem.

"Ghhhhh!" Matt hissed in pain, but he was unable to say anything else.

"Hey, we came all the way here so the Admiral could talk to you!" Hernandez screamed and ripped the door open again.

"I don't care!" Kate shot back and slammed the door shut once again. Unfortunately, Matt's foot was still in the way.

"Hhhhnnnnn!" For some odd reason, he was unable to pull his foot back. So when the door smashed it against his appendage, he again winced in pain.

"Oh no! You won't do that!" Hernandez yelled. "You will talk like adults, 'cause I ain't gonna come here one more time!" And of course, she pulled the door open again.

"To hell with both of you!" Kate replied and his foot suffered the consequences one more time. Only then she realized that something was blocking the door. She looked down and saw Matt's foot. He wasn't wearing heavy boots, those were normal shoes. He really wished he would wear some boots right now.

"Leave me alone." Kate hissed.

"I just want to talk." Matt groaned in pain.

"Yeah? Well, I don't want to hear it. You will probably lie anyway. Like all of you feds do." Feds? Whoa, no one had ever called him a fed. It kinda sounded like he was some sort of villain.

"Ms. Lockwell, Kate...please, I know that you don't have any reason to trust me. But please, I'm begging you! I didn't know that Agent Smith took your data chip. He told me afterward. And I never wanted to censor anything, I just needed...well..."

"Needed to do what?" Kate snarled and Matt sighed.

"I needed time. Time to sort things out. I'm sorry, I should have talked to you a lot earlier."

"Yeah, you should have." Kate said. She then raised her foot and slammed it on Matt's, who jumped back and screamed in bloody murder.

"SONUFFABITCH!" he screamed and watched how Kate closed the door.

"Well, that was fun." Hernandez mumbled, but Matt wasn't done yet. He limped back to the door and slammed his fist against it.

"Lockwell! Lockwell! Kate! Listen, I'm sorry." But no one answered. So, he decided to do something very stupid. "Listen, I know that you got questions. Your records, they show how those people died. You know that, I know that. And suddenly they became alive again. It doesn't make any sense, right? I know why. I'm here to tell you the _truth_." For a moment nothing happened. And then, after a while, Kate finally opened the door again.

"Why should I believe you?" she asked him.

"Well..." Matt then said and raised his hand. He was holding something in it. A bottle. The same bottle of wine he had gotten from Valerian. "...I brought wine!"

Kate stared at the bottle and after a while, she finally sighed.

"Gonna regret this. Fine, come in. But don't make yourself comfortable or anything like that. And your little watchdog can stay outside." Kate growled.

"Whoa, you're a lot nicer on TV than in real life, lady!" Hernandez shot back. "Oh, and without makeup, you look really old!"

Solid burn, Hernandez. Matt turned to her and leaned forward.

"Please, just wait outside." he whispered to her. "But keep your communicator active and the line open. Should she change her BookFace-status to "homicidal", be sure to warn me immediately."

"Ugh, I don't think I want her autograph anymore." Hernandez growled and looked at her communicator. "I'm so gonna tell my chickas about this, though." Matt then sighed and stepped into Kate's flat. As the door closed behind him, he felt like something bad was about to happen.

* * *

The door wasn't even closed for one second when Kate walked up to him and slapped him in the face. Matt stumbled back but managed to stay on his feet.

"That's for stealing my records!" Kate hissed before she turned around and walked into her living room. Matt rubbed his cheek and sighed again. Well, that was a promising start. He limped after her and when he entered the living room, his eyes widened in surprise.

"What the hell...?" he said to himself. Someone had put a lot of pictures and photos on the wall. It looked like in one of those conspiracy-movies where someone is trying to put all the evidence together in order to figure out the truth. He saw Valerian, himself, and some other officials of the Dominion. And not only that, there were other people, too. Former Raiders and such.

There was even a photo of Mira Han...

"So, you're here to tell me some bullshit story about this being a secret weapon? A gas that makes people look like dead and after a while they wake up again? That's what people are claiming right now, you know. So, if you have come here for that; go to hell. I know these people were dead." Kate snarled and walked over to a staple of papers.

"What the hell have you been up to, Kate?" Matt wanted to know.

"My job." the reporter shot back. "Uncover the truth. Since you're only interested in making up lies!"

"Looks like you've been very busy." he said mostly to himself. "Is that why you didn't host any shows since that day?" Kate browsed through the staple and then sighed. She put the papers down and looked over her shoulders.

"You know, when I realized that someone had removed the chip out of my camera drone, you were actually the last person I expected to be behind it. Guess that makes me a fool, hmm?" Oh man, she was really pissed. Matt decided to put the bottle away, they wouldn't share a drink anyway. He was lucky if he would get out of here alive.

"I am truly sorry for what happened, Kate. Like said, Agent Smith acted on his own behalf." He then took a closer look at all those photos. After a while, he realized what it was all about.

"You were looking for who's behind the attack!" he concluded.

"Obviously. Since no one else is." she growled.

"Any leads?" Matt wanted to know, but Kate didn't answer. "Kate?" Then she turned around and faced him. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at him with nothing but anger in her eyes.

"Is this what you're trying to do here? Come here and make me spill my beans? So you could figure out what I have found out about your old terrorist pals?"

"Terrorist pals? What are you talking about?" Matt then asked.

"Oh, please! Stop it! You don't have to act all innocent, Admiral!" Kate spat out. "And don't think that you can do whatever you want. If something happens to me, this story will go public!"

"Wha...you think I came here to threaten you?" Matt asked both in shock and anger.

"Why else would you come here? Especially after I just found out who brought these Ghosts to the party. Or should I say; Spectres?" Kate shook her head. That's when Matt finally fell silent.

"You look shocked." Kate then said and he stared down at the floor.

"I was surprised. Not many people know about the Spectres." It seemed to be pointless to deny it, it would only make Kate angry. Well, angrier. "How do you know about them?" he then wanted to know.

"Hmpf. I'm a journalist, in case you haven't noticed. And a damn good one. I know that these Spectres belonged to your pal Gabriel Tosh!" When Matt heard that, his eyes widened in shock.

"Tosh?" Of course, it made sense. But...how? Why?

"What, you deny that you know this man? Forget it, Admiral! I got at least one dozen eyewitnesses that will testify that you worked with each other!" But Matt wasn't really listening. Tosh. Then he nodded.

"Yeah, we worked together. Back then Jim...I mean James Raynor, he decided that Tosh and his men could help us."

"You knew that you worked with a terrorist?" Kate hissed.

"No. Not then." Matt took a deep breath and looked at the wall. He started to see the pattern. Oh boy, Kate had really outdone herself. Perhaps she should show this to the police. She even had a photo of a warehouse on the wall. Something was written on it. _Weapons black market._ Damn...

"If I'm truly honest, then I shouldn't be surprised. Tosh was always a shady character. Where is he?" he asked and turned back to Kate. "Is he here? On Korhal?"

"I won't tell you." Kate just replied. "That's my story, and I owe you nothing."

"True." Matt muttered and looked at the wall once more. "Seems like you figured out a lot of stuff the police haven't."

"Almost everything." Kate agreed. "However, one detail is still missing. And I'm pretty sure that you're behind it."

"What do you mean?"

"I know who was part of the attack. Your little story about the attackers not being from the Combine? Touching. Really, you pulled off a true Arcturus Mengsk with that." Matt's eyes widened in shock when he heard that. He turned around and looked her into the eyes.

"You know?"

"Of course I know, don't insult my intelligence!" Kate hissed back. "I'm not just eye candy! And I'm not like Donny! I do this because I believe in the truth, unlike you!" Now Matt sighed and turned away from the wall. He looked around and found a chair. Without asking for permission, he sat down and looked up to Kate.

"There is not a single day where I don't regret lying to the people." he then said.

"So you admit that you lied?" Kate asked with a suspicious tone in her voice. Matt nodded.

"Yes. But I had my reasons."

"Oh, I heard that line many times before, Admiral." She had a point. To her, it seemed as if he was just doing what the old regime had done. He looked at the wall and took a deep breath.

"You still seem to miss a piece of your story, don't you?"

"I can't go public until I know every detail. I still don't know what happened to these people. They were dead. Dead! I know that, I saw it with my own two eyes! And then, suddenly, they were alive again! What was it? I heard rumors about experimental nano-machines. Was this a test-run? Did you use these people as guinea pigs?" Matt took a deep breath when he listened to Kate's ranting. Of course, he felt hurt. Being accused of something like that made him angry. However, he knew better than to yell at Kate. She had done nothing wrong.

"It wasn't us." Matt then said.

"What?"

He looked up and into her eyes.

"It wasn't us. We didn't kill these people on purpose. And we didn't bring them back. It was...someone else." When he said that, Kate gave him a disbelieving look.

"And who would that have been, hmm?"

"Sarah Kerrigan."

When Kate heard that name, she froze. Of course, she knew who Kerrigan was. The Queen of Blades. But...Sarah? That was a human name. She had heard rumors about Kerrigan being an infested Terran, but she had never believed them. Matt leaned forward and put his arms on his knees.

"What I'm about to tell you is the truth. Everything you hear happened exactly the way I will tell you. You can, of course, decide to not believe me. But you might at least hear me out." he explained to her. Kate frowned and wondered what she should do. It was probably a trick or a lie. He wanted to act like her buddy again. But then she walked over to another chair and sat down right in front of him.

"Okay. Hit me." she just said. And so he did.

"Let's start at the beginning, shall we? I met Sarah when she was still a Ghost, working for the Sons of Korhal. She was..." And so, he told her everything. About Sarah. About her past. About Jim. About Tarsonis and how the Zerg claimed her. How she betrayed them during the Brood Wars and became the supreme leader of the Zerg. Their fight against Amon and her role in it. And her sacrifice. And then he told her about Sarah's return and what she had done during that Christmas party.

At first, Kate laughed, thinking that he was making fun of her. But after a while, she stopped laughing and became very serious. And then very quiet.

When he was done, Matt pressed his hands against his eyes.

"I knew it was wrong to keep the truth hidden. But who would have believed me?" he explained to her. "I needed time. Time for myself, to accept what had happened. But yeah, that's it. That's the truth. _If_ you choose to believe that."

"Why?" Kate whispered.

"Why what?"

"Why are you telling me this?" When Matt heard that question, he opened his mouth, but no words left his throat. Instead, he looked at his own hands.

"I don't know. I haven't told anyone else. Not even the Emperor. I guess...I guess I thought that it should remain a secret. Perhaps I was scared how people would react. I just wanted to prevent another war."

"That doesn't answer my question, Admiral!" Kate hissed.

"No. No, it doesn't." he agreed and sighed. "I don't know. Maybe it's because I feel guilty for what I did. Or maybe because I can't go on like this. This secret, it's eating me away. Who knows, maybe I want it to be caught. Or maybe I'm just looking for a partner in crime?" Kate didn't look at him. She stared at the wall with all those evidence. There was still an empty spot on the wall.

She then only said one word to him.

"Out."

Matt opened his mouth and wanted to reply something, but then his intuition told him that it was time to go. Before she would rip him apart. Without saying another word, he stood up and walked to the door. However, before he left the apartment, he looked over his shoulder.

"Whatever you do...I'm truly sorry for what happened. When I took over this job, I promised myself that I wouldn't turn into the same kind of guy like those who worked for Arcturus Mengsk." He took a deep breath. "I always respected you for your work. Really, I still do. You stood up and questioned a regime while soldiers and generals did nothing. And now? Now I have become my own worst nightmare. Every day I'm afraid that I might say or do something that will cause another war. I guess I relied on Jim for far too long." But Kate didn't answer. She just stared at the wall. Matt sighed and left the apartment.

When he closed the door closed him, he sighed and dropped his shoulders. Oh, what had he just done?

"About time!" Hernandez groaned. "I waited for hours! Finally done here?" Right, Hernandez, he had totally forgotten about her.

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant. I guess I forgot about you." Matt mumbled. "Hope you weren't bored." He looked over at her and froze. The wall behind Hernandez was covered with words. It looked like someone had written something on the wall. It was the same sentence, over and over and over again.

 _Kate Lockwell smells like dog poo and looks really old!_

"Hernandez? Did you do that?" The Lieutenant wasn't even trying to hide her amusement. She gave him a big grin.

"You like it?"

"Ask me tomorrow. Come on, let's go home. I want to go to sleep." As they walked down the corridor, Matt sighed. Whatever Kate would do, it would mean that Matt would have to answer a lot of questions. But at least he wouldn't have to carry this burden around alone anymore.

"So, the Queen of Blades was once a Ghost?" Hernandez suddenly asked.

"Yes. But most people aren't aware of that becaus-" That's when Matt froze and looked over his shoulder.

"How the hell do you know about that? Did you read my mind?!" he demanded to know. Hernandez pulled her communicator out of her pocket.

"You told me to keep the line open!" she defended herself. That's when his face lost all color. Oh, hell...

"Lieutenant, let me make this crystal clear; you will never tell anyone about that. Yes?"

"For the right price-"

"LIEUTENANT!" Matt yelled in panic.

"Okay, okay. It was just a joke. Geez, you need to relax." Oh, God. This wasn't his day, was it?

"But you know what that means?" Hernandez then asked.

"What?"

"She was a Ghost! I'm a Ghost! Hey, if this thing blows, then I might become the next Queen of Blades! Whoa, wouldn't that be awesome?"

"Let's go home, Hernandez." Matt just growled.

In the end, Kate wouldn't tell her story to anyone. It would remain a secret for the rest of their lives. That didn't mean that she and Matt would become friends. Kate would turn into Matt's worst critic, questioning every single one of his decisions. To everyone else, it would seem as if she truly hated Matt. But Matt? He was grateful because thanks to Kate he would always remember to do the right thing.

...well, most of the time.

Sometimes you don't have to be friends in order to be a good team.

When people would ask Kate why she was so angry at him, she would only tell them that he ruined the story of a lifetime.

As for Hernandez? Well, she wasn't as reasonable as Kate. She used that secret to get not only a raise and promotion but also at least 120 free days every year. In the end, her plan of marrying a rich prince didn't work out so well. So, she decided to do what her Grandma had told her; find a decent man and annoy the crap out of him until he would marry her.

Unfortunately for Matt, he was the only guy she really spent time with. Perhaps it's right what they say about the universe; it does possess a unique sense of humor. However, even though Maria Hernandez would cause Matt to lose most of his hair in just a few years, she would give him endless moments of happiness. And headaches. A lot of headaches.

Love hurts.


	58. Act III - Chapter 2

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Another Day in Paradise**

* * *

The moment Jim's consciousness started to return to him, he sighed. The first thing he noticed was the soft sand in his back. It felt good. There weren't any small stones or pieces of shell inside it and therefore it was softer than any bed he had ever slept in. The sand wasn't only soft, it was also warm. And not only the sand was warm. _Everything_ seemed warm. Remember that feeling when you lie outside during summer time and you can feel the position of the sun because its heat burns down on you? Even if you close your eyes, you can still tell where the sun is because of her warm rays. But this place was different. It was warm, yes. But not hot. And the warmth seemed to come from everywhere at the same time.

It felt nice.

Truly, Jim couldn't tell the last time he had felt like this. Calm. And at peace.

Men like Jim usually didn't get to experience moments like these very often. They were either just fleeting moments of happiness or simply illusions. Jim had witnessed those moments many times. He had experienced them himself, and he had watched how other men (and women) had embraced those illusions as if they were the real deal.

Like that one guy that had worked for the Raiders. What had his name been? DeGausski? DeRossi? DeSomethingSomething?

Oh God, Jim's memory was terrible when it came to names. He usually had kept Matt around for that stuff.

DeSomethingSomething, probably DeGausski, but Jim wasn't entirely certain. He had been a good kid, but too naive for his own good. Had fallen in love with a hooker from Deadman's Port and thought that she would love him back.

Sometimes it can work, but not that time. She had simply used him and he had fallen victim to her charm. And then he had fallen victim to her pimp. After that, the Raiders had done something very uncivilized and Jim hadn't stopped them. If you work with criminals and scum, you sometimes have to play by their rules. And after that little show of force, no whore or pimp had tried to approach a Raider ever again. But still, everyone deserves to dream the impossible. Who knows, maybe that dream will come true one day. Jim was the living proof of that.

So yeah, DeGausski hadn't found the happy end he had hoped for.

Why the hell did Jim think of DeGausski anyway? He rolled to the side and sighed. His hand moved up and he put it right on the warm sand next to him. The sand felt warm and good between his fingers and...

...something was wrong.

Perhaps his body realized it before his mind caught up, but it felt as if something was missing. No, not something. _Someone_. His fingers brushed over the sand as if they were searching for whatever wasn't where it was supposed to be. But there was nothing except sand. Cold fear started to grip his heart and he felt how the adrenaline started to flow through his veins. If there was one thing that could help you to wake up in an instant, it was adrenaline. Way better than coffee. Jim's eyes shot open and when he looked at the sand next to him...

...Sarah was gone.

Jim blinked one, two, three times. For a long moment, his brain refused to accept it. But it was real; there was no one next to him. Jim clenched his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. He tried to fight back the tears and the pain that was starting to take over.

 _If this is a dream, then I want it to enjoy it for as long as possible._ Those had been his words, directed at Sarah. Of course, it had been a dream. While dreaming, he had thought to be awake. He raised his hand and turned it into a fist. Then he slammed it into the sandy ground

"Damn...!" he hissed. "Not again!" A dream. It had been a goddamn dream! Jim felt nothing but despair and the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. It had happened again. He had dreamed that Sarah had returned to him. He was such a fool! The last thing he remembered before Sarah had appeared was him sitting inside JoeyRay's bar. Of course, the bar! He probably had gulped down so many booze that he had lost consciousness along the way. And then he had spent the night outside and was currently lying somewhere in the wastelands, trying to get sober again.

It was the most logical reason for what had happened to him.

Because let's face it; if you put those two possibilities up against each other, which one will be more likely? Him being drunk beyond good and evil and hallucinating things, or Sarah actually having returned to him from beyond the Void? And not just that, but taking him to a paradise-like world? It had a certain Adam-and-Eve-vibe to it, hadn't it? And it felt like something a guy's mind would come up with; spending the rest of eternity with the most beautiful woman of all times on a distant planet.

So, it had been an illusion, something his own brain had fabricated in order to-

"Other side, love." His eyes widened in shock when he heard her voice right behind him. He turned his head around and when he looked into her face, he gasped in shock.

"Sarah?" he whispered. Sarah opened her eyes and gave him a sad smile.

"Seems like you still have a hard time accepting it." she whispered. "Trust me, I know that feeling." Instead of answering her, he just rolled over and raised his hand. He touched her cheek and gasped again. Her skin! It felt so real. Not like a dream, not like a hallucination. Only then Jim realized that the paradise hadn't been an illusion either.

If you spend more than six years dreaming the impossible dream, you will get to the point where you realize that it is truly impossible. But that doesn't stop you from dreaming about it, now does it? And what if the impossible actually happens? Well, a human mind can do great things. But sometimes it needs time to accept the most basic things. Sarah could see the conflicting emotions inside Jim's mind. He _wanted_ to believe that she was back. However, she could also see how scared he was. Scared that she might be just another illusion fabricated by his mind. She raised her hand and grabbed his. Her fingers were just the way he remembered them to be.

"How do you feel?" she finally asked. Jim had no idea what to say. He had just doubted all of his most recent memories, and now it turned out that they were in fact not fake.

"Confused?" Sarah whispered and Jim only managed to nod.

"I know that feeling. The feeling when you can't tell fact from fabrication anymore. When you wake up and you don't know if your last memories were nothing but fake, something your mind made up because you wanted to believe that it's true." Jim nodded again.

"Yes..." he mumbled. Sarah still smiled and put her hand on his cheek. The only thing they could hear were the calm waves of that azure blue ocean close to them. When she saw his confusion, she realized that this was the right moment to have their talk. She wasn't looking forward to it, but there was no way to avoid it anyway.

"I know that feeling, Jimmy." she said again. It was time to tell him what she had done. It was time to come clean. "When Amon died, when you left the Void, I remained behind. But not for long. I can't really explain all the details. Not because I don't want to, but because I don't know how to describe it. Anyway, when Amon died, the Void trembled as if it was about to collapse. Or maybe it was just shifting, I don't know. I managed to return to this realm. _Our_ realm. But when I got back, I kinda, well, I guess I lost myself."

"What do you mean?" Jim wanted to know and Sarah sighed.

"I was afraid you would ask that." she mumbled. "At first, I thought that I had turned, heh heh, that I had turned into an actual god." She snickered and laughed at herself. "I looked at people, but I didn't see them, I simply saw their thoughts and their emotions and what they were doing next. I thought that I understood the whole universe and how it worked. But the truth is that all that power, it simply overwhelmed me. I lost myself, and for a lot of time I did nothing but to float through space and gaze at the stars and all the worlds between them." She looked into his eyes.

"By the way; that's not a metaphor, I truly floated among the stars. Wasted a lot of time doing that. And wasn't nearly as enlightening as I hope it would be." she moaned. But now that she had started to talk, it felt good to go on. She hadn't talked about this with anyone, not even Izsha.

"Sounds trippy." Jim then said and she chuckled.

"Oh, you should have seen me! I had totally lost it. But no matter how long I stared at the stars, they would only tell me their secrets, but not my own. I still didn't know what I had become."

"What _did_ you become?" Jim asked the one-million-credits question. Now Sarah sighed again. She sat up and pulled her knees up to her chin. "Sarah?"

"I went to Ulnar. Thought that I would find some answers in that place." she continued with her story. Jim too managed to sit up as well and now both of them stared at the ocean in front of them.

"And, did you find your answers?"

"Not really." Sarah admitted. "Ulnar was...let's just say that I don't like that place. Never did, never will. And I believe that the feeling is mutual. I managed to put some pieces together, but not enough to answer your question. Or mine for that matter. What have I become? Beats me."

"Are you Xel'Naga?" Jim asked, even though he had no idea what that name actually meant. He knew that the Protoss revered them as their gods, he knew that the Xel'Naga had constructed Ulnar and that they had done something to the Zerg, that they had turned them into the shape they were now known for throughout the Koprulu Sector. And that Amon had been Xel'Naga.

"No!" Sarah suddenly yelled. For a second it appeared as if she was...angry? She then shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Jim. It's just...Xel'Naga isn't just the species. It's more than that. You see, they cultivated life all over the galaxy and had this weird thing going on, called the _Infinite Cycle_." Sarah sighed again. "Being Xel'Naga, as far as I can tell, means that you don't just get the powers, but you continue their work. And forgive me if I'm brutally honest, but I'm done with doing other people's work!" she hissed and buried her head between her knees. "Uuuuuuuuuhhhh...besides, the Xel'Naga did create the Swarm and they turned the Protoss into what they are now. Those two species aren't exactly known for their peaceful nature, now are they?"

"Last time I saw you...before you became that, well, not-Xel'Naga..." Jim mumbled.

"Thank you very much." Sarah interrupted him because he had said not-Xel'Naga.

"...you were Zerg. What...what happened to that? How the hell did you even turn yourself into the Queen of Blades again?"

Sarah opened her mouth and was about to answer that question. But that's when she realized that she had never told Jim anything about what had happened after her escape from the Umojan Protectorate. How should she have done that, huh? Send him a Mutalisk with a message strapped to its claws?

"Well..." she sighed yet again." ...how about we start at the beginning then?" She stared at the horizon and enjoyed the feeling of a cool breeze on her skin. And so, she started to tell him about everything. How she had tried to find him, how she had heard Mengsk's message that Jim had been killed in action. What she had felt when she had thought she had lost him. And her decision to quench her thirst for vengeance. Jim didn't say anything, he just listened. Sometimes she could feel how he winced in discomfort when she told him about specific parts of her story. Like when she traveled to Char and when she went to Zerus.

She didn't tell him what she did to Warfield, she couldn't. Not now. She knew that keeping secrets from him was the wrong decision, but she was too scared to tell him about what she had done to the General. Sarah knew that Jim had respected Warfield. To tell him that she had killed the General with her own hands...

She had no such reservations when she told him about _who_ had told her about Zerus and the primal Zerg.

"Zeratul?" Jim asked and Sarah nodded.

"Yep. I know that you liked him, but to me, he was nothing but a pain in the ass. His scheming and his plotting was always his most annoying ability." she growled. Was that truly Sarah Kerrigan speaking? Or the Queen of Blades? She felt how something changed inside of Jim. Like Warfield, Zeratul had been a friend, someone Jim had trusted. To think that Zeratul had done something like that...

She could feel Jim's anger and that this revelation hurt him.

"Zeratul...did what?" Jim whispered again. It seemed as if he felt betrayed. Zeratul had known about Jim's feelings towards Sarah. And to think that the Dark Prelate had decided to guide Sarah to Zerus...

For a long time, neither one said a word. Sarah could sense Jim's anger and rage; however, it wasn't directed at her. She could feel how his anger started to swell and pulse inside his mind when he thought about her words. Well, it wasn't a lie, not really. Zeratul had guided her to Zerus. He hadn't forced her to jump into that spawning pool, though. It had been her own choice. After a while, Jim suddenly jumped to his feet and kicked some sand away.

"That bastard!" he screamed and Sarah looked up both in shock and surprise.

"That rotten, worthless _bastard_!" He kicked more sand into the air while screaming in bloody murder. It was not the reaction one would have expected. During their short time together, after they had freed Sarah from the Zerg, Jim had told her about the Dark Prelate and his vision, so she knew that Zeratul had interfered with her fate on more than one occasion.

"He told me that I had to save you! He told me that you could make the change! And when I did that, what did he do? He made sure that you would return to the Zerg!" Jim felt hurt and betrayed, Sarah could tell that much. Zeratul had been a friend to Jim. To her, it was completely and utterly incomprehensible how a human could become friend with a Protoss.

Sarah was brutally aware of the fact that she was not telling Jim the entire truth. Like for example that she had chosen to become the Queen of Blades ones more out of her own volition. It was one of the many things she wanted to tell him. But...

...she couldn't. Not now.

It was the coward's way out, she knew that. Right now, she was glad that there was someone else to blame. Not very mature, sure, but she lacked the determination to set things right.

And then there was still the fractured copy of Zeratul inside Jim's mind. Sarah knew that Jim had used the crystal _before_ they had de-infested her, so that mental clone (or whatever it was) couldn't know anything about what Zeratul had done afterward.

Or so she hoped.

"That bastard!" Jim screamed in rage. He kicked more sand into the air. "He knew it! He knew what you meant to me! He could have done something else! He could have helped you!" Of course, that was a strictly academical thing to say. No matter how you look at it, Zeratul and Sarah had never liked each other. She was pretty certain that they had hated each other to the very bone. Like Artanis, Zeratul had never forgiven her for what she had done to Raszagal. He simply had decided to ignore his raging thirst for revenge for as long as possible.

And Sarah?

Well, he had manipulated her. So he was basically like all the other people in her life that had done something like that to her. He had used her for his own agenda. And Sarah didn't care about the fact that his agenda had been to save the universe from total annihilation. It was the thought that mattered.

Perhaps she should tell Jim the truth right now. At least she could share the blame with Zeratul. But before she could do that, she could see how Jim winced in pain and discomfort. He stopped rolling around and leaned forward before he gripped his own stomach. He groaned and Sarah jumped to her feet. Something was wrong with him!

"Jim! What's the matter?" He looked over at her and she could see how famished he looked like.

"Oh hell, Darlin', I think I'm running on empty. Say, there isn't a restaurant around here by any chance, huh?" Sarah walked over to him and put her hand on Jim's shoulder.

"Sorry, no bed and breakfast on this world. Okay, how about that; we get you something to eat and then we continue our blame game." she offered to him. Jim looked over at her and nodded.

"That's the best idea I heard in a long time, Darlin'."

* * *

No, Sarah could not create a turkey out of thin air. And this place was so remote that it would take time to travel to another world. And truth to be told? Sarah felt like she was about to starve as well. Her body still required sustenance, even though there were more ways than one for her to acquire what she needed. Zerg usually absorb the nutrition they need directly through the skin. As long as there's creep around, everything is fine. Some Zerg could only survive if they remained near the creep of a hive since they lacked any digestive organs. Other Zerg, like Hydralisks, possessed rudimentary digestive tracts. Nothing fancy and not nearly as complex as human digestive organs, but it enabled the Hydralisks to devour flesh and turn it into energy.

However, there weren't any Zerg around, and that meant that there wasn't any creep close by either. Besides, Sarah was pretty certain that Jim wouldn't have enjoyed standing on creep in order to absorb his food through his feet.

She knew that there weren't any threats in the area, she could sense that. So when Jim had told her that he would go and look for food, she had just chuckled and replied that she was probably the best hunter in the entire galaxy. But sometimes a man is just a man and wants to show that he's a true hunter. It was actually kinda cute. Cute because Jim wanted to prove that he was still the man that could get the job done. Even if that job was just getting something to eat.

Sarah could have solved that problem in an instant, but she chose not do. It felt nice, being so close to Jim like this. At least she could pretend to be human, even if it was only for a short moment. She then looked around.

"Guess we should go and look for something to eat. How about this; you go this way and I go the other directions. That way we cover more ground at the same time." she offered to him. But Jim just gave her an exhausted smile.

"You say that I'll just watch how you'll walk off the other direction? After all those years we spent apart? Lady, you should know better! You ain't gonna get rid of me no more!" And you know what? It was the nicest thing anyone had said to Sarah in quite some time.

"So, where should we go first?" Sarah then wanted to know. Jim looked at the ocean.

"Maybe there's something inside that ocean? Something like fishes or crabs or anything like that? Or..." He turned his head to the other side. "...we could check out those palms over there. Who knows, maybe there are some kinds of freaky space-coconuts we can eat."

"What makes you think that they're edible?" Sarah wanted to know, which caused Jim to open his mouth in order to reply something. But then he realized that he couldn't answer that question.

"Aw, crap." he groaned, but Sarah just chuckled.

"Don't worry, I can handle that part. How about this; you get us something to eat and I make sure that it won't tear through your guts."

"Sounds like a plan." Jim agreed. "Now come on, I'm starving over here!" Sarah pointed her hand at the jungle in front of them.

"Okay, my knight in shining armor, lead the way." When Jim heard those words, he walked up to her and simply grabbed her hand. Sarah looked at him in surprise.

"Jimmy?"

"Sorry for being so paranoid, but I rather have you by my side then behind me. Don't want to end up like Orpheus." he explained to her.

"Orpheus?" Sarah asked and Jim blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, Orpheus and Eurydice. Never heard that story?" But Sarah just shook her head.

"Nope, sounds like Protoss. I don't like Protoss." That's when Jim started to laugh.

"What?" she asked. "What's so funny?" Now it was Jim's turn to shake his head.

"Oh, nothing. I'm gonna tell you that story some other time. But be warned, it's pretty tragic."

"I think I had enough tragic for one lifetime, Jim." Sarah whispered, but that's when Jim gave her hand a soft squeeze.

"I know. And that's why I won't let go of you ever again. Should have thought about that before you dragged me all the way out here. So, any second thought about bringing me here?" That's when Sarah moved closer to him and their lips touched. Kissing someone just because you felt like doing it? Sometimes the simplest of pleasures can make the difference. When their lips parted, she looked into Jim's eyes.

"Got doubts about many things, Jimmy. But you're not among them. So how about we get us something to eat." And so they walked up to the jungle while holding hands like they were just another couple stranded on a remote island. When they entered the thick green, they realized that it wasn't very dense. Most plants looked like, well, plants. What was different about them was the fact that most of them (if not all) had some sort of bio-luminescence to them. It looked as if someone had put Christmas lights on all those palms and trees. They didn't encounter any animals, though.

"Seriously, Sarah...what is this place?" he said when they stepped out into the open once they reached a rather big clearing. Right in front of them was a small pond and when Jim saw it, he sighed in relief.

"You know, now that I see that water, I remember how thirsty I am." He walked over to it and was about to just plunge his head into it when Sarah stopped him.

"What?" he asked with a desperate tone in his voice.

"Wait, I just want to be sure it's harmless." she said and knelt down next to the pond. She dipped her finger into the water and then she licked it off that finger. Then she nodded. "Just water. Nothing to worry about." When Jim heard that, he pulled his brows up.

"That's one hell of a trick. Is that-"

"No, it isn't Xel'Naga." she interrupted him. "It's actually...well, never mind." She then shook her head.

"It's actually _what_?" Jim wanted to know.

"It's nothing. It's okay, Jim, I don't want to startle you. Besides, you probably want to know it anyway."

"That's not exactly reassuring. Sarah?" Jim insisted and she sighed.

"It's Zerg." she then admitted.

"Say what?"

"Zerg, it's an ability Zerg possess. We, I mean they, the Zerg can detect if something is poisonous. Well, there aren't many things that can poison a Zerg, but still...it's kinda useful if you think about it. Anyway, water is fine." Sarah then said and turned away. She let go of Jim's hand and stared at the jungle around them. She knew that he didn't like that piece of information. It was the sad truth, there was still something Zerg inside her. So, was this the moment where he would ask for more details? But Jim was either too exhausted or he simply didn't care because when he heard that, he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Works for me!" He leaned forward and simply plunged his head into the cold water. Sarah blinked in surprise when she saw how his head vanished completely under the water's surface.

"That's one way to drink, Jimmy." she mumbled. But he couldn't hear her. He wasn't just doing this in order to quench his thirst. The cold water felt good on his skin and helped him to regain some traction.

When he finally pulled his head back, he spluttered some water out of his mouth and took a deep breath.

"Better?" Sarah wanted to know and Jim brushed the wet hair from his eyes before he nodded.

"Yeah. That felt good. You should try it too."

"Hmm, maybe later. How about we find something to eat, hmm?" Sarah offered and looked around. That's when she spotted a tree that was nearby. "Those things look like fruits. How about we check them out first."

"Sounds good to me." Jim agreed and looked over at the same tree. The tree itself looked fairly unremarkable, but it was full of huge fruits, each one roughly the size of a pineapple. They were orange and had strange bumps on it. And they looked kinda tasty. But right now, everything looked tasty to Jim, even a roasted Zergling. Sarah stood up, walked over to the tree, and looked at all those fruits.

"Well, if they're edible, then we don't have to worry about food." she mumbled and reached out to one of them. She grabbed it and plucked it off the tree with a soft yank.

"They're kinda heavy, seems like they're full of-" Sarah started.

That's when the tree started to scream.

Yes, it screamed. At least it sounded like a scream. A high-pitched, inhuman scream, but a scream nonetheless. Sarah made a few steps backward and pressed her hand on one of her ears. The fruit was still in her other hand, though. Jim too pressed his hands on his ears too and stumbled over to Sarah.

"What the hell, Sarah? What did you do?!" he shouted. He had to yell from the bottom of his lungs, that damn tree was screaming as if someone wanted to murder it. There wasn't even a mouth on that bloody thing, he had no idea how a plant could scream in the first place!

"Nothing! I just plucked a fruit from a branch!" Sarah defended herself. She had caused beings to scream for various reasons, but not because of something so harmless!

"Well, I don't think this thing likes what you did!" Jim yelled back.

"Yes, no kidding! Thank you for that information!" Sarah screamed. "Perhaps we'll just grab some of these things and get the hell outta here!" But while they tried to talk to each other, more trees started to, well, scream. And soon the whole jungle was screaming like they were getting paid for that.

"Oh, screw this, let's get out of here!" Jim screamed.

"WHAT?!" Sarah yelled back.

"OUTTA HERE!"

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU, IT'S TOO LOUD!"

"I SAID: WE SHOULD GET OUT OF HERE!"

"TOO LOUD!" Sarah screamed with all of her might. "WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" That's when Jim grabbed her hand and pulled her with him. The screams were suddenly all around them and it was a goddamn nightmare. The trees started to...move? Well, "move" was the wrong word. But they were twitching. And it looked as if their branches were aiming at both Sarah and Jim.

"WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?!" Jim yelled.

"DON'T ASK ME, I HAVE NO IDEA!" Sarah screamed back.

That's when the fruits started to fly.

At first, neither Jim nor Sarah realized what was going on. A few fruits landed right next to them with a loud _Thud!_ Jim looked at the fruits and frowned.

"WHOA, WATCH IT! THAT WAS CLOSE!" he shouted. Jim thought that those fruits were just falling from the tree. One hit his head and he cursed in anger. That thing was heavy!

"BWAHAHAHA!" Sarah started to burst out in laughter when she saw the expression on Jim's face. However, her glee only lasted for a second when another fruit hit her own head. But from the side.

"WHAT THE?!" she screamed. "OKAY, THEY ASKED FOR IT!" Her eyes started to glow and Jim knew that she was about to unleash something big.

"SARAH, NO!" But it was too late. She only had to use a tiny fraction of her powers, but it was as if Jim was standing in the eye of a hurricane. The screams of the trees became even louder. Psionic bolts of lightning dashed through the sky. Some hit those trees, and those who got hit exploded into thousand pieces. Jim watched both in awe and fear how Sarah clenched her hands into fists and took a deep breath before she unleashed a psionic wave that leveled the entire area around them. However, Jim felt nothing. It was as if her powers were shielding him. Unfortunately for the trees, they were not so lucky. The ones closest to them were simply vaporized.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" she roared and when the storm around them finally died down, everything went silent. Jim looked around and didn't dare to say anything. He watched Sarah and could see how her hair almost glowed.

"Sarah...what was that?" Jim asked. Sarah froze and her eyes widened in shock. Oh great. She turned her head towards him and opened her mouth.

"Jim, I-"

That's when thousands of fruits rained down on them.

"MOTHER OF-!" Jim screamed and grabbed her hand. "LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" And this time both of them ran. The trees started to scream yet again. It was unbearable! The fruits didn't cause any real damage, but they hurt like hell. He was dragging Sarah with him, and when they finally reached the beach, the screaming started to get less noisy. Even then they just stopped when they finally reached the ocean. Jim turned around and looked at the jungle.

"What the hell is this place? Were those trees...screaming and throwing fruits at us?" he asked and realized how stupid that sounded. "Guess we found the locals." Sarah, who was still angry like hell, looked at the fruit she had plucked from the one tree.

"Well, at least we got some spoils of war." she muttered. It was a big fruit and there was enough for her and Jim. Not that she really needed it, but staying in this form meant that she too had to eat from time to time. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Hope it tastes better than it sounds." she mumbled and took a bite. The taste was alright and as far as she could tell it wasn't poisonous. That meant-

That's when the goddamn fruit started to scream too.

"AREYOUEFFINKIDDINGME?!" Sarah screamed. She took the fruit and threw it back into the jungle. "HERE, GO BACK TO YOUR FAMILY!" Jim stared after the fruit and for a long time, neither one of them said a word. Not until Jim sighed.

"Well, there goes our breakfast. Nice throw, though. Whoever says that girls can't throw has never seen you throwing something."

"Thanks." Sarah replied with a dry tone in her voice. "Guess I have to thank all the grenade-tossing I did back in the day."

"Those trees had no mouths. Neither did the fruit. How the hell does that even work?!" Jim groaned. And that's when his stomach rumbled again. And so did Sarah's.

"Ugh. Now I could really use something to eat." she moaned and looked to the sea right next to them. "I sense something in the sea, some animals. Maybe we should try to catch some of those." she suggested. Jim nodded and looked at the ocean. It didn't look very deep.

"Been some time since I went fishing." Jim muttered. "Hope the fishes don't scream as well."

"Well, if they have mouths, at least we know how to make 'em shut up." Sarah mumbled. They walked towards the sea. That's when Jim suddenly stopped and started to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Sarah wanted to know. Jim shook his head, but he wasn't able to hide his amusement.

"Do you realized that we were attacked by a bunch of grumpy trees?" he snickered. "I mean, I have been attacked by a lot of strange things, but never trees!" He shook his head and looked back at the jungle. "Oh, that is one hell of a story. Can't wait to tell Matt about it. He won't believe a word."

When Sarah heard that, she didn't say anything. Matt... right, because she totally wanted to return the Koprulu Sector as soon as possible. She was lucky, though, since Jim decided to not continue that line of thoughts. He walked up to the ocean and started to untie his shoelaces.

"Phew, I just realized that I've been in these clothes for several days now. At least I think it's been that long. Isn't there any night on this world?" Jim asked before taking his shoes off and rolled up his trousers' legs. "You know, no matter how beautiful this place is, it really could use some bed'n'breakfast and a washing machine. Oh, and I don't even want to talk about what will happen once I have to go to the bathroom." Jim turned around and pointed his finger at the jungle. "I doubt those guys will be too pleased with watching me pooping in their forest."

"Chhhhhh...!" Sarah started to snicker when she heard that. It was just too stupid to not laugh about it. She shook her head and looked at the water in front of them. "How about we deal with that problem once it arises. Besides, first you need to fill your stomach before you can do the other thing." She truly hoped that he wouldn't make an inappropriate poop-joke, and when Jim walked into the water, she sighed in relief.

"Whoa. You weren't kidding. Look at that!" Jim gasped. Sarah walked up to him. Even though she still wore her trademark Ghost-suit, she could feel the warm water on her skin. And it felt nice. She looked into the water and what she could see were countless small, well, _things_. Jim leaned forward, ready to grab one of those things.

"Jim, wait! Maybe they're poisonous!" Sarah tried to stop him, but it was too late for that. He waited a second and then his arms shot forward. He managed to grab one of those things and pulled it up to the surface.

"Whoa! Slippery little...what the hell is that?!" Jim stared at the small creature in his hands. It looked like a fish, at least the front half. The other side looked like the tentacles of an octopus. Head of a fish, and a lot of tentacles. It even had big eyes and a mouth, and much to Jim's and Sarah's relief it didn't start to scream in bloody murderer.

"Well, it doesn't scream. And it's made out of meat. I mean fish. I mean tentacles. I mean...nevermind. I name thee; squidfish!" Jim then announced. Sarah looked around and pulled her brows up.

"Well, at least there are enough of those things around. And they don't seem to mind us either." she mused. "Okay, you get some more of these and I will make a fire." She turned around and felt Jim's nagging questions in the back of her mind. She looked at him and frowned.

"What?"

"Dunno. Can we even eat this thing? It's alien, you know. Maybe it's poisonous."

"Oh, right. Forgot to check it. Here, give it to me." Sarah basically ripped the squidfish out of Jim's hand. For a second, he wondered if she would give that critter a good lick and tell him that it's was fine. She stared into the fish's eyes and then...

...she shoved its head into her mouth and simply bit it off.

Jim's face lost all color when he watched how Sarah simply chew on the squidfish's head like it was made out of cotton candy. He heard how her teeth cracked bones and the squidfish's headless body twitched in her hand. Sarah didn't seem to mind, though. She chewed and chewed and chewed and looked at her surroundings. When she finally swallowed it down, she nodded and handed the headless squidfish back to Jim.

"Nope, not poisonous. Here, you can catch some more, I'll go and make a fire." When she walked away, Jim stared at the headless squidfish in his hand.

"Zerg-thing, hmm? Oh boy..." he whispered to himself. He watched how Sarah walked over to the jungle and shook his head. But when he managed to catch a glimpse of Sarah's backside, he started to blush. She still looked as beautiful as he remembered it. Maybe even more than she used to be. Sarah could hear her his thoughts, but much to her own surprise he didn't stare at her butt, but at her red hair. Hmm, a knight in shining armor to the very end. She was about to enter the jungle when suddenly a fruit landed right in front of her feet. She stopped and stared at the fruit for a long time.

Perhaps she was just imagining things, but that looked like a declaration of war to her. It was like those trees were telling her: Get any closer, and we bury you with our fruits!

Garden warfare gone real.

"You know, on second thought; screw this." Instead of entering the jungle, she simply decided to pick up some twigs and branches. There weren't many lying around, and when she walked back to the beach, it was barely enough to make a campfire. That's when she decided to cheat. When Jim wasn't looking, she reached out with her senses. She managed to find a few bigger branches deep inside the jungle and simply used her powers to make them come to her.

Like said, she could have done so much more. But being like this, acting like she was just a normal woman...it felt nice. It was a lie, but a good one. And right now, she enjoyed herself far too much to just ruin the moment by being, well, herself.

"Slippery bastards!" Jim hissed when he walked back to the beach. He held at least four of these squidfishes in is arms. Well, four and a half to be exact. Sarah then put up a campfire, something she had learned many years ago during her Ghost-training. Jim then tilted his head to the side.

"If you can hold these little guys, I can make a fire. I just need some dry grass and-"

That's when Sarah simply snipped with her finger and ignited the fire with a mere thought.

"-or we do it your way. Works too, I guess." Jim mumbled. It caused Sarah to smile and then both of them simply sat down next to the campfire. Jim grabbed a few twigs and rammed them through the squidfishes. They wiggled around but didn't explode or scream or turn into Zerglings or anything like that. He then put the twigs over the fire and they watched how the squidfishes were roasted by the fire.

"Smells nice." Sarah mumbled.

"Hmm mmh." Jim agreed. "Better than biting off their heads raw, right?"

"Meh, once you get used to it..." Sarah just replied, which caused Jim to chuckle. They stared at the fire and started to get lost in their very own thoughts. Sarah enjoyed this moment of silence. There was no one around who wanted to kill her or to blame her for God knows what. It was a nice change from the usual stuff. The squidfishes really smelled delicious and her stomach started to rumble. Jim had to laugh when he heard that and Sarah blushed.

Then she rolled over to him and gave him a smile.

"Here, make some room, will you?" she told him and pressed her backside against his chest.

"What's that for?" he wanted to know, but he knew better than to miss the chance to hold her in his arms.

"I just felt like it. You're not the only one who enjoys stuff like this."

"Glad to know that we're on the same page." he mumbled. He put his arms around her shoulders and his face next to hers. And so no one said a word for a long time. It was Jim who decided to talk again.

"You know..." he started. "...the last time I sat in front of a campfire and had some fish was during my childhood. Heh, my father hated fish, every time mum prepared some, he found a reason to work in the fields extra time."

"Your parents...they were farmers, right?" Sarah whispered.

"Yep. Born on Shiloh, never left the planet, and stayed proud farmers until the very end."

"I bet they loved you very much." she said.

"Hmm...there were times when I thought they didn't."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked and Jim sighed. The memories of his parents felt like they were nothing but a faint whisper in the back of his mind. So much had happened since, well, their death.

"For a long time, I thought that my father was disappointed with me."

"Why would you say that?" Jim shrugged his shoulders when he heard that question.

"Dunno. I guess it's only natural. My father never really told me that, but I think that he didn't approve of a lot of things that I did when I was young. I didn't want to hear it. though. He tried to tell me things, but when you're young, you don't want to listen to what old people tell you. My father was a very humble man, that's why he didn't force his truth down my throat."

"Sounds like he was a great man. Too bad that I never met him." That was just an empty phrase, but Jim didn't seem to notice that. However, his next words made her laugh out loud.

"He would have loved you. Just like my mum."

"Ha! I seriously doubt that." Sarah replied. "In my experience, I'm the kind of girl parents warn their sons about. Pretty on the outside, rotten on the inside." The moment she spoke out those words, he tightened his grip on her slender frame.

"Remember what I told you earlier?" he asked.

"No blame-game?"

"No blame-game." he confirmed.

"But that means that we will probably die of boredom because I don't know much else that we could do right now." she mumbled.

"How about we start by eating those squidfishes, they look as if they're done now." Jim said.

"That's a stupid name." Sarah mumbled. Instead of standing up, she just raised her hand and two of the sticks moved over to them as if some invisible hand guided them to her. She handed one stick with a squidfish on it over to Jim and then she looked at her own meal.

During her time with the Zerg she hadn't required eating any food. Zerg usually absorb the nutrition they need through the skin, at least as long as there is creep around. So, this was actually the first piece of meal she was about to eat since she had returned to the Swarm. And she had to admit; it smelled delicious.

"Well, here goes nothing." Jim said and bit off a part of his own squidfish. He chewed a few times, and when he swallowed it down, a surprised look appeared on his face. "Whoa, not bad. Those things actually taste really good!"

"Hmm, let's see about that." Sarah replied and bit off one of the small tentacles. The moment she tasted the roasted meat on her tongue, she blinked in surprise. "Well, it certainly does taste better when roasted."

"Well, I am a good cook after all, if I do say so myself" Jim then claimed with a cocky grin on his face. Sarah shook her head and grinned at him.

"You do realize that I made that fire, right?" she explained to him.

"Oh well, details, details. Come on, let's dig in." And so they did. Those creatures truly tasted good. Neither Jim nor Sarah wanted to say that they kinda tasted like chicken because that would have been too much of a cliché. Still, the warm food was just what Jim needed. And he wasn't the only one enjoying this meal. Sarah too remembered the long-lost pleasure of eating something that didn't taste like ass. When they were done, both remained where they were and stared at the fire.

"You know, one would think that this is utterly boring, but I kinda like it." Jim then said to her.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Sarah agreed. "No one is yelling, shooting, or throwing bolts of lightning at us."

"Oh yeah, the lightning. I totally don't miss that." Jim nodded and raised his hand. When his fingers brushed through Sarah's red hair, she closed her eyes and leaned back against him. Ever since she had returned from beyond the Void, Sarah hadn't been able to truly relax. She had always been on the run and even she needed to sleep from time to time. Izsha had watched over her during that time, but even then she had been constantly on edge. And now?

Now she started to feel something she hadn't felt in a long time.

She felt calm.

Jim was still just a man, but she felt safe in his arms. And even if he didn't possess the same strength as Sarah, she knew that he would protect her as long as she would allow it.

"You look sleepy." Jim then mumbled.

"You try to travel more than thirty thousand lightyears in one go." Sarah replied. However, that wasn't the real reason for her tiredness. All those years of fighting had taken their toll. Not on her body, but her mind. And the sound of those soft waves was like a lullaby to her. Now it was her time to finally fall asleep and for Jim to watch over her.

And Jim?

He didn't mind one bit.


	59. Act III - Chapter 3

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Adventure Time!**

* * *

 **And you are certain that you'll be okay?** Sarah wanted to know. The walls of Ulnar reflected her voice and emitted green light every time she spoke. She looked around and realized that it was highly unnerving. She didn't like this place and remembered the time when she had lost herself inside those halls. Her flaming body floated some meters above the ground, and the both figures beneath her looked up to her. When Izsha heard that question, she lowered her gaze and put her hand on her chest.

"I am, my Queen. Do not be alarmed, I will exercise the utmost caution and will make sure that no harm will come to either me or the minion." she said and pointed at Karax, who was standing right next to her.

"Please, would it be possible for you to stop calling me like that?" Karax pleaded, but Izsha simply chose to ignore him. It caused Sarah to chuckle.

 **Well, I can't wait to see what you have cooked up inside your head, Izsha. Still, if you need a lift or anything-** But Izsha just shook her head.

"That will not be necessary, my Queen. Your guidance has prepared me for this and I shall not fail you. Because I have a _vision_." She would rather die than to return empty-handed to her Queen! Sarah looked down at her trusted advisor. Her body glowed and radiated so much energy that it filled the entire area with her light. She could sense Izsha's determination. She _wanted_ to show her Queen what she was capable of and that she deserved Sarah's trust.

 **Vision, huh? Must be nice to have something like that.** Sarah muttered to herself.

"My Queen? Did I say something wrong?" Izsha wondered, but Sarah just shook her head. Her fire-like hair danced from one side to the other.

 **No, everything is fine, Izsha. Don't worry.**

It would probably be pointless to tell Izsha that she was already in possession of her Queen's trust, and so Sarah just sighed.

 **Very well, do as you see fit. But remember; if things go south, do not hesitate to call me. I don't want to risk losing either one of you.** Her words, spoken with her mind and not her mouth, caused Izsha to blush again. She lowered her head once more in respect and showed her gratitude.

"Thank you, my Queen. I shall execute my plan as soon as possible and will inform you once I am done. And thank you for this opportunity, your Majesty. I promise you that I will not fail." So devoted. Sometimes it was scary, but at least Izsha would always remain at Sarah's side.

 **Guess I should be going then. Still got to catch my ride.** Sarah then said mostly to herself.

"You will go and meet the Terran James Raynor, yes? Will he join us in serving you?" Izsha asked. Sarah opened her mouth and wanted to say something, something like; I hope so. But then she realized that she didn't want Jim to serve her. No, that wasn't it. Even in her current state, Sarah still had the ability to blush. This was ridiculous! Now that she thought about Jim, she felt like a little girl. She was scared that he would reject her. It couldn't be helped, though. She knew that he was no longer on Korhal, that he was on his way to Mar Sara. She could feel his presence even all those lightyears away. Izsha had even called Jim Sarah's "mate". It felt somewhat inappropriate. Mate, that was a rather technical term.

 **Right...better get going myself.** She then looked around and studied the walls around them. Ulnar. The Protoss called it the Cradle of Life or something like that, but to Sarah, it felt like being inside a goddamn tomb. It was void of any life and the voices she could hear felt like they had been recorded millennia ago. The ones who had spoken those words were long gone. It was a home that had survived its owners. Like an old castle whose original creators had perished a long time ago, it was now about to be claimed by new tenants.

Sarah didn't like the place. Too much bad mojo. It was as if the walls were staring at her, judging her, and waiting for her to do something. But she didn't understand the language and quite frankly; she couldn't care less about what the Xel'Naga expected of her. Or their ghosts.

 **Good luck then, Izsha. I can hardly wait to see what you have planned for this place.**

 _Whatever it is, it can only be an improvement._ Sarah thought to herself. Of course, she had her suspicions about what Izsha was trying to do, but she decided not to pry for any details from her advisor. A part of Sarah wanted to see how Izsha would manage to solve those problems on her own. Or Sarah's problems, for that matter.

Both Izsha and Karax watched how Sarah's body started to glow even brighter. Right in front of them, Sarah's body started to shift and blur and then...

...she was gone.

For a long time, Izsha stared at the spot where Sarah just had been. She could still feel the afterglow of her Queen's presence and she realized that something had changed. Sarah's emotions were like the wind; one moment they were calm and controlled, the other moment they were like a raging thunderstorm. Perhaps most humans and Protoss alike wouldn't consider this to be a good thing. To Izsha it was just the way her Queen was supposed to be. One moment calm and controlled, the next one a force to be reckoned with, as it should be. However, even then she could sense her Queen's doubts. It was almost painful for the former Zerg. Her Majesty was truly a wondrous being, she shouldn't doubt herself. Perhaps the Terran James Raynor would be able to ease her mind. If he could truly help the Queen, then adding him to their group was the logical thing to do.

"Uhm...Lady Izsha?" Karax asked. "I do not want to sound rude, but do you really need my help? I would rather study this place right away and-" However, Izsha had no time for that.

"You are right, minion! We still need to secure this place." she said, not listening to what he had just said at all.

"Please, could you call me Karax? I beg of you!"

"Very well, minion Karax! Come, we have to depart immediately!" Izsha explained and turned around. As she slithered away, Karax blinked in surprise.

"Depart? Depart where?" That's when Izsha suddenly stopped and slithered back up to him one more time.

"I require your skills to find a very specific vessel. It contains the assets we can use in order to secure this place for her Majesty. However, I am unable to find that vessel on my own. You, however, will be able to find it." That almost sounded like a threat.

"Vessel? You mean...Zerg? Or Terran? I am sorry, Lady Izsha, but I do not think that I can help you with that."

"Worry not, minion Karax! The vessel we look for is Protoss in origin. Considering your knowledge about Protoss-technology, it should be easy for you to track it down." she explained to him.

"Protoss? Forgive me, Lady Izsha, do you want to ask my people for help?" Izsha shook her head and moved up to Karax. She raised herself high up in the air, and even the big Protoss had to look up in order to see her eyes.

"I did not say that we would ask the Protoss for help, I said that we would look for a Protoss _vessel_. There is a big difference in that, minion Karax. You need to listen more carefully, I do not tolerate incompetence!" When Karax heard that, he tilted his head to the side.

"I do not think I can follow. What vessel are we talking about?"

"I do not know its name, I only know that it once housed many of your kind. It was lost for some years, but there might be a chance that she is still around."

"She?" Karax asked. "Who is she?"

"That is none of your concern. Find me the ship, that is all I require you to do." Izsha ordered and looked Karax into the eyes. "Can you do that?" Suddenly Karax felt very, very, _very_ small.

"It depends. I would require the name of the vessel and access to the ship's logs." he explained to her.

"Where could we find those ship's logs?" she demanded to know.

"Well, there should be a copy of the ship's name and its last planned route inside the computers of the last spaceport it visited. But Lady Izsha, that would mean to travel where a lot of Protoss are. Wouldn't that be dangerous for you?" Karax's concern was almost touching.

"That will not be a problem, minion Karax." Iszha announced. "Where we are going, no Protoss remains. Her Majesty made sure of that." That didn't sound good.

"Then...where do you want us to go?" Karax asked. A cold smile appeared on Izsha's face. It was almost as cold as the world they were about to visit.

"Kaldir." she then said. "The place we are traveling to is called Kaldir." Then she finally slithered away. But there was one question that still remained.

"Uhm...how do we get there?" Karax wanted to know. Izsha stopped, and when she looked over her shoulder, he felt even smaller than before.

"I leave that problem to you. And you better not disappoint me, minion Karax. I promised her Majesty that this plan would lead to success. And I do not intend to fail her."

Oh, snap.

* * *

 **Kaldir**

* * *

Ice. No matter which direction you would look into, the only thing one could see was ice. Kaldir was a hostile world, one that was a place you would stay as far away from as possible. Only the foolish and desperate would venture here in order to seek anything but a cold grave.

Then again, Protoss could be foolish from time to time.

The Protoss who had come here first had been foolish, definitely. And desperate. The world Kaldir was actually a moon, orbiting the planet Midr IV. The only natural resource that could be found on this planet was water. Because it was everywhere. No one could even say if there were minerals or other forms of natural resources hidden beneath the kilometers of ice. From the economical point of view, mining this world for resources was useless. That's why the Terrans had never bothered to venture here.

And from the strategic point of view, this planet was not important either. It was too far away from all major settlements to be of any use as a trade-hub. Its remoteness was probably the only factor that spoke in its favor, as long as that was what you were looking for.

And it was exactly what the Protoss had been looking for when they had ventured here. These Protoss had been scientists. The had explored the possibility of terraforming this world. However, even for the mighty Protoss with all their advanced technology, turning a clump of ice into a habitable world was one tall order.

Especially if you have a bunch of Zerg breathing down your neck.

It was an eerie sight. The cold weather had conserved the battlefield. Everything looked just like the day both the Protoss and Zerg had killed each other. There were hardly any Protoss-bodies lying around, most had been teleported back to the nearest vessel upon receiving a mortal wound. The ones who hadn't been so lucky still lay on Kaldir's surface, their bodies perfectly preserved by the razing cold. They were surrounded by countless Zerg. The whole plateau was covered with bodies.

Sometimes you would hear a roar in the distance. Those sounds belonged to one of the few indigenous species of this world that was able to withstand this kind of weather.

Ursadons, that was what they were called.

They were not interested in the battlefield, though. For some reason, they weren't interested in all those bodies. Perhaps frozen Zergling wasn't tasty to them? Or did these beasts remember the horror of facing the Swarm or the Protoss in combat?

Who knew.

They weren't the only living thing roaming this plateau right now, now. There was a newcomer, and as he walked past two corpses, he stopped and looked at them. The cold was brutal, and he knew that even his gear wouldn't allow him to stay outside for much longer. Still, as he looked at those two bodies, he couldn't help but frown. It was a Zealot and a Hydralisk, both had ended their lives in a rather spectacular fashion. The Zealot had slashed the belly of the Zerg wide open, and the frozen intestines were lying around everywhere. And the Hydralisk's maw was still wrapped around the Zealot's throat. They were caught in an eternal struggle, even beyond death.

The person that stood in front of those two bodies was Protoss, yet he didn't even consider one second to remove the Zealot from this place and put him to rest. Because even though they were of the same species, they were not of the same _kind_.

The Protoss felt nothing as he looked at all the death around him. He hadn't come here to pay his respect, nor had he come here to find out what had happened to this place. Still, he continued to stare at the dead Zealot for quite some time. It was pathetic, really. For all their boasting about honor and values they prided themselves with, the former Khalai sure as hell didn't seem to care about that once someone kicked their butt.

If the Protoss had a mouth, he would have smiled.

He enjoyed this sight. Not so much the carnage, but to see how even the arrogant Khalai could fail. And how they were just like all the other Protoss. In death, no one was different.

Oh, he wished he could show this to his people, make them understand that the Khalai were _nothing_! Unfortunately, that was no longer an option. The Protoss shook his head and turned away. As much as he enjoyed looking at dead Khalai, he still had other things to do. He shivered when the cold air started to gnaw at his own personal shield.

"Just my luck." he growled and looked at the device attached to his arm. While he was no Phasesmith, he could see that the energy-supply of his personal shield was almost depleted. But that wasn't the biggest issue. His biggest problem was that the device was about to fail him. It was a miracle that it was still working, but sooner or later it would break. And then he would freeze to death.

It was not the ending he had envisioned for himself.

But he wasn't dead just yet.

He turned away from the corpses and continued to walk towards the nearest building. It was a plasma cannon. Or at least it had once been a plasma cannon. Now it was nothing but a piece of scrap metal. The Protoss was still careful. Maybe there was some energy left, maybe this thing was still active, and maybe it would consider him hostile. But when he reached it, his fears were not confirmed. This thing was dead.

It was surrounded by more dead Zerg who had tried to destroy the cannon. When he reached the stationary weapon, he climbed on top and stared into the insides of the machine. It almost looked as if it had been torn apart from the inside. Had it been a Zerg? Or a technical failure?

Was it important?

Probably not.

The Protoss sighed and leaned down. He grabbed a piece of metal and snarled in pain when the cold cut deeply into his skin. His shields were almost drained, they didn't offer much protection anymore. He had to hurry...

He pulled debris away and worked his way through the cannon's insides. Even though there was no one around who could see him, he still felt how the shame filled his mind. He was no scientist, no warrior, not even a worker. The only reason why he had come here was because he was desperate. Because he had been reduced to a lowly scavenger. The humans called people like him "vultures", even though he had no real idea what a vulture was. As he searched for anything useful, he could barely hide his anger.

Here he was, searching for scrap like some sort of, well, vulture. Whatever a vulture was.

He was pretty certain that Artanis would love to see him like this; reduced to a pathetic scavenger. The moment he thought about the Hierarch, sorry, the _former_ Hierarch, his chest was filled with cold rage. Yes, that was right; the Hierarch had spared his life. But that didn't mean that the Protoss was happy about that. He had once been a proud Nerazim. Even more so, he had been a Dark Templar. He had served his people for so many years, yet did they thank him?

No.

No, they hadn't. Instead, they had cast him out. He had no longer the right to call himself a Dark Templar. They had stripped him of his identity, of his past, and of his future. They had taken everything away, except for his name.

And as the Protoss continued to search for something useful, he thought about that day...

...the day of Tesson's biggest humiliation...

* * *

 **Aiur**

 **Shortly after Sarah's departure...**

* * *

Even though Tesson could not see them, he knew that he wasn't alone. They had stripped him of his clothes and his weapons. Being naked didn't mean the same thing for a Protoss as it did for a human. He didn't feel ashamed. Being stripped of his weapons and insignia did hurt, though, but he had accepted this with pride. He was inside a prison run by Khalai, so it was only natural that they wanted to take that away which defined him.

They wouldn't succeed, though. They wouldn't break him.

He hadn't seen or talked to anyone for days. At least he imagined that he had been in this prison for days. There was no day or night, and there was just enough light to keep him well fed. No one had told him what they were planning for him, however, he had no illusions about his incoming fate. For what he had done, there could be only one punishment; death. The Khalai would without a doubt make an example out of him. A public execution, yes, that was exactly what these blood-thirsty Khalai would crave for.

You could say what you want about Tesson, but he sure as hell wasn't flimsy when it came to judging others. And once he had made up his mind, he wasn't going to change it. To him, it all made perfect sense; the Khalai wanted to keep him hidden, because if his people would find out about this, then they would try to free him. Or they would start a riot. Whatever his people would do, it would be glorious!

Even though Protoss lived a lot longer than humans, and even though their brains were much bigger, that didn't mean that they were immune to stupidity. Even the mighty Protoss sometimes only saw the things they wanted to see. Aldaris had been such an individual. Ironically, he had been the first to realize that the Queen of Blades had played them for a fool during the Brood Wars. Truth to be told, Protoss were prone to arrogance. Or at least they were really bad when it came to change their opinion. Maybe it was due to their longevity. If you live for two hundred or more years and you never have to question your way of life once, then why change?

The truth is; persons like Tassadar or Fenix were the rare exception. Their greatest strength was the fact that they could question their own beliefs, something not many could. Naturally, most people didn't really appreciate that. It's easier to kill the messenger than to listen to the actual message. For his attempt to bring unity to the Protoss, Tassadar had been excommunicated. For his attempt to stop Amon, Zeratul had become an outcast.

Artanis was the bold exception. He had managed to question his own beliefs, and now he even was able to see this better future come to pass.

Tesson, however, was just like most others. He would never dare to question his own beliefs. In his point of view, he had done the right thing. And he would do so again.

When they finally came for him, he was ready. The days of contemplation had helped him to prepare for this moment. He would march to his death with pride, he would show these Khalai what it meant to be Nerazim! Oh yes, he had pictured it all inside his mind, every glorious detail. He even knew what his last words would be.

Unfortunately for our soon-to-be-martyr, fate didn't care about what he wished to happen.

The first sign that the reality would differ from his imagination appeared when they came to get him out of the cell. Tesson had expected Zealots to shackle him and drag him out into the open like some kind of animal. However, the ones who came to pick him up weren't even Khalai.

"Get up." a voice from the shadows spoke to him. He did as he was told and when he looked around, he watched how four Dark Templar stepped out into the open. He couldn't hide his surprise when he saw them. Tesson hadn't felt their presence at all, even though he himself was a Dark Templar.

The reason for that was simple.

"Brothers..." he mumbled. "...has the Matriarch finally realized that I was right? Have you come here to free me?" The four Dark Templar were members of the Matriarch's personal guard. They were the finest warriors the Nerazim had to offer, every single one on the same level as the deceased Zeratul, albeit not as defiant as the Dark Prelate when it came to following orders. The Honor Guards exchanged cold glances but didn't say anything. Their leader walked up to Tesson and looked him straight into the eyes.

"You will follow us. You will not attempt to flee. You will do as we say. If you fail to follow these orders, we will strike you down. Is that understood?" the captain of the Honor Guard asked. Tesson didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked at the four warriors and considered his chances of going up against all four of them. And those chances were somewhere _below_ zero.

"Of course, Brother." Tesson finally said and bowed his head in respect. The Captain of the Guard frowned, but he didn't comment on that. Instead, he turned around and the other three warriors positioned themselves around Tesson. He didn't miss that their psi-blades were on standby, ready to be activated. Was this another attempt to humiliate him even further? Had the wretched Hierarch ordered the Matriarch to send her finest warriors in order to escort him to the gallows?

Well, Tesson wouldn't give the Hierarch the satisfaction of showing him his true emotions. He was a proud Nerazim! He would stay a proud Nerazim till the end.

"Let us move out. We do not wish the High Council to wait." the Captain explained, and for the first time, Tesson felt truly confused. The High Council? The Nerazim didn't possess any institution with that name. The Khalai, however...

"Where are you taking me?" Tesson growled. The Captain of the Honor Guard just looked over his shoulder and gave him a cold glance.

"Be quiet and follow."

And so he did, even though Tesson knew something was wrong. Dark Templar would take him to the gallows? This was wrong. This was not how he had imagined things would be like! His own kind shouldn't be the one ending him. It was wrong!

Conviction is a funny thing. Just because you _think_ you have it, doesn't mean that you actually have it. And as Tesson was escorted out of the cell and saw more Nerazim, he couldn't hide his uneasiness anymore. Because they were all looking at him with contempt.

"Brother, what is the mea-"

"The prisoner will remain quiet!" the Captain barked. Even though Tesson was unable to read the other warrior's thoughts, he could sense his contempt. They...hated him?

But why?

He had done this for them! So they could free themselves of the shackles the Khalai had put on them. Unfortunately, his brothers and sisters didn't seem to agree with that. As he walked through the huge halls of this place, he could still feel the cold rage in the back of his mind. The fact that his people had to live in buildings that were erected by the Khalai was still unbearable to him, yet most other Nerazim didn't seem to mind.

Instead of leading him outside, the guards escorted him to a lift that was leading to the tip of the citadel. He tried to think of any reason why they were taking him to the top floor, but aside from decapitating him up there and put his head on the spike, he couldn't think of any reason. Perhaps Tesson was taking this whole martyr-thing far too seriously, but this was just the way he wanted it to be.

When they arrived at the top level, Tesson wasn't greeted by a crowd. There were some familiar faces present, however. Aside from the guards, three Protoss were present. Well, three Protoss and a Purifier. But these machines couldn't even be considered living things, so it didn't matter. What mattered, however, was the fact who the Protoss in the room were not just any Protoss.

"Matriarch." Tesson said as she stopped and turned his attention towards Vorazun. "You look well." He didn't hate Vorazun. She was misguided, yes. But not an evil being. Unlike the other Protoss standing right next to her.

"The Matriarch is not the one you should address." Executor Selendis said. She looked so ridiculous in her golden armor, like a, what did the humans say? Like a peacock. Tesson had no idea what a peacock was, but he liked that expression because the name was so ridiculous. He looked over at her and squinted his eyes in anger.

"You think that I would bow to the likes of you?" he snarled. Selendis, who could have easily ripped him apart with her bare hands, just pointed with her chin over to the Purifier Sentinel that was standing in the middle of the room. Next to him was another female warrior, a Tal'Darim.

"Probably not." Selendis said with a hint of amusement in her voice. "However, I am not the one you should bow to. He is." When Tesson looked at the Sentinel, he frowned. It was a machine, so why should he bow to this thing? It was a mockery of life!

A very _shiny_ mockery of life.

This machine looked not just like any ordinary Sentinel. No, its armor-platins had been polished and it looked like an avatar made out of gold and platinum.

It looked absolutely ridiculous...

Tesson chuckled when he looked at the machine, who stood there like some kind of warrior.

"What am I supposed to do? I am not a phasesmith, I cannot fix if it is broken." He could sense the Matriarch's anger, however, instead of someone yelling at him, the Sentinel started to chuckle.

"Hahaha...it would seem that not everyone recognizes me these days." the Purifier said and sounded truly amused by that fact. He looked over to Selendis and pulled his shoulders up. "It would seem that I was correct after all, Executor. Not everyone appreciates this shiny new outfit."

"So it would seem, Consul." Consul? Tesson had never heard that title among the Khalai before. The "Consul" turned his attention back to Tesson and straightened itself. It was weird to see how this machine moved like an actual Protoss.

"Tesson, of the tribe of the Nerazim. That is your name, is it not?"

"Who wants to know?" Tesson wanted to know. Selendis made a step forward, ready to _discipline_ this defiant Protoss.

"You will answer the question of the Consul, you little sh-"

"That will be not necessary, Executor." the Consul said and gestured the fierce warrior to stand down. And much to Tesson's surprise, Selendis actually did as she was told. A Kahlai, taking orders from a machine? This was actually truly amusing!

"You have been in custody for quite some time, Tesson." the machine addressed him. "So you probably are not aware of the change in government that has occurred. My name is Talandar, and I am the newly appointed Consul. As Consul, it is my pleasure and duty to serve all Protoss that dwell on Aiur and beyond. Including you, and that is why-"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Tesson started to laugh when he heard that. He turned over to Vorazun and pointed with his finger at the Sentinel. "This is a joke, is it not? You are making fun of me, try to humiliate me. A machine is supposed to represent me? Whose idea was that?" he wanted to know.

"Artanis." Vorazun replied with an icy cold voice, and Tesson froze when he heard that name. He clenched his hands into fists and looked back at the Sentinel.

"Where is he now?" Tesson asked after a while. "I thought he wanted to send me to the Void personally."

"He does not care about you, Tesson." Selendis suddenly said. "These days, Artanis has more important things to do. The Consul is in charge now, you will answer to him."

"I will do no such thing. Matriarch, I demand to be judged by my own people and-"

"You are about to be judged by your own people, you fool." Vorazun hissed, and for the first time the Tal'darim showed a reaction when she started to snicker. Tesson didn't really understand what was going on.

"I do not understand..." the former Dark Templar muttered, and it was Talandar who took over again.

"As said; there has been a change of government. We are still at the very beginning, however, we are trying to forge a unified nation for all Protoss on this world, as well as all the former colonies of the Nerazim and Khalai-"

"Ahem." the Tal'darim interrupted, and Talandar chuckled again.

"...and, of course, the Tal'darim that have decided to join us. Thank you for reminding me, Ji'Nara."

"Think nothing of it." the Tal'darim mumbled and straightened herself.

"So what?" Tesson growled. "Are you trying to tell me that I will not be judged by my own kind, but the Khalai?" Truth to be told, that was his preferred outcome. He wanted these damn fascists to judge him. It would make his martyrdom so much more meaningful!

"There is no longer "your kind", or the "Khalai", Tesson." Talandar explained to him. "We are one. You will be judged by me."

"This is insane!" Tesson hissed and turned back towards the Matriarch. "You would allow me to be judged by this...this... _thing_?!"

"This _thing_ has a name, Tesson." Vorazun replied. "You should use it. He is your Consul."

"This is a joke!" Tesson replied. "You think by mocking me, by making fun of me that you can break my spirit! I know who I am, and I will not yield this...this..." he looked at Talandar with nothing but contempt. "...thing!"

"This THING is your rightful-" Selendis roared, but that's when Talandar intervened once more.

"Selendis, please, restrain yourself." Talandar said with a calm tone in his voice. The Executor froze for a moment, then she harrumphed and straightened herself.

"Forgive me, Consul. I lost my temper."

"Noted." Talandar chuckled and looked back at Tesson. "Do you know why you were brought here?" When Tesson heard that question, he raised his chin and looked at the Sentinel with nothing but defiance in his gaze.

"You wish to judge me. The Hierarch wishes to see me dead. I shall be executed for my actions."

"Is that what you think?" Talandar asked with nothing but curiosity in his voice. "That we would execute you, and then display your body for the masses?" However, Tesson refused to answer that question. Instead, he straightened himself and stared past a point behind the Sentinel that was about to judge him.

"Waste not my time, just get it over with." Tesson growled. When Talandar heard that, he pulled his shoulders up and pressed his artificial palms against each other.

"Do not worry, I do not intend to waste your time. Or ours for that matter. However, there are certain things that we need to establish. Like your future role in our society."

"Society? What are you talking about?"

"It means..." Vorazun spoke up. "...that you will not be executed, Tesson." There was so much hostility in her voice. "Even though you certainly would deserve a cruel fate for your treachery."

"I did not betray my people!" Tesson barked. Vorazun crossed her arms in front of her chest when she heard that.

"Your people do not think the same way you do, Tesson. And-"

"Please!" Talandar interrupted the Matriarch. "Matriarch, may I?" Tesson could see how Vorazun seemed to think about that for one second, but then she relented. In the end, she nodded and allowed the Consul to continue.

"Tesson, you have betrayed your people. However, the Nerazim have declined to judge you. According to them, you do not longer bear the right to call yourself a Dark Templar again and-"

"I WILL ALWAYS BE A DARK TEMPLAR!" Tesson roared and made a step forward. Before he could do anything, however, two Nerazim approached him and grabbed him by the arms, making sure that he wouldn't do anything stupid.

"No, Tesson!" Vorazun barked. "You are no longer one of us! The moment you decided to give in to your thirst for vengeance, you betrayed us all! However, the worst thing is not that you betrayed me, or your brothers and sisters...but yourself." When Tesson heard that, he hissed in anger.

"Your mother would be ashamed of y-"

"MY MOTHER WOULD BE PROUD OF ME!" Vorazun shouted back. Suddenly her whole body was shaking with anger and fury, and she walked straight up to Tesson. "My mother dreamed of the day when our people would live in peace and harmony with our brothers and sisters from the other tribes. The fact that you dare to tell me about my mother only tells me that you know nothing about her! And if I were to decide your fate, then-" That's when suddenly someone put her hand on Vorazun's shoulder. The Matriarch looked up and could see Selendis, who shook her head.

"It is fine, you do not have to do this, Vorazun." the Executor said with a surprisingly soft tone in her voice. To think that these two strong-willed women had become such good friends...

Vorazun seemed to think about this for a few moments, and then she nodded.

"Perhaps..." Talandar suggested. "...it would be best if you would wait outside." Instead of refusing, Vorazun nodded and decided to leave the room. Selendis followed her in order to make sure that her friend would be alright. The only people that remained were Tesson, the Consul, that Tal'darim, and two Dark Templar.

"You will not be executed, Tesson." Talandar then explained. "There were some voices who suggested this, however, it was the Hierarch who spoke in your favor." When Tesson heard that, he snarled in contempt.

"So, I have to thank him? I would rather die than do that!"

"Yes, I suppose you would." Talandar said with a dry tone in his voice. "Unfortunately, we are all out on gallows. Which leaves us with only one solution." This was it. This was what Tesson had waited for. He wasn't afraid of death, he knew that they were just trying to test his conviction. They would kill him, there was no other option left.

He was ready.

"I want you to understand why we are doing this." Talandar explained. Instead of getting to the point, he decided to tell Tesson things the former Dark Templar didn't even want to know about. "We want to create a new society, one where there will be no difference between the tribes. We are all Protoss. However, a society does not just fall from the sky. We need rules, laws, and regulations. As we speak, our brightest minds are working on that. Nevertheless, it will take years, maybe even decades to create laws that will cover all the needs of our people, given our different nature and cultural backgrounds and-"

"Just stop, will you do that?" the Tal'darim suddenly groaned and looked over to the Sentinel.

"Ji'Nara?" Talandar asked, confused by the sudden outburst of his, well, enforcer.

Come on, what other thing could a former blood-thirsty Tal'darim do for a living? Former Tal'darim, not formerly blood-thirsty. Some things just never change.

"When they gave you this shiny new body, Consul, did they add a program that makes you want to hold boring and unnecessary long speeches? Wait, let me guess; it's called "Artanis 2.0", am I right?" Ji'Nara mused.

"You wish me to hurry up and get this over with, yes?" Talandar sighed.

"Very much so. I have more important things to do than to threaten this sorry excuse for a Protoss." the former Tal'darim announced and Talandar shook his head. He then turned his attention back towards Tesson and straightened himself once more.

"Tesson, of the tribe of the Nerazim, I hereby declare you to be banished. Never again shall you walk on Aiur's soil, never again shall you set foot on a world inhabited by the unified people of our race. From this day on, you shall be an outcast, and every Protoss who will aid you will have to answer to that." When Tesson heard that, he blinked a few times in confusion. This was not one of the outcomes he had imagined, so he needed time to bring it in sync with what he had expected.

And then he finally started to understand.

"No..." Tesson whispered and shook his head. "...no, you cannot do that."

"Yes, we can. Executing you would serve no purpose. Besides, the time of martyrs is over. We are trying to build a new society, not let the ghosts of the past dictate our every step and-"

"No!" Tesson interrupted the Consul yet again, who just sighed. "No, this cannot be! Brothers!" he yelled and turned towards the Dark Templar in the room. "You cannot allow this! Can you not see this travesty? They are using us for their own agenda and-"

"Be quiet and listen to the Consul!" one Dark Templar hissed, and Tesson gasped in denial when he realized that they were just like Vorazun; blind to the truth.

"As I said..." Talandar continued. "...we are trying to build a new society here, one that will include everyone. However, we cannot convict someone for something he did before this nation was founded, which brings me in a strange situation of finding a solution to the problem that is you."

"So now I am just that? A problem."

"Yes." pretty much everyone inside the room answered at the same time.

"The alternative would be to keep you locked up for the rest of your life. And while there were some who suggested we should do that. However, given the fact the Nerazim who had to flee Aiur hundreds of years ago were incarcerated for a long time, it would be unwise to repeat the mistakes of the past."

"So instead you banish me." Tesson snarled. "What do you expect me to do? Find a distant world where I can just die alone?"

"That is no longer our problem, Tesson. When you leave this room, you will no longer be a member of this society. You will get a ship, and you will leave immediately. You will stay away from our people, from our settlements. No one shall help you. And should you decide to return, then...well, Ji'Nara?" the Consul asked and the former Tal'darim gave Tesson a truly frightening look.

"I will hunt you down." Ji'Nara just explained. She didn't even have to say what she would do to him, the very fact that she would come after him was more than enough to scare the living hell out of him.

"And just so you know..." Talandar then said. "...Artanis? He wanted to forgive you."

* * *

"Forgive me. Right. Because that is exactly what I always hoped for. That he would forgive me." Tesson snarled as he remembered the day of his "trial". Oh, they had kept their word; they had given him a ship. A run-down piece of scrap that was barely space-worthy. Tesson had thought about joining his brethren on other worlds, however, word of his treason had already reached them there.

The Protoss of Aiur had managed to turn him from a martyr into a pariah.

If he wouldn't despise the Khalai so much, he would probably applaud them for achieving this goal. Now his people were pawns of the so-called "Consul". Tesson didn't believe for even one second that Artanis had truly stepped down as Hierarch. Why should Artanis do something like that? Now he could establish his rule, now he could create the society _he_ wanted to live in.

Tesson had spent the last few months on the run. Wherever he went, the doors remained closed. At first, he had felt angry. Angry, because his own kind had betrayed him. Couldn't they see that he had done it for them? After a while, that anger had turned into self-pity. Why couldn't his people just see what he had sacrificed? For them?

However, anger and self-pity will only get you so far. And when you're running in empty, something else will happen. He was no longer angry or sad.

Now he was desperate.

Coming to this place was not something he wanted to do. Unfortunately, Tesson was running out of options, time, and spare-parts for his ship, which had brought him here but was now out of commission. So, this was his last chance; either he would find something that could help him, or he would freeze to death on this godforsaken rock.

"Just my luck..." Tesson growled when he realized that there was nothing inside that photon cannon he could use to improve his current situation. He stepped back and looked over the frozen battlefield. If he wouldn't find a solution fast, then he would join all these dead bodies soon. And Tesson would rather throw himself into a ravine than to allow his corpse to rot where Khalais were rotting.

...nor not rotting at all, like in this place.

The cold was starting to pull at his skin, he had to return to his ship. Even if he couldn't use it to escape this world right now, at least he would be protected from the cold.

As Tesson turned away, he wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings. Not until he heard a loud explosion in the distance. He turned around and squinted his eyes. It was no explosion at all, it was a sonic boom. A ship had just entered the atmosphere. The former Nerazim searched the skies for the newcomer, and when he finally saw it, he clenched his hands into fists.

Someone had come here...

He watched how the ship landed in the distance, right where the old science base was located, the base Tesson had already scavenged for parts.

* * *

It took Tesson roughly two hours until he finally reached the abandoned base. He had been especially careful, though. Who knew why these Protoss had come here. Tesson was aware of the fact that they would probably not be happy to see him. Or they would shoot in sight, once they would figure out who he was.

Unfortunately, Tesson was all out on options. He had to do something, otherwise, he would perish on this moon. And that was something he refused to allow to happen. When he finally reached the research base, he noticed several things. First was that he wasn't greeted by a whole army of Zealots. There was virtually no one around. And the second thing was that that the ship that had landed close to the base was a goddamn wreckage. As Tesson approached it, he recognized it as a... something. Seriously, he had no idea what this thing was. It looked like someone had used both Protoss and Terran technology. It resembled one of those dropships the humans used, yet the engines clearly belonged to a Protoss scout-vessel. And not only that, this thing looked as if a mad engineer had put it together.

Tesson realized that this vessel did not belong to the Khalai. Whoever had come here, he or she hadn't been sent by the Consul, he was certain of that.

The question was; who was this strange newcomer? And why did he or she come here?

As Tesson approached the vessel, he couldn't make head or tails of it. However, it did seem as if it was still operational. And since there was no one around...

Whoever had come here was a fool. That included Tesson. However, he wouldn't question his luck and just decided to grab it. Entering the ship was easy, all he had to do was to push a button. As he stepped into the vessel, he couldn't hide his confusion. He had never been on board of a human vessel, all the cables and pipes and monitors looked so strange and alien to him. The technology the Terrans used was crude, unsophisticated, and simply chaotic. For a Protoss who had never seen the insides of a human ship before, it made as much sense as the insides of a Zerg Overlord or Leviathan.

However, whoever had put this thing together knew his or her way around with both Protoss _and_ human technology. There was a crystalline energy-coupling, one of the few parts Tesson recognized. It was hocked up to two other systems, both terran in nature, yet the former Nerazim had no idea what they could be for.

Whatever, he had no time to look for a user's manual. Instead, he walked over to the cockpit and then...

...he realized that he was in deep shit.

Since he had never seen the insides of a human vessel before, he had no idea how to operate one either. The cockpit was a weird mishmash of both Terran and Protoss technology, just like the entire rest. There were several crystals attached to a console, he recognized them as control-crystals. He knew how to use those. However, the Terran part of this cockpit?

There was a weird, well, stick. It had buttons on it and when Tesson grabbed it, he realized that it was movable. How the hell was he supposed to know what a "joystick" is? He looked at one of those crude monitors. They probably showed information about the ship. The language of the humans was just as crude and simple as their technology, and almost every Protoss could learn it within a few weeks. Tesson was no exception. However, even though he could read that the "starboard-thrusters" were working within acceptable parameters and that the "hydraulic pressure" within the landing-gear looked okay, he had no idea what that meant. Protoss vessels didn't have thrusters, and they sure as hell didn't use hydraulic systems.

Still, he wouldn't allow this little setback to ruin his escape-plan. All he had to do was to get off this rock and find a colony where they hadn't heard of him yet. He decided to press a button that looked promising, maybe this thing had an auto-pilot that could-

"Warning, main-reactor containment-field has been deactivated. Core breach in 30 seconds. Please evacuate the immediate vicinity." an artificial voice suddenly said and Tesson's eyes widened in shock. He pressed the button again, and then the computer spoke again.

"Warning, main-reactor containment-field has been reactivated. Please perform a level two maintenance on the main-reactor before you attempt to restart main-systems." Well, so much for that. Maybe there was something like a user's manual after all. That's when Tesson realized that his plan wouldn't go down as smoothly as he had hoped it would. Unless he would magically master the knowledge on how to operate human technology, he had to find another solution.

Maybe the pilot would solve this problem.

Tesson stepped out of the vessel and looked over at the abandoned base. Even from his position, he could see that someone had managed to turn the lights back on, something that he hadn't been able to do. So whoever had come here, that person knew how to fix what was broken. Tesson could even see the footsteps on the snow. He frowned when he realized that they were Protoss. A Protoss scavenger? It was not impossible, not all of his kind could be worthless Khalai or suppressed Nerazim. Still, he had to be careful. What if this Protoss was not a scavenger, but someone who had heard of him? And so Tesson decided to be as cautious as possible.

One thing that he didn't understand were those strange marks in the snow right next to the footprints. It almost looked as if a Hydralisk had slithered in the same direction as the Protoss. Did that mean that there was still a living Zerg on this world? What baffled Tesson was the fact that it appeared as if they hadn't followed each other but walked side by side.

But that wouldn't make any sense.

It would mean that a Protoss and a Zerg would be traveling together, and even Tesson knew that this was simply impossible.

As he moved towards the abandoned base, he imagined all sorts of possibilities that would wait for him in there. But just like during his trial, Tesson was about to learn that his imagination and the reality were two very different things...


	60. Act III - Chapter 4

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Stowaway vs. Castaway**

* * *

As he watched Sarah's sleeping form, a smile appeared on Jim's face. He sat right in front of her while she slept like a little baby. From time to time she would shudder as if a painful memory was trying to break through to the surface. But then she just moaned and the memories seemed to fade away again. His smile turned into a goofy grin when he saw how Sarah did something very un-goddess-like. Her lips were slightly parted and some drool dripped from her chin onto the warm sand. It wasn't much and it wasn't disgusting either. It was actually kinda cute.

Sarah Kerrigan drooled in her sleep. Adorable.

"Nooo...droooolin..." she groaned in her sleep as if she could sense his thoughts even when not awake.

Jim had finally accepted it. This wasn't a dream. He had no idea how it was possible, but he had seen enough crazy shit in his life to know when to accept things the way they were. And Sarah? She was real. She most definitely was.

She was _real_.

"Toolsss...you so..." she mumbled again. Her red hair covered half of her face and Jim had to admit, he liked it when her hair was loose like this. She had quite the mane, something most people don't realize because she usually kept her hair in a tight ponytail. From time to time it looked as if her hair was pulsing and glowing on its own as if pure energy was flowing through it.

"Just what exactly happened to you, Sarah?" Jim whispered, but he received no answer. He was many things, but an idiot he was not. He knew that Sarah wasn't telling him the whole truth. She wanted to tell him something, but she was glad every time they changed the topic. That could only mean one thing; she wanted to confess, but she lacked either the strength or the courage to do it.

"Sarah, you don't have to do this." he then whispered. "I think I know what you want to talk about. But you don't have to force yourself." He had no idea if some part of Sarah could actually hear him. "I thought about you and what you did ever since we parted in Augustgrad. I listened to what the others said about you. And the longer I thought about it, the more I came to one conclusion; I don't give damn about any of this." He took a deep breath and looked at the horizon. There was a small dark lining, but it was so small that it could be just his imagination playing tricks on him.

"I'm tired, Sarah. Tired of asking these pointless questions. Who is right, who is wrong? Who is to blame? I don't think that we should ask those questions because the answer won't be pretty anyway. For neither one of us." He sighed and closed his eyes.

"But you know what? I don't care. I thought I would, but I didn't. I thought that I should be angry at you, that I should scream and avenge those who died. But do you know what I felt when I saw you again?" He opened his eyes again and looked at her sleeping face. "I was happy. That was the only thing I could think of. So now I got two choices; I can either return to those nagging questions that I know won't get me anywhere, or I can just look what's going to happen next." Jim stopped and listened to the ocean for what felt like a really long time.

"What I want to say, Sarah is; take your time. You don't have to explain anything to me. Just...do it when you're ready. There's no rush." He could see how Sarah opened her mouth. Some more drool fell on the ground and a pained expression appeared on her face.

"Shtupid trees...gonna...gonna send Abatshur after you..." she mumbled.

Sarah Kerrigan, acting like a normal woman. Was there anything better?

"...shend the whol...Shwarm after you...devour..."

Okay, with a slight god-complex. But hey, who's perfect?

When Jim looked at her face, he knew the answer to that question.

She was perfect.

Sarah, still dreaming about garden warfare, mumbled something and turned her head away. And so Jim couldn't see how she started to blush. Sarah Kerrigan, both perfect and cute. Not exactly the two adjectives most people would use to describe her.

"Just take your time, will you?" he then whispered. "Matt once told me that. If you figure out what you want to talk about, I'll be waiting for you."

And then he said the most romantic thing a man could say in a moment like this.

"Now excuse me, I've got some sand in my buttcrack that's driving me crazy."

It was a good thing that Sarah had rolled to the other side. That way he couldn't see how she had to fight with all of her might to not burst out in laughter. Jim looked at the jungle and remembered the pond. He really wanted to take a bath right now. However, going back to that pond might not be the best idea. Especially since there were still all those trees around. Without a fully loaded firebat-suit, he wouldn't get near those things again.

So the only other place he could go was the sea. When he stood up, he groaned in discomfort. He wasn't hungry, he wasn't thirsty, but his clothes felt like he had worn them for days. He walked up to the sea and enjoyed the view.

"Mighty fine place you found there, Sarah." he whispered before he groaned and stretched his aching muscles. Then he started to undress. With nothing but his underpants on, he walked into the water. And guess what? The water was warm. Was there anything this world couldn't do right? Jim leaned forward and got rid of all that sand and sweat. Oh, it felt so good He splashed some of the water on his face and his chest and felt how all the sweat was washed away.

And then he pressed his wet hands against his face and sighed. When had been the last time he had done something like that? He couldn't even remember. And so he continued to wash himself, though he had to admit; having a piece of soap at his disposal would have been nice.

Or a hot coffee.

"Tsk, not even here that long and already bitchmoaning because there isn't any hot coffee around." he mumbled to himself. He splashed more of the not-so-cold water against his skin, and when he rubbed it over his arms, he suddenly stopped and looked at his own skin.

"Guess I must have lost a few scars. Hmm, I wonder who did that." His skin truly looked a lot better and there were hardly any scars left. Not even where his tattoo used to cover them and...

Wait a second.

His tattoo was gone!

"Mother of..." he whispered and brushed over the skin of his arm. The tribal tattoo he had carried around for so many years, it was gone! It wasn't his only one, and that's when he realized that his other tattoos were gone too. Maybe he should be angry at Sarah, however, if he was truly honest with himself, then he had to admit that every single one of those tattoos had been the product of a bad idea and too much alcohol. They had covered up a few nasty scars, though. He rubbed his jaw, still not sure wherever he liked the new look or not. When some of the water on his fingers managed to slip past his lips, he realized that something else was strange. He looked at his fingers and then at the water beneath him.

"That can't be right." He had to be certain about it. Jim leaned forward and scooped up some water with both his hands. He brought it up to his lips, and when he took a small sip, his eyes widened in surprise.

That wasn't saltwater!

How was that even possible?

It tasted like freshwater!

"An ocean filled with freshwater. You gotta be kidding me!" he whispered again. This planet...it wasn't natural. It was as if this place was truly a paradise. Well, as long as you ignored the grumpy plant life. Perhaps Sarah would be able to tell him more about this place.

When he was done with his quick wash, he looked back at the beach. Sarah was still there, resting in the sand and with a calm expression on her face. Jim wondered what she had been through, what she had witnessed and endured in those last few years. Well, at least they got plenty of time to sort things out. He walked back to the beach and grabbed his clothes. He was about to put them back on when he saw all the dirt on them. And they didn't smell that good either.

"Oh man, I really could use some soap right now." Putting those dirty clothes back on felt just wrong. He sighed and grabbed his shirt and his pants. It wasn't much, but at least he should try to get them clean again. Well, as clean as possible.

And so he started to wash his clothes in the sea that was made out of fresh water. No one would believe him that, not even Matt.

While he was busy, Sarah watched him from afar. Not with her eyes, but with her mind. She had heard his words and they had touched something deep inside her.

 _Take your time._ It sounded nice, but even then, Sarah didn't know how to reach the point where shewould be able to tell him about everything she had done. She opened her eyes and stared at Jim's back. The scars, yes...she had removed most of them. Not on purpose, she had just tried to mend his wounds. Guess she had overdone it. As for the tattoos, well, she had never really liked them. The Confederacy had given her a tattoo, long time ago. It had just been a number. 24601. That had been her name for many years. Ghost Nr. 24601. They hadn't even allowed her to keep her name, at least for a while.

The tattoo was no more. She had removed it herself some time ago. She had clawed it out of her own flesh shortly after she had killed Mengsk on Korhal. It had reminded her of too many bad memories. And even though the scar was no longer visible, she could still feel the hot and throbbing pain where she had torn the piece of flesh out of her own body.

Sarah didn't like tattoos.

If Jim would tell her to restore the tattoo, she would do that. However, she hoped that he wouldn't. Perhaps she was too bold, and maybe that was a bit of the old Sarah Kerrigan shining through; acting without waiting for permission, without really thinking things through. Yes, she should have asked for his permission. Then again, it was part of her charm, right?

She couldn't sense Jim's anger. There were other things on his mind and it was amusing to see how he tried to clean his clothes with nothing but clear water. She rolled on her belly and watched as Jim did his thing. He threw his pants over his shoulder and started to rub the dirt from his shirt. He didn't get very far, though. He put his shirt into the sea and wanted to wait so it could soak up some water. He then grabbed his pants and wanted to do the same thing again.

That's when his shirt started to swim away.

"Hey! HEY!" Jim shouted while he watched how his shirt...swam away?

"Oh no, you don't!" he screamed and tramped after his shirt. He was already knee deep in the water when he finally caught up with his shirt. He grabbed it and pulled it out of the water, but his shirt decided to put up a fight.

"What the hell?!" Jim pulled stronger, yet his shirt fought back. For a second, he wondered if Sarah was trying to make fun of him, but when he finally managed to pull his shirt out of the water, there was something clinging to it.

"What is _that_?!" he blurted. It looked like a... crab? It was red and pretty big, like a medium-sized dog. The strange crab-thing even made noises. It sounded like a "Wut Wut Wut". Well, whatever it was, it was using its claws to tear Jim's shirt apart. "Oh no, you don't!" he screamed and grabbed the strange looking crab. Its eyes looked up to Jim, and for a moment he thought that the crab-thing would release his shirt.

That's when it fired its ink right into Jim's face.

"OH GOD!" he screamed again and smashed his shirt on the water's surface over and over again. However, the crab didn't let go of his shirt. Instead, it continued to scream "Wut Wut Wut" and released more of its ink. "Let go of my shirt, you stupid crab!"

"Wut Wut Wut!"

"And stop spitting your ink everywhere!"

"Wut Wut Wut!"

"I'm gonna roast you and then I'm gonna eat you!"

"WUT WUT WUT!"

Jim wasn't certain wherever the crab's strength had finally come to an end, or if his threat of eating it had convinced it to let go of his shirt. He hit the water with his shirt one last time and the crab finally relented. When it submerged, its claw remained above the surface for a few seconds. It almost looked as if that crab was giving him the finger.

"Wut Wut Wuuuuuut!" Jim was about to throw his shirt away, grab that crab, pull it out of the water, and roast it over the fire. That's when he heard someone laughing right behind him. He turned around and could see Sarah, standing just a few meters away from him.

"Just what the hell was that?" she wanted to know. Jim sighed and looked at his shirt. It looked a lot cleaner. Unfortunately, there was a slight problem; that crab had ripped a lot of holes into it.

"Guess the locals didn't like my shirt." he just mumbled with a sour expression on his face. Sarah couldn't help but laugh out loud. The look on Jim's face was priceless and he took her amusement like a real man. He took a good look at his shirt and could see the big holes in it.

"Looks like you should have been more careful, Jimmy." Sarah then teased him.

"Oh yeah, because you would have done so much better!" he shot back.

"Oh, that goes without saying." Sarah told him with a smirk on his face. "And I can prove it."

"Prove it? And how would you do that?" Jim wanted to know. That's when she pointed at something dark moving through the water. Jim looked at the object and frowned. For a second, he thought that it was another strange critter, but then he realized that it wasn't an animal. His eyes widened in anger when he realized that it were his pants.

And that one of those crab-things was trying to get away with 'em!

"Wut Wut Wut!"

"Seems like they really like your clothes, Jimmy. I wonder why's that. Hmm, maybe they want to use them for their nest?" Sarah mused. However, Jim wasn't really in the mood for fun and games. His pants were already closer to her than him and so he pointed at them and yelled: "There, get them back, Sarah! Please!" The desperate look on Jim's face was pretty cute. Sarah walked through the shallow water and decided to help her lover.

"Oh, just admit it:" she explained. "You're lost without me." Sarah simply grabbed the pants and pulled them out of the water. The small red crab-thing was still clinging to it, and she pulled the pants so far up that her eyes, and the crab's, were on the same level.

"See, Jimmy? They're harmless! Kinda cute, remind me of Roaches." Well, if you think that Roaches are cute...

"You just wanted to use that bad man's pants to build yourself a home, isn't that ri-"

That's when the crab-thing looked at her and sprayed its ink all over her.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Jim burst out in laughter when he saw that. All Sarah could do was to take it like a man. Or a woman. Jim had no idea how the crab was able to store all that ink inside its body, but it felt as if the stream of ink went on and on and on and on. When the crab was finally empty, Jim looked at the pitch-black figure that had once been his girlfriend.

"Yep, handled like a real pro, Darlin'." Jim teased back. "You totally need to tell me how you did that. Did the Zerg teach you that?" But Sarah didn't answer. Instead, she opened her eyes and looked at the crab that was still clinging to Jim's pants. And when Jim saw how her eyes started to glow with rage and anger, he knew that shit was about to get real.

"Whoa, calm down, Sarah! It's just a crab, there's no reason to-"

"YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" Sarah screamed in rage. She grabbed the crab and did what she had done to the fruit before; she tossed it away. However, this time she reinforced her throw with her psionics. The result was spectacular; while Jim was pretty certain that it was physically impossible, it seemed as if the poor critter was accelerated to a velocity close to lightspeed, and within less than a few seconds it was gone from both Jim and Sarah's sights while screaming "Wut Wut WUUUUUUuuuuuu..."

And then it was gone.

The only problem was that it still had Jim's pants in its claws.

For a long time, Jim didn't say anything. He took a deep breath and sighed.

"Say, darlin'..." he then wanted to know. "...did you do that on purpose?"

"Jim, I'm sorry. I got...carried away."

Well, that's one way to describe it.

"Hmm...remind me to never piss you off." Jim mumbled and Sarah realized that she had overdone it. She made a step forward and lowered her gaze.

"Jim, I'm sorry. I'm gonna look for your pants, I didn't want to do that. Please, I'm-"

"Hey, Sarah!" Jim then barked and she winced in fear. Was this the moment where he would tell her to go to hell.

"Yes, Jim?"

"You got something in your face!" Jim then kicked into the water and splashed it all over Sarah. She managed to close her eyes just in time, but when the water hit her, it did so by surprise. She spluttered and almost choked on it, and when she brushed the water and the ink from her eyes, she looked at Jim in anger.

"What the hell was that for?!" But then she saw how Jim leaned forward and laughed like crazy. He pointed his finger at her and shook his head.

"Oh, you should see yourself! Sarah Kerrigan, the woman who defeated Amon, who saved the goddamn galaxy, has finally found her match! The terrifying WutWutWut-crab! Hahaha!" When Sarah heard that, she wanted to yell at Jim. If there was one thing Sarah didn't like, then it was if someone was making fun of her. And Jim? Oh, he was testing her patience! And so, she did the only thing a mature person could; she kicked into the water and splashed some of it into Jim's face in return. Her lover froze for an instant and Sarah wondered if she had done something wrong. But that's when a cruel grin appeared on Jim's face.

"Oh, you're so on, lady!" He tossed his shirt aside and used his hands to splash some more water on Sarah, who backed away, but only for a second. Sarah Kerrigan was no quitter and she wouldn't run away from any fight! And so, she answered that declaration of war by splashing water against Jim too.

His laughter was contagious. Soon they were just chasing each other through the water and playing around like they were a bunch of teenagers. Sarah couldn't remember if she had ever done anything like that. It was a strange and alien sensation to her. Perhaps it's something normal people do, but Sarah had never experienced a _normal_ childhood. Still, it was as if her heart was starting to remember what happiness felt like. And childlike glee. Soon all of Sarah's dark thoughts had been banned into the deepest part of her mind. Right now, she was just happy.

At some point, Jim managed to cup some water with both of his hands. He sneaked up to Sarah and poured it right into the collar of her Ghost-suit. Sarah shuddered when she felt how it flowed over her sensitive skin and the moment Jim saw her discomfort, he laughed even harder.

"Didn't see that one coming, huh Darlin'?" he told her. That's when she gave him a cruel grin and decided to show him a new trick. She reached out with her senses and suddenly the water started to shift around them. Jim stopped laughing and looked at Sarah. Behind her, the water started to turn into a huge floating ball, easily big enough to hold a Hydralisk in it. When the floating ball of water moved high up into the air and stopped right above Jim, he looked up and groaned: "Aw, that's unfair!"

Sarah released the ball of water from her control and Jim managed to close his eyes before it all slammed down on him. He was pressed down by the raw weight of all that water and when Sarah saw what she had done, she made a step forward and reached out to him.

"Jim!" But then he just sat up and started to laugh again.

"Hahaha! Oh, didn't see that one coming!" Was there anything that could ruin James Raynor's mood right now? If so, then Sarah had no idea what it could be. And she didn't really want to push her luck. When Jim had finally calmed down, he looked up to Sarah and it seemed as if he was truly enjoying himself to the fullest.

"Damn!" he said. "You still got one hell of a mean left hook, Darlin'!"

"Guess I got carried away." Sarah answered. All Jim could do was to chuckle and wipe some of the water out of his eye.

"Man, I haven't done something like that ever since I was a small boy. Sure felt nice."

"I guess you're right." she kind of agreed. "But pouring that water down my neck wasn't very nice, you know." That comment caused Jim to chuckle.

"Hey, where I'm from, if a boy likes a girl, he pulls at her hair!" he defended himself. "Besides, I think you shot my pants into a geostationary orbit. Fair's fair."

"Really?" Sarah replied and gave him a cocky smile. "When you were a little boy, you pulled girls by the hair? And here I thought you were a knight in shining armor!"

"Cha, well...I haven't always been this chivalrous, Darlin'. Oh, by the way, you still got ink all over your suit." When Jim told her that, she looked down at herself and realized that he was right. The ink of those WuutWuut-crabs (she would never call them like that) covered most of her chest.

"Might want to find a way to rub that stuff off." Jim suggested. "Otherwise it might ruin the suit. Dunno, will it interfere with the suit's cloaking device?"

"It's not a suit." Sarah then told him. When Jim heard that, he pulled his brows up.

"Looks to me like your old suit, Darlin'." When she looked at him, she could remember something. Something they had shared a long time ago. Something that she hadn't done in ages.

"It's not a suit, Jim."

"Okay, then what is it?" he asked. She stretched her arms out and then she simply decided to release her control over all the molecules that she had used in order to create this shell. Because it was nothing else; just a shell.

Jim watched in disbelief how her suit started to shift and how its edges became soft. For a second, he had no idea what was going on and wondered if Sarah was about to leave. But then he saw how the suit started to...fade away and his eyes widened in surprise. A calm breeze brushed over Sarah's body and blew the particles away. It all happened so fast, he had no chance to brace himself. As he looked up at her, all he could do was to swallow hard.

Perhaps it was not very romantic to have these kinds of feelings, but Jim Raynor was still a guy. And he recognized a naked woman if he saw one. Even if that woman was more than just a woman.

He had seen her naked before. He could still remember her beauty. No one had ever claimed that Sarah was ugly. On the contrary, even as a Ghost, she had been able to go up against the most beautiful women and still emerge victoriously. And now? Jim couldn't really describe it, but it felt like something had changed. Every part of her looked the way he remembered it, only _more_ perfect. Suddenly his mouth turned dry and he could feel how his heart started to beat faster. He wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth, no words left his throat.

When Sarah saw his shocked expression, she had to chuckle.

"Oh my, we're making progress. I can't sense even one dirty thought." Jim was simply too much in awe to have these kinds of thoughts. However, her words made him realize that he was staring at her like some kind of pervert. He blushed and turned his head away.

"I'm...I'm sorry, sorry, uhm...yeah, sorry about that." Jim Raynor nervous? Now it was his turn to be cute.

"What?" she teased him. "Don't like what you see?" Jim, who refused to look at her, shook his head.

"No! No, that's not it, it's just...oh hell."

They had only done it once. They had spent some nights together, yes. But they had only slept with each other on one occasion. And it had been...nice. No lust-filled nights, nothing naughty or overly erotic. No, Jim had been the perfect gentleman. Even though their time together had been a short one, she had always treasured those memories.

Jim Raynor possessed a gift; he could make you feel like you're the center of the universe, and all the stars and planets were just dancing around you.

As Sarah walked over to him, she could sense his uneasiness. He didn't want to do something stupid. He didn't want to say something hurtful. And he didn't want to give her the impression that he was just interested in her body. At the same time, he felt ashamed because his body thought differently. It craved Sarah's gentle touch and to feel her soft skin on his own. She could even sense one thought.

 _Glad that those parts are under water right now..._ she could hear him think. And it made her chuckle.

"Uhm...I would offer you my shirt, but I think those crabs are already using it for something else." Jim then mumbled. He turned away and looked at the distant horizon. The dark lining was still there, and it appeared as if it had become bigger. It almost looked as if a storm was approaching. Sometimes even the most battle-hardened veteran can be turned into a small boy. And all it needs is the delicate touch of a woman. Jim's whole body tensed up when Sarah knelt down right behind him and slung her arm around his torso. He could feel her soft and warm breasts pressing against his naked skin and had to swallow hard.

"You seem a bit tense, Jimmy." Sarah whispered into his ear.

"Uhm...well, could be because there's a beautiful lady right behind me. And she's totally naked." he admitted.

"But you saw me so many times naked. Technically, when I was Zerg, I was naked all the time."

"That wasn't the same." he then told her.

"Oh? And why's that?" she wanted to know. Jim's bowed his head and he took a few deep breaths. Was he...hyperventilating?

"Because that wasn't you. It's what the Zerg had created in order to replace you. But it wasn't you." When Jim said that, Sarah froze for a second. Not her? The Queen of Blades had been a different person, implanted by the Overmind in order to take control over Sarah's body. At least that's what she had believed. That's what she had told herself. But now she wasn't so sure about that anymore. What if...what if the Queen of Blades had actually been Sarah all along?

"Jim, I..." she wanted to explain it to him, but that's when he suddenly turned around. He raised his hand and pointed his finger at her chest.

"May I?" he asked and their eyes met. Did he want to touch her breasts? Sarah could see the pain in his eyes and then she nodded. But when Jim reached out with his hand, he didn't go for her breasts. Instead, he put his fingers between her breasts and stopped.

"Jim, what do you-" she wanted to know, but then a smile appeared on his face.

"Your heart...its beat is just like I remember." he interrupted her and Sarah didn't know what to say. Jim, on the other hand, knew what he wanted to do. He leaned forward and pressed his head against her chest. Not in a creepy way, though. He put his ear against it and closed his eyes. All he did was to listen to her heartbeat. He slung his arms around her slender frame and sighed. Sarah, too baffled to do anything, looked down and studied the peaceful expression on her lover's face. And then she could see how a single tear rolled down his cheek.

"So warm." Jim whispered. She felt a sting inside her chest as if her heart wanted to tell her that it didn't deserve this kind of honor. But instead of rejecting him, she too slung her arms around him and kept him in a tight embrace. All Jim did was to listen to her heartbeat. This was how they had spent most of their few shared nights. And now Sarah finally realized how much she had missed those nights.

After a while, she could hear a whimper. She looked down and frowned.

"Jim?" When he turned his face to her, she could see those tears in his eyes. "What's wrong?" But the smile on his face was genuine.

"I'm just so happy." he then told her. "Happy that you came back to me."

If there was such a thing as a perfect moment, then this was it. Sarah's heart felt like it was made out of glass and about to burst into a million tiny pieces. She didn't really think things through, neither did Jim. As they stared into each other's eyes, both felt a deep connection, one that went beyond friendship, comradeship or even romantic feelings. It was as if both their hearts and both their souls were connected to each other. Their faces came closer and just before their lips met, they both hesitated. It was as if they were asking themselves the same question...

Should I really do this?

When both of them figured out the answer, their lips finally met.

They enjoyed the kiss to the fullest, but it didn't end there. No, not this time. She felt how Jim's hands brushed over her back, how his fingers wandered over her arms and cupped her face. Her own fingers traced over his chest and she felt all the small scars she hadn't removed yet. His skin was like a canvas, showing all the battles he had fought. And it shamed Sarah to admit that she had been the cause for a whole lot of these scars. However, she couldn't just see the scars on the outside, but the ones on the inside too. And there were so many of them.

Jim carried more than enough guilt within his heart for several lifetimes. But now that they shared a kiss, the guilt seemed to be quiet, at least for now.

Their fingers continued to explore more of their bodies. It was as if both were looking for something that was wrong, that didn't feel right. They wanted to see if everything was still the way they remembered it.

Perhaps they had done it only once, but that didn't mean that it hadn't been special. Because it had been special, to Sarah at least. There were a lot of ways how you can have sex, and most of them aren't so great. Like when the man only wanted to find release. However, Jim wasn't like those guys. He wasn't a brute that was only looking for his own pleasure. Sarah could feel how his mind wished to touch hers. It's something true lovers do, right? To truly become one with the one you love. Usually, that's just a fancy wish, but with Sarah being the lover?

Let's just say she accepted his request.

The moment she opened her mind to him, he broke the kiss and looked into her eyes. His mouth was slightly opened and his cheeks red from all the arousal and excitement. And they hadn't even done anything yet! But then a warm smile appeared on Sarah's face and she brushed through his hair. There was hardly any gray left anymore. The moment her thoughts, hopes, and dreams entered his mind, he looked at her in awe. For someone without any psionics, it could be truly terrifying. Jim had felt Sarah in his head before, albeit not this powerful. It was as if her mind engulfed his, caressed it, and protected it from any harm.

"You're beautiful." he whispered. Perhaps it wasn't the most poetic thing he could have said, but Sarah felt his genuine feelings when he told her that. And even though Sarah had become so much more, even after so much terror and pain she had endured, there was still a tiny part of her that was happy to hear that. Instead of answering, she just leaned forward and they started to kiss him again. Their fingers became more daring, but even then, it was Sarah who had to take the lead. She could feel Jim's hesitation. Not because he didn't want to feel her, but because he was scared of hurting her, of doing something that she might now want him to do. She grabbed both his hands and their fingers intertwined. Their kiss became more and more passionate, and when Sarah couldn't take it anymore, she broke the kiss and pressed his head against her chest. She felt his hot lips on her skin, and a sad smile appeared on her lips. Perhaps she was just looking for excuses why this moment couldn't last forever. In the end, it would just be like that; they would wake up and the passion would be gone. And then the nagging questions would return. And the self-doubts. That's when Jim looked up at her and returned the smile.

"Then let's just enjoy the moment, Darlin'."

And that was the best idea she had heard in a long time.

So yeah, she couldn't answer those questions. Perhaps there wasn't a satisfying answer to begin with. But Jim was right; they could at least enjoy this moment.

And so, they did.

Their hands became bolder, their kisses more daring. But even then, it never turned strange or unpleasant because their minds were intertwined as well, and they could feel what the other one was feeling. If there was a word to describe how it felt, neither Jim nor Sarah had ever heard of it. Some say that a body and a mind can become one. But this was different because there were two bodies and minds becoming one.

She allowed Jim to take the lead, and he accepted the invitation. Leaning forward, he grabbed her lithe figure and put her into the shallow water. As he looked down, he could only repeat his initial statement.

"You're beautiful."

And the most wondrous thing was that she could sense nothing but honesty. Like said; James Raynor possessed a gift. Sarah had no idea if other guys had it too, but she liked to believe that they didn't, that only Jim could do something like that. When he leaned down and their lips met again, she could feel his love and affection inside her mind. It felt like a warm blanket, surrounding her like a shield and protecting her from all the cruel things in the world.

And right now, she truly felt like she was the center of the universe, and all stars and planets were staring at them in awe and envy.

They hadn't sex with each other. No, that wasn't it. Sex was a too technical term for what they shared.

It was love.

They were making sweet love to each other. Not rough and smutty or anything like that, but gentle and caring. It wasn't perfect either. Maybe you can't forget how to ride a bike, but if you haven't done it in a long time, getting back on the bike can be quite the shaky experience, at least until you get the hang of it yet again. Sometimes there was a misplaced knee, sometimes there was an elbow in the way. When that happened, they started to giggle like two little kids and enjoyed the childlike glee of the other one. But even though it wasn't "perfect", it made it oh so much more special to them.

There was a certain kind of innocence to it. And when they loved each other in the shallow waters of this world, Jim had completely forgotten about the beauties and wonders this planet had to offer.

Because the most beautiful thing in the universe was right here in his arms.

And all those nagging questions and self-doubts? They were finally silenced.

At least for now.

* * *

 **Uncharted Space**

 **Near the Koprulu Sector**

* * *

What Karax had done was nothing short of a miracle. Finding a spaceship lost between the stars was something not many could do. Truth to be told, he didn't know anything who had ever managed to do anything comparable. The ship they had searched for had gone off the grid a long time ago. He had managed to find the vessel's name in the remnants of the spaceport located on Kaldir. It had taken Karax some time until he had managed to get enough systems operation again in order to access the data banks. It had paid off, though. He had found not only the ship's name but also its flight-path.

With the data, Karax had been able to find out where the ship had traveled.

Pretty much every individual in this galaxy would have praised Karax for pulling off the impossible.

Everyone...

...except Izsha.

"About time." was the only thing she had told him after he had told her that he knew where to find the lost ship. After that, they had boarded his makeshift skiff and left Kaldir behind.

"That's odd." Karax had said mostly to himself while Izsha had looked over his shoulder. The skiff wasn't very big, but since it was made out of the fuselage of a human dropship, there was enough place for both him and Izsha.

"What is odd, minion?" Izsha had demanded to know.

"It seems that we have gained some weight. Hmm, curious."

"Is that a problem?"

"No, I do not think so." Karax had told her. "I guess we picked up a lot of ice while being on Kaldir's surface. I just need to recalculate a few things. Worry not, Lady Izsha, everything is fine." He knew what his little ship was capable of, he had built it with his own two hands. While it didn't look like much, it was sturdy and wouldn't explode...again.

Well, at least now he knew that the cooling-systems on Terran reactors were things he could not just shut down at any given time.

However, both the Phasesmith and Izsha didn't even consider for a second that the extra weight wasn't just ice on the outer hull, but someone waiting in the shadows for the right moment to strike.

Karax solved within hours what would have others taken months. And when their ship exited hyperspace and returned to real space, it took them not long to find the object they were looking for. They found the ship dead in space. It would seem that its FTL-drive had died a while ago. Now it in orbit around a huge gas-giant within an unnamed system. Only a weak emergency signal remained. It was too weak to be picked up by anyone by chance. However, once Karax's little skiff entered the system, he knew where to go.

The ship was dead. Usually, Karax wouldn't say something like that. If something was broken, you could usually fix it. His professional pride as a Phasesmith told him that. However, after inspecting the outer hull of the ship, Karax was pretty certain that this ship would never fly again. Maybe they would be able to salvage it for parts. Karax was still in dire need of special kind of crystalline power coupling, one that he needed to finish his next project.

However, when he landed his skiff in one of the open hangar bays, he felt only one urge, and one urge alone; to get the hell out of here. Unfortunately, Izsha didn't care for his worries. Or fears. Or any feelings he had.

"Lady Izsha, do you really think that this is a wise idea? The ship's systems seem to be completely inoperable, and life support has seized to work some time ago. The emergency systems appear to be badly damaged as well. I doubt that we can stay for very long." And he wanted to return to their small craft as soon as possible. However, as Izsha slithered down the ramp and looked around, he had no other choice but to follow her.

The moment he stepped out of the skiff and looked around, he couldn't help but shudder. Ulnar was empty and void of all life. But it was fascinating and the ultimate playground for someone like Karax. However, this ship? The moment he felt the cold and stale air on his thick skin, he had to think about these old crypts on Aiur, where the ancient civilizations of his homeworld had buried their dead. It was a complicated way to say that this ship reminded Karax of a grave. If Izsha felt the same way, she didn't show it.

Instead, she looked around and inhaled the air as if she was checking it for something.

"I cannot sense any Zerg. However, I can smell them." she just said. One had to wonder how someone without a nose can even smell, but since Karax didn't possess a nose either, he didn't even know what it felt like to smell something. Izsha just looked over at the nearest door and slithered towards it. Karax followed her closely, partially because he didn't want to lose her out of his sight, partially because this place was creeping him out.

Even though Izsha had a huge distaste for Protoss' technology, by now she knew how to open a door. She pressed a crystal next to it and waited for it to open. However, when nothing happened, she looked over her shoulder.

"Minion, this door seems to be inoperable. I require access to this vessel!"

"Could you please not call me minion?" Karax pleaded.

"No. Now get to work, minion." Izsha declared, and Karax sighed in defeat. Working with Izsha was a bit like working with members of the old Conclave. They too had called members of other castes "minions" from time to time. So he was actually used to this kind of treatment. He removed a plate and looked at the system that powered the door.

"Hmm...it would seem that the main-energy is offline and that the emergency-systems are either inoperable or depleted. Lady Izsha, this ship is dead!"

"We have not come here to get the ship, we have come here to get what was left behind." she explained, and Karax frowned when he heard that.

"Left behind? What would that be?"

"Can you open the door? Or can you not?" Izsha instead snarled, and Karax realized that he should just do as she told him to. The systems of the door were dead, and under normal circumstances opening this door would have been impossible, at least without heavy tools. However, studying human technology had taught him a trick or two. He hurried back to his skiff and searched for a small device he had built himself. The humans called these things "APU", and while Protoss had things like portable generators too, they had nothing this small. The smallest thing they used were pylons because they could power an entire base. However, using a device that was only meant to power a small system?

When he grabbed the generator, he noticed something else; someone had left one of the compartments open. He blinked in surprise when he saw that. It was actually a small escape-pod. Far too small for Izsha to board it, and almost too small for Karax. So instead, he used it for all sorts of tools and stuff. It would seem that Izsha had thrown all his tools out of the escape-pod and left it open. Karax could only speculate why she had done something like that, but he knew better than to ask her about it. He already knew which kind of answer he would receive.

None.

When he returned to the door, he started to work on it immediately. Izsha watched with mild disinterest. She didn't really care for what he did, only that he didn't slack off. He worked as fast as possible, but even then, he had enough time to talk to Izsha.

"What were you looking for in the escape-pod, Lady Izsha?" he wanted to know while doing his job.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, minion."

"But...the escape-pod. Someone opened it and removed my tools, and it was not me, so I assumed that-"

"Do not assume, work faster. I do not care for any escape-pod." Izsha just told him. He sighed but decided to not continue this conversation any further. When he finally managed to open the door, he felt a sense of pride and accomplishment. However, it only lasted for a second. When he looked into the corridor, all he saw was darkness. Suddenly he felt how that sense of dread returned to him. Izsha didn't seem to be afraid at all, she just slithered forward.

"Minion Karax, do not waste our time. Hurry up!" And so he grabbed his generator and hurried after Izsha. Truth to be told, he had no idea where they should go first. The main reactor? Or the bridge? In the end, it was Izsha decided where they should go, just like always. However, she looked as if she was searching for _something_.

"I can sense her." Izsha said to herself when they stopped at a crossing.

"Her?" Karax asked. "Are we searching for a person, Lady Iszha?"

Instead of answering his question, Izsha just slithered forward. As they walked through the corridors of the empty vessel, Karax realized that it wasn't really empty. There were still Zerg around, but they didn't move. He stopped in front of a Hydralisk that cowered near a small air duct.

"Are they...dead?" he asked, but Izsha shook her head while she slithered past him and towards a big door.

"No, minion Karax. They are merely hibernating. I recommend that you do not touch them. If they wake up, I might not be able to tell them in time that you are not food." Karax, who was about to touch the unresponsive Hydralisk, stopped and made a step backward. Better not push his luck.

"Forgive me if I ask that question again, but what is it you hope to achieve here? I do not like this place." It was as if he could hear the dead whispering at him from beyond the Void.

"It is like I have told you; we need to secure the place called Ulnar for her Majesty, so no other will ever be able to set foot on it again without her permission." She continued to slither towards the next huge door. Karax realized that it was the entrance to the bridge. He turned away from the unresponsive Hydralisk and made sure to follow Izsha and stay as close as possible to her.

"But how could this vessel help you with that? It is just a derelict ship. It isn't even a military vessel, there are hardly any weapons on board!" he explained to her. When Izsha stopped in front of the door, she looked over her shoulder.

"This ship contains something far more important than weapons, minion Karax. What we need is an army to secure Ulnar. However, we are not just looking for an army, but one that will be absolutely loyal to her Majesty. Now, open that door!" she ordered him to do. Karax knew better than to refuse to follow her orders. He did the same thing he had done to the other door, but this time it wouldn't open.

"What is the matter, minion Karax?" Izsha wanted to know.

"It appears that something is blocking the door from the other side. Please wait, I will activate the emergency override." he told her and knelt down right next to the door. He opened another access panel and activated the mechanism that would force the door to open. This wasn't a military vessel; therefore the door wasn't reinforced so no one could enter it. Naturally, the Zerg hadn't known what to do and had used the air ducts when they had stormed this ship. The moment he entered the right code, the override became active and forced the door open.

"Oh, my!" Karax yelled and jumped back. Torrents of old and dead creep poured out of the room and filled the corridor almost knee-high. It was a very unpleasant experience, at least for Karax. Izsha didn't seem to mind though. She just waited until the flow of creep stopped and then she slithered on the bridge.

Karax had a bad feeling about this, but he still decided to follow her. And when they entered the bridge, he looked around in shock.

"What has happened here?" he whispered to himself. This place didn't look like the bridge of a Protoss vessel anymore. It looked like a Zerg hive! There were even more Zerg here, but none of them were moving. They all looked like they were either dead or sleeping.

Izsha didn't waste any time. She spotted the reason for why they had come here and slithered towards it. Even though everything seemed fine, she knew that most Zerg were in fact not sleeping, but had succumbed to the lack of any nutrition. Even Zerg couldn't survive hibernation indefinitely. It didn't matter, though, because the most important part of this hive was still there. She moved up to the big creature. It was roughly her size, only a lot bulkier. Like Izsha, its upper torso resembled that of a human, albeit a lot less humanoid than she was.

As she stood in front of the creature, it started to move. It could feel her presence and responded to it. When it opened its eyes, Izsha tilted her head to the size.

"Broodmother Niadra." she then announced. "Your Queen requires your services once more."

* * *

Have you ever tried to get a shock-frozen broodmother into a ship that was way too small for a Protoss and two Zerg? Well, it wasn't easy. It didn't help that Niadra was barely responsive. She recognized Izsha but didn't even notice that Karax was a Protoss. Her mind was probably still under the effect of the prolonged hibernation.

Karax knew that Zerg could be truly vicious creatures, yet watching the somewhat deranged broodmother was a strange sight indeed.

Karax had to push with all of his might to get Niadra into the skiff, and after that, he had to crawl over her back in order to get to the cockpit. The whole situation was beyond strange, and he had suggested Izsha to look for a bigger vessel on board of this ship, maybe even trying to make it operational again. However, Izsha had refused that idea. They were on a tight schedule and had to return to Ulnar as fast as possible.

"Where...am I?" Niadra said when her mind finally started to regain some traction. Izsha, who had wrapped her long snake-like body around the broodmother, rolled her eyes to the side.

"You are about to serve her one true Majesty again, Niadra. That is all you have to know."

"...why is there a Protoss right in front of me?" the broodmother then asked.

"Because he too serves her Majesty." Izsha explained to her.

"Huh...the Protoss are serving her Majesty now?" Niadra mumbled.

"No, just this one. His name is Karax, and he is not to be devoured. Is that understood?"

"Sure, sounds great." Niadra mumbled, and Karax felt a surge of relief when he heard that. "Besides, I have killed and consumed so many Protoss, I don't think I will ever consume one again." Oh, that sounded just wrong on so many levels. Niadra turned her head to the side and looked over Karax's shoulder, who was still trying to pilot the skiff, which was easier said than done, given their cramped situation.

"So, Karax is it?" the broodmother said with a surprisingly casual tone in her voice. "You didn't have any relatives on that ship, did you?" Karax looked back at her and pulled his brows up.

"Uhm, no. Not that I know of, why?"

"Oh, that's good. Because I slaughtered every Protoss on this ship. I guess it would have been awkward if I had killed any of your friends."

…

…

…

Oh, boy.

"And what is the other Protoss' name?" Niadra suddenly asked. Both Izsha and Karax exchanged confused looks.

"Other Protoss? Broodmother Niadra, you must be still suffering from the effects of your prolonged hibernation. There is no other Protoss on board of this vessel." Izsha said with a stern expression on her face. So pretty much the same expression as always.

"Really?" Niadra asked. "My cloaca disagrees with that. Because I can feel how a certain someone behind me tries to poke me in all the wrong places." There was an awkward moment of silence, and then they all heard a new voice. It belonged to a Protoss, and neither Izsha nor Karax recognized this one. All they heard was one thing.

"Well, crap."


	61. Act III - Chapter 5

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 5**

 **The More, The Merrier**

* * *

Everyone has a different idea of what paradise should look like. And most people only managed to find their happy place inside their own heads. Most concepts of paradise were pretty straightforward, though. Let's take the deceased Fenix for example; he had been a warrior to the very core. To him, paradise had been the chance to prove his strength and his honor. Tychus Findlay's concept of paradise had been a buttload of money, endless supplies of booze and a hooker in each of his muscular arms. Yep, that was Tychus for ya'.

In the end, both of them hadn't found their paradise.

Fenix's end hadn't been very glorious. His death had been a disgrace. He had been betrayed by the Queen of Blades like a goddamn acolyte. And Tychus? Well, it was probably for the best that he had never found his paradise because the very idea was frightening on so many levels.

Other people had more ambitious concepts of paradise. Let's take Zagara, for example. She was clever, far cleverer than any Zerg-ruler before her, including the Overmind. And cleverer than the Queen of Blades. To break the cycle of conquest and destruction? Neither Sarah nor the Overmind nor the Cerebrates had managed to do that. And while Sarah had been the one to change Zagara, the Overqueen sure as hell had surpassed Sarah when it came to "vision".

Her idea of paradise was to create lush worlds where here kind could dwell. Ambitious, but not impossible. And surprisingly peaceful.

And then there was Matt. Matt's idea of paradise was a huge mess. It was an idea of an open and diverse society, one where every citizen had rights and could rest assured that the government would respect those rights. He would work diligently to get there, but he would never truly see that paradise with his own two eyes. He shared that problem with Artanis, who suffered from the fact that not all Protoss wanted to join their new empire. So yeah, paradise was a highly subjective concept.

However, sometimes people could share the same dream, the same concept of happiness. And your idea of a personal paradise could change over the course of time. Jim had lost his own personal paradise a long time ago, back when his wife and son had died. And with their death, he had stopped believing in something like a paradise. As for Sarah? She had never truly believed in paradise. There was too much guilt, too much shame for that. At first, paradise had been moments of peace and quiet, when her instructors at the Ghost Academy had left her alone. Back then paradise had been the fleeting dream of a life without war. She had believed in that for a short while when she had worked for the Sons of Korhal, just like she had believed Arcturus's sweet words of victory.

" _You can do everything you want once we're victorious."_ Those had been Arcuturs's words. She had believed him but had later realized that she didn't know anything but killing and warfare.

Then James Raynor had happened. And paradise? Paradise had been resting within his embrace.

When they had met for the first time, they hadn't spent much time together. After her little happening with the Zerg, paradise had been turned into a nightmare, and she had tried to avoid thinking about it.

In a way, both Jim and Sarah were like two drowning people, trying to hold onto each other in order to stay afloat. And you know what? It seemed to work.

So here they were, spending their time the only way it seemed fit; by wasting as much time as possible doing nothing, nothing and even more nothing.

Well, not really nothing. They did something, like catching something to eat. Like sitting in front of a campfire. And öole talking. No, they didn't kiss all the time, and they didn't have sex all the time either. They spent most of the time talking to each other. Not about serious stuff, but things that were utterly boring and unimportant. Well, actually Jim did most of the talking. They talked about this and that. About Jim's childhood and how he had never been able to go fishing with his father because a farmer has not much time to do anything but to work.

He told her about his time in the Confederacy and his old comrades, the Heaven's Devils. Sarah only knew the technical details about his career because she had read his file after Arcturus had saved both Jim, his men, and the Magistrate from Mar Sara. However, reading a file and hearing the actual story were two different things. She listened to all the juicy details, giggled when he told her a dirty story or groaned when he mentioned a nasty joke Tychus had made. It was just different to hear the story from Jim himself.

"...and so the guy just looks at us and says: You got my back, right?" Jim then said and chuckled. "And Tychus and I look at each other, pull our shoulders up and say something like "Sure thing, pal!" And so he walks into that bar, thinking that we got his back."

"But you didn't." Sarah concluded.

"We didn't." Jim confirmed and shook his head. "You know, I've done plenty of stupid things when I was younger. But running back into a bar filled with pirates who had just insulted my mom? Bad idea."

"How did it end?" Sarah wanted to know, and Jim pulled his shoulders up.

"A solid "Meh". They gave him back to us roughly 15 minutes later. Could have been worse, at least we got all of his fingers back so a doctor could glue 'em back on. From then on he was known as 11-finger-Bob." Sarah knew that she would regret asking this, but she had to know.

"Why eleven fingers?"

"Because the pirates gave us back eleven fingers! And the doc', who was anything _but_ a real doctor, glued 'em all back to the guy's hand. Man, we had to find a real doctor to fix that damage. Do you know how hard it is to find a decent doctor in Deadman's Port? Let me tell you; it's hell." he explained to her. Sarah pulled her legs up to her chest. She was completely naked, so was Jim. He remembered how two WutWut-crabs had stormed off with his underpants between their claws.

"Hmm..." Sarah then hummed and stared at the fire. They had caught some more squidfishes and the smell of their roasted flesh was delicious. It certainly had a strange Adam-and-Eve-vibe to it, but Jim didn't care about that. The memories of them making sweet love were still firmly embedded in his mind, and the afterglow was like a warm blanket all around him. Ever done it with psionics? No? Well, in that case, you missed a lot. Even now Jim could feel the presence of Sarah in the back of his mind. There had been times where he hadn't appreciated the very idea of having someone inside his head. It wasn't about the secrets people keep inside their heads, it went deeper than that. The thought of having someone in your head...required trust.

There was usually a moment of silence when he finished a story. During that time, they would just stare at the fire or the sky and say nothing. They didn't have to. From time to time Jim looked at the horizon and could see the dark lining at the very edge of his vision. There was no doubt anymore, a storm was approaching. The only question was; would they just sit it out or would Sarah take them somewhere else, somewhere safe.

So yeah, they did spend their time like that for next couple of...hours? Days? It was hard to tell since there wasn't really a night on this world to begin with. At first, it had been nothing but glorious, but now Jim started to feel a strange kind of exhaustion. He had managed to sleep a bit since they had arrived here, yes. However, it was impossible to tell for how long. Had he slept for a few hours straight, or had he just taken several naps. The way his body felt, it hadn't been really that many hours of sleep. He was exhausted and felt the urge to lay down and rest for a long time. It was like having the worst jet lag of all times.

He looked over to Sarah, who stared aimlessly at a point beyond the fire. It was as if she was deeply lost in thoughts. He studied her facial features, but right now they were unreadable. It was as if she wasn't really here with him, but somewhere else. Even then he had to smile when he saw those red and soft lips he had felt on his skin just a short while ago. And it wasn't just her lips. Those long legs, her soft skin, even the shape of her breasts and tights...even if you would ignore the fact that Jim was deeply in love with Sarah, she was a woman of remarkable beauty.

A stupid grin appeared on his face when he remembered what they just did a few hours ago. Well, at least he thought that it had happened just a few hours ago. For a long time, he continued to stare at Sarah, but the only thing she seemed to do was to stare at the fire and breath in a steady rhythm. Jim expected her to make a snippy remark, yet all she did was to stare at the flame.

"Guess the food's ready." he then said and grabbed the stick with the squidfish on it. "You should grab yours too before it's charred. Well, bon appetite!" And then he decided to dig in. The squidfish was really delicious and Jim knew that he could get used to eating those things for the rest of his life. At least they weren't really fighting back, unlike those trees.

Jim was almost done with his squidfish when he realized that Sarah hadn't even touched hers.

"Sarah, are you okay?" But Sarah didn't answer. It appeared as if she was lost in thoughts.

"Sarah? Earth to Sarah?" When she opened her mouth and said something, it wasn't exactly what he had expected to hear.

"Guess I should see it for myself, huh, Izsha?" Her voice was barely a whisper and Jim almost didn't understand what she said.

"Who's Izsha?" he then asked and only then Sarah realized that she had spoken those thoughts out loud. Her eyes widened in surprise and she looked at Jim.

"What? Oh, no, I'm sorry. I was just thinking about something." she told him.

"I can see that. Care to share your thoughts? I don't want to be the only one that's telling boring war-stories that happened ages ago. How about it? You wanna tell me something?" The smile on his face showed that he wasn't truly looking for a story, it was enough if she would talk to him. Sarah returned his smile with a grin of her own, but then she lowered her gaze.

"Sarah? Are you okay?" he asked again, but she just nodded.

"Yes. Say, aren't you tired? I fell a bit sleepy. How about we take a rest, hmm?"

"That sounds like you want me to shut up. What's the matter, Darlin'?" His comment made Sarah shake her head.

"No! That's not it, Jim! I'm just...just tired, that's all. It's just a lot to process. Just because I once hugged a Xel'Naga, doesn't mean that I am now a supercomputer."

"Speaking about Xel'Naga..." Jim then said and he could see how Sarah tensed up when he mentioned that.

"Please..." she whispered. "...not now. I know that you got questions, and I promise you that I will answer them. Just not...just not now. Please?" He could see the pain in her eyes and decided to nod. It was brutally clear that Sarah was still struggling when it came to talking about what had happened to her. Whatever it was, it couldn't be pretty, and by now Jim knew that attacking a problem head-on wasn't always the smartest thing to do.

However, even then Jim realized that something had changed. It was as if Sarah wasn't really present. Oh, her body was here with him, there was no doubt about that. But it was as if her mind was somewhere else. It wasn't completely new to him, he remembered this trait from days past. It meant that Sarah was thinking about something else. For all the abilities she had, Sarah had a rather singular mind. She would always just focus on one problem at a time. Was it because they had trained her as an assassin who needed the ability to focus on one target and one target alone for a long period of time? Or was it because Sarah was just that way; only able (or willing?) to concentrate on one thing.

She liked to space out. Her body was still there, but her mind was all over the place. Jim didn't know that, but the Queen of Blade too had done things like that too; standing on top of her hive while thinking about the future. However, the future she had imagined back then was completely different from what she was experiencing right now.

And so, Jim decided to play her game. He knew something was wrong, but he didn't want to ruin any of this because he would do or say something stupid. Not until he knew what was going on.

"You do look tired, Sarah." he then said and she sighed in relief. It was as if he was telling her just what she wanted to hear. "How about we take a rest, hmm?" It appeared as if she was finally getting back into the here and now. She looked into his eyes and nodded.

"I like that idea, Jimmy." she agreed. That's when she suddenly rolled around and pressed her body against his. Feeling her naked skin on his own sure felt nice. It was a small gesture of affection, but one that was highly welcome. She pressed her lithe body against him and they started to cuddle like they had waited years for this moment to finally happen. Well, they _had waited_ years for this moment to happen, so they decided to enjoy it to the fullest. At first, they had just listened to the sound of the ocean, but now it was accompanied by the beating of their hearts.

"You know..." Jim then whispered into her ear. "...I don't want to complain, but I really could use a toothbrush once we wake up. And a piece of soap."

"I'll make sure to look for one when I get the chance, lover." Sarah replied.

No more words were exchanged, no more questions asked, no more stories told. All they did was to rest while holding each other in their arms.

Perhaps Sarah had a singular mind, perhaps she only liked to concentrate on one thing at a time, but there was one thing she was truly good at. And that was faking it.

No, not _that_ , the other it. You know, not the sex-thing, but acting like she's sleeping when she's not. She could sense how Jim tried to stay awake, how he wanted to see her fall asleep first so he could tell her that everything's fine and that she should take her time. But this time it wasn't about them. It was a battle of will; who would fall asleep first. And to win this battle, she just had to fake her defeat. When Jim was certain that she had fallen asleep, he still wanted to tell her something. But his exhaustion wasn't faked. And so, when he fell asleep, both of them remained calm for some time.

When Sarah was certain that Jim had fallen asleep, she sighed. She didn't like to do this, but she saw no other option. Keeping secrets from Jim wasn't something she was proud of. However, telling him the truth would have... _complicated_ things.

And so she did what seemed to be the most reasonable course of action; she bailed out.

"Don't worry." she whispered to him before she reached out with her senses. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Just...just don't wake up." She could have made sure of that, but she didn't want to. Not just because it would have meant to betray his trust in her, but what would happen if someone would come and do something to Jim? She knew that this place was safe-ish. And she wouldn't be gone for long. And so she gave him one last gentle kiss on the forehead before her body started to vanish into thin air.

And then she was gone.

Minutes passed with nothing happening. Then, when everything seemed to be peaceful and quiet, Jim opened his eyes and looked at the empty spot in front of him. A worried expression appeared on his face.

"Just what are you so afraid of telling me, Sarah?" he asked himself. Whatever the reason, he had to find out. For both their sake.

* * *

It had been weeks since she had left Ulnar and traveled to Mar Sara, where she had watched Jim for some time before she had revealed herself to him. Even though they had only spent a few days on this strange and alien world, it felt like it had been weeks, maybe months. Maybe it was a side-effect of those never-ending days.

Well, it wouldn't pose a problem because the place where she was going knew only everlasting night. Quite poetic if you think about it. Still, she could have gone without that trip. Traveling back to the Koprulu Sector almost caused a physical form of dread inside Sarah's mind. Too much bad mojo. Then again, which place didn't have too much bad mojo these days?

She had felt Izsha's request even over all that distance. She shared a mental link with her trusted advisor, one that wasn't that much different from what she shared with Jim. However, there was one small difference. The connection she shared with Jim was one of heart and mind. Their emotions were the thing that bonded them to each other. Reading Jim's mind wasn't something she could do unless she actively wanted to do that. Her connection with Izsha was different, though. It wasn't about emotions, but about logic and thoughts. In a way, it was more like a tactical link, an information line she could use to share her thoughts and plans with Izsha.

However, it worked both ways and when Sarah had received Izsha's thoughts that her advisor had succeeded in "finding the foundation of a suitable army", she had decided to ask Izsha for more details. When Sarah had heard just _who_ Izsha had recruited, she had felt nothing but dread. Not because it was a bad idea. On the contrary, it was a brilliant idea. _If_ it worked. But that wasn't the problem. No, the problem was that Jim would never understand it.

And that wasn't the only problem.

There was someone else Izsha and Karax had picked up...

The moment she returned to the halls of Ulnar, she could sense the change. _Their_ presence was undeniable, and for a short moment, Sarah felt like she was back on Char. A small part of her even felt like she was back home.

Ulnar was made out of many huge rooms, caverns and such. Some were so big that you couldn't see the other end, and she still had no idea how something like that could even exist. It appeared as if this place was bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside.

Perhaps it shouldn't surprise Sarah if the Xel'Naga had actually managed to fold space in order to create huge areas within small rooms.

The moment she returned to Ulnar and her flaming body filled it with light, she realized two things.

First; she wasn't the only thing anymore that lightened this place up.

And secondly; there was a goddamn hive right in front of her.

And not only that. There were Zerg. A lot of them. Not as many as there could have been, but a lot nonetheless. She was floating high above the ground and she wasn't the only one. There was an Overlord close to her. Funny, there had been a time when she had been surrounded by thousands of Overlords and all of them had listened to her command. They were simple creatures, even by Zerg-standards. Basically, they were nothing but living communication-relays. Sarah turned towards the Overlord and tilted her head to the side.

 **And who would you be?** she asked the overlord, but the creature didn't answer. Of course it didn't, it was nothing but muscles and reflexes. But even then, the creature seemed to notice her. It floated towards Sarah in order to check the newcomer out. As Sarah looked into those big eyes, she could sense a dull mind behind them. There wasn't much going on inside an Overmind's head. However, there was still a connection to its master. The psionic link was like a scent, every person or creature had its own distinguished pattern, one that you could recognize even from afar.

And this Overlord? Sarah recognized that psionic pattern, even though she had only sensed it for a short time years ago. She hadn't forgotten about it because it belonged to someone she had created in the first place.

"My Queen. Welcome back." Izsha's voice reached her senses and Sarah looked down. Below her was her trusted advisor. However, she wasn't alone. The large figure of a broodmother stood right next to her. The funny thing was that Sarah recognized this broodmother in an instant, even though they had never met like this. As she descended towards the surface below her, she could see that it was covered by a thin layer of creep.

 **Someone was busy while I was gone.** Sarah then said. Izsha just bowed her head in respect.

"Unfortunately, progress was slower than expected. Your servant was in poor shape when we found her, and it took her some time to regain her strength. I apologize for this delay, your Majesty." When Izsha told Sarah that, she had to smile.

 **There's no reason to apologize, Izsha. I'm proud of you, I didn't think you would come up with this solution.** That was actually the truth. Sarah had anticipated that Izsha would try to recruit Zerg to help them protecting Ulnar. But she had assumed that Izsha would try to approach Zagara. Instead...

 **Hello, Niadra. It has been some time.** she said to the Broodmother. Niadra bowed her head in respect and stretched her arms out.

"My Queen, it is good to finally see you again." the broodmother replied. "Though I have to admit; I didn't think it would be like this." That statement caused Sarah to chuckle.

 **Oh, trust me, that makes two of us. You look a lot bigger than when I saw you the last time.** That much was certainly true. The last time she had seen Niadra in the flesh, she had been nothing but a hatchling. One that she planted into the chest of that female Protos scientist and...

...oh. Great. Sarah could feel how her mood turned sour when she remembered _how_ Niadra had come into this world. And why.

"Believe me, my Queen..." Niadra replied. "...the feeling is mutual. Though I cannot remember much, I am pretty certain that you weren't glowing this much the last time we talked." That statement caused Sarah to chuckle. They had never met eye to eye, but they had communicated via psionics.

 **And yet you still seem to know who I am.** That wasn't a question. Niadra bowed her head once more.

"Of course. Perhaps you look different, but I can still sense your presence. You are the Queen of Blades, the supreme ruler of the Swarm." When Sarah heard that, she sighed and looked over to Izsha.

 **Didn't you tell her?**

"Of course I did, my Queen." Izsha replied. "However, it appears as if Niadra needs some more time to process this information. Nevertheless, I told her about the change of leadership and that Zagara is now in command of the Swarm. I also told her about your fight against the fallen Xel'Naga Amon and how you and you alone saved this galaxy, as no one else could have done it." Okay, now she was boasting. Sarah sighed again and looked back at Niadra.

 **And? Did you understand what has happened while you were gone?**

"Not a single word." Niadra replied truthfully and shrugged her shoulders. That comment caused Sarah to snicker and Izsha lowered her head in shame.

"Forgive me, your Majesty, I tried to explain it to Niadra. But it appears that she has still problems with her perception. Perhaps her brain took some damage during the long time of hibernation." Sarah could sense the shame inside Izsha's mind. She lowered herself even further until her eyes were on the same level as Izsha's. She reached out and put her hand on her advisor's cheek, a gesture that caused Izsha to actually smile.

 **Izsha, it's fine. You performed marvelously, there's no need to apologize. Besides, it's a bit much to swallow. Let's give Niadra some time. And from the way I look at it, you've actually made some progress while I was gone. You even managed to get a hive up and running!** That much was true, even though it was just a pretty small hive, not even one hundred meters high. And aside from a few overlords, Sarah couldn't sense much else.

"Again, I beg for your apology, my Queen." Izsha explained. "Setting up a hive has proven to be quite difficult. Without any form of biomass, we had to look for other means to acquire energy. We were able to salvage enough biomass in order for Niadra to create this hive, but as you can see it is not very impressive. As we speak, Karax is looking for a solution."

 **Speaking of which; how did you get that much biomass in the first place?** Sarah wanted to know.

"Oh, there were enough dead Terrans and Zerg lying around, my Queen." Niadra replied and suddenly Sarah realized that she shouldn't have asked that question. Well, they were dead anyway and the place was filled with them, so you might as well use them. Not very tasteful, but hey, that's life. That's when Izsha said the one thing that caused Sarah to wince in pain.

"Will the Terran James Raynor join us soon?" she asked. That's when Sarah's eyes widened. Oh no, if he would see those Zerg...

It was a good thing that she hadn't brought Jim along. Explaining any of this to him would be impossible. The moment she remembered the man she loved, her mood turned sour. She looked at the hive behind them and a frown appeared on her godlike features. Only now the implications of her actions started to fully unfold inside her mind.

She had done it again.

No matter what she would try to tell him, he would never be able to understand her motivations. She had brought the _Zerg_ to Ulnar. And she was once more in control of a brood. A small brood, yes, insignificant when compared to the mighty Swarm. But it's the thought that counts and Sarah just knew that Jim would assume that she was about to return to her old ways.

"My Queen? Is everything alright?" Izsha asked, puzzled by Sarah's sudden change of heart.

 **Yes, Izsha. Everything's fine.** Sarah lied and turned around. **It's just...ah, nevermind.** Sarah sighed again and then she shook her head. She looked over to her most trusted advisor and suddenly her expression became almost pained.

 **Well...** Sarah then said. **...I suppose I should take a look at that lovely little package you found on your way back home, hmm?** When Izsha heard that, she bowed her head and pointed with her hand at a nearby corridor.

"As you wish, my Queen. Please, follow me. The prisoner is this way."

* * *

Even though Ulnar was not really a prison, there was no way to escape. Not that it mattered, though, because Tesson had no idea where he was and how he could escape. He did know that he was on Ulnar, the other Protoss called "Karax" had slipped that piece of information by accident. Karax...Tesson knew that he had heard that name before, but he couldn't really remember when or where. All he knew was that the other Protoss was a Khalai phasesmith, albeit unlike any phasesmith he had ever seen or heard of.

Tesson sat on a crate and stared at the wall in front of him. It was filled with strange inscriptions and runes. He recognized some of them, almost every Nerazim had studied something related to the Xel'Naga, and he was no exception. As a Dark Templar, it had been his duty to learn something about the Void and...

...well, _former_ Dark Templar.

Tesson no longer had the right to call himself a Dark Templar. So, what was he now? A drifter? A scavenger? Something even less?

As he studied the wall in front of him, he recognized certain symbols and runes. It was nothing impressive, nothing ground-breaking. The inscriptions on the wall didn't tell him how he could escape this place. Most of it was just gibberish anyway, at least to him. Tesson sighed and turned his head around. So, this place was Ulnar. Hmm, he thought it would be more, well, impressive. All he saw were huge walls and nothing else. Oh, the place was ridiculously huge, there was no doubt about that. But aside from that?

Tesson had fought against Amon's enemies, just like everyone else. However, he had never set foot on Ulnar. This place meant nothing to him. All it was now was a prison, even though there were no cells or bars keeping him in place. However, that didn't mean that he could just walk around freely. The Protoss turned his head to the side and saw the two Zerg lying next to the corridor that led to their hive. The moment he looked at them, the two Zerglings raised their heads and hissed at him in anger. Under normal circumstances, two Zerglings would have been hardly a match for a Dark Templar. Unfortunately, circumstances weren't normal. Without his equipment, and still exhausted from his trip to Kaldir, Tesson was in no shape to fight. Besides, where could he go? Even if he would somehow manage to kill those two Zerglings, what then?

"Pffffff..." he heard a strange sound and looked up. Right above him hovered an Overlord. He had no doubt that there were more than enough eyes pointed at him.

Just what had he gotten himself into this time?

Tesson had, of course, tried to escape; however, his plan had been seriously flawed from the start. And the fact that this broodmother had spotted him immediately had certainly not helped either. Inside the skiff, they hadn't been able to do anything. Tesson had spent hours being buried under a Zerg broodmother's eggsac. It was something he never wanted to do again. When they had reached Ulnar, he had been in no shape to fight or run away. The creature called Izsha, who was obviously in charge, had ordered Niadra to kill Tesson. However, this Karax-person had pleaded for her to show mercy. Izsha had agreed, reluctantly. That didn't mean that Tesson was safe. She had told him that "the Queen would decide his fate". He had no idea who that Queen was, but it didn't sound very promising.

Well, at least it wouldn't be the Queen of Blades. Tesson had no idea what had happened to the wretched creature after the battle of Saalok. Artanis had told the people that the creature that had caused all that destruction had been a hybrid. A lie, typically. However, the people had accepted that lie. Few knew who had truly been responsible for the battle that had almost smashed the Golden Armada to smithereens. Tesson only knew that the Queen of Blades had been on Saalok's surface because he had eavesdropped on both Selendis and Vorazun. He had actually no real proof that the Queen of Blades had returned, which was the reason why he had kept it to himself.

Because let's face it: If he would accuse Artanis and his comrades of treason and lies, no one would believe him. And if he would tell them that the Queen of Blades was still alive, they would ask for proof. Proof he could not provide.

The irony left a bitter taste in his mouth. Well, in a figurative sense of speaking. He was in possession of the truth, yet no one wanted to hear it. His own people had abandoned him. He was alone. Truly alone. As he looked at the Zerglings, he could feel an overpowering sense of fatalism.

"Might as well dig in." he suggested to the two beasts. "But be warned, I was told that Protoss taste horrible." Niadra's words, not his. So yeah, here he was, waiting for whatever was about to happen next. There were still questions, though. Like why the hell a Protoss was working with Zerg. Maybe it was another ruse? Maybe Artanis had decided to form an alliance with the Zerg? Or maybe he had sold his own people out to the Queen of Blades.

"Just like with Raszagal." he muttered. And that's when he heard a new voice, one that caused him to shudder. He jumped back on his feet and looked around.

 **Now there's a name I don't want to be remembered of.** It was as if the voice was inside his mind. He could feel all the raw power, and it almost caused him to choke in pain.

"Who...who are you?!" he yelled and looked around. The Zerglings seemed to sense it as well. They backed down, which was probably not a good sign.

 **Little Nerazim, far away from home. A lost little snow-flake? Or a spy, looking for something that doesn't want to be found?** the voice mused. It sounded strange, unlike the voice of a Protoss, or a Zerg. It was psionically charged, and it sounded like it belonged to a female. Still, Tesson had never dealt with Terrans before, therefore he had no idea how a human woman sounded like. Not that it mattered, though, because that creature that was talking to him was no longer human.

"I'm no spy!" Tesson hissed and clenched his hands into fists.

 **That's usually what spies say.** the voice replied dryly. **So, what brought you all the way out to Kaldir. Looking for clues? Trying to figure out what I did in the past? Has Artanis finally decided to change his policy? Does he want to settle this the old-fashioned way?** When Tesson heard that, he could feel how cold rage filled his mind.

"I DO NOT ANSWER TO ARTANIS!" he roared and looked around. However, there was no one to be seen. "I answer to no one! I am my own master, and I do not care for your little show of force! Come out here and show yourself, hybrid!" It was the only logical explanation. Only a hybrid could possess the power to control the Zerg, and force other Protoss into servitude.

 **Hybrid?** the voice mumbled. **Boy, it seems that you have no idea what you have gotten yourself into, huh?**

"If you want to kill me, then do it! Be done with it, and do not waste both our times!" Tesson screamed in rage.

 **Ugh...you Protoss are all so boring conversationalists.** Before Tesson could reply anything, a bright light appeared right above him. For a second, he thought that a star had just entered the room. As he looked up, he had a hard time to make out any details. It was just too bright! However, once his eyes had adapted to the light, he looked up again and what he saw...

...made no sense to him.

"What...what are you?" he whispered both in awe and disbelief.

The creature in front of him looked unlike anything he had ever seen before. It resembled a human, at least he thought so. He had only looked at pictures of humans a few times. He wasn't even certain how many limbs they had. However, he was pretty certain that this creature floating right above him was not human. As far as he knew, humans hadn't ascended to godhood.

Well, that information was a bit outdated.

 **Gotta say...** the golden figure said. **...I didn't think that I would have to reintroduce myself to a Protoss.** Tesson wasn't able to give a snippy remark. Or any remark at all. All he could do was to stare at this magnificent creature and feel insignificant.

 **Who are you?** the flaming angel demanded to know, but Tesson didn't answer. He couldn't. He then heard a frustrated sigh coming from this creature. **Gosh, impressing you sure as hell is easy. Here, let me tone down the light for you.** If this was a joke, then Tesson didn't get it. However, as he watched how this magnificent being lowered herself to the ground, he wondered if her raw power would simply burn him alive.

Luckily, that didn't happen. Instead, he watched how the light faded away and was replaced by pink skin, how the fire covering her head turned into red hair, and how all that energy was replaced by flesh and blood. When the creature's feet touched the ground, she looked at him with a piercing gaze.

"Hope this is a bit less...epic." the woman said with a casual tone. Now that she was no longer so, well, magnificent, Tesson could finally study this creature. It looked human, at least he thought so. Thinking of which, did humans have more than one gender? And what were those two weird fleshy things attached to her chest? The human seemed to notice his looked and lowered her gaze. When she noticed that she was completely naked, she groaned.

"Damn, I really need to keep in mind that I'm naked when I do that." she muttered and a few seconds later her body was covered with a brand-new Ghost-suit again. As she looked at Tesson, she crossed her arms in front of the chest and frowned.

"Now, how about it? Wanna' have a decent conversation?" she suggested.

"Do I have a choice?" Tesson shot back when he finally regained his composure.

"Not really." the human female admitted. "However, how about this? Let's have a nice conversation, without anyone saying anything that the other one might regret." Even though Tesson had no idea who (or what) this creature was, he knew that he was in no position to demand anything.

Still...

"What are you?" he wanted to know. The woman blinked in surprise when she heard that. For a moment it seemed as if she was about to yell at him, then she seemed to be amused. In the end, she decided to be annoyed.

"Oh, seriously? You tell me that you have no idea who I am? Either you must think that I'm totally stupid..." she mused. "...or you are the unluckiest Protoss in the history of your people."

"Oh, on that much we can agree." Tesson growled and the human woman (who was obviously no human woman) pulled her brows up.

"That I'm stupid?" she wanted to know with an annoyed look on her face.

"That I am the unluckiest Protoss in the history of my people." Tesson growled. "Who are you." That's when he suddenly felt a strange sensation in the back of his mind, almost as if someone was pulling at his very conscious. The eyes of the woman widened in surprise when she probed his mind. It was just a tiny bit, but enough to realize that he was indeed not a spy, but a desperate fool without any place to go.

"Huh..." the woman mumbled. "...guess you and I have something in common. We both don't like Artanis."

"Artanis?" Tesson hissed. "You know him?"

"You could say that." the human female replied and a tired look appeared on her face. She bowed down a bit and stretched her arms out. "In case you haven't realized it yet, let me introduce myself to you. My name is Sarah Kerrigan. But you may call me "the Queen of Blades", if that makes you feel better."

And that's when Tesson's face lost all of its color.

* * *

There was a long moment of silence when the Protoss finally realized the truth. Izsha watched from afar. Not because she was afraid that the Protoss would do anything, but to study her Queen with keen eyes. She was looking for any sign of change, of something that was different. Her Majesty had been gone for some time now, she had spent that time with the Terran James Raynor. Izsha had hoped that this would lift her Queen's spirit, but as she looked at her rightful Mistress, she could not really see any change at all.

There was still a certain kind of sadness in Sarah's gaze and her voice, something only those who knew her really well could tell.

"My Queen." Izsha whispered, which was rather uncommon for her. Still, she could no longer hide her doubts.

 _She will need your help soon. And so will he. Take care of them for me, will you, Izsha?_

Izsha blinked in surprise when she suddenly heard the voice of her Queen in the back of her mind. No, not the voice of her Queen...this one sounded almost like Sarah Kerrigan, but only almost. Izshaturned her head around when she felt a strange familiar presence right behind her.

"Who is there?" she demanded to know, yet when she scanned the area...

...there was no one around.

A frown appeared on Izsha's face. Her Queen had told her about the effects this place could have on people. And Sarah had told her about how her mind had fractured. Izsha wished she could have been there when that had happened. Not because she had wanted to see her Queen on her knees, but because the urge to protect her Majesty was still her one and only true priority.

Maybe this place wasn't just having a negative influence on Sarah, but on Izsha as well. She shook her head after a while and tried to clear her thoughts. And then she turned her attention back towards Sarah and the Protoss called Tesson.

* * *

"You don't look so good." Sarah said when she looked at the Protoss. "In fact, you look like you've seen a, ugh, ghost." She groaned when she realized the cheap nature of her own pun.

"I've seen pictures of the Queen of Blades." Tesson hissed. "Every Nerazim has. And you don't look like her." When Sarah heard that, she pulled her brows up and felt truly surprised.

"Wait, a Protoss who only judges outer appearances? Well, that's something new. I must disappoint you, however. I am the real deal. Maybe this will help you to accept it." Right before Tesson's eyes, the human woman with the red hair changed once more. Her hair turned dark and formed into zergish nerve-cords. Her suit fell apart, and the rosy skin was replaced by thick carapace. Within seconds the Queen of Blades returned to this realm, and all Tesson could do was to shake his head in shock and disbelief.

"No! NO!" he stuttered and stumbled backward. He lost his balance and landed on his butt, only to stare up the creature and feel afraid. Sarah noticed that and felt genuinely surprised. For a second an arrogant smile appeared on her face when the old Queen of Blades broke to the surface. However, it vanished almost in an instant, when she realized that she was no longer this person.

Or was she?

Still, watching this Protoss was strange. He wasn't just scared, he was frightened to death!

"No...no!" he muttered over and over again. Even though Sarah refused to probe Tesson's mind, she could still sense his fears. Spending so much time with Karax had taught her a lot about Protoss' emotions. Especially since Karax was a naturally curious soul who had no idea how to hide his own feelings.

"Don't you worry..." Sarah explained. "...I'm not gonna hurt you." However, as Tesson looked at her Zerg-body, all he saw were death and claws and even more death.

"You...you...you killed the Matriarch! You killed so many and... and..." Tesson stuttered. As Sarah looked down at the shocked Protoss, she sighed.

"Maybe it helps you to know that I haven't killed anyone recently. At least I think so. Or do screaming plants count?" she chuckled, trying to ease the mood. However, her sense of humor wasn't appreciated by Tesson.

"Murderer! Monster! Are you going to kill me now too?" the former Dark Templar demanded to know. Sarah frowned when she heard that. That was the usual approach, wasn't it? And she had done it so many times. However, now that Sarah was face to face with another Protoss that wasn't Artanis, she realized one thing...

...the thirst for blood was gone.

There had been a time when she would have ripped this Protoss into pieces and enjoyed every goddamn second of it. But now? Now she felt nothing. Not even shame for what she had done, no. She did truly feel nothing at all. Only...exhaustion.

And that's when she realized that she didn't want to think about it anymore. That she just wanted to leave that part of her life behind and never to be reminded of it again. Unfortunately, the universe wasn't that forgiving.

"You murdered the Matriarch! You killed so many of my kind!" Tesson snarled both in anger and fear. "And you destroyed our home! You destroyed Shakuras and-"

"Whoa, hey, slow down! Easy on the accusations!" Sarah interrupted him and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her blade wings rustled and she had to admit; being Zerg again had its merits. The raw power and feral nature of her current self helped her to deal with her insecurities. "That with Shakuras wasn't me!"

"It was the Zerg who attacked our home! You ravaged our world until it collapsed!"

"Those weren't my Zerg." Sarah replied. "They didn't belong to the Swarm. They followed Amon. You know, that crazy bastard that wanted to destroy every free being in this galaxy. The guy I murdered. The guy I murdered and who actually deserved it." Then there was a strange moment of silence. "Also; I did not blow up Shakuras." Sarah pulled her shoulders up and tried to recall what Karax had told her about what exactly had happened on Shakuras. Back then she had been busy elsewhere, leading the Swarm against her enemies.

"If I remember correctly, then the honor of blowing up Shakuras goes to Artanis. At least that's what Karax told me and-"

"What?" Tesson hissed, and suddenly his fear seemed to be completely gone. Instead, Sarah could sense his anger and righteous fury. It burned with such an intensity that even she made a step backward. "What did you say?"

"It was Artanis who blew up Shakuras. Like said, that's what Karax told me. Wait, isn't that common knowledge for you guys?" But when she looked into Tesson's rage-filled eyes, she got her answer.

"Oops."

There was another awkward moment of silence. Sarah watched how Tesson clenched his hands into fists. For a second, she thought he would attack her. However, that's when...

"Ha..."

"Hahaha..."

"HAHAHAHAHA!" the Protoss started to laugh. It was a mixture between a cruel and a bitter laugh. Sarah could sense a tiny bit of real amusement, but it was nothing when compared to the rage she felt emitting from Tesson's mind. This Protoss was strange. His emotions were a huge mess. Even without probing his mind, Sarah could tell this much. If he was a spy sent by Artanis, then he was either the worst spy of all times...

...or Artanis had finally lost it.

Sarah knew that she shouldn't probe other people's minds. A human mind was a delicate thing, but entering Jim's mind was not nearly as dangerous as entering that of a Protoss. As a former human, Sarah knew exactly how a human mind worked. She would only end up lobotomizing someone if she chose to, not by accident. However, the mind of a Protoss was still strange and alien to her. It was easy to twist, yet impossible to repair. At least she hadn't figured out a way to restore Karax's mind to what it once had been.

It would be so easy to dive into this Protoss' mind and figure out the truth. But at what cost?

"Are you going to kill me now?" Tesson asked when he had finally calmed down. "Is this my fate? To be banished, to go into exile, and to die at the greatest enemy of my people?"

"Banished?" Sarah asked with a surprised tone in her voice. She hadn't even known that Protoss banished their people. All she had to do was to dive into Tesson's mind and figure out the truth.

Just one tiny flick and all his secrets would be hers.

Sarah stared at the Protoss for a long time, and the Protoss stared right back at her. He was unlike any other Protoss she had ever met. After a while, she lowered her gaze and turned around.

"I'm not in the mood to deal with this crap right now. I won't kill you. I don't know what I'm gonna do with you either. For the time being, you will stay here."

"I'm your prisoner?" Tesson wanted to know.

"Call it what you want. Guest without benefit, hostage, prisoner, whatever. Even if you're truly not a spy, I can't risk you running back to Aiur to tell them where I am. Gonna talk with Karax about that, maybe he has some use for you." Sarah then turned around and simply walked away. As she passed the two Zerglings, she made sure to speak so loudly that Tesson could hear her.

"Keep an eye on this one, will you, boys? And if he tries anything funny; bon appetit." she said. Truth to be told, the Zerglings didn't understand a word she told them. However, her mental command was clear; make sure that this Protoss wouldn't escape. And while Tesson had no idea what "bon appetit" meant, he was pretty certain that it was meant as a threat.

Suddenly Sarah's body changed once more. Carapace vanished and was replaced by soft and rosy skin, but only for the fraction of a second. It then started to glow when she reignited her powers, and Tesson watched in awe how that magnificent creature simply flew away.

And then he was alone again.

"Artanis...blew up Shakuras?" the former Dark Templar whispered after a while. He clenched his hands into fists and snarled in anger.

It all made sense.

Maybe it should have been some kind of comfort for Sarah to know that there was a Protoss who hated Artanis more than her.

* * *

Niadra was busy doing nothing. She was resting in front of her hive, overlooking nothing in particular. This place offered only a pitiful amount of biomass, which meant that the size of her brood was severely limited. Izsha had told her that Karax was already working on a solution for that problem. Until then she simply had to stay put and make do with what she had.

 **Niadra.**

The moment she heard her own name, she turned around and looked up. As the flaming body of Sarah Kerrigan descended from above, she could feel all that raw power in her own mind. There was surprisingly little going on inside Niadra's mind, though. She wasn't like Zagara, who had always been more aggressive than any other broodmother. No, Niadra was just doing her job.

"Your Majesty. Is there anything I can do for you? Did you talk to our prisoner?"

 **As a matter of fact, I did. He is a weird one, even for a Protoss.** Sarah said.

"Did you eat him?" Niadra suddenly asked, and even Sarah's godlike features showed true surprise when she heard that question.

 **What? No. I don't consume others. Why would you ask something like that?** she wanted to know. Niadra shrugged her shoulders when she heard that.

"I was just curious. I ate so many Protoss when I was stuck on that ship. Should you ever decide to eat one, then don't. Trust me, they taste horrible. You should rather eat a stone instead. Tastes better."

 **You don't even have a mouth, Niadra.** Sarah replied.

"Oh, that's no problem at all. You see, all I had to do was to throw the bodies into a spawning pool and wait until they rotten. Then I could just absorb them through my cloa-"

 **That's quite enough, thank you very much!** Sarah interrupted Niadra. There was no need to go into details. Sarah wasn't squeamish, but right now she didn't want to think about that. Instead, she looked over her shoulder and into the direction where Tesson was under guard.

 **Just what am I going to do with you, hmm? s** he mused. Deep inside her own mind, she already knew the answer. However, Sarah lacked the resolve to do what had to be done. She looked at her own hands and frowned. Now they looked as if they were made out of pure energy, but for the fraction of a second Sarah imagined that they were covered in blood.

 _You don't have to do this._ the voice spoke to her again. _This is not what defines you._ When Sarah heard that, she closed her eyes and sighed.

 **Then what does define me?**

Unfortunately, the voice had no answer to that.


	62. Act III - Chapter 6

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 6**

 **If you ignore it, it might just go away**

* * *

"My Queen?" Izsha found Sarah in a remote part of Ulnar. Though technically every part of Ulnar was remote. Sarah had changed into her human form again. She sat on something that resembled a huge cube. It kinda reminded Sarah of a refrigerator, though she was pretty certain that the Xel'Naga had never used something like a refrigerator. For all she knew, Sarah could be sitting on the one computer that stored all the knowledge the Xel'Naga had possessed. Or it was just a huge garbage bin.

When Izsha slithered towards her, Sarah looked up and sighed.

"Hey, Izsha."

"My Queen, are you alright?" On the one hand, that was a stupid question. Of course Sarah was alright! She had finally managed to do what she had wanted to do for so long. She had revealed herself to Jim, and he had accepted her back into his life. And right now, there was no one out to kill her. Well, that wasn't entirely true. There were probably still many out there who wanted to see her dead. However, they all had one thing in common; they lacked the strength to harm her.

All in all, everything appeared just peachy.

Unfortunately, Izsha knew Sarah far too well to be fooled by her answer.

"Yes, Izsha. Everything's fine."

Izsha stopped in front of her Majesty and looked up.

"Forgive me my boldness, my Queen, but you do not appear to feel very well. Is there something on your mind?" For a short moment, a smile appeared on Sarah's face. There was just no way for her to hide her feelings from Izsha. Usually, Sarah didn't like it when people could read her like an open book. She didn't even like it when Jim did that. It made her feel weak and vulnerable.

However, Izsha was different.

"There's just a lot I have to think about, Izsha. That's all." Sarah lied. Truth to be told, there wasn't anything going on inside her head right now. Perhaps there should be, but she just refused to think about all the questions that were starting to nag at her.

"Is the presence of this Protoss bothering you, my Queen?" Izsha then asked.

"Well, it sure as hell ain't making things easier, that's for certain." her Queen replied, and then she sighed.

"Do you wish for us to dispose of him?" Izsha wanted to know, and instead of yelling at Izsha "NO!", Sarah remained silent for a long time. She lowered her gaze and looked at her own feet. Right now, she was naked. She had again forgotten to summon some clothes. Not that it mattered, though. There was no one around to stare at her anyway. And neither Izsha nor anyone else currently present cared for a naked human woman. Sarah stared at her toes and started to wiggle them. She remembered the soft sand on the world Jim was waiting for her. She wanted to go there, to leave this place behind, to just ignore all the rest.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy.

Maybe she could take Izsha with her. And Karax. And Niadria. And then she could explain to Jim that she...

...no.

No, he wouldn't understand it.

Izsha could see the frown on her Queen's face, and she decided to wait patiently for Sarah to say something. When she finally did, Sarah's voice was but a whisper.

"What do you think I should do, Izsha?" She was still her Queen's top advisor. Well, right now she was the Queen's only advisor, but details, details. Izsha lowered her gaze and placed her hand on her scaly chest.

"This Protoss is a threat to you, your Majesty. It is most likely that he is a spy, sent out by the other Protoss to track you down. Allowing him to leave would only result in the other Protoss coming here in order to find you."

"He said something about being banished. And he really seemed to hate Artanis. Even more so than the Queen of Blades. It was...weird." Sarah told Izsha.

"Yes, I believe I heard something like that from him too. When Karax tried to talk to him, he called him, and I shall quote him: "treacherous Khalai-filth that should rot in the Void for all times, like Artanis"."

"Hmm, guess even Artanis isn't the knight in shining armor to all of his people. It's actually quite amusing." Sarah mumbled.

"Do you wish for me to dispose of this Protoss, my Queen? Just say the word, and it shall be done." And again, Sarah didn't answer immediately. She continued to stare at her own toes until suddenly a sharp pain shot through her mind. She gritted her teeth and Izsha slithered closer towards her.

"My Queen? Are you alright?" she asked once more. However, now you could actually hear the worry in her voice. Sarah took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, it's nothing. It's just...guess even I'm not above such mundane things as headaches. Go figure." And then she closed her eyes. "Don't kill the Protoss. Keep him locked up. Or have Karax talk with him, maybe he can get something out of this one. Just make sure that he doesn't leave Ulnar."

"But is that not a big risk?" Izsha asked. "Perhaps we should-"

"No, Izsha." Sarah interrupted her with a soft tone in her voice. "I don't want to. I know it's easy, but let's just try to not kill this Protoss. At least until he gives us a good reason. Is that understood?" Izsha just bowed her head when she heard that order.

"Of course, my Queen. However, there are more things we have to talk about. Now that we have acquired Niadra, we need more biomass in order-"

"Not now, Izsha." Sarah interrupted her and slid off the futuristic refrigerator...or whatever it was. She landed on her feet, and this time she remembered that she was completely naked. The moment her feet touched the ground, her body was already covered by yet another Ghost-suit.

"My Queen?" Izsha asked, but Sarah just shook her head and turned away.

"I just need to think about somethings. I want to be alone for a while. Don't worry, I just...I just need to go for a walk." And then she turned around and walked away. Izsha seemed to be truly surprised by her Queen's reaction.

"My...Queen?" Izsha whispered both shocked and worried. "Did I do something wrong?" But she received no answer. Sarah just wanted to be alone in order to think about things...or not think at all. Yes, that was a good idea. She just wanted to empty her mind and not think about all the stuff she had to worry about. Originally, she had wanted to return to Jim as soon as possible, preferably before he would wake up again. But now she felt like she should stay in Ulnar for a short while longer in order to calm down.

Behind Sarah, Izsha remained behind. Unlike any generic Zerg-minion, Izsha knew that something was wrong. She knew that her Mistress was worried, that something was bothering her. And even though their connection was different from what Sarah shared with Jim, Izsha could still feel that something was wrong. As she watched how her Queen walked away, she just knew that. Izsha had hoped that spending time with the Terran James Raynor would help her Queen to find her inner balance. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.

Was there something wrong with James Raynor?

Sarah didn't care about what Izsha was worried about. At least not right now.

As she entered one of the many corridors of Ulnar, she groaned and placed her hand on her forehead again. The headaches started to fade away, but she still felt exhausted. Instead of just ignoring it, or trying to whisk away the pain, she walked up to a wall and slammed her head against it with full might.

"Damn it! You stupid idiot!" she hissed at herself. To hell with it! Not even a few hours ago, she had slept with the man she loved. And it had felt good. No, not just good, it had felt _great_. It had felt special. But this place? She had no love for Ulnar, just like she had no love for the Xel'Naga in general. If she could, she would blow this place into pieces. Maybe that was a good idea. Maybe she should just find the big, fat "don't press me!"-button and hit it with gusto. Unfortunately, she couldn't do that. Ulnar could still hold the answers to her questions. It was maddening! She wanted to get rid of this place, but she couldn't just destroy it and risk losing the knowledge stored in it. And she couldn't just leave it behind, risking that someone else might find it. Like the Protoss.

So, what should she tell Jim? That she was running another gig? One that involved Zerg and Ulnar? Oh yeah, he would totally understand that! She had done it before and it hadn't worked out so great. He would probably think that she was about to go Queen of Blades III on him.

No, she couldn't tell him. She couldn't allow him to come here either. He...he wouldn't understand it.

A small part of her mind told her that she was about to do a huge mistake. Keeping secrets from Jim was the godmother of all bad ideas, but she just had to do it.

Or should she tell Jim? Should she tell him that right now she was in control of a brood for just one reason, to keep Ulnar safe?

Could she expect him to listen to her reasons?

" _What have you done?"_ she remembered his words, back when she had freed him from his cell on the Moros.

" _What I... had to."_ she had answered.

Was this so much different from what had happened? Back then she had lost Jim because she had told him the truth, shown him the truth. She could still remember his pain and his disgust when he had laid gaze upon her re-infested form. And it had taken her years of pain, years of fighting, and oceans of tears to finally be together with Jim again.

No, she couldn't tell him. She wasn't willing to lose his trust again. To see the look of betrayal on his face once more was one thing that she was not able to do.

But then again, this is how you screw things up big time. It would bite Sarah up the butt, but right now she just didn't care. This whole place was giving her nightmares, and she felt the urge to return to Jim so she could just spend some time with him. Doing nothing was nice, doing nothing felt right. She took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down. Pathetic, really. Here she was, the most powerful being in the known galaxy. And what was she experiencing right now?

A goddamn panic-attack!

She had hoped that by meeting Jim again her problems would finally seize to exist. However, it appeared as if that had been a miscalculation on her part.

* * *

From the distance, Izsha watched. She watched and was deeply lost in thoughts. Something was wrong, she could sense that. It was just like that one time after the Queen had freed the Terran James Raynor from that prison ship. After rescuing him, Sarah had returned to her leviathan and kept herself separated from the Swarm for a long time. It had been the only time when she had shut Izsha out of her mind, and back then it had confused Izsha.

It was still a strange feeling, one that felt highly unnatural to Izsha. She realized that it was something that she couldn't change.

But even then...Izsha would have liked to hear that she had performed well.

Perhaps it was selfish and she realized that it was not like her. She had served her Queen always with devotion and would continue to do so, she just wished that...her Queen would do _something_. Right now, it felt like it had back then when they had waited for Sarah to finally regain her senses after freeing Jim Raynor.

The Queen of Blades had been supposed to lead the Swarm to one glorious victory after the other, and that's exactly what Sarah had done. At first when she had killed that obnoxious Terran Mengsk, and later on when she had defeated the fallen Xel'Naga all by herself.

Yes, we know, the Protoss and the Terrans had been part of this war, but Izsha didn't care about them. Because let's face it, she would never accept the fact that the Protoss or the Terrans had contributed to her Queen's victory.

However, the current situation reminded Izsha of what had happened back then. Sarah was supposed to do something. She didn't have to lead the Swarm, no, that wasn't necessary. Izhsa would be glad if she would do anything. Give an order, show her that she was willing to lead once more. But all Izsha saw was an insecure woman. And it felt wrong. A frown appeared on Izsha's face and her features darkened.

She knew that there could be only one reason for Sarah's discomfort. And that reason had a name.

James Raynor.

* * *

Sarah didn't really care about what Izsha was thinking about, at least right now. Walking through Ulnar was probably the most boring thing she could have done, but it helped to soothe her mind. The halls of Ulnar were long and huge, and she had no idea where she was going. Sometimes she stumbled upon a dead Zerg or a dead Terran or even the remnants of a Protoss. This place had been a battlefield not too long ago and if you looked carefully, you could still see the scars. She passed the cadaver of a slain Ultralisk. The body almost blocked the entire corridor and by now it had turned into a huge pile of bones. Sarah stopped and brushed with her hand over the huge claws of the creature. She remembered it as one of her former minions, the Zerg that had accompanied to Ulnar over two years ago.

Nasty memories. She had battled Amon's forces for days and those damn hybrids had kept her busy during all that time. It still pained her to admit that it had been Artanis who had saved her infested butt back then. It was one of the many reasons why Sarah didn't like this place.

Like said; too much bad mojo.

She had brought so many Zerg with her back then, yet no living creature of her original brood had remained behind. It had been a full-scale retreat, something even she had never managed to pull off. Usually, there were always one or two Zerg staying behind if the Swarm left a world. Or a couple of thousands. Sarah wondered how Zagara had managed to remove all Zerg from Ulnar when she had returned to Char.

However, it wasn't only Zerg-leftovers lying around. The Terrans and Protoss had left more than enough stuff behind as well. It was an eerie sight. Walking over a forgotten battlefield was never a pleasant experience. But now, with the walls whispering to her in a language that she didn't understand, it felt as if the ghosts of the dead were trying to speak to her.

She came across a fortified position and stopped right in front of it. At first, it looked like a random battle. Someone had put up quite a fight. There were empty brasses everywhere and Sarah recognized the caliber. Most looked like 8mm standard Gauss-rifle ammunition. She kicked one brass away with her feet and listened to the sound when it hit other brasses.

"Almost like a chime." Sarah mumbled to herself. She had seen these fortifications many times. They were hastily put together and offered only a minimal protection. And minimal protection was useless when fighting against a monster like a hybrid. There was no hybrid around anymore, but Sarah could still see the marks its claws had left on the walls. Dead bodies everywhere. They had tried to fight it, but it had been pointless. The crushed power armors still contained the bones of the ones that had died here. No one had salvaged them, no one had cared for them. Perhaps there were families out there that still wondered what had happened to their loved ones.

Sarah had seen enough more than enough carnage in her life. She knew that something like this shouldn't bother her. But then she spotted _them_.

Most dead were marines. While every armor contained a human, it was easy to see nothing but power armors and not the people inside those things.

The ones Sarah was looking at right now weren't marines, though. The first one was a medic, and while he too was a wearing a modified version of the marines' power armor, the white color gave him a less hostile presence. Sarah could see that mummified face. It had been a man. And next to him, inside his arms...

"Guess it didn't work out so well for you, hmm, girl?" Sarah whispered. Next to him was a female Ghost. She still wore her mask, but it was definitely a woman. They had managed to lean against the wall, but even then, it was clear what had caused their demise.

The medic's leg had been ripped off. Someone had tried to secure the artery, but the amount of dried blood around the leg showed that it hadn't worked out so well. And the Ghost? She looked unharmed, except for the big wound covering her stomach. It looked deep and reminded Sarah of the time when Narud had run his psi-blade through her body. It was one of the most painful ways to die. It looked like both of them had survived the battle with the hybrid, but after that, they had succumbed to their wounds. Well, at least they hadn't been alone during their last moments.

Sarah realized that it could have been both her and Jim lying in that place.

And you know what?

A part of Sarah wondered if it would have been better that way.

She knelt down in front of the dead Ghost and looked into the lenses of the other woman's goggles. Was she someone Sarah had known? Doubtful. She had always been a loner, even when she had been worked for the Confederation. Still, as she looked at those two corpses, she felt as if something was wrong about this. She couldn't really say what it was, but it felt like she should do something. However, before she could elaborate on that thought, a beeping sound suddenly caught her attention. She turned around, and for one second, she thought that she had just imagined things, but that's when she realized that she wasn't alone.

 _Doo dee dip doo doo diee_

It was a probe. A Protoss probe. It was cloaked, yet now that she had focused her mind on it, she could see it clearly.

"A probe? Here?" She reached out with her senses. Protoss? Could it be that this Protoss they had captured had already managed to get a message out? And now his friends had managed to enter Ulnar? She couldn't allow that! Sarah's mind wandered through the halls of this place and tried to find the intruders. But no matter how hard she focused her mind on it, she could only sense two Protoss. One was their prisoner, and the other one was Karax. The probe seemed to notice that she could sense it and turned around immediately. Chirping like a mentally deranged bird, it raced off to inform its master of Sarah's arrival. Or so it seemed.

"Right, Karax." she mumbled to herself. "Better check on him before he blows something up." And so, Sarah followed the probe until she reached a new cavern. Some parts of Ulnar looked like a huge space station, others like, well, caves. When she stepped out into the open, she could see that Karax had been busy. But even then, she had no idea what he was doing.

The cavern was quite big, and there was plenty of stuff lying around. She saw a pylon in the distance, however, it was the only Protoss device she could spot. There were a lot of cables attached to it and it was surrounded by...human machines?

"Karax? I know that you're here. Where are you?" Sarah yelled while walking up to the pylon. She stopped in front of it and took a good look at it. This was not just an ordinary pylon, someone had modified it. Cables led away from the huge crystal that powered all kind of computers and machines. This whole place looked like the workshop of a madman.

"Just what have you been up to, Karax?" she whispered to herself. It looked truly strange, as if Karax had tried to hook up the pylon to human technology. She raised her hand and was about to touch the pylon when she suddenly heard Karax's voice behind her.

"No, do not touch that! It's not safe!" he yelled and she turned around. There was a wreckage of a Goliath near her and she could see how the Phasesmith emerged from the destroyed cockpit. He had something in his hand, it looked like a piece of a computer. He hurried towards Sarah and when he stopped in front of her, he bowed his head in respect, even though he was much bigger than her.

"Lady Kerrigan! You have returned! It is good to see you again!" Behind him, the probe decloaked itself and started to chirp something. Karax looked at it and nodded.

"Good work. You may recharge your batteries now. Once that is done, please do continue." The probe answered something, but Sarah had no idea if this chirping could even be considered a language.

"What's that all about?" she asked and pointed her finger at the probe. Karax blinked in surprise and looked at her.

"What? Oh, the probe? I found it among the debris and repaired it. Since Ulnar seems to be impossibly large, I ordered it to create a map of this place. That way, broodmother Niadra should be able to protect this place by setting up defensive positions." When Sarah heard that, she blinked in surprise.

"You...you're working together?" Karax nodded when he heard that question.

"Oh yes! At first, we had to find some common ground and solve a few problems, but once we managed to do that, everything turned out fine.''

"What kind of problems?" Sarah wanted to know.

"Niadra tried to eat me." Karax replied. "But only once. And after Lady Izsha intervened, Niadra promised me that she would not try to devour me again. She told me that it was nothing personal. She does not even enjoy the taste of Protoss, it is more of a habit she is not too fond of." He sounded like there was nothing to worry about. Sarah sighed in relief. At least she didn't have to worry about that. Sarah turned her attention back to the pylon and pointed her finger at the crystal.

"What are you doing here anyway?" she wanted to know.

"Oh, I tried to repair some of the destroyed equipment. Unfortunately, my people did not leave much behind. I was able to salvage this pylon, but have to work with human technology."

"Sorry to hear that." Sarah mumbled, but that's when Karax started to shake his head.

"Oh, no! No, Lady Kerrigan, forgive me, that was not meant to be a complaint. On the contrary, working with these machines is so much fun! The technology of the Terrans might be crude, but its simplicity is truly amazing."

"Well, I'm glad that at least someone is enjoying himself." Sarah sighed and looked at Karax's little workshop. "But still, just what are you trying to do here? Looks like you're trying to build _something_." That's when Karax made a step backward and pointed his finger at all the equipment lying around.

"Oh, this? Lady Izsha told me that broodmother Niadra has a problem with finding enough, uhm, I believe she used the word "essence". Well, she requires more energy in order to expand her hive. By the way, the Zerg-biology is truly fascinating! As long as there is biomass, the Zerg can expand. And they do not need much energy. In fact, the Zerg consume far less biomass than other beings in order to survive. Very cost-efficient!"

"Karax, you're the first Protoss I've ever met that considers the Zerg fascinating." Sarah mumbled and looked at the pieces of tech that were all around them. Only then she realized that they were all placed in a circle, with the pylon in the middle.

"Uhm, what is it you're trying to build here, Karax?"

"A warp-gate!" Karax then announced with a happy tone in his voice.

"You can do that? With that?!" She pointed at the salvaged parts. The idea that you could use terran technology to create a warp-gate seemed to be utterly ridiculous. But then again; Karax had surprised her a few times before, hadn't he?

"Well..." Karax then admitted. "...I am still working on it. I am afraid that it is not that simple, yet I do believe that I can do it. Besides, this is a wonderful challenge. The technology of the humans is crude and simple by nature, but it has a certain charm to it. And I found a truly wonderful piece of equipment, one that I am very fond of already!" When Sarah heard that, she pulled her brows up.

"And what would that be?" That's when Karax grabbed behind him. He pulled something out of a bag that he had attached to his suit. Sarah recognized it as an engineer's bag. It was filled with wrenches and hammers and whatnot. It made sense since he needed those tools in order to work on Terran tech. But the thing he pulled out of the back wasn't a hammer or a wrench or a screwdriver. No, it was something completely else.

"A... flashlight?" Sarah asked in disbelief.

"Flashlight!" Karax suddenly yelled. "So that is what this object is called! Oh, it all makes sense now!" He pressed the flashlight's button and a bright light shot up to the dark ceiling. It was one of those big military-grade flashlights. You know, the ones you could easily use as a club if you had to. But even then, it looked tiny in Karax's huge hands. He turned it off and on a few times.

"You sure seem to be fascinated by light switches." Sarah mumbled. "Karax, I just have to ask that question: Why would a phase-smith be so fascinated by a mere flashlight? It's just a flashlight! The Protoss must have things that are a lot better than... _this_!" she said and pointed her finger at the, well, flashlight. Karax looked at the object in his hand.

"Forgive me my bluntness, but it is much more than that." Karax replied. Sarah crossed her arms in front of her chest and tilted her head to the side.

"Oh, really?" The funny thing was that they had already talked about this before, back when Karax had told her how fascinating the light-switch on the Hyperion had been.

"It is simple! And it was constructed for only one purpose; to generate light. Protoss-devices are never created for one purpose. Just take this pylon for example." He pointed his huge hand at the floating crystal. "Take this pylon. Most Terrans assume that it is our main source of energy. But it is far more than that. Not only can it store a vast amount of energy, but it can also be used as a beacon for a warp matrix. In fact, there are thousands of different programs stored in the crystal matrix. Protoss technology is redundant, and a system does not just do one thing. But this?" He looked at the flashlight in his hand and for short moment it appeared as if he was fond of it. "It only serves one purpose. It was _designed_ for only one purpose. Nothing more, nothing less. It uses parts that are so simple, I am certain that my fellow phase-smiths would not even consider this object to be technology. To them, it is probably one the same level as fire."

"But not to you?" Sarah asked and Karax shook his head.

"It is like I told you; someone put this object together with thought and skill. One of my former teachers once told me that perfection is not reached when you cannot add anything anymore, but when you cannot remove anything anymore."

"Hmm..." Sarah mumbled. "...we humans have a similar saying." She didn't even notice when she said "we humans". Karax tilted his head to the side and looked at her before he turned his flashlight off once more.

"This...flashlight, it is perfect. I know that not many would say that, but it is the simple things are most fascinating, not the overly complex. I know how to create a warp-gate if I have all the necessary tools and crystals at my disposal. But with this technology?" He pointed at the terran tech. "This is a challenge! And more than that, it is a great way to learn how things truly work. You can study the world by reducing it to its simplest forms." She could hear the childlike glee in Karax's voice and shook her head.

"So, you like it simple?"

"I believe that you can solve a problem by reducing it to its basic particles, yes." he admitted.

"If only that was true." Sarah whispered to herself and Karax gave her a confused look. Well, at least Sarah assumed that it was a confused look.

"I am sorry, what did you say?" the Phase-smith wanted to know, but Sarah just shook her head. She turned around and frowned.

"I didn't realize that the Terrans left so many stuff behind. This looks like a scrapyard." That much was true. The soldiers of the Dominion had established a forward base inside of Ulnar. It had always been one of the most annoying things the Queen of Blades had dealt with; the ability of the terran military to establish a fortified position within hours. The downside was that they had to move huge amounts of equipment within a short time span. And when they had left Ulnar, they had decided to leave that stuff behind.

She could even see several supply depots that had been placed in this area. These supply depots were like Zerglings, you could find them literally everywhere. They were highly standardized and you didn't need huge vessels in order to transport them. And they contained everything a battalion needed to remain operative for quite some time. That included ammo, food and...

"Wait a second." Sarah whispered. She turned away from Karax and walked up to the nearest supply depot. It looked like it was undamaged. That meant that there could be still supplies inside.

"Lady Kerrigan?" Karax asked behind her, but she only stopped for a second. She turned back to Karax and gave him an exhausted smile.

"Good work, Karax. I'm impressed by what you have achieved so far. Please, do continue to help Izsha and Niadra. I just need...to check on something." She didn't notice Karax's confusion. It just didn't matter anyway. When she reached the supply depot and entered it, she could see that it was still filled with some stuff. There were crates filled with ammunition and spare parts, there were even military rations, but she was pretty certain that Jim wouldn't want any of these.

If you run a military, you don't just need ammo, booze, and food. You need a lot of stuff. And some of it seems utterly mundane. She had to search some time until she finally found a small crate with a water-symbol on it. She opened it and a smile appeared on her face. Well, at least this trip hadn't been for naught.

"Hope you like what I found, Jimmy." She then grabbed the crate and brushed with her hand over the cover. She just wanted to leave. This place, being here felt wrong. She could sense Izsha's presence and reached out to her trusted advisor.

"Izsha." she then whispered.

 _Yes, my Queen?_ Izsha answered immediately.

"I'm done here for now and will go back to Jim. I leave the rest up to you." But much to her own surprise, she didn't receive an answer. She frowned and stood up, the crate in her arms.

"Izsha? Did you hear me?" This time the answer came immediately.

 _Yes, my Queen. I shall take care of everything and will eagerly wait for your return._

And then Sarah was on her way again.

* * *

Watching from afar, Izsha felt how her Queen vanished from her senses. Only a faint afterglow remained. It was the connection that enabled Izsha to communicate with Sarah even over all that distance. She hadn't answered her Queen instantly. Not because she didn't want to, but she felt that something was wrong. She stared from the distance at the makeshift warp-gate Karax was trying to build, but she wasn't really caring about that at all. The Phase-smith would do what was expected of him, she had little doubts about that.

No, she had doubts about something else.

Or someone else, to be more precise.

"My Queen." Izsha said before she placed her hand on her chest. "Why do you refuse to lead?" But she wouldn't receive an answer.

Izsha had hoped that the Terran James Raynor would help Sarah to focus her mind. However, it appeared that nothing had changed.

"James Raynor." Izsha hissed. "Perhaps it was a mistake after all."

And so, she started to do what she was supposed to do; figure out a way to solve this problem.

* * *

Jim stared at the horizon with a frown on his face. He looked at the dark lining and was deeply lost in thoughts. Sometimes he was thinking about the storm that was approaching. And sometimes he was thinking about Sarah. By now he had finally accepted the truth; this was no hallucination. However, that didn't mean that everything was peachy. Something was wrong, he just knew it. He couldn't really say what it was, though. He only knew that Sarah didn't want to talk about certain things. For that alone, Jim couldn't blame her. He wasn't even able to imagine the things she had endured as, well, the thing she had always endured.

He couldn't blame her, she had been through hell and back. Several times over.

He wanted to help her, really, he did! But at the same time, he didn't want to put any pressure on her shoulders.

He had sworn that to himself.

 _This time I'll do better._

A warm smile appeared on his face when he remembered how they had loved each other just a short while ago. Perhaps it wasn't very romantic, but hot damn! She still knew what she was doing.

Sarah had promised him to be back as soon as possible. And he was counting on that.

"Not much choice there, eh, Darlin'?" he said to himself. Where should he go anyway? He was stranded on an unknown world, without a ship, without any means of communications.

And without pants.

And so, all he did was to stare at the ocean. At one point it became boring, so he took a walk on the beach. At first, it seemed pointless since the beach was just going on and on and on. But the longer he walked, the more he enjoyed the scenery. Jim thought about what he should tell Sarah. Much to his own surprise though he wasn't angry at her leaving him behind like this. It was because he trusted her. And a part of him was still ecstatic that she had actually returned to him, that she was _alive_. Besides, she would hardly drag him all the way out here just to forget about him and leave him behind.

Or so he hoped.

At a certain point walking became boring, and so he decided to take a quick swim. The warm water felt nice on his naked skin, yet he really wished that he had a piece of soap with him right now.

There is only so much you can do in a place like this. And while it hadn't lost any of its beauty, it wasn't the same without Sarah.

He didn't know how much time had passed when she finally returned to him. All he knew was that he was staring at the horizon when a small figure appeared in the far distance. At first, he didn't notice her at all. She was already very close when he heard her soft footsteps on the sand. He turned his head to the side and smiled.

"Missed me much?" Sarah asked when she stopped a few meters away from him.

"You bet your cute butt I did." When she heard that, she too had to smile. She was holding something behind her back.

"Where have you been?" Jim wanted to know, but Sarah just shook her head.

"Oh, there was just one thing I had to check out. Don't worry, it was nothing. But hey, I managed to find something you might have some use for."

"Really? You brought me a gift?" Jim chuckled.

"Something like that. But you need to promise me that you'll share it with me."

"Lady, I'm butt naked. Whatever it is, I will gladly share it with you." When Sarah heard that, she looked down at herself and realized that she was still wearing her Ghost-suit.

"Hmm...guess it is a bit unfair, right Jimmy?" For a second, he thought that she would remove her clothes, but then he felt how the sand beneath him started to shift. He looked down in surprise and could see how the sand started to move and wander over his skin.

"Sarah?" he asked, but she just shook her head.

"Don't worry. It's harmless." Right before his eyes, he could see how the sand covered his skin and then how it started to change. It turned solid and then into something flexible. It only took Sarah a few seconds and when she was done, he was wearing some clothes.

"Now that's one hell of a trick you got there." Jim mumbled. The clothes he wore looked like they were the real deal. He brushed with his hands over the fabric and sighed in relief. While he had no problems with running around naked (at least as long as no one was watching. Well, no one except Sarah maybe), he was happy to be wrapped in clothes once more. They were nothing special, just a pair of shorts and a simple shirt. That's when Jim grabbed his waistband and pulled it forward. He looked down and started to laugh.

"Hot damn, Darlin'! You even thought of underpants! That is truly an awesome gift, Sarah."

"That's not the gift I was talking about." she then said and he looked into her eyes.

"It isn't? Then what is it?" She pulled one hand up from behind her back, and when Jim saw the small object, his eyes widened in surprise and joy.

"Well, I'll be...a toothbrush? Whoa, where did you find that thing?" He grabbed the toothbrush and sighed in relief. No matter how stupid it may have sounded, but he still required a certain level of hygiene or he would go mad.

"Oh, I stumbled upon it by accident. But hey, I found something else. Here, maybe you have some use for this thing too." And when she showed the second item to Jim, he almost cried in joy.

"Soap? Oh Darlin', you know how to win a man's heart over and over again." Sarah chuckled when she heard that and handed the piece of soap over to him. He took it and looked at it like it was made out of pure gold. Sarah felt a warm sensation inside her chest. It was cute to see that something so mundane like a piece of soap or a toothbrush could make Jim happy. Sarah could weep tears made out of gold, yet all she had to do was to give a piece of soap to the man she loved in order to make him happy.

Now it was Jim's turn to be cute.

"Did you create those things yourself?" Jim then asked and Sarah blinked in surprise.

"What? No, no. I, uhm, stumbled upon them by accident."

"Accident, huh?" Jim said and Sarah realized that she still hadn't told him from _where_ she got that soap from in the first place. She was lucky, though. Instead of exploiting the obvious flaw in her excuse, Jim just tilted his head to the side.

"So, wait, you can create clothes out of thin air, but no soap?" Sarah opened the mouth and wanted to defend herself and find a way to _not_ tell him that she had been to Ulnar. But only then she realized what he was talking about. She started to chuckle and shook her head.

"Now you're just ruining the moment with your logic, Jimmy." And inside her mind she was just repeating the same line over and over again: _Don't ask. Don't ask. Don't ask._

Not yet anyway. She needed more time. Sarah had to find a way how to explain all of that to him. But she was lucky since Jim decided to do her the favor, albeit in a different way than she had imagined.

"Yeah, logic is boring." Jim then said and started to...undress himself. Sarah made a step backward and blushed.

"Uhm...Jim? What are you doing?"

"Darlin', I'm really grateful for those clothes. But I'm still sweaty and there's sand in my buttcrack. So, I'm gonna take this..." He raised his hand and showed the piece of soap to her." ...and will go there." And then he pointed at the sea.

"Hahaha...okay. You do that." Sarah sighed in relief. When Jim was finally naked again, he walked over to the water. He stopped midway and looked over his shoulder.

"You commin'?" he asked and Sarah pulled her brows up when she heard that.

"Is that an offer?" she teased him, and Jim just shrugged his shoulders.

"Just askin'. You said that I should share this thing with you." he told her and wriggled with his hand, the soap still inside it. Now Sarah started to blush again. She was about to decline when she saw the warm smile on Jim's face.

"Come on, it'll be fun. Besides, you look like you could use a good backrub. I'm awesome when it comes to backrubs!" Sarah sighed again when she heard that, but this time a smirk appeared on her face. She raised her arms and right before Jim's eyes her suit vanished into thin air.

"Well, there's only one way to find out, hmm?" she answered before she joined him.


	63. Act III - Chapter 7

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 7**

 **The Calm before the Storm**

* * *

''Oh yes... "Sarah moaned with a deep and sultry voice. The expression on her face was one of pure bliss. This was heaven! She could feel how the ends of her nerves started to fire signals of pleasure and pain alike when Jim continued to work on her.

"You like that?" he whispered into her ear and all she could do was to nod.

"Harder." she then gasped.

"Are you sure?" he wanted to know, and Sarah nodded.

"Okay. Brace yourself."

The mixed sensations that shot through her whole body made her moan again. It felt so good! An ecstatic gasp escaped her lips, and the expression on her face was one of pure happiness.

"Am I too rough?" Jim wanted to know, but Sarah just shook her head.

"No. Harder, please."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I need it. Harder." Sarah begged. And so he did as he was told. He pushed and she gasped again. Not once, not twice, but many times. Her breath became labored and her whole body shuddered. She could feel it, deep inside her. His moves felt so good!

"Looks like someone is enjoying herself." Jim hummed.

"You...aaaaahhh...you have no idea how good this feels!" she gasped again. She looked over her shoulder and into his eyes while he worked her from behind.

"Harder!"

"Quite bossy, aren't we?" Jim teased her, but Sarah didn't care. He could see her reddened cheeks and the mixed emotions on her face. Pain and pleasure, both at the same time, it was something that seemed to be rather new to her. Usually, it was only pain.

"Just do it, please!" And so, he did as he was told. He had done this many times before, but he had to admit, he had never been this rough! When he had done this with Liddy, she had urged him to be as gentle as possible. But Sarah? Well, it appeared as if she was made out of sturdier stuff. She liked it rough!

"Ahhnn..." Sarah sighed when the next wave hit her. She felt the heat of her lover's body right behind her, felt his rhythmic motions. Up and down. Up and down. Up and down.

"More!" she pleaded again.

"Not just bossy, but greedy as well." Jim mused and focused on his movements. His eyes wandered over Sarah's naked skin and he sucked in all the little details. Like the pearls of sweat running down her backside. She quivered once more and Jim leaned forward so he could apply even more pressure.

"Oh yeah, that's it." Sarah moaned. She started to chew on her own lips and took a sharp gasp. "Haaaa..."

"Never thought you would like it this rough, Darlin'." Jim teased her.

"Don't...uhnn...don't you dare to stop, Jim!" she urged him. "It's just too good!"

"We've been at it for hours, Darlin'. Time to finish this up!" Jim then told her. "But don't worry, I still got one bullet left."

Sarah was too lost in both pain and pleasure to fully realize what he just had told her. Instead, she felt how his strong fingers brushed over her naked backside. She felt how he grabbed her shoulders, how he pulled at them, only to push them back together. And then she felt his palm between her shoulder blades.

"Brace yourself, here I come." he told her and she took a deep breath.

"And... go!" he barked and pressed his hand against the spot between her shoulders. At the same time, his other hand grabbed one of her shoulders and pulled her back. Her torso was pulled towards him, and she could feel how her aching muscles screamed in protest. A blissful smile appeared on her face as sweet release flowed through her entire frame.

"Aaaahhhh..." she sighed and when she finally relaxed, she could feel a pleasant numbness all over her body.

"Damn..." she whispered after she had finally calmed down and looked over her shoulder. "...you weren't kidding when you said that you know how to give a backrub."

"I know, right?" Jim replied with a big grin on his face. They both sat in the shallow water while Jim had worked on Sarah's back for what had felt like hours. At first, she had been hesitant towards the idea. The thought that he would give her a backrub had seemed mundane, even boring. But he had convinced her with a "pretty please" and she hadn't regretted it.

It probably came as a surprise to both of them, but once Jim had started to work on her backside, they had realized just how stiff Sarah had become. Apparently, being turned into a godlike entity doesn't mean that you can't have a stiff back. His fingers had started to massage her muscles, slowly at first. But soon Sarah had demanded a rougher treatment. Jim had hesitated, he didn't want to hurt her after all. However, Sarah wasn't Liddy, that much was for certain.

Jim still had no idea what Sarah had become, but her back sure as hell felt like that of a human. A human with a _very_ stiff backside. Working on a muscle required delicate fingers. And Jim's fingers were a lot more delicate than one would think. Oh, he definitely knew what he was doing! At first it had been unpleasant, but once he had managed to loosen her up, the discomfort was replaced by a pleasant warm sensation. And once you start, there's no way that you can stop!

"That's heaven, love." Sarah sighed. "We need to do this again. Soon!" That comment caused Jim to laugh.

"I never imagined that you'd be a sucker for backrubs. It's like you never got one in your entire life."

"Not like this!" Sarah then told him. "Back when they trained us, the only thing they cared for was that we remained operational. If we had problems with our backs or muscles in general, they gave us painkillers or anything that would get us back on our feet in an instant. Sometimes, if it was the most reasonable thing to do, they allowed us to receive a massage. But not like this, Jimmy. It was only in order to make our muscles work again. It was painful and short, and we weren't supposed to enjoy it."

"Hmm...well, at least you don't have to worry about that anymore, Darlin'." Jim whispered into her ear and Sarah sighed. Thinking about her days as a Ghost was a great way to ruin her mood. She then leaned back and pressed her aching back against his naked chest. It was a pleasant form of pain, like when you were experiencing muscle ache after a long and hard workout.

It just felt _good_!

"Could get used to this, love." Sarah whispered.

"Hey, we're not done yet." Jim interrupted her thoughts. She looked over her shoulder once more.

"Huh?" That's when she saw the smile on his face and the object in his hand. It was the piece of soap. "Like...seriously?" The idea seemed to be utterly absurd, at least in Sarah's opinion. "I'm a grown-up girl, Jim. I don't need someone to wash me."

"You're right, but that's not the point, Sarah." Jim explained to her.

"Oh really? Then why should we do something like that?"

"Because that's what couples do." That comment caused Sarah to blush. She wanted to decline the offer, but his words continued to linger in the back of her mind.

"Couples, huh?" she whispered and then she sighed. She had come this far, might as well go all the way now. Jim could sense that she was willing to allow him to proceed, and so he pushed her upper body forward. She groaned when he pressed the piece of soap against the tender skin of her back. First, he had softened up her muscles beneath the skin, now it was the skin itself that was caressed by his soft touches.

Oh, Jim Raynor was full of surprises!

The thought of allowing someone else to wash her body had never entered her mind. It seemed so...childish. Wasn't this something parents were supposed to do? Washing their children? Sarah wouldn't know, she could hardly remember anything about her childhood. It was as if Jim's touches were causing old memories to reemerge inside her mind, though. She couldn't exactly see any details, it was more like a feeling of a loved person that had done the same thing to her a very long time ago. Had it been her father? Or her mother? She couldn't tell. The only thing she could tell was that it had felt nice. Just as nice as it felt now.

Sarah sighed again. First a backrub, now getting washed. Sometimes fate can be truly strange. She felt how he covered her back with soap, then her arms and shoulders, and finally her neck. He was very careful and it was impossible not to enjoy this treatment. That's when he grabbed the soap and moved further up.

"Hahaha! Now my hair?" Sarah laughed.

"Hush, just enjoy it. You liked my backrub? You're gonna love my head massage!" Instead of telling him to stop, Sarah just closed her eyes and allowed him to proceed. He rubbed the soap in and then he started to do just that; give her a head massage, including her neck. It was an almost alien sensation. Soon her long red hair was soaked with water and soap, and Jim just threw it over her shoulder so it wouldn't block his sight.

"Your hair's a lot longer than I remember." he told her. That much was true, it reached all the way down to her lower backside. Sarah opened her eyes and looked down.

"Hmm...guess you're right. Maybe I need to shorten it a bit."

"Actually, I think I like this look better." Jim said and she smiled. So she wouldn't cut them. That thought seemed strange because it made her happy to hear it. What was next? She would put up lipstick if he would tell her that he enjoyed that too?

Maybe she was just overthinking things. All she wanted to do was to enjoy his gentle touch, and so she forced herself to silence those nagging thoughts, at least for the time being. All her dark thoughts seemed to fade away beneath his gentle touch. The things she was supposed to tell him, like Ulnar, like Niadra, they all seemed so distant right now. She knew that she had to talk to him, but not now. She didn't want to ruin this moment.

Jim interrupted her dark thoughts when he pulled back his fingers and said: "All done, you need to wash it out now." That's when a smirk appeared on her face.

"I don't think you're done yet." Sarah told him and Jim pulled his brows up when he heard that.

"Nope, I'm pretty sure that I didn't miss any spot." he mused. That's when she grabbed his hands and pulled them up to her front. She pressed her back against his chest once more and guided the hand with the soap in it towards her chest. She could sense Jim's surprise when she grew bolder.

"Now come on, you just cleaned one side of me. And since you did such a good job, it would be stupid to leave the other half dirty."

"Your wish is my command." Jim just replied. He knew better than to question her. It was less kinky than you might think. There was no one around to see what they were doing anyway. Maybe it was a normal thing for lovers to do, yet it was unlike anything Sarah had ever done before. More importantly; it felt good. His hands started to soap her shoulders and collarbone. From there he wandered downwards. He touched her breasts, brushed over them while being as gentle as possible. A sigh escaped her lips and she allowed him to continue. It didn't feel weird or unpleasant.

Because Jim knew what he was doing.

It wasn't as innocent as the backrub, or as washing her hair. There was definitely a sexual element to it. But hey, they were adults, they could do whatever the hell they wanted to. Getting caressed by the tender touch of a lover? Sarah had never done anything like that before, but she knew that she could get addicted to this feeling.

Ever since the Confederacy had "recruited" her into the Ghost-program, Sarah hadn't been able to enjoy a long-lasting moment of peace. Oh, there had been fleeting moments of happiness. But they had been just that; fleeting moments. A part of her mind realized that, for the first time in her life, there wasn't a fight waiting for her. She pressed her back harder against Jim's chest and enjoyed his tender touch. She opened her eyes and stared at the horizon. The storm was still there and she could sense its impressive size. It was bigger than any storm you could imagine and it would prove to be quite the spectacle. But even then, she could sense that it was just a storm. And like any storm, it too would pass. Besides, there was still time.

No matter how good Jim's caressing touch felt, he decided not to go all the way. A smirk appeared on Sarah's face. Aside from their first encounter, Jim had proven to be the perfect gentleman. And so she turned around and looked into his eyes. And Jim? When he saw her like that, he didn't know what to say.

It was as if he just saw Sarah for the first time. She looked just the way he remembered her. The same face, the same eyes, the same lips. Even the same breasts. But with her long hair hanging over the shoulder, she reminded him of a legendary siren.

Was there a word for "too beautiful to be real"?

That's when Sarah leaned forward and pressed her lips on Jim's, and he was reminded that this wasn't a dream. Now it was Sarah who did the pressing. She shoved Jim down into the shallow water and when they broke their kiss, both could see the very same idea in the eyes of the other.

And soon after that neither Jim nor Sarah cared about that red WutWut-crab swimming away with the piece of soap in its claws, since they were too busy anyway.

You take a woman and a man who are madly in love with each other, you throw them into a tropical paradise with nothing to worry about, and guess what's going to happen? Sarah and Jim enjoyed themselves to the fullest. Tender touches became more daring, and then they just allowed their emotions to take the lead. It never became creepy or unpleasant. Like said, what Jim and Sarah did was not sex. It was making love. And they were getting better and better at doing that.

Perhaps they should have done something else. Like talking. But Jim felt no urge to repeat old war-stories, and he still could sense that Sarah wasn't really in the mood to talk either. And so, they enjoyed doing nothing. Or doing _stuff_ , depending on how you look at it.

Well, that's how they spent the day. At least they thought it was a day. It was kinda hard to say with no real night. But you get the idea. Yet even then both of them knew that they were just trying to avoid the unavoidable. Sarah knew that she couldn't keep those secrets hidden for the rest of their lives. And Jim knew that sooner or later, they had to talk about her problems.

However, neither one of them dared to say something. After everything that had happened, after everything that they had endured, they wanted just to live in the moment. And when they finally fell asleep, they did so with a smile on their faces.

* * *

The next day Jim sat on the beach and had a grumpy look on his face.

"What's the matter, Jimmy?" Sarah then asked him.

"Those stupid crabs stole my soap." he muttered. That's when she pulled up another piece of soap from behind her back.

"Don't worry, I brought plenty with me. In fact..." That's when she showed him the small crate and he realized that there was one thing less to worry about.

"Just where did you get that from?" Jim asked, but Sarah refused to tell him the truth.

"I found it by accident. There was an old and abandoned outpost a few lightyears away. Maybe the UED-folks left it behind after they ran home to their mommies? Anyway, there were some supply depots and I decided to grab this thing and bring it here." It was not even a good excuse, yet Sarah sighed in relief when Jim simply decided to not question her on that. Besides, when Jim opened the box and saw inside, he almost started to cry in joy.

"I don't believe it!" he gasped and for a second Sarah thought that he had found something that would compromise her (not very good) lie.

"What? Is something missing?" It was a standard hygiene-box, there should be enough stuff inside to keep twelve men supplied with sanitary products for at least two weeks.

In case you're wondering; you can't run a military with just guns'n'ammo. You need to supply this stuff to your men too.

"This is better than anything I had hoped for!" Jim whimpered and grabbed deep into the box. Sarah hadn't checked everything that was inside. Why should she have done that? So she had no idea what Jim was talking about. When he pulled a white object out of the box, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Have you ever seen anything like this before, Sarah?" Jim whispered as if he was holding the Holy Grail itself in his hands.

"That's toilet paper." Sarah just said. Jim's head jerked to the side and he looked at her as if she had just told him that she was about to become the Queen of Blades once more.

"That's not just toilet paper, Darlin'! That's top-of-the-line toilet paper! Seriously, they only hand this stuff out to officers! The grunts usually only get sandpaper!" The very thought caused Sarah to shudder.

"Well, I'm glad that it doesn't take much to make you happy, love."

"There are five things I need in order to be happy, Sarah." Jim then explained to her and she tilted her head to the side when she heard that.

"And what five things would that be?"

"Warm food, soap, a toothbrush, and toilet paper." Jim told her. When Sarah heard that, she needed a short moment to figure out the problem.

"Wait, those are only four things." she said when Jim stood up and walked over to her.

"I know. The fifth thing is you, Darlin'." And then he leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Sarah only managed to blush, and when Jim moved past her and towards the jungle, she frowned and turned around.

"Where are you going?" Instead of giving her an answer, Jim just wiggled with the toilet paper. Sarah sighed when she saw how he entered the jungle and knew that she didn't need to know any details.

* * *

"A storm is coming." Jim said and looked at the horizon. He was lying in front of the campfire, with Sarah in his arms.

"It's a big one." Sarah agreed with him

"Maybe we should go somewhere safe?"

"It's still not here. Will take a while for that to happen." she explained to him.

"Hmm...guess we'll find out what a storm on this world looks like once it's here." Jim muttered and Sarah looked over her shoulder, a cocky smirk on her lips.

"You don't trust me that I can keep you safe?" But Jim just answered by pulling her closer to his warm body.

"Nah, I know you got this, Darlin'. I trust you with that."

 _...trust you with that..._

Those words caused Sarah to shudder. Yes, he trusted her. But he could only do that because he didn't know the entire truth, right? He trusted her because he believed that she had moved on and that the Zerg were no longer a part of her life. By now Jim could sense when Sarah's mood was starting to take a turn for the worse. So, he leaned forward and whispered something into her ear.

"What's on your mind, Darlin'?"

 _Oh hey, Jim! I'm so glad that you ask this question! Because I just wanted to tell you that I decided to order the Zerg to protect Ulnar!_

She couldn't tell him that. However, she also knew that he wouldn't stop asking her, so she had to come up with something else. Something that would draw his attention away. She grabbed one of his hands and started to play with his fingers.

"Say, Jim?" she then asked.

"Yes?"

"The thing you did with me...washing my back. And my hair..."

"Yeah, what about it? Didn't like it?" he wanted to know, but Sarah just stared at his fingers and didn't look into his eyes.

"Did you...did you do that with Liddy too?"

Jim didn't answer immediately. There was a long moment of silence and she could sense his surprise that she had come up with that topic herself. When he finally answered her question, she could sense his hesitation.

"Yeah." But his voice was barely a whisper.

"Did she...like it?" And again, Jim didn't answer that question immediately. Sarah felt horrible. Instead of talking to him about her dirty little Ulnar-secret, she decided to take his doubts somewhere else and talk about one of his most treasured yet painful memories. Treasured because he still loved his dead wife, and painful because he had lost her. His answer, however, did surprise her.

"No. Not really." His voice was almost toneless. She could sense his hesitation, but decided to pry some more.

"Why's that?" Sarah wanted to know. The moment she spoke out those words, she realized how insensitive that was. She wanted to apologize, but then Jim pulled her even tighter against his body.

"We did that...once or twice." he told her. "She didn't like it. Said it was too childish and that I should be acting like an adult. Hmm...yeah, that's what she said. And she said that the bathtub was simply too small for the two of us." Sarah felt Jim's pain when he told her that. Even though it all happened so many years ago, the pain was still fresh and sharp. Childish, huh?

"Well, just so you know it..." Sarah told him and looked over her shoulder. "...I liked it. In fact, I liked it very much. And I wouldn't mind if we could do it again." She saw how the pained expression on Jim's face faded away and was replaced by a gentle and warm smile. It seemed as if he was truly happy to hear that and that's when Sarah suddenly had to yawn.

"Uhh, someone's sleepy." Jim teased her.

"Ugh, it's this place. The sky is great and all, but not having a night can be quite bothersome."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. How about it, you just take a rest and I will catch us something to eat."

"You enjoy this, don't you? Going fishing and all." Sarah asked.

"Nope, I enjoy treating my lady." Jim answered and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Besides, I wanna check if there's anything else in that ocean you can eat. Squidfishes are nice and all, but maybe there are some things like mussels. Or these stupid crabs! Bet they taste delicious." In the distance, you could hear a frightened "Wut Wut Wuuuuut!", but both Jim and Sarah just ignored it. Perhaps it was because Sarah had spent so much time in her human form, but the exhaustion was real and it was as if her mind craved sweet release in the form of sleep. And this time it was Jim who waited until she had fallen asleep.

* * *

When Jim was certain that Sarah was sleeping, he managed to put her down onto the warm sand without waking her up. He then stood up and walked over to the ocean. The storm was closer and by now Jim had to put his entire palm against the horizon in order to block it from his view. His guts told him that this would be a storm unlike anything he had ever seen with his own two eyes.

Before he decided to go and catch some food, there was something else he wanted to do. He took off his clothes, not because he wanted to take another swim. But while he had everything he needed in order to feel comfortable in his own skin, his clothes were a different story. He took his clothes and a piece of soap, walked into the water and started to wash his clothes. It gave him the time to think about what he should do next.

Though the question wasn't really about what he _should_ do. It was more about what he _could_ do. He knew that his options were limited and that Sarah was basically calling the shots right now. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, though. Still, Jim wondered how the others were doing. Matt was probably worried like hell. Maybe Jim should find a way to contact his old friend and, uhm, explain things to him?

Jim stopped for a second and stared at the horizon once more.

"Oh, damn." he whispered when he realized that explaining any of this to Matt or Valerian would be quite the tall order. Besides, he was no fool. He knew that there was still bad blood out there, waiting for them to return. Would the people accept Sarah? Would they be willing to see the woman beneath all that terror? Would they be willing to share Jim's point of view, that Sarah had been a victim?

Somehow, he had his doubts about that. It was the reason why he hadn't put any pressure on Sarah. Not yet anyway. He had no idea how to solve that mess. Besides, he was just a man. A man who was finally back with the woman he loved. The others might have to wait a little while longer for their return.

When Jim was done, he grabbed his wet clothes and walked back to the beach. Putting wet clothes back on was horrible, and for a moment he wondered if he should put them on the warm sand in order for them to dry. But if there's one thing he didn't like, then it was sand in his buttcrack. Besides, those stupid crabs would probably just try to steal his clothes again. So, he looked back at the jungle and shrugged his shoulders.

"Let's see if the plants are in the mood right now." He walked up to the palms and pressed his hand on one of them. Unlike the trees that were deeper in the jungle, these palms had no fruits on them they could toss at you. They hadn't coconuts on them either. Too bad though, marinate those squidfish with some coconut milk would be awesome. The palms had thick leaves with glowing edges. Some glowed blue, others yellow, some green and there were one or two who were purple. It looked like a goddamn plant-disco. Most palms were far too big to put his clothes on them. But there was one that was a lot smaller than the others. It was roughly Jim's size and when he put his wet clothes on its big and broad leaves, those leaves started to change their color from blue to a bright red.

"Easy, I won't hurt you. Just need a place where I can put my clothes." The leaves proved to be quite slippery. He put his shirt on top and when he did the same with his pants, the shirt suddenly fell to the ground. He sighed and bowed down. Jim grabbed his shirt and brushed the dirt away. But even then, he realized that it was pointless.

"Oh great, here we go again." he sighed and decided to do the most reasonable thing; go back to the water and clean it once more. It was not like he had anything else to do, right?

And so, he cleaned his shirt again and when he was done, he returned to the palm he had used as a drying rack. He had a whistle on his lips and was about to put his shirt back on the palm when he realized...

...the palm was gone.

"Huh?" Jim froze and frowned. But...it had been right here! He looked around and it took him a few moments in order to spot it.

"Ah, there you are." It was a couple of dozen meters away. Strange, he could have sworn that he had taken the same path back to it.

"Guess I'm getting old. Used to be so good when it came to finding my way out of any mess." Well, that was only partially true. Jim's ability to find the biggest pile of bullshit and jump right into it was legendary. However, usually it had been Matt who had pulled him out of that mess. When he walked over to the palm, Jim looked at the shirt and made sure that he hadn't missed a spot. When he reached the palm, he looked up and-

"Wait a second." The palm was gone. He looked around and wondered if Sarah was playing a trick on him. Then he spotted the palm once more, only a few meters away.

"Maybe I should get my eyes checked." he mumbled and stomped towards the plant. He shook his head and when he finally reached the palm, he saw that his pants were still on top. He put the shirt back on top when the palm suddenly started to rustle.

"Whoa! What the hell?" For a second, he expected a fruit to hit him in the face. However, nothing happened.

"Oooo-kay. Good palm. Nice palm. I don't want to hurt you, I just-" He was about to put his shirt on one of the leaves when the palm suddenly jerked up and Jim stumbled backward in surprise.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Jim screamed and he saw how the palm suddenly stood on short and stubby...roots for legs? It turned towards him as if it possessed some kind of sentience. Jim raised his hands in defense and made another step backward.

"Ho ho ho, easy there! Everything's fine, everything's-" Then the palm turned around...

...and started to run away.

Jim didn't know what to do or say. It was a palm. And it was running. And it was quite fast. Only then Jim realized that his pants and shirt were still on the palm's, well, head.

"Mother of...get back here!" he yelled, but the palm didn't seem to care. And so, Jim did the only thing he could think of doing; he ran after that palm. There were moments in life that appeared to be totally absurd. Like trying to scare off a Zerg with a lemon. And Jim? Well, he had done many weird things in his life. However, chasing a palm through an alien jungle with nothing but underpants on, that was even a first for him!

Whatever this thing was, it didn't seem to slow down one bit. And Jim was aware how ridiculous this whole scene was. As the palm stormed through the jungle, Jim had a hard time keeping up with it. He had heard of plants that could move so fast that you could actually see their movements. But he had never seen anything like this before. Hell, he had never even heard of anything like this before!

Against better judgment, Jim decided to follow that damn plant deeper into the jungle. That was easier said than done, though. Neither he nor Sarah had ever ventured that deep into the jungle, so he had no idea what to expect. He was lucky, though. While chasing that damn palm, he didn't encounter any animals at all. It was as if the only surface organisms that dwelled on this world were in fact plants. Plants that could scream, plants that could throw their fruits at you and, as it seemed, plants that could run away from you.

Jim remembered an old cartoon he had watched as a little kid, and later with his son. It had been about a dancing and singing rabbit and everything had been alive in that cartoon, including the flowers and trees.

But this wasn't a cartoon, this was the reality.

"Damn!" he hissed. "It's getting away!" And indeed, the palm proved to be an excellent runner. It even jumped over a few thick roots. Some of the bigger trees rustled and turned from one side to the other as this thing ran past them, and for a second Jim was afraid that they too might free themselves and start to run around. But no, he was lucky. The only thing that ran away from him was that one palm.

It reached a small clearing and then it turned to the right, then to the left, as if it was looking for the right way.

"GIVE ME BACK MY STUFF!" Jim roared when he broke through the thicket. The palm jumped up as if he had managed to scare it, but then it turned right and ran back into the jungle. And so, their chase continued for quite some time. Even with his improving health and stamina, Jim could still feel the exhaustion gnawing at his muscles. His lungs were burning and the sweat was running down his skin. Once he got his clothes back, he would need to take another bath! However, it appeared as if he was not the only one getting tired because the palm seemed to be in trouble as well. At a certain point, it continued to run through the jungle and... turned its treetop around? It almost looked as if it was glancing over its non-existent shoulder.

"Oh, now you're just making fun of me!" Jim roared and doubled his efforts to get his stuff back. He was gaining on that damn palm, but then he tripped over a root and smashed into the muddy ground. Jim groaned in pain and in front of him the palm suddenly stopped. It turned around and... rustled? It looked like it was, well, laughing.

"Oh, just wait, I'm gonna chop you into pieces!" Jim hissed and tried to get back on his feet. It seemed that it was enough to scare the palm beyond belief. It turned away and was about to run away when it smashed into another tree and simply fell flat on the ground. Jim looked at the palm and wondered just what had happened. He walked up to the palm and pushed his foot against it in order to see if it was still alive, but this thing wasn't moving at all. Jim sighed and shook his head. He grabbed both his shirt and his pants and when he looked at them, he groaned.

"Damn, those were a gift from Sarah!" he snarled and gave the palm another kick, a hard one this time. The moment he did that, the palm regained consciousness. It jerked back up and turned its treetop towards Jim, who made a step backward. Suddenly the lights on its leaves started to pulse red.

"Oh, that can't be good."

That's when the palm managed to get back on its feet, or roots, and lowered its treetop. It looked as if it was about to charge at him.

"Oh, that _sure as hell_ can't be good." And now it was Jim's turn to run like crazy.

"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME?!" he screamed while the palm chased him through the jungle. By now he had no idea where he was running. Jim had lost all orientation, and the only thing he cared for was to get away from that crazy plant! He pressed his ruined clothes against his chest and tried to get as much distance between himself and that damn plant-on-legs as possible, but it seemed as if that thing had a lot more stamina than he had.

Soon their surroundings changed. It looked as if he was getting closer to the beach. Oh yeah, maybe that would save his butt. He doubted that this palm would be able to swim. He could see how the jungle became less dense in front of him, and he could already hear the waves of the ocean. A relieved grin appeared on his face when he stepped out into the open...

...and managed to stop just in time, so he wouldn't fall down that cliff.

"WHAT. THE. HELL?!" He stood at the edge of what appeared to be his own personal nightmare.

"Nothing but beaches and beaches and beaches, and _now_ that I need a beach, I get a goddamn cliff?!" However, Jim had no time to curse his fate because he could hear how something started to come closer. It had to be that damn palm. Jim looked around, and for a second, he thought about climbing down the cliff. But when he looked down, he realized that it was way too slippery for him to do that. He would only lose his grip, fall down and probably break every single bone in his body. Perhaps this would be a good moment to scream for help. Maybe Sarah would hear him and come to his aid, but with all the adrenaline running through his system he was just thinking about one thing; how to get rid of that damn palm. Unfortunately, his new friend didn't want to give him the time he needed to come up with a decent plan. The palm broke out of the jungle and stopped. When they were finally eye to eye (well, so to speak), Jim made a step back. It almost looked as if that damn palm was panting hard.

By now he wouldn't be surprised if that damn thing would challenge him to a dance-off. But, alas, he wasn't that lucky. The glowing dots on the palm's leaves started to pulse red, and that couldn't be a good sign.

"Easy there, Captain Palmer!" Jim said and raised his hands in self-defense, even though he had no idea how he should defend himself. Punch it into the trunk? Stomp on its stubby roots that it used as legs? Apply a head-to-treetop-butt?

The palm, or Captain Palmer, made another step forward. And then another one. Okay, so this was what an angry plant looked like. Good to know. When the palm was really close, Jim tried to reason with it.

"Whoa! Whoa! Just hold it, Captain Palmer! I'm not the enemy! I come in peace!" But it was a goddamn palm, there weren't even any visible ears or anything like that. The palm shook itself and then it just stormed towards Jim.

"MOTHER OF-" he managed to yell, but then the damn plant-critter just slammed into him. It tackled him to the ground and suddenly both he and that palm were rolling over the wet earth, caught in a deadly (and hilarious) fight for survival. It was beyond Jim how it managed to do that, it didn't even have arms! However, when he felt the heavy weight on him, he groaned. The palm lifted itself off the ground and slammed its treetop against his chest, over and over and over again. It felt as if someone was beating him with a log.

"AH! STUPID THING, STOP THAT!" Jim screamed, but the palm didn't stop. It wasn't that painful, it appeared as if the palm didn't possess that much strength after all. But its leaves were covered with spikes and he yelled in pain when he felt how these spikes cut deep into his skin.

"Get...off...me!" he snarled and managed to press his foot against the trunk of the palm. He had to use almost all of his strength in order to push it away. When he managed to free himself from his opponent, he rolled to the side and got back on his feet. The palm stumbled backward and slammed into a tree behind it, but then it regained its momentum and turned towards Jim once more.

"Oh, now I've had it with you!" he shouted and gestured the damn palm to do its worst.

"Come on! COME ON, YOU DAMN PIECE OF SALAD! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE COCONUTS!" It was doubtful if that insult even meant anything to that damn creature, but it hardly mattered because it was about to charge at him once more. It stormed towards Jim at full speed, and within the fraction of a second, he knew what to do. He waited until the palm was almost upon him. Then he simply jumped to the side and the palm ran past him. Even though it had no eyes, it looked like it could sense the cliff. It stopped, but the momentum carried it towards the edge of the cliff and Jim could see how it tried its best not to fall down.

"Well, sucks to be you I guess. Hope you can swim!" Jim snarled and hurried over to the palm and he gave it a hard push. He saw how it fell down the cliff and right into the sea beneath them.

Jim stared down the cliff for what felt like hours. He wanted to see if that damn palm had survived the fall, but it didn't look that way.

"Maybe this isn't such a nice place after all." Jim then said to himself before he finally got back on his feet and looked down at his chest.

"Aw, damn." he muttered. For a palm, it had managed to give him one hell of a beating. James Raynor, getting beat up by a goddamn plant. Tychus would have loved to hear that story. He grabbed what was left of his clothes and groaned again. He wouldn't wear those rags again.

"Man, those were a gift from Sarah!" Jim looked down the cliff and into the water. "THANKS, ASSHOLE!" he screamed at the deceased palm. Then he looked around and figured that it was time to get back to the beach. Well, at least he knew where the ocean was, so all he had to do was to go right! Or was it left? Left, yes, it was left. Or was it?

"Aw, come on!"

* * *

When Sarah finally woke up again, she groaned and rolled over the warm sand. Even though it seemed mundane for her to sleep like a normal human, it was something that made her feel like she was truly at peace. She could find other ways to waste time, but she simply didn't want to. Being here felt nice because there wasn't anyone around judging her. To her, it was a new sensation, one she had never been able to indulge in. Normal pleasures, the kind you experience when you lie on the beach and enjoy the sun on your skin. When you catch some fish and roast them over a campfire. When you make love to someone. That was nice, of course it was. But the thing that made Sarah happy was something different.

There was no rush.

She had experienced fleeting moments of happiness before. However, she had always known that these moments wouldn't last forever. That they would go away and then it would be just the way it had been before; painful and lonely.

Not this time, though. There was no rush anymore, no crisis that demanded her attention, no war that would keep her from being happy. She just wanted this moment to never end. Allowing herself to fall asleep? Even during her days as a Ghost, she had been on edge all the time. The slightest noise had woken her up and released so much adrenaline that she would be combat-ready within seconds.

It was a reflex, one she had used and honed for years. And as the Queen of Blades, she had been able to use the Zerg-physiology to overcome the flaw called sleeping by shutting down parts of her brain from time to time. And now? Now it was as it should be, at least from a human perspective. Her Zerg-self was silent, so was whatever the Xel'Naga had added to her mind. Right now, she truly felt like a human. And like said; it was a new sensation to her.

She liked it.

The moment she opened her eyes, she saw the last embers of the campfire glowing in front of her. Sarah yawned and rolled on her back. The sky above her was beautiful, there was no doubt about it. However, everlasting day wasn't that great. It was pretty exhausting

She could sense Jim. He was close, sitting right next to her. A smile appeared on her face. Going to sleep, let her mind do nothing, and when she returned he was still there. It sure felt nice. But that's when she sensed Jim's sour mood. She turned around and looked up at him. And when she saw his face...

"Jim!" she yelled and jumped to her feet. Jim sat right next to her, his body covered with cuts and bruises. He looked like he had lost an argument with a Hydralisk!

"Hey, Darlin'." Jim just grumbled while staring at the ocean. "Had a nice sleep?" Suddenly Sarah was fully awake. She crawled over to him and put her hand on his bare chest.

"What happened?" she wanted to know. Jim raised his hands and showed his torn-up clothes.

"Well, it all started when I wanted to wash my clothes. And then, well, let's just say that I met a local. Didn't work out so well, for neither of us."

"What?" Sarah whispered in shock. "But...but I didn't sense any creatures! There are only plants out there!" The thought that she might have missed something seemed to be impossible.

"Well...you're not wrong about that, Darlin'." Jim just told her before he shrugged his shoulders. "But you know what the worst thing is? That stupid local ruined the clothes you made for me!" When Sarah heard that, a pained smile appeared on her face.

"Those are just clothes, Jimmy!"

"Yeah, but...you made 'em for me!" Jim replied and she put her hand on his cheek.

"I can make you a new set of clothes, Jim." she replied. She didn't show it, but right now she felt horrible. She had just decided to go to sleep and Jim had almost managed to kill himself! This place...it wasn't safe. Not as safe as she had wanted to believe. She looked at his chest and could see all those cuts. It looked as if he had crawled through a goddamn bramble!

"Jim, I'm sorry. I should have been more careful!" There was no excuse for what had happened. Whoever had attacked Jim, he could have been killed! And then? Sarah would have woken up with her lover being dead!

She didn't show it, but deep inside her mind, she was cursing herself. She had been caught up in her own small dream that she had totally forgotten about Jim!

"Ya' know..." Jim then said. "...I wouldn't mind if you could catch the food today. I feel rather worn out." Sarah only nodded, but then she got an idea. She crawled behind Jim and he looked over his shoulder.

"Sarah?"

"Hush, just relax. You gave me a massage, so let me do this for you, okay?"

"Do what?" he wanted to know.

"Just wait and see." She could feel how Jim wanted to say something, but then he just sighed. She put her hands on his back and started to concentrate on his wounds.

Mending wounds was an easy task, but she didn't want to scare him, so she did it slowly. Jim shuddered when he felt how Sarah's psionics flowed through his body. She had done it before, but during that time Jim had been too drunk to really notice it. It felt nice. Like a gentle touch, only inside his body. He could feel how his wounds started to tingle, and then how they started to close on their own. And during all that time he could sense Sarah's presence in the back of his mind. So, he just sighed and decided to enjoy the feeling of Sarah fixing his wounds. But even though he felt her presence inside her mind, and even though he enjoyed it, he could sense something else. It felt like a dark shadow of doubt, guilt, and shame. He knew what it was, he had felt these kinds of emotions many times. However, these emotions right now were a lot stronger than anything he had ever felt before. It took him some time until he finally realized that those feelings weren't his own, but Sarah's.

When she was finally done, she leaned forward and slung her arms around his shoulders.

"Promise me to never do something like that again." she asked of him.

"Oh, you know me. I can't do that, Darlin'. Stupid is my middle name."

"I thought your middle name is Eugene." she whispered and Jim chuckled.

"Yeah, well...gotta accept me the way I am, Sarah."

This time she didn't answer. She loved Jim, more than anything else in this universe. But she could not allow this to happen again. Even if that meant that she had to act against Jim's will.

* * *

The two crabs were frolicking over the beach and tearing at the piece of cloth they had managed to steal from that strange creature. They had never seen anything like it. Big, soft and so loud! Seriously, it was so very loud! Well, there were two of these strange creatures. They looked almost exactly the same, only that one had a tentacle between its two lower appendages, while the other hadn't. And they were always fighting! Rolling over the sand and rubbing at each other like they were fighting for dominance.

Strange creatures indeed!

But that piece cloth was fun! There were so many things they could use it for! Build a nest, use it for fun, the opportunities were endless!

And those two crabs would have so much fun with that piece of cloth.

They were too busy fooling around to realize that there was a large piece of wood lying on the beach. It looked like some sort of debris that had been washed onto the shore. The crabs simply jumped on the piece of wood and continued to fight for the underpants, when the piece of wood suddenly became alive again.

"Wut Wut Wuuuut!" the crabs screamed in terror and ran off as fast as possible. They even left the underpants behind. When the palm managed to get back on its feet, well, roots, it looked around and shook its treetop. Then it noticed something right in front of it. It bowed its treetop down and "looked" at it. When it realized that it was a piece of cloth like the stuff that strange alien had put onto its leaves, it started to shake in anger.

Those aliens! They didn't belong to this world! First, that alien had put its smelly clothes on it without even asking, and then it had chased it through the entire jungle! And when the palm had stumbled, what had the alien done? Kick it in the (non-existent) coconuts! The palm stomped its root on the underpants and its leaves started to pulse red in anger and rage.

That alien! That alien would pay! This was the palm's home!

The war was on!


	64. Act III - Chapter 8

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 8**

 **Going Nuclear**

* * *

The days after Jim's "incident" were not so bad. At first, he refused to tell Sarah anything about it, even though she urged him to tell her everything. Jim wasn't a man who would allow his pride to cloud his judgment, but telling Sarah that he got beaten up by a goddamn palm tree was just too embarrassing, even for him. And so, he told her the next best thing; that it had been some kind of plant, just like the trees that had bombarded them with their fruits. Only less fruity and more thorny. Sarah didn't buy any of this, but she decided not to bother him. In the end, it didn't matter. Sarah didn't let Jim out of her sight for even one second. First, she made him some new clothes, and then she caught a few squidfishes. She asked him to tell him more stupid war-stories, even both of them didn't really want to hear them anymore. However, there's only so much you can do on a remote world far away from any form of civilization.

At first, Sarah had thought about using her powers and lay waste to that jungle. It were those _plants_. They weren't just any ordinary plants. They were alive and more like animals than the plants either one of them had ever seen or heard of. Maybe that was the reason why there were no animals on the surface and only in the sea.

Sarah could sense animals. She could sense people. But plants? Well, she could try, but it would take time. Right now, she only felt a huge mess of something organic. It felt like a giant blob of life without shape or form, and she couldn't tell individuals apart. If there even was such a thing.

In short; she had no idea how to read a plant's mind.

She had finally found creatures whose minds were even stranger than that of a Protoss.

In the end, Sarah decided not to purge the jungle. She had thought about it, though. Well, not all of it, only a few square kilometers. You know, in order to make a point. But she hadn't done that. Not because she couldn't do it, but because she didn't want to do it. Because she was afraid that Jim would see that dark side of her, the same side that enjoyed destruction and carnage. And she was afraid that she might lose herself to the thrill of battle once more.

When Izsha had experienced excruciating pain from of the influence of the psi-disruptor Matt's scientist had cooked up, Sarah hadn't hesitated a second to go out there and destroy it. And if Matt wouldn't have been responsible for that stunt, she wouldn't have hesitated one second and ripped that station from the sky, along with all the people on it.

But as long as Jim was around, she didn't want to do it. She was afraid of the consequences.

And Jim?

He got beaten up by a goddamn palm tree.

He just didn't want to talk about it.

So instead, he told Sarah about the time when he and Tychus had met for the first time. Or when Matt had lost a certain game of poker, with himself as the prize. Or when Stetmann had flooded an entire level of the Hyperion with, well, shit.

"Yeah, I heard that story." Sarah said while they sat on the beach and stared at the storm approaching. By now it was an impressive sight. It was like a black wall moving towards them. Maybe they should build a bunker and wait for the storm to pass.

"Really? When? I never told you about it." Jim asked and Sarah realized that she told him too much. She looked down at her feet and tugged at her shirt. She wore light clothes, a green shirt, and gray pants. Nothing fancy, but it was truly a sight to behold! Sarah Kerrigan, wearing casual clothes. It had been Jim's idea, right after she had summoned a new set of clothes for him.

"Why always wearing a Ghost-suit, Darlin'?" he had asked her. "How about a new look? Something less, uhm, militaristic?" So yeah, she had decided to follow his suggestion. She had tried out several things, at one point she had even thought about wearing a bikini. But no, that would have been awkward. She had no idea why women wore something like that. Okay, in order to appear sexy, she got that. But even then, both she and Jim could run around naked, so there was hardly any need for that.

A normal green shirt and gray shorts. And what had Jim said after looking at her?

"Beautiful."

That man just knew how to make her blush.

It hadn't stopped there, though. After washing her hair once more, he had helped her to figure out what to do with her it. Cutting it short had still been an option, but he had told her to turn it into a long queue. From the tactical point of view, long hair was useless. Her nerve cords had been an exception. They had helped her to focus her psionics, but she didn't need those nerve cords anymore. Her hair served no purpose either, but she had to admit; she liked that queue.

But back to the story.

"I-" she started before she sighed and fell silent for a moment. She closed her eyes and tried to find the right answer. However, it was pointless, so she tried to tell him the truth. Well, at least parts of the truth.

"I was there when you and Matt had your little party. I waited outside." When Jim heard that, he blinked in confusion.

"Wait...wait, you were there all the time? Not just when we danced?" She nodded and suddenly Jim had to swallow hard.

"Uhm, what else did you hear?" he wanted to know, but she shook her head.

"Don't worry, I have heard worse. Though I have to admit, seeing how someone kills himself by shoving his head down the toilet? That's something I haven't seen before. Tell me the truth. Did that really happen? Or did you just make it up in order to make fun of Valerian?"

"Oh, it happened exactly as you heard it." Jim mumbled. They sat next to each other, and after a while, he simply grabbed her hand and started to play with her long and slender fingers.

"Say, Sarah..." Oh God, that tone in his voice. He was about to ask something. Something that she didn't want to tell him.

"Y-yes?" she asked nonetheless.

"Back during the party...Jane Shepard, that was you, right?"

For a long time, she didn't say anything. She just stared at the horizon and thought about her next words. She could sense Jim's mixed emotions. Without entering his mind, she couldn't really say what he was thinking. When she finally answered, her voice was but a whisper.

"Yes."

"Why...why didn't you show yourself to me?" There was no pain in his voice, no accusation. It was just curiosity. In a way, it was worse than hearing an accusation. He just wanted a straight answer.

"I-" she began. Damn, couldn't they change the topic? Talk about something else? Do something nice? Like getting a backrub? Or sleeping with each other? However, that's when she realized that she had to give him something. Not the entire truth, but at least a part of it. Maybe he wouldn't be angry.

"I was scared." she then admitted.

"Scared?" he asked and she nodded.

"I was unsure how you would react when you would see me again. Jim, I didn't know that I would return. Back when we had defeated Arcturus, I had to leave. I thought that we would never win the war against Amon, but I had to do it. And then? After that? I never thought that we would be together again. And a part of me..." And now she had to swallow hard. "...a part of me hoped for that."

"Say what?" Jim wanted to know and Sarah looked into his eyes. She could see his anger and his confusion, and he could see her pain and fear.

"I love you, Jim. Really, I do. But even now I have my doubts. Not about you, but about me. I'm not a woman anymore, Jim. Perhaps I never was. I was everything. A tool. A monstrosity. I even thought that I was a god at one point. But there's one thing I've never been, and that is _normal_." She took a deep breath and felt how her emotions started to get out of control. "So, a part of me hoped that you would have found someone else. Someone who loves you. Someone who is at your side and who deserves your love. Even though it hurts to admit it, I believed that I wasn't that person. Truth to be told, I'm still not sure about that." Now she looked at his hand and a sad smile appeared on her face.

"But when I saw you, when I felt all that pain inside your chest, I couldn't stand it. I just had to see you. I wanted to tell you that I was still alive, but I was afraid. Afraid of...well, I guess of everything. You. Me. I was scared."

"Scared of me judging you?" he wanted to know.

Critical hit detected, prepare for evasive maneuvers!

"Yeah..." she whispered and let go of his hand. Sarah pulled her knees up to her chin and didn't say anything for a long time. Then, after that felt like an eternity, she took a deep breath and continued.

"Jim, I have done things. Horrible things. Things that can never be forgiven. So, what could I have done? Go to the party as Sarah Kerrigan? Show the world the _real_ Sarah Kerrigan? What do you think would have happened? I just...I just wanted to check the water, I guess."

"Hmm..." Jim just mumbled and watched how Sarah made herself as small as possible. There were moments when this woman looked like a fragile little girl, lost in a world that scared the living hell out of her. When he opened his mouth, she was expecting him to berate her. But his next words caused her to frown in confusion.

"Ya' know, truth to be told, it was a rather lousy disguise. You were the only redhead on that party, and I didn't even notice it." he told her and Sarah decided _not_ to tell him that she might have clouded his senses back then.

"Well, you were pretty busy back then." Sarah just whispered.

"Not as busy as you I suppose." he muttered. "Sarah, just what-"

"Can we drop this topic?" she suddenly asked him and looked into his eyes. He could see her pain, her guilt, and her shame. But most importantly; he could see that she was desperate.

"Sarah, there's something wrong and I-"

" _Please!"_ she urged him and he could sense that she just wanted to not talk about it. At first, he thought that it was a bad idea to drop this topic, but then he just nodded. Hey, Rome wasn't built in a day, right? And they had finally managed to talk about Sarah's problems, even though they had just managed to find out that she didn't want to talk about them.

"Okay. Okay, Sarah. No questions." For all her powers, Sarah could be very vulnerable. She knew how to hide her emotions, better than most other people. She used to have a shield around her heart, one that Jim had managed to tear down after they had met for the first time. But that had been a lucky shot. Now it was different. Sarah leaned against his shoulder and slipped under his arm.

"Don't you have any stupid old story you haven't told me yet?" she whispered and Jim sighed.

"Well, got a couple of stories left. But they are boring as hell."

"Please, tell me."

Jim was about to refuse, but then he decided to do as she asked him to.

That's how they spent their time. They were getting nowhere, but to Sarah, it was just the way she wanted it to be. However, Jim was many things, especially relentless. The next time he approached her with that topic was when they were walking along the beach while holding hands.

"So, who's Jane Shepard anyway?" he asked her and she just looked at him and grunted: "Huh?"

"Jane Shepard. How did you come up with that name?" At first, Sarah didn't reply anything. Then, after a while, she shrugged her shoulders and started to play with her own hair. Perhaps she hadn't noticed it, but it had turned into a habit of her within days. Whenever she was nervous, she started to twirl the end of her queue between her fingers.

"Dunno. It just felt right. I think I once heard about a Jane Shepard, but I don't remember where. I think she was a redhead, so...yeah."

"Hmm...never heard that name before." Jim muttered and dropped that question. It was actually a rather subtle approach. He was only asking her one or two questions at a time and then he changed the topic.

Maybe the real Jane Shepard had been a Spectre-trainee?

Hmm...

But then he asked one of those questions she didn't want to answer. Jim took a deep breath and looked at Sarah, and she knew that this time his question would be able to ruin her mood for good.

"So, what's next?" he wanted to know. She didn't let go of his hand. Instead, she sighed and looked at the approaching storm.

"Dunno. Maybe check out that cliff you told me about? Or tell me how that local looked like who attacked you? So I can have a long and friendly chat with this guy?" But this time it was Jim who refused to tell her anything. Besides...

"That's not what I was talking about, Darlin'. I was wondering when we would go back."

"Go back where?" she asked with a toneless voice.

"Home."

He could see how Sarah tensed up and didn't say anything for a long time. When she finally said something, her voice was but a whisper.

"And where would that be?"

"What? Sorry, I didn't hear you. You were saying?" Jim asked, but she just shook her head.

"Nothing. Come on, I want to see what's behind that curve. It can't all be beach, right?" she then told him and pulled him with her.

"Sarah."

"You know, this beach is nice and all...but maybe we should build a house. That's a good idea, isn't it? Build a hut with a real bed and windows and a door and a roof. Especially with that storm approaching. Say, do you know how to build a house?"

"Sarah."

"I could get us some tools. You know, where I found the crate with your soap. There should be other things we could use as well. We don't need that much stuff, right? And it doesn't have to be anything fancy."

"Sarah, please!" Jim urged her to stop, but she wasn't even listening.

"Who knows, maybe we can build a fence to keep the locals away. That way they don't pose a threat anymore."

"Sarah!" Jim yelled and stopped. Sarah, unwilling to let go of him, had to stop as well. She looked into his eyes and he could see the pain and fear in her gaze.

"WHAT?!" she screamed back and Jim was surprised at her sudden outburst.

"Sarah, what's the matter?" When she heard that, she let go of his hand and turned away.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Sarah snarled, but Jim had heard better lies from her. Like: "I'm not interested in a caveman like you!" She turned towards the jungle and crossed the arms in front of her chest.

"I think you do." Jim replied. He made a step towards her, but then he watched how she walked away from him.

"Sarah! Please, just answer my question?"

"What question?" she asked as if she still had no idea what he was talking about.

"When will we go home again?" He could see how she froze once more, and then how she started to tremble. Her whole body was shaking, but not because she was cold. No, she was angry.

"Home..." he could hear her hiss. "Isn't this place good enough?"

"Sarah, what-"

"I don't want to go back!" she suddenly screamed and turned back towards him. He could see the anger and the pain in her eyes. "There, I said it! I don't want to go back! Are you happy now?"

"No, not really. Sarah, what's the matter? Why don't you want to go back to-" But then she stretched her arms out and looked around.

"What's so bad about this place, huh? Are you telling me you don't like it here? It's a paradise, isn't it? I mean, even I have no idea how something like this is can even exist, but at least no one is bugging us here, hmm?"

"It's beautiful, Sarah." Jim agreed. "But it's not home." What she said next, however, did surprise him.

"But it could be." she whispered and Jim made a step backward.

"What?"

"It could be home!" she then shouted and looked back at him. "It has everything we need. Food. Water. Us..." The moment she said that Jim realized what she was talking about.

"Sarah, we _have_ a home." When Sarah heard that, she just shook her head.

"No, Jim. Maybe you have a home. But I don't."

Her words caused Jim to say nothing. For a long time, neither one of them said a word. Not until Sarah sighed and walked towards the sea. She stepped into the shallow water and enjoyed the warm liquid flowing around her ankles.

"You do have a home, Sarah." she could hear Jim behind her. "It's the place where all of our friends are."

"I don't have any friends, Jim." she told him.

"That's not true. There's Valerian, Matt and-"

"They are _your_ friends, Jim! Not mine!" Sarah hissed. "They never liked me. They were scared of me, like everyone else. There is only one human I consider my friend." She looked over her shoulder and into his eyes. "And that is you."

Well, there was Michael Liberty, but details, details...

Also, it was a great way of not mentioning Izsha.

Sometimes, when you want to keep the truth hidden, you have to lie. But there might come a moment when someone realizes that you're lying. In that case, you can use the truth in order to keep the lie alive. Sounds weird? Well, Sarah was about to give Jim what he wanted; the truth. But not the truth about Ulnar and the Zerg. No, she got plenty of lies she could use. And by confessing something less horrible to him, she should be able to keep that particular truth hidden from him, at least for some more time.

It wasn't a brilliant plan, but a plan nonetheless.

"Sarah." His words were soft and understanding, but to her, it felt like a whiplash.

"No, Jim." she refused his idea and he blinked in surprise.

"I haven't said anything yet."

"Yeah, but I don't have to read your mind to know what you want to tell me. You want that we go back. Back to the Koprulu Sector."

"It's where we are from. It's home, Sarah. It's our home. It's _your_ home." His words caused her to laugh, but it was a bitter laugh.

"Home. Isn't that supposed to be a place where people welcome you back?" Sarah wondered. "Well, I guess that means Char could be considered my home, hmm, Jimmy?"

"That's not funny." he told her and she turned around. When they were face to face, he could see the tears of gold running down her cheeks.

"You're right! You're right, it's not funny! Or do you see me smiling!" She stared at him for what felt like an eternity before her angry expression was replaced with one of shock.

"Jim, I'm sorry, I... I didn't mean to..."

This time, Jim didn't say anything. Sarah wanted him to tell her that everything was okay, but he didn't do it. And there was another problem; both Sarah and Jim were quite stubborn.

"Matt trusted you. And so did Valerian when you decided to march on Augustgrad. They didn't have to do that, but they did. Because they trusted-"

"They didn't trust me!" Sarah yelled in anger. "They only did what I told them to do because they were out of options. They were desperate!" She knew that she was about to do something stupid, but her anger was genuine. And she didn't want to be the emotional punching-bag for anyone anymore again. And that included Jim. "Matt never trusted me! He even told me that himself!" That's when Jim looked at her in surprise.

"You...spoke to him?" This time Sarah didn't hesitate or back down.

"Yes, Jim! I spoke with him! And not just him. Guess what, I talked to Artanis as well!" Now the expression on Jim's face became worried.

"Ar... Artanis? You met Artanis?" he asked, and Sarah was about to say something. But then she shook her head and simply walked away.

"Sarah!" Jim barked and she stopped. She didn't dare to look at him, not because she was scared, but because she was angry. At Artanis. At Jim. At Matt. And, most importantly, at herself.

"What happened?" she could hear the pleading tone in his voice. Sarah clenched her hands into fists and knew that there was no way to avoid this anymore. When she started to speak, her voice was flat and almost toneless.

"I went to Aiur to offer my help. Undo some of the damage that the Swarm had done to their world. The damage done by the _Overmind_ , not _me_. But you know what? They didn't even give me a chance to explain myself. They attacked me with everything they had, not holding back. And Artanis? He was leading them himself." She laughed once more, and again it was a bitter laugh. "And when I managed to talk to him, you know what he said? That I would be _never_ anything but an enemy to his kind! Those were _his_ words!" She hissed again, but this time it almost sounded like the sound a Zerg would make, not something that comes out of a human throat. "That arrogant, self-righteous asshole!" She turned back to Jim and spread out her arms.

"I wanted to help, Jim! I came with nothing but good intentions! And what did I get? An ass-kicking from here to the other end of the Void! They didn't even give me the chance to explain myself!" While the details of her little trip to Aiur were a bit different, it was about the general idea.

"The Protoss probably had their reasons, Sarah. They-"

"-didn't even care one bit about what I had to say!" she interrupted him. "And Matt? I traveled to Augustgrad because I wanted to see you again, but I was too scared to face you. I was scared that you might reject me. And then I met Matt, simply by accident. And you know what? He told me that I would never be anything but a destroyer, that I'm responsible for all the shit he has to fix. That I'M RESPONSIBLE FOR _EVERYTHING_!" she suddenly screamed and for less than a second, she released a tiny portion of her psionics. Behind her, the water of the ocean was forced away and Jim could see how the sea was vaporized right in front of his eyes. He could even see the sea floor and countless squidfishes that writhed around, now that they were no longer in the water.

"Don't you see, Jim? I don't have any friends! And I don't intend to return to a place where everyone just hates me because it's the most convenient thing to do! They feared me when I was a Ghost. They feared and _loathed_ me when I was the Queen of Blades. But you know what? Even before that, I was feared. My own parents feared me, Jim! That's why... why..." But suddenly her anger was replaced by something else. Something she hadn't sensed in a long time. Old memories started to return to the surface, memories she had believed to be lost, she had _hoped_ to be lost.

"Sarah?" Jim asked in shock when he saw the pained expression on her face. He had seen her cry many times, but he realized in an instant that this time it was different. He could _sense_ it. "What's wrong?" However, Sarah wasn't able to answer. She dropped to her knees and started to sob. Her fingers dug into the warm sand and golden tears fell from her cheeks.

"Sarah, I'm here for yo-"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed and unleashed a hellfire of psionic energies. Jim had no idea what was going on anymore. He could see how the sand around him started to shift and how the wind started to tear at him. At first, he thought that the storm had finally reached them. And a storm had indeed reached him, but not the one he had stared at for several days now. No, this was a different kind of storm. It was the kind of storm that was not natural.

"SARAH!" he yelled and tried to make a step towards her, but suddenly something seemed to push him away. No, not something. Someone. He had heard about psi-storms before, but he had never seen one with his own eyes. Besides, it was something that Protoss could do, and even then, only those who had ascended the Khala and had become true Templar. However, hearing of something and witnessing it with your own two eyes are two completely different things.

Jim had no idea what to do. He was witnessing something that wasn't meant to be seen by mortals. Sarah screamed in pain and agony and cowered on the sand while the world around her turned into a blur. It was as if she was in the center of a hurricane.

No, that wasn't right. She _was_ the center of a hurricane.

Jim tried, he really did. He wanted to reach her, but it was impossible.

"SARAH! LISTEN TO ME!" he screamed, but his voice was lost in the noise of the storm.

"I DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT!" he could hear her voice. "I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY!" He wanted to tell her that everything was fine, even though he knew that it was a lie. But something was wrong, and he had to reach her!

That's when something hit him right in the chest. It felt like a goddamn tank! He wasn't just thrown back, he was blown away like a small pebble. He felt how above and below turned into strictly theoretical constructs, and he saw how the world turned upside down. He tried to do something, but it was pointless. The raw power of the storm threw him through the air and he could see that some of those trees were getting closer. When Jim slammed against the trunk of a palm, he groaned in pain, but there was no time to just give up and sit this one out. Even though the storm was tearing at his limbs, Jim managed to get back on his feet. He was disorientated, but he still knew what had happened. When he stumbled back to the beach, it was like walking through a shredder. Trees were blown into pieces when the raw psionic energies tore them apart. A crab flew past Jim's head, screaming "WUUUT WUUT WUUUUUUTTTT!" in terror, but he had no time for that critter. He had to get back to her.

"SARAH!" he yelled. Everything around him turned dark when the sand started to block his view. He still knew which way to go, he could see a bright light shining through the wall of sand. And he could hear her voice.

"I'M SORRY! IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! I DIDN'T WANT TO KILL HER!" Sarah's screams echoed through the air and his mind at the same time. And then there was that feeling. A feeling of despair and dread, unlike anything he had ever felt before. No, that wasn't true. He had felt something like that before, back when he had lost Johnny and Liddy. But this? It was easily a million times stronger than anything he had ever felt in his own mind. And that's when he realized that it was Sarah's pain and guilt.

Suddenly he heard her voice in the back of his mind again. Or that voice that almost sounded like Sarah's.

 _This is it. This is the moment. She will need you, more than ever! Please...save her!_

That was the plan.

"SARAH, LISTEN TO ME!" he tried to reach her, but every step was like running against a wall. A part of his mind told him that it was pointless. Run for cover and sit this one out, Jim! But no, Jim wouldn't do that. He had endured too much to allow anything to happen to Sarah again. He had sworn that to himself.

He would _not_ lose her again!

Every step was like fighting your way through the worst sandstorm of all times. He clenched his eyes shut and pressed his shirt against his mouth and nose, but even then, he could feel how the tiny pieces of sand found their way into his nostrils. His skin felt like it was on fire, as if he was getting sandblasted. However, he refused to yield. Every step felt like ten thousand, and when he finally managed to break through the wall of sand, he opened his eyes again and what he saw...

"Sarah?" he whispered in shock and disbelief. She was floating above the ground, huddled together like a fetus. Purple bolts of lightning were moving over her body, and her hair looked like it was on fire. No, like it was actual fire.

"I didn't want to do that..." she sobbed. Her eyes were closed and tears of gold fell down onto the sand beneath them. "...I didn't want to hurt her. Please, you have to believe me!"

Her? Who was she talking about?

"Sarah, calm down! Everything is fine!" he told her and raised his hand. She was almost out of reach, but when he managed to grab her hand, she turned her head towards him. Her eyes were still closed, however.

"No! Don't take me away! I don't want to go!" she whimpered. By now the sense of pain and fear was almost unbearable.

"Sarah! Look at me! It's me, it's Jim!"

A puzzled expression appeared on Sarah's face. It seemed as if he was able to get through to her.

"Jim?"

"Yes, it's me! Sarah, calm down! Everything is fine, just calm down!"

"I didn't want to do it, Jim! I didn't want to kill her! It just...it just happened! I didn't know that it would kill her, I only wanted her to leave me alone!"

"Who? Who did you kill, Sarah?" Jim wanted to know. But Sarah didn't answer that question. Instead, the storm started to get even stronger and Jim realized that this could end in a disaster. Ah, who was he kidding? It was already a disaster! Jim was just a man, he didn't know how to deal with this. The only thing he could do was to try to get through to her.

 _Tell her that it wasn't her fault. That she didn't know what would happen._ the voice in the back of his mind told him, and Jim decided to roll with it.

"Sarah, it's okay." he said with a gentle tone in his voice. "It wasn't your fault. You didn't know what would happen." He had no idea what he was talking about, but maybe if he would tell her what she wanted to hear.

"Not...my fault?" she whimpered and he nodded.

"Yes, it wasn't your fault. It's like you said; you didn't know what would happen. How could you?"

"I didn't know what would happen...I was just a child!" she whimpered and Jim's eyes widened in surprise. A child? Just what was she talking about? However, there was no time to think about that. He had to act quickly. Jim had no idea what he was doing. How could he? He was just trusting his guts. He pulled Sarah down, until she was roughly on his level, and then he put his other hand on her cheek.

"Sarah! Look at me! It's fine! Everything is fine! It wasn't your fault. You didn't do it on purpose!" He had no idea what he was talking about, but it appeared as if it was just what she wanted to hear. Because he could see how her closed eyelids started to twitch.

"I didn't want to do it..." she wailed and Jim pressed his forehead against hers.

"I know. I know! Please, Sarah, calm down!" He could sense her despair, even though he had no psionic talent whatsoever. It was as if her emotions were pouring out of her. He could hear how the trees in the jungle started to scream again, but he didn't care about that. He just knew that he had to get through to her.

"Forgive me! Forgive me!" Sarah whimpered, but Jim knew that she wasn't talking to him. She was talking to someone else. The woman she killed maybe? It was a stupid plan, but Jim had no other idea left, so he put both of his hands on her cheeks and pressed his forehead against hers even harder.

"It's okay, Sarah. Look at me! Open your eyes!" But Sarah didn't really listen to him.

"Please...forgive me!" she wailed and Jim took a deep breath. Everything around them started to fall apart. The trees in the vicinity, the water, the squidfishes and crabs, even the sand itself, all of it had been reduced to its base particles. It was unlike anything Jim had ever witnessed and right now he was scared as hell. It appeared as if he was safe though, at least as long as he would stay inside the eye of the hurricane. But how long would that work? He had to wake her up. He had to get through to her!

"Sarah, listen..." he tried it one last time and took a deep breath. "...it's okay. She forgives you."

The moment he said that Sarah's eyes snapped open. But when he looked into them, he didn't saw those beautiful green eyes he loved so much. No, they looked like two stars, shining brightly. And there was even more. When Jim stared at them, he felt _something_. It felt as if he wasn't looking into her eyes, but into another universe. And the things he felt...he was unable to describe them.

And that's when-

* * *

 _Her_ voice was annoying. Always so annoying. Telling her to do this, to do that. Nothing she did was ever right or good enough. She had just wanted to have some fun! And then she had wanted to show _her_ what she had found! But no, _she_ hadn't been happy to see what Sarah had found.

She wanted to prove _her_ wrong. Show _her_ that she knew what she was doing, that she was a good little girl.

But then the bug was dead. The bug. The little bug she had sworn to keep safe. It was dead because she had been careless. This time was different, though. _She_ was yelling at Sarah. Telling her that she had made another mistake. Mistake. It was always a mistake. No matter what Sarah would do, it would always be a mistake.

Sarah wanted _her_ to stop, but _she_ didn't. She wanted to be left alone, but _she_ didn't leave her alone. Sarah even thought that the woman hated her.

And that's when she saw the blood everywhere.

Everywhere.

"Her head...it came apart. Just like that..." a man's voice stuttered.

* * *

The images that were flooding Jim's mind were short and didn't make much sense to Jim. But he realized that it wasn't one of his memories. Was this what psionics felt like? However, he had no time to think about it.

"What have I done?" he could hear Sarah cry. And so, he embraced her even harder and tried to get through to her. Unfortunately, it was no longer in his hands.

It had never been in his hands to begin with.

 _Tell her!_ the voice in the back of his mind pleaded. _You have to tell her!_

"She forgives you, Sarah! She forgives you!"

"Forgive...forgive me..." Sarah repeated before her body itself started to glow. Everything was happening so fast that he wasn't even able to realize what was going on. One moment Sarah was still in his arms. And the next?

The next moment, Sarah went nuclear.

Literally.

* * *

"...is there anything on my face?" Tesson wanted to know and looked up to the creature standing a couple of meters away from him. Izsha, who had nothing else to do right now, didn't answer the Protoss' question. All she did was to stare at the former Dark Templar with a cold and distant look on her face.

Right now, there was nothing else to do. Niadra was busy overlooking the expansion of her hive. It was still small. Pathetic even, when compared to what the Zerg were truly capable of. But it was a start, and Izsha knew better than to lose the bigger picture out of her sight. The only thing that truly puzzled her was her Queen's decision to allow this Protoss to live.

"No matter how long you are going to stare at me, I will not tell you anything." Tesson said, but Izsha didn't reply anything. All she did was to stare at the Protoss. And if there was one thing Izsha was brilliant in, then it was to stare even stones into submission.

However, before Tesson could break under her unrelenting gaze, something happened.

There had been a time when humanity had believed that nothing could travel faster than light. And there had been a time when humanity had thought that the ability read minds was nothing but a stupid idea from a comic book. Well, science was nothing but trial and error anyway. Perhaps the people of the past would have laughed when someone had told them that it was indeed not only possible to travel faster than light but to read other people's minds.

However, even if they had believed that, they sure as hell wouldn't have believed that it is possible to sense someone else's mind even over the distance of thousands of light years.

Good thing that Izsha didn't care about any of this. Because even with all that distance between her and her Majesty, she immediately felt that something was wrong. Tesson noticed the immediate change when the strange Zerg looked around as if she was looking for something. He had no idea about this strange connection this creature shared with her Queen, but suddenly the connection Izsha shared with Sarah turned into a flaming inferno. It reminded Izsha of that moment on the Hyperion, when the psi-disruptor of the humans had almost liquefied her brain. However, this time there was a difference. This time it wasn't her mind that was in pain, but that of her Majesty.

Izsha didn't know how it was possible to feel her Queen's pain even over this distance, and she didn't care about those details either. The only thing she had to know was that her Queen was in pain and distress...

...and that Izsha had to act.

"Guard the prisoner!" Izsha suddenly hissed and simply turned around. As she slithered away, two Zerglinhs approached and hissed at Tesson, yet by now he knew that they wouldn't attack him.

"What? Is staring at me no longer exciting enough for you? Maybe you want me to dance for you!" Tesson shouted after Izsha, yet when she was finally gone, he looked around and frowned. Something was going on. Perhaps that was the chance he had been waiting for.

The chance to escape...

"Niadra!" Izsha barked as she slithered through the halls of Ulnar. Within her mind, she could hear the voice of the broodmother.

" _Yes? Is something wrong? Do you want me to consume that Protoss? Please tell me you don't want me to consume that Protoss. I don't like consuming Protoss."_ Niadra said. There was seriously something wrong with this broodmother, but Izsha had no time to deal with that problem right now.

"No, everything is fine." Izsha lied. Niadra didn't have to know that something had happened to the Queen. "However, I need to talk to her Majesty immediately." It was strange. A short while ago lying to a fellow Zerg would have been unthinkable for Izsha. But now? Now things had changed. Niadra was still Zerg, and even though she had accepted Sarah as her rightful leader, there was still some doubt in Izsha's mind. She didn't want to tell Niadra the truth about Sarah because she was afraid that the broodmother might would consider this to be a weakness of character.

And if there's one thing you should never to when you deal with Zerg, then it's to show doubts or fear.

Normally that wasn't a problem. Izsha possessed the ultimate poker face. But she usually had a doomsday-device in her back. And that doomsday-device's name was Sarah Kerrigan.

" _Well, say hi from me!"_ Niadra told her in a rather casual tone. Izsha stopped and frowned. Niadra was...strange. Her mind was somewhat unfocused. And it lacked the ferocity and determination of Zagara. Perhaps the long hibernation had caused some serious brain-damage. Under normal circumstances, Niadra would probably be replaced by another broodmother, or Abathur would attempt to "fix" her. However, that was not an option. They were running low on broodmothers.

"I shall do that." Izsha replied. "Just keep this place safe and protected. That includes the Phasesmith. And the prisoner.

And that's when Izsha heard the one thing she didn't want to hear.

" _The prisoner? Oh, funny that you mention that! My Zerglings are freaking out, it seems."_ When Izsha heard that, she stopped dead in her tracks and frowned.

"Has he tried to attack them?" she wanted to know and was about to turn around in order to identify his body. Izsha wasn't really sad to hear that the Zerglings had mauled the prisoner to death. It would mean that she had to worry about one less nuisance and could focus completely on her Queen's problems.

" _No, however, it seems that my Zerglings have, well, misplaced that Protoss."_ Niadra told her, and Izsha did something that she rarely did. Her face showed a glimpse of her real emotion. Her eyelid started to twitch and she actually bit her lip. Her sharp teeth dug into the soft flesh of her mouth, and she actually drew a drop of blood.

"I was just with the prisoner. What happened?" Izsha demanded to know.

" _Beats me. One second he was still there, next one he was, well, gone."_

Gone. But of course, because that's something that happens all the time. One second a prisoner is there; the next one he is gone. Izsha had to fight her frustrations back.

"Send out your troops, find him!" she ordered.

" _Already on it!"_ Niadra replied, and then there was silence. This was a truly unfortunate turn of events. A Protoss running around inside Ulnar unsupervised? Izsha was aware that this could end in tragedy, and it was her duty to prevent that. However, at the same time, she could still feel the pain and distress of her Queen, even over all that distance. It was moments like these where she wished that someone would tell her what to do.

Unfortunately, she had to come up with a plan herself.

She had her orders. Izsha was supposed to protect this place and oversee it. And now that this Protoss, this Tesson-character, was on the run, she was needed here. She had little doubt that Niadra wouldn't be able to solve this mess. Besides, she had other things to worry about. Izsha could feel that her Queen needed her. It was impossible to describe, it just _felt_ as if every bone inside her body screamed to be with her Majesty in order to protect her.

Her mind and her heart were fighting a titanic battle. However, if there was one thing Izsha was made for, then it was to listen to reason and to logic. She was her Queen's advisor. Her feelings were unimportant. She had to remain calm and have faith in Sarah. And then everything would turn out okay once-

" _She needs you."_ a voice suddenly reached both her ears and her mind at the same time. Izsha's eyes widened in surprise and she turned around.

"My Queen? Is that you?" she asked with a surprised tone in her voice. There was a figure standing in a dark corridor, only a couple of meters away from Izsha. Even with her fantastic eyesight, Izsha could only make out some minor details. The figure standing in the shadows was a woman. She had the same size of Sarah and almost the same figure.

Almost.

Izsha's perception was a lot sharper than that of any other human, Protoss, or even most Zerg. And so she noticed that something was wrong with this person.

"Who are you?" she demanded to know and squinted her eyes. Something was odd. "You are not the Queen." This person, this woman...she emitted power. So much power! And it almost felt like her Queen's powers. But only almost. There was something different about this one.

" _She needs you, Izsha."_ a warm and soft voice told her, and Izsha felt how a warm and gentle sensation filled her mind. It was as if her whole body was telling her that this woman was not a foe, but a friend.

"Who needs me?" Izsha wanted to know, still unsure of what to do. She could see how the woman placed her hands on her chest, and even though the rest of her body remained in darkness, Izsha could see a gentle and sad smile on the woman's face.

" _She needs all of you. Every single one. Please, help her!"_ And then the woman just turned around and walked away. She vanished into the darkness and Izsha's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait. Wait! Who are you! I demand to know who you are and-" She slithered after that intruder, but once she reached the corridor and looked inside...

...the woman was gone.

Izsha blinked in surprise. She squinted her eyes and tried to find a trace of the vanished woman, but there was nothing. It was as if no one had been there in the first place. And a few moments later Izsha wasn't even certain that there had ever been a woman talking to her in the first place. However, it didn't really matter. Because now she knew what she had to do. Izsha felt a renewed vigor. Suddenly her doubts about her mixed duties were all but gone. Yes, Ulnar was an important asset. Yes, it should not fall into the wrong hands. And yes, she should probably deal with the escaped Protoss at once.

However, all of them was unimportant when compared to her Queen's wellbeing. And so Izsha turned away from the corridor and decided that it was time to do the one thing she hated more than anything else in this universe, the one thing Izsha's whole being detested from the bottom of her heart(s).

She was about to improvise.

"Niadra!" Izsha barked while she slithered towards a remote part of this station.

" _Yes?"_

"Have you found the Protoss!"

 _"Not yet. In case you haven't noticed it, this is a big station. I tell you once we get him. Please tell me that I don't have to consume him. I don't-"_

"Yes, I know." Izsha cut Niadra short. "You do not like to consume Protoss. Niadra, I will leave Ulnar soon. You will be responsible as long as I am gone. Is that understood?"

" _Sure thing."_

"Make sure that no one enters Ulnar. You are authorized to use all means necessary to keep this place safe. Find the prisoner. And keep Phase-smith Karax safe as well. His skills are of the utmost importance for her Majesty."

" _Ugh, I don't like him."_ Niadra groaned. _"He's so loud and cannot stop talking about science and stuff."_

Well, at least Izsha could rest assured that Niadra wouldn't devour Karax.

"Just keep him safe, Niadra." Izsha ordered.

" _You know, it would be easier if he wouldn't run around like crazy. Maybe we should remove his arms and legs, then I could keep him under constant surveillance!"_ Niadra offered. That's when Izsha could feel a strange feeling inside her mind. She hadn't felt it many times before, but she knew what it was.

It was frustration.

Izsha knew that her Queen was suffering. She knew that there was something inside Sarah's mind that was tormenting her, questioning her. Her Majesty was doubting herself, something that seemed so very wrong to Izsha. Her Queen was supposed to be strong and magnificent! Unfortunately, there were moments when she was anything but that. It wasn't Sarah's fault, and Izsha knew that she had to do her best in order to support her Queen. Like she had done on Saalok. And on Korhal.

And like she would do now.

But there was a small problem. Or a big one, depending on how you look at it.

Back then she had been at her Queen's side. You know, physically. Now she was lightyears away. She knew where Sarah was, she could sense the location of the world, but only inside her mind. However, knowing the path doesn't help you much if you don't have the means to get there. Ever since Sarah had visited them some time ago, Izsha had thought about that problem.

Well, she had thought about thousands of problems and come up with many solutions. It was her job to do that. There was no ship or overlord that could travel to her Queen's refuge in a reasonable time, Izsha was aware of that. But if you have a brilliant yet highly unstable phase-smith at your disposal, you should use his skills. The idea of traveling via warp-gate seemed unnatural to Izsha. Karax had told her that there was a limit to how much you could travel with one jump. A warp-gate required energy, and the single pylon he had salvaged was simply not powerful enough to send someone to her Queen's location.

"It is impossible to achieve that with the tools I have at my disposal, Lady Izsha." Karax had told her.

"I do not care for your excuses, minion Karax." she had replied. "Find a way to allow me to travel to her Majesty's sanctuary. I do not care how you do it."

He had told her something about energy, about range and about "physically impossible", but Izsha hadn't cared about such details. And so, she had just told him to "find a solution". And guess what? He had managed to find a solution! Somehow, and don't ask Izsha, because she had no idea how something like that was even possible, he had managed to hook up his make-shift warp-gate to Ulnar. Or something like that. Apparently, this place was powered by different forms of energy, and it could suck power from the vacuum and it siphoned something from the Void itself. He had tried to explain it to Izsha with big, sparkling eyes (but aren't Protoss eyes always sparkling?), but she had cared for none of that.

Point is; he had managed to acquire energy.

Karax kept mostly to himself. There were technical reasons for doing that. Karax needed a clean environment for his workshop. The creep of Niadra's hive was not very helpful, and so he kept as much distance between him and the Zerg as possible. There was an overlord always near him, so should he require help, he could just tell them. Also, even though he and the other Protoss were of the same species, they didn't really seem to care about each other.

All of that meant that Izsha was usually busy slithering from one end of Ulnar to the other.

Well, at least it kept her tail in good shape. Or something like that.

When she exited the corridor and entered the huge cavern, she could see that Karax's construction had grown considerably since the last time she had inspected it. Back when Sarah had visited them, it had been nothing but a pylon and a few machines standing around the crystal. But now? Now it was so big that it rivaled the size of Niadra's hive. It looked like a giant ring made out of all kinds of pieces, and Izsha could see endless numbers of cables connecting the ring to all sorts of different machines and contraptions. The only thing that seemed odd was the fact that the ring lay on the ground, but there was probably a good reason for that. Izsha stopped in front of the ring and examined it. Karax had worked nonstop in order to finish it.

"Lady Izsha!" she suddenly heard the Phase-smith's voice behind her. She turned around and when she spotted Karax, he looked like he had turned into a weird mixture between phase-smith and Terran engineer. He had removed parts of his armor and replaced it with things he had salvaged from what looked like parts from an SCV. There was even a big flashlight attached to his shoulder. All in all, Karax looked like Victor Protossstein, mad scientist _extraordinaire_!

"Have you come here to inspect the progress I made so far?" he asked, but Izsha had no time for small-talk.

"No, minion Karax. I have come here because I require using your device. It is of the utmost importance that-" However, when she saw the shocked expression on Karax's face, she knew that something was wrong.

"What? No!" Karax yelled and Izsha frowned when she heard that.

"This was not a suggestion, minion Karax! It was an order. Or do you wish to tell me that you do not intend to obey my command?" When Karax heard that, his face lost all color.

"Oh no, Lady Izsha! That is not what I meant. Trust me, there is nothing I would like to do more than to help you, but I am simply not ready yet!"

"Minion Karax, this is unacceptable." she told him and made sure that he would know how displeased she was. "You had more than enough time to come up with a solution to my demand. To say that you are not ready yet makes me wonder if you are truly able to deliver what you promised to me _and_ her Majesty." Izsha hissed. Karax raised his hands in self-defense and tried to reason with Izsha.

"Lady Izsha, I assure you that I have been working non-stop, but I had no time to test the device yet. And there are certain limitations that even I cannot overcome, at least not with better equipment or more time."

"You have neither, Karax!" Izsha informed him. "Is the device operational?"

"Yes. Well...in theory."

"So, it can be used to travel to her Majesty's current location?"

"In theory, yes."

"And it will allow me to travel within a reasonable time?"

"In theory, yes." Karax repeated his statement. That's when Izsha looked at the warp gate with an expression of pure determination.

"Then it is time to see if it is not just working in theory. Activate the warp-gate." she ordered, but Karax just shook his head.

"Lady Izsha, the device has not been tested even once. While I do believe that it can establish a warp connection, I cannot say that it will be a stable one. Whoever enters it might be reduced to their base particles. It could prove potentially lethal to anyone!" he warned her, but Izsha didn't care. Her Queen required her help. What good was it to stay here and do nothing?

"I am aware of the risks, minion Karax. But this is not about my safety. Or yours. Her Majesty requires my presence, and I will not wait here until you have worked out all the possible flaws in your design. So, I will ask you once more and I will only accept a yes or no. Will it work?" At first, Karax didn't answer that question. He looked at the warp gate and it appeared as if he was thinking about something. Then, after some time, he dropped his shoulders and nodded.

"It should work. In theory, anyway. But Lady Izsha, I recommend that-"

"Your concerns have been noted, minion Karax. However, there is no time for doubts. Activate the warp gate. _Now_." And so Karax did as he was told. He had his doubts, yes. He hadn't been able to test the device even once. Oh, his calculations were all correct, he knew that. But would the Terran technology be able to withstand all that raw energy? And even then...

"Lady Izsha, I have to protest! I cannot risk activating this warp gate without knowing what could happen to you! Besides, the Terran technology might not even be able to withstand all that power. If it breaks down, you might end up stranded in the middle of nowhere. And I will not be able to bring you back. Please, you have to reconsider this!"

While Karax was doing his best to convince Izsha to _not_ use the warp-gate, several Hydralisks entered the cave. They were accompanied by Niadra, who looked around and tipped with her clawed finger against her chin.

"Wait, why did the Protoss set up base here? I could use this place for my brood!" she commented while looking around.

"Niadra!" Izsha barked and turned around.

"Here is one!" the broodmother yelled back. "Yes?" She stopped and watched how Izsha slithered up to her.

"Broodmother Izsha, what are you doing here? You should search for the escaped Protoss!"

"That's what I'm trying to do." Niadra defended herself. "This one is a slippery little bastard, though. A few of my overlords sense something, and it led me here. There is a Protoss in this area." When Izsha heard that, she looked over her shoulder and directly at Karax.

"How very perceptive of you, Niadra." Izsha growled, but then she shook her head. "Never mind that. I am about to depart in order to meet up with her Majesty." She didn't tell Niadra that something was wrong with Sarah. The broodmother didn't need to know all the details.

"During my absence, you will be responsible for the safety of this place. Continue to expand your brood and make sure that Karax can continue with his work. Also, find that escapee. Let him not escape. Should you encounter any threat, use your experience to deal with it as you see fit."

"By slaughtering them all? I think I can do that." Niadra replied. "But I do hope that they won't be Protoss. I devoured enough Protoss for several lifetimes. They taste horrible."

Izsha didn't care about any of this. She turned back towards the Phase-smith, who was running around the gate and pressing buttons here and switches there, and for some time she watched how Karax went on and on and on. However, after a while it started to become irritating.

"Minion Karax! What is the matter?" she demanded to know.

"I am sorry!" he told her. "But I am working as fast as I can. This is Terran technology and not very advanced. I need to make sure that all condensators are working properly before I can activate on the warp matrix. This might take a while."

"How long?" Izsha asked and Karax knew that she wouldn't like the answer.

"About two standard planetary rotations and-"

"Two days?!" Izsha barked. "That is unacceptable!"

"I am truly sorry, Lady Izsha. But I cannot make it work any faster." When Izsha heard that, she boiled on the inside but didn't show it. Without any other option left, she decided to curl her tail up and use it as a seat.

"Continue." she just ordered and Karax realized that she would continue to stare at him until he was done. Well, at least Izsha knew how to motivate people...

* * *

Well, Niadra's Overlords hadn't been wrong about sensing a Protoss. However, Tesson knew how to stay out of sight. He sat on the edge of a cliff. Beneath him were the ones who had kept him captive. And there was more.

"A warp-gate?" he whispered to himself. This was interesting. This was _very_ interesting. And it was a potential way off this station. All he had to do was to stay in cover and wait for the other ones to make their move. And he would just wait here, wait for them to do that. And then he would make his move.

It seemed as if his luck had finally returned to him.

* * *

When Jim regained consciousness, he felt disoriented. He rolled around and got back on his feet. He opened his eyes, but everything seemed to be blurred. The sharp scent of burned wood caused him to cough, and the smoke burned in his eyes. Jim groaned and felt sore in all the wrong places. And when he looked around...

"Oh my God." he whispered. Gone was the pristine beach. Gone were the trees. The ground surrounding him looked as if it had been torched by a hellfire. He could even see how the sand had been glassed. Whatever had happened, it had possessed enough power to turn this place into a hellhole.

Jim had seen something like this before, but he had never been this close. There was a technical term for it. It was called "Ground Zero".

A part of Jim's mind wondered why he was still in one piece and why he hadn't turned into something crispy. But that's when he realized that the ground around him hadn't been scorched. It looked like he had been in the center of an explosion. A goddamn nuclear explosion!

Jim turned his head to the side and that's when he finally saw her.

"Sarah!" His lover was right next to him. She was unconscious and lay on her side. A painful expression was on her face and he could hear how she whimpered the same thing over and over and over again.

"I'm sorry...I didn't want to do it...sorry...so sorry..."

"Sarah, what's the matter?" Jim yelled and crawled over to her. He rolled her onto her back and put his hand on her cheek. "Sarah!" But Sarah didn't wake up.

"Please...I didn't want to hurt her...I didn't want to kill her. Please, you have to believe me..." she continued to whisper. Jim didn't know what to do. He knelt down right next to her and pulled Sarah's lithe body onto his lap.

"Sarah, please! Wake up! I'm begging you!" But Sarah didn't wake up. Jim felt how his heart started to ache. Seeing her like this was unbearable. It didn't take a genius to know that something was wrong.

"Idiot!" he hissed. "You idiot!" He wasn't speaking to Sarah, though. He was talking to himself. Jim had no idea what had happened, but he knew that he shouldn't have pushed his luck. He pulled her into a tight embrace and started to apologize to her.

"I'm sorry, Sarah! Just wake up again. Please! Come back to me!" Unfortunately, she wouldn't do that. And so, Jim did the only thing he could do; he started to cry. His hot tears fell from his chin and on Sarah's face. It was the moment when he realized...

...that something was truly wrong with Sarah.


	65. Act III - Chapter 9

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 9**

 **We create our own worst Nightmares**

* * *

Jim recognized this place. Or at least parts of it. The landscape reminded him of Mar Sara, with its dry climate, and all those dust-covered rocks lying around. However, this wasn't Mar Sara. The sky was different. Every world had a different sky. It was the details that mattered. Just because a sky is blue, doesn't mean its _blue_. The sky on Mar Sarah had always had a light blue, almost white. Jim wasn't certain about it, but he believed that worlds with a hot climate tended to have a brighter sky that was less saturated. Worlds with a lush biosphere, however, tended to have a bright blue sky, one that was so intense that you felt like you wanted to lose yourself in it.

The sky above Jim's head was not blue.

It was gray.

Cold raindrops were falling from the sky, but there were not enough to truly call it rain. It was the most pitiful version of a drizzle you could think of. Enough to feel you bothered, not enough to soak the landscape.

Still, Jim recognized the cold wind. The air, it tasted different. It tasted like _home_...

Home...

There had been more than one home. The first one he had left as a young man. Shiloh, the world of his birth. That's right, the landscape belonged to Mar Sarah, but the sky? The sky was that from Shiloh. His home. His _first_ home. And the first home he had lost. Perhaps there was a philosophical meaning that both his homes had been fused into one. If there was, then Jim didn't care. Because didn't just stop with the landscape.

He was surrounded by many gravestones. It was a cemetery after all. One that he remembered well. Because it was the cemetery where they had put both his parents to rest. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the old church, the one his mother had dragged him and his father to on every Sunday. The Raynor-family had never been very religious, and his mother had been no exception. Still, she had dragged her grumpy husband and her son to the church every week. Not because they wanted to pray with the rest of the community, but in order to be part of the community. And sometimes that meant to do things that you didn't really believe in.

The Reverend had been aware of that. However, he had still been grateful that the Raynors had shown up every week. It had motivated other families to come too.

Speaking of the Reverend...

He was just the way Jim remembered him. Big and bulky, with an impressive build. Jim had always wondered if that man had been a bodybuilder in his younger days. Probably not. Right now, Jim's mind was probably playing tricks on him. The last time he had seen the Reverend had been as a young not-yet-man of 15 years. Back then everyone had looked like a giant to him.

Besides, Jim knew that the Reverend was already dead. He had died a long time ago.

Jim actually had no idea _how_ the Reverend had died, but old age seemed to be a reasonable cause. He had been in his fifties when Jim had left Shiloh, and that meant that he had to be in his seventies, maybe even eighties. All Jim knew that this Reverend right here and now was very much alive. The man was standing behind a grave. And just like everything in this place, the grave too was the real deal. However, the real grave wasn't part of a cemetery.

The real one was near Jim's old home on Mar Sara, right beneath a lone tree. The grave itself looked exactly the way he remembered it. As for the cemetery? Well, that place actually was real too. It was the place where they had put his parents to rest. This didn't make any sense, Jim knew that. It defied logic. Shiloh and Mar Sarah were lightyears apart, the logical part of his mind told him that.

No, this wasn't about logic. It was about doing what he had done over and over and over again.

"We have gathered here to pay our respect to Lydia Elizabeth Raynor." the Reverend started to speak. Jim had heard these lines so many times in his dreams that he knew them in and out. He remembered little about the Reverend himself, though. It was the guy from Shiloh, the one that his mother had liked so much. Jim had never been much into religion, and his years away from home hadn't brought him closer to God either. Some still believed in God, good for them. He had seen too many weird stuff to accept that anymore. Instead, he stared at the plain gravestone in front of him and felt what he usually felt when he was here; he felt empty.

"Those who knew Lydia Raynor will always remember her as an exceptionally tender soul." Oh yeah, that much was true. Tender. And stubborn as hell. Even now Jim had no idea why a woman like her had decided to fall in love with a man like him. She, the kind girl from Mar Sara and he, the rough Marshal with lots of attitude. For all his talk and actions, Jim had never considered himself to be "one of 'dem bad guys" like Tychus had.

"Someone who always thought about others before herself. I think it is safe to say that none of us has ever met such a kind soul before." the priest continued and Jim lowered his head in shame. It had always been like this, right? She had been a kind soul and had possessed so much love for pretty much everyone, even for a crook like Jim. Everyone, except herself.

" _I didn't want to do it..."_ a faint voice suddenly reached his senses. He frowned, but it was gone before he could fully realize it had been there in the first place.

"The things she did for us will never be forgotten. Because when she walked among us, she always provided us with a smile. It was a rare gift, one that not many possess. And one that will be greatly missed." Oh yeah, he missed that smile too. That warm smile that told people that everything was fine. It was different from Sarah's smile though.

When Liddy had shown Jim a smile, she had shown him that everything would turn out okay. And if it did, the smile would become even more gentle and tell you something like: "See? I told you could do it." Sarah's smile was different, though. It was cocky and arrogant at times. Something like: "I told you I was right." And when things would go south (and let's face it; if Sarah was involved, things tended to go south) the smile would turn desperate, but in a cute way.

Jim blinked in confusion.

Sarah? Who was that? He wasn't supposed to know Sarah yet. They would only meet years after this moment.

Wait a second...

"Lydia was not just a friend." the Reverend continued, and Jim shook his head in order to get rid of that nagging thought in the back of his mind. "She was a sister. She was a daughter. But most importantly; she was a mother and a wife. She had a _family_."

" _I didn't want to hurt her! I just...I couldn't...I didn't know what would happen!"_ the echo reached him again. That voice...he knew that voice. It was familiar, but at the same time, everything seemed to be wrong. This moment was supposed to be without _her_.

"Mr. Raynor. James." Jim knew that line. He was supposed to raise his head and look at the Reverend. He would see the sad smile on the older man's face and hear words of comforts, words that could barely help ease his pain. They hadn't done that in the past, and they wouldn't do that in the future. It was always the same old story.

 _Same old story._

Jim looked around. This...was this real?

"I think no one can truly understand how deep your pain is." the Reverend continued and Jim shook his head. Not again, at least not this time.

"Stop it." he whispered, but the Reverend didn't seem to care.

"To lose not only one, but two beloved people seems cruel, heartless even. Especially if it happens to people that are the closest to us." Slowly awareness was starting to crawl back into Jim's skull. The logical part of his mind started to realize that this wasn't real. None of it was.

"But I want you to know, James, that we are here for you. Both as neighbors and friends." However, Jim wasn't listening anymore. He had heard those words so many times before. Listening to them was pointless. He turned around and finally his mind was able to see through the shroud that surrounded him.

"Where am I?" Behind him, the Reverend simply continued with his speech as if nothing had happened.

"Life often takes strange turns, and we're not always able to understand God's great plan, but it is important that..."

Jim didn't care about that anymore. The rain was falling from the sky and he could see his wet skin, but he couldn't feel it. His clothes were soaked and he was supposed to shiver, but he wasn't cold either.

There was a strange moment when he finally realized that this wasn't the reality, but a dream.

" _I didn't want to do it! You have to believe me!"_ There was that voice again. It belonged to a woman. A woman he knew but hadn't met yet. He would only meet her several years later. It was as if his mind had to fight its way through the thickest mist. Yet when he finally managed to fully regain his senses, the shroud in front of his eyes started to fade away.

"Sarah?" he whispered when he felt a certain presence in the back of his mind. He turned around and looked at the old church. For a second, he could see a figure there. It was a woman. No, not just any woman. He would recognize that figure everywhere.

However, before he could truly understand what was going on, the woman turned away and stepped into the church, closing the door behind her.

"SARAH!" he yelled and hurried toward the church. Behind him, the funeral went on, but he had already forgotten about it when he reached the church. Besides, Liddy was dead, Sarah wasn't. It may sound cruel, but deep inside his heart, he knew that he could still save one of those two. And it wasn't Liddy. On his way to the church, more memories started to resurface. He remembered their time on this strange planet, far away from any civilization, the short moments of happiness they had experienced...

...and then when Sarah had gone nuclear.

Not many people can claim they ever truly realize when they are inside a dream, and if Jim was brutally honest with himself, then he had to admit that he didn't like it one bit.

When he finally reached the church, he grabbed the doorknob and tried to push the door open. However, the door stayed closed. He tried to open it by force, using all of his (imaginary) strength, but it wouldn't move even one inch.

" _No! Leave me alone! I didn't ask for this! You made me do this!"_ No more faint voices, no more uncertainty about who was talking to him. It was Sarah. And her voice was coming from the other side of the door. His eyes widened in shock and he tried to pull the door open once more but to no avail. Since pulling didn't do the trick, he decided to try it the other way. He pressed his body against the door and pushed, but again nothing happened.

" _There's something dark inside me, Jim."_ Now her voice sounded different, sad and bitter.

 _"You were the only one who ever believed in me..."_

Her words felt random as if she was repeating things from the past. Some of those things he remembered, others he didn't. But there was one thing that overshadowed it all, and that was the overpowering sense of dread. By now he knew when he was feeling his own emotions and when not. It was a strange sensation, but Jim assumed that this is how psionics felt like.

Did that mean that he had turned into a psionic himself?

No, he hadn't. But unbeknownst to him, Sarah's mind had started to transform into something different. For a psionic, it was hard to truly control his or her abilities. You better believe that most psionics don't enjoy the fact that they can read minds. And that counted double for Sarah. You could train it, of course. But if someone tells you to not listen to a special kind of noise, you will tell him that this is impossible. And now? Sarah's mind was all over the place, there was no longer a single point where you could find her.

Unless...

Unless there was actually a place where you could find Sarah's mind. Not in her body, because she sometimes left her body. But without either one of them noticing it, her mind had planted its roots inside Jim's mind. It wasn't an unpleasant thing, and it wasn't exactly a hostile takeover either. But Jim, he...he was like an anchor. Like a lighthouse. Perhaps he was just a human, but a human she cared for. However, it appeared as if this connection was no longer a one-way ticket.

The only problem was; Jim wasn't aware of that.

He tried to open the door once more, with no success. He tried and tried and tried, he even kicked against the door, tried to smash through it by force and throw a rock at it. But he couldn't get inside.

" _You made us all into monsters, Arc_ _turu_ _s."_ he could hear her voice and remembered the moment when Sarah had said those words. Jim felt her anger and her satisfaction. Was this what she had felt when she had killed Arcturus?

"Sarah! Can you hear me? Are you inside?" But Sarah didn't answer him. Instead, he heard words and sentences that made barely any sense to him. No matter what he heard though, one thing was repeated over and over again.

" _I'm sorry! I didn't know it would kill her! I didn't want it to happen!"_

"Sarah!" Jim yelled again and pressed his hands against the door. "Sarah, who did you not want to kill? Who are you talking about?" All he received as an answer was more sobbing. He tried everything without achieving anything. At one point, he decided to walk around the church, but much to his own surprise it had no windows at all. Nothing. And once he was back at the door, he pressed his forehead against it and gritted his teeth.

"Sarah...I can't get in! Why won't it open?!"

Jim didn't expect to get an answer. When he _did_ get an answer, however, his mind needed a moment to process that.

"Because this door is no door. It is a connection between two minds, Friend Raynor."

The moment he heard that voice, Jim froze. It was not a human voice, he realized that in an instant. It belonged to a Protoss. A _certain_ Protoss he once had considered his friend. Jim made a step backward and closed his eyes.

"It can't be." he whispered to himself.

"You may see for yourself if you turn around." the voice declared. Jim clenched his hands into fists and he felt how anger started to flow through his veins. He had been used as a pawn far too many times and he had the feeling that the same thing was about to happen again.

"I have not come here to mock you, Friend Raynor." the Protoss told him.

"Then why are you here?" Jim demanded to know.

"In order to help you."

Now Jim turned around, and when he saw the Protoss in front of him, he snarled in anger.

"Zeratul!"

For some odd reason, he felt two different sets of anger. The first one was his own. It felt like a dull pain. He had trusted Zeratul and the fact that the Dark Templar had guided Sarah back to her old Zerg-self again still hurt. However, the other anger was different. It was pure and sharp, like a blade. And Jim realized that it wasn't his anger, but Sarah's. Just what the hell was going on here?

"Hello, old friend." was everything Zeratul managed to say.

"You're dead. Or was that another lie? Is this some sick joke to see what's left of my sanity?"

"Perhaps you could say that." Zeratul explained to him. "But it is not your sanity that is on the line here." That statement caused Jim to frown.

"What do you mean." he asked and Zeratul placed his hand on his own chest.

"I am not Zeratul. Not the real one. I am but an echo of a past memory, one that remained behind when the message was delivered."

"Message delivered? What do you...oh hell no. That crystal! You sunoffabitch! You were hiding inside that crystal you gave me!" Jim could be highly perceptive if he wanted to. He made a step towards Zeratul and didn't even flinch when he looked into the Dark Templar's eyes.

"Is it true? Is it true what Sarah told me? About what you did?" he hissed. "Did you truly show her how to become the Queen of Blades again?" Zeratul had never lied to Jim. He had never told him _everything_ either, but he hadn't lied to him.

Yet why did he feel nothing but anger when he looked at Zeratul? The Dark Templar lowered his gaze as if someone had caught him with his hands in the cookie-jar.

"I am not who you think I am, Friend Raynor. I am just an echo of the Dark Prelate, left inside this place after you used the Ihan Crystal in order to watch my memories." Now Jim was confused. He looked around and realized that this place was a twisted mockery of his own memories. Was this...had someone hooked him up to yet another Ihan Crystal?

"What is this place?" he asked and Zeratul shook his head.

"It is always fascinating to see how humans shield themselves from the obvious. Friend Raynor, these are the insides of your own mind."

"My own...mind?" Jim whispered before he looked around once more. Suddenly all those small pieces were finally starting to come together. He had seen this place before, but he hadn't been able to put his finger on where. But now he knew.

"That's...that's the place I dreamed of!" His realization caused Zeratul to nod.

"Yes, Friend Raynor. This place only exists inside your very own mind. As do I." When Jim heard that, he lowered his head and a shocked expression appeared on his face. He had never experienced anything like this before and it felt as if all of this was a few grades above his paycheck.

"How is that even possible?" he whispered to himself.

"Sometimes, the way of the mind seems to be confusing to all of us, Friend Raynor." Zeratul explained to him, but Jim wasn't really listening. Perhaps others could cope with the fact that they were suddenly inside a dream, but Jim wasn't really fond of that idea. Because it meant that he was still somewhere else, his real self at least. His eyes wandered over the desolate landscape and he felt how a clump of ice formed inside his stomach.

"I know this place." he whispered. He had seen it, many times actually. But only inside his dreams.

"Indeed. And you know what is going to happen next." Zeratul agreed and Jim nodded. First, he would say goodbye to Liddy, and then...

"Sarah." Jim whispered again and shook his head. He grabbed his own head and shook it from one side to the other.

"God, that can't be real! I must be hallucinating! This is another dream, a goddamn nightmare!"

"I too am surprised to see you here, Friend Raynor. Like _this_ , I mean. Usually, when you arrive here, you follow the rules of this place. However, this time it is different. Now you are lucid and awake. And that has never happened before."

"Rules of this place? Just what are you talking about?!" Jim hissed. He was not in the mood for anymore mind-games. Zeratul seemed to notice Jim's line of thoughts and he pointed his finger at the horizon. There was a storm, one that reminded Jim of the storm on the world he and Sarah were using as a sanctuary.

"You said you remembered this place, yes?" Zeratul then asked. "Tell me; where do you know it from?" Unable to do anything but to play along with Zeratul, Jim sighed and looked around.

"The dreams. I've seen this place in my dreams. Several times. It's always the same place. I say goodbye to Liddy and then..." But he didn't finish that sentence. Zeratul did that for him.

"And then you try to save Sarah Kerrigan from a fate she cannot escape."

Jim never remembered much of his dreams and/or nightmares. Fleeting images of terror and pain, words of regret and anger. Like when you wake up from a dream yourself. Seconds after waking up, people could still remember all the tiny details, but with every passing moment, that clarity started to fade away until there was nothing but a strange sense of dread left.

"If this is a dream, why do I feel like I'm awake?" Jim then wanted to know.

"I do not know that. All I know is what you know. And even less than that. I am not Zeratul, Friend Raynor." Zeratul repeated himself. "I watched over your dreams and nightmares and tried to ease your pain and grief. But then Sarah Kerrigan returned to you, and your nightmares seemed to grow weaker. I thought that my work here was done and I was about to go to rest, just like my real self has done before. But then something happened." And Jim knew what Zeratul was talking about.

"Sarah!" he gasped. And that's when he heard her voice again, from the other side of the door.

" _What's so bad about this place, huh?"_

Jim put his hand back on the door and it was as if he could feel something in the back of his mind. Sadness that wasn't his sadness. Anger that wasn't his anger. Fear that wasn't his fear. And, most importantly, shame. Even though it seemed utterly ridiculous, it was as if he was _feeling_ Sarah's emotions. Then again, she was a psionic. For someone who was as psionic as a brick like Jim was,it was impossible to describe what he was feeling right now.

Was this how Sarah had felt all that time?

Jim had never thought that it would feel like _this_!

"I think I need a drink." Jim muttered to himself, but somehow, he knew that he wouldn't get one in the near future. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what had happened before waking up in this place.

"I was with...with Sarah. We were enjoying some peace and quiet and then...things went ugly."

"Indeed." Zeratul agreed. "I saw it. That much power, it was unlike anything my old self had ever felt. Even the prophecies of the Dark One, even the battle I have fought against the foul Hybrid, none of it felt like this. Sarah Kerrigan has truly turned into something we mortals cannot hope to understand." It felt like Zeratul wanted to tell Jim something with that, but he just snarled in contempt.

"Sarah's still Sarah. No matter what a stinkin' Protoss might say." Jim growled and Zeratul lowered his gaze.

"You wish to know wherever Zeratul, the real Zeratul...if he truly helped Sarah Kerrigan to return to the Zerg. And if that turns out to be correct, you want to throw yourself at me and kill me. But before that you want to hear the truth; did Zeratul really do that? Did he, did I, first use you to make Sarah Kerrigan human again, only to take her away from you once more?" Well, at least this hallucination was straight to the point. Jim clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth.

"So?" he asked. "Did you?"

For a long time, Zeratul didn't say a word. But when he did, he lowered his head in shame.

"I do not know." he said.

"What kind of bullshit-answer is that, huh?" Jim snarled. He was really not in the mood for this kind of cryptic talk right now.

"The true one." Zeratul replied. "I know that you have a hard time to process all of this, but it is the truth. I do not know what happened after I placed my memories inside the Ihan Crystal. Everything that happened after that is beyond my knowledge." However, Jim didn't care about that mumbo-jumbo.

"Did you do it?" he demanded to know, and again Zeratul fell silent for a while.

"Given everything I know about the real Zeratul..." the Dark Templar then said. "...I would say that it is most likely that he has done something like that. He...I... after placing my memories inside that crystal, I wanted to learn more about the Xel'Naga and the Fallen One. And I would have done everything to-"

"YOU BASTARD!" Jim screamed. He stormed forward and smashed his fist against Zeratul's chest, but it was like punching a block of concrete. "You did this to her! She was human again! Because you sent me halfway across the sector to stop her! And when we did the impossible, when we made her human again, what did you do? Do you have any idea how many people died that day? How many of my men gave their lives? Raiders and Dominion alike? DO YOU KNOW THAT?!" He punched his fists into Zeratul's thick gray skin, but even if this was a dream, he couldn't hurt the Protoss at all. And all Zeratul did was to take the punishment without even flinching.

"I am sorry, Friend Ray-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Jim roared and turned away.

"YOU'RE NOT MY FRIEND! A FRIEND WOULDN'T HAVE DONE SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Now Jim was done holding back. "Do you have any idea what you did to me? What did you do to her? Sarah was right! Everyone just used her for their own agendas! Arcturus and the Zerg, they just used her as a tool! I thought you were different, Zeratul! I thought that you were a friend, someone I could trust! But you used her, just like everyone else did!" And this time Zeratul didn't say anything. However, Jim wasn't done yet.

"But ya' know who's the biggest fool of them all? Huh? Wanna know? It's me! Sarah told me that there is no one out there who waits for her. That she has no friends or family. I didn't want to believe it, but if even the great and noble Dark Prelate Zeratul just saw nothing but a tool in Sarah...then I guess she had a point after all." Jim turned away and he felt how tears started to stream down his face.

"Oh Sarah, I'm so sorry for not believing you."

" _You were the only one who ever believed in me..."_ her voice reached him from beyond the door. He remembered that moment when she had freed him from the Moros. When he had seen her again. As Zerg. Had she heard him? Or was this just a coincidence? He sighed.

"I know that my words cannot ease your pain." Zeratul said. "And I know that you probably wish for me to disappear. But now is not the time to allow your anger to cloud your senses."

"Now is a damn good moment to get angry, Zeratul!" Jim replied. He pressed his hands against the door and tried to open it, but it still would not yield.

"Why won't you open, you damn door!" he hissed.

"Because this door is not part of your mind, Friend Raynor." Zeratul explained to him.

"Oh yeah, then whose mind does it belong to, huh?" Jim barked, but Zeratul's answer made him freeze in an instant.

"I believe this door leads to Sarah Kerrigan's mind."

"Say WHAT?!" Jim yelled and turned back towards Zeratul. A part of his mind wanted the Dark Templar to disappear and never return. The fact that he dwelled inside Jim's mind was simply unbearable.

"She came to this place, James Raynor." Zeratul then told him. "Sarah Kerrigan. She watched your dreams and nightmares and felt nothing but guilt and shame towards her actions. And she came..." The Dark Templar pointed his finger at the door. "...through that." Jim looked back at the door and made a step backward. It didn't make any sense to him, no sense at all.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded to know.

"This is no door, Friend Raynor. Just like this place, the door is just a fabrication of your mind. It is not just a door. It is an access point, one Sarah Kerrigan created when she entered your mind. One that she never bothered to remove. It cannot be opened because you cannot enter her mind. Not without her permission." That made sense. Or not. Jim wasn't certain about that, but he was too agitated to care.

"What do you mean?"

"It means that Sarah Kerrigan is on the other side of that door, Friend Raynor." Those words were enough to make Jim run back towards the door and smash his fist against the door over and over again.

"SARAH! SARAH, ANSWER ME! IT'S ME, IT'S JIM! PLEASE, YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ME!" And so, they were back to square one.

" _Ghost Nr. 24601, reporting for duty."_ Sarah's cold voice could be heard. Cold, clean and precise, just as Ghosts were meant to be.

"Sarah, please!" A part of Jim's mind rejected the idea that Sarah was truly on the other side of this door. Or her mind. Or whatever. However, if you're truly desperate, you don't care about details. All Jim cared about was getting through to Sarah. He pressed his forehead against the door and hissed in pain and despair.

"Sarah...please, if you can hear me, you gotta listen to me! I'm sorry! I didn't want to cause you any pain! I didn't want to anger you either! I just...I just..."

Just what? What had he tried to do anyway? Convince Sarah to return to the Koprulu Sector and do what? Live a normal life? Join Valerian and Matt in order to build a better future? Help the Terrans and Protoss to achieve peace and prosperity? Perhaps that was even possible, but there was only one tiny problem with that.

He wasn't the one who could do that.

It was Sarah who could do that, who possessed the power to do all of that. But who would accept Sarah's help? Who other than Jim?

"Sarah, I'm sorry." he then said. "I know that I should haven't pushed you. I know that now. Thing is..." And then he took a deep breath. Behind him, Zeratul had fallen silent. "...thing is I don't know you, Sarah. I never did. I know a name. I know your body. I know what you did and what you didn't. But I don't know you. I don't know a thing about your past. About your dreams and hopes. Hell, I don't even know what your favorite food is!" he chuckled, but it was a bitter chuckle.

"Thing is..." he then said and opened his eyes.

"...I would like to get to know you." Jim said with a soft voice.

And then the door opened, just a tiny bit.

* * *

"SARAH!" Jim yelled when he jerked back up. He blinked in confusion and when he looked around, it took him some time to realize that he was no longer in the same place as before. It took him a long time until he finally realized that he was back in the real world, and no longer dreaming.

"A... dream? It had all been a dream?" Jim whispered to himself when he saw the pristine beach of their sanctuary world. A dream. Another dream, nothing more. But why the hell did he remember every tiny detail? Jim had never experienced anything like that before. It was all still there, and when he stared at the endless blue ocean in front of him, he realized that those memories wouldn't fade away like they usually did. He could even remember Zeratul's explanation, and much to his own dismay, he still felt anger at the words of Dark Prelate.

"Being angry at a dream, now that's just stupid. Right, Sarah?" he said and turned around in order to look at his lover. Only then he realized that...

...Sarah wasn't there.

"Sarah?" He looked to the other side, but no Sarah there either. He tried to calm down, perhaps she was just gone to catch something to eat. Or she too had to go behind some nearby bush. No need to worry, right?

But Jim was worried. He got back on his feet and looked around. The beach looked unharmed as if Sarah's little nervous breakdown had never happened in the first place. So... had it been a dream too? Jim didn't like that thought. It meant that he couldn't really tell reality and dream apart anymore. And then a frightening thought gripped his heart; what if Sarah hadn't returned to him at all? He still remembered everything, their reunion, their walks on the beach and even how they loved each other. But he didn't just remember the nice stuff. He also remembered how she had tried to avoid his questions, how she had offered Jim _everything_ so he would just shut up.

The longer Jim thought about it, the more he believed that Sarah had tried to tell him something, but he hadn't been able to see it in time.

Something like: "Jim, something's wrong, but I can't tell you."

"Sarah!" he yelled again. He had to talk to her, right now! He looked around and much to his relief, he could see some footprints. They belonged to a woman. So at least that part hadn't been a dream. Hopefully. The footsteps led into the...water? Oh great, so much for following those tracks. Jim sighed and walked up to the water. Was she taking a bath? Waiting for him to join her so he could give her another backrub? The answer to that was; no, Sarah wasn't there. She was nowhere to be seen.

Strangely enough, he could still _feel_ her. At least it felt as if he could do that, but he wasn't certain about that.

"Just where are you, Sarah?" he whispered to himself.

" _Target's location confirmed."_ Sarah's voice suddenly reached both his ears and his mind. _"Commence operation."_

"Sarah?" Jim yelled and turned around. Yelling her name was really getting old, but what else could he do? He looked at the jungle and felt something deep inside the back of his mind. It felt like Sarah, but not the way he remembered her. Usually, he felt anger, rage, and shame. And fear. A lot of fear. This time it felt different, though. It felt cold and precise, like a scalpel that was about to cut deep into tissue.

And so, Jim did the only thing he could think of. He decided to follow that odd feeling in hope to find Sarah again. He walked up to the jungle and hesitated only for a second.

"Man, let's hope that crazy plant was just another dream. Otherwise, I'm probably screwed." he muttered to himself and then he finally entered the jungle.

Jim had no idea where he was going. He was just following a hunch really and all he did was to avoid trees that looked especially scary. If there was something like a scary tree. Well, actually, there _were_ scary trees, he had learned that the hard way. Hopefully, that mentally deranged palm was far away right now.

Jim had no idea how long he wandered through the jungle. At a certain point, he realized that he was lost, but he didn't care. He just went on and decided to follow his guts. At least the landscape started to change. The jungle turned denser at first, but after what felt like walking for hours, he finally reached a place that looked very different from before. Several hills appeared before his eyes, covered with lush trees. Rivers crisscrossed through the valley in front of him, and there were big spots with nothing but grass covering them. The moment Jim stepped out into the open, he sighed in relief. Well, at least this place had some more to offer than just random beaches and angry plant life. Jim took a deep breath and relaxed for a second. At least-

That's when the sniper round hit the tree next to him.

"Friend Raynor, get down!" a familiar voice barked, and something huge appeared behind him. Before Jim could react, it grabbed him and pulled him back into the jungle. Another round smashed into a tree, right where Jim's head had been mere seconds ago. The trunk of the tree exploded into million little shrapnel, and the huge creature that had grabbed him turned around. It shielded Jim from those sharp pieces of wood and he could swear to see a Protoss shield for a second. Just what the hell was going on here?

But there was little time to worry about that.

" _Target spotted, engaging!"_ Sarah's voice echoed through his mind again, and again it felt cold, clean, and precise.

"Sarah?" he asked in shock when the huge creature finally put him back on his feet.

"It is good to see you again, James Raynor." the creature said, and when Jim turned around and looked up, he knew that he had probably lost his mind. A hallucination of Zeratul was already bad news. But this creature in front of him wasn't Zeratul.

"Tassadar?"

* * *

Sometimes, if you think that the situation can't get any worse, you should keep that thought to yourself. Because if there's one thing the universe likes to do, it is to prove people wrong.

"Are you unharmed, James Raynor?" the former (and very dead) Executor asked. Jim had never spent that much time with Tassadar, unlike with Fenix. But even then, Jim remembered Tassadar as an especially noble soul. And even though he knew that this was just another proof that reality was no longer a concept that applied to him, it was good to see a friendly face.

Unfortunately, it also meant that Jim had finally lost his mind.

"Tassadar?"

"Yes, James Raynor, it is me. Are you alone? Where is the rest of your troops?"

"Troops?" Jim asked. "What troops? What the hell is going on here?" Tassadar made a step backward and looked down at Jim. Sometimes he just forgot how huge these damn Protoss could be. And Tassadar? He was pretty much the poster-boy of the Protoss species. The only one who had been bigger was...

"The fire has stopped!" Fenix announced when he stepped up from behind another tree. Jim turned around and his confusion reached unknown heights. "It appears that the sniper has retreated for now, but this enemy proves to be a formidable foe. We cannot risk being seen out in the open." Jim was too baffled to say anything. First Tassadar, now Fenix too?

Okay, now he was certain; he had lost his mind.

Fenix didn't seem to notice Jim's confusion, though.

"Marshal James Raynor! So, you have made it too! Good, three warriors are always better than only two, especially if you do not know who is the hunter, and who is the hunted!" Fenix announced and put his huge hand on Jim's shoulder. He could feel the weight of the hand as if it was truly real and no imagination.

"Prey? What? What is going on here?" Jim wanted to know. His reunion with Zeratul was still fresh inside his mind, and even though that had been a hallucination, it had been a coherent one. However, this? Was this how losing your mind felt like?

"We tried to find some people who might be able to help us in fighting these dreadful and despicable creatures called Zerg. We heard news that some members of the long-lost tribe could be found here. We were making good progress when that sniper decided to fire at us." Tassadar explained. Did that make any sense?

"Wait...you are looking for Nerazim?" When Jim said that, both Fenix and Tassadar exchanged looks.

"How do you know about the name Nerazim?" a surprised Executor wanted to know.

"What? Because we did that. I mean you did that, I mean...just what the hell is going on here?!" That's when another bullet hit a tree next to them and Fenix turned around. He ignited his psi-blades, ready to attack any incoming enemy, but when another round smashed into his shields, it was Tassadar who came up with the most reasonable course of action.

"We need to retreat!" he said with a calm and controlled voice. This was Tassadar, the same Tassadar that had been able to outsmart the cruel Queen of Blades on several occasions, so his command was to be taken seriously. One had to wonder how the Protoss would have ended up if Tassadar had survived his titanic battle against the Overmind. It wasn't meant as an insult towards Artanis, but Tassadar would probably have been the wiser choice as Hierarch.

Both Artanis and Tassader were/had been noble souls, but the dead Executor had always been calm and controlled. Unlike his best friend, Fenix...

"What? Running away from this pitiful attacker? He cannot even face us, he needs to stay as far away as possible! I say we charge! We are three, he is only one! He can only take out two of us if he is lucky!" the huge Zealot barked, but Tassadar didn't listen to that. He grabbed Jim's shoulder and pulled him after him.

"No, Fenix. We are at a disadvantage here. We need to find cover in order to regroup!" Jim could see how Fenix stomped with his feet in anger. That's not what he wanted to do. Running away from an enemy? He wanted to charge at the foe, tear that pesky little annoyance apart with his own blades. But being a warrior wasn't just about fighting. It was about following orders, even if you didn't like those orders. And Tassadar was still the Executor. Had been the Executor. Could be considered the Executor and...

...ah, to hell with it.

"I think this is a mistake, Brother!" Fenix snarled.

"Your opinion has been noted, old friend. However, right now we have to think about our prime objective!" Tassadar replied and hurried through the jungle. He was clearing a path for Jim while Fenix guarded their rear. Two or three more rounds were fired, but Jim could say that they didn't get even close to them. For a hallucination, this really sucked! He was running like crazy and trying to keep up with the huge Protoss in front of him. Tassadar didn't slow down though, not until they finally reached a small clearing.

"I think that we are safe for now. Let us rest for a short moment and gather our thoughts." Tassadar then explained and looked around. Jim, totally out of breath, sat down on a nearby rock and tried to calm down. Only now he realized that he was covered in sweat and that he felt really tired.

"Just what...what is going on here?" It was time for some answers, right?

"That is what I like to know." Fenix said. "Marshal Raynor, why are you here? We did not expect to find any Terran this far out. We have traveled many days to get here, how did you manage to do the same? And where are your troops?" Jim actually stopped listening after he heard the word "Marshal".

"Marshal?" Jim said. "I'm ain't no Marshal no more. For years now. Just what the hell are you talking about?" Tassadar walked up to Jim and put his hand on the man's shoulder.

"I understand that this is all much to process, and I understand that this is an inopportune moment to ask this of you. But you said you heard about the Nerazim? How? From where?"

"Guys, seriously, what the hell?! It ain't funny anymore! Especially since I just talked to Zeratul like five minutes ago!" The moment he said that name, both Tassadar made a step backward and looked at each other in surprise.

"Zeratul?! Where did you get that name from, Marshal Raynor?" Fenix suddenly wanted to know and Jim frowned again.

"Whadda'ya mean? We go way back, you know that!" But both Protoss didn't seem to remember any of that. Instead, they exchanged looks once more and it was Tassadar who spoke again.

"What do you know of Zeratul and the Nerazim?" the Executor asked and Jim sighed.

"Zeratul, Dark Prelate of the Nerazim. Once one of their finest warriors, always cautious. He saved our butts many times and once..." Jim hesitated a short moment. "...once I considered him my friend." Jim clenched his hands into fists as he remembered the words Zeratul had said to him.

 _I would say that it is most likely that he has done something like that._

Perhaps it was pointless to be angry at a hallucination, but Jim couldn't help but be furious at what Zeratul had told him. After everything he had done for that scumbag...

He had risked his skin (and more importantly; that of his men) for some raggedy-riggidy prophecy of the end of the universe. Many had died to give him, Matt, and Valerian the chance to safe/deinfest Sarah, yet there was nothing crueler than to realize that someone had died in vain. And who was to blame for that?

"You met him? Do you know where we can find the Nerazim?" Tassadar asked, but Jim groaned in exhaustion before he answered.

"Why do you want to find him anyway? What did Zeratul do to you?" Both Protoss exchanged looks once more. It was Tassadar who answered that question.

"We need to find the Nerazim, they might possess the knowledge and the abilities that can help us to slay these dreaded Cerebrates!"

"Cerebrates?!" Jim mumbled. "What are you talking about? I haven't heard of any living Cerebrate for years! They are all gone as far as I know!" Even though Jim didn't know much about the Zerg except for what everyone knew, he was pretty certain that the Cerebrates were no longer part of the Swarm. He had gained that knowledge during the short-lived alliance at the beginning of the Brood Wars, when the Queen of Blades had approached them for help.

"Marshal Raynor, what are you talking about? The Zerg are a horrible threat to both our people. Joking in a dire situation might be something you humans enjoy, but this situation is-" Tassadar tried to reason with him, but then Jim just stood up and turned around.

"Okay, fun's over. I had it. I get it. Wish you luck with finding Zeratul. Last time I saw him he was this direction." He then pointed his finger at his own head. "Now, if you excuse me, I need to go for a walk and find some common sense."

"Friend Raynor, what is this-" Fenix asked, but Jim just shook his head.

"No, listen! You are dead! Both of you. YOU!" He pointed his finger at Tassadar. "You died when you slew the Overmind on Aiur. You sacrificed your own life to save your people. You are, without a doubt, the greatest hero your species has ever produced." Then he turned towards Fenix, who seemed just as baffled as Tassadar.

"And you? You died when Sa...when the Queen of Blades betrayed us. You died a warrior's death. Both of you, you aren't real. Your just...fabrications of my mind, I don't know. I guess I finally lost my mind. Was bound to happen, if you ask me." Jim laughed and shook his head.

"Friend Raynor, I cannot follow you. Your human sense of humor does not make any sense to me." Fenix said, but Jim just turned away.

"Marshal Raynor!" Tassadar shouted. "Where are you going?" But Jim just waved his hand.

"You're just hallucinations and I don't have time for this. So do me a favor; if you do find Zeratul, punch him in the face for me, will ya'?" With that being said, he walked back into the jungle. He still had to find Sarah.

* * *

The thing about hallucinations is that once you realize that they're not real, they lose a lot of their appeal. At least to Jim. After leaving both Tassadar and Fenix behind, he simply decided to not think about it anymore.

Perhaps he should wonder why he was fantasizing about Protoss. Seriously, why couldn't he meet a naked Sarah?

Oh, wait...he had done that already.

Jim was too angry and confused to fully realize the danger he was in right now. The moment he stepped out of the jungle and back into the valley, he had already forgotten about the sniper. Why should he care? It was just a hallucination.

As he walked through the knee-high grass, he tried to understand what had just happened. But his thoughts were cut short when another shot was fired. Jim threw himself into the dirt. It was a reflex, one that had saved his life many times. He knew that it wasn't a real bullet that hit the ground just a few meters away from him. He knew it because whoever had shot the bullet, hadn't meant to hit him, or was the worst sniper of all times. Jim sighed and shook his head.

"Why does it have to be so damn loud?" he muttered to himself before he got back on his feet. He raised his hands and stared into the distance.

"Okay, you can stop now! I know that you're not real! You can stop wasting your imaginary bullets, it's getting boring!" At first, he heard nothing. He partially expected another shot, but there was none. So, he dropped his arms and started to walk towards the river in front of him. He didn't get far, though. He heard a sizzling sound and stopped immediately when he recognized it. Jim looked to the side and could see how a figure decloaked itself just a few meters away from him. It was a Ghost. A female Ghost. She wore a hood that covered most of her face, but even then, he could see that red pony-tail. She carried a rifle and pointed it right at Jim's chest.

"Sarah? Oh God, Sarah!" Jim said and made a step towards her, but Sarah just raised her rifle and put her finger on the trigger.

"Freeze." she said. It was her! He recognized that voice! Something was different, though. Her voice sounded higher pitched than he remembered it. And her body...well, those Ghost-suits never left a lot to one's imagination. But still, Sarah looked a lot skinnier than Jim remembered her. Thinner, too. Less womanly, if you know what he's talking about.

"Sarah, listen! I'm sorry for what happened. If you're angry, I can understand. But please, you have to believe me! I didn't want to hurt y-" he said and walked towards her. Sarah just lowered her rifle and fired another shot into the muddy ground right in front of Jim.

"I said; freeze!" she barked and pointed the gun back at his feet. "Identify yourself!"

"Sarah, I'm sorry! Please, don't do this! How about we talk about this, yes? Or we won't if that's what you want to do. Please?" For a moment, it seemed as if Sarah was about to lower her gun. She tilted her head to the side and mumbled something. Even though Jim couldn't hear her words with his ears, he felt them _inside_ his mind.

" _This is Ghost 24601. I have encountered a local. Male, late 20s, early 30s, unarmed. Permission to terminate?"_ When Jim heard that, his eyes widened in shock.

"What? Oh, come on! I told you I'm sorry! Sarah, that's not funny!" However, she wasn't listening to him. She was listening to the radio-transmitter in her ear. A rough, male voice answered her question.

"Negative. Subdue and return the local to the base for interrogation."

" _Affirmative. Ghost 24601 out."_ Then Sarah walked up to Jim and lowered her gun for good.

"Finally." Jim sighed. "Okay, listen, Sarah, I am truly sorry! But I had no ideaUNNNF!" He didn't get much further when Sarah suddenly kicked him right between the legs. Hot and sharp pain shot through his groin and took his breath away. Jim dropped to his knees and grabbed the part of his anatomy that wasn't meant to be treated like this. He knelt forward in order to catch a breath, but that's when Sarah's knee shot up and slammed right against his chin. His head jerked back and stars exploded in front of his eyes. For a hallucination, it certainly felt like the real deal.

"Sarah..." he managed to gurgle. "...why?" But that's when he saw how she grabbed her rifle and rammed the butt against his head.

And then nothing.


	66. Act III - Chapter 10

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 10**

 **Some like it rough**

* * *

The first thing Jim felt when he regained consciousness was that his head hurt. A lot. And it wasn't only his brain that hurt. His jaw felt as if someone had ripped it off and glued it back on. And let's not talk about the very unpleasant pulsing sensation between his legs. He groaned and wondered which part of his body should he check first, his balls or his brain? Since he was such a reasonable person, he did the only logical thing; he tried to check if his crown jewels were still intact.

That's when he realized that he couldn't move.

" _Sir, the local is waking up."_

Sar...

Sarah...

Sarah! That was Sarah's voice!

"Sarah? Are you there? What's going on?" He realized that he was surrounded by darkness. Suddenly the very concept of being unable to see felt so very strange to him, almost unnatural. Those few days on this world without any nights had truly screwed up his biorhythm. When his body started to do its job again and flooded his veins with adrenaline, he realized that the darkness was not caused by nightfall, but because someone had put a hood over his head.

"Good, about time. Maybe he can tell us more." an unknown voice suddenly reached his ears. He had never heard it before; all Jim could say that it belonged to a man...

...wait a second, a man?

"Who's there? Sarah? Sarah, who's with you?"

"Sarah?" the male voice asked, both confused and enraged. "Nr. 24, did you tell that imbecile your former designation?!" Former designation? Imbecile?

"Yo, asshole!" Jim shouted. "Leave her alone! Who are you?" Within seconds, the pain and the discomfort were forgotten, or at least he managed least to ignore them. Instead of answering Jim's question, he felt how someone rammed his fist into his stomach. A sharp pain shot through his body and he felt like he had to throw up. Even then he could feel that the fist belonged to another man.

You wonder how Jim could tell that? Well, let's just say that he had been punched into the guts many times. At a certain point it got boring, but thanks to that experience he could tell if the fist belonged to a man or a woman. Or a Protoss. Or a Zerg. Or Tychus, since Tychus had run in his very own category.

"Who are you?" the ruff male voice demanded to know, but Jim was too busy coughing up his own entrails. When he had finally calmed down, he shook his head, trying to get rid of that damn hood, but with little success. However, even then he knew where this was going.

"Go to hell!" Jim shot back, only to receive another blow to the stomach. The only sound that left his throat was a gurgling noise. His head snapped forward and he had to take a few deep breaths before he heard the man's voice again.

"Who are you?" the other guy repeated his initial statement. All Jim gave him was some more defiance.

"That's all you got?" Jim snarled. "My mother can hit harder than you. And she's dead!"

"Oh, a funny guy, hmm?" the man mused. "Well, let's see if we can find your unfunny-button. Maybe then you will answer my questions."

"Do you worUUFNN!" But Jim was cut short again when the next punch hit him.

"Oh, I intend to!" the man agreed with cruel glee in his voice. This time he didn't give Jim any chance to recuperate. Instead, he used his fist over and over and over again on the helpless man bound to...a chair? Yeah, it felt like a chair. Rather comfortable actually. Not like one of those metal chairs that caused your butt to hurt like hell after a few minutes. You know, the really cheap ones. Or the wooden ones that were so hard that you thought your ass would break apart after sitting on it half a day.

So why the hell was Jim thinking about chairs?

Because it helped him not to think about those punches. If someone tries to torture you, think of something else, something nice and pleasant. Like puppies. Something that can distract your own thoughts, no matter how stupid it might seem. The punches hurt, of course they did. But Jim had endured worse. Besides, that guy just wanted to make Jim feel miserable, and he wouldn't give him that satisfaction. The punishment continued for what felt like hours, though it was probably only mere minutes. When the man finally stopped hitting Jim, he seemed to turn away and take a breather. Whew, beating up helpless guys sure was exhausting! Better not overdo it!

"So, maybe we should try this again. Who are you." the man asked.

"Sarah...Sarah, please...listen to me..." Jim gurgled.

"Pesky little bastard. Nr. 24, take off the hood. I want to see him in the eyes." He heard some footsteps, light ones this time. Someone tugged at the hood and pulled it off his head. A bright light blinded Jim and he turned his head away. He recognized the light as artificial. And artificial light meant lamps.

"Who...who the hell are you?" Jim managed to gurgle. Once his eyes had adapted to the bright light, he looked up and blinked in confusion.

"The...hell?!" Jim whispered. What stood in front of him was an officer wearing a uniform with major-insignia on it. Okay, that wasn't something totally unusual. What made him question his own eyesight was the fact that he was certain that this uniform didn't exist anymore. It had stopped to have any meaning the moment the old Confederacy had ceased to exist.

A Confederate major? Jim recognized the color of the uniform and the insignia, that guy was a member of psi-ops. Wait, psi-ops? Oh hell...

"Now, this exercise was truly amusing, but I'm running out of patience." the man declared. Jim could read the name on his uniform. Rumm. Major Rumm. The Major grabbed Jim's chin and he winced in pain when his head was forced up so they could look into each other's eyes. "I will ask you one more time; who are you and why are you out here? Are you with the Sons of Korhal?" The good thing about being mad is that nothing makes sense. And Jim shouldn't be surprised by the fact that everything he was told caused even more confusion.

"Sons...of Korhal?" Jim mumbled. "Just what the hell are you talking about?" First Protoss that were looking for Nerazim in order to find a way to kill Cerebrates, now a shitty major of the Confederacy, asking Jim if he was a member of the Sons of Korhal? It was as if everything was happening at once, in a totally random order. Perhaps Jim could have used some more time to think things through. Sadly, that asshole in front of him wasn't interested in giving him that time. The Major grabbed Jim's chin and forced his head to the side.

"You look familiar, even without all those cuts and bruises. I've seen your face somewhere. Now, jackass, this is where you gonna spill your beans. And let me make this brutally clear; if you don't answer my questions, there won't be any Mr. Niceguy anymore. Keep bullshitting around, and I will have her..." The Major nodded towards the female Ghost and she straightened herself as if she had just waited for that cue. "...take over and squeeze the truth out of your worthless head. And trust me when I tell you that what I just did to you? She can do one thousand times worse. So, who are you?"

"I don't know what's going on here..." Jim growled. "...but she won't hurt me." That statement caused the Major to pull his brows up in surprise.

"Oh, really? Hmm, that is interesting. I guess you must have missed the moment when she was beating the living crap out of you." Nope, he actually remembered that. Jim growled something before he turned his head back towards Sarah.

"Sarah, please! Talk to me! Whatever happened, I'm sure we can work it out! Together!" That's when another punch hit him in the face. His head was thrown to the side and he felt how something wet and metallic started to fill his mouth. The taste of blood was all too familiar, yet he was still wondering how a hallucination could actually hurt him. Maybe he was doing this to himself? Smashing his head against a tree over and over again while fantasizing about Sarah?

"I have no idea who you're talking to, do you?" the Major then asked. He knelt down in front of Jim and looked him into the eyes. "Still, I wonder who sent you. Naval Intelligence? Hmm, they always wanted to know more about our modes of operation. Or are you one of those watchdogs the Old Families use? No, you don't look like that either. A mercenary perhaps? Well, you got the looks, but it would seem that your best days are already over, huh?"

"What...what have you done to Sarah?" Jim growled again. That's when the Major sighed and got back up. He walked away and gave Jim the chance to look around. They were inside a cave, but someone had placed all sorts of equipment inside this place. It wasn't just the chair Jim was sitting on, but there were headlights, a holographic card table, some field beds...

...and guns. A lot of guns.

The Major walked towards a small desk, but not before he gave the female Ghost a quick glance.

"Keep him in your sights." he just ordered and the Ghost did as she was told. Once the Major reached the table, he started to go through several papers. It was as if he was looking for something...

"You know, lying is pointless." he then declared while searching for something. "We came here because intel suggests that some high-ranking officers working for the Sons of Korhal came here in order to hide. Even though I have no idea why command would send me with _her_ out into the field." the Major hissed. "We haven't found anyone so far, except some strange critters. This whole mission is just a huge kick in the head if you ask me. And that's when you suddenly showed up. So even if you don't know anything, like you claim, I will still squeeze every tiny piece of information out of you. I don't want to tell my superiors that this trip was one huge waste of time. Ah, here it is!" He pulled something from beneath a stack of papers. It looked like a small device of some sort, like a remote control. The Major turned back towards Jim and the Ghost and gave them a friendly smile. But it wasn't a real smile, it was as fake as it could get.

"Now, I will ask you one more time; who are you?"

"Unbind me, then I can show you who I am!" Jim snarled. It caused the Major to chuckle.

"Tempting, but no. I got a better idea." He then raised the device and pointed it at Jim. Oh, this couldn't be good. Jim braced himself for whatever was going to happen next. When the Major pressed the button, unspeakable pain started to crawl through the body. Screams of terror echoed through the small cave, and everything turned into pain.

However, it wasn't Jim who was screaming in pain.

It was Sarah.

"SARAH!" Jim yelled. The Ghost (who had to be Sarah), grabbed her head and screamed like a mad banshee. She dropped to her knees, and even though her face was still covered by her mask, Jim could _feel_ her pain and despair. But it was like a far distant memory, like it wasn't happening right now but as if it had happened a long time ago.

"Sarah! Stop it! STOP IT! You're hurting her!" Jim roared, but the Major just continued to torment Sarah. The look on the officer's face was absolutely disgusting. It was as if he _enjoyed_ torturing Sarah. "Let her go! LET HER GO!" Jim tried to free himself, he threw himself from one side to the other, but all he managed to achieve was to fall on his side. Sarah, unable to tolerate the pain inside her head anymore, fell on the ground too. Suddenly both Jim and Sarah were face to face...well, face to mask. He could hear her gasps of pain and her ragged breath.

"Make...make it stop...please..." Sarah whimpered.

"Sarah, please! Stay with me!" Jim pleaded, but she didn't listen to him. Instead, the Major came closer until he was right above Sarah.

"Sloppy, Nr. 24!" he barked and gave her a hard kick into the back. "I thought we trained you better! You showed your face to that man! You told him your name! I guess the mental conditioning isn't working that well anymore. Once we're done with this useless mission and return to Tarsonis, I will have them do a mind sweep once more''.

"Please...no...no, I don't want to lose myself again..." Sarah whimpered, but it only earned her the scorn of the Major. He gave her another kick and she groaned in pain. Jim had seen his fair share of bastardism, but kicking a helpless woman? Okay, it was Sarah, the deadliest woman of all times. But even then, this guy wasn't doing this because he had a choice. He was doing it because he _enjoyed_ it.

"Did I ask for your opinion, Nr. 24?" Nr. 24? What was this all about? Jim knew that Ghosts used numbers to identify themselves, but this was different. It was as if that Major was refusing to use her real name. As if her number was meant to be a name. The officer kicked her once more in the ribs. He kept his finger on the button of the device during the whole time. Then, after a few moments, he made a step back and looked at Sarah's writhing form.

"Leave her alone!" Jim hissed, but no matter how much he struggled, there was nothing he could do. After what felt like an eternity, the Major finally took his finger off the button and Jim could see how Sarah kept on twitching for a few more moments before she pulled herself into a fetal position.

"Hurts...so much..." she groaned and continued to press her hands against her head. The Major looked at the device in his hand and frowned.

"Looks like the inhibitor needs to be calibrated again. First thing we do when we return to Tarsonis, Nr. 24. Now get up and-" That's when Jim's rage reached unknown heights. Sometimes, if you're either really angry or really scared, your body can mobilize strength that you didn't know you had. It can give you the edge over a far stronger opponent. And Jim? He was beyond angry. He was furious! He had no idea how he managed to break free from his bindings, but it hardly mattered. All he knew was that suddenly his hands were free. He rolled on all fours and catapulted himself forward. Jim could see the surprised expression on the Major's face, but that only lasted for a second. Because it ended when Jim planted his fist in the asshole's face.

"Here, have some more, you dirtbag!" Jim screamed and tackled the man to the ground. It was payback time! He rammed his fist into the man's face over and over again and looked over his shoulder.

"Sarah! Run! I got this!" Behind him, he could see how Sarah got back on her feet. Oh, thank God, she could still walk. "Just taking care of this bastard!" Oh, he would enjoy every goddamn second of it. And once he was done with that Major Rumm, Jim and Sarah would have a long talk about-

"Nr. 24!" the man yelled. "Don't just stand there, help me!"

"She ain't gonna help a scumbag like you!" Jim screamed back. He raised his fist one more time, ready to knock that guy out for good. Or kill him. Right now, Jim didn't care about that. He was about to ram his fist into the Major's face, when suddenly Sarah grabbed his arm, right before he could deliver the final blow. Jim looked over his shoulder, with a look of confusion on his face.

"Sarah? What'UUUNFHH!" He didn't get much further when her punch hit him. It threw him off the Major. Jim was too confused to realize what was going on. The punch was far harder than anything the Major had thrown at him. Jim fell to the ground, lying there like a beetle who had been put on its back. He looked up at Sarah with pleading and unbelieving eyes.

"Sarah, what's going on? Why are you doing this?" Next to him, the Major groaned and got back on his feet.

"Bastard, I guess you're no dimwit after all. Or you just have a death wish. Very well. Nr. 24, show him that you don't assault a Confederate officer and get away with it." the Major growled and Jim looked up to Sarah.

"Sarah, please! Don't listen to him! It's me! It's Jim!" Sarah tilted her head to the side when she heard his pleading voice. With the mask on, it was impossible to say what she was feeling right now. However, she looked as if she was...hesitating.

"Nr. 24, I gave you an order!" the Major barked.

"Sir, I don't...I..." Sarah stuttered. Something was going on inside her mind, and a relieved expression appeared on Jim's face when he realized that he was getting through to her. She started to remember him! It was too early to celebrate, though, because when the Major raised the remote control once more, Jim could see how Sarah started to wince.

"Nr. 24, I gave you a direct order! Show this filth the consequences of assaulting a Confederate officer. Or else..." His finger hovered over the button that was meant to bring Sarah nothing but pain.

"Sarah, please! We can take him together!" Jim pleaded. She looked down at Jim, and then at the remote control. It was as if she was considering her options. Well, Jim couldn't blame her. After all that pain she was probably-

Then she looked at the Major and nodded.

"Understood, Sir.

"Sarah, what-" But Jim didn't get any further. Instead, Sarah threw herself on Jim and started to throw punches at him.

"That's right! Make him suffer!" the Major yelled.

"Yes, Sir!" Sarah copied and did as she was told. Her punches were brutal and meant to hurt and maim. She knew how to cause unspeakable pain, and every hit was twenty times as painful as everything Tychus had been able to deliver. Where a Neanderthal like Tychus had used brute strength, Sarah relied on superior technique. Sarah hit Jim's face, his chest, his arms and his legs. She knew how to minimize damage while maximizing the pain. When it came to hurting people, Sarah was an artist. And now Jim finally realized where she got that talent from.

"Go on!" the Major ordered. "Make him bleed!" And so she did, just like a good little soldier would. Like a good little _tool_ would. Every punch felt like it was about to end Jim's life. It was worse than when Nova had beaten him up. When compared to the blonde Ghost, Sarah was far more precise. Her moves were cold and managed to hit all his nerves in the right places. There were no doubts either, the Major had ordered her to make Jim suffer, and that's exactly what she did.

Jim had experienced many brawls and had ended up on the receiving end on several occasions. But this time it was different.

"Sarah..." he managed to gurgle. "...please! Stop..." But Sarah didn't listen. His pleading words were of no concern to her. The only thing she cared for were her superior's orders. And she followed them to the letter. No more hesitation, no more holding back either. It was like getting beaten up by a machine. At first Jim tried to defend himself, but in the end, it proved to be pointless. He knew how to stand his ground. He knew how to prevail in a brawl. But Sarah had always been several levels above his skills. Seriously, it was like beating up a kitten!

Jim would like to claim that he would never beat the woman he loved. You know, real men don't use violence against women, which was true. However, right now he didn't even get that far. He was so outclassed that not even his old power armor could have helped him to prevail. Sarah, _this_ Sarah, would have just torn through the steel and then turned his chest into mush.

The punches kept coming and Jim felt how his body wasn't able to keep up with Sarah. In the end, all he could do was to lie there and get his ass handed over to him by her. When his resistance faded, two more hard punches hit him in the face, and the pain robbed him of the ability to form a coherent thought.

"Enough! He's no use to us dead. Stand down, Nr. 24." the Major suddenly ordered, and in an instant, Jim's torture ended. His head fell on the dusty ground and he coughed up some blood. His lips were busted open and he could feel how one of his eyes started to swell. For a hallucination, it sure as hell felt like the real deal. Jim barely realized how Sarah got back to her feet and made a step backward. His blood was dripping from her knuckles, but she didn't seem to care one bit.

"Now, since we established some common ground..." Rumm then explained. "...how about we try to answer my questions, yes? Who are you?"

"Same...same as I was five minutes ago." Jim managed to gurgle. The Major sighed and gave Sarah a quick nod. The moment she saw the signal, she pulled her foot back and rammed it into Jim's stomach. Jim screamed in pain and grabbed his belly before he rolled to the side and groaned.

"Funny, I thought we already managed to figure out that I don't like your attitude. So, I'll give you one last chance. Who are you? Or do you wish that Nr. 24 over here continues to work on you some more?"

Sometimes, when you know that you should just do as you're told, you decide to do the exact opposite. Jim knew that he couldn't handle much more punishment. But he didn't care. He managed to look up to the Major and snarled at him.

"Do your worst, asshole." The moment Jim said that a cruel grin appeared on Rumm's face.

"Oh, don't worry. I've broken stronger men and women than you. Nr. 24 over here can vouch for that. Speaking of which; Nr. 24, show that man what you're capable of." He had...broken people? Like Nr. 24? Inside Jim's mind, a weak voice started to scream. It was telling him that this was an important piece of information. However, before he could contemplate on that, Sarah was back on him and rammed her fist into his face.

What Jim didn't know was that his suffering was just about to begin.

And that's when he heard that voice in the back of his mind again, the voice that almost sounded like Sarah's.

 _Please, you have to endure it! For her! You are the only one who can save her!_

And so, Jim did the only thing he could.

He endured it.

* * *

Jim had no idea how long Sarah abused his body. It felt like hours, though it were probably just minutes. The moment one part of his body was in unspeakable pain, she switched over to another part and did the same thing all over again. It was like playing an instrument, and Jim was responsible for the soundtrack, mostly by producing screams and gurgling sounds.

At first, he had yelled at the Major that he was a ball-less coward who had to send a girl to do his job.

Then he had shouted at Sarah that he was sorry.

After a while, he had only whimpered.

"Enough! Killing him won't do the trick. I want to know what he knows. Though I doubt that it can be anything important." That's when Sarah finally stopped torturing Jim. He hardly noticed that, he was already too far gone. His whole body felt like it was on fire, and he was unable to lift even a finger.

"Hmm...I am disappointed. I thought that you would put up more of a fight. But this? This was nothing!" Rumm then explained. He knelt down right next to Jim, who could only breathe and listen to his own heartbeat. "You see, you lost the moment you tried to approach a Confederate Ghost." Rumm continued. "Oh, I bet that you could have won against any ordinary foe. But her? She's different. Because we _made_ her special. Because _I_ made her special. This is what true perfection looks like. Go on! Take a look at her." That's when Jim rolled his head to the side and looked up to the Ghost. A single tear streamed down his face.

"Can you see it?" Rumm marveled. "The perfection? An obedient tool. Not a person, no. Everyone claims to be a person, it is nothing special. But Nr. 24? She _is_ something special. No emotions, no hesitation, just pure control and precision. That's how she's supposed to be, that's how all Ghosts are supposed to be." Suddenly Jim had to think about Smith. What would his former bodyguard say if he could hear this?

"...rong..." Jim managed to gargle, but his throat felt like it was on fire.

"What was that?" Rumm asked.

"...wrong...you're...wrong about...her..." Jim repeated.

"Oh, really? You truly must be a sucker for punishment. Or do you have a death wish? Do you want to make me so angry that I will tell her to end your life?" Rumm tilted his head to the side and it looked like he was thinking about his options. Then the cruel smile returned to his face.

"You know what? Let's do both. I get my information, and you get your heroic death. Only without the heroics. Nr. 24! I want you to probe his mind!" Rumm barked and he stood up. "Find out who he really is and then destroy his brain. But do it slowly. I want him to _enjoy_ it."

The Ghost didn't hesitate one second. She walked up to Jim once more and knelt down in front of him. Her face was still covered with the mask and it was impossible to say what she was feeling right now.

No...no, that wasn't correct. Jim could feel _something_ in the back of his mind. It sounded like the screams of a young woman.

 _No! I don't want to do it! Stop it! Stop it! Let me go!_

Was that Sarah? It didn't feel like the voice that usually talked to him. If it was Sarah, then it felt tired, exhausted and disillusioned. Like a slave that wants to be free, but who knows that freedom is just a concept that doesn't apply to one's reality.

"Sarah, please...don't." For a second, it seemed as if the Ghost was about to hesitate. But when the Major saw that, he took the remote control in his hand again and put his finger on the button, threatening to push it.

"Nr. 24!" he barked and Sarah...

...did as she was told.

Pain was never a nice experience. Jim knew what it felt like to be beaten up. He even knew what it meant to be tortured. But that pain had always been a physical one. His body had suffered under the stubbornness of his mind. He thought he knew what pain was. He thought that nothing could surprise him anymore. He wasn't even afraid of infestation either, at least as long as he had a revolver to end his suffering as quickly as possible. He had never thought that pain could still surprise him.

That's when Sarah decided to prove him wrong.

He had felt Sarah inside his mind many times, but this time it was different. It was no gentle or careful probing. He could feel how his synapses were starting to fall apart, how his neurons fired all at once. His body started to spasm and foam formed in the corner of his mouth. Should Jim survive this, he would really have to rethink his concept of what true pain was.

"He is resisting." Sarah's cold voice reached his ears.

"So what? Apply more pressure." the Major just replied and Sarah did as she was told.

"Sarah...please...!" Jim managed to gurgle, but she wasn't even listening.

"If I apply more force, he will die." That wasn't a question and there wasn't any doubt in her voice. He would die.

"Can't be helped then. If the fool wants to play it this way, let him have it. I want the information inside that brain. Tell me if he's with the Sons of Korhal." All Jim could do was to suffer. And suffer he did. He could see how Sarah invaded his mind, tearing information from it. Old and long forgotten memories started to reemerge, but they were gone in an instant. He saw the birth of his son, he saw the death of his wife. He experienced his days as a Heaven's Devil once more, he remembered the time when Mar Sara fell to the Zerg. And he remembered how he met Sarah for the first time and-

"No!" Sarah yelled and made a step backward. Suddenly the pain started to fade away, and Jim groaned in relief. Without realizing it, his body had started to twitch and convulse, as if he was suffering from a seizure. Blood and foam covered his lips and right now he looked like he had been tortured for days.

"What's the matter? Nr. 24, why did you stop!" The Major demanded to know. But even in his pitiful state, Jim could hear her confused words.

"He...he knows me..."

"Impossible!" Rumm barked. "He's nothing but a stray dog! I want to know what's going on inside that brain! Go back and find out what he knows! That's an order!" However, now that Sarah had seen a picture of herself inside Jim's mind, her resolve seemed to have faded away. She got back to her feet and grabbed her own head.

"It doesn't make any sense...it was me, but older..." None of that seemed to make any sense to the Major either. He walked up to Jim and gave him a hard kick to the chest. All Jim could do was to groan in pain. Still, after experiencing how Sarah had tried to turn his brain into mush, this was not so bad. He was even able to take a breather.

"I gave you an order, Nr. 24! Your constant insolence is starting to get bothersome, perhaps it is time for another memory wipe after all." When Sarah heard that, she made another step backward.

"No! No, please, Sir! That isn't necessary, not another wipe!" Maybe Jim was imagining things (well, he was most definitely imagining things, considering that he had encountered several dead Protoss, a cranky confederate officer, and a girlfriend that didn't recognize him and had just beaten the living crap out of him), but it was as if he could feel Sarah's fear.

"Stop whining! You're showing too much attitude as of late, Nr. 24. You're not a person, you're a tool, do you understand that?"

Not a person, but a tool.

When Jim heard that, he wanted to get up and beat the living shit out of that scumbag. His arms and legs started to twitch and he was surprised to notice that his limbs were actually still doing what he asked them to do.

"Please, Major...I don't...I do anything, but don't do a mind wipe again! I don't...I don't want to lose myself again."

Lose herself again?

Jim knew what a mind wipe was, but he had never talked about it with Sarah. The Confederacy (and later the Dominion) had used the same technology to "re-socialize" convicts in order to turn them into good little drones, uhm, soldiers.

"Pathetic! You're pathetic! We trained you better, Nr. 24! I will not allow this to go on! You will fall in line or else-" And that's when Rumm pressed the button on the remote again. Sarah's screams were more horrible than all the pain Jim had just experienced. He could hear her screams _inside_ his mind. It was as if he could feel her despair.

 _There's no hope left. Might as well give in and do as they say. I'm not a person, I'm just a tool._ Those were Sarah's thoughts, but they felt so distant, like an old record.

Sarah dropped to her knees and rolled over the floor, holding her head while screaming in pain, but the Major didn't care one bit about that.

"I've had enough. We're gonna return to Tarsonis, and then the science-division will take care of you. Your defiance is getting bothersome, Nr. 24. Perhaps we should replace the inhibitor with a more powerful version and-"

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Jim roared when he finally managed to get back on his feet. If you fight for your life, you can utilize strength that you didn't know you possess. And seeing Sarah in pain was just enough of a motivation to forget the pain and do what he had to do.

"Nr. 24, get that mauUUUGGHHH!" But this time Jim didn't allow the Major to bark any orders. Instead, he tackled him to the ground and started to punch his fist into Rumm's face over and over and over again. It was payback time! And to Jim, this asshole was responsible for all that pain Sarah had caused to him. As he spilled the Major's blood, he felt how he started to lose all inhibitions. There was a difference between beating someone up...

...or trying to kill someone.

And Jim? He was out for blood. At first, Rumm tried to defend himself, but he was less of a threat that you might think. He tried to fight back, but his punches were weak and didn't hit Jim anywhere where it mattered. And with every hit from Jim, Rumm's resistance grew weaker. And yet it wasn't enough.

"Nr...Nr. 24...help...me..." Rumm gurgled. Blood covered his face and he looked like he was in dire need of a doctor. However, Sarah was not listening, she was still holding her own head and trembling in pain. Still, it wasn't enough. If that guy would get back on his feet, he would torture Sarah all over again. And that was something Jim couldn't allow.

Killing someone was never easy. This douchebag, however? Well, Jim was about to make an exception. He wouldn't feel any guilt for ending this man's life. His hands wrapped around Rumm's throat and he started to strangle him. The Major tried to fight back, but he was too weak. And Jim was too furious and filled with too much rage to just back down. Rumm started to gag and choke, and tried everything. He even tried to stab out one of Jim's eyes with his fingers. But Jim managed to grab the Major's hand with his mouth and bite into it. It was a brutal and savage act. Killing someone with a gun was one thing. Nasty work, sure. But this? This was close and personal. What is the difference between two Zerglings tearing each other apart and two humans doing the same?

Right now? Not much.

However, strangling Rumm wasn't enough. Jim could feel how the vertebrae in the Major's neck started to shift and pop. There was a nasty sound of creaking bones, and the eyes of the man widened in shock. The Major knew what was about to happen. He knew that he was done for. But he still tried to fight back.

"Ghhhaaaaaaarrggg..." he gurgled. The moment when Jim broke Rumm's neck, the arms of the Major went slack and his head rolled to the side. His eyes became empty and all he did was to twitch a few times before it was finally done. For a long moment, the only things you could hear were Jim's ragged breaths and Sarah's whimpering. No longer did he wonder how this hallucination could feel so real. The pain in his body and the adrenaline flowing through his veins told him that this was the real deal.

"No... don't want to...lose myself again..." he could hear Sarah behind him.

"Huh...no rest for the weary..." Jim whispered to himself before he got back on his feet. Or at least he tried. It took him several attempts until he finally succeeded. He stumbled over to Sarah and fell on his knees right in front of her.

"Sarah. Sarah, it's fine. He won't hurt you anymore. He's...he's gone, Sarah." However, Sarah didn't react. She still wore her mask, but Jim could see how she was sobbing beneath it. He looked around while there was just one thought inside his mind; to get the hell outta here.

Jim gathered the pitiful rest of his strength and picked Sarah up. She was light, much lighter than he remembered. Under normal circumstances, he would have noticed it, but right now he was too wrecked to care. The cave had been turned into a makeshift base of operations. Jim didn't encounter any guards or marines on his way out, though. When he finally saw the entrance of the cave, he groaned in relief. As he stepped out into the open, the light nearly blinded him, but at the same time, he enjoyed the warm air on his skin.

"Back to square one, I guess." he whispered to himself and looked around. While he had no idea where he was, he could tell that this was still the same world Sarah had taken him. The sky gave it away.

Jim knew that the guy inside the cave couldn't be real. But hell, his body still felt every damn bruise. He stumbled towards a tree and put Sarah done, mere seconds before his body finally failed him. He needed a moment to regain some strength. Well, at least the punishment was over.

"Sarah, are you okay?" he wanted to know, but she didn't answer that question. "Sarah?" She appeared to be totally unresponsive and Jim knew that he was in deep shit.

"Here, let's get this thing off." he then said and started to remove her mask. He took off those clunky googles and when he pulled the balaclava off her face, he could see all that red hair again. The same red hair that he loved so much. An exhausted smile appeared on his face and when he looked into Sarah's empty eyes...

...the smile disappeared in an instant.

"Sarah?" At first, he had problems figuring out what was not right. It was Sarah, yes, but there was something wrong. Jim's mind needed several moments until he finally realized that. Only then it finally started to make sense. Now he knew why she had appeared thinner and smaller than he remembered her.

Right in front of him was Sarah. But she looked different. It wasn't the nightmarish face of the Queen of Blades either. No, this woman was Sarah. Only...she wasn't a woman.

The Sarah in front of him didn't look like the woman he knew. She was just a kid! The face he looked at belonged to a teenager, she was probably only fifteen or sixteen years old. He had never seen Sarah like this, he only remembered her as a grown-up woman. Seeing her like this was odd. Because it reminded Jim of how little he actually knew about this woman he claimed to love. Under normal circumstances, he would probably understand that this whole situation couldn't be the same reality he was used to. But circumstances weren't normal, and he was too exhausted and in too much pain to truly care about that.

"Sarah, look at me. What happened to you?"

"Don't want to lose myself again..." was the only thing she managed to say. Her voice was but a whisper.

"Sarah..." he said with a gentle tone in his voice. "...please, what is this all about?" Jim was still in a great deal of pain, but even then, he realized that this wasn't about him, it was about her. It was as if he could feel how she was trying to fight something, but she was too confused to do anything about it. Whatever was going on here, he wouldn't get any answers out of here. And so, he did the only thing he could. He did as his guts told him to do.

"Here, let's get out of this place, shall we?" he whispered and grabbed young Sarah's lithe body. She was so light! That didn't mean that Sarah, the real Sarah, was heavy or anything like that. But if Sarah was a feather, then this Sarah right now was even less than that. Jim managed to get her on his back, and when he started to move, every damn muscle in his body screamed in protest. But he endured it. He had to.

Jim didn't really know where he was going. Just as far away as possible. He could feel Sarah's warm body through the fabric of his bloody shirt. Whatever was going on here, it wasn't good. And he had to find a solution. He wanted to ask Sarah for answers, but right now she was unable to give him any. Besides, Jim doubted that she knew what was going on either. Jim walked for what felt like an eternity. He stopped when they reached a big lake, filled with crystal-clear water. Jim, covered in sweat and short of breath, sighed in relief. He put Sarah down on the soft grass and put his hand on her cheek.

"Sarah, I'm just gonna get me some water, okay? I'm just over there, so don't worry or anything. Just...just take it easy, will you?" What the hell was he supposed to say to her, huh? Besides, his body still hurt as if someone had tortured him and...

...oh, wait...someone _had_ tortured him. And that someone was now right in front of him. Jim looked into Sarah's eyes, but something was different. They still looked the same, they were green and beyond beautiful. But they were empty. It was as if Jim wasn't looking at a person, but an empty husk.

"Sarah? Sarah, look at me! Please!" But Sarah didn't react. Whatever had happened to her, she was completely unresponsive, catatonic even. Jim thought about his options. He had to get through to her! But how, how could he...

...that's when he had an idea.

"Nr. 24!" he said with a soft but stern tone. Sarah reacted immediately. Her head jerked back up and she looked at Jim.

"Sir?"

"What happened to you?" Jim whispered.

"Please specify your inquiry, Sir." Sarah just replied. It was as if he was talking to an adjutant robot. Something inside Jim's mind finally made click. Perhaps some would say that he was pretty slow, but cut the man some slack. Sarah, this Sarah, she was so very different from the one he knew and loved. She was cold and distant and she was more like a machine than an actual human being.

That's when, finally, something made click inside his mind.

"Just what did they do to you? What did they turn you into?"

"I do not understand that question, Sir." Sarah said. Jim knew that the Ghost-training of the old Confederacy had been brutal, inhuman even. However, he didn't know any details. It was as if Jim had a chance here, a chance to finally learn the truth. At the same time, he was aware that he wouldn't like this truth. Still...

"Nr. 24, what did they do to you?"

"Please specify your inquiry, Sir." When Jim heard that, he sighed. He knew that this wouldn't get them anywhere, so he took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts.

"That...thing, Nr. 24...that the Major used on you. What was it?" He saw how Sarah shuddered.

"A neural inhibitor. Implanted into the brain in order to monitor and control the operatives. In case of an agent going rogue, the system can be used to terminate the subject." she said like it didn't bother her one bit. He had heard about those neural inhibitors, but he had never seen one in action. And even if this reality was starting to fall apart, he knew that there was something important to learn here. Something that he had never thought of before.

And again, he had to ask himself what he really knew about Sarah Kerrigan.

"Sar...Nr. 24, what did they do to you?"

"Please specify your inquiry, Sir."

Well, this was getting them nowhere. Jim looked into those dull eyes, void of any free will. He knew that Sarah wasn't like that. She had a will of her own. She had dreams and hopes. Unfortunately, he didn't know anything about them. Jim sighed and felt how his own body started to fail him. Water. He had to drink some water.

"Wait here, I'll be back in an instant." he mumbled and crawled over to the lakeshore. When he looked into the water and saw his own reflection, he winced. He looked as if someone had used him as a punching bag. He cupped some water in his hands and brought it up to his lips. The water was cool and clean and it felt good when it streamed down his sore throat. He took a few more sips and when he was finally done, he sighed and sat down on his butt.

"Man, I really could use a stiff drink right now." he mumbled to himself. Sarah was groaning behind him, but he didn't want to look at her. He didn't want to look into those empty eyes. Seeing her like this...she was just a goddamn child! A teenager! And yet she had been one of the best assassins within the entire Koprulu Sector. It reminded Jim that he had never asked himself how Sarah's life had looked like before they had met. And now he felt like a fool. How could he claim to love Sarah if he didn't even know how her youth had looked like? Where she came from and who her friends had been?

"I'm sorry, Sarah. I was a fool." he then started to say. "You know, I always thought it's enough to be with you. I knew that you were in pain, I just thought that you would come to me if you felt the time was right. Guess I was wrong, huh?" However, Sarah didn't answer. Perhaps it was better this way.

"I'm sorry, I really am, Darlin'. I thought that once we were together again, things would get back to normal. Well, as normal as things can get for us anyway." He chuckled. "But it seems that was a stupid dream, huh? I'm so sorry, I should have been more careful. But I'm here now. So, what do you say, Sarah? Wanna talk things through? Please?" When he heard another voice, he froze in an instant.

"Touching, really." the male voice said and Jim looked over his shoulder.

"You're dead!" Jim hissed, but Major Rumm just chuckled.

"Oh, you fringe rats always think that you can do that, right? Hahaha, harming a Confederate officer is a capital punishment, perhaps they should have taught you that in school. Ach, I forgot! You don't even know how to spell "school"." Everything about this man was just repulsive. He was a bastard who got off torturing others. Jim had met men like him, many times actually. Usually, the best course of action was to put a bullet through the head of someone like this. But there was just one little problem with that.

The Major was the one holding a gun in his hand. And he was pointing it right at Jim's head.

"I killed you!" Jim hissed.

"I have no idea what you damn rat are babbling about." the Major shot back. "Guess your memory is just as bad as your concept of personal hygiene. And you caused me quite the headache. But enough of that. Attacking a Confederate officer is a capital punishment. And the punishment for that is _death_." He then looked over to Sarah, the young Sarah, who was still lying on the ground.

"Nr. 24! Get back on your feet!" he barked.

"No, Sarah! You don't have to listen to him! This isn't real! Listen to my voice!" However, his words didn't seem to reach Sarah. She turned her head towards the Major and rolled on all fours. Then, as if she was moving in slow motion, she managed to get back on her feet. Jim did the same. He had no strength left to fight the Major once more, but he would do still do it. He would protect Sarah, no matter the costs. Rumm, however, had a different idea.

"Hmm...you caused me some trouble, rat." he mused. "Tell you what. Since you seem to like Nr. 24 this much, I will leave this task to her. Nr. 24!" he barked again and Sarah straightened herself.

"Sir!" she just replied, and suddenly she appeared like a cold machine again.

"Sarah!" Jim whined when he saw that. "Don't!"

The Major walked up to Sarah and when he stood right in front of her, he turned his pistol around and offered it to her.

"Take it!" he ordered and Sarah didn't hesitate one second. She looked at the Major and was about to say: "Awaiting your or-!" That's when he slapped her across the face.

"Bastard, leave her alone!" Jim roared and made a step forward. Sarah's head jerked to the side, but she didn't scream, she didn't yell, she didn't object. She just turned her face back towards the Major. Blood flowed out of the corner of her mouth.

"That's for hesitating earlier, Nr. 24. Once we are back on Tarsonis, you will undergo a mind wipe. And this time it will be a phase two, not just a three."

"Yes, Sir." Sarah said with a cold voice as if she didn't care about that. Seeing her like this hurt like hell. That wasn't the strong and fierce woman Jim knew and loved. Hell, that wasn't even the cruel and heartless Queen of Blades. This was...was... just a living tool.

"Now, let's make this more interesting, shall we?" Rumm chuckled and looked over at Jim.

"I don't think you know anything about the Sons of Korhal. You're just a worthless fringe rat. An annoying fringe rat. So how about this? Since you like Nr. 24 so much, how about we let her end your life?"

"What?" Jim whispered in disbelief.

"Nr. 24, aim at his head." And Sarah didn't even hesitate one second. She turned around and pointed the gun straight at Jim's face. He looked into her eyes, those green eyes he loved so much. But they were empty and dead. Those weren't the eyes of a person...

"Sarah, don't! Please! I know you're in there! I know you! Probe my mind again, ask me questions, whatever! Just don't do what he orders you to do!"

"Ten." Rumm suddenly said and Jim frowned.

"What?"

"Nine." Oh boy, this game. Jim's eyes widened in shock and he looked back at Sarah.

"Sarah! Please, Darlin'! Wake up!"

"Eight." But Sarah just stared at him. Her finger started to pull down the trigger. He looked into those eyes and searched for something, anything that reminded him of the old Sarah. The _real_ Sarah. But there was nothing.

"Seven." That's when Jim realized the cruel truth. She would kill him. She would do what the Major wanted her to do. She would pull that trigger and she wouldn't miss. He couldn't fight them. Not head-on, and not without any weapons. Even under normal circumstances, Sarah would mop the floor with him. Even in his prime, he would never have been able to defeat Sarah in unarmed combat. And right now? Right now, he felt like he had slept in barb wire.

"Six." It was wrong. It was all wrong. This shouldn't be happening. He and Sarah should enjoy each other's company, not try to kill each other because a hallucination told them so!

"Five." The worst thing about doing the right thing is when you realize that you don't want to do it. And Jim knew that he had no other option.

"Four." And so, he turned around and started to run.

"Three!" Rumm yelled. Jim dragged his wounded body forward and didn't dare to look back. He didn't want to see Sarah pointing that gun at him. His muscles screamed in protest, but he ignored them. If she was about to kill him, he didn't want to see the bullet coming. The Major was enjoying himself to the fullest while Jim ran towards the tree line. He took his sweet time while counting down, though. Even then Jim knew that he wouldn't make it in time.

"Two!" So close. So close! If he could reach the tree line, then he might have a chance to escape this nightmare. He could feel Sarah's cold presence in the back of his mind. Cold and mechanical, methodical. The perfect assassin. That's what they had trained her to be. And now he finally knew how they had done it; by striping her from her own humanity and turning her into a cold-blooded machine.

"One!" If only he had known about this earlier! If he had told Sarah that this part of her life was over now! But he hadn't. And that life wasn't over either, it was still inside her mind. A trauma that she hadn't been able to process. Many humans were dealing with traumas, but none of them possessed Sarah's powers. He was so close! He could almost touch the trees!

"Fire!"

And then he felt the pain when the bullet hit him.

* * *

She watched. The young woman watched. She didn't want to, but she had to. She could have intervened, but that was not her job. She knew what she had to do. Still, as she looked at those two, a single tear streamed down her face.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered before she turned away. Even she had her limit. And this was just too much to handle.

"Please...endure it." she then said. "For her. For us." She wiped the tear away and decided that she had seen enough. She wiped the tear away and when it fell to the ground, it turned into gold...


	67. Act III - Chapter 11

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 11**

 **Innocence Lost**

* * *

Sarah Kerrigan was a trained assassin. That included exceptional sniper-skills. She could kill someone from so far away that you couldn't even see her. You see, that's the really scary thing about Ghosts; they don't need their psionics in order to kill someone. It's simply one more option on _how_ they will kill you. Reducing Sarah to the most powerful human psionic was like reducing a soldier to his gun. Maybe it was the most lethal thing about her, but not the only one that could cause harm.

You know those movies? Those god-awful action holo-vids where the hero grabs a pistol and shoots countless of enemies from fifty meters away? Sometimes even further?

Well, that doesn't work in reality. For most people, it would be hard if not impossible to hit someone who's more than ten meters away. Pistols aren't the most precise instruments to kill out there. But if you give a gun to someone like Sarah? Well, in that case, fiction will become reality. Ghosts were trained in all sorts of things. That included advanced firearms training. She had never just relied on her psionics in order to deliver the perfect shot. So yeah, running away from Sarah was pretty much the most pointless thing one could do.

How does the old saying go? Fortune favors the mentally handicapped? Well, Jim was known for having more luck than brains, so it probably didn't come as a surprise that he was saved by it.

As he hurried towards the jungle, he only saw trees. He didn't realize that just behind the first line of trees, there was a sharp drop off. Jim was in too much of a hurry to notice it, but when he reached the tree line, he made that one fatal step that would save him from getting shot in the back, only to break his neck a few seconds later. He felt how the ground suddenly vanished beneath him, but he was unable to stop or anything like that. He fell forward and that's when the bullet finally reached him. It felt like a hot whiplash hitting his shoulder, and he realized in an instant that the bullet had just grazed him.

Lucky dog!

That's when his face crashed into one of the trees. Pain, pain, and even more pain accompanied him while he fell down the slope. He crashed against one, two, many trees and everything turned upside down. It was like being a fish in a barrel, a barrel that had been filled with razors. If the whole situation wouldn't have been so dramatic, it would have been hilarious. He truly managed to hit every damn tree on his way down. The last hit was especially bad. Jim could see the tree coming towards him. Or he was falling towards the tree, depending on how you look at it. He managed to get his hands in front of his face, but when he slammed into the trunk head first, they didn't help much in terms of protection. On the contrary, it felt like he had just broken both his arms. The impact was brutal and Jim's head was blown back. Stars exploded in front of his eyes and he lost all sense of orientation. When he finally reached the end of the slope, his body stopped moving, however, everything kept spinning inside his head. He tried to get back on his feet, but it was just an instinct and his body disagreed with that.

"Ih...Sarah...I gotta..." Jim managed to roll around and looked up at the trees above him. His eyelids started to flutter and then his lights finally went out for good.

The last thing he heard was the Major's voice.

"Leave him, we got more important things to do."

And then everything turned dark.

* * *

Jim didn't know how long he had been unconscious. The first thing he did when his mind started to regain some traction was to groan in pain. His head! It hurt so much, as if a goddamn tank had rolled over it. He tried to open his eyes, but when the bright light blinded him, he gritted his teeth and groaned again.

"Oh, hey look who's finally awake." a male voice reached his ears. For a second, he thought that it was that Major Rumm-guy and he tried to stand up, but that's when he felt a hand on his chest. It was a man's hand, yes. But it was gentle. "Easy there, partner. Don't overdo it. You look like you've been through hell and back. Patched you up as good as possible, but we probably should let a doctor look at those bruises. You're damn lucky, though. If my daughter hadn't found you and you would have spent the night outside...well, let's just be glad that she found you."

Daughter? Oh hell, where was he? Even though his body told him to stay down and keep his eyes shut, he knew that he couldn't do that. The last thing Jim remembered was running for his life when Sarah had pointed the gun at...

"SARAH!" he yelled and shot back up. Big mistake. He winced in pain and the man who knelt next to him backed down immediately.

"Oh, hey! Easy there, partner! Sarah, yes. I know. She told you her name? Tsk, she never can say no to strangers, now can she? Need to have a word with her afterward. Sarah's fine, though. She saved your butt." There was so much information inside those words, unfortunately, Jim had a hard time figuring out what the man was trying to tell him.

"Sarah's...safe?" Before he could contemplate on that, Jim felt how the room started to spin around his head. He fell back, and much to his own surprise, he landed on something soft. He looked around and his mind had a hard time to process the fact that he was inside a house. Not a bunker, not a barrack or even a villa. No, it was a normal house. It reminded Jim of his home, back when he had been a child. However, it wasn't the same. Because it wasn't his home.

"Hmm, you look like you've been through hell." the unknown man said and took a good look at Jim. "Seems like you ran into a bad crowd. Or a bear." Even though the man sounded rather friendly to Jim, he knew that this could be just another trick. And even though he was still alive, he didn't want to go through this kind of crap one more time. Hell, Jim was pretty certain that he wouldn't be able to go through that treatment once more.

"Where am I?" he wanted to know, looking at the ceiling and feeling how his whole body was pulsing in pain and discomfort.

"In our home. After my daughter found you, I dragged you here. Now, my wife was pretty concerned that you might be a crook or a thief or anything like that. But you don't look like that. You're a soldier, aren't you?"

"How..." Jim mumbled and the man chuckled.

"Oh, I have seen my fair share of crooks and thieves and brutes, and you look like none of them. Just like someone who woke up on the wrong side of a fist. So, soldier?" The man sounded so trustworthy and Jim was too exhausted to really put up a fight.

"Years ago." Jim finally replied. "So many years ago."

"Hmm, yes. As I thought. You know, my wife was pretty angry when I and Sarah brought you here. Didn't want you inside our home. But if you find someone who needs help, you can't pretend they're just thin air, right?" Jim didn't answer to that. He was simply too tired and exhausted. But if that guy was truly not interested in torturing Jim, everything he had just said sounded pretty sweet.

"Okay partner, just stay here and take a breather. I'm gonna check if we can get Doc' Brown out here so he can take a look at you. Just relax and take it easy, okay? It's gonna be fine." As Jim listened to the man's voice, he wanted to believe him. He reminded him of someone he had met a long time ago. Someone who was no longer around. Strangely enough, this man reminded Jim of his own father. He could hear how the man stood up and walked away. When he was alone, Jim tried to open his eyes and take a better look at the unknown person, but the other man was already gone. He heard how a door was opened and how the stranger talked to someone just outside the room.

"Yeah, he's awake. I should go and call Doc' Brown. It seems like nothing is broken, but a professional should take a closer look, just to be certain."

"Maybe you should call the Marshal, too. You know, _just to be certain_. He could be just another crook. I don't trust him." That voice...it belonged to a woman. For a second Jim thought it was Sarah, but then he realized that it wasn't his lover's voice. It sounded almost like Sarah. _Almost_ , but not quite.

"Relax, Darlin'. I don't think that he's dangerous. Besides, whoever did beat him up, did a damn good job. He won't go anywhere anytime soon." the man said again.

"Am I the only one seeing the problem here? He was beaten up by someone, Patrick! That means that someone wanted to do that. And I don't want to be near such people." There was little doubt that this woman wanted Jim out of her house, and he couldn't blame her for that. He opened his eyes when he had finally adapted to the bright light around him. When he turned his head around, he realized that he was inside a house, a living room to be exact. It was actually a really nice place. The walls were white and there were a lot of old looking furniture standing around. Old looking, but not worn out. It gave the whole place a rather classic touch.

"Listen, the man won't go anywhere anytime soon. I'll just try to contact the Doc' and ask him to come over as soon as possible." the man called Patrick suggested. The woman (Jim just assumed it was Patrick's wife) only harrumphed, but then she relented.

"Hmpf. Very well. But I want him out of my house as soon as possible! And don't even think about offering him to stay for the night, that is _not_ going to happen!" the woman snarled. There was no mistake, her voice not only resembled that of Sarah, but her tone reminded Jim of his lover as well. It was as if those two women were related or something like that.

"Yes, Darlin'." Patrick sighed. "I'll call Doc' Brown now."

"And what about that bleeding hobo in my living room?" the woman asked. Bleeding hobo? Heh, Jim liked that woman already.

"Ugh, just leave him, he's harmless. And don't you worry, everything will be fine." Patrick tried to ease her mind.

"Fine." the woman shot back. "But if he does anything stupid, if he only so much as looks in the wrong direction, I'm gonna take a big stick and beat him so hard that he wishes that the other guys who did that to him had finished what they had started." Actually, it had been a girl. A very deadly girl. But even then, Jim already liked that woman. She had fire and she knew how to stand her ground. Just like someone else he knew...

"Okay, I'll try to contact the Doc now. If anything happens, just scream." Patrick said and then Jim heard how the man walked away. Everything turned silent and Jim sighed in relief. He finally had some time to relax. His body still hurt like hell, but it was nowhere nearly as bad as it had been a short while ago. Amazingly enough, it seemed as none of his bones were broken.

"Not for the lack of trying though..." he mumbled to himself.

Still, as he was lying on the couch and with nothing else to do, he started to think about Sarah, about how she had beaten him to a bloody pulp. He was no stranger to pain, and he had lost enough brawls to know what it feels like to lie with the face down in the dirt, getting your ass handed over to you big time. Perhaps there was something wrong with him, but the fact that Sarah had turned him into minced meat wasn't bothering him as much as the look on her face when she had applied some physical love to his face.

Those eyes...those lovely green eyes.

They had been dead. It was as if he hadn't even looked at a person, but a machine. He loved Sarah's eyes, it was one of her most striking features. There was only one small problem with that; Sarah had the bad habit of changing her eyes all the time. Well, "all the time" was probably a bit much, but still...

He remembered those yellow eyes, glowing with anger and uncontrollable rage. The Queen of Blades had never possessed even one gentle cell in her body, and those eyes still haunted him in his dreams and nightmares. And then there had been the _other_ Queen of Blades. Now that he thought about it, he never had asked Sarah why her eyes had turned purple after she had reinfested herself. Those purple glowing eyes had been different from the yellow rage of the original Queen of Blades. Those eyes had been filled with sorrow and grief.

Perhaps no one else had ever noticed that, but Jim had realized in an instant that something was different about those eyes.

Did it matter? Probably not. Probably yes. Jim couldn't tell. He was tired, not just physically, but mentally too. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to just relax. Perhaps normal people would ask themselves why he was still here, why he was still thinking about Sarah, and why he wasn't mad as hell at her. He couldn't really answer that question. But when he remembered those dead eyes, he couldn't be angry at her. Because those eyes hadn't belonged to the same Sarah he knew and loved so much.

Or maybe he was just a huge masochist, who knew.

"Just who are you really, Sarah Kerrigan..." he whispered to himself. Finding an answer all by himself seemed to be utterly impossible and pointless. As Jim stared at the ceiling, he realized that he had replaced one huge headache with another.

It was certainly not on how he had envisioned his reunion with Sarah. Then again, how had he imagined things would turn out? That they would live happily ever after?

Well, yeah, that had been the general idea. Sometimes you do stupid things because you never question them. No one ever does, because no one has to see what's gonna happen if these rules of ignorance no longer apply to your life. Jim, however? He couldn't go anywhere. He was trapped inside a dream. Or was it no dream? Hell, he didn't even know where he was. He turned his head to the side and managed to look out of the window. He could see the sky and he saw the same nebula that he was now used to.

Well, since no one was shooting at him or trying to beat him to a bloody mess, he could at least take some time and think things through.

He was so screwed.

Everything he had experienced so far had felt so real. The pain, the exhaustion, the fear. However, it was getting harder and harder to accept that this was the reality. How could he? He had just been attacked by a younger version of his lover, and none of that made any sense to him. Jim was a simple guy, but he was no dimwit. He knew that there were times when you shouldn't think about problems because you can't solve them anyway.

Like how the hell he ended up in a normal house with a guy named Patrick telling him that everything was fine.

Jim decided that this was the perfect opportunity to take a breather. That's when he suddenly heard something...something he hadn't expected at all.

"Sarah Louise Kerrigan!" he heard the woman yell. "What is that?!" Jim's eyes shot open and he forgot about his pain and his exhaustion. He tried to get back up, but all his muscles hurt like hell. He looked around and tried to find Sarah. That's when...

"WHEEEEEEEEE!" The door at the other end of the room was ripped open and a small girl stormed into the room. She was so fast, she was just a blur. But even then, Jim could see the flaming red hair and the big grin on her face. Her green eyes sparkled like emeralds, and Jim had a hard time to process any of this. She ran past Jim and didn't even look at him when she screamed: "Hi, Mister, how are you? I'm Sarah, nice to meet you!" Before Jim could reply anything, the little girl reached the other end of the room, ripped another door open, and vanished outside. She was gone within seconds.

"Sarah! Sarah, come back here immediately!" the woman yelled in anger when she entered the living room. Jim looked up at her and blinked in confusion.

"Sarah?" That woman...wasn't Sarah. However, the resemblance was baffling. The red hair and those full lips were the same. There were some differences, though. Her eyes weren't green, they were blue. And the face was a bit rounder, but still highly attractive. She wore a light summer dress, and when she entered the room and saw Jim, an annoyed look appeared on her face. It was the same look Sarah gave him when he had done something stupid again.

"You." the woman growled. "Did you see a redheaded devil, roughly this size? Can't stand still for even two seconds?" the woman wanted to know and reached with her hand up to her own hip. Jim shook his head, only to say the opposite.

"Yes, I think she ran off that way." he managed to mumble. As he studied the woman's angry features, he couldn't help but ask that question once more.

"Sarah?"

"Yessssss!" the woman hissed. "That's my daughter. What, did she tell you her name? Oh, that child! She knows that she's not supposed to talk to strangers! Oh, just wait, Patrick! Once you're back, I'm going to tell you how _good_ your daughter listens!" Daughter? Just what the hell was going on here?

"Who...who are you? Where am I?" Jim whispered. There was a limit on how much a human mind could process. And this? This was just sensory overkill. The woman gave him a cold look and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her body language, the way she talked...he could see Sarah all over her. But it wasn't Sarah, it was...

"This is _my_ house, and I will not answer the questions of some man who thinks that he can just do as he wishes. I don't know why Patrick dragged you here, but once Doctor Brown took a look at you, I want you to be gone. Is that understood?" That wasn't a question. This woman was pretty resolute, but Jim could tell that it wasn't anything personal. This was her home and he wasn't supposed to be here. Liddy had been the same way.

Jim saw the stern look on the woman's face and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Madam, I didn't want to intrude. It's been just one heck of a day." The fact that this was a hallucination seemed to fade from Jim's mind. Besides, now that he looked at that woman, now that he had heard her words, it seemed totally clear to Jim.

"You're Sarah's mother." he whispered and the woman, who was about to walk out of the room, stopped and turned towards him.

"How _very_ perceptive of you." the woman growled. She didn't even try to hide her animosity towards Jim.

Perhaps this wasn't the right moment to tell her that he would sleep with the future self of her little daughter?

There were things that should remain unsaid.

That's when Jim decided to get back up. He groaned in pain and discomfort. It was like his back was on fire! And his legs. And his arms. And his shoulders. And pretty much the entire rest of his body. He sighed and wondered how it was even possible for him to even move. Either he was a lot tougher than he thought he was, or he was the luckiest bastard alive. Or maybe Sarah had decided to not go all the way while beating the living crap out of him. Maybe a small part of her mind had decided to not go in for the kill?

Maybe he was just deluding himself so he wouldn't have to face the truth. And the truth was that he was lost.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to cause any troubles. I swear I'll be on my way once I can feel my limbs again." Though he had no idea where he should go. Everything was starting to slip through his fingers, and so was his sense of reality. What was real and what not? Had Sarah really picked him up from Mar Sara? What about his time on Korhal, what about Smith and Brent? Had it all been just a dream? The time when Sarah and Jim had loved each other on the beach? That cranky palm tree that had punched him back into last week? A young, teenage Sarah doing the very same, only much worse?

None of that made any sense, and some of it was borderline ridiculous. But there was a person right in front of him, right? And she was telling him something. To get the hell out of her home. But before he could _try_ to stand up, the woman walked up to him and pressed Jim back down.

"Stay down! I don't want you to bleed all over the floor again! My husband is calling for Doctor Brown, he will take a look at you. Then you might leave, but I won't throw someone out who might be seriously injured."

"Thanks...Mrs...?" he asked for her name. He was afraid of the answer, but he still had to ask.

"Kerrigan." the woman replied with a cold voice. "The name is Kerrigan." Kerrigan. It had to be a dream. A nightmare, to be exact.

"My name is..." Jim started, but she shook her head.

"I don't care. You'll be gone soon enough, so just wait here until Doctor Brown arrives. And with here, I mean _here_!" She pointed at the couch he was lying on. "If I see you running around in my house, I'm gonna use my frying pan for something different than making food. Is that understood?" She was just as scary as her daughter.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good. If you need something to drink, just yell real loud. Now excuse me, I have to find that little devil called my daughter." Jim had a lot of questions, but when Sarah's mother turned away, he didn't know what to ask. She had almost reached the door when Jim finally started to speak.

"Your daughter..." he started and her mother froze in an instant. She turned around and gave Jim the coldest look he had ever seen. Yep, she truly was as frightening as her daughter.

"What about her?" she wanted to know. She didn't say it out loud, but Jim could sense what she was trying to tell him.

 _Mess with my family and I'm gonna skin you alive._

"...she's something really special, you do realize that, right?" he then told her. At first, it seemed as if Sarah's mother wanted to tell him that he shouldn't talk like a creepy pedophile in front of a child's mother, but then she just sighed.

"That child will be my death one day. She hardly listens to anything I tell her, and if she does something she's not supposed to do, she just hides behind my husband. And what does he do? He always takes her side. Seriously, it is like I'm raising two children, not only one. And who's always the bad guy? Tsk..." Even though Jim was still in a great deal of pain, he couldn't help but chuckle. It caused Mrs. Kerrigan to growl.

"What's so funny?" she wanted to know.

"Nothing, it's just..." he started before he took a deep breath. "...my wife said the same thing. That she had to deal with two kids, one small one and one big."

"I'm sure she's happy to see that her husband is running through the woods at night, getting beaten up by a bear or something like that." When he heard that, Jim lowered his sight.

"They're not around anymore." he whispered and Mrs. Kerrigan realized what he meant. She too looked down and turned her head away.

"I am sorry to hear that. Just...just lay down and wait for the doctor. Or whoever my illustrious husband manages to get out here. Now excuse me, I need to find that tiny red-haired devil!" she referred to Sarah and opened the door before she stepped outside.

"Sarah Louise Kerrigan! Where are you! Dinner is almost ready and you're not supposed to play outside and get yourself dirty again!" Spoken like a true mother. Jim knew that he should probably do something, like getting back on his feet. But then he decided to do nothing, to give his wounded body a moment to rest. If Sarah, the teenage Sarah, had turned him inside out. If that had really happened, then he just wanted to stay here and avoid meeting her again.

Only then he realized how much of a coward he was. Sarah was out there. She was in pain. And what did he do? He wanted to stay here, on this couch, and waste time. But maybe it had all been just a dream?

Maybe Sarah, his Sarah, was nothing but a construct of his mind. Maybe Liddy and Johnny were waiting at home. Maybe he had just managed to hit his head on his way back and now he was hallucinating things. It certainly would make more sense than the other explanation. That he had just met two different Sarahs. Before he could go on nurturing his own headache, the door was opened and the man who had greeted him stepped inside.

"Oh, look who's finally starting to look better." Patrick Kerrigan said and walked up to Jim. "How you're feeling, partner?"

"Like shit." Jim replied truthfully. It caused the man to chuckle.

"An honest answer. I bet my wife wasn't very happy to hear that."

"Well, she wasn't very happy talking to me. Told me that I shouldn't touch anything and that she would use her frying pan on me if he would try to misbehave." Jim replied and Patrick laughed.

"Yep, that's my wife all right. Don't take it personally, though. She just doesn't like strangers. Especially the kind of strangers that bleed on her floor."

"Can't blame her for that." Jim mumbled.

"Yeah, well...don't worry. Like said, it's nothing personal. Oh, and I reached Doc' Brown. He still has some other stuff to do, but he will come over as soon as possible and take a look at you."

"That's hardly necessary, I can...ugh!" Jim tried to get back up, but his body still hurt like hell. And all Patrick did was to laugh and shake his head.

"Oh, I humbly disagree, friendly stranger. You stay down and wait for the doctor. Don't worry, everything's fine. Say, you haven't seen my wife or my daughter? Dinner is on the table, yet there's no one here." Patrick wanted to know. Jim sighed and looked at the door that led outside.

"Your wife went outside. She wanted to get...your daughter." It felt wrong to say that. He refused to call that girl Sarah. It wasn't Sarah. Not his Sarah anyway. It was a memory of the past, Jim had managed to piece that much together. Or was it a dream? Or had Sarah Kerrigan been a dream and now he was finally waking up, only to realize that the last years had been nothing but a hallucination. He was too tired to fight those doubts anymore, and when he looked at Patrick's worried face, he couldn't help but smile.

"It's fine, your wife was just angry because Sarah ran off again. It seems that she does that from time to time, huh?"

"Heh, yep. From breakfast time to "I don't want to go to bed yet"-time." Patrick agreed. That's when both men finally heard Sarah's voice again. And not only hers...

"Mum, look what I found! Look what I found!" she screamed in joy and glee.

"Ah, here they are." Patrick chuckled. They were just outside the house and about to come back.

"Sarah Louise Kerrigan! Look at you!" her mother scolded her. "All dirty again! Why do I have to put up with this! Why did we have to get a little mudlark instead of a well-behaving little daughter, huh?" Jim had to chuckle when he heard that.

"But Mum! Look what I found! A bug!" There was a moment of silence and Jim relaxed. It appeared as if he was finally experiencing something nice and harmless for a change. And if this was just a dream or hallucination, then he might as well enjoy it while it lasted.

But of course, the universe loved to prove him wrong.

"Mum, look, it's a bug and..." But then little Sarah suddenly fell silent.

"Now look what you have done, Sarah!" her mother scolded her again. "You squashed that bug! Now it's all over your hands, how can you-" And that's when things turned south.

"No! No, I promised I wouldn't hurt it!" young Sarah suddenly screamed, and Jim could suddenly feel her in the back of his mind again. For a short moment, reason returned to him.

"Sarah!" he yelled and rolled off the couch.

"Whoa, easy there, partner!" Patrick Kerrigan said and helped Jim up. "You should lie down again." However, Jim had no time for that. He could hear Sarah's voice in the back of his mind again.

 _No! I didn't want to kill her! No, it was an accident!_ It was the same thing she had said before everything had turned into a disaster. It appeared as if Jim wasn't allowed to rest. The overpowering sense of dread returned to him, and he knew that it was a bad sign.

 _No, not again. Make it stop!_ Sarah's voice echoed through his mind. He could see Patrick Kerrigan's worried expression. The man didn't know what was going on. Neither did Jim, but at least he knew that something bad was about to happen.

"Sarah, it's just a bug! And you killed it! Tsk." he could hear her mother. He tried to get to the door and step outside, but his body was still lagging behind. Patrick, who only saw a desperate man who was in a great deal of pain, hurried over to Jim and slipped under his arm.

"Hey, come on! Let me help you. You want to get some fresh air?"

"Sarah, I need to go to Sarah!" Jim just groaned. Perhaps normal people would think that there was something wrong about this scene, but the rules of reality were no longer present. Patrick simply helped Jim to go to the door. It appeared as if he didn't care about the fact that this badly beaten up hobo was yelling his own daughter's name. They were closing in on the door and Jim could hear Sarah's voice groaning in agony, but only inside his head.

 _No, please! Not again! I didn't mean to do that! Make it stop!_

But it wouldn't stop. Because all of this had happened a long time ago.

"No! NO!" he could hear little Sarah screaming. They reached the door and Jim put his hand on the doorknob.

And that's when things went south yet again.

For a second, he thought that someone had shot him in the head. Clear and crisp pain shot through his mind. It felt like a scalpel cutting through his brain. He groaned in pain and his eyes rolled into the back of his skull. Patrick didn't fare much better, he could hear how the man screamed in pain and dropped to his knees. However, unlike Patrick, Jim knew what was assaulting his brain. Those were psionics. And psionics weren't just psionics. There were many different kinds of flavor to it. Protoss psionics usually felt cold and alien. A single thought of a Protoss contained enough information to keep a human busy for hours, maybe even days. And Zerg? They were wild and ravaging, and so were their thoughts. If you would ask Jim, he would prefer Protoss over Zerg anytime. And Sarah? Well, she was something else...

But these psionics? They were neither Zerg nor Protoss. No, they were human. And they felt like someone he knew. It were Sarah's psionics. There was something different about them, though. Psionics had a certain kind of _taste_ to them, depending on the person. Even as the Queen of Blades, Sarah's psionics had kept the same taste. Only much more powerful, much more rage-filled. Usually, her psionics were incredibly powerful, like a psi-blade hooked up to a nuclear reactor. But right now they felt like a volcano, raw and uncontrolled. Like something that wasn't meant to be controlled because you cannot do that.

Or have you ever tried to tame a volcano?

Good luck with that, tell us how it worked out.

Jim dropped to his knees. Perhaps the only reason why his head wasn't blown to pieces was because he had felt psionics inside his mind before. There were ways how to fight it. Very limited ways. Or did he manage to survive this because none of this was real? Well, it certainly felt real enough. And when Jim dropped to his knees, he could see that Patrick was doing much worse.

"Make it stop!" the man screamed in pain and terror. For someone who had never experienced anything like that, it could truly be a frightening experience. It was simply too much. Jim, who knew how to handle a small amount of psionic probing, did the only thing that he could do; he got back on his feet and smashed through the door. And when he finally saw what was going on, his eyes widened in shock.

Jim had seen his fair share of carnage. He wasn't a stranger to excessive violence, but there was a limit on how much a person could take.

On Shiloh, back when he had been a small boy, there had been this guy. Jim couldn't remember his name, all he knew was that this man had been a goddamn mountain. Arms thick as logs, bigger than even a Hydralisk's tail, the kind of guy you want to have in your back when things go south. You know, Tychus-material. There had been only one problem with that; this guy hadn't been able to tolerate blood. The sight of blood had caused him to faint. Hilarious, really. At least for young Jimmy. Until his father had explained to him that he shouldn't make fun of the man. Everyone had a button you shouldn't dare to push. Just because you have no problems with blood, doesn't mean that you can look at everything and have a big and fat steak afterward. Naturally, Jim hadn't believed his father back then. Why should he have done that? He had seen a lot of injuries that hadn't affected him. The first time he had seen an open broken bone...grizzly, but hey, the guy had made it. A belly ripped open with the guts hanging out? Okay, that one had been nasty. Especially since the poor bastard had still been alive.

But then he had seen the thing that had shocked him to the core.

There were not many things Jim believed in. Brush your teeth, never eat raw meat, always open the door for the lady.

And that a brain belong _s inside_ a head.

"I'm sorry!" little Sarah screamed while tears were streaming down her face. She was holding something in her hands. It looked like a dead butterfly. Jim's head turned to the side and he could see her mother lying right next to Sarah. Or what was left of her. Behind him, he could hear the shaky steps of Patrick. When he stumbled out of the house, he saw his own wife and dropped to his knees again. His face turned completely white and Jim could see how blood flowed out of his nose, ears, and eyes. His pupils were dilated and there was little doubt that the psionic blast had caused some serious damage to the man's brain.

"No..." Patrick whispered. "Her head...what happened to her head?"

Jim stared at what had once been a highly attractive young mother. He wanted to look away, but he couldn't.

 _No... please, make it stop...I didn't want to do it! You have to believe me!_

Sarah's voice. Her _real_ voice. Inside the back of his mind again. So that was it. That was what she had been trying to tell him. The first person she had killed...

...had been her own mother.

Perhaps Jim should be angry or disgusted, or even scared. He was shocked, that much was for certain. However, in the end, he was one thing; ashamed.

"I'm sorry!" little Sarah whined and looked over to her mother. She tugged at the woman's dress, but her mother wasn't doing anything. How could she, she was no longer alive. "Mummy, wake up, please!" The sight was heartbreaking. Jim could hear Patrick Kerrigan mumbling the same thing over and over again.

"Her head...her head...what's with her head?" But Jim didn't listen to that. He made a step forward, then another one.

"Mummy, wake up! I'm sorry!" little Sarah wailed. If this was truly just a hallucination, then it was one of the cruelest Jim had ever experienced. It was certainly on the same level as the death of his own family. Jim had been a father once. And when he saw that crying kid in front of him, he knew what he had to do. He dropped to his knees right in front of her and pulled little Sarah in a tight embrace. He made sure that she wouldn't look at the mutilated head of her mother and did what any good adult should do.

"It's okay...it's okay, Sarah. Don't look." he said and patted her head. He could hear how she started to cry even harder. Sarah, this Sarah, didn't fully understand what was going on. How could she? There were things children weren't supposed to understand.

"Why...why isn't mummy moving?" little Sarah wanted to know. She was probably too shocked to realize what just had happened.

"It's fine, your mother, she's...she's..." Damn. Jim looked back at the woman and when he saw the damage, he gritted his teeth and turned his head away. It was wrong, wrong goddammit! It was like seeing a dead, mutilated version of Sarah! Everything inside Jim's mind started to convulse and he had to fight the urge to puke.

"I'm sorry, I promised the bug I would keep it safe." little Sarah whined. Jim had no idea what she was talking about, but it hardly mattered.

"So, this was it, huh?" he whispered to himself. "Was this what you didn't want to tell me about?" However, the voice in the back of his mind wasn't answering that question. Besides, right now the only thing he cared for was that small kid in his arms. Jim was surprised by the fact that he still had that fatherly touch. Some things are just like riding a bike. Right now, Jim didn't care about the absurdity of this whole situation. All he knew was that there was a Sarah in front of him. Not the Sarah he knew and loved. No, this was just another Sarah he had never met before. A small child who had lost control over her powers for just a second.

Her first kill...had been her mother.

How the hell was he supposed to react? What should he tell Sarah, his Sarah, when he would face her again?

There was no simple answer to that. But there was one thing he knew, and that was that there was a little child crying her eyes out right in front of him. And so, he did what any good person should do, what any good _father_ should do.

"It's fine. Everything's fine, Sarah. It's...it's..." Even though he knew what he had to say, it felt hard to do it. Sarah had killed many people, and Jim had overlooked most of it. A soldier sometimes had to kill, and an assassin was trained to do nothing but killing. But this? This wasn't killing, it was...it wasn't even homicide, it was not as if Sarah had wanted this to happen. He was certain of that.

It was the most tragic kind of accident you could think of.

"Mummy!" little Sarah sniffed. "I'm sorry! I will behave from now on!" Those words caused Jim's heart to nearly break apart. The futility behind Sarah's words was cruel and bitter. So that's how she had lost her mother. Jim looked once more over his shoulder.

"Hey! HEY! Head in the game! Are you okay?" he yelled over to Patrick, but Sarah's father didn't even notice Jim anymore.

"Her head...head...what's with her head?" Patrick Kerrigan whispered. The man leaned against the wall of his house, his gaze empty. Blood continued to flow out of his nose and ears, and his pupils were still dilated. It looked as if Sarah's outburst had caused more damage than just a little shock. No, this was way worse. Jim closed his eyes. This...this wasn't what he had expected. Sure, he had asked himself plenty of times how Sarah's childhood had been like. However, he had never dared to ask. And now he knew why.

Jim turned his head from Sarah to her father, and back to her again. He didn't want to let go of this child, but he had to make sure that everything was fine with the man. Jim let go of little Sarah and limped over to the man. He knelt down in front of him and put his hand on Sarah's father's shoulder.

"Hey? Stay with me! Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

"Her head...it just came apart..." Patrick Kerrigan stuttered and continued to stare at the corpse of his wife. As Jim looked into the man's eyes, he realized that this wasn't just a shock. This went deeper. He had seen it before. There was even a name for it. MPIS. Massive Psionic Intrusion Symptom. Ghosts could dive into the minds of other people, but a human brain was no computer you could turn on and off whenever you wanted to. If the Ghost didn't know what he or she was doing, the damage done to a mind could be horrible. Sarah's mother had experienced one end of the rainbow, and Patrick Kerrigan the other.

"I'm so sorry." Jim whispered towards Patrick, but he knew that the man was too far gone. "I didn't know...I... I just..." And then he realized something. He took a deep breath and shook his head. "It's not her fault. She's just a kid! She's just..." Oh hell, what was he even trying to say to that man, huh? This wasn't real. None of it was.

"Mummy, wake up!" little Sarah then cried again. Jim looked over his shoulder and saw how the girl pulled at her mother's dress. This was cruel. It was just too cruel. It was unfair, cruel, and heartbreaking at the same time and even too much for Jim to handle. He turned away from the brain-damaged man and hurried over to Sarah.

"Please, wake up! I'm sorry, I didn't want to misbehave! Please, pleaaaase!" Big tears streamed down the girl's face and Jim did the only thing he could. He wrapped his arms around the girl's tiny frame and turned her gaze away from the corpse of her mother.

"Oh Sarah, I'm so sorry." he whispered, but it wasn't meant for the small girl in his arms.

"Mummy...please wake up!" little Sarah continued to wail, but it was pointless. That overpowering sense of dread returned, and Jim could feel how his heart started to ache. This was just too much! The logical part of Jim's mind told him that this had to be some sort of hallucination or dream, but that didn't make it any better. Seeing Sarah, this version of her, it touched something inside Jim, something he had believed to be lost when Johnny had died. Right here in front of him was a child. A child that had killed someone, yes. But deep inside Jim knew that he couldn't blame her for that. On the contrary, he wanted to tell Sarah, _his_ Sarah, that it hadn't been her fault. But...

But...

But how was anyone even supposed to handle something like that? It was as if he was learning so much about Sarah in such a short time, yet it was all too much. His eyes darted from left to right, it was as if he was searching for something or someone that could help him. However, there was no such thing around. He was alone. Alone with a small child that was crying because her mother was no more. And so, against better judgment, Jim did what felt right. He grabbed the girl, stood up...

...and ran away.

Well, _running_ was the wrong word. More like limping as fast as possible. Jim wasn't really thinking about what he was doing. He just wanted to get as much distance between Sarah and the body of her mother as possible. It just felt wrong to stay there and allow little Sarah to watch her mother's corpse. There were things that just shouldn't be. Jim pressed the small and frail body of the girl against his chest. She was crying like crazy, by now her confusion had been replaced by mortal fear and pain. Had she finally realized what had happened? Had she started to understand that her mother was no longer alive?

Had it been like that? Was this how everything had played out?

"If I had only known..." he cursed himself. Jim knew that Sarah kept secrets from him. Of course he did, he was no fool. He knew that Sarah didn't want to talk about her past, but he had thought it was just because of her time as a Zerg. But this? This was different. He had learned two new things about Sarah. That her teenage years had sucked, and that her childhood hadn't been much better either.

It was...almost too much. As he carried the small girl through the open fields of this strange world, he felt how everything turned into a blur.

Sarah, his Sarah, had endured so much. And he had never helped her with all that crap. He had always thought that they shared some common ground. They were both soldiers, and they both had suffered their fair share of pain and defeat. But now he realized that this wasn't the truth. Sarah's pain, it ran deep. Far deeper than Jim could even imagine. Jim's childhood had been nothing spectacular. The boring but tranquil life of a farmer's son on Shiloh. He had decided to flee from that life when he had turned older. It had been his decision (well, mostly. Partly. Somehow. In a way...). But Sarah?

She had kept this all for herself, hadn't she? She had never trusted Jim with it, huh?

No, that's not right. How was one supposed to talk about these things?

"I'm sorry, Sarah. I'm sorry." he repeated the same line over and over again. Time became a haze. The girl's body was so light, far lighter than the teenage Sarah he had met a short while ago. But her cries were heartbreaking, and Jim couldn't hide his own tears anymore. These kinds of nightmares were the worst, at least to him. They reminded him of his own life, and of Johnny's and Liddy's deaths.

Jim pressed on. He didn't know where he was going, nor did he care about the fact that the sky above his head was still showing that beautiful nebula. This wasn't real, none of it was. He just didn't care anymore. He kept running for what felt like an eternity, and during that entire time, little Sarah continued to cry while pressing her face against his chest. Maybe Jim hoped to simply outrun this nightmare. But no matter where he went, Sarah would always haunt him. And if she didn't, he would carry her himself. There was a certain kind of tragic to it. Jim kept on walking, the pain torturing his body was all but gone. He was still in bad shape, but he somehow managed to block it out. Perhaps it was the shock? The exhaustion? Perhaps none of this was real?

It didn't matter. Dark clouds were starting to block the sky. The storm! He had forgotten about the storm! And now it appeared as if the storm was about to unleash its load upon them. The clouds hadn't reached him yet, and so he was surprised when he felt wet drops on his skin. It took him a while before he realized that those things weren't drops, but tears. His own tears, streaming down his face.

"Sarah, if you can hear me, I'm sorry!" he panted while moving towards yet another tree line. He didn't want to go into the jungle, but the storm was getting closer and he could already see how it released its rainy load. It wasn't just going to pass by in a short time. No, this storm looked like it had come to stay.

"If I had only known...if you had told me..." Told him what? _Hey, Jim! By the way, when I was a little girl, I accidentally killed my own mother! Haha, crazy story, wanna go dancing?_ That was nothing you could just shrug off. It went deeper. Something like this could change a person from the inside.

Jim had always thought that Sarah just possessed a rather bloodthirsty trait for brutality. Some people just were that way. But the things he had seen...

It was too much to process. He needed some time to think things through, to make sense of it.

"Mummy..." little Sarah continued to cry and Jim put his hand on her head.

"It's alright. Just let it out." he told her. They had almost reached the tree line when the storm finally caught up with them. Perhaps he should have stayed inside the house, it would have provided shelter from the storm. However, Jim was no longer able to think things through rationally. He was just following his instincts, and his instincts told him to run, to get as far away from that nightmare as possible.

When they finally reached the trees, they were already completely drenched. By now, this planet wasn't so pretty anymore, even though the rain was actually warm. But it made it even worse because it felt like this place was mocking Jim with its perfection. It was truly a paradise, at least from the outside. When Jim entered the forest, he continued to press on. He walked until he reached a spot where the rain wouldn't get through the thick jungle canopy. When he stopped, he looked around and felt how the pain started to return to him.

Oh damn, he had overdone it.

"I want to go back home..." little Sarah wailed. Jim knelt down and put her on her feet.

"Hey. Hey, little one. Look at me." he said, but Sarah was too busy crying her eyes out.

"I want my mummy." When Jim heard that, he swallowed hard. He put his hand on her head and gave her a warm smile.

"I know. I know. But it's raining. Let us wait out this storm and once it's gone, we're going back." He didn't want to do that. But he too needed time to recover at least a small part of his strength. And his sanity. He walked over to a big tree and sat down with his back leaning against the tree's trunk.

"Hey, come here." he whispered and little Sarah shook her head.

"My mummy told me that I shouldn't trust strangers." That caused Jim to smile.

"Your mother is a very smart woman." he agreed. "But I'm no stranger. My name's Jim. I'm a... a friend of your father." he lied.

"I want to go back home." little Sarah said again and Jim nodded.

"I know. I know, Sarah. Once it stops raining, we go back. Just come here, I'll keep you safe until then." he offered, but Sarah still seemed hesitant. That's when suddenly lightning crossed the sky above them, and only seconds later thunder roared through the dense jungle. Sarah screamed in fear and ran over to the adult. She buried her face under his armpit and started to weep again. And Jim? He did the only thing he could; he slung his arm around the little girl and started to tell her that everything would be fine.

And above them, the storm continued to rage on.


	68. Act III - Chapter 12

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 12**

 **When it rains, it pours**

* * *

Jim cursed like a sailor while he was running through the heavy rain. He pressed the small child against his chest, felt its warm skin against his own. He didn't wear any heavy clothes, and neither did the child. The rain poured down in torrents, it was so much that he couldn't really say where he was heading. The house should be in the direction he was currently running towards, though. Every step was a goddamn nightmare, and he had to make sure that he wouldn't slip and fall to the ground. Not as long as he was carrying a child.

The rain was cold, and Jim could feel how he started to freeze. Goddamn, once he would bring this child back to its mother, she would sucker punch him for doing this to her child.

He could already hear her voice in the back of his mind.

 _James Eugene Raynor! You imbecile! How could you be so reckless!_

"Not gonna get out of this one alive, am I?" he whispered to himself when the child he carried started to whimper again.

"Wanna go home! To mommy!" When Jim heard that, he pressed the child even harder against his chest. However, at the same time, he made sure not to hurt it.

"I know, I know. Hang on, we're almost back at the house!" Seriously, how the hell was he supposed to know that it could rain on this world like _this_! It wasn't just a rainstorm, it was the goddamn great flood all over again! The muddy ground beneath his feet barely provided any decent foothold, especially since he carried something so fragile like a child. Jim had to get his acts together, if not for himself, then at least for the kid in his arms. When he finally saw the house in the distance, he realized that Lady Luck hadn't abandoned him yet.

"There it is! We're almost there!" he said to both the child and himself. It still took him a while until he finally reached it. When he got there, he panted in exhaustion. The lights were still on and he stopped in front of the building. Oh great, she was still awake. Damn, she would skin him alive. For a second, he wondered if he should not go inside, but that wasn't an option. Not because of himself, but he couldn't let the child suffer from his own incompetence. And so, he did the only thing any decent human being should do; he walked up to the door and opened it.

"JAMES EUGENE RAYNOR! YOU MADMAN, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" the woman screamed in barely contained rage as she stormed towards them and ripped the child out of his arms. She must have waited behind the door the entire time. Oh, boy. An exhausted frown appeared on Jim's face.

"Liddy, I'm sorry. I was just-"

"I don't care, Mister!" Liddy shot back. She grabbed her son and stormed back into the living room. "Johnny, look at you! Completely drenched! Let's get you out of those clothes and into something dry and warm, yes?" When she made eye contact with her son, he looked at her with big and sparkling eyes.

"Mommy, saw a snake!" he said like it was the most wondrous thing in the world. Liddy froze in an instant and looked over her shoulder.

"You let him play with a _snake_?!" she growled and Jim raised his hands in defense.

"No! We just watched it, from the distance! Liddy, I would never let my son play with a snake!"

"Really? But you would go with him wandering through the badlands when a rainstorm is about to start? How very _smart_ of you! You're such a _good_ father! Next time you want to do something with your son, go and play with him _behind_ the house, not in the deadliest part of the badlands!" Well, she had a point. Jim wasn't a local, not really. In a way, he was still a newcomer to this place. Liddy was the local, and there were a lot of things he still didn't know about Mar Sara, her people, and all the critters you could find here.

"Liddy, I'm sorry. We turned around the moment I saw things would turn ugly."

"Ugly? Oh, I'm going to show you ugly, Mister!" Liddy shot back. "You're a goddamn father now, James! You can't do something stupid like this!" Jim could sense that Liddy wasn't just angry, but also worried beyond good and evil. He wasn't a psionic, but it was the infamous "husband-who-feels-when-shit-is-gonna-get-real"-sense warning him that it was more than just anger that was bothering her. However, before he could say anything, she grabbed her son and walked into Johnny's room. Jim sighed and mentally prepared himself for sleeping on the couch tonight.

Still, he didn't want to run for the "worst dad of the year"-award just yet. Maybe once Johnny would reach puberty, he would reconsider it, but not now. He dropped his shoulders and followed his wife. And then he heard her voice from Johnny's room.

"And take off your shoes! And your wet clothes! I won't clean up your mess!"

"Yes, Dear." he sighed and did as he was told. With nothing but his underpants on, he walked into Johnny's room and saw how Liddy was already done toweling Johnny dry. When she looked over her shoulder, she groaned.

"For crying out loud! Get yourself some dry clothes! Seriously, it's like having two kids at once!" she growled, and Jim knew better than to test his wife's patience. Liddy was an angel, someone who would never hurt someone. But right now, she was scary as hell. So Jim did the only thing a true warrior and fearless soldier could do in such a situation.

He lowered his head in shame and turned away.

"Yes, Dear."

There was no point arguing with Liddy. Especially if it was about Johnny. Never, _never_ tell a mother that she should relax or take it easy. _Especially_ especially if you screwed things up. Jim walked into their bedroom (with the bed he wouldn't sleep in tonight) and put on some dry clothes.

"I can't believe he did that to you!" he could hear Liddy. "You two will never go out camping again!"

"Mommy angry?" Johnny asked and the answer caused Jim to wince.

"You're damn right I'm angry." Liddy growled before she sighed. "But not at you, my little man. Come on, let's get you ready and then I'm making you a hot chocolate."

"Yay, hot chopolate!" Johnny cheered, still unable to properly pronounce that word.

"Could use some hot chocolate too!" Jim shouted while putting on some new clothes.

"Oh, really?" Liddy shot back. "How about I give you a hot...no, never mind. Just get changed." she groaned.

"You know..." Jim then said. "...in my defense; it never rained on Mar Sarah as long as I've been here. This whole place is nothing but a dust ball!"

"This "dust ball" is my home, you caveman!" Liddy hissed back and Jim dropped his head. Great, he should just keep his mouth shut. "And if you would listen to people, you would have known that the rain-season can be brutal and dangerous. But noooooo, the great Marshal Raynor had to walk out there with his little three-year-old son. Braaa-voooo!" Okay, maybe he wouldn't sleep on the couch tonight. The bathtub was more likely.

"Liddy, I'm sorry. But listen, nothing happened. Okay, it was stupid of me to go out there, I just wanted to do a little camping with my son. You know, like my dad used to do with me. I guess I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have. So yeah, I'm sorry." But Liddy didn't answer. Oh boy, that wasn't a good sign. Every time she was mad as hell, she would become deadly silent.

"Liddy? Darlin'?" Jim asked again but received no answer. He sighed and when he was done putting fresh clothes on, he walked out of their bedroom and looked over to Johnny's room. The door was closed.

"Of course." Jim groaned and walked up to the door. He placed his hand on it and leaned forward.

"Liddy, I'm sorry. Please, it won't happen again. Can't we just drop this for now?" But he received no answer. Okay, she was pissed.

"Darlin', please. Let's be reasonable about this." That coming from the man that had just carried his own son through a rainstorm. When she didn't give him an answer, he sighed and opened the door. Or at least he tried to open it.

"Seriously? Oh boy, this is...wait, what is _that_?" Jim looked down and saw how something came out of the door crack and started to flow over the floor. It looked like some kind of liquid and he had seen it before, but he couldn't really remember where. It had a purple hue to it, and for a second Jim wondered himself if there was something wrong with the sewage. But then more of that slimy stuff flowed over the floor, and Jim realized that something was wrong.

"Liddy? Liddy! Are you in there? Open the door!" However, no one opened the door. "Very well, better safe than sorry!" Jim said to himself and tried to force the door open. But it wouldn't move even one inch.

"Jim...help..." It was the voice of a woman, but it didn't belong to Liddy. "Help, it hurts..."

"What?" he whispered to himself and then he started to push against the door once more. He had to get it open! Using all of his strength, he managed to open it a tiny bit. That's when torrents of purple slime poured out of the door. Jim was thrown back and slammed against the wall. He looked up and saw how masses of slime shot out of Johnny's room and filled their house. Jim had never seen it before, yet at the same time, he remembered it.

Creep.

It was called creep.

Before Jim could wonder where he knew that from, someone opened the door from inside the room.

"Liddy? Thank God, are you o-" That's when the door was ripped open and a nightmarish creature emerged from Johnny's room. Jim had to look twice in order to recognize it as his wife Liddy. The horribly mutated form of the infested woman stumbled towards him, her body bloated and covered with tentacles, her face (or what was left of it) twisted in pain.

But the worst thing?

The worst thing was the equally mutated boy that had merged with her body and screamed in pain and agony.

"Kill ussss..." Liddy gurgled before she threw herself at Jim. And Jim?

He screamed.

* * *

"NO, LIDDY!" Jim screamed when he finally woke up. His heart beat like crazy, and cold sweat dripped off his forehead. As he stared at the tree in front of him, his eyes were still widened in shock. A dream. It had been a goddamn nightmare. Oh, boy. Jim felt how an icy chill ran down his spine, and he shuddered in discomfort. He leaned back and felt the cold bark of the tree against his skin. Above him, the rain continued, but the thick jungle canopy acted like a natural shield. From time to time you could hear the thunder bellowing through the sky, and when a lightning struck, the whole jungle was illuminated for the fraction of a second. It was an eerie sight, one that could give you nightmares.

No wonder he had dreamed something so messed up.

Jim stayed down and allowed his body and mind to calm down. By now waking up from nightmares had turned into an exhausting and annoying iteration, one that he couldn't run away from. The fact that his situation when being awake didn't make any sense at all didn't help much either.

Sarah. He had encountered Sarah. First a teenage version, Ghost Nr. 24 to be exact. It had been a frightening sight. Jim had thought that he knew everything there was to know about Sarah. To him, there were two different versions of Sarah. Sarah...and the Queen of Blades. And the Queen of Blades wasn't Sarah, simple as that. It's what Jim had told himself over and over again until he had started to actually believe it.

It almost felt as if someone was trying to teach him a lesson in. He wasn't sure what this lesson was about, though.

When he had finally managed to calm down, Jim closed his eyes and listened to the rain falling down on the treetops above him. It sounded like one thousand drums and was strangely relaxing. The jungle was so dense, it provided excellent shelter from the raging storm. But even then, being outside while this storm was hanging over him was simply stupid. So yeah, they would have to find a better place to wait this one out. A cave or something like that. Maybe even return to the house, though it wasn't Jim's first choice. But he had to make a decision. It wasn't just about him, it was about the small girl that used to be next to him and...

Wait a second, _used_ to be next to him?

"Sarah? Sarah!" Jim yelled when he realized that the small girl was gone. He jumped back to his feet and immediately regretted it. Every damn muscle in his body hurt like hell and he felt like he was about to fall apart. Literally. Unfortunately, he had no time to pity himself. Sarah, the little girl...she was gone!

"Sarah, are you there? Hey, where are you? It's dangerous out there. Please, come back!" He made a step forward, but then he groaned once more in pain. His head pulsed, and he felt sick to the bone. For a short moment, the jungle around him started to spin. It took him a moment until he managed to regain his senses.

Had it been...a dream?

Here he was, alone, drenched and hurt. And the last thing he remembered was how two different versions of Sarah had appeared right in front of him. Both of them were totally unlike the woman he knew, and he wondered if he was starting to lose his mind. It certainly did beat the alternatives. Jim looked around and tried to find a sign, _any_ sign of little Sarah, a proof that she hadn't been a fabrication of his mind. How the hell did he end up with bruises all over his body anyway? Did he do it to himself? Did Sarah's mental breakdown send him flying through the jungle, only to crash-land somewhere at the ass end of this island or whatever this place was? Maybe even Sarah had been nothing but an illusion...

...maybe none of this was real.

It was too much for him. The strange sense of vertigo returned and he felt how his legs started to get wobbly. Jim had to put his hand on a nearby tree so he wouldn't fall over. His breath became labored and he put his hand on his chest. No! No, he couldn't allow these thoughts to take root. If he would doubt everything that had happened within the last few days (or had it been weeks?), then he would only lose himself. He had to keep his head in the game. For himself. And for Sarah.

"Not...not how I had envisioned our honeymoon, Darlin'." he whispered to himself. He had never felt anything like this before, but he imagined that this was how a severe case of claustrophobia felt like. Only that the confined space wasn't around him but inside his mind. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths in order to calm down. Calm down, goddammit! When he had finally regained some of his composure, Jim opened his eyes again and looked around.

An especially large drop of rain fell on his head and he only shook his head. That's when a strange smell suddenly assaulted his nose. And not only that. The surface of the tree next to him felt _strange_. As if it was covered with some kind of tree resin, only less sticky and slimier. He looked at the tree and frowned. Even though this world knew no night, the storm blocked almost all the light out and had created a sinister twilight all around Jim. So, when he looked at the trunk of the tree, he could see something glistening. It looked like some kind of slimy substance, but it was hard to tell any details. That smell though...

Another drop fell on his head. Another _big_ drop. Jim shook his head again and was surprised that the raindrops on this world were so big and warm...and somewhat slimy. He took some of the stuff on the tree and brought it up to his nose. That smell, he knew it. He had smelled it before. It smelled like...copper. And iron. And decay. And that's when he finally realized what it was. His eyes widened in shock and he made a step back. Another drop fell on his head and then Jim heard a hissing sound. It was the kind of hissing that will haunt you in your nightmares. Jim looked up, and when he saw how parts of the tree came alive, his eyes widened in shock.

"No. No, it can't be." he whispered to himself as the nightmarish creature detached itself from the tree and landed right in front of Jim with a loud _thud_. The creature straightened itself, and when its tiny red eyes fixated Jim, he knew he was in deep shit.

That stuff on the tree? It wasn't tree resin. It was creep. Zerg creep.

And that critter in front of him? That wasn't a critter.

It was a goddamn Hydralisk.

"What did I do to deserve this?" Jim whined and made another step backward. The Hydralisk didn't attack, at least not immediately. It hardly mattered, though. Jim wore nothing but a dirty shirt and short pants, there was nothing he could do against a foe like this. Maybe if he had his combat suit and a gauss-rifle at his disposal things would be different, but he hadn't.

So yeah, he was screwed.

"Nice boy! Easy there! Let's not do anything I will regret!" Jim mumbled and made a step back. And then another one. And another one. Hydralisks weren't that fast when compared to other Zerg, like for example Zerglings. However, that didn't mean that Jim could just outrun this thing. Besides, the thing about Zerg is; they travel in packs.

"Oh boy! This ain't my day, is it?" Jim whispered when he saw how another Hydralisk appeared behind the first one. And then another one. Oh great. This was just great. The Hydralisks slithered towards him and he could see how the bone plates on their back opened. Dozens of armor-piercing spines were suddenly pointing at him, and he wished to be anywhere else right now. As he stared into those red glowing eyes, he could see that boundless rage that dwelled within every single Zerg. He was about to be used for target practice, what a shitty way to go.

But it seemed that at least someone liked him because when a lightning suddenly smashed into a tree nearby, the thunder caused the Hydralisks to scream and rage. They turned around and opened fire on an enemy that didn't even exist. For one or two seconds, they didn't look at Jim and he knew that he wouldn't get another chance. And so, he did the only reasonable thing he could think of.

He ran away like crazy.

Behind him, the Hydralisks screamed in rage and turned back towards him. Jim heard a hissing sound, and when he ran past a tree, the poisonous spines smashed into the trunk, missing his body only barely. The tree didn't seem to appreciate that kind of treatment and started to, well, scream. By now it was nothing that could still faze Jim. However, it didn't end there. If one tree starts to scream, _all_ of them start to scream. Jim knew what was about to happen next, but those Hydralisks didn't. And that was his chance.

"Hydralisks, why does it always have to be Hydralisks?!" Jim screamed and pressed his hands on his ears while the whole damn jungle started to screech. The Zerg were caught completely off guard by the screaming trees. They looked around in confusion when they didn't see an enemy. They roared in anger and started to fire their spines into the darkness, but they only managed to hit other trees. And in return, those trees started to scream even louder.

Jim cared for none of that. He had to run as fast as possible. He had to find Sarah, any Sarah, and then they had to leave this place for good. There were Zerg even here! You could find Zerg everywhere, right? Even in paradise. Jim had no time to worry about that. He had to run, run as fast as possible. He tried to find the path he had used on his way in, he had to get back to the house, to the crazy Major even, it didn't matter. He had to find someone with a gun! Someone who could fight these damn Zergs! He could see the end of the jungle, he was almost there! It was still raining like crazy, and it was hard to see further than a few meters. So Jim had a choice; he could either run out into the worst rainstorm of all times, not knowing where he was even going, or he could stay in the forest. With those Hydralisks.

Rainstorm it was!

Unfortunately, Jim didn't manage to get that far, because right in front of him he could see how the soil started to move and shift. And that could only mean one thing.

"Mother of...!" he managed to scream and stop just in time before the Hydralisk broke through the surface. One of the Zergs nastiest abilities wasn't the fact that they could rip you into pieces. No, that wasn't it. It was the fact that they could burrow themselves deep into the ground and ambush you practically everywhere, every time. Just like right now. The ground was slippery, and when Jim tried to turn around and run away, he lost his balance and fell on his butt. The Hydralisk turned towards Jim and hissed in rage. It was so close, he could even feel the hot breath of this vile creature on his face. He tried to get back on his feet but failed miserably. The damn ground was just too slippery!

The Hydralisk didn't seem to have these problems, though. It slammed its claws into the ground and slithered up to Jim, who crawled back in the futile attempt to get away from this nightmare. But Hydralisks were relentless, and this one seemed to be late for dinner. Jim tried his best, but his attempt to escape was cut short when he slammed with his back against a tree. He looked around in panic and realized that the other Hydralisks's were approaching as well.

He was surrounded.

"Please, let this be just another dream. Wake up, wake up, WAKE UP DAMMIT!" Unfortunately, he wouldn't wake up. The Hydralisk in front of him slammed his scythes into the muddy ground on Jim's left and right side. He was cornered like a rat. There was no way to get out of this one alive, but Jim Raynor wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Wanna lose a few teeth? Here, have my foot first!" he screamed, raised his foot, and rammed it against the Hydralisk's forehead. Perhaps if he had worn a combat boot it would have been more impressive. But since he was barefooted, all he managed to achieve was to hurt his own foot. The Hydralisk hissed in anger and annoyance and opened its maw. Drool dripped from its fangs as it was about to devour Jim. He could feel its hot and rancid breath on his own skin and shuddered in revulsion.

"Go on, bastard!" Jim hissed. "Do your worst!" The Hydralisk opened its maw again and screamed at Jim. It jerked forward, ready to bite his head off.

And then it suddenly stopped.

Jim, who had raised his fist in a futile attempt to punch that thing, didn't dare to say anything. For a moment, it seemed as if the Hydralisk appeared to be...annoyed? Then it hissed again and moved back.

"What...?" Jim whispered to himself. That's when he heard a chuckle and his eyes widened in shock. He knew that chuckle, he knew it all too well. It had haunted him for years. Jim turned his head to the side and saw how something glowed in the darkness. Two yellow orbs danced towards him, and when she started to speak, he heard that strange voice, a mutilated version of the one he loved so much.

"My, my, my..." the Queen of Blades moaned when she stepped out of the shadows. "...look who my minions have found. Why hello, Jim. It is so nice to see you again."

"Oh, shit." was the only thing Jim managed to say.

* * *

Jim hated the Zerg, he really did. To him, they were utterly repulsive. It wasn't just because of all those claws and the drool and the teeth. Sure, there was nothing more disgusting than watching how a bloated defiler started to unload its secretions. But it wasn't just their alien nature. It was also their ruthlessness and, of course, the lack of any individualism. To be part of a hive mind? That meant to lose your individuality, something Jim could never accept.

However, there was another reason why he hated the Zerg. A very personal one.

They had defiled Sarah Kerrigan and turned her into an abomination.

Sarah, his Sarah, had always been an exceptionally beautiful woman. And he wasn't that much of a gentleman to not having any dirty thoughts when looking at her. But when he had seen the Queen of Blades for the first time with his own two eyes...

As the Queen of Blades walked towards Jim right now, he felt how his courage started to fade away. Every step she made was meant to mock him. Oh, there was something deeply sensual about her movements. It was as if she had turned into a twisted version of a wicked dream. Her body still had the same shape as before, but everything was wrong! Instead of perfectly shaped tights, he saw nothing but carapace and thorns, sharp enough to tear apart flesh and bone. Instead of long and slender fingers with feminine nails, Sarah's hands ended in razor sharp claws that could cut steel. And her belly? That flat and highly attractive belly? It was covered by even more carapace. The Queen of Blades stopped right in front of him and tilted her head to the side when she saw where Jim was looking at.

"Ah, do you like what you see?" she teased him. "Am I so beautiful that it caught your tongue?"

She was mocking him, making fun of him. The Queen of Blades had loved to do things like that.

"You're not real. This isn't real." Jim hissed, and the Queen of Blades blinked in surprise. And then she just started to laugh, and the sound of her twisted voice caused Jim to shudder. It was wrong. Wrong, goddammit!

"Brave little Jim. Has the constant drinking finally caused your little mind to break down? Or are you simply unable to accept my greatness? Hahaha...oh, to think that I would find you here, of all the places!" she moaned and looked around. "And... you have come alone? Did you know that you would find me here? Have you come here to appeal to my human heart?" She made another step forward and leaned down. Their faces were only inches apart. Her face...even though her body had been turned into a nightmarish mockery of her former self, her face was still human. And still pretty. It made it even crueler than it already was.

"You know, they say that you're all heart, Jimmy." the Queen of Blades continued. He refused to refer to her as Sarah. That wasn't Sarah, it wasn't _his_ Sarah!

Then again, same could be said about the little girl and Nr. 24 he just met.

"But you know..." the Queen just continued. "...now I have three hearts! So, does that mean that I'm even more heart than you?"

"Is this it?" Jim asked and the Queen frowned.

"Is this what?" she wanted to know and suddenly her good mood started to vanish. The Queen of Blades had never liked it when things hadn't gone according to her plans. And she had never liked backtalk.

"This is what you want to tell me, right Sarah?" Jim asked without looking at the Queen of Blades. "This is about you, right? Your past. You didn't want to talk about it, so you wanted to show it to me? Sarah, please! End this now! We can talk about it, this isn't necessary!" he pleaded, but Sarah, _his_ Sarah, didn't answer. Instead, the Queen of Blades showed just how little patience she had and grabbed Jim's chin with her sharp claws. He winced in pain when she forced him to look into her eyes.

"You think that I will fall for this little game, Jimmy?" she whispered. "You think that you can act all mysterious around me? You think that I care for your pitiful little mind-games? I know you, Jimmy. I know every little dirty secret you possess in that head of yours. I _know-_ "

"You know nothing!" Jim suddenly hissed and showed her his teeth. A pointless gesture, but he wouldn't just sit here and listen to her cruel mockery. His sudden outburst caused the Hydralisks to scream in rage, and they were about to open fire on him, but Sarah just looked over her shoulder and snarled at them. The sound that left her throat wasn't even human, and Jim shuddered when he heard that.

"Oh, so brave! So strong! And always so stupid!" the Queen then cooed and looked back at Jim. "Why are you here, Jim? Did you come here because you heard of the prophecy? Did one of your little Protoss-buddies whisper the location of this world to you, hmm? Maybe Zeratul?"

"Place? What? Snap out of it, Sarah! I know you're in there!" Jim barked. He could see how her facial expression turned sour, but only for a second. Suddenly a cruel grin appeared on her face, and Jim knew that he was in deep shit.

"Well, since my knight in shining armor has come here to save his princess, how about I give you a proper reward?" And then she leaned forward and kissed him.

Jim's eyes widened in shock and disgust and he tried to pull his head away, but she slipped her hand behind the back of his head and made sure that he couldn't escape her kiss. The thought that this...this... _creature_ was forcing her lips onto his caused him to scream in rage, but that only caused the Queen to chuckle in amusement. Jim had no idea which was worse; the fact that this abomination was kissing him, or that he couldn't tell any difference from the real Sarah.

Even though the Queen's body was a twisted version of Sarah, her lips still felt the same. They were warm and soft and there wasn't any slime or a huge and alien tongue trying to invade his throat. No, it felt absolutely normal. And that it made it even worse. The Queen seemed to enjoy the kiss to the fullest. Or was it his anger and despair? When she had enough, she broke the kiss and straightened herself. Jim watched how she licked her lips and gave him a cocky smile. The same cocky smile _his_ Sarah used from time to time. He wiped her spit off his mouth and looked at her with nothing but contempt.

"Hmm, like riding a bike." she said to him and it caused him to snarl in anger.

"I'm so glad that you came here, Jimmy." she explained to him... "I know you still think that I need to be saved, but that's not true. I have finally come home." She reached out with her arms and included all the Zergs around them. "But that's probably not why the Protoss have told you about this place. Who else could have done that? Oh, Jimmy, when will you finally realize the truth? You're nothing but a pawn. The Protoss, they use you for their own agenda. Just like Arcturus did, just like everyone did."

"You're just a tool of the Swarm!" Jim shot back and that caused Sarah to lose her temper for a second.

"I AM THE SWARM!" she roared and flexed her blade-wings. Their faces were only inches apart and he stared directly into those rage-filled yellow eyes.

"You don't know anything about me, Jimmy. You've come here to appeal to my humanity, but I have moved beyond that. I'm no longer weak, I'm no longer a fool, and unlike you, I am no longer a tool for anyone's ambitions but my own!" Jim could sense all that anger in the back of his mind. He had felt the rage of the Queen of Blades before, but this time he was closer than he had ever been. And there was something strange about that rage. It wasn't just pure rage and anger. No, it went deeper than that. There was pain. A lot of pain.

 _I didn't choose any of this. You all turned me into this. So now I will show you what you have turned me into!_ This wasn't just rage. It was righteous fury. The kind of emotion you feel when someone had done something horrible to you and the only answer you can think of is to use violence. It was a rather childlike way to react, but suddenly it felt like something was finally starting to make sense. Albeit in a rather horrible and cruel way.

"Sarah? Is that what you want to tell me? That you were angry?" Jim yelled and looked around, but his Sarah didn't answer. And the Queen of Blades? She seemed to be less than pleased, and if there's one thing you should never do, then it was to piss her off. She grabbed his chin again, and this time her touch wasn't gentle. He hissed in pain when her sharp claws drew some blood. Not much, but more than enough to remind him that this wasn't just a fantasy.

"What's your game, Jim?" she snarled. "Why have you come here? To search for answers? For salvation? There are no answers! There is no salvation! A storm is coming, and there is nothing you can do about it!" But Jim was in no mood to play her game. All he wanted was for this nightmare to finally end.

"None of this is real, Darlin'." he explained to her. "You want to tell me something, tell it to me in person. No more games, Sarah. You want to talk to me? You want to teach me a lesson? Then come out and do it! And not like this...this...illusion!" He expected the Queen of Blades to get even angrier, but much to his own surprise (and dismay) she started to laugh again.

"Oh, Jimmy. You are so cute, you know that? Still trying to act brave even though your situation is hopeless. Or are you so desperate to be with me that you came here all by yourself? So that I would end your life and ease your suffering?" Okay, now she sounded like the good old Queen of Blades again. "I'll tell you what, Jimmy, I will show you that we still can be together. Just let me infest you. It will hurt...at first. But then you can be at my side, forever! And don't worry, even though you will be nothing but a drone, I will keep you safe. Doesn't that sound nice? Isn't that what you want?"

Yep, Queen of Blades all over again.

"What I want?" Jim whispered to himself as if he was lost in thoughts. "What I want..." Then his eyes widened and he looked back at Sarah.

"What do _you_ want?" he asked back, and for a moment the Queen of Blades seemed to be surprised and confused.

"Perhaps infestation won't destroy your brain after all. You need one in the first place." she growled and was about to turn away.

"Grab him. But don't kill him. I want Abathur to take a look at him, maybe he has some nice ideas on what to do with him." she declared and the Hydralisks moved in closer. Jim's eyes widened in shock. He had heard the name Abathur from Sarah before. And even though he had no idea what or who exactly "Abathur" was, he was certain that he didn't want to find it out. The Hydralisks didn't care about that, though, and were about to reach Jim when suddenly a gust of wind rushed through the leaves above them. The Queen of Blades stopped and looked back at the Hydralisk that was closest to Jim.

"What's the matter?" she wanted to know. The creature raised his head and looked at its mistress...

...before it fell into two pieces.

The other Hydralisks hissed in confusion. They didn't realize what was going on. Only when the dark figure emerged from the shadows and struck another Hydralisk down, they realized that there was something out there. Something deadly. Something even deadlier than Hydralisks. Something that used a green psi-blade.

"Zeratul!" the Queen of Blades hissed. "I knew you'd come here eventually!" Even though both Jim and the Queen couldn't see Zeratul, his voice reached their ears. And Jim was actually pissed and happy at the same time when he heard the Dark Prelate.

"Your very presence defiles this place, Kerrigan!"

"Look who's is talking!" the Queen hissed back. "Show yourself! What's the matter, are you no longer willing to fight me head on? Did Raszagal's death rob you of your will to fight, Protoss?" Oh, now she was just asking for it!

"I haven't come here to fight you, Kerrigan..." Zeratul spoke, and they heard a strange sound. Everyone looked up and Jim's eyes widened when he saw how Zeratul emerged from what seemed to be some sort of dark cloud. "...and neither have I come here to please your ego!" Jim suddenly felt a strange sensation. It was as if his body was pulled backward. Everything around him turned cold and he shuddered. The Queen of Blades didn't notice that, though. She looked at Zeratul and pointed her finger at him.

"Get him!" And so, the Hydralisks did as they were told. They roared in anger and opened fire on the Dark Prelate. However, instead of killing him, the spines went right through him.

"What the...a mirage?" the Queen hissed, furious because she hadn't noticed it. Then her eyes widened in anger.

"No! JIM!" She turned around and could see how the dark cloud engulfed the man. She screamed in rage and stormed forward. She raised her blade-wings and rammed them forward with the intention to kill. One moment she could see Jim's shocked face, the next one the tip of her blade-wing smashed into the trunk of the tree. And then he was gone, vanished into thin air. The Queen blinked in surprise, but that's when the tree started to scream in pain. Sarah's expression turned into a mixture of rage and even more rage and she started to rip the screaming tree apart.

"I WILL GET YOU! NO ONE WILL ESCAPE THE SWARM!" her screams echoed through the jungle. "Find them! Find them, and kill them!"

* * *

Jim had no idea what was going on anymore. Well, that had actually happened some time ago, like when Sarah had experienced her mental breakdown. But now things were not only confusing, painful, or nightmarish, they were simply...trippy. Perhaps a Protoss had no problems with moving through the Void in order to appear somewhere else, but when the world reappeared around Jim, all he could do was to fall on his knees and puke his guts out. His skin was icy cold and his head throbbed in pain. He had never felt anything like it, and hopefully, he would never again.

But, then again, since when did the universe care about what Jim wanted, right?

Right...

Jim needed some time to calm down, to regain his composure, and make sure that his stomach would stop ejecting things at the speed of sound. When he had finally managed to overcome his nausea, he groaned in discomfort and brushed his hand over his mouth.

"Oh, to hell with it all..." he whispered to himself.

"Friend Raynor!" Zeratul finally spoke and knelt down right next to Jim. "What are you doing here? I did not know that you knew about this place! Have you come here to find out more about the prophecy of the ancients?" Jim, who was still visibly shaken, needed a moment until he could finally speak again.

"Proph...what...what prophecy...what the hell are you talking about?" Jim gurgled. There was something in the back of his mind, a memory that contained the word prophecy. But with his stomach trying to separate itself from his body, he was too busy to pursue that line of thoughts.

"What...what is this, Zeratul?" he asked. "Is this still a dream? It doesn't feel like a dream anymore. It feels just too real. So what's happening? Tell me, and don't bullshit me anymore." When Zeratul heard that, he tilted his head to the side and frowned.

"I am not sure what you are talking about, Friend Raynor. We have not seen us for quite some time, I do not know what has happened to you in the meantime. Are you...?"

"I said stop bullshitting me, goddammit!" Jim hissed and looked up and into the Dark Prelate's green eyes.

"I do not "bullshit" you, Friend Raynor. You are agitated, I understand that. Kerrigan can have that effect on the ones around her. Trust me, I know that feeling well. I felt the same way when Raszagal was-"

"I don't care, Zeratul! No more cryptic bullshit!" Jim snarled. "I've been hunted, beaten, tortured, and God knows what else! Why are you here? What do you want from me? What does Sarah want of me?" However, Zeratul seemed to be as confused as Jim was.

"You are suffering from shock, Friend Raynor. I came here in order to find answers. This place contains the knowledge of the Xel'Naga, the ones who have created my kind. I hoped that I would find answers."

"Yeah, well...answers would be nice." Jim groaned.

"Friend Raynor, since you seem to have come here by accident, so let me warn you; something dark is approaching. A darkness that threatens us all and-"

"What, you're talking about Amon?" Jim asked, and Zeratul's eyes widened in shock when he heard that name out of Jim's mouth.

"How do you know this name? Did...did you talk to Artanis? Did he tell you what I was planning to do?" However, as Jim's mind started to regain some traction, he realized that he was done with this cryptic bullshit. In fact, he had reached his bullshit-quota a _long_ time ago. He got back up and felt the urge to puke again, but he managed to keep his insides, well, inside this time.

"No, no, Zeratul. No more. I can't. I can't take this anymore. None of this makes any sense. You, Sarah, the other Sarahs." He turned away and looked around. They were still inside the jungle, but there were no Zergs around. "Sarah, if you want to tell me something, then tell me. Let's talk, but not like this! I cannot take this anymore! Please...whatever it is, I'm not going to judge you. Just...just stop this madness. Or I will lose my mind." But Sarah, his Sarah, didn't answer.

"Friend Raynor, the Queen of Blades will not listen to your pleas. She is beyond redemption." Zeratul tried to reason with Jim, but it caused the man to hiss in anger. He turned around and now his eyes were roughly on the same level as the kneeling Protoss.

"Are you kiddin' me?!" Jim yelled. "You made me do it! You sent me through half the sector in order to save her, and then you betrayed me by showing her the way to reinfest her! And even now that you're dead and nothing but an illusion, you simply can't LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE?!" Zeratul seemed to be baffled by Jim's reaction.

"I am sorry, Friend Raynor, but I do not understand what you are trying to tell me. Perhaps you are still confused by Kerrigan's lies. I was not killed, I merely tried to find answers. Whatever she told you was-" But Jim didn't listen. He was done listening. So Zeratul wanted to play Jim for a fool again, huh? Jim considered himself a friend of the Protoss. Well, most of them. However, Zeratul was really trying to test his patience right now.

"No more! Go find someone else to tell your lies. I'm done with you, Zeratul!" Zeratul didn't seem to understand what Jim was trying to tell him. And Jim wasn't exactly subtle about it. However, the worst thing was that Zeratul was acting like their talk from earlier hadn't even happened in the first place. Jim turned away and when he walked off, Zeratul seemed to be even more confused.

"Friend Raynor, where are you going?" he wanted to know.

"I'm gonna search for Sarah. The _real_ Sarah. I'm gonna find her, and then I'm gonna talk some sense into her! I've had it!" And so, Jim just decided to walk away.

"It is unwise to travel alone, Friend Raynor!" Zeratul explained, but when Jim stopped and turned around, he pointed his finger in a random direction.

"Just so you know it, Fenix and Tassadar are looking for you as well. Should be somewhere that direction. Or not, don't really care anymore."

"Fenix and Tassadar? They are dead, Friend Raynor!" Zeratul explained, but it caused Jim only to chuckle when he turned away.

"Yeah, well...so are you. And I'm done talking to dead people. Should you meet Sarah by any chance, tell her that I'm looking for her." And so, he left Zeratul behind, not caring for the confused Dark Templar one bit.

* * *

The storm continued to rage on, and Jim wondered if it would ever stop again. Right now, there was not much left of paradise. There was so much rain pouring from the sky that he couldn't even see where he was going. The ground had turned into a muddy mess, and every step was like walking one hundred. And that wasn't even the worst thing. The plains were starting to turn into goddamn lakes, rivers had turned into raging torrents, and the whole situation was about to get life-threatening. There were just two options left; Jim could either head back into the jungle or look for some high ground.

Perhaps he was just seeing things, but he could swear to see those damn Hydralisks waiting just behind that tree line, ready to rip him into pieces once he was close enough. And so, Jim decided to go for option b. There was a hill nearby that stuck out like a sore thumb. Most of its side were extremely steep, climbing up there would be dangerous. However, if he wouldn't, he would probably drown. And so he did what he had to. As he worked his way up the rocky hill, he slipped and fell several times. Soon his whole body was covered with mud, and he just wanted the rain to stop. A fresh set of dry clothes would be nice, too. And he wanted any of this to make some sense!

It took him quite some time until he finally reached the top of the hill. And even though everything was covered in mud, a relieved smile appeared on his face when he saw something special, something that he could really use right now.

He had found a cave!

"Well, it's better than nothing I suppose." Jim mumbled to himself, but not before he looked down over the hill's edge. It was almost as dark as night, and he couldn't look further than a few dozen meters. From time to time, bolts of lightning illuminated the dark and showed him an eerie landscape. Jim swallowed hard and decided to head for cover. He was standing on the top of a hill during a thunderstorm, and that wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do. But even then, he hesitated. Sarah was out there, his Sarah. And he had to find her.

"Just what is this all about, Sarah?" he asked her, but received no answer. Behind him, some plants started to rustle. It wasn't anything new to Jim, and he didn't really notice it until something big started to move towards him. He could hear how something moved through the mud and froze in an instant.

"Oh no!" he whispered to himself and turned around. Another Hydralisk? Or had the Queen of Blades found him? When he looked at the creature in front of him, he had a hard time to make out any details. It was simply too dark and the rain was falling into his eyes. He made a step back and didn't know what to do. Maybe he shouldn't have left Zeratul behind after all.

That's when a lightning illuminated the sky for the fraction of a second, and when Jim saw the silhouette of the creature, his eyes widened in surprise.

"YOU?!"

Captain Palmer rustled with its leaves. It had found the alien! It had finally tracked this damn alien down and now it was payback time! Before Jim could react, the cranky palm stormed towards him and slammed its trunk against his chest. Unlike Jim, Captain Palmer had no problems with the slippery ground. Roots for legs, remember? Jim stumbled and fell on the ground. His attacker was not giving him any time to do anything though. He screamed in pain when the palm tree started to stomp on him. At one point, he got kicked in the balls and groaned in pain. It looked like that damn plant had managed to find his weak spot.

If he would die here, it would be the most ridiculous death one could ever think of. Beaten to death by a palm, now wasn't that just great?

Captain Palmer, however, was having the time of its life. This was revenge at its best! Not only could it kick the hell out of that damn alien, it would repay that act of kindness! Jim had kicked Captain Palmer down a cliff (even though that was only partially true, but never argue with a cranky palm tree), now it would kick Jim down this edge. The only difference was that there was no water down below. Jim tried his best to fight back, but he could barely see anything and the mud was so slippery that he couldn't manage to get any traction. It was like beating up a baby, and Captain Palmer seemed to enjoy itself to the fullest.

With every kick, it brought Jim closer to the edge, and Jim knew that he wouldn't survive that fall. He felt how he was close to his demise, and the next kick was hard enough to drive him over the edge. Jim screamed in shock and managed to dig his hands into the muddy ground. Suddenly he lost the ground beneath his feet. He looked down and realized that he was hanging over the edge.

"Shit!" Jim hissed and knew that he was in deep trouble. He desperately tried to find some toe-hold, but it was pointless. He looked up and another lightning struck through the dark sky. He saw the murderous palm tree right above him and asked himself why his end had to be like this? Captain Palmer raised his root and stomped it on one of Jim's hands. He screamed in pain and almost let go of the edge. The palm rustled as if it was enjoying itself. It raised its root-leg once more and was about to slam it down on Jim's hand. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the pain.

That's when suddenly a whipping sound echoed through the storm and Jim looked up. Before he could realize what was going on, he saw how that damn palm was thrown over his head and off the cliff. The last thing Jim saw of Captain Palmer was how the damn tree vanished from his sight. And then it was gone.

Before he could realize what was going on, he felt how he started to lose his grip. Damn, he was about to fall off the edge, too!

"No! NONONONO! Goddammit!" he screamed, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't hold on to anything. He could feel how he was about to lose contact with the edge and gritted his teeth in desperation. Not now! Not like this! He still had to talk to Sarah! What kind of shitty ending was this anyway?

"SHIIIIIT!" he screamed when he finally lost grip and fell down.

His fall was cut short when someone grabbed one if his hand. He looked up and could see a humanoid figure above him, but he couldn't make out any details. Nothing except two yellow eyes glowing in the darkness. That's when Jim realized that the hand that held his arm was covered with carapace.

"No! NO!" he screamed when the figure pulled him back up. She had found him; the Queen of Blades had found him. Perhaps falling to your death wasn't such a shitty end after all. She pulled him up with ease and when they were finally eye to eye, he realized that this was it. He had nowhere else to go. Another lightning illuminated the sky. He looked at the face in front of him and a part of him was confused. The creature was Zerg and human at the same time, that much was obvious. But its strange, nose-less face did not belong to the Queen of Blades.

"James Raynor..." the strange female looking Zerg started to speak. "...my name is Izsha. And we need to talk."


	69. Act III - Chapter 13

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 13**

 **Unlikely Allies**

* * *

The storm continued to rage on, but Jim didn't really care about that anymore. He pressed his back against the cold wall of the cave and stared at the other figure that was resting right opposite to him. The creature was Zerg, there was no doubt about it. However, he had never seen a Zerg like this one. It appeared to be some kind of infested Terran, but unlike any infested Terran Jim had ever seen or heard of. Except for the Queen of Blades maybe.

This...Izsha-creature didn't seem to care about Jim at all. It was closer to the exit of the cave, and all it did was to stare outside. The storm had taken a turn for the worse, leaving the cave would be a good way to end your life in a rather spectacular way. The Zerg ignored Jim, and he wondered if he should try to escape. Yes, the weather outside was deadly, but he was in a cave together with a Zerg! It didn't take a genius to know that this would end badly. If he had to choose between drowning, falling to his death, getting hit by a lightning, or getting infested, the first three options sounded pretty fine to him.

Hell, even getting beaten to death by a cranky palm tree was a better way to go than to be infested.

As mentioned, the creature looked unlike any Zerg Jim had ever encountered, but it possessed some human-like features. And that was very unnerving. Still, this Zerg didn't try to attack Jim or infest him. It didn't even want to talk to him. All it did was to stare out of the cave and watch the rain.

"So, and who would you be, huh? Another dream I don't know anything about? Let me guess; you're supposed to be Liddy, how she would look like if she would have become the Queen of Blades." Jim said. The snake-like creature turned its head towards Jim and fixated him with its yellow eyes. He didn't know what was more unnerving; the fact that he could see her pointy teeth every time she spoke, or her noseless face.

Or maybe the fact that "it" seemed to be a "her".

"I do not know what you are talking about, James Raynor." the creature replied. "And I assure you that I am not a dream. And my name is not Liddy. My name is Izsha, and I am in service of her one true Majesty."

"Knew it. You're with the Queen of Blades." Jim snarled. So this creature was some kind of assassin or tracking dog? He had no idea what Sarah had cooked up during her time as the Queen of Blades. But during the time he had fought the Swarm, he had encountered a large number of new creatures. Banelings for example. Those critters hadn't been part of the Swarm during their first attacks. And then there had been this creature he and his guys had found in the tunnels of Char, back during the time when they had freed Sarah from the Zerg. He had only learned about those _broodmothers_ much later. And even though they were Zerg, they too had some human-like features, like a rather feminine upper torso.

Was this creature some subspecies? Some modified broodmother?

"I am no longer in service of the Queen of Blades." Izsha explained. "I serve her rightful Majesty, Sarah Kerrigan." Oh great, more cryptic talk. Just what he needed.

"So, you're gonna keep me here? Keep me until your Mistress shows up and has her way with me?" And that wasn't meant in a funny way.

"Rest assured that this is no longer an option." Izsha declared. Jim didn't want to talk to this creature, didn't want to act like everything was fine. Having a normal conversation with the enemy was just wrong. But what else could he do?

"What are you talking about?"

"It means that I came here because I sensed that her Majesty is in a great deal of pain. I decided to venture here and offer my help and advice. However, it appears that I am too late. The damage has already been done."

"Last time I saw your Queen, she was in quite the fine mood." Jim snarled. "In fact, she couldn't stop gloating about how great it felt to be Zerg. So, if you're gonna tell me the same thing, then don't. I don't care!" However, Izsha's answer did surprise him. At least until he realized that she was probably just toying with him.

"I am no longer Zerg, James Raynor. I ceased to be Zerg the moment her Majesty returned from the Void and was requesting my services once again." Void? You know, perhaps it was a crazy thought, but this hallucination seemed to be more lucid than the ones before. Everything inside Jim disliked the idea to talk to a Zerg.

And that's when he heard that voice in the back of his head again.

 _This one is different..._ the voice that almost sounded like Sarah's spoke to him. _You can trust her._ But right now, Jim was not in the mood to listen to imaginary voices.

"So, what are you? Some sort of tunneling Zerg? Or an infested creature? A shapeshifter? One of those broodmothers?" At least Jim wanted to know what kind of Zerg would try to infest him. Izsha looked at him, and he felt how an eerie chill ran down his spine. It felt as if she was looking right through him.

"I was not meant for combat duty if that is what you are referring to. I was designed to be the Queen of Blades' personal advisor. She would share her innermost thoughts with me and store her plans and ideas within my mind."

Jackpot.

"Ad...visor?" Jim asked in disbelief. He didn't know that Sarah, no, that the Queen of Blades had used something like that. Hell, he hadn't even realized that the Zerg were familiar with the concept of what an advisor was.

"Yes. I served the Queen of Blades until you and your warriors came to Char and took her away from us." Izsha went on. Jim jumped to his feet and made a step forward. It was a pointless gesture, but he was too angry to care.

"We freed her from you! You damn creatures, you infested her! Turned her against her own kind! Made her do all those atrocities!" However, Izsha wasn't impressed with Jim's outburst. Apparently, this hallucination was a lot calmer than the other ones.

"Is that what her Majesty told you?" she asked. "Or did you come to that realization on your own?"

"Doesn't take a genius to know that, you damn snake." he snarled, but Izsha was too much of a professional to get irritated by Jim's behavior.

"Just as I have told Captain Brent, I am not a snake. And I am not a _big snake lady_ either."

"You...you met Brent? When, here? Is he here too?" Jim wanted to know. A friendly face would be nice. Maybe he could find Matt! That's when Izsha tilted her head to the side and frowned.

"No, I have not met him in this place. I met him during her Majesty's time on Korhal. He proved to be a very... _strange_ person."

"What did you do to him!" Jim hissed.

"Nothing." Izsha replied truthfully. "Though I believe that he tried to suggest to pursue a romantic relationship with me." Okay, this had to be a hallucination. Though it probably said a lot about Jim that he was having such a conversation with a Zerg.

"Who in their right mind would want to be with you?" he snarled.

"It is a strictly theoretical question since I lack any reproductive organs. And is that not the purpose behind romantic relationships? To sire offsprings?" Izsha replied with a dry tone in her voice. Too much information. It seemed as if Jim's insults didn't bother her at all, though. Both Jim and this Izsha-creature fell silent. It was as if neither one of them truly wanted to talk to each other. Well, not that Jim minded. Talking to hallucinations wasn't much fun, talking to a Zerg-hallucination was even less fun. However, something was different about this one. It was hard to describe, but Jim felt a strange sensation in the back of his mind. Two actually. The first one seemed to tell him that this creature was not like the other ones he had encountered so far. It was as if it didn't belong to this place because it was actually real. The other feeling was much more unnerving, though. It was as if that voice in the back of his mind tried to tell him that he could _trust_ this creature.

Another lightning illuminated the sky, and then another one. And another. The weather seemed to take a turn for the worse, if that was even possible. It truly looked like this was the end of the world out there, and so all Jim could do was to sit down and wait. That started to get very boring very fast. With all the flashes of lightning outside, he was able to take a closer look at this Izsha-creature. It was unlike any member of the Swarm he had ever seen or heard of. Her shape was vaguely human, at least the upper half. Or upper tenth, because below what could be called a waistline began a huge snakelike tail. Its texture resembled that of Hydralisk's tail, only far longer and, well, more feminine?

Perhaps that was a strange thought, but this whole creature looked like it was female. Her face, even without a nose, looked like that of a woman. And the carapace covering her chest looked like someone had put a breastplate on a female chest. She looked less dangerous than the Queen of Blades, but looks can be deceiving.

"So, you're an advisor, huh?" Jim mumbled and turned his head away. The fact that the Zerg used something like that seemed utterly ridiculous.

"You do not believe me." Izsha replied, but her voice was void of any annoyance. To Jim, it was the absolute contradiction; a calm and controlled Zerg. He had seen many things, but not a Zerg who knew how to control its temper. As Jim continued to stare at this creature, he just couldn't stop wondering what it really was. He had seen Sarah's parents. He had met a star-sized asshole going by the name of Major Rumm. These people had been part of Sarah's past life. So what about this thing?

"Why should I believe you?" Jim shot back, but this Izsha-creature didn't seem to take the bait, at least not the way he had hoped she would.

"Whatever you believe is none of my concern, James Raynor." Izsha replied without even looking at him.

"Then what is it you're concerned about, huh?" He was walking right into her trap, he knew that. Perhaps she just wanted him to have a normal conversation until he would drop his defenses. However, that was pointless because by now he no longer had any defenses. He was running on empty and didn't care about those mind games anymore.

"My concern is to find out what has happened to her Majesty and undo the damage _you_ have done to her." Izsha declared.

"The damage _I_ have done to her? What the hell are you talking about, you big damn sn-"

"Do not finish that sentence!" Izsha instructed him and finally turned her head towards Jim. Even though her face was absolutely calm, her eyes seemed to be pulsing with anger. He didn't know why she was suddenly this angry (well, angry for Izsha's standards anyway). Little did he know that Izsha had her reasons for not liking this nickname.

"What's the matter, Zerg? Did I hit a nerve?" he spat out. Okay, pissing off a Zerg was not very smart, but Jim didn't care anymore.

"Hardly." Izsha replied. "And I told you that I am no longer Zerg, my name is Izsha and I am a breed of my own now."

"Meaning what?" Jim wanted to know.

"Meaning that I have decided to follow my Queen and help her on her journey to find what she is truly looking for." Okay, and now they were back to cryptic talk again, hooray!

"And what would that be, huh?" Jim snarled. He expected another cryptic answer, but when Iszha looked into his eyes, he felt how a cold shiver ran down his spine.

"Your acceptance and forgiveness for what she has done in the past. To find peace both in heart and mind." When Jim heard that, he didn't know what to say at first.

"Say what?" was the only thing he could reply.

"Her Majesty, ever since she has returned from the Void, has tried to do her best to undo the damage that was caused in the wake of the war against the fallen Xel'Naga Amon. She did so out of a sense of loyalty towards _you_. Because she did not want to disappoint you again." Well, that wasn't very cryptic anymore. Jim opened his mouth, ready to reply something very unfriendly. But then he realized how idiotic this whole thing was and he turned his head away.

"What am I even doing here?" he whispered to himself. He was referring to the fact that he was trying to have a conversation with a Zerg who wasn't even real. Izsha, however, had a different interpretation.

"Indeed, what are you doing here? And why is her Majesty in so much pain? I was under the impression that you would be able to give her what she is looking for, yet now her mind is in worse shape than ever. Therefore, I will repeat my initial statement; I am here to undo the damage that was caused by you."

"How dare you, you worthless Zerg!" Jim barked and stood up. "I won't get lectured by something like y-"

"That is quite enough" Izsha suddenly hissed and raised to full height. She could look truly frightening if she wanted to, like the legendary Medusa. Her eyes glowed with anger and she slithered towards Jim. When she stood in front of him, she looked down and suddenly Jim felt very, very small.

"I do not care for you, James Raynor. I only care for her Majesty's wellbeing. But that does not mean that I am willing to listen to this nonsense any further. You were supposed to help her Majesty, yet now everything is wrong and her Majesty's mind is fractured and has started to fall apart. What did you do?"

"Fractured? Fallen apart? What the hell are you talking about?" Jim shot back. Izsha tilted her head to the side and a frown appeared on her face.

"Could it truly be that you do not understand what is happening right now?" she asked. "You claim to love Sarah Kerrigan, but you do not even know what is going on. Are you telling me you cannot feel the pain she is currently experiencing?" Izsha wanted to know and leaned down.

"Just what the hell are you talking about?" Jim shot back, but that's when Izsha's eyes widened in surprise.

"You truly do not know what has happened. This is unacceptable." she said mostly to herself. She then turned away and slithered towards the entrance of the cave. Jim didn't know what to say, but getting scolded by a Zerg? That was simply crazy. Jim watched how Izsha stared at the weather outside. Everything inside his mind told him that he should just keep his mouth shut. Everything, except a tiny voice that continued to tell him that Izsha could be trusted.

" _She is not your enemy. She's your friend. Please, give her a chance! I'm begging you!"_ the voice that almost sounded like Sarah pleaded.

"Just what the hell are you? And what do you know of Sarah?" Jim then asked. And when Izsha looked over her shoulder, their eyes met again.

"I am her Majesty's advisor. She even called me her friend, an honor I would never claim for myself. I stood by her side when she ruled the Swarm. And I did so again when she returned from the Void and requested my services again, after her quest for answers inside Ulnar ended prematurely."

"Answers?" Jim wanted to know. "What answers?" That questions seemed to displease Izsha even more.

"You spent so much time with her, yet you never talked to her about her fears and problems?" Izsha growled. "Considering the fact that she did so much for you, I cannot fathom the fact that you were not even able to do that for her. It was my hope that your presence would help her to overcome her fears and answer the questions that are tormenting her. But it appears that my trust in you was misplaced."

"I don't like the way you're talking!" Jim shot back.

"And I do not appreciate the fact that you caused her Majesty even more pain than she is already experiencing! What has transpired here? Why is her mind this fractured?" she demanded to know.

"I have NO idea what you're talking about!" Jim repeated his statement. "But I didn't cause Sarah any pain!" Well, at least not on purpose.

"But neither did you decide to help her to overcome the pain that she is carrying within her." Izsha said. "And now that I have come here, the only thing that I can sense is even more pain. You have failed her Majesty, James Raynor." Jim made another step forward and clenched his hands into fists. He wouldn't listen to this any longer.

"I have failed her? Oh, you're so full of yourself, aren't you?"

"ENOUGH!" Izsha suddenly yelled, something that was completely unlike her. However, even she could run out of patience. She turned around and slithered back towards Jim. When she leaned down, their faces were only inches away. "All I heard so far were excuses. You stand here and tell me that you do not know what is going on. Yet you had more than enough time to help her with her personal problems. You have failed her, James Raynor. I knew it was a mistake to place my trust in you."

Ouch, critical strike detected.

"So, what, you're gonna kill me now?" Jim wanted to know. At first, it seemed as if Izhsa was considering her options, but then she just turned away.

"I have not come here to cause you any harm, James Raynor. No matter how irritating you might be, you are important to her Majesty, and I would never dare to damage you. However, at the same time, I cannot watch how her Majesty is in pain while you do nothing about it."

"She was in no pain when she picked me up from Mar-"

"SHE WAS ALWAYS IN PAIN!" Izsha roared. "And just because you are not able to perceive it, it does not mean that it is not the truth! Ever since she returned to the Swarm, ever since she was ripped from our midst, she has been in constant pain. And in all those years, you had more than enough time to address that! But you did not. Which leaves us with two options. Either you do not know her Majesty at all...or you do not care about her at all."

THAT...was actually the most brutal thing anyone had told him in a long time. Because deep inside his heart he knew that this Izsha-creature had a point. However, instead of yelling at the Zerg again, he squinted his eyes.

"What do you know about Sarah's pain, huh?" he wanted to know, but Izsha just shook her head.

"The question is not what I know, but what you do not. I have not come here to waste my time with you. If you have not figured it out until now, then the chances that you will within the next few moments are rather slim. Besides, I have wasted enough time with you. I need to find her Majesty and see if I can undo the damage you failed to repair. I merely came here to make sure that you would not be dead once her Majesty would regain her senses. Even though you seem to be useless, you are still dear to her." Izsha declared before she slithered towards the exit of the cave.

"What?!" Jim yelled after her. "That sounds like I'm some kind of pet to Sarah!" Izsha stopped when she heard that and looked over her shoulder.

"Are you implying that there is any other use you have?" she wanted to know.

Solid burn.

Jim clenched his hands into fists when he heard that.

"Where are you going, huh?" he asked.

"I will search for her Majesty ad try to figure out what has happened. _You,_ on the other hand, will remain here. And please, do not try to kill yourself by accident while I am gone. It would be rather awkward to explain this to her Majesty." the Zerg declared before she slithered out of the cave and into the thunderstorm.

"Hey! HEY! Don't you dare to leave me behind like this!" Jim barked. "What the hell is this about? What do you know about Sarah that I don't?" However, Izsha didn't answer that anymore. He saw how her dark tail vanished outside, and then she was gone. Jim continued to stare after her for quite some time. After a while, he shook his head and turned away.

"Great. Just great. I meet a Zerg that doesn't want to devour me and what happens? It's appalled by me." He was aware how absurd this situation was. This was just another hallucination all right. But what did it try to tell Jim? Well, aside from the fact that he was the shittiest boyfriend of all times, but it lacked a certain "I'm gonna beat you into a bloody pulp"-touch he had encountered so far. Perhaps this hallucination was just like the other ones, maybe Sarah wanted to tell him something by letting him meet with this creature.

Well, the message was pretty clear; Zerg didn't like him.

After a while, he sat down again and watched how the storm continued to rage on. Perhaps he shouldn't let it bother him that much, but he couldn't stop thinking about what this Izsha-creature had told him; that Sarah had been in constant pain for so long. Pain. Of course, there was pain within Sarah Kerrigan, he knew that. But...there was no longer any reason to be in pain. The final battle was over, so was the war. They were together again, right? For Jim, it was everything he had hoped for. There were men like Arcturus Mengsk who always craved power. Or men like Matt Horner, who fought for ideals. Jim was neither one. Okay, he had been a freedom fighter for many years, but only because no one else had been willing to do it. He was simply a guy who did what had to be done.

All he really cared for was to be with someone. Someone he loved. Someone like Sarah.

" _You have failed her."_ he remembered Izsha's words. Failed her how? And why was Sarah still in pain? He knew that he shouldn't bother about anything this creature had told him. But the voice in the back of his head continued to tell him that he should listen to her. He lowered his head and looked at his own hands.

Had this been this creature's plan all along? To plant the seed of doubt in his mind?

Well, it had worked. Jim couldn't just leave the cave. Izsha was gone, but somehow, he doubted that this weather could truly harm her. _If_ she would have been real that is. Still, the thought that the little girl-version of Sarah was still out there caused him nothing but dread. But hey, maybe that Major Rumm-guy would fall victim to the Zerg or a lightning.

With nothing left to do and nowhere else to go, Jim could do nothing else but to sit here and brood over the matter. The longer he thought about it, the more he realized that he had just missed an opportunity to ask this creature more about Sarah's pain, even though it would probably have lied to him anyway. But the creature's words didn't stop bothering him. Especially the part where she had accused him of not having done anything about Sarah's pain and her fractured mind.

It was as if those words were meant to make sense, yet he wasn't able to truly get it. And that made it all the more frustrating because it meant that this Izsha-creature had a point.

Had he missed something? Well, it certainly appeared this way. Pain. Sarah had been in pain ever since they had rescued her from the Zerg, that's what Izsha had claimed. It sounded like a lie. Of course, a Zerg would say that a life without the Swarm was hell. So yeah, no shocking revelation here. But the accusation that he hadn't dealt with Sarah's pain still lingered on in the back of his mind. Perhaps because a small part of his mind agreed with those words.

The problem was that he had his doubts as well. Not about Sarah, but about what she hadn't told him yet. And so, he had to ask himself, what was his role was supposed to be anyway?

Jim wasn't psionically gifted, never had been. He was a normal guy. No special powers, no nothing. So, what could he offer to Sarah? What except his love and support? And how could this be enough? Suddenly he felt... _inadequate_. Sarah had been a psionically gifted human. Then the supreme leader of the Swarm. And then...

...what was she now anyway? No matter how he looked at it, he just didn't know how he could hope to be anything _but_ a pet. Compared to her, he was nothing.

"Good, should stop thinking too much, this snake's words are getting to me." he groaned and pressed his hands against his face. Maybe he should stop brooding and do something different. However, there wasn't anything he could do. He looked out of the cave and all he saw was how the storm continued. Maybe he should rest. It felt wrong, knowing that Sarah was still out there, alone, hurt, and in pain. But he was too much of a soldier to just storm out there and do what he wanted to. First rule of saving a life; don't risk your own life trying to do something stupid. He wanted to go out there, but he knew that he wouldn't stand a chance against the storm. And so, he sat down and leaned against the cold and wet wall.

Man, he really missed the warm sand and Sarah's gentle touch right now. Jim closed his eyes and tried to calm down, which was easier said than done. He didn't know when sleep finally claimed him. But when it did, he still remembered Izsha's words.

 _You have failed her._

And deep inside his heart, he knew that she was right about that.

* * *

When Jim opened his eyes again, he knew that he was inside a dream again, and he blinked in confusion. He was out in the open, but there was no rain falling down on him. Or at least not nearly as much as before. He looked up the sky, and instead of those black clouds and bolts of lightning, all he saw was gray.

The storm...was over?

There were a lot of questions he should ask himself. Like how did he end up outside the cave, and why didn't he feel his aching bones. But all of these questions seized to be of any importance when he heard that all too familiar voice again.

"We have gathered here to pay our respect to Lydia Elizabeth Raynor." the Reverend started to speak. Jim looked down from the sky and at the people in front of him. "Those who knew Lydia Raynor will always remember her as an exceptionally tender soul." the man continued, and Jim realized what was going on.

"Not this shit again." he muttered to himself and shook his head. So...one dream was over and the other one was about to start? Was that it? That storm and the different Sarahs, that had been a dream as well, only a different one?

"Someone who always thought about others before herself. I think..." the Reverend continued, but by now Jim was sick of hearing those words. And so, he turned around and walked away. None of the guests seemed to mind, though. Behind Jim, the Reverend just continued as if nothing had happened. "...it is safe to say that none of us has ever met such a kind soul before." When Jim was about to leave them behind, he stopped and looked over his shoulder. The Reverend was looking at the spot where Jim had just been a few moments earlier. It was as if he was talking to thin air. Kinda creepy if you think about it. Jim shook his head, put his hands in his pockets and resumed to walk away. This time it felt different, though, different than the other dream or hallucination. In this place, he couldn't really feel his own body. What's what they say? You can't feel any physical pain when inside a dream? Kinda like that.

As he walked away from the funeral, he still could hear those words inside his mind. He had heard them so many times, almost every night in his dreams. By now he could repeat them with his eyes closed.

"The things she did for us will never be forgotten." Jim started to say as he walked over the dusty path that led him nowhere particular. "Because when she walked among us, she always provided us with a smile. It was a rare gift, one that not many possess." Like said, he remembered every damn word of that speech by now. "And one that will be greatly missed."

Missed...

Jim suddenly stopped and looked up to the sky. It was as if he was looking for something.

"You up there, Liddy?" he suddenly asked, but no one answered.

"If you are, could you give me a sign? I'm kinda lost right now. And I'm afraid that I lost my sanity as well. So maybe this is hell and I'm dead because that would make more sense than anything else. Is this my punishment? For not being able to keep you safe? And Johnny?"

 _And Sarah..._

He closed his eyes and remembered the word of that Izsha-creature.

" _You have failed her."_

It was funny, only in a very unfunny way: That creature had been able to get to him, to make him doubt himself. Was that the purpose of that creature? To find and exploit someone's weakness? A Zerg that was specialized in psychological warfare? If that was true, then it had done an excellent job. Jim sighed and lowered his gaze. What was he even trying to do here? Did he have any plan at all? Not really. It was one of James Raynor's bad habits; not having a good plan for what's gonna happen afterward.

Oh, he had used plans in the past, but only to solve immediate problems. Like getting rid of Arcturus. Like defeating the Zerg. Like getting Sarah back. But after that? He had never made a plan for the time _after_ the final battle.

Maybe he was just not the kind of guy who made plans for the future because he had learned that stuff like that usually didn't work out the way he hoped it would be. Perhaps his subconsciousness had decided to not think about the future so he wouldn't have to worry about screwing things up. Or was it because deep in his heart he knew that he wasn't destined to get a happy ending?

"To hell with this!" he hissed and stopped. He clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth. He couldn't allow himself to think like that. If he would do that, he had already lost. And this wasn't just about him.

 _She's in pain._ That's what this Izsha-creature had told Jim. A pain that went deeper than any physical wound.

 _She was always in pain._

And no matter what he did, he couldn't force those thoughts to stop. They just kept coming. He tried to tell himself that this was Izsha's plan; to plant the seed of doubt in his mind. Unfortunately, there was another thought that told him that Izsha wasn't wrong about it. He had failed Sarah. And now he had no idea what to do. Maybe things would blow over, maybe Sarah would get back to normal on her own. Maybe this nightmare would soon be over. A man can dream, can he not?

"Bad choice of words." Jim muttered to himself when he realized that he was actually inside a dream. So what else could he do? He looked at his own feet and frowned. He was wearing a dark suit, the one he had worn during Liddy's funeral. His black shoes were covered with dust. He remembered that moment. Mar Sara was a dusty place, and he had bought that suit and those shoes only for a special occasion. These clothes were meant to be worn inside, not on the outside. After the funeral, the suit and the shoes had been ruined.

"Ruined..." Jim muttered and started to walk again. He didn't look up, he only stared at his own shoes. Just what the hell was he supposed to do now? He truly didn't care where he was going, all he did was to go where his feet would carry him...

* * *

"Someone who always thought about others before herself. I think..." the Reverend continued, but that's when Jim turned away. The expression on his face was one of pain and helplessness. The other guests were people that had been part of Jim's old life. Friends and old comrades, people long forgotten. Maybe he should have taken a closer look, though, because there was one person that he didn't remember.

The young woman watched how Jim walked away, and the expression on her face was just as pained as the one on Jim's. To see him like this, it almost broke her heart. She wanted to walk over to him, to put her arms around him and tell him that everything would turn out alright. But she couldn't. She knew which role she had to play in this game, even though she didn't like it. This moment reminded her that she hadn't just come here for Sarah. No, she had come here for both of them. Because both of them were equally important to her.

As she watched how Jim walked away, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Watching all of this was hard for her. She knew the story, but hearing someone talk about it, and seeing it with her own two eyes were two completely different things.

"I didn't think it would be like this." she whispered to herself. It was hard to witness both Jim and Sarah and their struggle. Unfortunately, there was only so much she could do about it. And right now, the knowledge she possessed didn't help her one bit.

The young woman looked over her shoulder and watched how Jim vanished in the distance.

"Everything will be okay." she whispered. "You just have to believe it."

* * *

" _Everything will be okay."_ the voice in the back of Jim's mind told him. _"You just have to believe it."_

"If that were only true." Jim growled. He didn't really pay attention where he was going, not until he suddenly stood in the shade of a building. He looked up and frowned.

"Oh...this place." Jim said to himself. It was the church. He could have sworn that he had walked into a different direction, but he shouldn't be surprised. This place was a mess after all. He should know, these were the insides of his own head. He sighed and walked up to the door.

 _I'm sorry..._

It was Sarah's voice. _His_ Sarah's voice. He could feel her, it was as if she was standing right next to him as if she was on the other side of the door. He walked up to the door, but this time he didn't try to kick it open, he simply lacked the strength to do that. The problem was not his body since he couldn't feel it at all. His mind was just as exhausted as the rest of him. And so, he placed his hand on the wood of the door and sighed.

"Sarah..." he whispered. "I'm sorry. I... I didn't know." he started. Maybe talking to her like this was pointless, but if there was the slight chance that she could hear him...well, he had to do it. Or it would kill him sooner or later.

This Izsha had scored a critical kill. He _should_ have talked with Sarah about this. Well, he hadn't done that. And now Sarah was paying the price for it.

"I'm sorry." he repeated. "I just realized that...that I was wrong about you, Sarah. You see, I thought I know you. Know about your dreams and hopes. But what I've seen so far...I don't know you, Sarah. I probably never did." He took a deep breath and then he started to chuckle. "Hey, I met your parents!" he suddenly said. "Really nice people. Especially your dad. And your mum? Well, she's something else. Now I know where you got your attitude from. Genetics can be weird, right? I bet they are great parents...well...were parents." Jim corrected himself and knew that his statement wasn't very helpful. He took a deep breath and sighed.

"It's not your fault, Sarah. You didn't want to do it, I know that. It just...happened I guess." Oh damn, what was he even trying to tell her? "Sarah, I know how it feels. I know. When I lost my Mum, when I lost Johnny and Liddy and..." But then he realized that he was wrong. It was different, different from the death of his parents or his family.

"I don't know shit, Sarah." Jim then admitted. "I don't know what it feels like to do what you did. Or what they did to you. That Major Rumm? I would have killed him if I had ever met him in person. But the way you obeyed him...the empty look in your eyes...it hurt. Yet you know what was the worst thing? That I actually tried to make myself believe that Nr. 24 wasn't you. I felt insulted because I thought that you were trying to push me away. But...but that _was_ you, right? All of it. I just didn't want to accept it. I didn't want to accept that there was a different Sarah within you, one that I haven't met so far." He still wasn't willing to accept all of it. The small child? He couldn't blame it for what it had done. The coldhearted Ghost that did beat him up? She had been nothing but a tool.

The Queen of Blades? That was...different. It went deeper than that. The Queen of Blades was a monstrosity, and Sarah had been turned into this creature against her will. No, Jim couldn't forgive the Queen of Blades for what she had done. Seeing her again had only reaffirmed Jim's opinion on that dreadful creature. However, when he thought about the Queen of Blades, he could sense how Sarah's mind pulled itself away from him as if she was disappointed by his reaction.

 _No... it's all me...it's all pain, all connected. It's all me..._ he could hear her voice, but he shook his head.

"No, Sarah. That thing was never you. You are better than that." But that's when he felt how Sarah's mind finally started to slip away. The last thing he felt was so much disappointment? It was hard to describe it, but it felt as if he had made a mistake.

"Sarah? Sarah, are you still there!" However, this time Sarah didn't answer him anymore. Unfortunately, that didn't mean that he was finally alone.

"Sarah Kerrigan is growing weaker, Friend Raynor." And that's when Jim started to chuckle.

"But of course. You just can't leave me alone, can you, Zeratul?" Jim said and looked over his shoulder. "You know, we really have to stop meeting like this. People are gonna start talking!" Jim wasn't happy to see Zeratul, but he was too exhausted to start another argument.

"You have returned again, Friend Raynor. And once more you are lucid. This is not good." That caused Jim to laugh, but it was a bitter one.

"Oh yeah? Why's that? Because now you can't do as you please?"

"Because this is supposed to be a dream. Your mind will not be able to regenerate if you stay awake, even if you are sleeping. Even now I can sense your exhaustion. Sleep does not bring you any rest, you are unable to recover. If we do not find a solution for this problem, then I fear for the worst."

"Oh, now you act all helpful all of the sudden." Jim growled. "But back outside, or on the other side, or whatever, you kept spouting cryptic nonsense all the time." That statement caused Zeratul to tilt his head to the side.

"Outside? Friend Raynor, I have never left this place. The Zeratul you have met while awake was not me." And that was pretty much the last thing Jim wanted to hear.

"What? Does this mean that there's more than one of you? Hey, wait a second...how do you know about that guy anyway?" When Zeratul heard that, he lowered his head and placed his hand on his own chest.

"I know what has transpired on the outside because I saw it through your eyes. Even though I am as confused as you are to see all these different persons, including this other Zeratul."

"So Zeratul doesn't know why Zeratul is Zeratul. I guess there's a joke in there...somewhere." Jim mumbled before he shook his head. "Splendid. Simply terrific! I'm so happy I could puke Zerglings! Can't this shit happen to someone else for a change? Aren't there enough assholes out there who are due for some punishment. What in GODMOTHER OF ALL HELLFIRE did I do to deserve this?!" There was this ancient religion from Earth, the one that believed in rebirth after death. There was something called Karma. Jim didn't know all the details, he wasn't much into religion anyway. Apparently, there was some sort of metaphysical currency, called Karma. If you performed good deeds, you would gain good karma. If your name was Arcturus? Not so good Karma. Apparently, Jim had been a very naughty boy in one of his past lives.

That's when he sighed and dropped his shoulders.

"Just look at me, Zeratul. I don't even know what I'm supposed to do anymore. Here I am, pitying myself while I can sense Sarah's pain. But...I just don't know what to do." He turned away from the church and sat down. He leaned against the door and looked over his shoulder.

"You don't mind telling me what's going on, Sarah?" Jim asked, but Sarah didn't answer. He groaned and slammed his head against the wooden door, but didn't feel any pain. Well, at least no physical pain. He looked up to the Protoss.

"You saw what happened?" When Zeratul heard that, he nodded.

"Indeed. I cannot say that I understand it any more than you do, Friend Raynor. I have heard about hallucinations so real that they appear as if they actually happen, but this? This is something else. For all intents and purposes, I believe that those people you met are truly alive."

"But how can that be?" Jim whispered. "It has to be a hallucination. I mean, what is this place?" he stretched his arms out and looked around. "This is a dream, yes? At least that's what you claim. So what is the other thing? It can't be the reality!"

"Perhaps it is a vision?" Zeratul offered.

"What, like the one you had? The one where Amon wins?"

"Possibly. Though I doubt that. When I saw this vision, I was fully aware of that fact. It was like, how do you Terrans put it, watching a movie."

"Worst movie of all time." Jim growled and Zeratul nodded.

"Indeed." Then both of them fell silent. For a long time, neither one of them said anything. Not until Jim sighed.

"So... what now? Any suggestions?"

"You would ask for my advice? Even though you never wanted to see me again?" Zeratul asked. His voice didn't contain any anger and didn't seem to be hurt either.

"Yeah, well...I had a shitty day and I'm kinda out of options. Right now, I would probably even ask Arcturus for his advice if he'd still be alive." Maybe that guy was out there, too. Ugh, better not think about that.

"Your faith in me is touching, Friend Raynor." Zeratul said with a chuckle. Jim looked up at him and frowned.

"Is that sarcasm in your voice?"

"Perhaps. Maybe I have been inside your mind for too long, Friend Raynor." That comment made Jim sigh.

"Yeah, well...I kinda have the same problem right now. Don't even know which head I'm looking for right now." And then they were silent again. Jim didn't mind the silence, but Zeratul had been right about one thing; Jim's mind felt exhausted. How long had he been going without any real sleep? And how much longer would he be able to go on?

"So, what the hell am I supposed to do know?" Jim whispered mostly to himself.

"I do believe you should seek out the creature called Izsha." Zeratul suddenly said and Jim looked back at him.

"Now, why the hell should I do that? Just because it's the first Zerg that didn't try to infest me, doesn't mean that I want to do that rodeo again." Jim replied.

"I understand your reservation, Friend Raynor..." Zeratul agreed. "...but this creature was unlike the others. It felt different." When Jim heard that, he groaned.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? No more cryptic talk!"

"I cannot really give you a satisfying answer, but Izsha felt different from the other persons. It was as if she was...more real than the others."

"And who told you that, huh?" Jim growled.

"I believe the correct term would be; my guts." Zeratul replied. When Jim heard that, he started to chuckle. And then the chuckle turned into laughter. It was a long and loud laughter, one that went on for what felt like minutes. When Jim finally stopped, he looked up to Zeratul and shook his head.

"You're are something else, you know that?" He was still angry at Zeratul, but he was too tired to go on fighting.

"So I was told. By many different people."

"I don't know if I can go on, Zeratul. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Where do I even start? None of this makes any sense! I'm not made for this kind of crap!" Jim wailed and felt like a damn bastard because he was bathing in self-pity. However, instead of mocking him, Zeratul knelt down in front of him and looked him into the eyes.

"No one is, Friend Raynor. And that includes both you and Sarah Kerrigan." When Jim looked back at Zeratul, he frowned.

"You hated her. So why would you want to help me help her?"

"Because..." Zeratul sighed. "...it is the only thing left to do. I do not know what the real Zeratul would have done in my place, but it does not matter. I do not wish to see you suffer anymore. If that means to help Sarah Kerrigan? So be it." That touched something inside Jim's mind. Zeratul, the real Zeratul, he had hated Sarah to the very bone. And now _this_ Zeratul was willing to help Jim?

"I'm sorry for earlier, Zeratul. For what I said." Jim tried to apologize, even though he was still angry at the dead Protoss in front of him.

"There is no need to apologize, Friend Raynor. What I did was wrong, but I had to do it. I know I am guilty of many things, and I know that the real Zeratul paid the ultimate price. Perhaps it is a fitting punishment, but it is not my place to decide that. But rest assured, his sins weight on my shoulders as well, and I do not wish to cause you any more harm." When Zeratul told him that, a weak smile appeared on Jim's face.

"Guess it's time for round two, huh? Man, I really could use some rest right now." Seriously, he was starting to feel the effect of his dreamless sleep.

"You still have some time, but not much. Every passing hour will increase your exhaustion." Zeratul explained to him. "I will try to ease the strain on your mind, but it will not work forever. You have to hurry."

"Well, if you say so..." Jim mumbled and got back on his feet. He looked back at the door and sighed. Zeratul seemed to know what Jim was thinking.

"I will watch this door and will try to look for another solution. Maybe we can open it somehow. You should find this Izsha. Right now, she appears to be the only one who could provide you with answers."

"Man, that's easily one of the worst plans ever." Jim growled and shook his head. "By the way, how do I wake up again anyway?"

"Do not worry, I know how to do that. However, you will not like it." Zeratul explained to him. Jim looked him into the eyes and pulled an eyebrow up.

"Yeah? Why's that?" However, instead of answering that question, Zeratul stood up, pulled his leg back, and kicked Jim right in the balls.

* * *

"MOTHER OF...!" Jim screamed when he woke up. He grabbed his crown jewels and rolled over the wet ground of the cave. Even though he didn't feel any true pain, he still groaned in discomfort. The sudden change of scenery was highly confusing, but by now he had gotten used to it. He took a few deep breaths in order to calm down.

"Okay...I guess I deserved that." he said mostly to himself. Yes, he had been quite the jerk towards Zeratul. Well, _this_ Zeratul. The one who tried to help him, not the one that...

"Ah, to hell with it." Jim whispered. He rolled on all fours and groaned. Every damn bone inside his body hurt like hell, and now there was this throbbing pain inside his head. Oh joy, now he was experiencing a hangover! And he didn't even have to drink something to achieve that, wasn't that great?

Maybe Zeratul was right, maybe his mind under a lot of stress. It certainly felt that way. Well, at least the storm was over and...

Wait a second, the storm was over?

Jim blinked and looked out of the cave. He could see some light. It wasn't very bright, but it was certainly brighter than before. And he couldn't see any rain of flashes of lightning, so that had to count for something. Jim had to use all of his strength and determination to get back on his feet. It was hard, and right now he felt like he had turned into an old man. He walked towards the exit of the cave and while he did that, he still had Zeratul's words in the back of his mind.

 _You should seek the creature called Izsha._

"Well, that sounds like a fun idea." Jim muttered and stepped out of the cave. He looked up and frowned. The storm was still there, but he could see the blue sky right above him. This was the eye of the storm! That meant two things. A: It had stopped raining! And B: It wouldn't last for long.

"No rest for the wicked, eh?" Jim muttered to himself. He looked around and tried to find any trace of the snakelike Zerg, but Izsha was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she was dead, drowned by the torrents of water, but somehow Jim doubted that. It took him a second to finally see her tracks. He knew how to follow footprints, but Izsha's tracks were a little bit different. No legs, you know. He could still see the imprint her tail had left in the mud. And it led downwards.

"Well, at least it should be easy to follow that trail." he said and started to climb down the hill. He had to be careful not to slip and fall, the ground was still slippery as hell. When he finally reached the ground level, he groaned. He was covered in sweat and his head was hurting like hell. He truly felt horrible, and his throat was so dry. He had to find something to drink or he would turn into a goddamn mummy!

At least he knew where he was going. Izsha's tracks were easy to follow. But the muddy ground was both a blessing and a curse at the same time. A blessing because he could still where Izsha had gone. A curse because every step was a nightmare. Sometimes he sank in to the knees and had to fight his way back out. Apparently, having a tail was better than to have two feet, at least in this situation.

Jim's progress was pitiful at best and he felt how his strength was failing him. But he had to press on.

"Just how...how fast can a goddamn...snake be anyway?" he panted when he stepped out of the jungle and into the open. The answer to that was; Fast. Very fast.

Water. He needed water. Jim looked around and started to groan. He could see a river, but it was so far away! At least two kilometers! What was this place, his own personal nightmare? Just a few hours ago there had been water everywhere, and now he couldn't find one damn pond or anything like that? Well, at least he could see the river. And Izsha's tracks led right towards it, so that had to count for something, right?

Every step was like hell and he felt like he was close to collapsing. He didn't pay any attention to his surroundings, not that it truly mattered. If the Queen of Blades would decide to pay him a visit, there was nothing he could do about it. He wouldn't be able to run away from a Hydralisk anymore either. It took him forever to finally reach the river, and when he knelt down at the shore, he cupped some water with his hands and was about to drink it.

That's when a gunshot was fired.

The soil right next to him exploded and dirt hit his face. Jim screamed in shock and surprise and fell backward. Not again. Not again! It didn't need the Queen of Blades to end him, Ghost Nr. 24 would be more than enough. Had that asshole Major Rumm decided to end it? If so, there was little Jim could do about it. He tried to crawl back into the high grass in order to get into cover. But aside from the knee-high grass, there was nothing that could protect him.

And that's when he heard her voice.

"Cease fire! Cease fire, you idiots!" Sarah barked. Jim looked around and saw how figures emerged from the grass. Tall and bulky figures.

Marines.

They wore the insignia of the Sons of Korhal and pointed their rifles right at him. Oh great, what would come next? Tal'darim raining down on him?

"Lieutenant, it's not a Zerg!" one marine barked. Behind him, a lithe figure appeared, and even from the distance, Jim recognized her immediately.

"Yeah, no shit!" Sarah barked and turned towards another marine. "I told you to NOT fire unless I say so! Swarm out, secure the perimeter. And get me a goddamn medic over here!" she barked and the men followed those orders to the letter. Jim could see how this Sarah shook her head and muttered something like: "Idiots, all of them." Then she turned away and walked up to him.

"Now let's see which idiot decided to stay here and... JIM?!" she suddenly yelled when their eyes met. But Jim was too exhausted to say anything. He stared at Sarah and realized that she looked older than Nr. 24. She looked just the way he remembered her when they had met. Like she should look like, at least as long as he had to say anything in that matter. He saw the shocked expression on her face and prepared himself for another beating. But not this time.

"MEDIC!" Sarah screamed before she stormed towards Jim. She reached him within seconds and dropped her rifle right next to him into the mud. She put her hands on his shoulders and looked into his face.

"Jim? What are you doing here? Why are you down here? What happened to you?" This...this was unexpected. Jim looked into Sarah's eyes. They were green. Those were the eyes he loved so much. Was it...over?

"Sarah...?" Behind her, he could see how a medic approached them. Sarah put her hand on his cheek and her face turned into a grimace.

"You idiot! I told you I got this! Why do you always have to play the hero?" she wanted to know. A weak smile appeared on his face.

"What can I say?" he panted when he realized that his luck had finally returned to him. It was over. It was finally over. He had found Sarah again. "It's just not the same without you, Darlin'." Sarah gave him an annoyed look, but then she just shook her head.

"You are simply unbelievable. Why did you come here alone? And what happened to you?"

"It's a long story. You could tell me what you've been up to as well." Jim suggested, but that's when some marines approached them.

"Lieutenant!" one of them said. "Ma'am, we just got word from the outer perimeter: The Zerg have started to attack our positions." Sarah looked over her shoulder and gritted her teeth.

"Damn! Too soon! We haven't dealt with the Protoss yet!" she hissed. Zerg? Protoss? Suddenly Jim's relief started to fade away.

"Your orders, Lieutenant?" the marine wanted to know.

"Tell the people to dig in and hold the position. Commander Mengsk is already in orbit, and once the rest of the fleet will arrive, we will rain death upon them. But until then, we will have to wait and hold the line!" And then Sarah said the one thing that caused Jim to shiver in fear.

"Don't worry, boys. Once we get our reinforcements, we will crush both the Zerg and the Protoss on all of Tarsonis."


	70. Act III - Chapter 14

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 14**

 **Back in the Saddle**

* * *

The first thing Jim realized when he looked up was that the blue sky right above him was shaking like crazy. The thick clouds danced from one side of his view to the other, and it took him a few minutes before he realized that the sky wasn't the one shaking, but him. They had put him on a stretcher and even though those two medics tried to be as careful as possible, it was still one bumpy ride.

"Sa...rah?" he whispered, still confused on how he had ended up like this.

"It's okay, Jim." Sarah's voice reached his ears. He turned his head to the left and that's when he saw her.

"Sarah? Is it really you?" he asked and she gave him a worried smile. She was walking right next to him and put her hand on his chest while the medics continued to carry him somewhere.

"Hush, just close your eyes and rest. We'll get you back to base and then I will call for a dropship to pick you up." Dropship? What was she talking about?

"What...what's going on?" Jim wanted to know and turned his head around. It wasn't just him, Sarah and the two medics. They were surrounded by marines. There was at least one platoon marching around them, and they all wore the insignia of the Sons of Korhal. It was almost nostalgic. Almost.

"You passed out. You were delirious and talked about that you were sorry and that you didn't know. Jim, what happened?" Sarah said, but Jim was too weak to answer. He was tired and his head throbbed in pain. Was this what Zeratul had talked about? That just like his body, his mint too was under a lot of strain? That he wouldn't be able to go on for much longer?

"Thirsty..." he managed to gurgle. His throat was so dry, it felt as if he had swallowed a bag of sand.

"Halt!" Sarah suddenly barked and the medics did as they were told. The marines swarmed out and scanned the area for any threat. Jim groaned in discomfort until he felt how something cold and wet touched his lips. He immediately recognized it as water and his body started to gulp it down as fast as possible.

"Easy there, Jim. Not so fast or you're gonna choke. Easy!" Sarah said with a gentle tone in her voice. She held the water-bottle up to his lips and made sure that he wouldn't choke himself. As the cold liquid streamed down his throat, he sighed in relief. He was too exhausted to wonder what was going on or why there were so many other people around him this time. All he cared for was the cold water running down his throat.

"Jim. Jim, be careful! Not so fast!" Sarah urged him, but it was too late. Some of the water got into his windpipe and he started to cough like crazy. Sarah pulled the bottle back and put her hand on his chest.

"Easy! Don't overdo it!" she told him. "Here, take deep breaths." When he had finally calmed down, he looked up at Sarah and groaned in discomfort.

"Where...where are we going? What is...this?" The last thing he wanted to do was to meet fake Arcturus.

"We take you back to base. Don't worry, it's just behind the next hill." Sarah explained to him. "Now lay back and rest, we need to hurry." Before Jim could reply anything, Sarah gave the medics a nod and they started to move again. Jim tried to stay awake and lucid in order to find out what was going on around him. But staying awake was so hard, and soon he was just battling his own fatigue and was unable to pay attention to what was happening around him.

"Keep an eye out for anything unusual!" he heard Sarah barking. "And check those perimeters! Stay away from anything that seems unusual. Remember, those critters can hide in the ground, so if you see a fresh pile of earth, keep your distance!" Since Jim was unable to do anything except breathing and drooling, he tried to listen to Sarah's voice. It was a nice change from the horrid and twisted voice of the Queen of Blades. It sounded like _her_ , just like he remembered her. He tried to focus on that voice, tried to listen to its melody.

"...any message from base...?"

"...don't care about these Zerg, what about the Protoss...?"

"...reroute the air support to the other front, we cannot allow the Protoss to gain any ground...!"

"...call the fleet, I want a dropship to pick up our wounded!"

It was Sarah's voice, but it was the voice of a true professional. Jim felt a bit disappointed, it was his Sarah, the one he had fallen in love with. But right now, she was the soldier he had met all those years ago. Cool under fire and a keen tactical mind, that was what Sarah Kerrigan, Lieutenant of the Sons of Korhal, was all about. Had been about. Jim looked up and studied the clouds above him. The storm had decided to take a break, but even then, it wouldn't last for long. At a certain point, Jim heard a sound of something he hadn't heard in quite some time. It belonged to a machine, a fighter to be exactly. And it wasn't alone. Their small group reached the top of the hill and Jim turned the head to the side. And that was when the three Wraith-fighters flew past them with engines roaring. Wraith-fighters? Here?

"Hurry up, people!" he heard Sarah bark. "Theta-platoon, once we reach the base, hook up with the rest of your company."

"Yes, Lieutenant." someone replied.

"Hague, I want you to get Captain Raynor back to base. Keep an eye on him, will you? Taylor, you will accompany Theta. They're short on medics anyway. I need a runner!" Sarah then said and another soldier answered her call.

"Ma'am!"

"Good! Once we reach the base, go to the command center. Tell them to relay a message to the fleet in orbit that they have to send shuttles down here to pick up our wounded. Oh, and tell them that we need more air support. We have barely enough planes and fighter to support one front, let alone two! Report to me afterward."

"Yes, Lieutenant!"

And with that, every soldier under Sarah's command knew what to do. Jim was barely able to form any coherent thought, but when they started to march down from the hill, he rolled his head to the side. And what he saw...

It was a valley, but this wasn't like the other valleys he had seen so far. There were still rivers and trees and all of that, but it was no longer untouched. There were so many soldiers! Jim blinked in confusion and tried to understand what was going on. In the center of the valley, he could see a military base that truly deserved its name. Several heavily fortified bunkers were placed further up ahead and turned this place into a bottleneck. Whatever would come through that valley would have to face a wall of lead and missile barrages. Even in his state, Jim realized the defenders' idea. There were three major fortifications. One on each side of the valley with a good firing position and clear sight. The third one was between those two and closer to the base than the other ones. The idea was simple; whoever, or whatever, would take this route would be under fire by the bunkers on the flanks before they would reach the fortifications in the center. There weren't just bunkers, though. Jim saw several siege-tanks as well. Old siege-tanks. And they all wore the insignia of the Sons of Korhal.

From what he could see, the troops under Sarah's command were at least brigade-sized. Jim rolled his head to the side and looked at Sarah, who was still walking right beside him. She was pressing her hand against her ear and spoke into her headset. Her eyes scanned the surrounding area while she was issuing orders at the same time.

"Tell the combat engineers to pull back. Wait for the support. I'm going to send some tanks your way. Do _not_ try to repair the damaged bunkers until the reinforcement arrives!" Then there was a moment of silence when the person on the other end said something. Jim took a close at her and suddenly he was able to make out all the details he had missed before. For example, the Sons of Korhal-insignia on her shoulder. Jim remembered that one. When he had met Sarah, she had worn it like a badge of pride. Many soldiers did something like that, Jim hadn't been any exception. An insignia can be so much more than just a symbol for identification. If you believe in it, it can give you strength.

Jim knew that insignia on Sarah's shoulder, he had seen it many times. That's why he realized that something was wrong with it. The insignia looked strange. As if someone had tried to scratch it off the shoulder-pad with a knife.

This was different from how he remembered it. That had to mean something, right? But what?

The closer they got to the base, the louder the noise became. The sounds of a military base were all too familiar to him. He could hear soldier barking orders, he heard when the heavy tank threads rumbled over the muddy ground, and then there were the Wraith-fighters soaring through the skies high above their heads. When they finally reached the base, some soldiers were already waiting for them.

"Lieutenant!" one marine greeted Sarah and saluted. Everyone stopped and Sarah returned the salute.

"What's the status?" she wanted to know.

"Ma'am, we haven't had any encounter in the northern sector since your departure. Forward scouts have informed us that these critters haven't made any attempt to attack us. They seem to be not in the mood for eating our bullets right now." the marine said with some pride in his voice. This earned him a stern look from Sarah.

"I would keep that optimism to myself for now if I were you, Lieutenant!" she scolded him. Even though they shared the same rank, there was a big difference in the quality of their command-abilities. Besides, Sarah had been placed in command by Arcturus himself, she outranked pretty much everyone except the big man himself. And she had used that authority on more on one occasion to put even Colonels and Generals in their right places. The other Lieutenant seemed to notice that Sarah wasn't in the mood for snippy remarks and gritted his teeth.

"Yes, Ma'am. Sorry, Ma'am." was everything he added. Seeing her like this, it remembered Jim of the old days. That's when he heard another voice next to him. The medics put the stretcher down and waited for further orders.

"Oh boy, here we go again." one of them mumbled. Was that Hague? Or was it the other guy whose name Jim had already forgotten?

"Drop it." the other medic said.

"What about the southern front?" Sarah wanted to know. "Last thing I heard was that the combat engineers hadn't been able to repair those fortifications destroyed during the last attack because these damn Protoss keep testing our defenses all around the clock."

"I... uhm...I'm sorry, I don't know what is..." the Lieutenant started to stutter. Sarah walked up to him and looked him straight into the eyes. Even though he wore his power armor and was a lot bigger than her, no one wondered who of these two was the boss.

"This is unacceptable!" Sarah hissed and suddenly there was nothing left of the gentle woman Jim loved so much. "You had one job; to keep track of what's going on out there. That includes _both_ fronts! In case you haven't noticed it, we are fighting a two-front war here, Mister!"

"I... I am truly sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"No excuses!" Sarah snarled. "There are lives at stake here, and I don't have time for this kind of incompetence right now!" Ouch. Jim could see how the other marines and the medics started to grow restless. No one dared to say anything, but Jim could see the displeased faces of the men around him.

"I received word that the combat engineers are still trying to get to those fortifications, but they lack proper support. So I told HQ to send the tanks we can spare to the southern front. That should have been your job! Say, what have you done in the meantime? Polished your gun and practiced for that shiny new captains-insignia you're about to receive?" Double-ouch.

Jim knew that side of Sarah, he wasn't shocked to see it again. And he knew that she had a damn good reason to act like this. It was still a battlefield, and an officer who wasn't able to display a base level of competence was a threat to himself and the men under his command. And sometimes you had to tell them the truth, no matter how brutal that might be.

"Who does this bitch think she is?" one of the marines behind Jim growled. Under normal circumstances, he would have walked up to the guy and punched his teeth out. But right now, he was too exhausted to even raise a finger.

"Watch it, the freak can read your mind!" another marine hissed, and Jim felt how his anger started to reach new heights. Unfortunately, he was all out of adrenaline, so he was unable to do anything about it.

"I apologize for that, Ma'am. It won't happen again." the Lieutenant tried to defend himself, but Sarah just snarled in anger.

"No, it won't! Return to the HQ and continue to monitor the incoming messages. Relay _every_ message to me immediately, is that understood?" Triple-ouch.

"Ma'am, I'm-"

"Dismissed!" she just said and turned away. Behind her, the Lieutenant clenched his hands into fists and you could see the anger on his face, but he knew better than to question Sarah's authority in front of everyone else _and_ during a combat operation. You can end up in sickbay within seconds if you pull something like that off.

"That bitch!" one of the marines behind Jim hissed.

"Whadda'ya expect?" another said. "She's the boss favorite pet after all."

"His own personal assassin/freak of nature. Doesn't sound so bad to me." a third marine added.

"I heard she's more than that. Boss's keeping her around at night to warm his bed if you know what I mean."

"What, he's banging her?"

"Wouldn't you? Look at that ass!"

"Bah, freak stays freak, no matter how nice their butts are!"

"I wouldn't mind riding her, all night long!"

Not all soldiers live up to a high moral code. Especially not grunts. And most grunts inside the Confederacy had been nothing but re-socialized thugs. Same could be said about the Sons of Korhal. For a long time, Jim had lived the life of a soldier/thug, so he was used to that kind of talk. Yet he had never talked like that himself. However, listening to these guys talking about Sarah like that...it was wrong.

To them, she was either a heartless killer and freak of nature or just a piece of flesh. And both made him angry, so very angry that he could feel the rage inside every bone he had! The Lieutenant muttered something very unfriendly, but then he turned away and walked off towards the command center which acted as their HQ. Sarah turned towards the soldiers and Jim could see the cold look on her face. He knew that look, she had used it on him when they had first met. But now something was different. He could hear her voice in the back of his head.

 _I won't...I won't give them the satisfaction of showing them what I truly feel. They think I'm cold as ice? So_ _,_ _I'm gonna give them some ice!_

It was the reminder that this was still a dream. Or hallucination. Or dream-hallucination. Or whatever.

"What are you waiting for?" she barked. "You have your orders, get to it!" No one dared to say a word, but they were all thinking the same thing anyway. Sarah had been with the Sons of Korhal for years, she had been one of them. But only on the outside. She had worn the insignia, but she hadn't been part of the group. When Jim saw the look on both Sarah's and the marines' faces, he realized that. She had kept them at arm's length, not because she had wanted to do that, but because they had been afraid of her. To her men, she had never been anything but a freak.

"Sarah..." he whispered, but it was loud enough for her to hear it. She walked over to Jim and knelt down right next to him.

"They're gonna take you somewhere safe, Jim. You have to rest!"

"But...!"

"No buts!" Sarah hissed and pressed him back down on the stretcher. "I can't deal with this while worrying about you running around!" She looked up to the medic and another marine. "Let's get him somewhere safe. The med-bay inside the barracks, on the double!" And even though the soldiers had the bad habit of talking behind her back, they didn't dare to do that when she was looking at them.

"Yes Ma'am." both the medic and the other soldier said while the second medic joined his other comrades. Jim groaned when they picked up the stretcher and carried him towards one of the barracks. The standardized buildings were one of the big advantages the Terrans had over the Zerg and the Protoss. Well, they had _certain_ advantages. A barrack was not just a place with plenty of beds and guns, it contained mess halls and even medical facilities, enough to keep a company stocked and combat ready for a prolonged period of time. Some barracks even had gyms or other sports and recreation areas. When they entered the building, they passed several soldiers who were on their way out to the frontlines. All of them saluted when they saw Sarah, but she just ignored them.

"Get him to the med-bay. I need to get to the command center and-"

"No! Don't go! You can't!" Jim groaned and tried to get up. He grabbed her hand and used all of his remaining strength to not let go of her.

"Jim, I have to-"

"No! DON'T!" he screamed and she looked at him with a worried expression on her face.

"Jim, what's the matter with you?" Sarah wanted to know, but only because she didn't know what he knew. This was the moment, the moment that would change everything. Perhaps this place wasn't Tarsonis, but it hardly mattered. Protoss and Zerg, and she was right in the middle of it. He remembered that day all too well. It was one of his favorite nightmares after all. Sarah saw his despair and frowned. Jim looked horrible. His skin was pale and he was covered in sweat. And he was covered in bruises and cuts.

"Jim?" she asked one more time, but the panic in his eyes made her hesitate.

"Don't...don't go..." _Or the Zerg will take you and this nightmare will start all over again._ A part of his mind told him that it was useless. He already knew how this story would end, but that didn't stop him from hoping for the impossible. Sarah, this Sarah, didn't seem to understand what was going on, but when she finally nodded, Jim sighed in relief.

"Okay. It's okay, Jimmy. I'm going with you. Let's go, take him to the med-bay." she ordered and looked up to the medic and the marine. On the entire way to the med-bay, he didn't let go of her wrist. At one point, Sarah returned the gesture and took his hand into hers. When they reached the medical facility, they put Jim on one of the sickbeds. He groaned in pain and could feel how his muscles and bones screamed in protest.

"He's in pain, get him some painkillers!" Sarah ordered and the medic turned away.

"I'll get something. But we are pretty low stocked at the moment, maybe I need to get some painkillers from another med-bay and-"

"Then get to it!" Sarah barked and then she looked at the other marine. "You, get back to your unit. Move."

"Yes, Ma'am." the marine snarled and gave her the sloppiest salute you could think of. When he turned around, Jim could see the displeased expression on Sarah's face, but she decided to say nothing. Instead, she looked down at Jim and sighed. She put her hand on Jim's cheek and he winced in pain. Suddenly he had to remember how the other Sarah, Ghost Nr. 24, had beaten him up pretty badly. However, this touch right now was gentle and soft and it felt good on his abused skin. This wasn't the rough treatment of Nr. 24, these were the gentle touches of a lover.

"Oh Jim, just what the hell did you get yourself into this time?" she wanted to know.

"You don't have...have to do this, Sarah!" he begged her. Sarah sighed, grabbed a chair and sat down next to Jim. She grabbed a nearby towel and then she started to dab the sweat and dirt off Jim's forehead.

"Oh Jimmy, you can be such an idiot, you know that? Is that why you came here? I told you I got this. But I have to do this, you know?"

"No...no, you don't. It's not worth it! Arcturus, he's-" Jim continued, but when he spoke out Mengsk's name Sarah gritted her teeth.

"I'm not doing this for Arcturus, Jim. I'm doing this for myself!" That wasn't how he had remembered things.

"You don't...have to..." He wanted to say something like _You don't have to do this!_ " but Sarah sighed and shook her head.

"Jimmy, please! Just drop it! I know that you enjoy this knight in shining armor-routine, but I'm no princess that needs to be saved! Not from these aliens. And not from Arcturus. I'm a big girl, I can look after myself." If only that were true.

"Arcturus, he's gonna...he's not what you think he is, he is..." Jim tried to explain to her, but she just turned her head away.

"I know."

"No, you don't. Listen, Arcturus, he's a liar and-"

"I know!" Sarah barked and suddenly she sounded truly annoyed. Jim looked at her red hair and could hear how she muttered something like "Why does this happen to me all the time?" Then she took a deep breath and looked back at Jim.

"It's okay. I know what you're trying to say. I'm sorry, Jim, but you came here for nothing. I already know what you are trying to tell me. You don't like Arcturus, I know. You don't trust him, I know." And then she said something she hadn't told him back then. She grabbed his hand with her own and took a deep breath.

"You were right about him, Jim."

Say what?

"Sarah?" he whispered and she closed her eyes. He could see that she was in distress. There was something nagging at her, and she had a hard time putting it into the right words.

"Before I left, after we talked, I... went to Arcturus. I talked to him and told him that I had my doubts about the mission. He wasn't even listening. He was lying to me, I could tell that. But it went deeper than that. He was trying to keep something away from me, something that I wasn't supposed to know."

"Sarah, don't...!" Jim tried to tell her, but she just shook her head.

"So, I probed him. I probed his mind and tried to find the out what he was hiding from me and Jim...Jim, it was..." Her voice was breaking up and then she looked into Jim's eyes.

"You were right about him, Jim. But it's not just that. It's even worse!" she told him and he could see hot tears of anger in the corner of her eyes. "He's just like them! Just like the Confederates! He only cares about his own power, he doesn't give a damn about the people! He wants to rule this sector or see it burning!" When Jim heard that, he felt truly confused. He didn't know about any of this. Had Sarah really talked to Arcturus shortly before the mission? Or was this just a dream and this was the part where everything would turn out peachy?

"Then...why are you here?" he gasped. Sarah sighed and put her hand on his forehead. Her touch felt nice.

"Because I'm a goddamn fool. Because there's still a job to be done. If we don't stop these damn aliens here, then billions will die." That...didn't really sound like Sarah. Not that he was complaining, but Sarah had never truly cared about most people around her.

"Why...why do you care about them?" he asked, even though that was a rather rude question because it implied that Jim believed that Sarah didn't care about most people.

"I don't." she replied truthfully and gave him a warm and pained smile. "But you do. I just...I didn't want to...well, I guess I don't know what I'm trying to say here." Sarah tried to explain her own emotions, but she failed in a rather cute way.

"Sarah...I don't..."

"You sound like a broken record, Jimmy." she sighed and gave him a weak smile. "But just so you know; maybe I'm not a princess, but almost every girl likes it when there's a knight in shining armor getting his ass kicked for the girl he loves." That smile. That warm smile. It was the kind of smile that turned his nightmares into pleasant dreams.

"I was thinkin'..." she then continued. "...when this is over, when these aliens are dealt with...Jim, let's go somewhere else. Far away, somewhere where no one will bother us. How does that sound?" Well, that was kinda random. And Jim realized that this sounded too much like what he _wanted_ to hear.

"Like...where?" Jim asked.

"Dunno. Somewhere distant, maybe with beaches and stuff. And as few people as possible. Just you and me. So, what do you say?" she wanted to know. Jim knew that this wasn't real, that everything would turn out differently. But even then he couldn't help but smile when he heard that.

"That...would be nice." he told her and she smiled back.

"I never made any plans for the future, you know. Never saw the point in doing something like that. Heh, I never thought to grow this old anyway." 26. She had been 26 years old when the Swarm had claimed her. To think that someone who was only 26 thought that this could be considered as old age...

"I guess I have you to blame for that, Jimmy." she added. This was something she had never shared with him. Was this truly what Sarah had felt back then? Or was it just what Jim wanted to hear? Well, he was too weak and too exhausted to ask Sarah about this. The whole conversation raised even more questions in the back of his mind, and he was starting to lose his sight on the real objective here; to find the Zerg called Izsha. However, before he could ask Sarah more questions, the medic arrived. He carried a big crate with a red cross on it and placed it in the corner of the med-bay.

"Drugs delivery is here! Someone ordered a stiff stimpack?" the medic chuckled, but when he looked over to Jim and Sarah, he could see the Lieutenant's frosty gaze and he realized that she wasn't amused. Not one bit. He muttered something like "...cranky bitch...", but Sarah just chose to ignore it this time. The medic opened the crate and looked into it.

"Well, what do we have here. Ah yeah, that's it. Okay, all set. Now, what can we do for you, Sir?" the medic asked as he walked over to Jim. The man took a hard look at Jim's bruised body and whistled.

"Man, they banged you up good, buddy! Here, let me give you something against the pain." Someone once said that the difference between an actual doctor and a medic is that a doctor can make you better when you're sick. A medic just makes you feel more comfortable when you're dying. Well, there was _some_ truth to those words.

"Here you go, that should help you with the pain." The medic was about to administer some painkillers. Nothing fancy and nothing that could cause an addiction (because he had that stuff at his disposal too). But when he was about to give Jim an injection, Sarah intervened.

"No, give him a mild sedative." she ordered and it took Jim a moment to realize what she was talking about. When he tried to object it was already too late.

"No, Sarah! Don't, you have to listen to...me...and... don't..." he tried to tell her, but the moment he felt the prick of the needle and the sedative entered his bloodstream, his body started to grow weaker. The last thing he saw before blackness claimed him was Sarah's gentle smile right above him.

"Don't worry, Jimmy. Everything will be fine. And when you wake up, we will have a long and nice talk. I promise."

No. No, they wouldn't.

* * *

When Jim woke up again, he had to shiver. It was as if someone had put him in a freezer. He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt like they were made out of lead. This didn't feel like waking up from a good night's sleep. Fighting yourself back from beyond a narcosis always felt horrible and Jim truly despised that feeling. It was as if your body wasn't fully operational again. Like a machine that was supposed to work at peak efficiency once you switch it back on, but it just wouldn't do that.

Someone had put a blanket over his body, so at least he knew that the freezing sensation was just inside his mind.

Jim didn't know how long it took him to regain some traction, but it hardly mattered. Because he felt even more horrible than before. His limbs didn't do as they were told to, and he wasn't even able to form any words.

"Hello? Anyone out there? Sarah?" he said. Well, that's what he _would_ have said. Instead, the only thing that left his throat were gurgling sounds.

"Gha...ghak..." It was pointless. His throat felt like he had just gurgled razors. It took him considerable effort to not slip back into unconsciousness, but with every passing moment, he was able to gain a bit more traction. When he finally managed to open his eyes, he groaned in discomfort. So bright!

"No... li... light!" he managed to squeeze out, but nothing happened. Was there no one around? "Too bright!" But again, nothing happened. When he was able to turn his head around, he could see that he was alone. The med-bay way empty. Both Sarah and the medic were gone and Jim was all by himself. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on his extremities. At first, he tried to wiggle his fingers, and much to his own relief he could feel how they responded to his commands. But when he tried to move his legs, all he felt was nothing.

"Oh, that ain't...good..." he managed to gargle. "Hey! Help!" he shouted as loud as he could, but he had his doubts that anyone had heard him. "Anyone out there? I could use a hand over here!" Yet no one came to help. So, what was he supposed to do? Wait for anyone to come? Wasn't he supposed to do something else? Look for someone?

A Zerg, right? Iz...Izsha. He was supposed to look for Izsha!

"No... rest for the wicked...I suppose." he coughed and looked around. There had to be something, _anything_ that could help him. He still felt like shit, and there was no way that he could go on looking for Izsha. Hell, he wouldn't survive hostile contact with a gerbil! So, what could he do? He was too weak to even walk and...

That's when he saw the crate the medic had brought here. It was filled with large amounts of medical equipment like painkillers and such. And there was something else, it was right in his sight.

"Oh, how I hate these things." Jim sighed, but he knew that it was the only solution he could think of right now. He tried to get back up, but all he managed was to roll to the side.

"MOTHER OF...!" he screamed before he fell out of the bed and landed on the hard and cold floor. The impact hurt like hell, but at least he didn't break anything. Jim needed a moment to regain enough strength to even look around. There, the crate was near the door. He rolled on his belly and used his arms to pull himself over the cold floor, but even then, he just managed to do so with a pitiful speed slower than a snail. And it took him almost all of his strength. When he finally reached the crate, he was out of breath and covered in sweat. Jim managed to sit up and looked for a very special thing inside that crate.

He hated those things, always had. They were highly addictive and poisonous at the same time. Jim had seen how they had turned good men into addicts and wrecks. He had been forced to use them on several occasions, and it had never been pretty. But no matter what he might was thinking of them at this moment, they still packed quite the punch. And that was just what he needed right now; a punch.

And so, he pulled a stimpack out of the crate and sighed when he looked at the injector.

"I really hate those things." he sighed and pressed the injector against his arm. He triggered the injector and felt how the needle went through his skin. It felt just like the narcosis, only the other way around. The moment the stuff entered his bloodstream, it felt as if someone had hooked him up to a fusion reactor while replacing his blood with steaming hot coffee. Stimpacks contained a hefty mixture of stimulants, synthetic adrenaline, and poison in equal parts. They weren't meant to be healthy, they were meant to give soldiers an edge over their enemy. Using them to overcome pain was actually a really bad idea, and it was forbidden in any decent military.

Good thing that the Confederacy and the Sons of Korhal had never been decent military organizations in the first place, huh?

Ever received an electrically charged kick to the head? Well, that's what it felt like. Jim's head throbbed in pain and he groaned in discomfort. But with every passing second, he regained more control over his body. And after a minute, he felt good enough to get back on his feet. When he stood up, the whole room started to spin around him and he had to hold on to something.

"Oh hell...!" Jim managed to squeeze out. Yet when he straightened himself, he sighed in relief. He felt better. No, he felt good! And the headache was fading away too! Even so, he knew that this wasn't something he could rely on. His body was still in bad shape, the stimpack only took away the pain. But hey, he felt like he could go up against a Hydralisk, so that had to count for something.

"Better...better than Swann's coffee." he mumbled and looked around. There was no one around. Jim wondered what to do next, however, his line of thoughts was cut short when the whole building started to shake.

"What the...?" he screamed and almost fell on the ground once more. It had felt like an explosion, far away but very powerful. Oh, that wasn't a good sign. Jim took a deep breath and was about to stumble out of the room. But then he stopped, returned to the crate and grabbed a pack with some more stimpacks.

"Just in case." he said to himself before he finally left the med-bay.

He encountered no one on his way out and wondered if everything that had happened before had been nothing but a dream, including the marines and the medics. However, it was hard to say because right now he was _stoned_! Seriously, those stimpacks packed a punch! He felt strength that didn't really exist. His senses felt sharper than before too. While the chemicals inside those drugs could improve human reflexes for a short time, they couldn't make you see or hear any better. You just believe that. That's why so many soldiers end up dead; because they think that "they can still make it". Or that they can dodge that one bullet.

Jim knew that, and he was aware of the fact that he was just imagining that his senses were sharper than before, so when he smelled smoke, he knew that his senses were playing tricks with him. The closer he came to the exit, the stronger the smell became. It wasn't just smoke, he could smell gunpowder too. And... flesh. Burned flesh. Probably a flashback. That too was a side effect. If you use stimpacks too many times, you will end up as a drooling husk.

When Jim stepped out of the barracks, he had to close his eyes. Something was causing them to burn. Heat touched his skin and he started to cough. Thick layers of smoke were around him, and when he had calmed a bit down, he looked around and his eyes widened in shock.

"Oh no. What happened here?"

The base was a mess. The battle was obviously over, but he could still hear gunfire in the distance. Almost every building was either badly damaged, or completely destroyed. He looked around and then he saw a soldier next to a supply depot.

Or what was left of him.

Jim looked around and made sure that whoever did this was no longer around. He walked towards the corpse and on his way there, he took a good hard look at every shadow and every hole in the wall. Even from all that distance, he could tell that the marine was dead. Not because Jim's eyes were that good. But here's a funny thing about us humans; we can't survive without a torso and a head. That guy in front of Jim had neither. When he reached the corpse, he looked down and gritted his teeth. It wasn't a pretty sight. Someone, or _something_ to be more precisely, had decided to take a nice big bite out of that poor guy's body. The only thing still left were two legs and the lower body. Whatever had killed him, it had torn through the heavy armor of his suit like it was just paper.

Even though Jim hadn't seen how this man had died, he still knew what had killed him. Something had torn through the armor like a savage beast. There were claw-marks all over the metal and it was brutally obvious what had happened.

Zerg.

It's always Zerg, right?

Jim wasn't bothered by the fact that Zerg had done that. The only thing that bothered him right now was that there were Zerg out there and he had nothing to defend himself. Well, not for long. He knelt down next to the corpse and started to work on the armor on the right leg. CMC combat armors were highly standardized. There wasn't any big difference between the armors the Confederacy had used and the other types. Maybe they looked different on the outside, but the insides were mostly the same. The marine's gauss-rifle was nowhere to be seen, but that was hardly a problem because Jim wouldn't have been able to use it anyway. Not without a combat armor of his own.

But that didn't mean that everything was hopeless.

"Come on, you stupid...that's it!" Jim cursed as he tried to open the small compartment that was below the metal plates. It wasn't that simple because he had to use brute force since the batteries were no longer connected to the suit's systems. As for the batteries...well, they were probably inside an Ultralisk's stomach right now. Along with the other half of that poor guy.

However, Jim had no time to mourn or feel pity for the dead soldier. He was still alive and he had to make sure that it would stay this way. That meant finding a weapon. He grabbed a piece of metal, rammed it into a gap and started to work his way through the armor. It took him a while, but when he finally managed to rip the metal plate away, he sighed in relief.

"Well, hello beautiful." Jim groaned. "That ain't a place for a lady. How about we go to my place?" He grabbed the heavy combat pistol and felt a lot safer when he pulled it out. This baby was standard issue handed out to every marine, and much like Jim's old revolver, this thing could be used both with a combat armor and without it.

Oh, did he mention that this thing was heavy?

No?

Well, just in case; it was heavy.

But that weight had its advantages. Because the caliber of that pistol was powerful enough to impress even a Hydralisk. Hell, one round could down even a Protoss. If the shields were down. And if there was no armor in the way.

Maybe.

Meh, it was a gun. Hopefully, Jim wouldn't need it. However, it's always better to be prepared than to hope that someone will save your ass from an angry Hydralisk. Armed with a big and ugly gun, Jim looked around and took some time to check his surroundings. This place was a mess. Whatever had transpired here, he had missed all of the action. He wondered what he should do next, but that was just a theoretical question. No, he knew what he had to do.

He had to find Sarah. And then they had to get off this world. Whatever Arcturus had hoped to achieve here, it was no longer his problem. Or Sarah's. Tarsonis was done for.

Jim didn't question that thought, nor did he wonder why this place didn't look like Tarsonis at all. Perhaps it was the stimpacks, perhaps his mind was just no longer able to see through all these illusions. As he walked through the destroyed base, he was a soldier once again. Years of fighting had taken their toll on his mind, so acting like a soldier seemed to be the most natural thing to do. And one thing a soldier should do was to shut up and stop thinking.

The command center. He had heard that the command center was also acting as HQ. Sarah had to be there, and if she wasn't there, then there should be a way to find out where she had gone.

"God, what happened here?" he muttered when he approached the command center. The base was big and there was a lot of ground to cover. Jim hushed from one cover to the next. That was until he started to hear gunfire. It wasn't close, but it sounded like a fierce battle. It took him some time until he finally reached the command center. He came past more than one pile of dirt, and even though it looked just like that (a pile of dirt), he still tried to keep his distance. Years of experience had taught him how to look out for these details. It could be just that, a pile of dirt. It could also be a Zerg hiding below.

Better not take any chances.

His pistol should be able to deal with any Zergling, maybe even with a Hydralisk. But who knew what else the Zerg had to offer.

Jim didn't find many other corpses. It appeared as if most soldiers had fled the scene before the Zerg had arrived. Zerg didn't really care for corpses, they usually left their victims where they slew them. They only collected corpses when they were in dire need of biomass. Or if they were planning something truly nasty.

When he reached the command center, he realized that he had missed one hell of a party. Parts of the building had been blown apart, and Jim could see both claw and scorch marks all over it. As he walked towards the main gate, his initial analysis of the situation proved to be correct. There were Zerg inside the base. He was lucky, though, because someone had already dealt with them. He walked over to a corpse of a Hydralisk and gave its head a weak kick. The creature didn't move, which was hardly surprising considering that it was filled with holes.

"That's right, someone banged you up for good, huh?" Jim muttered and was about turn back towards the command center when suddenly a shot was fired. The projectile hit the ground only a couple of inches away from him and he immediately jumped into cover. And with cover, he meant the corpse of the Hydralisk.

"Mother of...!" he screamed. "WATCH YOUR FIRE, YOU IDIOTS!" That's when another shot was fired. It smashed into the corpse of the Zerg, but the Hydralisk didn't really mind.

"Cease fire. CEASE FIRE!" someone suddenly yelled, just when another round was fired. It smashed into the Hydralisk and Jim realized that this was probably the shittiest cover of all times. Using a Hydralisk for that was like hiding behind a bull's eye.

"I said seize fire, you goddamn asshole!" the other man continued to scream. "That's not a Zerg, you're firing on one of our guys!" Jim heard some kind of argument and then the fire finally stopped.

"Don't fire! Don't fire! I'm not a Zerg!" Jim screamed.

"See? I told you that it's not a Zerg!" the other man shouted something.

"Yeah, says who? Maybe it's a Zerg in disguise!" another soldier barked back. Was that the guy who had fired his gun?

"There is no such thing!" the first soldier replied. "Hey, you! You can come out now! Trigger happy over here is cool now."

"Really?" Jim asked. "You know, I think I should stay just here and wait things out."

"Fine by us, but just so you know that if more Zerg show up, we will shoot into your direction. And then I won't be sorry if my pal over here hits you!"

"Such a nice bunch of fellows." Jim hissed before he finally stood up and put his hand high up in the air. You know, just to be on the safe side.

"See! Human! Both on the inside and outside!" he yelled and walked over to the entrance of the command center. He could see two marines behind a make-shift barricade. There were countless empty brasses lying around, and it looked like they had fought for hours.

"Who are you guys?" Jim wanted to know when he finally reached them.

"Yo, buddy! We should be the ones asking that...wait...Captain Raynor? Is that you?" the more reasonable soldier suddenly asked. His trigger-happy comrade leaned to the side and tightened his grip on his rifle.

"It's a trick! This Zerg just looks like the Captain, it just wants us to turn around and-"

"Oh, for crying out loud, shut up!" the first marine yelled. "You can shove your paranoia up your own ass for all I care!" He then turned back towards Jim and the golden visor of his helmet opened. When Jim looked into the face of the man, he could see the exhaustion and the fear in those eyes.

"Sir, it's really good to see you. We already started to believe that you and General Mengsk had abandoned us. The Lieutenant has been screaming help over the comm-channels for hours, but we got no answer. Sir, are you here to get us out?" But Jim stopped listening after "Lieutenant". That guy was talking about Sarah!

"Where?" Jim then wanted to know.

"Where what?" the marine asked.

"Where is the Lieutenant?"

"Inside." the trigger-happy marine explained and pointed with his finger behind him. "But that asshole hasn't come out in ages. Too scared of 'dem critters. Worthless coward." Jim knew better than to start an argument with a random marine, but he still felt the urge to remove some of the man's teeth by using his fist.

"Need to talk with your boss. Then we'll see what's gonna happen next." Jim growled and forced his way past the two marines. When he entered the command center, he could see that most of the damage was only on the outside. There were wounded soldiers everywhere, and not all of them would survive. Some medics tried to do their best to keep the screaming and moaning to a bare minimum.

"The Lieutenant, where?" Jim wanted to know when he stopped a medic that was walking past him. The woman blinked in surprise and pointed further down the corridor.

"In the communication room, just head down the corridor and-"

"Thanks, I know the way." Jim growled and just moved on. He had to find Sarah! And after that, they had to find a way off this world! Tarsonis was lost, that much was for certain. Jim didn't really question that thought. Everything seemed so real. Besides, he had come here to find someone, right? Izsha...Izh...what, who? No, he was only here for Sarah.

As he approached the communication room, he could hear the enraged voice of another soldier. He recognized the voice, he had heard it before. But when he finally realized who this voice belonged to he could no longer hide his anger.

"This is base command! To the fleet, to anyone! We need help down here! Send the evac-birds, the base has been overrun by alien forces! Lieutenant Kerrigan has abandoned us, we are all alone down here! Help us!" the man screamed and whined at the same time. When Jim entered the room, he could see that there was only one marine. Only it wasn't any random marine.

It was the Lieutenant from earlier. The incompetent asshole.

"Should be more specific with my questions next time." Jim growled when he realized that he and the guys outside had talked about different lieutenants.

"WHO IS THERE?!" the lieutenant screamed and turned away from the console. He pulled his gun out and pointed it right at Jim, who in return raised his own gun.

"Whoa, hey! Easy there, partner! I'm not here to hurt you! Put that gun down, will ya'?" However, the lieutenant didn't really seem to care about that.

"You...Captain Raynor? What, you're still alive?"

"You sound disappointed." Jim muttered and shook his head. That's when he lowered his pistol and looked right into the other man's eyes. All he could see was fear and panic. "Where's Sarah? Where's Lieutenant Kerrigan?"

"The bitch left us! She abandoned us!" the Lieutenant screamed in rage.

"Somehow I doubt that." Jim replied. "Where is she?"

"She left in a hurry. We received word that these other aliens with the glowy tech were about to overwhelm the defenders, and she rushed there to do whatever. She left us alone!"

"You do realize that some officers lead their troops by fighting at the front, right?" Jim asked.

"Doesn't matter. She just left and then the other aliens started to act up again. They tore through our defenses like they were made out of paper!"

"Didn't you send them any reinforcements?" Jim wanted to know.

"Of course I did! But they didn't manage to help either. The commanding officer was killed and-" the Lieutenant tried to explain, but that's when Jim shook his head in disbelief.

"Their CO is down? And you're still here? Why the hell did you not go out there and assumed command?" Critical strike detected. The Lieutenant looked into Jim's eyes and started to stutter.

"I... uhm...Lieutenant Kerrigan told me that I should stay here and... uh, I..."

"You know, kiddo..." Jim told the Lieutenant. "...if you want to put the blame on others, you should make sure that you're not an incompetent idiot. It kinda ruins your point. Just saying." He could see how the other man's face turned red in shame and anger, but he had neither the time nor the patience to deal with this crap right now. He only wanted to know one thing.

"Where's Lieutenant Kerrigan? And don't tell me "Out there", because that isn't very helpful." The Lieutenant didn't seem to be very happy with Jim's attitude, but after staring at each other for some time, he just turned away.

"We received a message that the aliens in the south were starting to tear through our defenses. The Lieutenant took a large portion of the reserve with her and left us behind."

"You mean she relieved the front lines and did her job by going out there herself, unlike a certain someone inside this room." Jim replied before he shook his head. "Can't blame her for leaving you behind. Which way?" The Lieutenant gave Jim a confused look.

"Which way what?"

"Which way to the front line, you moron!" Jim barked, and for a second it seemed as if the Lieutenant was about reply something that he would regret, but perhaps he wasn't a hopeless cause after all because he managed to do the one thing he hadn't done so far; he kept his thoughts to himself and simply answered Jim's question.

"The front line is to the south, that's where the main base of these energy-aliens is located. But it's a mess down there and we haven't heard anything since...hey, where are you going?!" the Lieutenant shouted when Jim just turned away.

"Need to find Sarah. If we manage to hook up with her, we might be able to get off this damn rock and-" He froze instantly when he heard a clicking sound behind him. Jim didn't have to turn around in order to realize that the Lieutenant was pointing his gun at Jim's back.

"First you hide in the command center when you should be out there, and now you threaten me with a gun?" Jim wanted to know. "You know, I think Sarah was right about you. You are an incompetent fool."

"I can't allow you to leave! I need every soldier and I can't spare even one." the Lieutenant tried to reason with Jim. But trying to reason with someone while you point a gun at them isn't exactly a very smart thing to do.

"Ain't one of your soldiers, buddy. Just stay here and try to contact the fleet. Maybe someone heard your whining and will show us some mercy by blowing this place up." Jim growled and decided to walk out of the communication room. He knew that the Lieutenant wouldn't shoot him. He knew it because this guy wasn't the first incompetent coward in a combat armor he had met. And these guys were always the same.

"Captain Raynor! Captain! You can't just leave us behind!"

"It's called "regrouping", haven't they told you that in school, kiddo?" Jim just shot back before he finally left that asshole behind. On his way out, he encountered some more wounded soldiers and when he reached the entrance, the two marines who guarded it turned around and looked at him in surprise.

"Already done?" the more reasonable soldier asked and Jim nodded.

"Did you kill that asshole and take over command?" his trigger-happy colleague wanted to know.

"No, I'm afraid the Lieutenant is still alive and well...or let's just say he's still alive." Jim replied.

"Oh, joy." trigger-happy mumbled. "This day's full of disappointments."

"Tell me about it." Jim agreed. "I need directions. Gonna look for Lieutenant Kerrigan and then we're gonna try to figure something out. Now, if these critters attack again you have to abandon your position. This place is shot and without a solid line of defense, they will just overrun you."

"Yeah, don't think so. Don't get me wrong, Captain, but we ain't leaving this place. We still got wounded inside that command center. We can't leave them behind." the reasonable marine said and Jim sighed.

"You're right. Just...just try to stay alive until I manage to find the _real_ Lieutenant and some other survivors. Then we regroup and find a way off this damn planet. Question is; how do I get there?" Both soldiers looked at each other when they heard that.

"Lieutenant Kerrigan took most of the reserve with her. Not much left." the reasonable one said.

"Yeah, but what about those speedies parked behind the armory? Their pilots were told to grab armors and guns and help with the defense of the base." trigger-happy suggested.

"Pfff." the reasonable one said and waved his hand. "Please, those things are death traps! Way too fast for this terrain anyway. Besides, only a madman would use one of these things." Jim listened to their conversation for a few moments before he shook his head.

"Hey, hold on! What kind of vehicles are we talking about here?" Both marines looked at him and he could see their worried expression on their faces.

"Mr. Safety-First over here is talking about the bikes parked behind the armory. There should still be some of them around. Hopefully." trigger-happy explained. Bikes?

"What bikes?" Jim asked once more.

"What bikes, what bikes. What kind of question is that?" trigger-happy snarled. "Vulture bikes of course!"


	71. Act III - Chapter 15

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 15**

 **Need for Speed**

* * *

Vulture bikes weren't designed for heavy combat duty. That honor still belonged to the big boys, aka "tanks". But just because a weapon system wasn't created for that purpose didn't mean that it was useless. Vulture bikes were highly mobile. In fact, they were so mobile that they could outrun many airborne units if the ground was even. Vultures didn't make much sense in the midst of a heated battle. However, they were perfect on worlds with small populations and a lot of ground to cover. They were the ideal tool for quick skirmishes, raids, or rapid incursions. You know, when speed is the most important factor.

If you design a military grade vehicle, there are always three things you have to keep in mind. Firepower, maneuverability, and protection. Take a tank; the most important thing about it isn't how fast it can move or how well it is protected. The most important thing is firepower. If you can't destroy the enemy, the whole tank is useless. Only after that comes mobility because it's more important than protection. Every armor will fail eventually, so it's better to be too fast for the enemy to destroy you. Only then you can put some armor plating on your tank.

That's the idea behind a tank, even though many people think that tanks are slow and heavily armored. The truth is; a good tank is fast and adequately armored. Of course, there were exceptions. Like siege-tanks. But if you mix two different weapon systems (like tanks and howitzers), you have to make a compromise.

The guys who created the vultures hadn't made any compromises. This thing was made for speed. 370 kilometers per hour was possible, but only if the ground was even. And even though you could learn to drive one of these things in weeks, it took years before one had mastered it. Though "driving" was the wrong word. "Piloting" was far more fitting.

Jim knew how to pilot a vulture bike. You could say that he had spent more hours sitting on these babies than any other Confederate marshal. It took guts to push a vulture to its limit. And a big portion of insanity. Sarah knew how to ride one of these things, she had learned it during her Ghost-training. She was a master of many things, and Jim would never be able to match her skills as a sniper or an assassin (not that he wanted to do that). But when it came to riding a vulture bike? Ha! Let's just say that _she_ had told him to go slower.

Well, she had screamed something like that on several occasions.

The vulture bike Jim was riding was nowhere near 370 kilometers per hour right now. The landscape made that impossible. But when Jim looked at the speedometer, he could see that he was close to 100 kilometers per hour. Nowhere near what this baby had to offer, but he wanted to reach Sarah in one piece, not in many. His bike had to hover higher above the ground than he was used to, due to the high grass and uneven soil. It made the whole ride a pretty wobbly experience. On Mar Sara, things were different. There was hardly any vegetation at all and you could see almost every obstacle hundreds of meters in advance.

The storm above his head had taken a break, but when he looked up, Jim realized that it wouldn't stay like this for long. It was strange, though. He had never heard that there was something like rain seasons on Tarsonis. Or that the planet was covered with lush jungles. He had been to Tarsonis once, but that had been many years ago. And back then he hadn't truly cared for the wonders of the world's environment, even though he was pretty certain that there had never been jungles on that planet.

Well, what did he know? Because this was a jungle and he was currently on Tarsonis. Everything was right in front him and he didn't question any of it. To Jim, it was no longer a hallucination or a dream. This was war and he was a soldier. He had talked about this mission with the Magistrate only hours before. Both men had agreed that this whole mission was nothing but bad news. And both of them had decided to remain cautious. Jim knew that he had decided to stay in orbit with the rest of the fleet, so he had no idea how he had ended up on the surface. But it didn't really matter.

The southern front was both near and far away at the same time. It was actually rather close when compared to other battlefields. However, the terrain proved to be a challenge and navigating was tough. He needed all of his skills to not crash into a tree or flip his vulture bike over. Jim came past some destroyed tanks, must of them had scorch marks on them. High energy plasma weapons, no doubt from Protoss weaponry. However, one thing was strange; most of these vehicles had been on their way back to base. Had they tried to retreat? Jim slowed his machine down, but he didn't stop. He had to keep moving, so all he did was to take a good and hard look at those tanks.

There were a lot of scorch marks on their front, but those hits hadn't destroyed the tanks. That damage was probably caused by dragoons, or whatever these damn Protoss called those four-legged things. To think that these aliens would do that to their crippled soldiers. Walking coffins, nothing more. That's when something else caught Jim's eye. He finally decided to stop right next to a smoking wreckage and frowned. The turret of the tank had been ripped open from the inside. It looked as if something had managed to get through the armor and cause the ammunition inside to explode. The tank didn't really look like a tank anymore, more like a piece of modern art. But that was no longer important.

Jim decided to stop and got off his bike. He walked over to the destroyed vehicle and knelt down next to a piece of armor. It had been part of the turret's topside armor and it was full of small holes. Dragoons hadn't done this. That's when he heard that hissing sound, and he immediately knew what had destroyed those tanks.

"Well, shit!" Jim screamed, turned around and ran back towards his vulture bike. He didn't bother putting on the seatbelt and just pushed the pedal to the metal. The vulture accelerated immediately and Jim was pressed into his seat. And not one second too late, because the moment he was on the move again a golden object appeared a couple of hundred meters behind him. He looked over his shoulder and gritted his teeth.

A Protoss scout-fighter. Just his luck.

Those scouts were formidable machines. They were faster, more powerful and better protected than anything the Terrans had in their arsenal. Without any dedicated anti-air-support, those tanks had been sitting ducks. For a second, Jim thought that it hadn't spotted him, but then the nose of the Protoss fighter turned around and pointed right at him.

"Sonoffabitch!" Jim screamed and decided to ignore reason. He pushed the vulture to its limits and accelerated far beyond anything that was good and proper. The powerful engine started to hiss and the whole machine vibrated when the repulsor-generator was pushed beyond all safety regulations.

Driving faster than 100 kph in this terrain was suicidal, but if there was one thing that Jim was truly excellent in, it was riding a vulture bike. He piloted his vehicle with great skill. Any ordinary pilot would have been busy like hell trying to avoid crashing into anything alone. But Jim knew what he was doing. He even got time to check if the scout-fighter was still there. He looked down at his instruments and could see a red dot on his sensors. And that red dot was gaining on him.

"Oh, great." Jim hissed and pressed himself deeper into his seat. Without his goggles or a helmet, the airflow was almost painful and it made it pretty hard to look ahead. Unfortunately, slowing down was out of the option. The scout-fighter didn't slow down either and that could only mean one thing. Jim could hear the hissing sound of the alien fighter's engines. It sounded totally different from any Terran-made fighter. But the sound they made when they performed a nose-dive was the exact same.

Jim knew what he had to do. He started to drive zigzag and tried to move as erratic as possible. Since his ride lacked _any_ anti-air weapons, there was nothing else he could do. And even then, it was a shitty plan. S there was no goddamn Goliath around, it was the only thing he could do.

The hissing sound became louder and louder until it felt as if the damn fighter was about to land right on Jim's head. He was bracing himself for the enemy to open fire, but much to his own surprise the fighter did not end him right here and now. When the sound of the scout's engine became unbearable loud, Jim looked over his shoulder and could practically look into the alien pilot's eyes. At least he was imagining something like that. It was so close!

That's when the fighter shot past his head and climbed back into the sky.

"Mother of...!" Jim screamed when the hot plasma of the engines washed over him. It felt like staring into a goddamn fireball. He almost lost control over his machine and had to use all of his skills and strength to stay on course. He succeeded, but Jim had no time to cheer at himself for this exceptional display of driving skill because that asshole had just passed him in order to find out if he was juicy enough to be considered a worthy target.

The scout-fighter climbed so high that Jim almost lost it from his sight. Only the blue glow of its engines told Jim where it was. He could see how the fighter reached its apex before it turned around. And then it was coming right at him.

Jim had to make a decision, and he had to make it fast. The fighter would be upon him within mere seconds, so there was no time to come up with an elaborated plan. So, no thinking, only acting. Jim gritted his teeth and prepared himself to do something truly stupid.

"Well..." he muttered. "...I never liked this planet anyway." And then he accelerated again. Maybe the alien pilot was confused, maybe not. But when the vulture bike was heading right towards the fighter, the enemy pilot seemed to hesitate. This wasn't a game of chicken, not really. It was a calculated risk. If Jim managed to get close enough, the enemy wouldn't be able to use his guns and had to go for another pass. The scout-fighter slowed down for a second. It almost seemed as if the pilot wasn't sure if Jim intended to attack him. It bought Jim just one goddamn second because when the pilot seemed to realize that the vulture bike was no threat to him, he accelerated again.

Jim forced his eyes off that golden machine and looked straight ahead. The speedometer showed 160 kph. Far too fast for this kind of surroundings.

But not fast enough to escape the enemy.

"Come on! Come on!" Jim screamed while pushing the pedal to the metal. 180. 200. 220. The fighter had reached the optimal altitude and ended its nose-dive. Its nose was now pointing directly at Jim.

230.

The scout opened fire.

250.

"WHOOOOAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA!" Jim screamed both in fear and joy. The projectiles of the enemy flew right past his head while he passed the fighter below its shiny belly. He kept the pace and didn't dare to slow down. This wasn't over yet.

Still...that had been pretty damn cool!

Behind him, the scout-fighter accelerated once more and Jim could see on his scanner that it was flying away fast. But that didn't mean that he was finally safe. It had only bought him what? A minute? Half a minute? Ten seconds? He looked at his sensors and could see how the fighter was moving away and to Jim's left side. That could only mean one thing; his dancing partner was turning around in order to finish the job. Jim looked ahead and could see that there was nothing that could act as cover. He was out in the open and the next tree line was too far away.

"Never a dull moment!" Jim hissed and turned his vulture bike to the left. That way he was forcing the enemy to adapt his course or to overshoot again and go for another pass. The enemy pilot didn't even try to slow down and opened fire. Jim heard how the engines on that thing started to scream like a cat that had been set on fire and then the fighter passed over his head yet again.

Well, another minute alive.

He couldn't keep this up forever. Hell, he wouldn't be able to keep this up for the next five minutes! But there was no one around who could save his sorry ass. He looked over his shoulders and watched how the fighter climbed back up high into the sky. The storm was still close by and there was a wall of rain heading towards them. He had to make sure to stay away from...

Wait a second.

A mad grin appeared on Jim's face. He had never heard about storms like this one on Tarsonis, but what did he know? It looked like a goddamn wall of water and he couldn't see anything past it. The scout-fighter was right in front of that gray wall and turned around.

"Once more into the breach, huh?" Jim growled and turned his vulture bike around. The enemy probably knew what Jim was about to do because he slowed down and moved into firing position. Jim pushed his ride to the limits and headed straight towards the rainstorm. The fighter tried to react as fast as possible and this time the pilot opened fire immediately. Jim gritted his teeth and made that vulture bike dance like no one had ever done before. The ground next to him exploded when the high-velocity rounds smashed into it. But Jim stayed on course.

"Come on! Come on! COME ON!" The scout-fighter slowed down even more, almost to the point where it would hover in the air.

"AaaaaaAAAAAHHHH!" Jim screamed like he had lost it when he passed below that damn fighter once more. Now there was nothing between him and the heavy wall of rain. Behind him, the fighter turned around again, but this time it was different. It seemed as if the pilot was truly angry. Well, _if_ those damn aliens could even be angry. Jim could hear how the engines on that fighter screamed like a pair of mad banshees. It came around again, but this time the fighter was so fast and pulling such a tight turn that the pilot was probably shitting his own pants right now.

Someone was pissed.

"Well, I just love to make new friends wherever I go!" Jim screamed and accelerated even further.

260.

280.

"To hell with this!" Jim roared. In front of him was one huge wall of rain. He had no idea how good the sensors of that damn scout-fighter were, but even that guy would have problems tracking him down in that kind of weather. He pushed his machine to the limits and just hoped for the best.

290.

So close. SO CLOSE!

Behind him, he could hear both the engines of the fighter and gunfire. Something exploded right in front of him, but Jim didn't slow down. Dirt smashed against the nose of the vulture bike and he gritted his teeth.

"GONNA MAKE IT!" he screamed.

300.

Worst. Plan. Ever.

The moment he reached the storm, he could see shit. Torrents of water poured down on him and he had to close his eyes. Ever got water in your eyes while traveling with 300 kilometers per hour? Well, it ain't pretty. Jim was effectively blind, yet he could still hear the fighter behind him. The whole plan was shitty at best. Who said that the scout's sensors were affected by the weather anyway? Knowing Jim's luck? Not at all. He had no other choice but to slow down, so this was it. Do or die time.

Or, to be more precisely, "do not and look if it would lead to his death"-time.

The vulture came to a halt and Jim gritted his teeth. Since the raindrops were no longer traveling at the speed of goddamn light, he could open his eyes again, but it was impossible to see further than a couple of meters. Within seconds, he was drenched. Yet even though he couldn't see the scout, he could hear it. And he could hear how its engines became even louder.

"On second thought...maybe that wasn't such a great plan after all." he muttered to himself and gritted his teeth. The worst thing was the fact that he couldn't do anything about it. He had no weapon that could harm that damn fighter.

The noise turned into a painful screaming and he could feel the hot plasma-wash of the engines touching his skin.

And then the bastard was gone.

"Uh, let's never do that again." Jim sighed and listened how the enemy fighter flew away. He waited long enough in order to be certain that the enemy was truly gone. Jim leaned back and suddenly he could feel how his body started to ache again. None of his wounds had healed yet and his head started to throb in pain again. This little stunt had taken its toll on him and he could feel how his exhaustion started to get the better of him. But there was something else. He knew that he had to find Sarah, but suddenly it was as if there was another voice in the back of his head. One that told him that he should look for...Izsha?

"What's Izsha?" Jim muttered to himself. He pressed his head against the cold metal of the cockpit of his vulture bike and started to shudder. He had no idea what had happened to him or why he was in such a bad shape. Everything from before waking up on Tarsonis was foggy. Perhaps it had been a rough landing and he had hit his head since he couldn't remember much. Jim closed his eyes and enjoyed the warm rain on his skin.

"Coffee, anyone?" Jim groaned, but there was no one around with a hot can of coffee in their hands. That's when Jim realized that there was still something in his pocket. He grabbed inside and pulled out another stimpack. He looked at the injector for quite some time. Taking a stimpack was never a good idea. Taking two with not even a good night's rest between them was even more foolish. But it was not as if he had any choice, right?

Jim gritted his teeth and rammed the injector into his thigh. He groaned when the drug-cocktail entered his bloodstream. His body was already running on empty, and this time the effect of the drug was far more brutal. Jim felt how his whole body started to convulse. He leaned forward and started to cough. Pain shot through his limps and he couldn't stop coughing. Something hot and metallic started to fill his mouth and his lungs _burned_. He grabbed his chest and tried to force himself to calm down, but there was no use to it.

"AGGHH!" Jim gurgled and felt like he was about to fall apart. The seizure continued for what felt like minutes. Eventually, he calmed down, but this time he didn't feel nearly as good as before when he had used the first stimpack.

He needed a moment to recuperate, even though he knew that it was a bad idea. This was still a battlefield after all. When he had gathered enough strength to go on again, he looked down at his own hands. They were shaking. He still had three stimpacks left, but he had his doubts that he would survive even one more of those damn things. He had to find Sarah!

"Well, better get going then." he mumbled and straightened himself. It was time to get moving again. He was about to head out when suddenly a bright light blinded him.

"Mother of...!" Jim hissed and covered his eyes with his hands. Those were spotlights! Whoever was using them was really close, and Jim hadn't even noticed them. "Turn off those damn lights, will you?" he screamed. But that's when he heard an all too familiar hissing sound.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!" Jim groaned when the scout-fighter appeared right next to him. So that thing _could_ actually hover. Good to know. For a second, he thought about trying to escape, but it was pointless. The fighter was right upon him and its guns were directly aimed at Jim. This time, he wouldn't be able to outrun that bastard. Even though it was a pointless gesture, Jim pulled out his pistol and aimed it right at the fighter's cockpit.

"Not going down without a fight!" he screamed and fired, but the bullet just ricocheted off the golden glass...or whatever it was these aliens were using. Jim emptied the clip of his gun and then he continued to press the trigger a few more times even though nothing happened. He lowered his gun and sighed.

"What a shitty day." And then he saw how the guns on that fighter started to glow. Well, it had been one crazy ride!

However, before the scout-fighter could open fire, another round was fired. Jim recognized the sound immediately. It came from a sniper-rifle! Jim saw how the projectile hit the cockpit again, but just like Jim's shots the bullet just bounced off. But unlike Jim's shots, it was just the prelude to something truly impressive that was about to happen. Another shot was fired. And then another one. And they all hit the exact same location. The enemy pilot didn't seem to take the sniper-fire seriously. Why should he? He was in a goddamn space-alien fighter-thingy.

However, that wasn't just any ordinary sniper. No, it was one of the best snipers of all times. Every bullet hit the exact same location, and every impact caused the superior alien armor to grow weaker. When the enemy pilot finally realized what was going on, it was already too late. The golden glass of the cockpit started to crack and Jim heard how the engines of the fighter started to scream louder. That dirtbag wanted to get away! But once the glass was compromised, the sniper only needed two more shots to finish this. The first one smashed through the canopy and was probably already enough to seriously wound the pilot, even if it wouldn't directly hit him. That's when another round smashed through the canopy. It was a high-explosive round, and once it was inside the cockpit, it detonated on its own.

Jim watched how something lit up inside the cockpit before the fighter started to spiral out of control. The engines went to full throttle, maybe the pilot was only wounded and had managed to do it on his own, maybe the machine was damaged. It didn't matter. The fighter shot over Jim's head and he watched how it rolled over its own head before it crashed into a nearby hill. A bright blue explosion lightened the jungle up before it vanished as fast as it had come. Behind him, he could hear some wet steps and then he heard a voice that caused him to sigh in relief.

"James Raynor! Finding trouble like none other!" Sarah announced while walking towards him. When she reached him, she pulled her goggles up and looked him into the eyes.

"Let me guess; you've come here to rescue your princess?"

"Something like that." Jim groaned. "Did it work?"

"Well, I never understood why people would carry big and clunky armors and go into battle with it. Now I know. You are an awesome replacement target." Sarah told him.

"What can I say?" Jim panted. "I aim to please." When she finally reached him, she leaned forward and pressed her lips on his cheek. It was just a short kiss, but Jim felt how some of his strength returned to him.

"What was that for?" he asked. Sarah could be a very gentle woman if she wanted to. However, she was also a true professional and knew better than to let her own personal feelings get in the way of the mission.

"Just so you know that I appreciate the thought." she told him before she walked past him and jumped on the back of his vulture bike. He could feel her body pressing against his back, but there was no time for any romantic feelings.

"Punch it, Jim. We need to get back to the base asap." He looked over his shoulders and frowned.

"What about the rest of your men?" he asked, but then she just turned her gaze away.

"There...is no one left." she said with a toneless voice. Jim wanted to ask what had happened, but when he saw the painful expression on Sarah's face, it told him everything he needed to know.

"Shit." he growled and activated the engine of his vulture bike again. He turned his ride around and started to accelerate. Behind him, Sarah pressed herself against his body and held on tightly. They left the heavy rain behind and felt an icy chill on both their skins when the wind hit them.

"You can say that again." she whispered mostly to herself. Jim knew better than to pry for more information. He couldn't really describe it, but he could feel her pain and guilt for still being alive. He knew that feeling all too well. "Survivor's guilt". For someone who had never experienced it themselves, it might appear rather ridiculous. But Jim had ordered many good soldiers to march to their death and it still weighed heavily upon his soul.

 _What right do I have to be happy if I sent so many to their deaths?_ When Jim heard those words, he looked over his shoulder and gave Sarah a sympathetic smile.

"You have all the right in the world to be happy. It wouldn't have changed anything if someone else had been in your place, Darlin'." But Sarah just frowned when she heard that.

"I haven't said anything, Jim." she growled and he blinked in surprise. But...he could have sworn to have heard her voice just now. Sarah's features started to soften and she sighed. "But thanks." For the rest of the trip, neither of one of them said a word. Jim knew the way, but this time he didn't have to travel with 300 kilometers per hour. It gave him time to check their surroundings for additional threats. Luckily, there weren't any more nasty surprises waiting for them. On their way back, Jim felt the urge to stop and tell Sarah that he was truly sorry. He knew that she wasn't the cold bitch most people were claiming she was. He started to decelerate and looked for a good spot to stop, but that's when he felt Sarah's hand on his shoulder.

"Please, Jim, don't." she said to him.

"But I haven't said anything ye..." That's when he realized that he didn't have to say anything for Sarah to know what he was thinking. He looked over his shoulder and into her eyes and could see her pain.

Most people had never realized that Sarah had cared about the men under her command. She might not have been able to show it to her men like Jim, but that didn't mean that she hadn't cared about them. And now they were dead. Jim decided to drop it, at least for now. Besides, there were more pressing issues they had to worry about. Like getting off Tarsonis in one piece.

"What about the Protoss?" he then changed the topic.

"We managed to destroy their base, but lost a lot of men in the process." Sarah explained. "We heard that these Zerg were starting to attack again and so I decided to pull back as soon as possible. But on our way back we were ambushed by some survivors. It turned ugly really fast." Sarah sighed and didn't continue. It had been a gamble. As long as the Terrans managed to form a defensive line, their weapons gave them an edge over almost every enemy. But they were vulnerable when on the move.

Both Protoss and Zerg preferred a more mobile form of warfare, something that caused considerable problems to most Terran military commanders who were taught that fixed positions were the way to go.

"Guess that scout was a straggler, huh?" Jim muttered.

"Something like that. Our air defense managed to down most of their air support, but that guy managed to knock out our last Goliath. Kept us bugging for hours and there was nothing I could do. All I could do was to watch." Sarah hissed.

"Well, you got him in the end." Jim tried to ease her mind.

"Didn't help my men, though." Sarah replied. "Nevermind that. What happened on the other frontline?" she wanted to know.

"Dunno." Jim told her. "But from what I heard, it wasn't pretty. The frontline is no more, and these Zerg have attacked the base directly. I had no time for damage assessment, but it's bad. We lost a lot of guys." The moment Sarah heard that she gritted her teeth in anger.

"Shit! To hell with you, Arcturus. To hell with you, and your twisted ambitions!" she hissed to herself. Since it would take them some time to return, they had the chance to talk things through.

"If you knew that Arcturus was up to something...why did you agree to this?" Jim wanted to know, but Sarah didn't answer. So he asked again, but again he received no answer. And so, he looked over his shoulder once more.

"Sarah?"

"What is it you want to hear, Jim? That I was wrong?" she suddenly snarled at him. He could _sense_ her hostility, but it wasn't really directed at him.

"What? No! Sarah, what are you talking about?"

"You think that I should have seen through Arcturus a long time ago, I know that." she muttered. "And you still can't understand why it took me so long to get to that point." Jim wanted to tell her that she didn't have to do this. But if he was brutally honest with himself...yeah, yeah, he didn't understand why she had been so damn loyal to this man. There had always been something fishy about Arcturus, at least to Jim.

He was not sure what to do. This wasn't the right time to have a conversation like this, but who knew if they would get a chance later on. Still, it seemed to be rather insensitive, and so he decided to keep his mouth shut.

However, he didn't have to use words for Sarah to know what he was thinking.

"You don't know me, Jim." she suddenly started to speak. "I've done things. Dark things." Hell of a time to have a talk. There was still a battle going on. But since no one was firing at them right now...

"We all did things we would rather forget, Darlin'." Jim tried to ease her mind, but Sarah just shook her head.

"No, Jim. It's different. You were a soldier. What you did might not have been honorable, but it was war."

"Not all was war, Sarah." Jim disagreed. "Some would call me a murderer for what I did. And I can't blame them."

"It's still not the same, Jim." Sarah continued. "I was nothing but a tool. I killed because I was ordered to, but it wasn't just that. They stripped me of my humanity, turned me into a device, removed all that you could call human, and then they used me." Jim gritted his teeth when he heard that. He wanted her to stop. Not because he didn't want to know more about Sarah, but because this seemed to be a truly shitty moment to talk about things like this.

Plus, it had this certain "If we're gonna die here, I want to get this off my chest"-vibe that he wasn't too fond of. That usually only happened in cheap holo-movies. And this wasn't a movie or a game, this was the reality.

"When Arcturus took me in, he was good to me. I killed his family; did you know that? I expected to be executed by his men, but he chose to show mercy. Of course, that's what I thought back then. He was nice, and no one had been nice to me for many years." There had been people who had tried to be her friends, but it had never worked out.

"He left me alone. Gave me room. Allowed me to breathe." Sarah continued. Jim wanted to tell her to stop, but he could hear a voice in the back of his mind that was telling him that she _wanted him to understand._

"I mistook his restraint for compassion. I thought that he wanted to build a better world, and for a time, I thought I could be part of this better world. I thought that I could wash myself clean of my sins by helping him. But all I did was to spill more blood." Jim had no idea how to reply to that. But he knew that Sarah wanted him to ask the one question that burned in the back of his mind. And so, he relented.

"Then why did you do it?" he asked and Sarah sighed.

"Because...it was still my home. Where else should I have gone? Who would have accepted me?" she whispered. He looked into her eyes and gave her a warm smile.

"I would have." he told her. She returned his smile and nodded.

"I know." That's when her eyes wandered towards the horizon and she frowned. "Oh no..." she muttered and Jim followed her gaze. They both saw thick clouds hanging in the sky right in front of them. However, those weren't normal rain clouds. That was smoke. And it came from the base. Jim slowed down and brought his vulture bike to a halt.

"Jim, what are you doing? We need to get over there!" But Jim knew that the battle was already over. He looked at his instruments and checked if there was any radio broadcasting something, but all channels had gone silent, including the automated emergency channels. That could only mean one thing...

"Jim! There could still be survivors!" Sarah told him, but he shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Sarah. But I doubt there's anything we can do anymore." He was the last person to run away from a fight, but there was no point in throwing away their lives. The battle was over and there was nothing more to do. Nothing except getting off this damn planet before more Zerg would arrive. Behind him, Sarah sighed and seemed to realize that Jim was correct.

"So, what then? If you have a plan I would love to hear it."

"Find a dropship and get the hell outta here?" Not the most brilliant plan of all times, but Sarah just sighed when she heard those words.

"Sounds like the best plan I heard all day. Punch it." And so he did.

* * *

Jim and Sarah tried to move as fast as possible and cover as much distance as they could. They encountered no Protoss, but they spotted at least one or two Zerg in the sky, huge bloated sacks of flesh that seemed to have no other purpose but to be used for target practice. Neither Sarah nor Jim knew any details about the Swarm, at least they hadn't done back then. So neither one of them knew anything about overlords either. Soon the weather took a turn for the worse again. The rain made it impossible to say where they were going or if there were any enemies around, and so they did the only thing they could; they started to look for some cover. They decided to head for another forest and looked for shelter. Perhaps it wasn't a very good idea to stop while there were Zerg close by, but driving through a thunderstorm on board on a machine that was made out of _metal_ and had no _roof_ didn't seem to be so smart either.

Jim parked the vulture bike close to the tree line and then both he and Sarah went deeper into the jungle. The treetops provided them with some protection, yet they didn't dare to stop. Maybe they could find a cave or something like that? Although, a cave could turn out to be a deathtrap should Zerg show up. So where should they go?

"Come on, we have to keep moving." Jim said.

"We should head south." Sarah told him. "There's a civilian spaceport roughly fifty kilometers in that direction. We can either wait out the storm and take your vulture bike once it's safe, or we proceed by foot." The moment she finished, a deafening thunder caused both to shudder. They looked up the to the leaves above their heads.

"Something tells me that this storm won't go away anytime soon." Jim mumbled and Sarah nodded.

"If we hurry, we can make it in two or three hours." Sarah suggested. It caused Jim to chuckle.

"Maybe _you_ will make it in two or three hours. I will need a lot more time than that!" That much was true. The term Sarah was referring to was called _footslog_ , and if there was one thing Jim never wanted to do again, it was another damn forced march. It was the kind of exercise that would result in him lying on the ground while puking his guts out.

Speaking of puking his guts out...

"Oh...!" he groaned and stumbled. Sarah was next to him in an instant and he could feel how she grabbed him by the arm and prevented him from burying his face into the ground.

"Jim!" she yelled and slipped under his arm. Everything started to spin around his head and suddenly he felt really exhausted. All his body craved for was sleep. Just five minutes! He wanted to close his eyes just for five damn minutes!

"Hold on, let's put you down over there." she told him, and together they hobbled over to a tree. Sarah helped Jim to sit down and when he leaned against the trunk of the tree, he groaned in discomfort. He felt how Sarah put her hand on his forehead and frowned.

"You're burning up, Jim. How do you feel?" she wanted to know.

"Like shit." he replied truthfully. "Just give me a few minutes. Then we can move on." When Sarah heard that, she just shook her head.

"Out of the question. You're on your last breath, you wouldn't manage to go on for even one kilometer, let alone fifty!" And much to Jim's dismay, she was right about that. His hands wandered down to his pants as he started to look for something.

"Just...just give me a second. Here, I got something that will get me back on my feet." He knew that using another stimpack was a huge mistake, but what else could he do? They couldn't stay here, and they would only waste precious time waiting until he was up and running again, especially since they didn't know how long that would take. He pulled another stimpack out of his pocket and was about to use the injector on himself, but that's when Sarah intervened.

"What is this? Jim, no!" she hissed and slapped the injector out of Jim's hand. He groaned but was unable to fight back. Sarah picked the stimpack up and gave it a stern look.

"Where did you get them from?"

"Are you kidding me?" Jim panted. "They hand these things out like candy, you should know that!" Well, that was actually true. But it didn't make it any less bearable.

"Jim, how many of these did you take?" Sarah demanded to know. He looked up at her and suddenly his throat was so dry.

"One. Or two? I can't...remember." His pupils were dilated and his body started to shiver. Suddenly he felt so cold!

"Jim, listen to me! You gave yourself an overdose! If you take another one you might end up having a stroke or a circulatory failure. Jim? Jim, can you hear me?" But it became harder and harder to listen to what Sarah was trying to tell him.

"Aw, shit." she growled.

"Just...just give me another dose and I will be good. Please, Sarah..." Jim pleaded. "...we don't have...time to waste..."

"You're no good to me dead, Jimmy. Who's supposed to wash my clothes and rub my feet when I come home from work?" she joked and Jim was still able to realize what she's talking about. He managed to focus his eyes on her and a puzzled expression appeared on his face.

"Wait...why would you be the one working?" he muttered and Sarah gave him a cocky smile.

"What do you mean? It's logical that I'm going to bring the money home. I'm pretty much better in everything, so you can stay at home and keep it clean." Sarah teased him. Inside his mind, Jim could hear Sarah's voice again. It was highly confusing because even though Sarah was right in front of him, the voice felt like it was talking about something that had happened way in the past.

 _I always knew it was never meant to be, Jimmy. I always knew...but it felt nice to tell it to myself. I almost even believed that we could be together..._

"We still can do this." he said to her. "I certainly...would like...to rub your feet." And then he gave her a smile. Sarah groaned when she heard that and shook her head.

"That's the worst pick-up line I have ever heard from you. Besides, have you seen my feet after a footslog? Trust me, you don't want to rub them."

"I would rub them even if they were covered with creep." Jim muttered.

"Okay, now you're delusional. And creepy." Sarah sighed and looked around. "We can't waste any more time, though. Storm's not going to end anytime soon and we have to keep moving. I'm sorry, Jim, but I need you to pull yourself together." She looked into Jim's eyes, but his mind was barely able to process any of what she was telling him. Her lips...her lips looked so beautiful. Soft and full, and all he wanted to do was to kiss these lips. Sarah leaned forward he prepared to feel her lips on his own. He could already imagine it and closed his eyes in order to enjoy the kiss.

That's when she slapped him across the face and brought him back into the here and now.

"...hear me? Pull yourself together, Jim! I need you here! Head in the game, Captain!" He blinked in confusion and looked up to Sarah. She saw that and growled something that wasn't very flattering before she slapped him again.

"Jim, get a grip!" she snarled and was about to slap him again when Jim finally regained some of his senses.

"Whoa...okay. Okay. No more. I'm back. No need for more violence, Darlin'." he mumbled and Sarah lowered her hand.

"Good, next time I would have used my fist. Now come on, we need to get going. Here, let me help you." Sarah declared and pulled him up. Every damn muscle in his body was burning and he felt like he was about to fall apart.

"Gosh, I would have preferred the stimpack..." he groaned while Sarah slipped under his arm and helped him to walk.

"Oh, shut it, you big baby." Sarah replied, and together they started to move out. Their speed was pitiful at best, but it certainly did beat the alternative of sitting on their asses and wait for the Zerg to arrive. Jim had no idea how much ground they managed to cover, but it was probably way less than they should. At one point, the landscape started to change. They were still inside the jungle, but the terrain became even rougher. Climbing up even the smallest hill turned out to be excruciating and Jim would have killed for another stimpack, but Sarah wouldn't allow that. After what felt like 500 kilometers, Jim could feel how his legs started to give out under him. Sarah tried her best to keep him upright, but he was simply too weak to go on.

"Jim, don't! Not now, we are so close to the spaceport! It's just behind the next hill!" Sarah said and he chuckled. That chuckle turned into a nasty cough, though.

"Hehehe, that is...the lamest lie of all times...*cough*..."

"Listen, you can rest once we find a dropship. Once we're out here, you can sleep for three weeks straight. How does that sound? Just stay with me for now!"

"Just...give me another stimpack...and we're good to go..." he groaned. Sarah put him down and placed her hand on his forehead. Jim was practically burning up.

"Jim, I know you don't have any strength left, but you have to get up! Get up, dammit!" Sarah hissed.

"How...how much further...?" Jim managed to mutter and Sarah took a deep breath.

"48 Kilometers?" That caused Jim to laugh.

"Hey...that means we made more than one kilometer!" And that's when his lungs started to burn and he started to cough even harder. He rolled on his side and was wrecked by cramps. Sarah pressed Jim down and made sure that he wouldn't hurt himself.

"Jim!" she screamed, but he was barely able to listen to her. Suddenly, his throbbing headaches returned and it felt as if his head was about to come apart. Inside his mind, he could feel something strange, something he couldn't really describe. It almost sounded like a voice, a voice that belonged to one of these damn aliens. The ones called Protoss, not the ones who could only drool and hiss.

" _Friend Raynor...find Izsha!"_ this alien voice tried to tell him.

"Iz...sha?" Jim muttered. He had never heard that name before. As far as he was concerned, it didn't even belong to a human. Still, something in the back of his mind told him that he knew what that voice was talking about.

"Gotta...gotta find Izsha..." he mumbled. "Make...make sense of it all..." Well, that would be nice for a change, wouldn't it?

"Izsha? Is that your other girlfriend you never told me about, Mr. Awesome?" Sarah chuckled. Humor was a great way of distracting people who were in pain. But only if the people didn't realize how grave their situation was. Jim tried to do its best to make sense of it all, but all he managed to do was to cause his headache to become even stronger.

"Jim, I know you're tired. I know you want to stay here and sleep, but I need you to pull yourself together for a bit longer! Please!" He could hear the pleading tone in her voice, something he had never heard before. However, this time the throbbing headache didn't go away. Jim knew what that meant. He wasn't able to walk on his own, let alone almost fifty kilometers to the next spaceport. And he knew that his condition was a threat to Sarah. Oh yeah, he knew what this meant. And even though his heart told him that he didn't want to do it, the soldier inside him knew it better.

"Leave...me..." he managed to press out. He could see the shocked expression on Sarah's face, but that expression turned into anger almost in an instant.

"Out of the question! I won't leave you behind. Now back on your feet, Captain! We still got a job to do!"

"I will just...slow you down. You can make it...if you leave me behind." Jim could see how Sarah clenched her hands into fists, and for a second it seemed as if she was about to punch him in the face. But then Sarah just sighed and lowered her hands.

"I won't leave you behind, Jim. Not again. Not this time."

"You...never left...me behind." Jim panted.

"No. But I left others behind when I shouldn't have. So don't give me this "Leave me behind"-bullshit-bravado, Mister. We both know that right now we have the same chance of survival as a snowball in hell. We might be done anyway, but I _won't_ leave you behind! If this is the end, we will face it together." When Jim heard that, he started to laugh. Sarah looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"What's so funny?" she hissed. He coughed a few times, but then he managed to look into her eyes and gave her a goofy smile.

"Man, you sure suck when it comes to pep talks." Jim chuckled. That comment caused Sarah to sigh.

"Since you seem to have the strength to make jokes again, I think we can move out now."

"And here I thought that...you would bring me...some breakfast."

"Now you're just trying to push your luck." Sarah growled and grabbed Jim by the shoulders. He tried to help her as much as possible, but he was barely able to stay on his feet. Still, he knew better than to push his luck. If he would, Sarah would probably beat him up, throw him over her shoulder, and carry him all the way to the spaceport. And there was no doubt that she could do something like that, she was a lot stronger than you might think.

"Sarah...you sure that this is the right direction?" Jim asked after a while.

"What, now you're telling me that I can't tell which way is south? I probably did this a lot more times than you." she told him.

"I don't...want to question...your abilities, Darlin'..." Jim panted.

"Then don't." she replied.

"But..." Jim just ignored her comment. "...that kinda...sounds like water."

"Now you're delusional, Jim. There is no open water within the next couple of...hundreds...of...kilo...oh shit." Sarah stopped when they hobbled past another tree and stopped. Suddenly, they looked at an endless blue ocean. It had to be an ocean, it was far too big to be a lake. It reached all the way to the horizon and happened to be the most beautiful ocean Jim had ever seen.

"I thought...there are no oceans...on Tarsonis." Jim panted and Sarah frowned.

"That doesn't make any sense." she agreed. "This...this place. It can't be Tarsonis." He could hear Sarah's confusion, and it was as if something inside his mind was changing, but he couldn't really describe it.

"Just where the hell are we?" Sarah whispered. "This...this can't be right! Jim, are you seeing this?" Like said, something had changed. However, Jim wasn't able to really tell what it was. It felt as if the Sarah right next to him was starting to change. As if she was starting to realize what was going on around her.

They were standing on a cliff and were looking down on a goddamn ocean! Sarah put Jim down and looked around.

"What is this place? This isn't Tarsonis Jim! How did we get here?" It was strange, wasn't he supposed to see through all of this?

"Izsha...need to find...Izsha." he mumbled. Before they could solve this mystery, something happened. A hissing sound reached them from the other side of the tree line, and Sarah immediately turned around and pointed her rifle at the jungle.

"Jim, get up! We got company!" Unfortunately, Jim was in no shape to fight Zerg.

"Just five more minutes, Darlin'." Jim mumbled. Sarah looked down at Jim and then back at the tree line. They were done for! She knew that there was no way to escape. The screams got even louder and Sarah knew that this was it. She looked over the edge of the cliff. Maybe they could climb down or jump into the water? But it was impossible. They would only fall to their death and break their necks. No, climbing down the cliff was not an option. She couldn't do it, she knew that. This was nothing they had ever trained her for.

Sarah wasn't afraid of death, but you should at least get the chance to fight back. She looked at Jim and realized that he too deserved the chance to face this foe head-on. She knelt down next to him and pulled the stimpack out. It probably turned her into a hypocrite, but the situation had changed drastically in the last few minutes. Now it was no longer about survival, now it was about meeting your end in the best possible way; fighting on your own two feet.

"Sorry, Jimmy. I wish things would have turned out differently." she explained and rammed the injector into his neck. Jim's eyes shot open and he gurgled in pain. The first stimpack had been awesome. The second one...not so much. And the third?

"AAAGHHH!" Jim screamed in pain. It felt as if pure acid was injected into his veins, and his whole body was wrecked by cramps. It was true what they said; stimpacks weren't exactly very healthy. And another one would most definitely kill him.

"Jim! Jim, get up! I need you now! The Zerg are coming!" Sarah urged him.

"Zerg? Iz...Izsha. Need to find Izsha." Suddenly new thoughts started to emerge inside his mind. Izsha. His dreams. Zeratul. This...this wasn't real. It was just a hallucination!

"Sarah? Sarah!" he started to shout and rolled on all fours.

"Jim, get back up! Get ready, they are coming!" this Sarah barked, but Jim wasn't talking to her.

"Sarah, talk to me! What is this?" When the Sarah next to him saw his strange behavior, she started to curse. Great, it appeared as Jim had finally lost it. Hallucinations were a documented side effect of those stimpacks, so she shouldn't be surprised.

Ha, a hallucination thought that the man in front of her was hallucinating about herself, which was actually her real self, but she thought the real self to be nothing but a hallucination.

Could anyone blame Jim for having the worst headache of all times?

"Jim! JIM!" Sarah screamed, and he finally managed to look over to her.

"No. No, not again. Not again." he whispered, but Sarah had no time for that. The Zerg were almost upon them. She had to turn her attention back towards the treeline, and not a second too soon. The moment the first Hydralisk emerged from the jungle, it was greeted by an armor-piercing bullet to the face. The moment it hit the ground, it was already dead. There was just one small problem with that. Zerg always traveled in packs.

"Jim, I could really use some help over here!" she barked, and the loud fire of her rifle caused Jim to regain some of his senses. He looked up to Sarah, watched how she fired one perfectly placed round after the other. Another Hydralisk emerged from the jungle, and it met the same fate is its sibling. But even then, they could see more claws and teeth coming towards them. This was a hopeless battle. Jim could see what was going on and he was acting purely on instinct. He grabbed his heavy pistol, and even though he was still on his knees, he took aim and pressed the trigger.

He was not as skillful as Sarah when it came to marksmanship, but he knew what he was doing. His bullet hit another Hydralisk into the chest and the creature screamed in pain, but it wasn't enough to kill it.

"Jim, left side! I got this one!" Sarah barked and Jim did as he was told. He turned his gun to the left and aimed at another Hydralisk that was about to fire its poisonous needles at them. He fired three rounds, but only two hit. However, these two hit the creatures throat and its shoulder. Blood gushed out of its destroyed aorta, and a gurgling sound left the creature's throat. Even in death, it tried to tear its enemies apart, but then it collapsed on the ground and twitched a few more times.

"Back! Jim, get back!" Sarah screamed and helped him back on his feet. They moved backward, and when Jim looked over his shoulder, he could see how the edge of the cliff came closer.

"Huh, wish I were a palm tree, then it wouldn't be much of a problem." Jim muttered to himself.

"Jim, there's something I need to tell you." Sarah panted while she continued to fire on the Zerg. They were standing side by side, yet neither one noticed how the ground behind them started to shift and move.

"Not now, Darlin." Jim hissed and pointed his gun at another Zerg. Where Sarah only needed one bullet, he needed at least three. And soon his gun was empty. He continued to press the trigger, but it was pointless. The only thing that came out of his gun was a clicking sound.

"Jim. Listen to me." she pleaded with him, but he had no time for that. He grabbed into his pockets and searched for a spare clip, but there was none. Only two more stimpacks. Hey, maybe he could use one of these things on the Zerg? Should be interesting!

"Get back, get back!" he barked and grabbed Sarah by the hand. He pulled her with him, but she just broke free of his grip.

"Jim, it's over! OVER! Please, listen to me!" More Zerg were approaching their position, and suddenly some of their flying creatures shot over their heads. Jim looked up in disbelief. There were so many of them! And they were...circling around them?

"Oh my God..." he whispered. The whole sky was filled with Zerg, yet they didn't attack. Their numbers were legion and they were coming closer. He heard another clicking sound and looked at his pistol, but it hadn't been him who had tried to fire another shot. He turned his head over to Sarah and could see how she lowered her rifle. She too was out of ammo. He watched how Sarah lowered her rifle and grabbed her goggles. She pulled them off her head and tossed them aside.

"Jim...there's something I want you to know." she whispered. Suddenly he came back to his senses. This wasn't real. It was some sort of hallucination. Tarsonis had happened years ago and he hadn't been on the planet when it had happened. This was the past through Sarah's eyes.

Behind them, the ground started to shift when something broke through the surface. It was another Zerg, at least it looked that way. Everything happened so fast, Jim had no chance to react or do anything to prevent this from happening.

"I want you to know...that I lo...OH GOD, JIM! BEHIND YOU!" Sarah screamed, but it was too late. Something hard and scaly wrapped itself around his body, and he looked up in shock. It was a Zerg, there was no doubt about it. Strong fingers grabbed his shoulders, and suddenly he couldn't move at all. He felt how he was pulled away from Sarah, who screamed at him in panic. But then he heard another voice, one that he had heard before.

"James Raynor, brace yourself!" For the fraction of a second, he was confused. What did that mean? That's when he felt how up and down were turned around, and suddenly he was looking right at the ocean. And the ocean was getting closer very fast.

He was falling down the cliff!

"JIIIIIMMM!" he could hear Sarah screaming from above, but there was nothing he could do. The black body of the Zerg had wrapped itself around his body and made it impossible for him to move. He screamed in rage because he could feel Sarah's fear and her pain.

 _Alone. I was all alone when it happened. Why did everyone leave me behind?_

That's when Jim and Izsha smashed into the water, and both sank down like a stone immediately. Jim tried to scream Sarah's name, but that's when the water flooded his lungs. And then everything went dark.

Again.


	72. Act III - Chapter 16

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 16**

 **Careful what you wish for**

* * *

Jim was in no shape to fight. Hell, he was in no shape to even lift a crate! Running away from the Zerg would have been the last thing on his mind. So, when he smashed into the water, he knew that he wouldn't be able to get back to the surface. He simply lacked the strength to swim.

"SARAHHHGGGGGRRRR!" His scream turned into a gurgling sound when the air left his lung and was replaced by water. His whole body started to convulse and he grabbed his own throat while trying to breathe. But there was no air around him. He took another deep breath, it was just a reflex out of pure desperation. And the only thing he managed to do was to flood his lungs with even more water.

His body mobilized the pitiful rest of adrenaline it had and he tried to do something, anything, but it was pointless. So, this is how he would die, drowning on a distant world and no one would ever find out. It was strange, there were only two thoughts inside his mind right now, and none of them had anything to do with Sarah. The first one was about Matt. Jim felt sadness that his old friend would never find out what had transpired here. And the other thought was actually a question. Jim was wondering if there were creatures like sharks inside this ocean.

Weird? Maybe. But if you're dying, you're no longer bound to reason.

However, Jim wasn't meant to die like this. He felt how _something_ grabbed him, wrapped around his body, and pulled him upwards. His lungs started to burn and he felt how his conscious was starting to slip through his own fingers.

Air...

Air.

Air!

AIR!

At first, everything around him became brighter the closer he came towards the surface. But then his vision started to darken. His brain was starting to fail him and he could feel how the burning sensation wandered into his limbs. But hey, at least it did no longer hurt that much. Huh, so this is what dying felt like? Not a very pleasant experience, but it could have been worse. Hey, at least he would leave a good-looking body behind. That had to count for something, right?

The moment he broke through the water's surface, Jim's body tried to take a deep breath. However, before he could breathe again, he had to get rid of all that water inside his lungs. Something kept him above the waterline, and soon he felt how that the same _something_ dragged him over the sand. Yet Jim had no time to look around or thank his mysterious savior, he was too busy puking his lungs out. Every cough was incredibly painful. His lungs were still burning, they craved for air! But first, he had to get all that water out of his lungs. It was maddening, it was like trying to reach a gas station with a car that was running on empty.

"James Raynor, you need to breathe!" a calm female voice told him.

"Lady, what do you think I'm trying to do over here?" Jim wanted to say, but instead, only "ARGHLFWARFGHAFAS!" left his throat. Someone put him down on the warm sand and rolled him to the side. It helped because it allowed the water to flow out of his lungs. He continued to cough and felt how the water entered his sinuses.

Funny, now that he was thinking about it, he actually hated the ocean. He could feel how someone applied some gentle pressure on his chest and more and more water streamed out of his mouth and nostrils. He wanted to die. This was just the worst day of all times, and he had experienced a lot of bad days! Jim felt like someone had tortured him (which was correct), drugged him (which was also correct), and then thrown off a cliff (three strikes).

All in all, it had been a truly shitty day. So it came as no surprise that Jim wasn't able to move at all. More water left his lungs, but the next time he inhaled, the air actually made it into his lungs. Well, at least some of it. It caused him to cough a few more times, but it was different this time. With each breath, more sweet air found its way into his aching chest. It was like the sweetest perfume you could think of. It's funny, water can be sweet too, at least if you're really thirsty.

Right now Jim wanted to never take a bath again.

It took him quite some time before he finally managed to calm down. He closed his eyes and just lay there for what felt like a goddamn eternity. He could feel the soft and warm sand on his skin and now he was finally starting to think about Sarah again. Where had it all gone wrong? Those happy days they had spent on the beach had happened mere days ago. At least that's what his mind told him. Well, the logical part of his mind told him that, but that didn't mean that it had to be the truth. Because it didn't feel like it had happened mere days ago. No, right now it felt like it had been ages ago.

"Too much...too much..." Jim panted. Was it the exhaustion? Or the pain? Or the fear? Or all of it combined? It was hard to say, but right now Jim felt not just like shit. He felt hopeless. He had no idea what was going on and all his attempts had resulted in failure. After what felt like an eternity, Jim finally managed to open his eyes. He looked at the beach in front of him. The water was still just as beautiful as he remembered it. However, something had changed since the last time. It took Jim's mangled mind a few moments to notice that those clouds had disappeared.

The storm was finally over.

Jim stared at the horizon with empty eyes while his mind tried to process what had happened to him. Sarah. He had met Sarah. But not just one Sarah, many different versions of her. And not all of them had been acting rationally. He wasn't just referring to the infamous Queen of Blades, though. He still remembered Nr. 24's hard punches, and suddenly his bruises started to throb in pain as if they wanted to remind him about what had happened.

Only then he realized that he wasn't alone. Jim's eyes turned to the side and he knew that he was in deep shit when he saw the underside of a Hydralisk right next to him.

Strangely enough, his heart didn't start to beat faster. Not because he was such an awesome hunk of a guy, but because he was all out of juice and his body couldn't mobilize any adrenaline anymore. The tail was just one meter or so away from him, and much to his own surprise the owner of that tail didn't attack him right away. He didn't hear any hissing or snarling sound either. The longer Jim stared at the base of the tail, the more things he noticed though. First of all, the tail was black. Well, mostly black. The underside was gray, and while it resembled a Hydralisk's tail, it wasn't exactly the same thing. It was also much longer. His eyes wandered up, and after he reached the point where a human hip would start, he could see that this was, in fact, no Hydralisk.

"Iz...sha...?" he groaned.

The snake-alien-woman tilted her head to the side and gave Jim a cold look.

"It appears that your eyes are working just fine, James Raynor." she explained. "Too bad the same cannot be said about your mind." Was she dissing him? Well, it didn't really matter. Jim's exhausted mind had other questions, more important ones. Like what Izsha truly was. Or how she was related to Sarah. Or if she actually had any idea what the hell was going here. But in the end, he only managed to ask her one thing.

"...why?"

Izsha leaned down and looked Jim straight into the eyes. There was still something highly unnerving about that face. It just looked too human for Jim's taste. It was easy to ignore the fact that an infested once had been human because they usually looked like malformed monstrosities. Mostly because they _were_ malformed monstrosities. But when he looked into Izsha's yellow glowing eyes, he could see something different, something that wasn't Zerg, at least in his opinion.

Reason.

"You still mean a great deal to her Majesty. She would never forgive me if I would allow you to perish on this world." Izsha explained. Well, that certainly had a nice ring to it.

"Not...so sure about that...anymore..." Jim gargled and managed to roll on his back. Two out of four Sarah's didn't seem to like him very much, so that had to mean something, right? It probably said something about Jim's character, something that wasn't very flattering.

But hey, at least he was popular with the kid-version of Sarah.

Jim closed his eyes and did nothing. He shuddered and could feel how a strange cold feeling started to creep through his limbs. What was so strange wasn't the fact that he didn't recognize that feeling. Because he did. But it was strange nonetheless because he felt as if he was suffering from an overdose caused by stimpacks. However, that had been nothing but another hallucination or illusion, just like all those Sarahs.

But if it was an illusion, then why did he feel as if he was suffering from stimpack-withdrawal?

"Just what the hell is going on here anyway?" Jim mumbled to himself.

"Do you still not understand what is happening?" Izsha wondered. "One would assume that you had enough time to figure it out on your own. Or perhaps I have greatly overestimated your mental capabilities. Which does not come as a surprise, I suppose." Perhaps it was just Jim's imagination, but he could swear that this hallucination didn't like him very much.

Perhaps Izsha was a symbol for something? Maybe every person he had met so far stood for some aspect of Sarah's psyche? The Queen of Blades? Anger. The little kid? Fear. But what about the other two? No, he still didn't know what was going on. And as for Izsha...maybe disgust? Though there were nicer ways for Sarah to show him that he wasn't the perfect prince charming.

"Okay...you're right." Jim whispered and tried to get back up. The only thing he managed to do was to almost poop his own pants, though. When he had finally managed to sit back up again, Jim groaned and felt how drool dripped from his chin. Man, he probably looked like a caveman right now. He certainly felt like one.

"You're right. You're damn right. I have no idea what's going on. You happy now? Is that what you wanted to hear? That I don't know shit? That's what you wanted to hear, right?" he muttered.

"No." Izsha replied. "This is not what I wanted to hear, James Raynor." He looked up to the Zerg and growled something very unfriendly.

"That is impossible. I do not possess this orifice; therefore I cannot shove my own head into it." Izsha answered. Jim coughed a few times before he put his hand on his chest. He needed a few moments until the pain inside his chest finally subsided.

"I'm so sorry that I disappointed your expectations in me." Jim growled again.

"You did not. I never had high expectations in you in the first place." When Jim heard that, he couldn't help to start laughing. At first, it was just a chuckle, but soon it turned into a full-blown laugh, though it sounded more like a mixture between vomiting and coughing than an actual laugh. Izsha continued to stare at Jim but didn't say anything. When Jim had finally calmed down, he shook his head. Funny, that comment had been truly amusing.

"Better be careful, Izsha." he mumbled. "Or I might end up liking you. And we can't have that, now can we?"

"Oh, on that we certainly can agree."

Wait, was she making fun of him?

Jim closed his eyes and listen to the waves of the ocean.

"Sarah...just what am I supposed to do?" he whispered to himself. He had the faint hope that she would answer him somehow. He had heard her voice inside his mind before, so why not now? Why wouldn't she answer to him? He was trying, goddammit! What else could he do, huh? She had already beaten him up, what else could he do to get through to Sarah?

" _Find Izsha..."_ Zeratul's words echoed through his mind. He looked up to the creature and studied her features. And Izsha? She stared right back at him.

"Okay..." he then said. "...okay, I'm done. I have no idea what's going on. You were right, I have NO EFFIN' CLUE of what's going on right now. All I know is that I've seen things that shouldn't exist. I saw like fifty shades of Sarah, and most of them didn't make _any_ sense at all! And every time when I thought that I understood what was going on, someone decided to take a shit in my breakfast!" He could sense how his emotions started to get the better off him.

"So, let me tell you something. I'm done. I'm done with all that cryptic bullshit! I have no idea what this is all about, and the only reason why I even talk to you is because an imaginary Protoss inside my mind tells me that I should look for you!" he ranted and looked at Izsha.

"So, if you want to kill me, then kill me. If you want to infest me, infest me. If you want to leave me behind, then do that. You can even mock me for all I care." he barked. "But if you know what's going on...if you have any explanation that could help me...then EFFIN' TELL ME!" He grabbed his own head and did what he had done some time ago. He started to sob. This was too much and now the throbbing headache was returning.

Perhaps he should just wait here for Sarah to make her move? Whatever was going on, it was clearly above his pay grade. He pressed his hands against his face and could feel how his emotions started to get the better of him. And that's when Izsha finally started to talk again.

"This has happened before." she said with a calm voice. Jim swallowed hard and then he looked up at the creature.

"What?" he whispered and he could see the frown on the Zerg's face. She was no longer looking at him, but at the horizon in front of them.

"What is currently happening. It has happened before, albeit not this extreme." she said again.

"Wha...?" he wanted to ask, but Izsha just continued to speak.

"I was not present when it happened, but I was told about it by her Majesty. And even though I am not familiar with all details, I assume that it is the same issue."

"Not more metaphysical bullshi-" Jim was about to say, but that's when Izsha cut him off again.

"Her Majesty's mind is fractured. It always was. What you think is one Sarah Kerrigan, has turned into many. None of them are real, yet they all represent a part of her mind." she said and Jim blinked in confusion. A fractured mind? That rang a bell, but he couldn't really tell where it was coming from.

"They are not real? That doesn't make any sense!" he muttered and Izsha looked back at him.

"Does it not? You still believe that her Majesty is human, but she is no longer just that. She is not Zerg either. She has become even more. Something that cannot be described with words."

"Xel'Naga..." Jim whispered.

"She does not like this description. But it hardly matters. No matter if she is Xel'Naga or something else, she is no longer human or Zerg. And therefore, not bound to our concepts of logic."

"Well, excuuuuuuse me, but human logic is the only logic I know." Jim muttered.

"I hardly doubt that." Izsha replied with a dry tone in her voice before she sighed. "After her Majesty's return from the Void, she ventured to Ulnar. She was confused by her own change and hoped to find answers. I believe she was looking for, how did she call it again, a "manual". Unfortunately, she did not find such a thing. On the contrary, her visit to Ulnar turned out to be rather...unpleasant." Izsha looked back at the horizon and remembered those moments.

She hadn't been at Sarah's side during that time, she had still served Zagara and the Swarm back then. But Izsha's original purpose had been to keep Sarah's dreams, hopes, and plans safely stored. Perhaps Sarah hadn't noticed it, but she was still doing that. And every time Sarah had gone to sleep, Izsha had stored her Queens hopes, dreams, and memories inside her own mind.

"She came to the conclusion that her humanity would hold her back, and so she tried to remove that part from herself. She felt guilty and was in constant pain. And she felt ashamed. Her solution was to remove that what you would consider her humanity." When Jim heard that, he could feel how his heart started to beat faster. That sounded like a goddamn nightmare. Why would she do something that?

 _Guilt...so much guilt...how can I ever face him again?_ Sarah's voice spoke to him again. Or was it to herself?

"What...what happened then?" Jim whispered. Even though he had no reason to believe this creature, he had to know more.

"Without her humanity, her Majesty was no longer herself. I do not understand all the details, but she decided to put herself back together. Unfortunately, it caused something to change within her mind. Her personality started to fracture even further. Instead of one person, there were suddenly many."

"Are you saying...that Sarah is schizophrenic?" Jim whispered, but Izsha shook her head.

"No. And yes."

"Oh, that isn't cryptic at all." Jim groaned.

"Her Majesty's mind is far more powerful than either one of us can comprehend. It was just a matter of time until the individual parts of her mind would start to emerge. I had hoped that you would be able to heal her, to _put the pieces back together_. But it appears that I was incorrect." Izsha sighed. "I have failed her Majesty." Instead of mocking this creature, Jim just sighed and stared at the beautiful horizon in front of them.

"I guess we're not so different after all." he mumbled and Izsha gave him a stern look.

"I consider this statement to be highly offensive." she replied and Jim had to chuckle.

"Heh, a Zerg feels offended because I think we have something in common. Now I've seen it all." This time Izsha decided to not say anything.

"Why didn't she tell me?" Jim suddenly whispered and stared at his own hands. He felt betrayed and a bit angry. For some odd reason, everything Izsha had told him made sense. He couldn't really explain _why_ , though. But he had tried to listen to reason for too long, maybe it was time to listen to his heart.

"I could only speculate about her Majesty's motivations, but I do believe that she wanted to ignore that which had happened in the past. She was looking for...closure." Izsha explained before she sighed and looked at Jim again. "She had high hopes that you would be able to help her with that. It appears that her assessment was incorrect."

For a long time, Jim didn't say anything. He thought about Izsha's words for quite some time. Sarah was looking for closure.

Closure from what?

"You said you didn't want to go back, right?" Jim whispered to himself. "Asked me if this place couldn't be home." While he was still not able to fully understand what was going on, he started to understand. Not much, but it was a start. He pressed his hands against his face and sighed.

"I'm such an idiot."

"It is good that you finally realized that. Though I have to admit that this is not the best of timings, James Raynor." Izsha replied, but he was barely listening.

"She tried to tell me." he whispered, mostly to himself though.

"Tried to tell you? Tried to tell you what exactly?" Izsha wanted to know. For an illusion, she was quite curious. It was hard to believe that she wasn't real and just an...

"Wait a sec..." Jim suddenly gasped and looked up to Izsha. "You...you're real?"

"If you define real as being your own existence and not a thought that is a product of her Majesty's mind, then yes. I am real." Izsha explained, and when Jim heard that, he tried to jump to his feet. However, all he managed to do was to stumble and fall from one side to the other. Up till now, he had thought that this creature was just another hallucination.

"How...did you get here?" he wanted to know. "Is there a way off this world?" Even if he had to use an overlord to get the hell off this world, he would totally do that.

"I am afraid that it was a one-way trip. The warp gate minion Karax constructed is not able to allow me to return to Ulnar. Besides, I would strongly suggest that you would not consider using this method of transportation." Izsha said.

"Why?" He would even use a goddamn overlord, so why not use a warp gate? He had used them before!

"When I arrived here, I did so without my skin." Izsha replied, and all Jim could do was to swallow hard.

"So, no option either. Well, so much for...wait, Ulnar?!" Jim suddenly yelled. "And who's this Karax you're talking about, and why can the Zerg use warp gates?!"

"Karax is not a Zerg. He is a Protoss phase-smith that has decided to join her Majesty."

"Why would a Protoss join Sarah?" Jim stuttered. As far as he knew, there was not a single Protoss who liked Sarah very much.

"It was not his choice. After her Majesty took control over his mind, she bound him to her will. After we left Aiur, she was left with the choice to either leave him behind, end him, or take him with us. She decided to allow him to join us. It is strange." Izsha wondered and tilted her heat to the side. "Did her Majesty not tell you about this?" It took Jim a long time before he finally managed to say one word.

"No..." he whispered. When Izsha heard that, she frowned and seemed to be surprised by this answer.

"What did she tell you about what happened since her return?"

"Almost nothing." Jim replied and looked up to Izsha. "Didn't mention you. Or Ulnar. Or a Protoss working for her. Didn't tell me anything." Suddenly he felt hurt. This was no mistake, it wasn't something that you _could_ forget. Sarah hadn't told him about that on purpose. But why? Didn't Sarah trust him anymore?

 _What could I have told you?_ he could hear the voice of Sarah inside the back of his mind. _Explain the inexpiable? There is no excuse for what I have done. I didn't...didn't want to lose you again, didn't want to be all alone again..._

Her voice was so powerful right now that the throbbing headache returned. Suddenly Jim felt something new. It was an all too familiar sensation. Jim tried to get back on his feet, but he lacked the strength to do that. Instead, he started to crawl over to the palm trees on all fours. He didn't care that he looked pretty pathetic right now. He didn't care what the palm trees were thinking either. But when he reached the palms he managed to find a nice green patch of grass...

...and started to puke his guts out.

It was too much. Too much! Both his body and his mind had reached a breaking point, and Jim's stomach was out of patience. There wasn't any half-digested food coming out of his mouth, it was mostly hot air and bile. It caused his throat to burn, and at the same time, he felt that overpowering sense of guilt and dread inside the back of his mind. And he knew that it wasn't his guilt.

"I was not aware that you could produce creep." Izsha said as she watched Jim vomiting. "Though it is barely enough to start a hatchery." But Jim didn't listen to her. Right now, the only thing that kept his body going was his will. And there was no way to tell how long that would last.

"Ghaaa...!" he gagged and felt how his empty stomach revolted over and over again. Soon his stomach started to hurt like crazy. Great, every damn part of his body would be in dire need of a replacement once this was over. When his stomach had finally calmed down, he sighed and rolled on his back. He closed his eyes and did nothing but breathe. That's right, deep breaths. Calm down, think of flowers, candy, and vulture bikes.

"Tell me...what happened..." he finally managed to say. Thanks to the bile, his throat felt like it was on fire.

"Tell you what?" Izsha wanted to know.

"Everything. Tell me everything you know. Just...everything. Come on, hit me!" He opened his eyes and stared at that magnificent sky. And Izsha? She knew exactly what he was talking about, but she also knew that Sarah had wanted to keep them separated. It was quite the dilemma. What should Izsha do? Tell him everything, even though her Majesty obviously had gone to great lengths _not_ to tell him anything.

The old Izsha would have kept her mouth shut. Orders were orders. However, this Izsha knew better than to do that. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Forgive me, your Majesty." she whispered to herself. And when she opened her eyes, you could see her determination.

And so, she started to tell Jim. About Ulnar. About Saalok and Aiur. About the meeting with Artanis. About how Sarah had wrecked the goddamn Golden Armada. How Artanis banished her. Her guilt when she had realized what she had done to Karax. Her journey to Korhal and her meeting with Matt. What she had done during the Christmas party...

Izsha talked, and Jim just listened. He lacked the strength to ask any questions.

Izsha went at great length to describe as many details as possible. And when she was finally done...Jim pressed his hands on his face again and started to cry.

"Why...why didn't you tell me?" he sobbed. "Why couldn't you tell me that? What were you so afraid of?" However, he already knew the answer to that.

It all came down to one thing. Trust. And the problem wasn't that Sarah didn't trust him. No, that wasn't true. She did trust him. Perhaps she had always trusted him. Even if it was just the trust that he would screw things up. No, this wasn't about the trust she had in him. It was the other way around.

It was Jim who didn't trust Sarah.

That's why she had decided to keep the truth away from him. Because she knew that he would have judged her for what she had done. Sarah...had been scared. Scared of what he would have said to her.

 _We're done._

His words. Back in the day, when she had saved him from the Moros. Just after she had told him that she would always love him. Jim felt weak and sick. The pieces inside his mind were starting to come together, but there was still a lot missing. Still, it felt as if he was moving through a thick fog that was slowly fading away. Though he was still a long shot away from actually seeing where he was going.

Yet, as he lay on the warm sand, he couldn't help but feel angry and guilty at the same time. He was angry at Sarah. No, that wasn't right. He was furious at her! She had lied to him, had told him nothing about what Izsha had just told him. Or Izsha itself. Or herself. Or whatever. But it wasn't just the anger, it was also that overpowering sense of guilt.

 _How could anyone forgive what I have done_? It was Sarah's voice again.

"It wasn't you, Sarah. That wasn't you." he whispered, but he could feel how the presence inside the back of his mind was...disappointed? As if this wasn't what she wanted to hear.

"They did that to you. The Confederacy, the Zerg, Arcturus. They used you and forced you to do this. It wasn't your fault." he continued, but the voice inside his seemed to move away. His exhaustion started to reach a critical point and he closed his eyes.

"Just five...minutes." he managed to mutter.

"James Raynor, this is not the time to rest. We need to...find...her Majesty..." he could hear Izsha's voice, but he was just so tired. So damn tired. Just five minutes, that was all he was asking for.

Just...

...five...

...minutes...

* * *

"We have gathered here to pay our respect to Lydia Elizabeth Raynor..." The moment Jim opened his eyes and heard those words, he shook his head and pressed his hands against his face. Suddenly his throbbing headache returned and he groaned in discomfort.

"Those who knew Lydia Raynor will always..." the Reverend spoke like he had done so many times before. This time, Jim only needed a few seconds to realize where he was.

"No... not this time." he panted and turned away. He left the funeral behind, but this time things were different. _He_ felt different. The pain inside his head felt so real, it barely reminded him of a dream anymore. Jim grabbed his own head and stumbled over the dusty ground. Everything felt different, it suddenly felt so real! This place lacked that distinguished feeling of being without a body. Jim could see the church in the distance, but it had changed. It was no longer a church. It had changed into another type of building, and he recognized it in an instant.

"Now there's a sign if I ever seen one." he muttered to himself.

It was a nice house, one that he had seen only recently. It was the house where he had met the Kerrigans. It was the house where Sarah had spent her childhood in. Every step towards the house felt like one thousand, and Jim cursed his current situation. Now even sleep wouldn't ease his suffering. Was this what Zeratul, _this_ Zeratul, had tried to tell him? That his life was in peril as well? Jim stopped and looked around, but there was no one around.

"Zeratul!" he shouted. Though he wasn't very fond of the Dark Prelate at the moment, he really could use a friendly face right now. However, Zeratul didn't answer.

"Zeratul, if you're here, I could really use some help over here!" But again no one answered his pleas for help.

"Go figure." Jim mumbled and decided to continue towards the house. It felt like it took him an eternity. As he walked towards the building, it felt like the path to it stretched itself just to show him that he was no longer in charge. Then again, had he ever been in charge? It took him forever, yet when he finally stood in front of the house, he took a good hard look. The doors were closed and there was no one around. However, Jim could sense her, he could sense Sarah. She was inside that building. He stepped on the porch and walked over to the door. Jim grabbed the doorknob and pressed it down, but nothing happened.

The door was locked.

"Of course it is." he mumbled, but that's when he saw how something moved through the house. He walked to the nearby window and looked inside.

"SARAH!" he yelled when he saw how a certain redhead walked out of his view an into another room. Jim slammed his hands against the glass and yelled her name once more, but Sara wasn't even paying attention to him. Jim ran back towards the door and tried to open it by force, but it was pointless. What had Zeratul told him? That this was a passage into Sarah's mind? So if this was truly a part of Sarah, then did that mean that he couldn't access it? He smashed his hands against the door and screamed Sarah's name, yet she wouldn't listen. So, he thought about something else. Jim ran around the house, hoping that he would see Sarah again. He hurried over to the other side of the building and looked inside.

There she was!

"SARAH!" he screamed again. It was her, there was no doubt about it. It was Sarah, _his_ Sarah! He knocked against the window, screamed her name, he even tried to smash the glass. But nothing happened. The glass didn't even vibrate when he used all of his imaginary strength to break it. And Sarah? All she did was to stand in the middle of the kitchen and stared at a point that wasn't even part of this plain of existence.

"Sarah! SARAH! I am here! Can you hear me?"

" _I never wanted you to see any of this...I was scared of it."_ he could hear her speaking, both right in front of her and inside his mind.

"Scared of what? You could have told me! I wouldn't have judged you!" he pleaded, but then his throbbing headache returned and he could see how Sarah turned away once more.

" _You don't know me, Jim. You never did. I cannot be the woman you want me to be."_ He watched how Sarah walked out of the kitchen, and so he decided to run around the house once more to stay close to her. That's when he watched how she walked up the stairs and how he lost her out of his sights.

"Sarah! Don't go! Don't leave me like this! SARAH!"

* * *

"SARAH!" Jim screamed when he woke up again. He opened his eyes and for a short moment, he had no idea what had happened. But that's when the throbbing headache returned and he groaned in pain. He felt truly horrible and when he tried to get back up, the only thing he managed was to roll on his side. At least he wasn't alone.

"James Raynor, have you rested enough?" Izsha asked and he looked over his shoulder.

"Oh, it's you..." he mumbled.

"I repeat my question. Have you rested enough?" Izsha wanted to know. Jim closed his eyes and counted his bones. Most of them were still where they were supposed to be. Most of them.

"Could use a few more minutes." Jim admitted.

"That would be most unpleasant, considering the fact that you have rested for several hours." When Jim heard that, he needed a moment to fully realize what Izsha had just told him.

"Hours? But...I was gone for only a few moments!" he whispered.

"Those were the five minutes you were referring to?" Izsha asked with a dry tone in her voice.

"I saw her...inside my mind, but this time it was different." Jim groaned in pain. His head hurt so much! He grabbed it once more and winced in pain. Izsha, on the other hand, frowned when she looked at the man.

"This is just the worst day of my life." Jim mumbled. But then he blinked in surprise and looked up to the Zerg.

"Wait, are you telling me that you watched over me all this time?" he asked and Izsha tilted her head to the side.

"No." she answered and Jim sighed.

"But I watched how you drooled on the sand for most of the time. Until I decided to look for anything useful that could aid me in helping her Majesty." Izsha explained to him.

"Don't you mean how "we" can help Sarah?"

"I know what I just said." Izsha told him. "However, I was not able to find her Majesty, just another fragment of her mind. I suggest that-"

"Wait, what fragment?" Jim suddenly wanted to know. "Where? Where is she?" Izsha stared at him for a very long time. Eventually, she just sighed and closed her eyes.

"I doubt that anything good would come from you meeting with this fragment. Besides, it is not her Majesty. It is merely a fragment. Your interactions with these fragments hasn't resulted in any success so far, so why should you succeed this time?" A fair point, but Jim didn't care about that. He rolled on all fours and hissed in pain. But there was no time for this. He could feel how his own strength was not returning to him anymore. He had slept for several hours? It felt like he hadn't even been asleep for five goddamn minutes! It took Jim all of his strength to get back on his feet, and when he finally managed to do that, he looked up and into Izsha's eyes.

"Where is she?"

"Like I said, I doubt that-"

"WHERE IS SHE?!" he screamed and Izsha squinted her eyes. Was she angry? Displeased? Disgusted? It was impossible to say what she was thinking, but it hardly mattered to Jim. After some moments of silence, Izsha looked him straight into the eyes.

"What do you hope to achieve by talking to a fragment? Finding her Majesty should be our top priority, not-"

"I DON'T CARE!" Jim roared again. Izsha fell silent and looked at Jim for a long time. It almost seemed as if she was...checking her options? When she was done with that, she sighed again and shook her head.

"Very well. At the very least this fragment is fond of you. Perhaps it can keep you from causing more harm to yourself while I will search for her Majesty. Follow me." she said and slithered away.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean. Hey! HEY!" That's when Izsha chose to ignore him. So, Jim had two choices. He could stay here and let Izsha just do whatever she wanted to do, or he could follow her and find that, well, fragment. Whatever that was supposed to mean. He didn't follow Izsha immediately. This creature was still Zerg, and he still had to process everything she had just told him. Sarah. Ulnar. Aiur. Korhal. The Christmas party. Izsha was already out of his sight when he finally made up his mind. Jim gritted his teeth and pulled himself together. He limped forwards and had the feeling that this was a bad idea.

"What am I even doing here?" he asked himself, which usually never helped. Well, at least it was easy to follow Izsha's trail. Her tail made sure of that. But even though it was simple to follow her trail, it was hard to keep up with her. That snake was fast! Even in top shape, Jim would have had problems staying close to that creature. It took him almost all of his remaining strength to catch up to her, and even though he didn't want to talk with this creature at all, he just had to ask a favor of her.

"Could you...slow down...please?" Please. Asking a Zerg if it could _please_ slow down. Wasn't this just great? Izsha looked over her shoulder and gave Jim a cold look. She did slow down though.

"Is this better, or do you wish for me to go even slower? Maybe we can stop and wait until tectonic activity brings us closer to the fragment." Izsha replied and Jim stopped when he heard that.

"Are you making fun of me?" he wanted to know.

"Me?" Izsha asked with an innocent tone in her voice. "That must be your imagination. I would never make fun of an inferior creature. I believe the word you are looking for is: Pity." Oh boy, that snake-lady sure as hell was one bag full of fun.

"Bad idea. Yep, bad idea all the way." Jim muttered to himself, but the only thing he gained was an annoyed look from Izsha.

"Follow me. And try to keep up." she just said and Jim did his best not to disappoint her. Not because he cared about Izsha's feelings but because he was scared what would happen if she would get angry. The march was brutal nonetheless, and Jim was amazed by the fact that he was still on his feet. It led them back towards the center of the island, though by now it felt more like a goddamn continent. It pained Jim to be the first one who started to speak again.

"What you did back then...you had buried yourself in the ground and waited for us?"

"That much is obvious, is it not?" Izsha replied.

"Why did you do it? Why did you save me?"

"I think I made myself clear when I said that you still mean a great deal to her Majesty."

"But why didn't you save Sarah? Why did you leave her behind? Or did you want the Swarm to claim her? Is that your true agenda?" Jim growled and Izsha stopped. She turned around and slithered towards Jim, and when she stood in front of him, he suddenly felt very small.

"I did not choose to save this fragment because it is not her Majesty. Besides, I did not even exist when the Queen of Blades was born. The mental projections of the Zerg from that period of time have no reason to recognize me as a member of the Swarm. But to answer your question; there was nothing I could have done." Izsha explained.

"You don't know that! You didn't even try!" Jim hissed. "You left her because you _wanted_ her to be claimed by the Swarm and-"

"Enough!" Izsha barked again and leaned down. Suddenly she looked truly scary. Was she about to show her true colors now? "It is obvious that you do not understand what is going on here. Though I am starting to believe that it is because you do not _want_ to see the truth. This is not the past and this is not something that can be altered. These are memories that have come to life, and no matter how much you try, you will not be able to change what has happened."

"How convenient that it works your way!" Jim spat out.

"You think that this place only mocks and torments you?" Izsha shot back. "The first fragment of her Majesty that I encountered in this place fired a bullet at me and called me an abomination." She then pointed at her chest. There was a small dent in her carapace, right where her collarbone was supposed to be. "And I had to watch how the deinfested Sarah Kerrigan did not recognize me at all."

The deinfested Sarah? She was out there, too? She could help Jim!

"You know where this Sarah is?" he wanted to know.

"Yes."

"Take me to her! Now!" But then Izsha just turned away and continued to slither forward.

"No. This fragment is too far away. You will not be able to reach her in your current state. And before you ask; no, I will not carry you." Jim gritted his teeth when he heard that. Getting carried by a Zerg was the last thing he wanted to do. Maybe Izsha hadn't tried to kill or infest him till now, but there was still a lifetime of terror inside Jim's memory when it came to Zerg. He knew that she was his best chance to find Sarah right now, but that didn't mean that he had to like it one bit.

"So which Sarah are you taking me to? Your beloved Queen of Blades we defeated on Char?" he wanted to know.

"No, not _this_ fragment." Izsha replied truthfully. "Do not be afraid, the fragment we are looking for is very fond of you. At the very least she should keep you safe until I have found the location of her Majesty." Everything sounded fishy about this, but what other options did he have? His throbbing headache returned and he had to slow down a bit.

"Need...need to find Sarah." he mumbled.

"Indeed, but you are in no shape to walk around and I cannot leave you unsupervised. Besides, it would appear that even this world's plant life is not too fond of you. Not that I can judge it." Oh great, now she was just mean.

"How much longer?" Jim groaned.

"Much longer." Izsha replied truthfully, and Jim groaned once more. The palms soon vanished and were replaced by a different kind of jungle, one that looked very different when compared to the one Jim had experienced so far. These plants actually looked like plants, even though they had a lot of thorns. Just when Jim was about to touch one of these plants, Izsha turned around and looked at him.

"Do not touch that!" she barked. "This place is dangerous. Stay close, otherwise something might attack you." Jim frowned when he heard that.

"Didn't you tell me that you wanted to get me out of harm's way?" he asked.

"No. I said that this fragment of her Majesty is rather fond of you. The local wildlife, however, is not. So, make sure not to touch anything if you value your limbs the way they are now." This was getting better and better. There were more questions that kept nagging at him, but he was already panting like crazy and had to make sure not to touch anything that might end up trying to eat him.

To say that they managed to make good speed would have been ridiculous. They were moving at the speed of oversized snails. Jim's whole body was covered in sweat, and his hand wandered into the pocket of his pants in hope to find another stimpack. But there was none. Sarah, or what was apparently just a fragment of the real Sarah, had taken them away from him. Perhaps it was better this way, he knew what a lethal overdose from stimpacks looked like. First came the stroke, then the seizures. Then he would start to bleed from all available orifices. And with all, he meant _all_ of them. Then he would try to peel the skin off his own body. And then he would really start to bleed.

Let's just say that he had seen stuff like this before.

Don't do stimpacks, kids.

"So... what is this place...anyway?" he panted. That's when Izsha suddenly stopped and looked around.

"What's the matter? Got lost?" Jim asked, but she just raised her hand and gestured him to shut the hell up.

"Look, if you feel offended by what I said, it's nothing personal." Jim groaned. "It's just that you're so, well, Zerg!" Now he was trying to apologize to a Zerg. Great, just great. However, Izsha didn't seem to care about what he was trying to tell her.

"Now what? Are you pi-"

"Silence!" Izsha barked and gave Jim a stern look.

"What's the maAAAAAHH!" Jim screamed when suddenly a creature jumped at him from behind a tree. It was so damn fast! All he could see were claws and teeth and that it was roughly the size of a Zergling. But it was unlike any Zergling he had ever seen. Not that it mattered, though, the creature was simply too fast for Jim to do anything. Then again, what could he have done? It all went too fast for him to even raise his hands, but he could see how something black swooshed through his field of vision. The unknown creature screamed in pain and anger when Izsha's whip-like tail hit it and smashed it against a nearby tree.

It looked different, but the scream sounded like it belonged to a Zergling.

"James Raynor, stand back!" Izsha barked, and started to whip the living hell out of that creature. It tried to get back up and recognized Izsha to be the truly dangerous foe. The critter got back on all four feet while blood was trickling down its legs. Now that Jim got the chance to take a close look, he had to admit that it truly looked like a Zergling. But at the same time, it was way uglier than any Zergling he had ever seen or heard of. Long spines came out of its back, and they were connected by thick and leathery skin. It almost looked like a sail.

"The hell is that?!" Jim screamed, but at least this time he didn't have to fight for his dear life. Izsha moved fast, far faster than any Hydralisk could. She used her tail with deadly efficiency and brought it down on the creature once more. The whiplash was so damn loud that Jim had to cover his ear and he watched in horror (and amazement) how the tip of Izsha's tail hit the creature and ripped it into two pieces. Blood and entrails flew through the jungle, but luckily Jim was spared of any meat salad landing on him. The upper half of the creature screamed once more and it was a gruesome sight. Even without a lower body, it tried to crawl towards Izhsa and Jim, but it too had to follow the basic rules of biology. When the creature finally gurgled its last breath, Jim managed to take a deep breath.

"What...what is this thing?" he asked while pressing his back against a tree.

"A Zergling." Izsha said and wiggled her tail from one side to the other in order to get rid of all that blood.

"That doesn't look like any Zergling I have ever seen." Jim muttered.

"Because it does not belong to the Swarm. Come, we have to go. As I said, the wildlife can be truly vicious. We have to hurry." And so Izsha turned away and slithered towards the next hill.

"Well, no argument here." Jim muttered and turned away from the mutilated corpse. A Zerg that didn't belong to the Swarm? What was that supposed to mean? But Jim had no time to ask that question. Climbing that hill up was a goddamn nightmare, and Jim knew that he had to take a break once they reached the top. Much to his relief, Izsha seemed to slow down and when she was on top, he could hear a waterfall nearby. Oh, he could use some cold and clean water right now.

"Please...please...I need a break." Jim panted and put his hand on his legs.

"That is not necessary. We have arrived. The fragment is down below." Izsha explained and he looked up to her.

"Down below?" Jim asked, and then he realized that they were near the edge of a cliff. He looked down and groaned in disbelief. Not another cliff! He had enough of cliffs! He could see some water below them. This wasn't the ocean, it was just a lake.

"I don't think that I see a path that leads down there." Jim mumbled. "And besides, I can't see Sarah anywhere. You sure she's down theEEAAARRGH!" That's when Izsha just grabbed him with her tail and simply threw him off the edge. Jim wanted to scream something very unfriendly, but he smashed through the water's surface in almost an instant. So, this had been Izsha's plan all along? To throw him into the water so he could drown? That damn creature! He should have never trusted this damn beast! Now he would drown and...

...that's when his feet made contact with the ground.

"ARRRGHGLLLhat the hell!" he managed to scream when he got back on his feet and looked around. The water was only reaching to his hip. He looked up and gritted his teeth in anger.

"YOU DAMN SNAKE! I COULD HAVE BROKEN MY BACK!" But he received no answer. Was that Zerg already gone? He dropped his shoulders and groaned in pain. This was just too much.

Jim didn't notice how _something_ moved through the water. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to notice him either. When something started to break through the water's surface, he turned around and his eyes widened in shock.

"Oh, hell no." Those were claws. Long and deadly claws. And even though the main body of that creature remained under the water's surface, there was no doubt that it was Zerg.

"To hell with you, Izsha!" he screamed. He was so done for.

And that's when the creature broke out of the water. Jim's eyes widened in shock when he realized that Izsha had lied to him all along.

"Oh, no." he whispered to himself. "Not again."

"Ooooh, that feels good." the Queen of Blades moaned and stretched her limbs, including her long and deadly blade-wings. She had turned her back towards Jim and didn't seem to notice him at all. Jim, on the other hand, wondered if he should try to run away, but that was a strictly academical question. Even in top condition, he wouldn't be able to outrun the Queen of Blades.

"No... please no..." Jim whispered and the Queen of Blades froze when she heard something behind her.

"Who's there? Thought you could sneak up on me? " she hissed and turned around. And that's when their eyes met. It appeared as the Queen of Blades needed a second to realize who was in front of her. Jim was too shocked to notice the changes though. Not until he saw how her eyes widened and how the creature made a step backward.

"No...no, it can't be!" But those weren't Jim's words. The Queen of Blades pressed her hand against her mouth, and Jim could see how purple tears started to stream down the Queen's cheeks. Purple tears, coming from purple glowing eyes...

Jim was supposed to be shocked, but he could see how the Queen of Blades started to shake her head and scream.

"You're dead! You're supposed to be dead!" the Queen of Blades screamed. Jim squinted his eyes when he finally realized that this wasn't the Queen of Blades that had tried to kill him. Purple eyes...the same eyes that he had seen for the first time when she had freed him on the Moros.

 _I will always love you. Never forget that._

This wasn't the Queen of Blades. It was the Queen of Blades _reborn_.

"Sarah?" Jim whispered, too tired to do anything about it. When Sarah looked at her own hands, at those claws and sharp nails, the expression on her face was one of pure pain and desperation.

"What...what have I done?" She looked him straight into the eyes. "Jim, what have I done to myself?!" And then she pressed her hands against her face and started to sob.


	73. Act III - Chapter 17

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 17**

 **Of Angels and Demons**

* * *

There are things that don't have to make any sense at first. Or at all. Jim had seen his fair share of weird stuff. Like that one time when this guy had killed himself by shoving his head down a toilet. Crazy stuff, it was the kind of story that no one ever believed, even though it was nothing but the truth. Then there were the not so funny and weird stories. Like the death of his mother. And the death of his father. He still remembered that weak and frail body that had once been this strong and independent mother. It hadn't made any sense to him. That creature had possessed the same features and the same voice, albeit much weaker and so very frail...

Do you know the feeling? If you look at something and you know it is wrong, even though you cannot truly say why.

Seeing his mother like this had been hard. And unfair. Karol Raynor had probably been the only woman in Jim's life that he had loved without having any second thoughts. That probably sounded unfair towards Liddy and Sarah, but that's just the way it was. If you meet someone as an adult, you have to get to know this person. And that can take time. You will learn things that are fascinating. And you will learn things that are not so fascinating. Like Liddy's ability to annoy the crap out of Jim when he just wanted to have a beer with the boys. But a mother? Boys will always love their mothers, that's just the way it is.

As for the other women in Jim's life? There had been at least one thousand different things that had been annoying about Liddy. Then again, there had been one million things that he had loved about her.

You will never find the one perfect person that doesn't have any flaws. That only happens in fairy tales.

Liddy's worst habit her been her rage for cleaning. Sarah's worst habit had been her rage for, well, _genocide_.

So, when he saw the look of despair on the Queen of Blades' face and those glowing purple tears, he knew that something was wrong. The Queen of Blades was supposed to be a goddamn monster. However, when this creature made a step backward and started to shake her head in disbelief, Jim knew that something was very wrong indeed. It just _looked_ wrong! The Queen of Blades wasn't meant to appear so...human.

"No..." the infested woman whispered and made another step backward. They were still standing in the middle of the small lake, though it was actually only the size of a pond. Crystal-clear water streamed down the Queen of Blades slender body. It was strange, technically this fragment in front of Jim was completely naked, yet he had no funny thoughts whatsoever right now. He had never spent much time with the Queen of Blades. Why should he have done that anyway? The old Queen of Blades hadn't been exactly a sparkling conversationalist. And after Sarah's reinfestation? Aside from her saving him from the Moros and their goodbye on Korhal and of course the battle inside Ulnar and the Void, they hadn't spent any time together.

And Jim was glad about that.

" _This fragment is very fond of you."_ Izsha's words still lingered through the back of Jim's mind. Well, that could mean several things. Maybe she just wanted to eat him alive. You know, the way to an infested woman's heart is through her stomach. But whatever Jim was currently thinking, this Queen of Blades wasn't interested in slaughtering him. At least not yet.

"...dead. He said you were dead!" the Queen of the Zerg whispered and pressed her hands against her mouth. Before things could get even weirder, she shook her head and grabbed it with her own hands.

"Fool!" she hissed. "I was such a fool! No. No, this is just a dream. A nightmare!" Okay, now things were starting to get out of hand. Now this Queen of Blades was thinking that _he_ was nothing but an illusion? He sighed and lowered his gaze.

"Sorry to disappoint you...but this is no dream. Trust me, I wish it was." Their eyes met and for a long time, no one dared to say a word. The whole situation was beyond absurd. Here he was, right in front of the deadliest creature known to man. Whatever this fragment was supposed to represent, she didn't seem to be interested in slaughtering him.

"How...how did you find me?" she said as she calmed down. He could see how she lowered her blade wings and dropped them into the water behind her. The water reached up to the point where her navel would be, but it was impossible to say since her belly was covered by hardened carapace. The moment the blade wings vanished from his sights, Jim lowered his gaze. Even with all those alien features, this creature suddenly reminded him of Sarah, his Sarah.

And he didn't like that thought.

So he chose to look away, rather than look at her.

Quite the feat, huh? Not even able or willing to look into your lover's eyes because you don't like what you're seeing.

He was such an awesome hunk of a guy.

Jim thought about how to answer that question. Tell her the truth? That Izsha had thrown him off the nearby cliff? Tell her that she wasn't even real? Oh yeah, tell the Queen of Blades that she was nothing but a fragment! That would totally work and she wouldn't rip him into pieces at all. Besides, he didn't want to talk with the Queen of Blades. Not now. Not ever. That's when Sarah lowered her eyes as well and clenched her hands into fists. She hissed only one name.

"Zeratul!" It sounded less than a name and more like a curse. "That bastard! I should never have listened to him! He and his stupid prophecy! He played me for a fool! This is his revenge for what I did to Raszagal!"

Right, blame Zeratul! That always works, especially if any other answer might earn you the scorn of the Queen of Blades. Jim forced himself to look at the creature in front of him, but the Queen of Blades didn't seem to care about him anymore. Of course, he was nothing but a nuisance after all. Was this the moment where she would summon her servants and order them to find Zeratul and his brethren in order to purge them all?

But the Queen of Blades wasn't about to start another war. The expression on her face turned desperate again and then she started to laugh. It was not a cruel or amused laugh, it was a bitter one. Jim watched how the Queen of Blades continued to laugh while tears streamed down her face.

"I'm such a fool. An idiot! I should have known they would use you against me!" She raised her head and looked up at the trees around them.

"Is that your great plan, huh? Is it that it? To bring Jim here so he can see what I have done to myself? Are you out there, Zeratul? Show yourself!" But there was no Zeratul around. The Queen of Blades snarled in anger, and then she lowered her gaze and shook her head. Her nerve cords flew from one side to the other, and Jim could see the despair and anguish on her face. She dropped her shoulders and looked Jim straight into the eyes.

"Or was it Arcturus? Did he manage to track me down? Did he send you down here while there's a fleet in orbit, waiting to nuke this place?"

Those two possibilities...were actually pretty believable. Would have been pretty believable back then. Jim didn't know what to say or to do. Talking to the Queen of Blades was like juggling with a pair of chainsaws; you could end up with a missing limb any time. However, it wasn't necessary to say anything because Jim's body did the talking for him. The throbbing headache returned and he groaned in pain, and his exhaustion was doing the rest. Because of that little march Izsha had forced upon him, he had used up almost everything of his strength.

"This is a nightmare, a goddamn nightmare!" he could hear the Queen of Blades wail. He didn't really pay attention to that anymore, though. Jim felt how the jungle around him started to spin. Everything turned into a blur and he was no longer able to focus his sight on anything.

"Jim?" he could hear the Queen of Blades's voice, but it felt like it tried to reach him from a million miles away.

"Jim, what's the matter?" He blinked in confusion.

"Sa...Sarah?" he mumbled and looked up. There was a figure right in front of him. He couldn't make out any details, though.

"Jim, just what the hell happened to you? What did they do to you?" But he was barely noticing what the Queen of Blades was trying to tell him. He could see how the brownish figure in front of him started to shift and change. A tired smile appeared on his face when suddenly Sarah stood right in front of him. His Sarah.

"Sarah...I finally...found you..." he panted and stumbled towards her. The Queen of Blades frowned when she saw how a barely conscious Jim Raynor tried to reach her. Only then she started to see all those bruises on his body.

"What is this?" she whispered and made a step backward. The Queen of Blades backing away from a mere man? Was that even possible? Jim didn't care about that. He made another step while his overloaded brain started to show him the things he wanted to see.

"Finally... found you...I'm sorry, Sarah...sorry for...what I... said...uhh..." He stumbled over a stone and was not able to stay on his feet. Losing consciousness had become a rather normal thing these days, right? He was too exhausted to fight it, and truth to be told, he lacked the will to do that. Not after all that madness he had experienced so far. The moment he dropped to his knees, the cold water reached all the way up to his shoulders. Hey, they were worse ways to die than to drown in a puddle, right? Still, it was kinda ridiculous that a Zerg had just saved him from drowning, only to do it all over again.

He started to fall forward, but before his head made contact with the water's surface, he could feel how _something_ stopped him. No, not something. Someone. He looked up and smiled when he looked into Sarah's eyes. Those beautiful green eyes. A small part in the back of his mind screamed at him that those eyes weren't green but purple. And that they were glowing.

Sarah's eyes weren't supposed to glow.

But it didn't stop him from smiling. He had finally found her! Ha, he knew he could do it!

"Jim! What happened to you?!" the Queen of Blades screamed, however, he couldn't hear her anymore. His hand wandered up and he placed it on Sarah's cheek.

"Finally... found you..." Jim's eyes started to flutter and she could see how he tried to tell her something, but then his lights finally went out.

"Jim? Jim!" the Queen of Blades shouted, but there was nothing she could do. She watched how Jim lost consciousness and all she could do was to hold him in her arms. She looked around and didn't know what to do or to say. She tried to wake Jim up, but he wouldn't react. Only then she realized in what kind of bad shape he was. His whole body was covered with bruises and he was sweating like crazy.

"Izsha! Send an overlord to my position!" she ordered by using her psionic abilities. She then dragged Jim's body towards the nearby shore. Jim's body was so light, carrying him was easy. As a human, she had possessed an impressive amount of strength. Years of physical exercise had led to the point where almost no man could have challenged her in unarmed combat. Carrying her own weight for several miles? Piece of cake! Maybe there were men who had been stronger when it came to raw strength, but it is the mixture that was important.

However, now that she had become Zerg again, Jim was light as a feather. She actually had to make sure not to crush his ribcage by accident.

...she had done that a few times. And not really by accident.

This time it was different, though. She hadn't come here to return to her old ways, she had come here just for one reason and one reason alone; to gain the strength needed in order to find Arcturus and end him. A thousand different thoughts shot through her mind on her way to the shore. But for the moment, she just tried to focus on Jim. She grabbed his body and when she stepped out of the water, she walked over to a deadfall. She put Jim carefully on the ground and then she knelt down right next to him.

"Oh, Jim." she whispered. He looked like someone had tortured him. She recognized those bruises. You could hit someone in places that wouldn't cause any permanent damage, and yet inflict a whole lot of pain. She knew that because she had done that as a Ghost many times.

And no, she wasn't proud of that.

But why was she suddenly thinking about her days as a Ghost? However, before she could pursue that line of thoughts, Jim moaned in discomfort. Sarah was about to put her hand on his forehead, but when she saw her own clawed fingers, she hesitated. He wouldn't appreciate her touch, she knew that. This was a goddamn nightmare, but she couldn't allow herself to sit here and wail like a little child. Jim was here, that was bad enough. Just how the hell did he end up on Zerus?

Sarah could only think of two people who either possessed the knowledge about her current location or the means to look for her.

Either Zeratul had come to the conclusion that it was payback time, or Arcturus had managed to track her down. Both options seemed to be reasonable. However, the wounds on Jim's body looked like someone had beaten him up. Someone who knew a lot about human physiology. She had her doubts that Zeratul or any Protoss knew how to do something like that. They couldn't tell the difference between a punch to the chin and a punch to the forehead. For a Protoss, it was all head. So that meant that Arcturus was responsible for this whole mess. Thousand different thoughts raced through Sarah's mind. Arcturus was a masterful schemer, if he had brought Jim to this world there was probably a whole battle fleet in orbit. Yeah, that sounded like Arcturus; use Jim as bait in order to lure her out. Once out in the open, his troops would unleash everything they got on her position.

The perfect plan. This way he would get rid of the two people he hated the most.

Everything was happening too fast! She had just left that damn chrysalis a few hours ago, the one in the place Zurvan had shown to her. The first spawning pool, the birthplace of her kind...

...their kind. Not her kind. She was still human and...

...or was she?

Maybe this was the birthplace of her kind. Maybe this was where she had always belonged. She had just tried to wash off all that slime of her newly infested body when Jim had suddenly appeared right in front of him. There were still a lot of things she had to do. Zurvan had told her that infesting herself was just the first step claiming the power of the Primal Zerg. She could feel the raw power coursing through her veins. It felt good. At least until she had seen Jim again. Now she had to come up with a new plan.

Sarah gritted her teeth and hissed in frustration. Not now! She wasn't ready for this! That's when she realized that Izsha hadn't answered her call for an overlord yet.

"Izsha!" she snarled in frustration. "Where's that overlord? And make sure to send an escort as well! Be warned, though. I believe we got company, so tell Zagara to mobilize the Swarm!" Under normal circumstances, she could have done that herself, but she still felt exhausted and sore. The transformation into a Zerg was still on her mind, and even though it hadn't been nearly as horrific as her first transformation, it still wasn't exactly something she wanted to do once more.

When the Swarm had claimed her for the first time, her "father", the Overmind, had placed her in the care of none other than Abathur. And that's like putting a kitten in a blender. She hadn't been consciousness during the... _procedure_. But even then, her mind had felt the pain.

They had skinned her alive. They had broken her bones. They had ripped organs away that had no longer served any use. And then they had added new organs.

And Sarah? She had _endured_ it.

This transformation hadn't been so gruesome and brutal as the first one. She had no idea why, though. Perhaps there was still something Zerg inside her DNA that remembered what she once had been. The mutation had been painful, yes. But this time it had come from within her own body. She had focused all of her thoughts on her hatred, on her goal. She had done this to herself in order to gain the strength needed to slake her thirst for vengeance.

The plan had been simple. Go to Zerus, do what that crazy old bastard Zeratul had told her to do, become the Queen of Blades once more, and kill Mengsk for all the pain he had caused to her, both mentally and physically. Like Jim's death. There was only one small problem with that. Jim was still alive.

"Izsha! What is the matter?" Sarah snarled. Her advisor was not one to ignore her. She gritted her teeth and started to reach out with her senses. Everything was so new and fresh, and her powers were still not fully developed. She was like a butterfly that had just hatched from a chrysalis. Her "wings" still had to dry. But when she reached out, she knew that something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Izsha?" she asked and stood up, but no one answered. She couldn't sense her advisor, she couldn't sense Zagara either. She couldn't sense _any_ of her Zerg. Sarah turned around and scanned the surrounding area with both her eyes and her mind. But there was no one around. She could sense some primal Zerg nearby, but it too felt like they were starting to disappear from her senses.

"This...this is wrong." And then she looked up to the sky and her eyes widened in shock. "What is this place? Where am I?" the Queen of Blades whispered to herself when she saw that strange sky above her. It looked like some kind of stellar nebula, but she didn't recognize it. Either Zerus had changed its location while she had been inside that chrysalis...or she was no longer on Zerus.

"Just what the hell is going on here?!" she barked. She was...alone. The Swarm was no longer at her side. The logical part of her mind told her that this was a trap. She was alone and still weak. It was the perfect opportunity to kill her. She continued to stare at the sky above her and tried to find something that looked like a battlecruiser. But there was no enemy around, at least none she could sense.

"This is wrong. It's all wrong. ZURVAN!" she then screamed. "What is this? This isn't what you promised me!" Well, technically he didn't promise her anything, but details, details.

"Hnnn..." She could hear how Jim groaned behind her and the Queen of Blades turned around.

"Jim..." she whispered and gritted her teeth. The man she loved was right in front of her. She had no idea how he had ended up on this world. But the same could be said about herself. Had someone decided to grab the chrysalis and take her to another world while she was inside that thing? No. No, she would have noticed that.

"...just for...the records..." Jim mumbled to himself. "...I always hated your speeches...Reverend..."

Reverend? Just what the hell was he talking about? She turned towards Jim and looked down at him. She watched how he twitched and groaned in discomfort and she could feel pain, so much pain. Something was tormenting him. It felt as if he was... _bleeding_ psionics. Only that it felt like the psionics of another person. A person she knew very well.

It felt like her own psionics.

How was that possible?

Sarah knelt down right in front of Jim and flexed her blade wings. Something was wrong, very wrong. An idea emerged inside her mind, one that she abandoned immediately. She couldn't do that. She knew that she had left her old life behind, and she didn't want to see what was inside Jim's mind. Mostly because she knew what she would see inside.

Anger.

Despair.

Betrayal.

It didn't take a genius to know that. What was worse than seeing your own reflection? Seeing yourself through the eyes of someone else. Someone who used to love you. And who now despised you.

Funny, Sarah wouldn't have any second thoughts when it had been anyone else. But diving into Jim's mind? It felt wrong. She had no right to do that.

"I'm sorry, Jim. But I need to know what's going on." She closed her eyes and reached out with her senses. And that's when she entered his mind.

* * *

Sarah had probed many minds in her life. In fact, she had probed so many minds that she couldn't even tell you an exact number. Something between one and one thousand? Every mind was different, though. Some were weak by nature and probing them was easy. In and out in an instant and no damage done. The truly strong minds weren't a problem either. They usually fought back, but they didn't possess the strength to endure the pain you had to apply if you wanted to dive even deeper into that mind.

The problem was those minds who were weak by nature but still decided to fight back. A psionic onslaught was something truly terrible, and Sarah knew what she was talking about. She had seen the consequences of probing a mind gone wrong many times.

In a way, her father had suffered from something very familiar...

Wait, why was she thinking about her father?

Sarah's eyes shot open and she blinked in confusion. She looked around and realized that she was no longer in the jungle of Zerus. She stood in the middle of a place that looked completely different from the jungle she had been in a few moments ago. Gone was the lush forest, now there were only dust and stones. The sky was gray and dull and completely unlike the beautiful nebula she had just witnessed.

Was this...Jim's mind?

That's when she suddenly heard a new voice. She didn't recognize it, but she turned around immediately and raised her blade wings, ready to strike at any potential enemy. The Queen of Blades hissed like only a Zerg could. It didn't matter that she was inside Jim's mind. A threat was a threat, and she would defend herself like any good Zerg would. She flashed her teeth and showed claws to the enemy, ready to rip them into pieces. And that's when...

"We have gathered here to pay our respect to Lydia Elizabeth Raynor." a man looking like a reverend said while a group of people had gathered around him. Wait, was this a... funeral? Sarah had no idea what was weirder, the fact that there was a funeral right in front of her or the fact that no one seemed to be bothered by the Queen of Blades' presence.

"Who are you?" Sarah demanded to know and straightened herself, but the people didn't even pay attention to her. It was as if she was just thin air to them.

"Those who knew Lydia Raynor..." the Reverend continued. "...will always remember her as an exceptionally tender soul. Someone who always thought about others before herself. I think it is safe to assume that..." But Sarah didn't care about that. She moved towards the people and looked into their faces. She didn't recognize anyone. These people were strangers to her. Only then she remembered that this wasn't the reality. This was Jim's mind. She turned away until she suddenly stood in front of a gravestone. When Sarah read the inscription, she shuddered.

Lydia Elizabeth Raynor

Beloved Wife

Beloved Mother

Thou shall be missed

Sarah didn't know why, but when she stared at that gravestone she felt guilty. Lydia Raynor...it was the name of Jim's dead wife. She had never met that woman, and quite frankly, she had never cared about her either.

However, if that was the case...then why did she feel so much guilt when she looked at that damn gravestone?

"Jim? Are you out there?" she then asked and turned back towards the group of people. She looked everyone into the eyes, but Jim wasn't among them.

"Jim, I know you're here!" This was his mind after all. Yet no one answered her call.

"Life often takes strange turns..." the Reverend continued, but Sarah wasn't the mood for a sermon. She turned away and looked around. There was a path leading away from the funeral. And it led towards a... church? Sarah squinted her eyes. There was a building out there, no doubts about it. However, it was impossible to tell what kind of building it was. At first it had looked like a church, but now it was impossible to say what it was. It looked like some sort of mirage, always shifting and eluding her vision.

"I'm tired of these games, Jim! I had a really long day and I don't want to do this!" she yelled, but again no one answered her. There were ways to make Jim come to her. Mending a mind was easy, but only if didn't care about the consequences. One wrong move and Jim would end up as a drooling idiot. So even though Sarah was less than pleased to have to play by someone else's rules, she decided to do exactly that. Because this was still Jim's brain.

"This better be good, Jim." she growled and started to move. She wasn't angry at him, but she didn't want to be here. A few hours ago, she had still been inside that chrysalis, dreaming about her sweet revenge. She had imagined how she would skin Arcturus alive for what he had done to her. And that she would avenge Jim's death. She was not ready to face Jim. She was not _willing_ to face him. Unfortunately, he had answers, and she was in dire need of them.

As she walked towards the building, she could see how it continued to shift and change. For the fraction of a second, it looked like a hive. And then like a bunker. Or was she just imagining things?

And that's when she heard his voice...

" _...leaving on a jet plane, I don't know when I'll be back again..."_ It was Jim's voice...and that song...she recognized it from somewhere, even though she couldn't tell where she had heard it. Sarah stopped and winced in discomfort.

 _"...there's so many times I've let you down, so many times I've played around. I tell you now, they don't mean a thing..."_ Jim's voice continued to reach her. Her claws scratched over the carapace between her breasts. It felt like her heart was about to explode. Well, one of her three hearts anyway. Sarah took a deep breath and shook her head. This wasn't the time to have second thoughts. She had to pull herself together, she was still the Queen of Blades!

When she finally reached the house, it stopped to change its shape.

"What is this?" she whispered to herself. That building...it was familiar. She had no idea where or when she had seen it before, but she did recognize it. It was a normal house made out of bricks, the kind you could find on countless fringe worlds. It was as if Sarah could almost see it...it was a memory, hidden under layers of pain and traumas. She didn't even realize when she opened her mouth and whispered only one word.

"Home...?"

 _"...every place I go, I'll think of you, every song I sing, I'll sing four you..."_ she heard Jim again and that's when she could see him.

"Jim?"

" _...when I come back, I'll bring your wedding ring. So kiss me and smile for me. Tell me that you'll wait for me. Hold me like you'll never let me go..."_ Jim sang while sitting on the veranda of the house. He looked a lot younger than she remembered. Almost as young as when they had met for the first time. Speaking of which...now that she was thinking about it, Jim had looked younger when he had found her just a few minutes ago. All those bruises had made it hard to see it, but there was no doubt about it. Something else was going on here, and Jim was in the middle of it all.

"Jim, it's me." Sarah said and Jim stopped singing. He looked up at Sarah, but then he just sighed, closed his eyes and leaned against the wall of the house. He didn't seem to be shocked by her being inside his mind, nor did it seem to bother him that it was the Queen of Blades talking to him.

"Jim...I'm sorry for doing this. But we need to talk."

" _...now the time has come to leave you, one more time oh let me kiss you..."_ he suddenly started to sing again. _"...then close your eyes and I'll be on my way..."_ Sarah watched how Jim continued to sing. She had heard that song before, she knew it. She even felt the urge to sing it herself. But not now.

"Jim, please. This is no dream! It is me! Look, I am truly sorry that we meet like this again, but there's-" But she didn't get much further.

" _...dream about the days to come, when I won't have to leave alone..."_ he just went on, and Sarah clenched her hands into fists. She could make him answer her questions. Perhaps this was Jim's mind, but she possessed the ability to turn it into whatever she wanted to. She had done that many times, and every time her victims had ended up with serious brain damage. The only person who hadn't ended up like a drooling idiot had been Raszagal. And we all know how that story ended.

"Jim, look at me!" she barked and sounded a lot angrier than she wanted to. However, it worked because Jim opened his eyes and looked right at her. He opened his mouth and Sarah was ready to hear him scream in fear, anger, disgust, or all of those things combined. But instead...

"Huh..."

"Huh? Is that all you have to say?" she wanted to know and stared at him in disbelief.

"Huh." he grunted again, and Sarah could feel how her frustration started to grow out of control.

"Jim, listen! I know this is hard to believe, but you _have to listen to me_! This is no-" But then she was cut short by Jim.

"...this ain't no dream, I know. We're inside my mind and, to quote Swann, yadda yadda yadda. I know. I've been through this plenty of times now, I don't need someone to explain it to me all over again. Only makes me feel like there's an echo in this place. Shouldn't be surprised by that, though. We are still in my head, and we both know there isn't much going on in here anyway." Sarah made a step backward when she heard that. It was not the reaction she had envisioned. He was calm? Jim didn't seem to be bothered by her appearance at all. Still, she knew Jim. And she knew that he wasn't pleased by what she had done to herself. It didn't take a genius to know that.

"Jim, I know I owe you an apology. Or at least an explanation. I thought you were dead and-"

"You did it because you thought it was the only logical thing to do. You wanted your revenge, wanted to see Arcturus dead. That's why you did it." Jim explained and squinted his eyes "Is that you, Zeratul? Decided to appear like someone else? For future references; the Queen of Blades isn't really a clever disguise." he mumbled.

"So Zeratul is truly responsible for this after all." she whispered. Was this some kind of ruse set up by the Dark Prelate? Who knew what these damn Protoss were capable of. Jim frowned when he heard that and took a better look at her.

"Oh, now I see..." he mumbled. "...you're not him. You're the fragment. Huh, guess Izsha was right after all." When Sarah heard that, she looked at him both confused and surprised.

"Izsha? You know of Izsha?" she asked.

"Yep. Weird one, though. Dunno if I like her or not. Not yet anyway." Jim muttered. It took Sarah all of her mental strength not to grab Jim's mind and strangle the truth out of him. But she couldn't do that. She would cause horrible damage to his mind, maybe even kill him. No, she would kill him without a doubt. Her powers were still fresh and untested. It was like trying to perform a brain surgery with a goddamn hammer.

"Jim!" she then said with a stern tone in her voice. "I need to know what's going on here! You have to tell me!" All Jim did was to turn his head away and close his eyes.

"Why don't you ask yourself? Maybe you can get through to _her_ since I sure as hell can't." he mumbled and chuckled the moment he realized how ridiculous that sounded.

"Jim, I don't think that you understand how serious our situation is." the Queen of Blades tried to reason with him. But when he looked back at her, she could see the exhaustion in his gaze.

"You know, I never understood it..." he changed the topic. "...never understood why you did that to yourself. You tried to explain it to me, but I guess that's just one thing I will never understand. Then again, that's nothing out of the ordinary these days."

"Jim, I..." she tried to tell him, but Jim just stood up and walked towards her. For a second, she thought that he would scream at her, maybe even punch her in the face. But that's when Jim just walked past her and put his hands into his pockets.

"Perhaps you will listen to yourself. Sure as hell not going to listen to me, Darlin'." he growled and Sarah turned around.

"Where are you going?" she wanted to know.

"To the funeral. Maybe the Reverend has something new to say this time. Unlike the effin' one billion times he has done before..." Jim explained and didn't bother looking at Sarah at all. In a way, it was even worse than Jim screaming at her or trying to attack her.

 _We're done..._ she could hear Jim's voice inside her own mind, and she suddenly felt how an icy chill ran down her spine. It didn't make any sense, it almost felt like his voice was coming from...inside her own mind? No, that wasn't it. It came from inside that house. The same house that was bleeding psionics. Her _own_ psionics.

How was that even possible? It felt highly unnerving. It was like looking at your own image in a mirror, only that your reflection was having a life of its own.

"Jim, what is this all about?!" she barked and looked after him, but Jim just continued to walk away from her.

" _...leavin' on a jet plane, I don't know when I'll be back again..."_ he continued to sing until he was gone from Sarah's sight.

 _"Perhaps it would have been better if Jim had died back then, if Arcturus had killed him. It would have made things easier...for me."_ Sarah shuddered again when she heard that voice. It was her own voice but wasn't coming from the inside of her own mind. It came from that house. She took a closer look and furrowed her brows. She knew that house, she had seen it before! But where?

"What is this?" she demanded to know. Unfortunately, no one was willing to answer her question. Go figure!

"Who are you?" the Queen of Blades barked again. There was someone inside that house, a presence. She could feel it. It was definitely some kind of presence. But why did it feel like her own presence? Only far more powerful?

It didn't make any sense. She was the Queen of Blades once more, the mightiest creature known to man! To think that there was someone even more powerful than her was... _ridiculous_!

"Whoever you are, I know you're in there! You don't belong here; this mind is Jim's!" she hissed. And much to her own surprise, her other voice replied to that.

 _Maybe I should have left him on Korhal. Maybe I should have stayed away from him. There is no happy end to this story. There never was. It was never meant to be._

"What the hell are you talking about? Show yourself! Who are you!" the Queen of Blades roared, however, the other presence didn't seem to care about that one bit. The Queen of the Swarm snarled in anger, but she knew that she couldn't unleash her powers. Not without hurting Jim. She had no doubts that she could use her powers to pull that presence out in the open, but not as long as Jim was the goddamn battleground!

"You can't hide forever! You will leave Jim's mind now! You don't belong here!" she hissed again.

 _Yes._ was the only answer she received, and she could feel how her anger started to get the better of her.

"There is more than one way to get you out of Jim's mind!" she snarled and walked towards the door of the house. If you play by the rules of a place, you won't end up causing any damage. At least that's what her experience told her. She grabbed the doorknob and was willing to force the door open, but it wouldn't move even one inch.

"What the hell?" she whispered. This house was nothing but a fabrication of Jim's mind, but even then, it was impossible that she couldn't open the door! Nothing could withstand her powers!

Nothing...except herself?

She gritted her teeth and slammed her fist against the door, but nothing would happen.

"Enough games! Show yourself! Who the hell are you?" And then she saw something in the window right next to her. A figure. A Ghost? No, that couldn't be. There was no Ghost in existence that could challenge her. However, her eyes didn't deceive her either. She made a sidestep and raised her blade wings, ready to smash through the glass and into that house. She didn't get that far, though. The Ghost was a woman, and when she heard Sarah's voice, she turned around and faced the infested woman. At first, the Queen of Blades was too angry to notice it, but when she saw that red hair and those green eyes, she gasped in shock.

"No...it can't be." The woman inside the house looked straight at her and when their eyes met, the Queen of Blades couldn't believe it.

"No..." she repeated her initial statement. This was no longer about Jim, it was about her own safety as well. She was, to quote Jim, in deep shit.

And that's when this other Sarah probed her mind.

She tried to shield her mind, but it was as if even her newly reacquired powers were no match for whatever she was facing. Suddenly, her senses were filled with so many emotions and memories and none of them made any sense.

"AARRGHHH!" the Primal Queen of Blades screamed in rage and pain when old memories reemerged and new ones were added. She grabbed her own head and stumbled back.

"No! NO! MAKE IT STOP!" she screamed and fell off the veranda and onto the dusty ground. And that's when her mind and the one of the other Sarah finally touched.

* * *

"NO!" Sarah screamed the moment she pulled out of Jim's mind. She stumbled back, and just like within Jim's mind, she fell on her butt. Fleeting images shot through her mind, most of them didn't make any sense at all to her. But there was something that felt vaguely familiar.

 _"Captain Raynor, I've finished scouting the area and... you pig!"_

" _Quite the mess you made, Nr. 24! That was sloppy work!"_

" _Sarah Louise Kerrigan, just look at you! All dirty like a little mudlark!"_

" _Please, Lydia...give me a sign. I want to do better this time..."_

" _There's something dark in me, Jim."_

" _What will you do to have your revenge?"_

" _Yeah, a real cake needs chocolate."_

" _I love you."_

Sarah grabbed her head and felt the urge to pull out her nerve cords. They worked like an amplifier and helped her to channel her psionics. But right now, she only wished for them to be gone. She rolled over the wet ground and could feel how her head pulsed in pain. All that power! It was too much! She had to shut it out. It was maddening. She was now in possession of her old strength again, but this other entity was still in a whole different league. It was like she was but a child and the other one was a goddamn, well, archon. Her blade wings smashed into the nearby trees. It was a miracle that her talons didn't hit the man close to her.

And then there was one moment, one memory that was so crystal clear that it burned itself into her mind like a hot piece of metal.

* * *

It was done. The Emperor was dead. Years of pain and suffering had led to this point. How many people had died? How many had _she_ killed in order to get here? How many had _he_ sacrificed in order to stop her? Maybe they would sing songs about this story one day. The story of an epic fight between a villain and, well, another villain. She felt the cold wind of Augustgrad brushing over the skin of her face. The smell of smoke, of blood, and of destruction filled the air.

There was nothing left of him. She had made sure of that. Maybe it had been too fast, maybe she should have enjoyed his suffering. Taking him back to her Leviathan, having Abathur work on his body...it would have been a fitting punishment.

Right now, she didn't feel any pride or sense of accomplishment. She had done it, yes. For years, she had thought about nothing else but to find this man and make him suffer for what he had done to her. To all of them. Just when did it had turned from the simple need for revenge into a holy crusade? Sarah couldn't answer that question.

She could still hear some gunfire, but most of the city in front of her had turned quiet. It was almost like a graveyard.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her blade wings shivered when she felt how all that adrenaline was finally starting to vanish from her system. Or whatever Zerg used for adrenaline.

The battle...was over.

It was funny, she had dreamed of this moment for so long. She had imagined what it would be like. But she had never made any plans for the time after his death. Her gaze wandered up to the sky. The sun was about to vanish beyond the horizon, and countless Zerg covered the heavens. They almost looked like dandelions, riding on a gust of air.

She could hear the heavy footsteps behind her and how they came closer. She could sense his presence in the back of her mind, could feel his emotions.

There was anger, yes. And hurt. The pain of being betrayed be the one he loved. But there was more...

He was proud. He was proud of _her_.

As she looked at the ravaged city in front of her, a sad smile appeared on her face. She turned her head to the side and looked at him with a gentle expression on her face.

"Thank you, Jim..." she then said. "...for everything."

And what did he do?

As she reached out with her senses and started to float away, she could see a smile on his face. And yes, there was pain. And hurt. But also love. So much love.

"My pleasure, Darlin." Jim Raynor said as he watched how she left him behind once more. And suddenly...the hate was gone from his mind.

"...always was."

Sarah Kerrigan had never planned for the time after Arcturus's death. But that didn't matter anymore because now she had a duty to perform. She would take the Swarm and lead it against...

* * *

"No!" the Queen of Blade groaned and shook her head when her thoughts returned to the here and now. The pain started to disappear, yet that throbbing feeling remained in the back of her mind. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down. It didn't make sense. That...that had been a memory. But not a memory she could remember.

Was someone trying to confuse her? If so, whoever it was, he or she were doing a brilliant job. Sarah got back on her knees and rammed the tips of her blade wings into the ground in order to stay upright. Suddenly the whole damn jungle seemed to spin around her head. She grabbed her own head and screamed in discomfort.

"Stop it! Make it stop!" And that's when she heard that laugh. She opened her eyes and looked over at Jim. He was awake and looking at her.

"Jim..."

"Not nice, is it?" he mumbled. "That feeling. Kinda sucks if you think about it. And before you ask; yes, this is how I spent the last couple of days. At least I think it has been this long. Not sure, though." Jim looked sick. It wasn't just the bruises. His skin was pale and his eyes sunken in. He looked like someone had put him through hell and back. She could sense that presence in the back of his mind. She could feel herself as if there was another Sarah who had placed some sort of psionic beacon inside Jim's mind.

But that was impossible. Besides, a psionic beacon was bad news. Because there was literally no way to remove it from someone's mind. She knew what she was talking about, she had placed beacons like that in many creatures. And none of them were still alive. Sarah slowly stood up and then she decided to back away. She looked at the man in front of her and could feel how a voice in the back of her own mind told her that something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Just what...are you?" the Queen of Blades whispered.

And Jim? When he heard that question, he started to chuckle. And then the chuckle turned into laughter. It was a loud and sinister laugh.

"Ha..."

"Hahaha..."

"HAHAHAHAHA!" he laughed like he had finally lost it and Sarah flexed her claws, ready to do what had to be done. That's when he looked up at her and their eyes met.

"Just my luck. From all the Sarahs out there it had to be you. Now am I not a lucky dog?" he then said before he started to laugh again. The Queen of Blade would never admit something like that to anyone else...

...but right now, she was frightened.

* * *

"...uh...what...happened?" the huge figure groaned when consciousness started to return to him. Tesson rolled around until he was lying on his back. He opened his eyes, but all he could see were leaves. Even though the mind of a Protoss was far more advanced than that of a human, he still needed a moment to figure out what was wrong.

Ulnar...

He had been on Ulnar.

But...there were no trees on Ulnar. And...no sky. Wait, was that a stellar nebular just above him?

Tesson frowned and tried to make sense of it all. He turned his head to the left, and then to the right. And when he realized that he was in a lush jungle, his confusion reached new heights.

"Where...am I?"


	74. Act III - Chapter 18

...

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 18**

 **The Woman beneath**

* * *

It took Tesson a while before he was able to form even one coherent thought. It took it even longer until he finally managed to get back on his feet. Though "on his feet" was a very generous way of putting it. More like "on his hand and knees, begging for the world to stop spinning around his head". Yeah, that sounded better. It took him forever until he was finally able to shake his head and look around.

"Just where in the name of the Void am I?" he muttered.

The last thing he remembered was Ulnar. He had been a prisoner of the Zerg, and of none other than Sarah Kerrigan. And then...then...

"Think. Think, fool, think." Tesson told himself and closed his eyes. He...had escaped his captors. But without any way off Ulnar, and without any way of contacting his people, the only thing he could have done was to lay low. Well, not that there were any people he could contact. It was weird, the knowledge that Kerrigan was still alive didn't bother the former Dark Templar as much as it probably should. No, he was far angrier at Artanis for keeping this knowledge from his people.

So even if he would manage to return to Aiur or any other Protoss-world, would they even believe him?

Anyhow, that was actually a strictly academic question. Because when he looked up to the sky...

...he had no clue where he was.

It took him a while until he managed to get back on his feet, and even then, he felt as if a whole armada of Zerglings had run him over. It was as if his whole body was frozen on the inside, and crispy on the outside. Just what had happened to him?

And then he remembered...

* * *

"Lady Izsha, it is done!" the weird Phase-smith announced with some pride in his voice. When Tesson heard that, he awoke from his slumber and groaned in discomfort. His hiding-place high above this cave was anything but comfortable. He had spent almost two days in this hole, he was running out of patience, and his limbs hurt. Tesson rolled on all fours, crawled towards the edge and looked down at the scene right beneath him.

"Well, someone was busy." the former Dark Templar said to himself when he saw the makeshift warp-gate below him. He watched with keen eyes how the other Protoss ran over to the dark Zerg that had waited there for the entire time. And unlike Tesson, this "Izsha"-creature hadn't even moved once. It was as if this creature was made out of stone!

"It is about time, minion Karax. Prepare the warp gate, I need to see her Majesty immediately!" the dark creature declared.

"Forgive me, but it will take some time until-" the Phase-smith tried to explain. However, Izsha was not in the mood to wait even a minute longer.

"NOW!" she hissed, and the Phase-smith eeped and doubled his pace. Tesson watched from afar, and he felt almost sorry for that Protoss. Almost. The former Dark Templar made sure to memorize every tiny detail of what Karax did. While Tesson was no phase-smith, he knew how to press buttons. Besides, he could still wait for the perfect opportunity to force Karax to tell him how this contraption of his was working. He knew he could take the other Protoss. All he had to do was to wait...

"Hurry up, minion Karax! This delay is unacceptable. I will make sure to tell her Majesty about this and..." Izsha continued to rant. However, Tesson didn't really care about that. This was his ticket out, he just knew it. And so, he watched with wide open eyes, sucking in every detail.

"Here we go!" he could hear Karax scream. "Shield your eyes, Lady Izsha! And watch the radiation, it might be lethal!" Well, that sounded promising. And that's when the warp gate finally came to life. Tesson had to look away, much to his own chagrin. He had to see what was happening, but it was just too bright!

"Lady Izsha, wait!" he could hear Karax scream. "Please, wait! The vortex needs to stabilize before a safe transit can be-"

"No more delays! I am on my way! Tell Niadra that she is in charge while I am gone. And tell her to find the escaped Protoss." When Tesson's eyesight finally returned to him, he could see how the dark Zerg plunged into the raging vortex of the warp gate. And then she was gone. Since the warp gate was lying on the ground, it was right beneath Tesson.

That was his ticket out. He just knew it. All he had to do was to figure out how to operate it. Even if he had to threaten that Phase-smith to do it.

"That is right, close the gate, turn around, do not look up. This will be over quickly." he whispered to himself.

"You do know that this is a shitty plan, right?" suddenly a voice behind him said.

"Well, if you have a better idea, I am all ears and-" Tesson started, but then he realized that there was actually someone behind him. His eyes widened in shock and he turned around. When he saw the lithe figure, he could feel how fear started to grip his head.

"Kerrigan? No, it can't be...who are you?" he gasped when he saw the young woman.

"Long story." she replied and sighed. "Oh, by the way, sorry for that."

"Sorry? For what?" Tesson growled, ready to punch that puny creature into the face.

"For doing this. Sorry, Tesson. It's nothing personal." Before he could ask this young woman what she was talking about, she raised her hand and pointed with her finger at him. And then it felt as if an invisible hand grabbed Tesson...

...and suddenly he was pushed out of his hole.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" the former Dark Templar screamed when he fell down the ceiling. It was a pretty long fall, he could even see the surprised look on Karax's face. However, when Tesson entered the event horizon of the warp gate, everything turned into bright light. He had no time to think things through, all he could do was to react. Perhaps he had given the Phase-smith too much credit, this was the bumpiest ride of all times. There was only one problem with that; a bumpy ride through a warp gate was a deadly one.

Tesson could feel how the energies of the vortex started to pull at his whole body, how his molecules started to vibrate. Everything was happening too fast, and so he did the only thing he could. Tesson remembered his training as a Dark Templar and focused on the Void. His body moved through the raging energies of the vortex like rain through a thunderstorm. He tried to focus his mind on something, anything. It hurt. He had never felt this much pain in his entire life. It was as if his skin was on fire while his bones were freezing. He had to concentrate, he had to focus...

...and that's when he exited the warp gate.

However, there was no moment of joy, no chance to feel glad. Because when he re-materialized, he did so several dozen meters above the ground.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Tesson still screamed when he smashed through all the leaves. He collided with several branches, and then he finally landed on the surprisingly soft ground.

"Worst. Day. Ever." he managed to mumble.

Well, at least he wasn't the only one having a bad day. Not too far away, someone else wasn't having such a great time either.

* * *

"Just what...are you?" the Queen of Blades whispered.

And what was Jim's reply? At first, he started to chuckle. And then the chuckle turned into laughter. It was no happy laugh, though. It had a certain sinister sound to it.

"Ha..."

"Hahahaha..."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" he laughed like a maniac, and even though his whole body hurt like crazy, he couldn't stop laughing. He could see from the corner of his eyes how the Queen of Blades hissed in anger and frustration and flexed her blade wings. He just wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and looked up at the creature in front of him.

"Just my luck. From all the Sarahs out there it had to be you. Now am I not a lucky dog?" And that's when he started to laugh again. It was strange, he could swear to see both confusion and fear on Sarah's face. It was a good look for the Queen of Blade, one he could get used to.

"I asked you a question!" the creature in front of him hissed. Was she running out of patience? Maybe she just didn't like to be left in the dark. If that was the case, then welcome to the club! After Jim had finally managed to calm down, he tilted his head to the side and looked into the Queen of Blades eyes for a long time.

You know what was so unnerving about the Queen of Blades? That she still looked so damn human. Yes, she was hideous, but at the same time, she was not. All the single pieces of her body had been turned into a twisted mockery of her former self. If you just look at an arm or a leg, you would only see claws and carapace and hardened muscle structure. Hardly what Jim would call "sexy". But if you combined all these parts, you got something else...something alluring and strangely sensual. The way the Queen of Blades teased you with her movements, the way she looked at you, it was meant to mock. So yeah, she could be a goddamn tease. She knew that you weren't able to touch her. Was that the whole point of this body? To mock others? To make fun of him?

Or maybe Jim was just imagining things, but that's how he felt about this damn creature.

The Queen of Blades, the old Queen of Blades that is, had done that with him. Teased him, promised him unspeakable pleasures if he would only give up and allow himself to be infested. The idea behind that had been simple; to wear him out, to make him doubt himself. The old Queen of Blades hadn't been interested in romance, she just had used all options to get rid of Jim.

Jim was still a man. And he wasn't above naughty dreams, oh hell no! Some of his best dreams had been naughty ones, and a lot of them had involved Sarah. However, not all of them had involved _his_ Sarah. Those other dreams had probably been messages sent by the Queen of Blades. Jim sure hoped so because otherwise, it would mean that there was actually a part of his mind who longed for this creature's inhuman touch.

Like said, for Jim, all of this was highly unnerving. But why the hell was he thinking about something like that right now?

Perhaps because he was all out of juice and he could use a hug and a kiss right now. And since there was no other Sarah around (and no alcohol either to put on those good ol' reliable beer goggles), his mind was trying to find something beautiful about this creature. Either that or he was just having a stroke.

"Jim!" the Queen of Blades hissed. "I know this is not how you wanted to meet me again. But I need answers and I need them now! What is going on here?" But what did Jim do? He just laughed again. He could see how the frustration and anger returned to the Queen of Blade's face, yet he was no longer afraid of her. He was just too exhausted to care about this anymore. And so, he just leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

" _...leaving on a jet plane, dunno when I'll be back again..."_ he started to sing again, and Sarah winced in pain when suddenly another unknown memory emerged inside her mind. She grabbed her own head and unknown yet familiar images filled her senses. She could see...herself. Her old _human_ self. She was holding Jim in her arms and they were _dancing_. On board of the...Hyperion? She couldn't remember that moment in time, it was as if it had never happened to her.

"JIM!" she roared. "ANSWER ME!" He stopped singing and opened his eyes. And when she looked at him, she could see so much pain and exhaustion. Still, a weak grin appeared on his face when he stretched his arms out.

"This is Wonderland, my dear Alice! Or should I call you the "Queen of Hearts"? Though the Queen of Spades would probably be more fitting. Hahaha!" he laughed at his own cheap joke. Sarah knew about that story, even though she had never bothered to read it. "We got everything! White rabbits, a stupid cat with a stupid grin. And, of course, yours truly; the Mad Hatter." Jim chuckled and pointed a finger at himself.

"Oh, and we got a grumpy Zerg-snake slithering around this place. That's even better than the original story, don't you think?" he then added. Zerg-snake? Just who the hell was he talking about?

"What is this place?" she then demanded to know. "Tell me!"

"Or what?" Jim shot back. "You're gonna make me talk? Infest me or tear the knowledge out of my head?" Sarah was about to reply something, but then she realized what he was probably referring to. She lowered her gaze and her blade wings and averted her gaze.

"It is still me, Jim. I am still in control, you don't have to be afraid of me. And I won't hurt you. I haven't come here to-"

"Stop it." Jim growled and Sarah could sense his frustration. Or was it her own frustration that was bouncing back from Jim's mind?

Gosh, no wonder she was suffering from the worst headache of all times.

"I would never do that." she then whispered and shook her head. He had a point, though. The last time they had met like this had been on Char, and she had used her Swarm to lay waste to his and Valerian's forces. The Queen of Blades was a symbol of destruction, and Sarah had willingly decided to reinfest herself. She knew that this was probably a real nightmare for Jim. So, the least she owed to him was the truth why she did it.

"Jim, listen...I know you feel betrayed, but I thought you were dead and-"

"You did it because you don't have any faith in humans." he suddenly interrupted her, and her eyes widened when she heard that.

"What? No, that's not-" But he wouldn't let her finish that sentence either.

"Your entire life...was nothing but abuse. I get that now. I didn't want to see it. No, that's not right. I didn't want to accept it. Your entire life humans never did anything for you. They only caused you pain. And when the Zerg took you, they gave you power. For the first time in your life, you could fight back. And so, you took your revenge. Simple as that." he explained and Sarah made another step backward.

"What...are you talking about?" she wanted to know, but Jim just shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. None of that matters anymore. It's over. I'm done. I can't go on anymore, Sarah. Whatever you're trying to tell me, I don't get it." And then he said the words she had never heard from him before.

Remember all that talk about something that seems wrong and you just don't know why? Well, in this case, it was obvious what was wrong.

"I give up." The look on Jim's face was not just one of exhaustion and pain. It was defeat. She had seen him in countless horrible situations, and she had witnessed how he had never given up. But now there was no will to fight in his gaze. It looked like he was dead on the inside. Whatever had happened to Jim, he was in no shape to go on. And it touched something deep within Sarah. She moved forward and knelt down right in front of him.

"Jim. I am here. I do not wish to hurt you! I know that you will probably not believe me, but I did this for you!" Okay, that was probably the worst compliment of all times. "When I saw that message from Arcturus claiming that you were dead, I felt so...so...angry! I just wanted to kill him! To avenge you!"

"That's...a lie." Jim whispered and Sarah gritted her teeth. He was no longer looking at her, his gaze was empty and he was staring at a point far beyond this plane of existence. "Deep down in your heart, you knew that it had to be a lie." he then explained. "Come on, Sarah. He was always a masterful liar. But you didn't even consider that possibility for one second. There is a problem, Sarah; you are not stupid. Shortsighted, yes. But not stupid. When you heard that I was dead, you did the thing anyone would have done. You went back home. Home to your family. The Zerg." Sarah didn't know what to reply. How did he...?

"You said...you said Arcturus was a masterful liar. And I saw something...a memory, only that I can't remember when it happened and-" Sarah whispered, but then she was cut short again when Jim started to laugh. She clenched her hands into fists but kept her temper in check.

"What is so funny?"

"The water runs in mysterious ways, yet it always finds its way to the ocean!" Jim suddenly whispered and Sarah tilted her head to the side.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I have no idea!" he laughed, but that laugh soon turned into a choking cough. He leaned forward and groaned in pain.

"Jim!" she yelled. By now she must have said his name over fifty times. She pressed his body against the deadfall, and when he raised his head once more, blood was flowing out of one of his nostrils. He could feel something wet flowing over his lips and brushed with his hand over it. When he saw that it was blood, he sighed.

"Well, that's new."

"Jim, you're sick. Let me help you." she offered, but he just chuckled again.

"The wind makes noises, but it doesn't say anything."

"That doesn't make any sense!" the Queen of Blades barked.

"I know! That's what makes it so much fun!" Jim agreed.

"You're delirious." Sarah realized.

"Oh, humor me." Jim just replied. "For the last few days, pretty much every person I could think of shoved their cryptic bullshit down my throat. And what could I do about it? Nothin'. So yeah, I can spout nonsense just like everyone else. _Is the rose beautiful even though she has thorns, or do we cherish her beauty because of them?_ " he then went on, and suddenly Sarah remembered something.

"Wait, I know that line...it's from one of those awful movies I once saw..." the Queen of Blades mumbled and Jim chuckled again.

"Aw, I guess my secret's out. Guess I won't become a wise sage in this life anymore. Well, better luck next life then."

"Please!" Sarah pleaded. "What is going on here?"

"It doesn't matter anymore. Just...leave me alone. I want to sleep. And hopefully, I won't see that damn Reverend again."

"I can't allow that!" Sarah said with a stern tone in her voice, but Jim just chuckled again.

"Sorry, girl..." Jim then whispered. "...but you got no jurisdiction in this place. Then again, neither do I." However, that wasn't good enough for her. Sarah put her hands on his shoulders and forced him to look into her eyes.

"I need to know! Jim, what-"

"Two years." Jim suddenly mumbled and Sarah frowned.

"What?"

"Two years. You killed Arcturus over two years ago. Inside his palace. Stormed it yourself while your Zerg lay waste to Augustgrad. Was quite the party, actually. And then there was the big finale in his private chamber. You know, now that I think about it, it was quite epic. Don't tell anyone I told you that, but...you were reeeeaaaally impressive that day. Tearing through Arcturus's men like they were nothing but toy soldiers, bringing down his walls with your bare hands. I'm pretty certain that the old bastard pooped his pants when he saw you." However, the Queen of Blades wasn't happy to hear that. She got back on her feet and backed away.

"No...no, that can't be!" she whispered. This was...the future? Had someone erased her memories? Two years? This was crazy!

"Why...why can't I remember it? What is this place and-" But she was cut short again by Jim.

"You're not her. You're not the real Sarah." he suddenly explained to her.

"What?!" she hissed, but Jim just shook his head.

"None of this is real. Neither are you. If you don't believe me, that's fine. If someone would tell me that I'm a goddamn hallucination, I wouldn't just accept that either." Jim mumbled. He then closed his eyes and took a few ragged breaths. He was in a great deal of pain, that much was obvious.

"I don't believe you." the Queen of Blades said, but Jim didn't even open his eyes when he answered her comment.

"Don't care. I just don't care. Do us both a favor and just leave me alone. If this is how I'm gonna leave the show, then I want to be alone." Oh, he could be such a drama queen!

"You're not going to die!" Sarah hissed.

"Everybody dies. It's the course of life. You know, I always wondered if I was just imagining things. Like when you came back to me. When we danced on the Hyperion. It just was too good to be true, right? I was afraid that it was just a stroke and that you were just a fabrication of my own mind. Guess that's the true meaning of the word "mindfucked". Hehehe." he laughed, but it was a bitter laugh.

"I wonder where I truly am. Maybe inside a sickbed in some hospital. Hmm, maybe Matt is around and looks at me while I drool and have a catheter up my butt. Sounds more reasonable than the alternative, don't you think?" However, Sarah didn't answer that question. None of what she saw made any sense to her.

Well, at least Jim had managed to pass that feeling on to someone else. How does that saying go? Sharing is caring?

"Who knows..." he continued while his voice started to grow weaker. "...maybe Smith even sheds a tear when...I'm...gone..." Sarah could sense how the life started to slip from his body. He had been through a lot, and now the exhaustion and the wounds were finally catching up to him. More blood started to drip out of his nose, and he grimaced when the headache returned. Sarah could sense his pain and decided to return to his side. She knelt down and put her hand on his cheek.

"Jim, let me help you!" She had picked up a new trick when she had stepped out of that chrysalis. Her psionic powers felt so powerful, it was as if she could manipulate every cell inside her own body. Maybe she could do the same for Jim?

"No..." was his answer and she frowned.

"Don't be such a stubborn mule! I can take the pain away!" she pleaded with him and Jim opened his eyes. He looked at her, and she could see so much hurt in his gaze.

"I doubt that." he whispered, and suddenly she realized what he meant. It was her. Her very presence caused him pain. To see Sarah like this, as a Zerg. Sarah looked away and sighed. What was she even trying to achieve here?

"Just...go." Jim then mumbled. "Leave me alone. If this is...the end, then I want to be alone. Maybe my Sarah isn't around..." he then whispered. "...but that doesn't mean that I have to spend my last moments with _you_."

From all the things people had said to her, this was probably the most hurtful. She wanted to scream at him and call him a fool, but all she felt was pain. And this time it was her own. She stepped back and put her hand on her own chest. Why did her heart suddenly hurt this much? She was no timid little girl that would start to cry if someone told her that he didn't like her, even if it was the man who she had loved...and still loved.

Yet, when purple tears started to stream down her cheek, she touched her own face and felt even more confused.

There was so much hurt inside her. But it wasn't really her pain. It came from Jim's mind. It was that presence that had placed that psionic beacon inside his mind. It was as if that presence resonated inside her own mind and amplified her own memories, fears, and emotions.

 _It was never meant to be._ Sarah could hear her own voice in the back of her skull. She grabbed her head and winced in discomfort. It took her some time to finally calm down again and to banish the pain somewhere else.

"Just go. I don't want you around during my last moments. Go out there, have fun, I don't care." Jim mumbled. "But hey, maybe you will find Arcturus, and then you can have your vengeance all over again." Suddenly Sarah wasn't so eager to gather her forces and travel to Korhal in order to tear Arcturus apart anymore.

"Two years...?" she whispered to herself. No, that had to be a mistake. This was a dream, a goddamn nightmare!

"Just...go..." she could hear Jim. "...it was a nice dream, wasn't it, Sarah?" he whispered, and the Sarah right in front of him lowered her hands while she was looking at the dying man. She could feel how his life was coming to an end. It was too much. She had freed herself from the chrysalis mere hours ago! The last thing she remembered was how Zeratul had asked her what she would be willing to do in order to get her revenge.

 _Everything..._

Her words. And that had only been a few days ago. She then had started to locate that ancient being known as Zurvan and found out that there were indeed individuals among these primal Zerg. Though, in the end, there was no big difference among these individuals because they were all like "GONNA EAT YOU ALIVVVEEEE!" anyway.

What good is individualism if everyone acts the same way, huh?

"Jim, I-"

"Leave me! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Jim managed to scream. There was so much hurt and anger both in his voice and his mind. And Sarah? She felt another surge of pain shooting through her head. She could feel how her three hearts started to beat faster, how sweat began to cover her forehead, and how her hands turned cold. It was too much. She grabbed her own head and turned away from Jim. Sarah stumbled towards the lake and fell to her knees. More memories emerged in her minds. Some she knew...like when she had met Jim for the first time. Some felt vaguely familiar, like when she had been known as Ghost Nr. 24. And then there were memories that she had forgotten a long time ago.

She winced in pain when even more images through her mind. She could see herself, only as a child. She could see her father and then...

"No!" the Queen of Blades gasped. "No, I didn't want to do it!" Suddenly the death of her mother was right before her eyes, with all those grizzly details on full display. Sarah closed her eyes and tried to shut those memories out, but it was impossible. Because those memories were technically still her own.

"Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!" she screamed, and hot purple tears were starting to stream down her face. And much to her relief, the memory started to fade away. But it was soon replaced by other memories.

She could see herself, only it wasn't herself. She looked like she was...on fire? There was so much power! And it all engulfed her. No, that wasn't right. It came from _inside_ her.

" _Go, Jim...go."_ her own voice echoed through her brain. And suddenly it all came together. She saw herself, but neither as human nor Zerg. No, that was something completely different.

 _The Xel'Naga are dead. I shall choose my own fate from now on._ Was that a memory? Or a thought?

Then she saw herself standing on the surface of a moon while endless numbers of Protoss vessels were firing on her, yet their fire caused almost no damage. She saw how she ventured to Korhal, how she met Jim again. And how Izsha stood at her side all the time.

The pain was too much to bear, even for the Queen of Blades. The physical pain was one thing. She could turn that into anger. However, there was no way to defend herself against this! It felt as if a psionic onslaught and kept tormenting her. And so she fought herself back on her feet and stumbled forward. She didn't want to leave Jim behind, but she had to. More images were starting to flood her mind, and soon it was impossible to tell which ones her own memories were, and which were not. The only thing she knew was that the more distance she brought between herself and Jim, the less it hurt.

When it finally became bearable, Sarah stopped and fell on her knees. Her blade wings were shivering, and so was the rest of her body. She had just crawled out of that damn chrysalis, she wasn't prepared to face something like _this_!

Then again, since when did the universe care about what Sarah Kerrigan wanted?

" _Leave me...alone."_ Jim's voice echoed through her mind. Was it a memory or was she actually able to hear his thoughts? _"If this is the end, then I want to be alone."_ She could sense it, Jim was dying. He was on his last breaths, it wouldn't take even one more hour and then it would be over. She had no idea what had happened, nor did she know what to make of these visions, memories, or whatever those things were.

If she would allow Jim to die, she would probably never find out what's going on here. However, when she managed to get back on her feet, she knew that there was another reason why she had to get back to Jim.

No matter what had happened...he was still the man she had loved. And she wouldn't watch how he would just die when she had the chance to save him.

* * *

" _...the taxi driver's blowing his horn. Already I'm so lonesome...I could die..."_ Jim whispered random lines of the song he sang inside his mind. He was too tired to even open his eyes, and he felt so damn cold! He just wanted to sleep. He knew that he wouldn't find any rest, but he didn't care about that. However, he would probably punch the Reverend in the face the moment he would see him again.

He was so tired, so damn tired. All he wanted to do was to rest.

Rest in peace, now more than ever.

But then again, no rest for the wicked, right?

"Jim." Sarah's voice reached him, and a weak smile appeared on his face.

"Finally...took you...long enough." he mumbled.

"Don't push your luck, Mister!" he heard her voice again, and then he realized that it wasn't coming from inside his mind and that this voice had a strange alien sound to it. He managed to open his eyes, just barely.

"Oh, it's you." he groaned.

"Good to see you too, Jim." the Queen of Blades replied, and then she gritted her teeth. Was she in... pain?

"I thought I told you...to leave me alone." he snarled and the Queen of Blades just sighed.

"Since when did I ever listen to you, huh?" she wanted to know and placed her hand on Jim's chest.

"Don't...touch me." Jim groaned and tried to crawl away, but he lacked the strength to even raise a finger. Sarah didn't care about that, though. She wouldn't just watch him die, not if she could do something about it. Infesting Jim would be an option, but she was pretty certain that he wouldn't appreciate that idea. Besides, he would probably only end up as another malformed abomination. Without Abathur's help, there was no way for her to create something like herself. Furthermore, leaving Jim in Abathur's _care_ could be considered a fate worse than death.

Sarah knew what she was talking about.

"Hold still, I don't want to hurt you." she whispered and concentrated on Jim's body. Like said, infesting was out of the question. But if Zerg regeneration wouldn't do the trick, what other options could she choose? Luckily, she was no longer the Queen of Blades. Ever since she had crawled out of that chrysalis, she had felt this raw new power. The mighty Queen of Blades had been reborn as something even more powerful.

Sarah had seen it in those memories. She knew she could do it, she knew that she could mend his wounds.

Right now, her head was still hurting like crazy. That other presence was still there, and it was still pouring out of Jim's mind. But now Sarah had prepared herself for the onslaught. Shielding her mind was easy, even though the raw power of that other presence was almost too much for her. She had to hurry!

"Don't...leave...agh!" Jim groaned in pain when he felt how her powers started to flow through his body. It wasn't unlike what Sarah had done to Arcturus. Or what she would do to him. Or...aw, to hell with this. The difference between what she had done, or would do to Arcturus, and what she was doing to Jim right now was that she would not overload Jim's entire being, but close those wounds on the inside.

It was far easier than she would have imagined. There were fissures in every part of his body, but she could sense that those wounds had been inflicted by psionics. Something was tearing him apart from the inside. Slowly. It was as if his body wasn't able to handle all this psionic energy.

"Oh, damn." Sarah whispered when she realized the full extent of the damage. And even with her newfound powers, she had no idea if she could actually save his life.

But she had to try!

"Gha...!" Jim gurgled in pain when he felt how the Queen of Blades' energy started to course through his body.

"I'm sorry!" Sarah hissed, but she couldn't stop now. It was painful, yes. However, it was still not on the same level as her first infestation.

"Stop...it!" he groaned. "You're...hurting me!"

"I know, but I have to!" Sarah snarled. At one point, Jim started to convulse. He screamed in pain and Sarah pressed him against the deadfall. "Jim, calm down! I need you to focus on my voice! Listen to me!" she pleaded and watched how Jim writhed around while more pain wrecked his body. Seeing Jim like this felt wrong. But she had to hurt him in order to make him whole again.

"Story of my life." she mumbled to herself before she resumed to fix the damage that this other presence had caused.

"Jim, I know that you're in pain. And I know that you're angry, maybe even hurt. But you have to listen to my voice! I'm sorry!" she suddenly said.

"You..." Jim gargled. "...you were so eager to...reinfest yourself...gha!" Another surge of pain shot through his body, and even though Sarah had no problems with keeping Jim pinned down, she still had to make sure that she wouldn't hurt him by accident. He managed to look at her and all she could see was hurt and anger. "...you...didn't even bother...looking for me." Sarah opened her mouth and wanted to reply something. However, that's when she realized that it was pointless. To Jim, it truly had to look this way. And so she focused on healing the physical damage instead of telling Jim things that he wouldn't believe anyway.

It wasn't pleasant, for neither one of them. But it was necessary.

She had no idea how long the whole process lasted. Too long for both their tastes.

When Sarah was finally done, she let go of Jim and made a step backward. His body was covered with sweat and his eyes were still filled with pain, but he would live. However, when he opened his eyes and looked at the Queen of Blades, she could see all this hurt inside his gaze. And there was something else.

Betrayal.

"You didn't...even bother looking for me." he mumbled. "You just heard Arcturus's lies, jumped on the Zerg-wagon and rode right down to vengeance-town." Sarah was about to reply something, but then she just clenched her hands into fists and looked away. Great, more accusations. That's exactly what she needed.

"Trust me, I wish we could have met again under different circumstances. But that's just the way it is." she explained and turned away from Jim.

"Two years..." she then whispered to herself. "You said that I killed Arcturus four years ago. How? What happened in the meantime? And why can't I remember any of this?"

"Doesn't matter anymore." Jim just growled.

"IT MATTERS TO ME!" the Queen of Blades roared and she could see how Jim's eyes widened in shock and fear and how he tried to crawl away from her. Only then she realized that she was showing him her teeth and claws while her blade wings were ready to strike. She lowered her arms and claws and pressed her hands against her mouth.

"Jim, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..." But then she just dropped her shoulders and did something that caught Jim off guard.

She started to cry.

Thick, purple tears started to stream down her face, and she slung her arms around her own body.

"You think I took this lightly. You think that I just looked for an opportunity to reinfest myself, so I could return to my old ways." Sarah snarled in pain, anger, and frustration. Jim, who was finally calming down, gave her a distant look.

"That thought crossed my minds, yeah." he admitted. "But then again, you were the only one who came and freed me from prison. And you saved us all afterward. I can't deny that. That doesn't mean that I have to like it." Jim groaned and rolled on all fours. That had been one unpleasant experience, yet at the same time, he could feel how his body didn't hurt that much anymore. It didn't mean that he was safe, though. Sarah had managed to heal his body, but what about his mind? He still felt exhausted, like he hadn't slept in a very long time.

"I'm sorry, but I had to do it, Jim! No one else would have helped me, no one else would have-" she tried to defend herself.

"-helped you to start your crusade against Arcturus. Yeah, I know." he mumbled, and when Sarah heard that, she could feel how her patience was finally coming to an end.

"If you know so much, then how about you tell me what the fu-"

"YOU'RE NOT REAL!" Jim suddenly yelled at her and the Queen of Blades froze in an instant.

"What...?" she whispered and made a step backward. Jim groaned again when he tried to stand back up. It took him some attempts, but in the end, he managed to get back on his feet. It didn't look very manly, though. He sighed and put his hand on his forehead.

"Damn, if only these damn headaches would finally stop." he groaned and turned away from Sarah. However, the Queen of Blades wasn't satisfied with this answer.

"What do you mean? I'm not real?"

"What I just said, you're not real. You are not Sarah. You're just a fragment of her mind. One that I'm not very fond of I might say." he said and looked back at her. He could see the pain on her face, but right now he didn't care.

"Frag...ment?" she whispered and Jim sighed.

"Don't ask me any details, I don't get it myself." he mumbled and closed his eyes. Those damn headaches, they would just not stop and...

"No!" he could hear the Queen of Blades wail. Jim opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Sarah?"

"No, it's a lie. I am... not real? But I feel like I am real! You're lying. You're just lying because I did this to myself!" she hissed, but Jim just sat down on the deadfall and looked at her with weary eyes.

"Think what you want. It's still the truth. Though in the end, it doesn't change anything." When Sarah heard his words, she wanted to believe that it was just a lie, but something in the back of her mind told her that it was indeed the truth.

Now, that all might seem a bit too much, right? She was still the Queen of Blades, she had survived far worse. She had caught bullets with her goddamn face! And she was used to rough treatment, even from people she used to call friends. So why was she acting like a little (infested) teenage girl who had just been booted by her first love? It wasn't her fault. Right now, more and more memories and emotions were streaming into her entire being. She couldn't shield herself against these memories anymore. These memories were technically her own, even though she hadn't experienced them yet.

It was possible to implant foreign memories into a mind. It was also possible to shield yourself from those memories. But shielding one's mind only works if you find out what's wrong with that fake memory. It is hard to describe how psionics feel like to someone who doesn't possess that ability. Perhaps the easiest way to describe it was to say that every memory has its very own _scent_ to it. The reason why Sarah couldn't block these memories out anymore was because they _felt_ like her very own.

The other reason was because, while the other presence appeared to be dormant, it was still far more powerful than anything she had ever felt.

And that scared her.

More pain shot through her mind and she stumbled away from Jim. It was as if a floodgate had been opened. The Queen of Blades dropped to her knees and started to scream in pain and terror. Just what the hell was happening to her?

More and more memories and emotions flooded her senses. Suddenly her pain and fear started to fade away and were replaced by something else...something sinister.

"You're just like everyone else!" the Queen of Blades hissed and looked over at Jim. The annoyed look on his face started to change when he saw her angry expression.

"Oh, hell..." he mumbled when he realized that she was suddenly no longer in the mood to play the role of "wounded infested girlfriend". He watched in horror how the Queen of Blades flexed her blade wings and showed her claws and teeth to him.

"I know that you never cared for me, Jim!" she spat out. "You only cared for _your_ Sarah. What if I would tell you that _this_ is how I want to look like?" Sarah pointed at her own body. "Or would you stop loving me if I would stay this way? Is that all I am to you, Jim? Nice legs, nice tits, and red hair?" Before Jim could answer to that, she grabbed her head again when even more pain started to torment her brain.

"That's not true." he said mostly to himself while watching how the Queen of Blades screamed in agony. But then she gritted her teeth and looked at him.

"You're lying!" she spat out. Even now she could sense his hidden emotions when it came to the Queen of Blades. "You look at me and you feel _nothing_. If I would look like a human, like _your_ Sarah, then it would be different, right? For all that talk about inner values you always spout...ghh..." she gritted her teeth. "...you only care about appearances."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Jim screamed back and made a step towards her. But that's when more pain exploded within his own mind as well. Both of them started to scream and Jim too dropped to his knees.

"What is this?!" the Queen of Blades screeched, but Jim couldn't answer that question. Right now, it felt as if someone had decided to set his brain on fire.

"Sarah...what is this? What are you trying to tell me?" he gurgled. He was talking to the real Sarah, wherever she was. That didn't stop the primal Queen of Blades from finding the perfect answer.

"You...are an asshole!" she managed to hiss and fell on her side. More images emerged within her mind, and the boundless rage was suddenly replaced by sadness. Hot tears started to stream down her cheeks again, and she could see that house in her mind again. Only this time it was filled with life and people she had loved...and killed.

This was it. It had all started with this memory.

"I'm so sorry...I didn't want to do it..." Sarah wailed.

The other presence flooded her senses and engulfed her entire being. It felt as if a supernova had just exploded right behind her eyeballs and at the same time, the quality of those memories changed drastically. Suddenly those images were no longer random pictures. She could see every detail perfectly clear.

Augustgrad. How she killed Arcturus.

Ulnar, how she slew Amon inside the Void.

Saalok, how she tried to help the Protoss and got sucker punched by Artanis.

Augustgrad again, only this time with less Zerg, but still plenty of blood. A Christmas party gone wrong.

But those weren't the only memories that returned to her. No, this time it went deeper. She suddenly remembered those days when they had trained her to become a Ghost. Those lonely nights when she had cried herself to sleep while covered with nothing but the bruises she had gotten from the _training_. Faces appeared in front of her inner eye. Jim was there. Of course he was there, he was always there. But there were others as well. Arcturus. Matt. Major Rumm, that asshole would haunt her for the rest of her life. And even more, creatures that weren't human but equally important to her. Zagara. Stukov. Abathur. And, of course...Izsha.

It didn't stop there, though. While Sarah never had any friends among the Protoss, she could still see their faces. Zeratul. Fenix. Artanis. And Karax...

For a moment, it seemed as if she would be able to gain control over her emotions once more, but that hope was shattered when the one memory finally broke free, the one that had caused this whole madness.

The death of her mother.

Sarah started to cry when it all came back to her. She wished to rip these memories out of her own mind, but she couldn't do that. Up till now, she hadn't even known that these memories were still there. They had been buried under endless numbers of traumas and painful memories. But something was different. This time Sarah couldn't just push this memory as far away as possible. It just wouldn't work.

She could see every grizzly detail. How she screamed in anger, how her mother grabbed her own head.

And then...so much red.

"Please...make it stop...I didn't want to do it. I'm sorry!" There weren't many things that could shake the Queen of Blades to the core. But the image of her dead mother was one of those things.

* * *

Jim watched. He watched and didn't know what to do next. Right in front of his eyes, he could see the primal Queen of Blades lying on her side, her arms and blade wings slung around her slender frame while crying like a little child.

"I'm sorry...I didn't know this would happen..." she whispered while purple tears streamed down her face.

The headache was almost gone, and for the first time since this whole madness had begun, Jim could finally gather his thoughts. However, that didn't mean that he liked what he was seeing right now.

There she was, the Queen of Blades. Maybe some people wouldn't understand why it was so important for Jim to distinguish between the Queen of Blades and Sarah. The reason was simple; the Queen of Blades was a goddamn monster. She had slaughtered billions and left a trail of destruction of unimaginable proportions in her wake. He hated this creature because of what she had done, because of all those victims.

Like Fenix...

However, when he looked at this infested woman crying like a baby, he felt something he had never felt before when seeing the Queen of Blades.

He felt pity.

Was it because this creature was still part of Sarah? Or was it because he had seen how she had killed her own mother?

 _Is that all I am to you, Jim? Nice legs, nice tits, and red hair?_ he remembered her words. Was this the reason? The reason why she had chosen this form?

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..." Sarah continued to whimper, and Jim felt how his own heart started to ache when he watched her like this. It was nothing he wanted to see, it just _had happened_. He tried to look at this creature the same way he did before, but that was no longer an option. Because now Jim knew things he hadn't know before.

And that's when he finally realized the depths of his own ignorance.

Something had changed. It was easy to judge someone if you don't know all the details. Yet as he looked at this twisted creature, he realized that he couldn't do that anymore. Suddenly he could see the other Sarahs just before his inner eyes. And it had started all those years ago when a small girl had lost control over her own powers.

Take a life. Any life. Pick a random moment and judge that person for what he or she did without caring about the entire rest. Does this seem fair?

Jim had never bothered thinking about that.

Ignorance truly can be a bliss.

The truth was that he had never bothered about any of that. Sarah's past had never been of any interest to him. Why should it? There was pain in it, so much pain. And he was carrying his own fair share of traumas too. So why the hell should he care about Sarah's pain, huh? Well, the answer to that was simple and yet complex at the same time.

Because he loved her.

Jim gritted his teeth and shook his head. He was truly the king of fools.

"I'm sorry..." Sarah continued to whimper while holding her own head. It was maddening; he looked at this creature and tried to see the once so mighty and feared Queen of Blades, but all he saw was that small child who wished to undo what she had done by accident. So this was it, huh? This was the moment he had been afraid of for so long.

He could turn away and continue to look for another Sarah, hope to find the real one, pretend that this had never happened.

Leave this Sarah behind and go on searching until he would find a Sarah that would suit his tastes?

There is a quality not many people possess. It's about being honest with yourself. It is never nice and always painful but lying to yourself can't be an option either. You either got that quality...or your name is Arcturus Mengsk.

And so, Jim realized that this wasn't just about Sarah and her problems, it was about him as well. About the lie that he had told himself over and over again.

The lie that he loved Sarah Kerrigan.

He didn't love her. Perhaps he never had. He had merely loved an _image_ of Sarah, the same image on that photo he had kept close to his heart for all those years. He had only cared about this one version of Sarah.

"Now who's the scumbag, huh?" he whispered to himself. At the end of the day, it was simple. There was a Sarah in front of him, and she was in a great deal of pain. The question was; what would he do? And Jim? Well, he decided to do the right thing.

Funny, it was his heart that told him to turn around and run, while his mind was telling him that running away wouldn't solve any problems.

So much for: "Always listen to your heart".

Jim walked towards the Queen of Blades and dropped to his knees right next to her.

"Please...I didn't want this to happen..." she continued to whisper. He reached out with his hand and was about to touch her carapace, but then he hesitated. What was he even trying to do here?

"I'm sorry, mommy." Sarah whispered again, and Jim knew what he had to do. He put his hand on her shoulder and shivered. It felt so much unlike the soft skin he loved so much. The Queen of Blade's carapace was hard, yes. But it was also warm and covered by a thin layer of soft tissue that could almost be called "skin". And aside from the thorns on her other shoulder, there weren't any sharp edges either.

It wasn't...so bad. Well, it didn't feel nice either, but none of that mattered. Because when he looked at Sarah's face, all he could see was pain and fear.

She was suffering.

And so, he took a deep breath and licked his lips.

"It wasn't your fault." Sarah wasn't really paying attention to what he just had told her. Her blade wings were twitching from time to time, and Jim could already see himself getting torn to pieces by her sharp claws.

"I didn't know what would happen...I just wanted...to show her the bug I found!" the Queen of Blades continued to weep.

"I know. I know, Sarah." Jim told her. "I saw it. I saw what happened." He could see how Sarah pulled her hands away from her head and looked up at him.

"What?" she whispered and he could see the confusion on her face.

"I saw it, Sarah. Your memories, I saw them."

"How...?" the Queen of Blades asked and Jim sighed.

"That's..." he sighed. "...is one hell of a long story. And I don't know if I can explain it to you anyway, even if I wanted to." And much to his own dismay, her next question was a valid one.

"What's happening to me?" That question wasn't stupid and Jim could see both her confusion and her fear. She was scared, that much was obvious. But even though he looked at the Queen of Blades, even though he touched her, and even though he still wanted to hate her from the depth of his heart, he just...

...he just couldn't.

Because when he looked into these purple eyes, he realized that they were the same eyes that little girl had used when she had looked at him.

And in a way, Ghost Nr 24's eyes had been the same as well. Even the notorious Queen of Blades, the first one that is...even her eyes had been the same. He took a deep breath and calmed his own mind. And then he started to speak.

"You tried to tell me something, but I wasn't ready to hear it." he explained and then he shook his head. "No, that's not right. I didn't want to hear it. I ignored your pain because I thought that it wasn't my problem. You had returned to me after all. My Sarah. So, there was no reason for me to question my luck. You tried to tell me...but I didn't want to listen. I was a fool, Sarah. And I'm sorry for that."

Sarah, who had finally managed to calm down a bit, looked up at Jim.

"What happened...?" she whispered.

"I... don't know. You had a... breakdown, I guess? It was as if you remembered something, something you hadn't remembered in a long time. Something...painful." he said and could see how fresh tears started to stream down her face.

"My mother...I killed my own mother!" she whispered. "I...I..." Perhaps it strange to see that someone like Sarah was weeping for someone she had killed. She had killed so many people after all. But it's never that easy, right? Simple answers usually lead nowhere.

"I think I finally understand." Jim then said and their eyes met again.

"Understand what?" the primal Queen of Blades asked.

"What you tried to tell me. I think I know the answer now. I finally know what I have to tell you."

"And what would that be?" Sarah wanted to know and Jim took another deep breath.

"That I wanted to take the easy route. That I didn't want to accept that there's more to you than just some nice legs, tits, and red hair."

"Why...why would you want to do that, huh? Doesn't sound very romantic to me." the Queen of Blades gurgled, and Jim gave her a warm smile.

"Because...at the end of the day...I still love you."

And for a long time, neither one of them said a word. When Sarah finally opened her mouth, she wanted to tell him something. That's when-

"FRIEND RAYNOR!" the thundering voice of a Protoss suddenly reached them, and they both turned around in shock, anger, and surprise.

"ZERATUL?!" both Jim and Sarah yelled at the same time. The moment the Dark Prelate walked out of the jungle, the Queen of Blades hissed in anger and rolled back on all fours. She snarled like a wild animal and flexed her blade wings, ready to tear the Nerazim apart.

"So, this is a trick after all!" Sarah screamed and was about to attack when Jim jumped in front of her. "Jim, get out of the way! He tricked us, he played us for fools and-"

"No, Sarah! Wait!" Jim yelled back and the Dark Prelate made another step towards them.

"Friend Raynor, I have finally found you! Good, we have to act quickly! You need to follow me. It is critical that you listen to what I have to say." Something was wrong. Jim could feel how his throbbing headache returned and he winced in pain. The same happened to the Queen of Blades...

...and Zeratul.

"By the ancestors!" the Dark Prelate moaned. "It is getting worse." It was a strange sight, all three of them were suffering the same pain at the exact same moment.

"What is this trickery?" the Queen of Blades demanded to know, but Zeratul only shook his head.

"I assure you that this is no trickery. It is something far worse." the Nerazim explained, and then he turned his attention back towards Jim. "Friend Raynor, I need you to follow me. And I need you to listen to me." But Jim wasn't in the mood for any distraction right now.

"Listen, buddy, I know that you want to help in your own weird way, but not right now. Dealing with one fragment of Sarah's mind is hard enough, I don't have time for a second one and-"

"You do not understand, Friend Raynor!" Zeratul urged him and made another step towards Jim. Sarah was about to strike, but she didn't want to risk hurting Jim. The Nerazim put his hand on Jim's shoulder. "I am not a fragment of her mind, Friend Raynor. It is far worse than that."

"What are you talking about?" Jim asked.

"I am the memory the Dark Prelate left inside _your_ mind, Friend Raynor. I am not a fragment of Sarah's mind, but _yours_." When Jim heard that, his eyes widened in disbelief and shock.

"How is that possible?" he whispered.

"I will answer your question, but first we have to go!" Zeratul pleaded with him.

"Go where?!" Jim shot back.

"To Sarah Kerrigan. The _real_ Sarah Kerrigan." the Dark Prelate explained, and Jim's eyes became even wider.

"You know where she is?"

"Yes." Zeratul replied. "However, we have to hurry, or it might be too late." Now the primal Queen of Blades finally decided to join this ridiculous conversation.

"Too late? Why? What's the meaning of this, Zeratul?" she demanded to know. He turned towards her and his green eyes pulsed both in anger and determination.

"It means that your life is in great peril. It means that Sarah Kerrigan..." And those next few words made Jim wince on the inside. "...is about to die."


	75. Act III - Chapter 19

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 19**

 **Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse**

* * *

"What do you mean? You're the Zeratul from my mind?" Jim asked. "That is impossible!" The Dark Prelate, whose hand was still on Jim's shoulder, sighed and turned away.

"I know that this is hard to process, but you have to listen to me and-"

"Do _not_ listen to this asshole!" the Queen of Blades hissed and made a step forward, flexing her blade wings. Oh, great. Now Jim was standing between two deadly and vicious warriors, and what did he have to protect himself? Harsh language and a not so fresh piece of underwear.

"Jim! He's behind this! He showed me the path to Zerus, he was the one who put me on the path to-"

"Sarah!" Jim shouted and then he gestured her to lower her claws and blade wings. He could see that every cell inside the Queen of Blades' body was unhappy with that, but in the end, she did as she was told, which caused Jim to sigh in relief. Well, one crisis averted, only two million left. He looked back at Zeratul and mustered the Dark Prelate from head to toe. As he looked at the Nerazim, Jim could feel a strange, empty sensation in the back of his mind. It was as if that empty space had been the place where Zeratul had hidden inside his brain. Jim lowered his gaze and shook his head.

"I... I don't know what to think anymore. What you tell me doesn't make any sense!" he moaned. "So first I see fifty different shades of Sarah, then I get beaten up by half of them and _now_ you tell me that the real Sarah is dying? Can someone on this damn planet finally make some sense for crying out loud!"

"Are you saying...you have not figured out what is happening right now?" Zeratul asked, and Jim looked at him in bloody murder. He could feel how his left eyelid started to twitch.

"Oh, now you sound like Izsha!" he muttered and dropped his shoulders. "Please, I beg you...no more cryptic bullshit. I can't take it anymore. I need to know what's going on. I think I'm losing my mind!"

"Make that two of us." the Queen of Blades muttered behind him. Zeratul first looked at Jim, then at the Queen of Blades, and then at Jim again. And then the Dark Prelate sighed. At least it sounded like a sigh.

"I am sorry, Friend Raynor. But time is of the essence. We need to hurry or-"

"Listen, pal!" Jim interrupted Zeratul. "You can either share your knowledge with me or you can discuss the topic with her." He then pointed with his thumb behind him and right at the Queen of Blades. She opened her mouth and hissed at Zeratul like only a Zerg could.

"Very well." Zeratul stretched his arms out and included the area around them. "This whole place...is a fabrication of Sarah Kerrigan's mind. Everything you have experienced so far was a product of Sarah Kerrigan's own memories and experiences."

"Yeah, that much I've already figured out." Jim growled. Behind him, the Queen of Blades didn't say anything. However, the expression on her face showed fear, despair, and shock. "Does this mean that this whole place is just made up?" he then asked and Zeratul only shook his huge head.

"No. Everything to the point where Sarah Kerrigan lost control over her own mind happened just the way you remember it. But after that, things became significantly more... _complex_." the Dark Prelate explained.

"Well, that's one way to describe it." Jim muttered and Zeratul straightened himself.

"Friend Raynor, you have to understand the following; what I tell you is just what I believe is happening. I base my theories on what I have observed so far and the memories bestowed on me by the real Zeratul. There is no guarantee that what I tell you is indeed the truth and-"

"Goddamn it, just tell me, man!" Jim screamed, and Zeratul lowered his gaze. Jim could see how the Dark Prelate took a deep breath (even though Protoss didn't have lungs like humans) and sighed once more.

"I thought about this when I was still inside your mind, Friend Raynor. At first, I was just as confused as you are now. But then I remembered something, something that I once learned many centuries ago." Zeratul turned away and walked towards the pond. Sarah backed down, but she still kept her blade wings raised, ready to rip the Nerazim's head off. "Sarah Kerrigan is probably the most powerful being in existence. In fact, I believe that she has surpassed the Fallen One Amon some time ago."

"What makes you think that?" Jim wanted to know and Zeratul looked over his shoulder.

"She defeated Amon inside the Void, did she not? The place where his powers were supposed to be the most potent. Yet still, she prevailed. I cannot really describe it, but I believe that accepting the Xel'Naga's essence has sparked a new evolution. And it would appear as if Sarah Kerrigan has evolved beyond anything we can comprehend." When the Queen of Blades heard that, she looked over to Jim.

"Xel'Naga? Wait, those memories I saw, that huge bloated sack of flesh with tentacles on it... _that_ was a Xel'Naga?" Funny that the Queen of an army of bloated overlords and tentacle-wielding creatures would put it that way. However, Jim had no time for that right now.

"Sarah, please. Not now. What are you talking about, Zeratul? That still doesn't explain what happened!"

"My kind has far more experience when it comes to fractured minds than yours, Friend Raynor. You do know about the archons that our people have created, yes?"

"Yeah. Saw a few of them in action. Thought their radiation would turn me sterile." Jim mumbled.

"I knew of warriors and dark templar, who decided to walk down this path. It is a great sacrifice...and a great honor. But most importantly; it is a great risk."

"Why are you telling me this, Zeratul? I don't see the point!" Jim asked and the Queen of Blades agreed.

"Forgive me if I confuse you, but I try to make you understand. If two minds meld, they turn into one. But balance is the key. If one mind is too dominant or if they are out of balance, the newly created mind is...corrupted. Sick. Twisted." the Dark Prelate explained and fell silent for a moment. It seemed as if he was remembering some unpleasant memories.

"So, you're saying this is what happened to Sarah?" Jim asked.

"Yes. And no."

"Hooray for cryptic bullshit!" Jim screamed again and threw his hands high up in the air before he turned away. "Come on! Write me a letter. Draw me a map! Anything, as long as it will make some sense!"

"What I am trying to tell you is that I believe it is the same principle, only the other way around. Instead of having two minds being meld into one, Kerrigan's mind is falling apart and all the different aspects of her psyche are starting to break free. When an Archon dies, the single parts of its former beings break free as well, and for the fraction of a second, anyone can sense these old presences. I believe it is the same principle." Zeratul theorized.

"That's one hell of a big "Could be", Zeratul." Jim growled. "And if Sarah is falling apart like an archon, then why isn't she dead yet?"

"I do feel very alive." the Queen of Blades agreed and crossed her arms in front of her chest, allowing her human nature to take the lead. So, no more hissing, at least for now.

"And that is the problem." Zeratul continued. "Any ordinary creature would be dead, yes. But like I said, Sarah Kerrigan is far more powerful than anyone of us can comprehend. Her mind is not just fractured, right now incredible amounts of psionic energies are pouring out of her. It is like a bleeding, only that she is bleeding psionics. And they have started to affect the world around us." When Jim heard that, he could feel how an icy shudder ran down his spine.

"What are you trying to tell me?" he whispered.

"I am trying to tell you..." Zeratul explained. "...that her powers have started to bend the rules of reality."

For a long time, no one dared to say a word. In the end, it was the Queen of Blades who spoke first.

"That..." Sarah mumbled. "...is the biggest pile of bullshit I've ever heard." And Jim was inclined to agree.

"Even if any of what you just said is true, where is Sarah? The real Sarah? Or has she turned into a bunch of molecules that surround us all the time?" he asked.

"No, her physical body is still out there. As a matter of fact..." Zeratul then pointed right past Jim and the Queen of Blades. "...she is out there."

"She is?" Jim whispered.

"I am?" the Queen of Blades asked at the same time.

"Indeed. It is the place where all the psionic energies come from. I am positive that we will find her there. And we have to hurry. Because the longer we wait, the higher the risk that she will not survive and... AGHH!" Suddenly the Dark Prelate fell to his knees and grabbed his own arm. In the same moment, the headache returned and Jim winced in pain. So did the Queen of Blades.

"What is this?" Sarah screamed, but Jim had no idea. These headaches were coming more frequent.

"It is...her mind." Zeratul panted and shook his head. "It is collapsing. And more psionic energies are released. It is starting to affect this world. What is inside her mind will become reality." He then looked up and right into the Queen of Blades' eyes. "Including you." Jim could see how the Queen of Blades wanted to reply something very unfriendly. She came as far as "Why you little piece of shi-" But that's when Jim cut her short.

"It still doesn't make any sense, Zeratul!" Jim said to him. "You said you're the Zeratul from my mind. What does that mean, huh? Does this mean that I'm just a hallucination too?" That would be the cherry on top.

"No. You are indeed real. For now."

"Oh, that is so helpful!" Jim spat out. "What's that supposed to mean." he wanted to know and he could see how Zeratul furrowed his, well, brows. He walked back up to Jim and looked down on him.

"The presence in the back of your mind is no other than Sarah Kerrigan. I do not understand how this is possible, or how she achieved that, but this connection is unlike anything I have ever seen or heard of. It resembles what she did to Raszagal, but it goes far deeper than that." Behind them, the Queen of Blades made a step backward and pressed her hands in front of her mouth.

"No..." she whispered. "...what have I done?" However, Zeratul didn't pay any attention to her and continued to explain what was going on.

"At first, it was only her mind that was affected, Friend Raynor." Zeratul spoke again. "But now the raw psionic energies are affecting everything around her, including you. And I fear that this is just the beginning. The rules of reality might collapse if this continues."

"Isn't that a bit much? I know that Sarah is _very_ powerful, but the rules of reality? Really? That sounds like, I don't know, weird sci-fi-stuff." Jim asked.

"Look around, Friend Raynor." Zeratul replied. "Can't you see what is happening? We were once nothing but memories, but things have changed!" The Dark Prelate then put his hand on his own chest and Jim imagined that he could sense the Nerazim's distress.

"We are about to become real!"

"Bullshit." Jim snarled. He was about to reply something even unfriendlier when the Queen of Blades whispered something behind him. Jim turned around and frowned.

"What was that?"

"He's right." Sarah repeated her statement, and then she looked right into Jim's eyes. "Everything he said...is true." Her words sounded as if she didn't know wherever to be amazed or shocked by this whole revelation.

"Not you too!" he groaned, but the Queen of Blades just shook her head.

"No, Jim. I can sense it in your mind. It's another presence, yet it feels like it's me. What he says...makes sense." For a long time, Jim said nothing. He looked from Sarah over to Zeratul, and then at Sarah again.

"Now you're just trying to make fun of me." he said to the Queen of Blades, but she just lowered her gaze and shook her head. She almost looked...defeated?

"Jim, you gotta trust me with that. It's nothing you can understand. You're as psionically gifted as a brick, so let me tell you as someone who knows one or two things about psionics; what he says feels right. As much as I hate to admit it." the infested woman said with a quiet voice.

"Okay, that's it. You two agree on something, this has to be the end of the world!" Jim shouted and turned away from them. He walked up to the pond and looked into the crystal-clear water. "This is just ridiculous!" he said to himself. It sounded like a story straight from a fairy tale! However, at the same time, he could feel the presence in the back of his mind...and how it seemed to be both pleased and ashamed of what Zeratul had just explained.

"The end of the world might be happening sooner than you think, Friend Raynor." Zeratul told him. "Both your and Kerrigan's lives are in peril." Jim turned around and looked at the Dark Prelate.

"Whaddaya mean?"

"Friend Raynor, with every passing hour Sarah Kerrigan grows weaker. And the fragments of her mind become stronger. Right now, we are all still just that; fragments or memories. But what if it does not stop here? What if we may truly become alive?" Zeratul said and Jim just shook his head.

"That's ridiculous! Something like that can't happen! This ain't some stupid sci-fi story!" Jim shot back. But it was the Queen of Blades who took Zeratul's side once more.

"I'm not so sure about that, Jim. I think he has a point." Sarah, this Sarah, said to him. When Jim heard that, he couldn't believe his own ears.

"Say WHAT?!" he yelled. "May I remind you that the two of you usually could only agree on one thing, and that was that you would love to massacre each other. And suddenly you speak the same language? What does that mea-"

"It means that none of this makes any sense!" Sarah shouted back. "It means that I can't explain it to you with words, it means that I can feel it in my bones. What he's saying...feels sound." Jim listened to those words and then he fell silent. After a while, he shook his head and turned away from them once more.

"Next time I ask for answers, remind me that I should keep my mouth shut!" he growled.

"Friend Raynor!" Zeratul said with a stern tone in his voice. "I understand that you are confused. And that you doubt my words. Unfortunately, we do not have time for doubts and waiting. We need to get you to Sarah Kerrigan as fast as possible. Otherwise, it might be too late."

"Yeah? And why me? I wasn't very successful till now, now was I?" he barked back and Zeratul lowered his head.

"I believe you are the only one who can reach her, who can get through to her."

And that's when Jim heard that voice again, that voice that almost sounded like Sarah's.

 _He's right. She needs you. Now more than ever._ However, Jim decided to ignore that voice, at least for now.

"Not answering my question, dude. Why aren't you doing it yourself?" Instead of answering Jim's question, Zeratul looked over at the Queen of Blades and gave her a nod.

"I believe this one knows the answer." And so, Jim turned his attention back to the Queen of Blades and sighed.

"So, hit me. Why am I the only one who can do it?" And when Sarah, this Sarah, raised her head and looked at him, he could see all those mixed emotions on her face. Purple tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"Because I can feel her love for you."

For a long time, no one said a word. The only sounds they could hear were their own breaths and the wind brushing through the leaves of the trees above them. Both Zeratul and Sarah watched how Jim walked over to a nearby tree...

...and started to kick and hit it like it was nothing but a punching bag.

"MOTHERF...to hell with it!" he screamed, and both the Queen of the Zerg and the Dark Prelate could do nothing but to watch how Jim finally went nuclear. "All I asked for was peace and quiet! I didn't ask for any of this! Didn't I fight enough battles? Wasn't it all enough? The Zerg, the Protoss, the effin' Xel'Naga?! Even one of these things would have been enough for several lifetimes, yet I got them all served in one go!" He wasn't really speaking to either Zeratul or Sarah, he was just screaming out his anger and frustration.

"I never asked for this!" he continued to bark and then he started to grab a branch and smash it against the trunk of a nearby tree. There was no sense in his violence, he just wanted to vent his frustration. Jim screamed in bloody murder and said a lot of things that were far too colorful for the world to remember them. He turned into a raging maniac and continued to turn the jungle upside down for what felt like hours, though it were probably only minutes. Nevertheless, it was actually quite the show. Neither Zeratul nor Sarah of them had witnessed Jim getting this angry before. He didn't cause any real damage, but it's the thought that mattered, and watching Jim smashing everything to pieces was a sight to behold.

"All I wanted was some peace and quiet and a cute girlfriend, and what do I get? The goddamn Apocalypse, following me wherever I go!" he screamed and smashed his head against a tree. He pulled his arms up and buried his face between them. Jim took deep breaths and tried to calm down, but even then, the other two could see how his how body started to shiver. Was he...crying?

"Friend Raynor, we have to-" However, this time he was cut short by the Queen of Blades who walked over to Jim and was about to place her hand on his back. She hesitated for a moment, knowing that he didn't really enjoy her touch. But then she sighed and put her hand on his shoulder anyway.

"Well, Jimmy..." she said to him. "...by now you should now that Apocalypse follows me wherever I go. Guess the joke's on you." Jim didn't give her an answer, at least not immediately. She could see how his backside started to jerk though and was about to ask him what was wrong. But that's when he turned his head back to her and gave her the best roguish smile he had to offer.

"Pah, guess you're right. What's life without pain, panic, and procrastination?"

"Oh, I'm all open to some procrastination myself, Jimmy." Sarah agreed and gave him a warm smile. But then she turned serious again.

"You know what you have to do." she told him and he sighed. Then he nodded and looked over to Zeratul, who was still waiting.

"Where is she?"

* * *

There's a joke. Maybe you've heard it before. It starts like this; a Human, a Protoss, and a Zerg walk through the jungle.

Only that it wasn't a joke, and that Jim wasn't in the mood to talk. Zeratul was in front of him, leading them through the dense jungle. They encountered no other unpleasant surprises, something Jim was truly grateful for. The Queen of Blades was right behind him. He didn't know what was more unnerving; the fact that the Queen of Blades was covering their backs, or that she didn't make any sounds. From time to time Jim had to look over his shoulder in order to make sure that she was still there.

"Jim, watch it!" Sarah suddenly yelled when he once again made sure that she was still there. The only problem with looking over your shoulder is that you don't see where you're going. He tripped over a root and almost slammed into a tree's trunk head first. Faster than humanly possible, Sarah's blade wings shot forward and caught him just in time. Jim stared at the tree, which was mere inches away from his face and had to swallow hard. If he had hit the tree, he would have broken his nose, no doubt about that. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he looked over his shoulder.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Sarah whispered and used her blade wings to help Jim stand up again. When she pulled her wings back, he looked at them for a moment.

"Eyes up here, Mister!" Sarah said and he blinked in surprise.

"I wasn't staring at your boo...wait, what?" Jim stuttered and the Queen of Blades snickered.

"You know, that boy scout attitude just never gets old." she told him and saw how Jim's expression turned serious. "What?"

"I never got to ask you, but I guess I never will get a better chance at getting a straight answer. Still, how does it feel? Having these things?" he pointed at her blade wings and Sarah looked over her shoulders. A sad smile appeared on her face.

"Let's just say...that when you came to save me and deinfested me, the one thing I missed the most is having an additional pair of limbs."

"Hmm...guess I shouldn't have asked." Jim muttered. He then wanted to say something else, but that's when Zeratul finally joined their little conversation.

"Friend Raynor! Please, we have to hurry! With every passing second, the situation can become even worse." the Dark Prelate explained and Jim looked over at him.

"Just _how_ the hell can this get any worse, huh?" Jim wanted to know. Zeratul walked up to Jim and placed his hand on the smaller human's shoulder.

"Friend Raynor, this is not just about you or Sarah Kerrigan anymore I'm afraid." he declared.

"Whaddaya mean?" Jim asked.

"Think about it, Friend Raynor. How many different versions of Sarah Kerrigan have you met so far? How many other people have you met? And they all are about to become real beings. Think about what that would mean." The Queen of Blades lowered her eyes and sighed.

"It would be a nightmare." she whispered.

"Just what the hell are you talking about?!" Jim shouted once more, and both the Queen of Blades and Zeratul exchanged glances.

"Jim, think about it. Think what the Queen of Blades has done. And now think that there are two of us! Maybe even more!" Sarah said to him. "And it wouldn't stop there!" Zeratul nodded when he heard that.

"It would be a disaster for everyone." the Dark Prelate explained. "All the creatures and beings that dwell inside Sarah Kerrigan's mind might return to the world of the living. We cannot allow that to happen!" When Jim heard that, he squinted his eyes.

"Let's say that we manage to find Sarah, the real Sarah...what's going to happen to you?" Jim wanted to know. Zeratul placed his own hand on his chest.

"I too shall vanish and cease to exist."

"You would die?"

"I am already dead, Friend Raynor. The real Zeratul gave his life for his people, I am just a remnant that was never meant to be. Besides, thanks to you I was able to see how Artanis led my people back to Aiur. It is all I could have hoped for, and even more than that. The only thing that remains now..." the Dark Prelate explained. "...is to set things right here." Jim wanted to reply something, but he didn't know what to say. Suddenly he felt like the king of douchebags for screaming at Zeratul before. Even the memories of this Nerazim seemed to possess more decency and humility than most real persons managed to show during their entire lifetime.

"Zeratul, I...I..." Jim suddenly stuttered, but the Nerazim just shook his head.

"Forgive me, Friend Raynor, but we have no time for this. We already wasted enough time." Zeratul just said and turned away. Jim looked after him and was about to say something, but then he just sighed. Before he could say anything else though, he felt the hand of the Queen of Blades on his shoulder. He looked at her and was surprised to see a warm smile on her face.

"He knows." was all she said to him. And then she decided to follow Zeratul. Jim remained behind for a short moment. He sighed again and shook his head.

"Friend Raynor! Please hurry, we are almost there!" he could hear the Dark Prelate shout and dropped his shoulders.

"Awesome me. Let's go and save the princess. The one without a heart, the one without a brain, and the coward. All in one person." Jim said to himself before he followed those two. Much to his own dismay, they had to walk up a steep hill. Ever walked up a hill inside a jungle? Well, it ain't much fun. It's slippery as hell and you basically have to fight your way to the top.

"Please tell me..." Jim groaned. "...that we don't...have to climb...more than one...of these hills."

"Fear not, Friend Raynor." Zeratul replied. He was just a few meters in front of him. "Once we are on the other side, we should be able to...see...where..." Suddenly he trailed off. Jim stopped and looked up. Zeratul was standing at the top of the hill, but the Nerazim wasn't moving. Jim looked over at the Queen of Blades, who just shrugged her shoulders.

"Wait, I'm gonna check it out." she then said and walked up to Zeratul. She looked at him, and then she followed his gaze to a point in the distance. And that's when her eyes widened in shock.

"Oh...my...God..."

"People? Could you stop doing that? You're freaking me out!" Jim asked, however, both of them didn't even listen to him. He frowned and decided to take a look himself. If you're neither a Protoss nor a Zerg, climbing this hill was truly a nightmare, but when he finally stood next to them, he brushed his sweaty hands off his pants and shook his head.

"Well, that wasn't so...bad..."

And that's when he saw it too.

* * *

To say that Jim understood what was going on would have been a lie. The landscape in front of them didn't look like that lush and beautiful paradise he remembered. Gone was the dense jungle, gone were the lush fields and the crystal blue rivers. It looked like something had scorched everything and left nothing behind but red ashes. However, that wasn't the really weird stuff. Jim had seen plenty of ground zeros before, but nothing like this.

Golden bolts of lightning illuminated the sky, but they appeared to be frozen in time. No, that wasn't right. They were indeed moving, but they were so slow that even a one-legged Zergling could outrun them. Parts of the surface had been cracked open and there were, well, pieces of the ground floating around. Some of them were as big as huge rocks, others looked like small mountains.

Jim needed a moment to realize that he had seen something like this before, albeit in a different place and a different time.

It reminded him of that place inside the Void, when they had fought Amon.

"What is this?" Jim whispered.

"This..." Zeratul said with a toneless voice. "...is the true extent of Sarah Kerrigan's powers." Next to them, the Queen of Blades shook her head in disbelief.

"What have I become?" she asked herself. All of them were thinking the same thing; this couldn't be real. But since when had reality ever cared about what these three were thinking, huh?

"That's where Sarah is?" Jim wanted to know and Zeratul nodded, yet Jim didn't even know how to describe what he was seeing. "How are we supposed to cross that?" he pointed his finger at the desolate landscape. Zeratul's answer was rather simple.

"Slowly."

"Worst. Plan. Ever." Jim muttered. Before he could say anything else, he snarled in pain and grabbed his own head. The headache returned, and he wasn't the only one suffering from it. Right next to him both the Queen of Blades and Zeratul groaned in agony. The Dark Prelate fell on his knee and pressed his hand against his other arm.

"No!" Zeratul snarled. "Too fast! It's happening too fast!" Blue blood started to sicker from his bruised skin. Real blood. The Queen of Blades let out an inhuman scream when more memories assaulted her senses. She could see herself, her human self, and Jim. They were lying on the beach and holding each other in their arms.

And Jim? He too was seeing things. Well, actually he was feeling things. He could feel Sarah in the back of his mind, the real Sarah. She was calling out for him, she was trying to tell him something. Jim clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth. Even though his head hurt like crazy, he made a step forward. Blood was dripping out of his nose, but he just brushed it away.

"Jim?" the Queen of Blades asked while still writhing in pain. "Where are you going?"

"I can sense her. She's calling out for me." he said and started to walk down that hill and right towards the desolate landscape in front of them. Behind him, Zeratul calmed down and looked at his hand. It was covered with his own blood.

"This may not happen." the Dark Prelate said to himself. He got back on his feet and followed Jim as fast as possible.

And the Queen of Blades? She stayed where she was and stared at the apocalyptic scenery right in front of her.

"Just what is going on here?" she then whispered to herself.

Whatever it was, all three of them were far too preoccupied to notice that they weren't alone anymore...

* * *

You know what sucks even more than climbing up a hill? Climbing one down. If you're on your way up, trip and fall forward, you might just end up smashing your face into the stone or dirt. But if you trip on your way down and fall forward...well, let's just say that you will smash your face into the ground eventually. After a long, long fall.

"So, Zeratul..." Jim panted on his way down. "...may you enlighten me what to do once we find Sarah? Do I just wiggle my toes and wish myself back to Kansas?"

"I'm afraid that "wiggling one's toes" will not be much of a use, Friend Raynor. And I have never heard of this "Kansas" before. Is it a place your kind considered holy? Like some sort of afterlife?"

"Dunno." Jim replied. "Guess you have to ask people who are from Kansas."

Right...

"To answer your question; I do not know how to proceed once we find Sarah Kerrigan." Zeratul then explained, and Jim stopped immediately. He looked over his shoulder and sighed.

"You're serious about that, right?"

"Very much so, Friend Raynor."

"Awesome, just awesome." Jim muttered while they continued to walk down the hill. Soon, all the trees and roots around them vanished and were replaced by scorched earth. For some odd reason, Jim had to think about that cranky palm tree that had tried to kill him two times. Did that stupid living tree manage to get away? Or had it fallen victim to Sarah's, well, whatever was going on here right now?

However, there was something else on Jim's mind right now. Something that he couldn't ignore anymore. On their way down, he didn't dare to look behind him. But he still had to say something.

"Zeratul..." he started. "...about what I said to you earlier...what I called you because of what you did..." he tried to apologize.

"No words are needed, Friend Raynor. I know what you are trying to say. It is not necessary, however."

"I dunno, Zeratul, I said a whole bunch of not so nice things to you. I don't know how you Protoss deal with this kind of stuff, but my parents taught me that one should always apologize for what he does." Jim said with a quiet voice.

"Your parents were wise people. But that does not change the fact that an apology is neither needed nor required."

"Still, that doesn't seem right. I think I owe you an apology, Zeratul, and-"

"Friend Raynor!" Zeratul suddenly barked. It caused Jim to stop at once and he turned around.

"Yes?" When he looked into Zeratul's eyes, he could see both sadness and determination.

"Your sense of loyalty is indeed remarkable, and you do possess more decency than any other being I've met, with two exceptions. The first exception was Tassadar, who was the first among the Khalai who was willing to listen to us. The second one is Artanis, who came to me in order to learn. And as far as I am concerned, you have earned yourself the right to be called their equal."

"Huh, being worshiped as a hero by the Protoss. I guess there are worse ways to be remembered." Jim mumbled, and Zeratul made a step towards him. The Nerazim then placed his hand on Jim's shoulder and looked the smaller human into the eyes.

"You shall not perish here today, Friend Raynor. I do not know what lies ahead of us, but this I can promise you. We have faced the impossible before. And at least now we know who is responsible for this. I have the utmost faith in you." When Jim heard all that fancy talk, he knew that something was wrong.

"I smell a "but"." Jim said, and Zeratul nodded.

"No matter how noble and admirable your intentions might be, they are wasted. Need I remind you that I am not Zeratul?" And then Jim said something he wouldn't have a short while ago.

"But what if you could become Zeratul again?" Jim asked. "You know, become real again?" Much to Jim's own surprise, Zeratul shook his head immediately.

"No, Friend Raynor. This is the last thing on my mind. And whatever happens, we cannot allow the other entities inside Sarah Kerrigan's mind to break free."

"But...but what if we can find a way to do both? Save Sarah and bring you back? Think about it! The Protoss still need all the help they can get and-"

"RAYNOR!" Zeratul suddenly barked and made Jim shut up. The Dark Prelate saw the surprised expression on Jim's face and sighed. "I do appreciate your gesture, but it is for naught. The Dark Prelate died, trying to save his own people. But I do remember the sins I have committed. When my people needed me the most, I failed them. I failed Raszagal and was blind towards her suffering. Death was a fitting punishment for my failure, and yet I call myself fortunate. Thanks to you I was able to see that my people are still alive. That they survived. But if there is one thing that this journey has taught me, then it is that the dead should stay dead. And I? I never had a life to begin with. I am just a memory, not a real person. But even then, I know my duty."

"Spoken like a true Protoss warrior." Jim mumbled and Zeratul chuckled.

"And that is the biggest compliment I could have asked for." the Dark Templar replied, and then he turned his attention back to the desolate landscape in front of them. "Besides, for every individual you might consider a friend, how many dark ones would return to the world? And while I do not have any love for this person..." Zeratul declared and looked directly into Jim's eyes. "...would you sacrifice Sarah Kerrigan's life for them?" Jim opened her mouth, but he realized that the answer was clear. No. No, he wouldn't trade Sarah's life for anyone's else. Zeratul knew that and chuckled again.

"Do not feel sad, Friend Raynor. It is the way of things. Now enough talk, we still have to actually save Sarah Kerrigan. It would be very embarrassing to fail because we could not stop talking." Zeratul told him and Jim nodded.

"Guess you're right." Jim sighed and decided to continue to work his way down that hill. "Also, just so you know; you're pretty good when it comes to pep talks."

"I learned that from you." Zeratul chuckled once more and followed him. When they finally stepped down from the hill and onto the desolate landscape in front of them, Jim's eyes widened and he said something highly offensive.

"I imagine that would be very painful, considering the fact that you humans use this orifice only as an exit." Zeratul replied. But Jim was barely listening to the Dark Prelate. Instead, he looked forward and squinted his eyes. He tried to concentrate on what was ahead of them.

"Sarah..." he whispered. "...can you hear me?" No one answered him, though. He still could feel Sarah's presence in the back of his mind. But it felt like her presence was getting weaker.

"We have to hurry." Jim mumbled and Zeratul nodded.

"Indeed. We have to... _wait_. Where is the Queen of Blades?" Both of them turned around when they realized that Sarah, this Sarah, was gone.

"Oh, that can't be good." Jim groaned. "What now? Should we go back and look for her?"

"While I do not like her very much, her help could prove to be vital. Wait here, I will look for her and-"

"No need for that, boys!" the Queen of Blades cooed when she suddenly walked up to them from behind a nearby tree. "Did you miss me?"

"Where were you?" Jim wanted to know and when the Queen of Blades reached them, she sighed and pulled her shoulders up.

"Guess the sight caught my breath. I have never seen anything like it. And all that power...it's magnificent, isn't it?" When Jim heard that, he had to frown.

"That's one way to describe it." he mumbled before he turned his attention back towards the landscape in front of them. "So, Zeratul, anything you like to share with us? Anything we should look out for? Watch the sky for bad omens?"

"I do not know..." Zeratul replied. "...how about we keep our fingers crossed, bite the bullet and get it done?" When Jim heard that, he looked back at Zeratul and pulled an eyebrow up.

"What?" the Dark Prelate chuckled. "I spent a lot of time inside your head...buddy."

"Oh, that is either brilliant or a nightmare." Jim replied.

"Ah, you're just worried because now I know what all these colorful curses involving human anatomy mean." Zeratul said, and Jim was about to tell him a new curse when the Queen of Blades interjected.

"Even though I do enjoy it when you two act like best buddies..." this Sarah muttered. "...we are still on a tight schedule here. So how about we get going, yeah?" Something felt strange about the way Sarah acted, but it had been a long day and she had a point. Jim sighed and gestured Sarah to take point.

"Ladies first."

"Tsk." she snarled and shook her head, but then she just decided to do that and walked towards that scorched landscape. Jim and Zeratul exchanged looks and both of them only pulled their brows up.

"Any last words of wisdom?" Jim asked again, however, all Zeratul did was to shake his head.

"Pray to the ancestors that this will work."

"Amen to that." Jim agreed, and so they followed the Queen of Blades. To their salvation or their doom? Well, they were about to find out.

* * *

No one of them dared to say anything for a long time. What could they talk about anyway? Jim looked up to the sky, and what he saw made him shake his head. It was as if the heavens above them had been frozen in time. There were even still parts of the rainstorm left. Huge, gray clouds were unloading ungodly amounts of water, yet the drops never reached the surface. When they walked past beneath one rain cloud, Jim looked up and tried to process any of this. He could _see_ the thick raindrops hanging in the air. Golden bolts of lightning cut through those clouds, and where they touched the ground, the soil had been cracked up and pieces of rock and soil were floating past them.

"I knew that Sarah was powerful, but this...?" he whispered to himself. "This isn't normal. It isn't Zerg either."

"We do not know the full extent of Sarah Kerrigan's powers. For all we know this could be just the beginning of her journey." Zeratul said.

"Does that mean...that Sarah's even more powerful than a goddamn Xel'Naga? How's that even possible?" Jim muttered.

Neither Jim nor this version of Zeratul knew all the details of what had happened on Aiur, when Artanis and his people had retaken their homeworld. But it made sense, right? The decisive battle had been about destroying Amon's host body, an abomination created by using the remnants of the dead Overmind and the same twisted technology that had helped to create the hybrids. Everyone had agreed that Amon would have become unstoppable if he would have managed to gain control over that body. A body that would have been able to withstand the raw powers of a Xel'Naga, and therefore be the perfect host.

It would have been the birth of a new god, a creature even more powerful than anything anyone could have imagined.

But what about Sarah? She had possessed the one thing that Amon had tried to create for millennia; a body that was strong enough to withstand all that psionic power.

In a way, she had evolved beyond anything any Xel'naga had ever achieved. She had become a breed of her own.

Unfortunately, that meant that there was no manual one could use to figure out what was going on. So, they had to do this the old-fashioned way; by foot.

"This place reminds me of the Void." Jim said after a while. "Only less, you know, chaotic. And with more planet in it."

"Indeed. My people believed in the Void as both a source of strength and as a threat that looms over all of us." Zeratul explained. "But there are different versions of how my people imagine the Void. Some like to call it a negative space, where everything is the exact opposite of what you know. However, other texts, mostly religious ones, talk of a place that once had been a paradise, but the raw powers dwelling within the Void turned it into the place you have seen with your own eyes."

"That means..." Jim whispered and the Dark Prelate nodded.

"...that this is what the Void could have looked like at one point. But then again, none of that may be true. Until we find Sarah Kerrigan, all we can do is to speculate."

"How about you two stop talking and move a bit faster?" the Queen of Blades snarled while she looked over her shoulder.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Jim shot back and shook his head, but the Queen of Blades just hissed at him and decided to move on. Jim was about to say something very unfriendly, but then he felt Zeratul's hand on his shoulder.

"Friend Raynor..." the Dark prelate whispered. "...I think something is wrong."

"Oh really?" Jim asked and pointed with his finger at one of the bolts of lightning frozen in time. "You think?"

"I am not talking about the landscape, I am talking about the Queen of Blades." Zeratul said Jim frowned.

"What's wrong with her?" Aside from the fact that she was the Queen of Blades, of course.

"She appears to be different. As if the doubt is gone from her mind. And she appears to be very eager to find her real counterpart." Both of them stopped when they heard how the Queen of Blades started to chuckle. And soon that chuckle turned into a cruel laugh. The Queen of Blades turned around and put her hands on her hips.

"Guess I can't fool you again, uhm, Zeratul? I suppose that was to be expected." the creature said when its voice started to vibrate as if it was about to shift and change. That's when Zeratul made a step forward and shielded Jim with his own body.

"YOU!" the Dark Prelate snarled and ignited his green psi-blade.

"Whoa! I know you guys don't like each other, but I thought that we had an agreement!" Jim shouted.

"Stay back, Friend Raynor! This isn't who you think it is!" Zeratul barked, and the Queen of Blades chuckled again.

"You should listen to the big alien with the deadly weapon. He knows what he's talking about after all, Jimmy." Now that this Queen of Blades did no longer act like she was on their side, Jim started to see the differences. It was her expression. It reminded him of someone, and he wasn't talking about the first Queen of Blades. And those eyes...he had seen that look before.

"Who...are you?" Jim asked, and the creature in front started to groan. Suddenly the Queen of Blades' whole body started to shift and change, and Jim's eyes widened in shock when he saw how suddenly the old Sarah, his Sarah, stood right in front of him.

"Hey, Jimmy. How about it? Did you miss me?" This had to be the lamest attempt to fool him of all times.

"You fiend! Stay away from us!" Zeratul barked. "Friend Raynor, stay back! This is what I have warned you about! This is what might return to the world of the living if we do not find the real Sarah Kerrigan!"

"Don't listen to him, Jimmy!" Sarah cooed. "He's just hellbent on staying dead. Well, not all of us think that way. Just imagined it! You could be together with your Sarah again! No Zerg, no Queen of Blades, no Xel'Naga. You could live the rest of your life together with her. All you have to do is to turn around and look for her. Wait until it's done and then no one will ever separate you again. Leave this place and you will get what you always longed for!"

"Lady..." Jim replied. "...you obviously have no idea what I long for." But much to his own dismay, the creature just chuckled again.

"Oh, you think that I don't know you? You don't even recognize me, even though we met face to face before. Several times actually."

"I think I would remember." Jim shot back.

"Oh? Is that so?" this Sarah cooed again, and suddenly her body shifted and changed once more. And when the creature's body finally solidified, Jim shook his head in disbelief.

"YOU?!"

Dr. Emil Narud put his hands behind his back and straightened himself.

"Well, what a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Raynor." Suddenly not only this creature's voice but also its speech pattern and its entire body language had changed. Jim had heard about Narud. About the _real_ Narud, the creature that had served Amon for millennia in order to ensure the return of its master. By now Jim knew that Dr. Emil Narud had never been human to begin with.

"I must say, it is good to see you again. You look well. Very well indeed. Now, I understand that this might all be a bit much, but what I said is the truth. Go and find your Sarah and just be happy. You certainly deserve it. Settle down, marry, have a lot of lovely little children. You are not getting any younger, Mister Raynor." Narud said with a friendly smile on his face. However, Jim was in no mood for this bullshit.

"I know what you are. So, stop wasting your breath." he snarled and Narud sighed.

"Very well. Believe it or not, my offer was genuine. I have little use for you and that weak creature you love so much."

"Oh, how could anyone refuse such an offer? Coming from someone so _trustworthy_ like you." Jim spat out. "What was your plan? Lure us into a trap and devour us when we weren't looking?"

"Me? Devour you?" Dr. Narud asked and laughed again. "Oh, no. I would never do that. I am still a scientist! No, I got _these_ for devouring you." Suddenly the ground started to shake and Jim and Zeratul had a hard time to stay on their feet. Beneath them, the ground started to crack and they both backed away from Narud, who didn't seem to mind what was going on around him.

"Friend Raynor..." Zeratul muttered. "...perhaps we should look for another way to Sarah Kerrigan." And that's when something huge broke through the dead soil. All Jim could see were claws and tendrils. There were two of them, even though one would have been enough. Jim recognized these nightmarish creatures in an instant. He had seen them before. Actually, he once had run away from one of them. Both creatures shook off dirt and stone and walked towards them with thundering steps that made the whole area shake.

"Zeratul? You got any idea what to do now?!" Jim screamed while he and the Dark Prelate continued to stumble backward.

"I am afraid not, Friend Raynor. Maybe I can take the left one and you the right one?"

"Oh, now you're finally developing a sense of humor?" Jim barked, but those two creatures didn't seem to be very amused about what Zeratul had to say.

"Well, it was nice to see you again, Mister Raynor. And Prelate!" Narud then called out to Zeratul. "I am sorry for your loss. Raszagal truly was a unique being. Now if you excuse me, I need to find Sarah Kerrigan and see if there is a way to make her dream of my master. I'm pretty sure this is not how he had envisioned his rise to godhood, but no one will care about these details when Amon will return to the world of the living. As for you, I believe the humans like to say; Bon appetit. You two! Deal with them." And then Narud turned around and walked towards the desolate landscape.

"We need to stop him!" Zeratul shouted.

"Screw this!" Jim screamed back. "We need to run!" And so, he turned back towards the jungle and did just that. Jim knew that this was wrong. Time was running out and they had to find Sarah, now more than ever. Zeratul hesitated a moment. Running away from the battle seemed wrong. But he was a Dark Templar, he knew that there were moments when you had to retreat in order to advance.

"Perhaps you are right." Zeratul muttered when he too turned around and ran after Jim. Any member of the Khalai would probably have decided to fight. It would have been a glorious battle, albeit a futile one. Nerazim preferred to retreat in order to fight another day. However, even though the real Zeratul was dead, this one right here wasn't suicidal. Behind them, the two nightmarish creatures screamed in rage. It sounded like the goddamn scream of the damned.

"SHITSHITSHIT!" Jim screamed.

"INDEED!" Zeratul shouted back.

As for those two hybrids hunting them? Well, they were _hungry_!


	76. Act III - Chapter 20

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 20**

 **Tag Team**

* * *

Usually, this would be the moment to say something deep or meaningful, something that could help people to understand what was going on here. You know, context. Why things had turned out the way they were now. Stuff like that.

However, right now Jim was too busy running away from those goddamn hybrids to care about something like that.

Yep, you heard right. Hybrids. The same hybrids that were even scarier than a goddamn Ultralisk on steroids. Jim had fought many creatures over the last few years, but he was glad that he had encountered hybrids on only two occasions. The first time it had been in that secret research facility run by the Dominion. Man, he still remembered how he and his small team of commandos had tried to get away from that beast as fast as possible. The second time had been during his short visit on Ulnar. He had seen all kinds of crazy shit back then. Like those other things, what had the Protoss called them? Void Thrashers?

God, he sure hoped that these things weren't around somewhere here as well.

Knowing Jim's luck? Yes, yes, they were. They were probably somewhere around, probably hiding inside his own ass, just waiting to come out and play.

"SHITSHITSHIT!" he screamed while those two monstrosities were chasing both him and Zeratul across the desolate landscape.

"INDEED!" the Dark Prelate shouted next to him. It was like a scene from one of these god-awful monster movies. You know, where the two buddies run towards a treeline while a wild monster is chasing them. Only that this wasn't a cheap movie but the reality. And it wasn't only one monster, but two. And both of them were gaining on them.

"I think they are getting closer!" Zeratul shouted.

"OH REALLY? YA' THINK?!" Jim screamed back. He could hear their roars behind him, he could sense their thunderous steps shaking the ground beneath them. Hell, he could even swear to feel their hot breath on the skin of his neck. Jim ran faster than he had ever run before. Soon his muscles screamed in protest, but he didn't care. If he would stop or even slow down just a bit, his legs would probably be the only thing left of him.

Usually, if you run towards a tree line, you should slow down eventually. Because you don't want to risk smashing into a tree face first. However, this situation called for drastic measures. And that meant that both Jim and Zeratul didn't slow down one bit when they finally reached the tree line in front of them.

It turned out to be a wise decision because those trees saved Jim's and Zeratul's lives. The plants themselves didn't put up much of a fight. But when Jim and Zeratul ran past them, the trees did manage to slow the hybrids down, even if it was only for the fraction of a second. Jim screamed like he had lost it when he heard the cracking sound of exploding wood behind him. But he was lucky. He knew something about this world those hybrids didn't.

If you hit a tree, sometimes they tend to scream.

Now, Jim had actually tried to beat up a few trees a short while ago. But those trees hadn't been local ones. It had been the same kind of trees you find on Zerus. These trees here, however? They were the real deal! And they were just as cranky as the rest of the plants indigenous to this world.

So, they started to scream. Jim actually started to laugh like a maniac when he pressed his hands to his ears and ran as fast up the hill as he could. Behind him, the hybrids screamed both in rage and confusion. They hacked those trees away and tried to find the creatures who were responsible for that horrible noise, but they didn't understand that the trees were the ones doing the screaming. In order to find the invisible enemy, they continued to hack down more trees, but they only managed to make the other trees scream even louder.

To Jim, it was the sweetest sound he could think of.

Even then he knew better than to slow down. The devil himself was still right on his heels, and he had no intention to stop and give those damn critters a hug.

Strangely enough running up that hill seemed to be not nearly as hard as before. For some odd reason he felt highly motivated and when he reached the top of the hill, he stopped, turned around and a big and fat grin appeared on his face.

"Ha, serves you right you stupid fuSHIT!" Jim screamed when he saw that one of those damn hybrids was still following him. He watched in terror how that damn beast cut its way through the screaming trees like some kind of unstoppable, well, monster.

He had no idea where Zeratul was, but right now he had bigger things to worry about than that. Like that ten meters high behemoth that was about to devour him.

Running down a hill was never a very smart idea, with one major exception. If a damn monster was chasing you, you should abandon caution and run like crazy. Jim actually had to slow down a bit so he wouldn't slip, fall, and break his neck. He jumped over a deadfall and didn't dare to look over his shoulder. He didn't have to, he could hear that damn monster screaming right behind him.

"Oh hell, oh hell, oh EFFIN' HELL!" he screamed when the sound of cracking wood became unbearably loud. It almost sounded like breaking bones. He didn't notice what was going on behind him, he was too busy not to stumble. The hybrid, however, didn't seem to care about the slippery ground that much. It only cared about one thing; to catch the prey and kill it. But at least the jungle was fair to Jim. It had been rough to him, and now it was rough to his new best friend. The hybrid screamed in rage when it started to stumble and fell forward. Jim screamed like a little girl when the ugly maw of that creature was suddenly right next to him. Only it was upside down. And then not. And then again. And then not. The hybrid roared both in anger and confusion when it lost its balance and rolled down the hill. It was so large and heavy that it was actually overtaking Jim. He adjusted his path and tried to run as far away from that damn creature as possible. At one point, the hybrid smashed into a row of trees that stopped its fall. It was confused, and even though that moment only lasted for a second, it had to be enough.

Jim ran like crazy and didn't dare to look back. He ran past another group of trees and suddenly he was no longer running downwards when finally reached the base of the hill. He stormed forward, but he could still hear the screams of that damn hybrid behind him.

Jim ran for what felt like hours, he didn't dare to stop. Not until he reached a small pond. He stopped, leaned forward, and put his hands on his thighs. His lungs were burning and he gasped for fresh air. A short while ago, this kind of exercise would have been impossible, but now he hardly cared for that. Jim felt as if he was in his early mid-twenties, the time when his body had been in its prime. He closed his eyes and could hear how the blood was rushing through his own ears.

"I swear...once I find you...Sarah...I'm gonna...make you run...around this planet...for at least...three times..." he panted, looked at the pond, and frowned. That's when he heard the screams of the hybrid again, as well as the cracking of more trees. That damn thing was relentless!

"Wait a sec..." he whispered and licked his sweaty lips. He had no idea how sharp the senses of those hybrids were, but maybe he could shake that damn thing off if he would cross the pond and hide on the other side? You know, like swimming through a river in order to get rid of dogs chasing you.

Yeah, he had only seen that once in a movie. He had no idea if that would actually work. Unfortunately, there was no time to come up with an elaborate and fool-proof plan because the hybrid was getting closer. So, Jim cursed like a sailor and stepped into the cold water. He made it halfway through the pond when the huge creature broke out of the jungle and appeared only a couple of dozen meters away from him. It landed on all fours and turned his huge head from one side to the other, looking for its prey.

And then it spotted Jim.

"Oh, shit." he managed to groan. And then he had to run again.

The water reached all the way up to his hip, and because of that, he couldn't run very fast. The hybrid shook its head, screamed in rage, and stormed towards Jim. He managed to reach the shore when the hybrid finally caught up to him. Jim turned around and didn't notice the branch in his path. He stumbled over it and fell on his butt. And then all those teeth and claws were finally upon him.

"HOPE YOU CHOKE ON MY BONES!" Jim managed to scream. He refused to close his eyes, though. This was it. Might as well go out with a grin on his face and-

Suddenly a new scream reached his ears. It too belonged to a monster, but it was unmistakably Zerg. He saw how something brownish-purple smashed into the side of the hybrid. Sharp claws shot past his vision and rammed themselves deep into the hybrid's body. The creature roared in pain and confusion. It didn't understand how something could dare to attack it. It was the apex predator after all!

But there was at least one creature in this universe who was higher up in the food chain.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" the Queen of Blades screamed in rage when she drove her blade wings so deep into the flesh of the creature that thick blue blood erupted from those wounds. The hybrid screamed in rage, and the tentacles that sprouted from its back flew from one side to the other, trying to grab this Sarah and rip her apart. However, the hybrid's size proved to be its downfall. No matter how hard it tried, it couldn't grab Sarah. That didn't mean that this battle was over.

Jim watched both in awe and shock how Sarah pulled her arm back and how purple sparks danced over her limbs. You could actually see how she channeled her psionic energies and prepared for the lethal blow.

"Now I got you!" she screamed, but that's when one of the tentacles on the hybrid's back turned around and aimed directly for Sarah's backside.

"SARAH!" Jim screamed, but it was too late. The tentacle shot down, and the sharp claw at its end ripped through her hardened carapace and dug deep into her flesh. The Queen of Blades screamed in pain and lost focus. The energies surrounding her arm evaporated and she looked down at herself. She could see how the tip of the tentacle's claw that had penetrated her back was now coming out of her stomach. She looked over at Jim and he could see her pain and fear. However, there was something else, something he had never seen on the Queen of Blades' face before.

She was smiling at him. It was a warm, genuine smile, the same kind of smile he loved so much.

"Sorry, Jimmy..." she managed to say while some blood was dripping down from the corner of her mouth. "...guess I'm not much of a help, huh?" Before Jim could reply anything, the hybrid finally managed to regain the momentum and ran another of its deadly tentacles through Sarah's backside. This one emerged from her chest, and the Queen of Blades coughed in pain and more blood erupted from her mouth. It was a terrible sight, yet the hybrid didn't seem to be interested in this prey anymore. The tentacles lifted her high up into the air and tossed the body away like it was nothing but a ragdoll.

"NO!" Jim screamed and got back on his feet. He watched how the Queen of Blades's body hit the water's surface and sank down immediately. Behind him, the hybrid groaned in pain. The attack had caused some serious injuries, and even a mighty beast like this one had its limits. It pressed one of its clawed hands against the wound and hissed in anger. Right now, it didn't care about that puny human, and so Jim had the time to run into the water and over to Sarah's lifeless body that was floating on the water's surface.

"No! NONONONO!" Jim screamed and reached out to her. He grabbed her wrist and pulled Sarah out of the water.

Right now, it didn't matter that this wasn't his Sarah. What was the point in claiming that there was something like "his Sarah" and "those other Sarahs" anyway? In the end, they were all Sarah, right? The moment he pulled Sarah up, he could see those wounds and his face went pale.

Jim couldn't say which was worse; the wounds themselves, or the fact that Sarah's heart was still beating.

Perhaps it was the fact that he could actually see her beating heart.

Even then he could see how the edges of her wounds started to close again. He had to fight the urge to turn his head away, though. He put his hand on Sarah's cheek.

"Sarah! Can you hear me? Sarah!" Much to his own relief, her eyelids started to flutter. Behind them, however, the hybrid finally managed to remember what it had been created for. It turned its horrible maw around and when it spotted Jim and Sarah, it unleashed a scream that made Jim wince in pain. Unlike Sarah, he lacked the strength to face this creature. Hell, even his power armor wouldn't have changed that. In the end, all he could do was to grab Sarah and run like hell.

The first thing he noticed was how light the Queen of Blades's body was. She wasn't much heavier than his Sarah, sorry, the "not infested Sarah". Yes, that sounded better. The woman in his arms groaned in pain and Jim was thankful for that. It meant that she was still alive. But that was pretty much the only good thing right now. He tried to run back to the shore, but the water reached all the way up to his hips. And that meant that he was far too slow to escape that damn hybrid.

Not that it mattered, though. Let's face it, anything short of a vulture bike wouldn't be fast enough to save his sorry ass.

He had to try, though. And so, he ran as fast as possible. The hybrid roared in anger and finally started to move again. And unlike Jim, the hybrid wasn't affected by the deep water at all. Why should it? It didn't reach all the way up to its hip! There was no way in hell that Jim would make it in time back out of the water.

There was one option left. He could ditch the body of the Queen of Blades and hope that the hybrid would go after Sarah, but much to his own surprise he didn't even consider doing this for even one second. If this was the end, then they would face it together. He turned around and pressed Sarah's body against his own.

"Sarah...if you can hear me..." he whispered both to the Queen of Blades, himself, and the real Sarah that was still somewhere out there. "I'm sorry."

The hybrid didn't seem to care about Jim's remorse. It jumped high up into the air and landed only a few meters away from then. Its heavy body hit the water's surface and as a result, both Jim and the Queen of Blades were simply washed away. He tried to grab Sarah's hand, but then he was pressed under water, and above and below became strictly theoretical concepts. He hit something hard with his back...and then again with his chest. The saying "like a fish in a barrel" was perfect to describe how he was feeling right now. It didn't last long, though. He could feel how the wave carried him onto the shore and the moment sweet air surrounded him again, he took a deep breath.

Jim was on all fours and groaned in pain. His back and his chest hurt like crazy, but he could tell that nothing was broken. Good, we wouldn't want the hybrid having to devour broken bones, right?

Speaking of the devil...

"Oh, hell." Jim groaned when he looked over his shoulder. The hybrid was getting closer, it was almost upon him. He tried to get back on his feet, but then he slipped and fell flat on his belly. Not exactly a heroic way to go, now was it? Jim rolled onto his back and suddenly the creature was right above him. The maw of the hybrid was not even a meter away from him, and he could feel the hot and rancid breath of that creature on his skin. For a short moment, the hybrid seemed to hesitate. Jim stared into its dark and dead eyes and frowned. Before that thing would devour him, there was one thing he wanted to get off his chest.

"You're one ugly motherf-" he began.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" the Queen of Blades screamed in boundless rage. She broke through the water's surface and raised her blade wings, flexed her claws, and unleashed a scream that sounded like it belonged to a mad banshee. The wounds on her torso were almost completely healed, but that wasn't all.

The look on her face...had changed.

The hybrid turned around and hissed at the Queen of Blades. It almost sounded like the creature was annoyed. Hadn't it dealt with this infested human already? Prey should know when it was defeated.

However, if there was one thing the Queen of Blades was not, then that was "prey".

Jim's eyes widened in disbelief when he saw that expression on Sarah's face. That wasn't anger. It wasn't rage either.

It was bloodlust. Pure and undiluted bloodlust.

Jim watched how Sarah hissed at the hybrid and then she knelt down, only to catapult herself high up into the air. All Jim could do was to look up and stare at her with a wide opened mouth. The hybrid, however, did realize that the puny man could wait, the infested woman was far more dangerous. It flexed its own muscles and prepared itself to grab Sarah and rip her apart. But this time things were different. Sarah reached the highest point of her jump and used her psionic energies to dive down and go in for the kill.

Perhaps the hybrid thought that it could kill Sarah easily since it had almost ripped her apart before. But this time it was different. This time Sarah was _angry_. She smashed into the hybrid with the speed of a bullet. The impact was so powerful that the water surrounding the hybrid exploded into every direction, and Jim only managed to shield his face with his arms when another wave crashed down on him. The water washed him away and he was smashed against another tree. He fell to the ground and groaned in pain.

"GHAAAAAA!" The scream of the hybrid was so loud that Jim winced in pain. He looked up and watched the battle that was...

...no, that wasn't a battle.

It was a goddamn slaughter.

The hybrid tried to fight Sarah, but she was simply too fast. She dodged every attack with ease and dug her claws into the flesh of that creature. It tried to use its tentacles to defend itself, but this time it didn't manage to score a lucky hit. Those tentacles didn't stand a chance against Sarah's blade wings, and she grabbed those who managed to get past her wings with her hands and ripped them off with no effort at all. The hybrid's screams turned from angry into afraid when it realized that this was a battle it could no longer win. Jim watched how Sarah dug her claws into one of the arms of the creature and started to tear its limb from its body. Skin, blood, and muscles were torn away and flew through the air. For a moment Jim could see the naked bone, but that moment didn't last long. The hybrid rolled on its back and tried to crush Sarah beneath it, but she was simply too fast.

The hybrid landed on its backside and when it looked up, it could see the Queen of Blades standing right on its chest. And that's when a bloodthirsty grin appeared on Sarah's face. Her blade wings shot down and she rammed them deep into the creature's chest and stomach. She tore the hybrid apart, piece by piece. At some point, she just ripped the hybrid's belly open, and its bowels started to slip out of its ruined body. The crystal-clear water turned into a dark blue when the hybrid's blood started to darken it.

But you know what was the worst thing?

That this damn creature was still alive.

Bones were cracked, flesh was torn apart. At one point, Jim could see the open torso and all he wanted to do was to avert his gaze. But he couldn't. It was a horrible sight, but Jim just couldn't look away. Ever seen a beating heart? Or working lungs that were out in the open? He knew that this was an image he would never forget.

And the hybrid continued to scream.

Sarah ripped another limb from the creature's body, this time it was the leg. She tore through the body like it was causing her some kind of sick pleasure.

And the hybrid continued to scream.

And then Sarah's blade wings shot forward and she rammed them into the hybrid's eyes. She started to rip the skin off the poor beast's face. Yes, you heard right. Poor beast. This went beyond killing. The look on Sarah's face was one of pleasure. She enjoyed tearing this creature apart.

And the hybrid continued to scream.

She tore off the skin the hybrid's face, she cracked its skull, she tore away the other arm.

And the hybrid continued to scream.

"Stop it." Jim whispered, but the Queen of Blades didn't even listen. She continued to torment the hybrid.

"Stop it!" Jim said out loud and got back to his feet, but Sarah ignored him. This was no longer necessary. Sometimes you had to kill, yes. However, Jim had never believed in being especially cruel. And then there was that look on Sarah's face. It was a grin. A mad, bloodthirsty grin.

Right now, she looked like the old Queen of Blades once more.

And the hybrid continued to scream.

Sarah grabbed the last remaining leg and started to pull. Slowly. And the mad grin on her face became even wider.

"SARAH, STOP IT!" Jim screamed, and that's when she finally stopped. She turned her head over to him and when she saw the look on his face, she could see his shock. But it wasn't the only thing she could see. He was worried. Worried that she would walk down a path she had walked before.

"Don't do that, Sarah. You won. Just end this. Please." he pleaded. The Queen of Blades then let go of that leg. It was still connected to the hybrid's hips, but only barely. She looked Jim into the eyes and he could see how reason returned to her. Sarah looked at her own hands and her eyes widened in disgust when she saw all that blood and flesh hanging from her claws.

And the hybrid continued to scream.

"Sarah...please." Jim urged her and she looked at what she had done.

A hybrid was a horrible creature, no doubt about that. But even if your enemy is the worst creature of all times, there's a line that you just shouldn't cross. Because if you do, you only end up turning into a monster yourself. And Sarah? Well, she had crossed that line plenty of times already.

However, that didn't mean that it always had to be like this.

And the hybrid continued to scream. Even though it was technically already dead, its body and mind refused to accept that. The heart was still beating.

And the hybrid continued to scream.

"Sarah...please, I'm begging you." Jim could see how she clenched her hands into fists...

...and then her blade wings came down one final time, cutting the head off the beast's shoulders with one clean cut.

And the hybrid was finally silent.

* * *

For a long time, neither one of them dared to say a word. Jim was too scared. He was afraid that Sarah would just see him as the next juicy piece of meat. And Sarah? As reason returned to her, she realized what she had done. And what Jim had witnessed. She climbed down of the still twitching corpse and lowered both her arms and blade wings. When Jim finally said something, she prepared herself for the worst.

"Thanks...for listening."

When she heard that, her eyes widened in surprise, but then she averted her gaze.

"I really wish you hadn't seen that."

"Yeah, well...me too, I guess." Jim agreed. All that blood, gore and violence wasn't his cup of tea. "Still, you saved my ass back there. So, who am I to complain, right? Though I have to admit; you're still the Queen of Overkill, Darlin'." he chuckled and Sarah sighed. There was a lot of sighing going on these days...

Sarah looked over her shoulder, and Jim could see how she shuddered when she realized the full extent of her carnage.

"Well, at least we dealt with this fu-" Sarah was about to say.

That's when the second hybrid emerged from the jungle and roared in rage and pain.

"YOU GOTTA BE SHITTIN' ME!" Jim screamed and backed away. The hybrid was on the other side of the pond and stumbled into the water. Sarah turned around and raised her blade wings. She hissed at the monster, but she was the first one to notice that something was wrong. The hybrid pressed one of its clawed hands against its throat. Torrents of light blue blood poured out of a deep cut and the monster's scream sounded almost like a gurgling.

Both Jim and Sarah watched how the hybrid managed to make a few steps before it simply collapsed. Its huge heart continued to pump its blood out of the sliced throat for a few more moments, and then it was over.

Sarah looked over her shoulder and into Jim's eyes. It appeared as both of them were thinking the exact same thing right now.

 _What the hell?_

That's when another figure stumbled out of the forest.

"Zeratul!" Jim shouted and ran towards the Dark Prelate. He had to cross the pond again, but without the threat of hybrids biting his head off, he felt a lot safer. Zeratul dropped to his knees right at the shore and grabbed his injured arm. The color of his skin had turned from a healthy gray into a sickly white. Was this how Protoss show severe signs of fatigue? When Jim reached the Nerazim and put his hand on the warrior's shoulder, the Dark Prelate looked up to him.

"I think I need a vacation." Zeratul replied, which caused Jim to smile.

"Yeah, I know that feeling. Still, nice job on that hybrid. Is that your work?" Zeratul nodded.

"I had to wait for an opening to land a clear strike. Dodging this creature was worse than my initiation as a Dark Templar."

"Clear strike, huh?" Sarah mumbled as she reached those two. "Well, that's one way to deal with a hybrid." That's when Zeratul's head jerked up.

"The other hybrid! Where is it?" he shouted in fear, but Jim put both of his hands on the exhausted warrior's shoulders and tried to calm him down.

"Relax! It's gone! Sarah dealt with it. It's over there, see?" When Zeratul looked over to that piece of meat, he blinked in confusion. Under different circumstances, this would have been funny. All Zeratul had needed to deal with this hybrid had been one clean strike. And Sarah?

Well, she had used more than one clean strike...

"Then it seems we are safe. At least for now." Zeratul whispered and lowered his head. Before either Jim or Sarah could say or do anything, the Dark Prelate forced himself back to his feet.

"Zeratul, don't!" Jim shouted, but the Nerazim just shook his head.

"No, Friend Raynor. We have already wasted enough time. We have to pursue Narud and make sure that he does not reach the real Sarah Kerrigan in time. This is more important than my life, or that of the Queen of Blades." Jim wanted to reply something, but then he felt Sarah's hand on his own shoulder.

"He's right, Jim." she said with a soft voice. That's when both of them realized that Sarah's hand was still covered with blood and flesh from the hybrid. She pulled her hand back and tried to brush off all that gore. But if you're completely covered in that stuff, it proves to be quite difficult. "Hold on a sec!" the Queen of Blades announced and walked back into the pond. She washed off most of the flesh and blood while Jim helped Zeratul to get back up.

"So, what now?" Jim wanted to know.

"We have to follow Narud immediately. We are running out of time. I can already feel how my body is starting to hurt. And that can only mean one thing; it is about to become real. If that happens, we might lose the chance to save Sarah Kerrigan."

"But what if we run into another hybrid? I'm not much use to you guys in a fight, and you don't look like you can take on another one of these damn critters." Behind them, Sarah listened to what Jim said and frowned.

"We have to take that risk, Friend Raynor. We are running out of options." Zeratul explained. When Jim heard that, he sighed.

"Really have to stop sighing..." he mumbled to himself. "...turns into a habit." And then he relented.

"Okay, let's go. Maybe we are lucky and those two hybrids were the only thing Narud managed to pull out of his ass."

"Don't you mean; pulled out of Sarah Kerrigan's ass?" Zeratul asked and Jim started in straight into the eyes.

"You have to admit, that's a solid burn." the Queen of Blades said when she walked past the two males and entered the jungle again.

As for those two hybrids being the only two minions Narud had at his disposal?

Now come on, by now you should know that the universe loves to kick Jim in the teeth 24/7.

When they reached the hill where they had encountered Narud and the hybrids, Jim dropped his shoulders in defeat.

"Of course. Why can't things ever be nice and easy?" he said to himself.

The desolate landscape hadn't changed at all. What had changed, however, was the fact that there were soldiers. And hybrids. Lots of soldiers and hybrids. Jim clenched his hands into fists and cursed like a sailor.

"Moebius! We can't fight that many! It is impossible!"

"We have to!" Zeratul replied. "We are running-"

"Out of time, I know! I know! You don't have to remind every two seconds!" It didn't change the fact that they were grossly outnumbered. Apparently, Narud had told his minions to expect Jim and his crew, because that was one impressive line of defense. Fortified positions, including bunkers and trenches, supported by siege tanks and mobile anti-air platforms. You know, Goliaths. He could even see one or two Thors. Oh well, it could be worse, right? At least there was no Odin around.

Unfortunately, there were hybrids. A lot of hybrids. They didn't attack the soldiers, though. No, it actually looked like they were part of that defensive line.

"We can't attack that!" Jim hissed. "That's at least one division down there. Maybe even two. I don't want to sound rude or anything, but even you two can't do much against those numbers, Darlin'." he whispered to the Queen of Blades.

"Numbers..." Sarah muttered when she heard that. "...that's my specialty, isn't it?" She closed her eyes and it seemed as if she was reaching out with her senses. As if she was searching for someone.

"Perhaps we can try to find another way." Jim suggested, but the Dark Prelate just shook his head.

"No. There is no time. We would have to travel kilometers to be out of their sight, and even then, we do not know if we can find another route. No, it has to be now or never."

"Look at that, Zeratul!" Jim barked and pointed his hand at the troops in the distance. "We won't make it even twenty meters! They will rip us into pieces! Maybe we could take them if we would have the numbers! But unless you have a hidden army of Protoss warrior's lying somewhere around, I don't see how we can do it!" When Zeratul heard that, he pulled his brows up.

"Warriors? Of course! Why did I not think about it earlier? I was such a fool!" Zeratul whispered and then he pressed his hand on his shoulder plate, the one with the big green orb in its middle. Jim wanted to ask just what the hell the Nerazim was talking about, but then he saw how the crystal embedded in the shoulder plate started to pulse and emit a green light. He had actually always wondered what this thing was.

"What is that?" he wanted to know and Zeratul turned his head towards Jim.

"A call for help. Let us see if there is someone around who is willing to listen." Before Jim could ask just what the hell Zeratul was talking about, they both heard a dark and sinister chuckle behind them. Jim felt how the blood froze inside veins when he heard that chuckle. He and Zeratul looked at Sarah who opened her eyes and gave them a wide smile.

"Oh, boys." she moaned. "You're gonna like who answered my call!"

* * *

Technically, Tesson wasn't that old. By Protoss-standards, he was in his early twenties. You know, dog-years and stuff like that. Still, he had seen more than one sky on more than one world, and he was pretty certain that no one had ever seen this kind of sky before. The light felt so strange, it was unlike anything he had ever felt before. Protoss fed off light and different kinds of light had different effects on them. Natural light kept them alive, certain artificial light caused them physical discomfort. And there were even forms of light that had the same effect as drugs had on humans.

No, right now Tesson was _not_ stoned.

However, the light did definitely something to him.

It was as if all of his senses felt sharper than ever before. Everything around him, the jungle, the sky, even the small rivers he crossed, everything looked, sounded, and felt so very _alive_! It was as if he had gained a deeper understanding of the universe itself, something that couldn't be put into words.

Either that or Tesson was suffering from the Protoss-equivalent of a concussion.

Still, as he walked through the dense jungle, he couldn't help but feel amazed. This place, it was even more beautiful than Aiur.

You know, there are some things that just seem to be universal. Like for example that the homeworld of a species will always be very special. The people of the Koprulu Sector only knew of Earth from history, no one had ever set foot on that world. However, when a survivor of the UED-expedition would start talking about the birthplace of mankind, they would always do so with a faint smile on their faces.

Perhaps humans were genetically engineered to think that Earth was especially beautiful. The same could be said about the Protoss. Aiur was their home, and every cell inside their bodies told them that. Home, what an interesting concept. There is a difference between Korhal and Earth. Korhal is the home to billions of people. They colonized that world, they made it theirs. However, Earth was the place where the human species had evolved. The water, the air, the environment, everything felt different, more natural.

When Tesson had been on Aiur, he had hated that place. He had hated it not because it was ugly, but because it was beautiful. He had hated the fact that his brethren had been intrigued by Aiur's beauty until they had forgotten about Shakuras, the world that they had made their own.

However, even then a voice in the back of Tesson's mind had told him that Aiur was indeed beautiful, and he had hated himself for thinking like that. The very thought had felt like betraying his own people.

But right now, Tesson was completely honest with himself when he thought that this place was even more beautiful than Aiur.

Unfortunately, he still didn't know where he was. The nebula was covering the entire sky, so there was no way to look at the stars, the only thing that could have helped him to figure out his current position. As he walked through the dense jungle and the lush fields, he felt at peace.

Of course, that moment didn't last long.

When Tesson stepped out of the jungle and looked around, he enjoyed the sight. Until he saw thick smoke on the horizon. The dark clouds looked like cancer when compared with the beautiful landscape and the wonderful sky. That couldn't be good. Tesson could hear the distant sound of explosions, of death and carnage...

...of a battle.

A part of his mind told him that it was wrong for a battle to take place on a world like this. Maybe he should go and check it out? No. Right now, he was completely unarmed. And technically he was naked. His captors had stripped him of all his gear, so right now he was a naked gray Protoss, running around on a world full of wonders. Then again, a naked Protoss wasn't that impressive.

He should avoid that battle, maybe head into the other direction and-

That's when something hit the tree next to him and exploded.

"WHAT?!" Tesson screamed and turned his head around. From the corner of his eye, he could see a bright flash. He had never encountered a human before, and he had no idea how their technology worked. However, even though the Protoss had never seen or heard a human sniper-rifle before, his instincts told him that getting hit by one would hurt like hell. And so, he did what any reasonable being without a death wish would do. He jumped to cover.

Maybe a Khalai would have roared in anger and faced the enemy sniper head on, but they were prone to stupidity. And just because they called it "bravery", didn't mean that it was just that.

Another shot was fired, and Tesson watched how the tree next to him was hit by another round. Tesson was managed to turn away just in time, but he was still hit by shrapnel. The only reason why Tesson wasn't killed in an instant, was because his skin was far thicker than that of a human. However, that didn't mean that he remained unscathed. The former Dark Templar screamed in pain when he felt how the sharp pieces of wood hit his arm and shoulder and dug deep into his flesh. The scream that reached his ears was full of pain, and he cursed himself for not acting like a stoic Nerazim, but a scared child.

Only then he realized that it wasn't _him_ doing the screaming.

It was the tree right next to him.

None of that made any sense, yet Tesson had no time to figure out what was going on.

The fire continued, and Tesson was unable to do anything about it. He cowered behind a tree and listened how another shot was fired, and then another one. And another one. The trees left and right to him exploded, and soon the entire forest was screaming. Tesson felt something inside his mind, something that he hadn't felt in a long time. For so long, his anger and hatred had guided him that he had been able to ignore that feeling.

Perhaps it was shameful for a Khalai to feel that way. However, Tesson wasn't a Khalai, so he felt no shame when he rolled to the side and ran for his dear life. The confused Nerazim groaned in pain when his whole side felt as if was on fire. Blue blood was dripping from his wounds, and he realized that his injuries were probably more serious than he had initially thought. Still, he had no time to worry about that right now. Behind him, another shot slammed into a tree. The screams of the plants around him became unbearable, it was impossible for him to hear his own thoughts!

Hopefully, the shooter would feel the same and-

That's when a tree exploded right behind Tesson, only a second after he had run past it. Sharp shrapnel hit him in the back, and the former Dark Templar screamed in pain when he felt how the sharp wood pierced his thick skin. He stumbled and tried to summon the powers of the Void. Unfortunately, everything was happening too fast, and he lacked the mental strength to use his abilities to get to safety. It was all happening too fast.

While running like crazy, Tesson didn't pay attention to his surroundings for one moment. And that moment was enough for him to trip over a root and smash into a nearby tree. Pain shot through his entire body, both from the impact and from all the wooden splinters cutting through his flesh. The screams became even louder, too loud for him to just ignore it. He closed his eyes and grabbed his head. It was as if the damn screams were coming from _inside_ his head!

"Make it stop!" he managed to gurgle and rolled around. Suddenly there was no way for him to get back on his feet anymore. The pain and the screams were too much for him.

"Please...make it...stop!" he gargled and reached out with his senses. It was the Protoss-equivalent of a flare, a psionic cry for help. He knew that no one would come to help him, it was just an instinct anyway. The screams became unbearable, and much to Tesson's own dismay, it was too much for him.

And that's when he finally lost consciousness.

* * *

When Tesson woke up again, he realized two things. The first thing was that his whole body felt as if he had slept in barbed wire. He groaned in discomfort and tried to open his eyes. That's when he realized the second change.

The screams were gone.

He was surrounded by silence.

Whatever this place was, death lurked behind every corner.

"My Lord. You freaks are ugly." When Tesson heard that voice, he opened his eyes and frowned. He had never seen a human with his own two eyes before, so what he saw was somewhat, well, underwhelming.

"Who...who are you?" he whispered, and could see how the human...frowned? At least it looked like a frown. However, he had no idea what it was doing with that nose and mouth. Was it smiling? Was it look at him in disgust? He had no idea. Human facial expressions were something he didn't know anything about. You know, since his kind didn't have a nose or a mouth. Maybe he should take classes.

Somehow, he had his doubts that this human would be a nice teacher.

"Who am I? Well, my dear disgusting alien-friend, I'm your best friend. If you know what that is, a friend. Tell me, do you want to be my friend?"

 _What?_

"What?" Tesson spoke out his thoughts. That's when the human knelt down right in front of him and looked him straight into the eyes.

"Tell me, critter..." the human then said. "...does your kind know what "law enforcement" means? You have something akin to police?"

"Po...lice?" Tesson whispered. Of course, the Nerazim had a system of law enforcement. So did the Khalai. Hell, even the Tal'darim had such a system, though it was less about "law", and more about "enforcement".

"Yes, police. Want me to spell it for you?" the human asked and showed its teeth to Tesson. Teeth, what a disgusting concept. As the human continued to talk, Tesson tried to listen to its words, but all he could do was to stare at those lips, teeth, and that pink tongue. The very idea of having a mouth seemed so strange to him that he barely missed what the human tried to tell him.

"...an old tradition. We call it...good cop, bad cop." the human explained.

"Good cop, bad cop?" Tesson repeated. Those words didn't make any sense to him.

"Exactly. You see, I'm the good cop. That means that you can trust me. I'm your friend. Your pal. I will keep you safe, as long as you help me. If you don't, well, how about I introduce you to the bad cop." Right next to Tesson, a figure uncloaked. His eyes widened in surprise when he realized that he hadn't even noticed this one. It was a human, just like the other one.

No, not exactly like the other one. This one was skinnier and had these weird bumps on its chest. The Queen of Blades had those bumps as well, and Queens were female, right? So that probably meant that this one was a woman...

...or something like that.

"May I introduce you to my good friend, bad cop?" the first human said and pointed with his finger at his companion. The woman carried a rifle. A huge rifle, one that looked far too big for someone her size. She reloaded it and stared at Tesson with cold, dead eyes. One of her eyes was swollen, and there were cuts all over her face.

"So, this is how things will be..." the leader explained. "...you will tell me what I want to know, and my friend, bad cop, will not use her talents to make you experience pain unlike you have ever before. Then again, do freaks even feel pain? Should we find out, hmm?"

"You..." Tesson mumbled, and the human leaned forward in order to hear better.

"Yes? Something you want to tell your new best friend?"

"...you humans...are so _ugly_!" the former Dark Templar explained. "And those mouth of yours, they look so ridiculous! How do you manage not to bite on your tongues? Or swallow them by accident? It baffles me that you even know which one of your orifices is made for consuming food, and which one is for waste disposal." Tesson growled. He could see how the expression on the face of the human changed. From undefinable to even less definable. Was it...angry?

"What did you say?" the human, who seemed to be a male, snarled.

"I said that you must be the ugliest creatures I have ever seen." Tesson spat out. Well, he hadn't learned to control his anger when he had been a Dark Templar, so why should he do now? If anything, it was just a proof of how hard-headed this Protoss was.

"I see. Bad cop it is then. Nr. 24!" the human barked and looked over to the smaller female. "Show him some of your tricks. And don't worry about breaking this one, it looks like it can handle a beating. Leave something for the science-division, though. I'm sure they will be delighted to study a corpse of an alien. Any last words?"

"Is it true that humans use the same orifice for shoving food down their throat and expelling waste?" Tesson wanted to know.

"Oh, how quaint. You freaks even know what a "funny guy" is. Well, Nr. 24 over here is a master when it comes to breaking funny bones." the human snarled.

"Nr. 24? Oh, I knew humans are not very advanced, but I like the fact that you don't even have names, but only numbers. Gives you something inferior." Tesson shot back.

"Laugh it up, freak. I will put your head above my chimney." the human snarled. Tesson had no idea what a chimney was, but somehow, he had his doubts that he wanted to know any details.

"Nr. 24! Show him why we humans are the superior species. So, your blood is blue, hmm? I wonder if your brain is blue too." the human mused. Tesson sighed and looked over at Nr. 24.

"Does he always talk this much?" the former Dark Templar wanted to know. However, he didn't receive any answer. Instead, Nr. 24 made a step forward and was ready to inflict as much pain on Tesson as necessary. And then some more. Inside Tesson's mind, he was pretty certain that no one had ever experienced a shittier day than he did right now.

Of course, he didn't know that just a few kilometers away, Jim was actually working on a world record.

"You want to hear a Protoss scream?" Tesson chuckled. "Then I am afraid that you have come for nothing."

"Oh, is that so?" the human in charge replied. "Well, we will see about that. Nr. 24, show him what you can do." When Tesson heard that, he was confident that they wouldn't be able to break him.

However, that's when he learned that he had never known true pain before. Not until Nr. 24 started to make him suffer like he had never suffered before. And then he did something he had never done before.

He screamed in pain.

And he screamed for a very long time...


	77. Act III - Chapter 21

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 21**

 **Heroes to the Rescue!**

* * *

They say that mathematics is the only universal language. Because no matter which species you belong to, one marine plus one marine equals two marines, one zealot plus one zealot means two zealots. And one billion Zerglings plus one billion Zerglings are the Swarm. Tesson didn't know if mathematics could even be considered a language, though he didn't really care about that. No, he thought that emotions could be a universal language. And he had a very special emotion in mind.

No, not love.

He didn't even know if the humans had a concept of love. Yes, they had male and females, but so had bugs. And bugs had mouths, so that was another thing they had in common with humans. And who knew, maybe Zerg broodmothers felt something akin to motherly affection to their spawn.

No, love wasn't the universal language.

Right now, Tesson was pretty certain that the universal language was pain.

This whole experience was highly educational. Truth to be told, he hadn't been very scared about that skinny small human female called "Nr. 24". Why should he? He was double her size, five times her weight, and six times her age. No matter how he looked at it, this skinny creature was no match for him.

Unfortunately, she was three times the fighter he was.

Tesson was glad that no one was around to witness his shame. Even though most of his pride had already died a horrible death a long time ago, getting beaten to a bloody pulp by a skinny and frail human was like getting devoured by a Zergling without any teeth and only one limb.

Now, Tesson knew one or two things about interrogation techniques. The Nerazim used mental projections and their psionics to induce hallucinations. Only specially trained warriors were allowed to do something like that. Apparently, the Khalai used a more brutal approach. They simply used psionic assaults to crack a mind. Brutish, but effective.

Good thing that Tesson didn't know what the Tal'darim did when they wanted to interrogate someone.

Let's just say that they enjoyed the "cracking"-part a bit too much.

"Gha!" Tesson gurgled when he rolled on his back. Pathetic. He was pathetic. He could see how the frail human jumped on his chest and rammed her knee into his ribcage. His eyes widened in shock and pain, and he could feel how at least one of his ribs broke. Tesson raised his arm and tried to push the tiny creature off his body, but that's when her even tinier fist shot forward and smashed him right in the face. If he would have possessed a nose, it would have been crushed by that blow.

That didn't mean that he was lucky, though. He could feel how the sensitive skin in the middle of his face was ripped open. A sharp pain shot through his whole body, by now there was not a single part that didn't hurt. Nr. 24's punches and kicks were frighteningly effective. Tesson could tell that she used her psionics to reinforce her attacks, and he had to admit that this puny human's psionics were on par with that of even the most powerful Dark Templar.

...just what was this creature?

There was something familiar about those psionics. As Tesson looked up, he couldn't see much, though. This human female wore a mask that covered her entire face. Besides, humans all looked the same to him anyway, so even if he could see her face, it would probably do him no good.

"Stop, Nr. 24!" the male human suddenly barked, and Tesson groaned in relief when the murderous barrage of fists and kicks to his bruised body ended. At least for a few short moments. The young woman stopped immediately and climbed off Tesson's bleeding body. By now he looked more like a corpse than a living being.

"Well, well, well. I must say, I'm disappointed. First intelligent life the Confederacy has ever encountered. So big, yet so frail. Well, at least I can report that your kind won't prove any problem to our forces. Or are you just especially pathetic?" the man mused. Tesson wanted to reply something snippy, but he was in too much pain.

However, he did manage to clench his hands into fists.

"You know, when I was younger..." the human male then continued and walked around Tesson. "...I imagined how it would be like to meet intelligent aliens one day. What would they be like? Would they come in peace? Would they be our friends? Would they-"

"Will you..." Tesson managed to gurgle. "...just get it over with? Seriously, you humans like to talk so much! No wonder the Khalai forged an alliance with some of you, they too love to hear their own voices." He was too busy groaning in pain to notice the human's expression, but he was pretty certain that this creature wasn't pleased with what he had just said.

"Such big heads, but apparently not much of a brain." the "good cop" growled. "Very well, if that's how you want to go down. Nr. 24, end this. We should take something with us, for the science division. However, this freak's body seems to be pretty heavy, even for you. Cut its head off, that should be enough for the eggheads back home. Oh, and we will find out if these aliens can survive without a head. We are real scientists, aren't we?" the human male chuckled. It was probably the ugliest sound Tesson had ever heard in his life.

"Yes, Sir." Nr. 24 replied, and Tesson looked up. Fear started to grip his heart when he saw how the small figure above him grabbed her combat knife and knelt down right beside him.

"I do hope you feel pain. Otherwise, this would only be half as much fun." the male growled. Tesson wanted to reply something, but then he felt a hot and sharp pain ravaging his throat. His skin was a lot thicker than that of a human, which shaved his life. Because it meant that Nr. 24 had to use a lot more strength to cut his head off. The moment he felt the blade cutting through his leathery skin, he screamed in pain, and his body mobilized its last remaining strength. His fists shot up and he just reacted on instinct when he smashed them against his attacker.

"UNF!" Nr. 24 managed to grunt when his fist hit her head. She fell back and landed on her butt. Her heavy goggles flew away, and when Tesson looked into her face, he went pale.

"No... Kerrigan?"

Tesson couldn't tell one human face apart from the other, they all looked the same to him. With one exception. The image of the Queen of Blades was still present in his mind. And this creature right in front of him? She looked exactly like the being that had talked to him on Ulnar. There were some differences, but he couldn't see those details. Like for example that this one was a lot younger than the one he had met some time ago.

Nr. 24 jumped back on her feet, grabbed the combat knife that had fallen from her hand, and jumped on Tesson's chest. She raised the knife, ready to finish the job, when suddenly-

"WAIT!" the other human barked, and the tip of the blade stopped mere millimeters from Tesson's throat. There was an eerie moment of silence when no one dared to say anything. The human male walked over to them and knelt down right next to Tesson's head.

"How do you know that name?" he demanded to know. Tesson's eyes rolled to the side and he tried to make sense of what was just happening. But no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't think of any reasonable answer to what was happening to him.

"First that smelly hobo, now a weird-ass alien. Nr. 24, you seem to be _very_ popular around here. Seems like you even have your own fan-club. I wonder if that means that someone leaked the information about our trip here to some local rebels." the human male mused. "Hmm, nevermind. Let's finish this. I'm tired of this world. Take its head and thAGH!" There was a strange moment of silence. At first, neither Tesson nor Nr. 24 seemed to realize that something was wrong. Both of them looked over at the man. He looked like he was in pain. And there was something red flowing from his throat.

That's when the head of the man just fell from his shoulders, and the decapitated corpse fell to the side.

And behind the corpse, the gigantic frame of a Khalai Zealot appeared.

"Get your filthy hands off him!" the Zealot growled. Nr. 24 reacted immediately. She rolled off Tesson and raised her combat knife, ready to defend herself. Under normal circumstances, Tesson would have laughed at the attempt of a small human to fight a Zealot. However, he had just witnessed that this human female was anything _but_ normal.

Before Tesson could come up with any idea of his own, he felt how two strong hands grabbed his shoulders and pulled him up. He groaned in pain when this other newcomer threw him on his shoulder, and then carried him away.

"Fenix! Deal with the enemy, I will carry this one to safety!" Tesson heard the roaring voice of another Protoss, the one that was carrying him. Fenix? He had heard that name before...

"COME ON!" the other warrior roared. "SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!" And from the corner of his eye, Tesson could see how the mighty Zealot engaged the small human in a fight to the death. However, that's when both of them vanished from his sight when he was carried into safety. Tesson didn't know what was happening around him anymore.

"Hold on, brother! I have you!" he could hear the voice of the Protoss carrying him. He was too much in pain and too disorientated to say anything. He saw how he was carried through the jungle, and soon everything turned into a blur.

Every time the feet of the Protoss that carried him touched the ground, the impact caused Tesson to groan in pain. Every move caused the splinters in his flesh to cut even deeper into his tissue, and he wished to die. Or at least lose consciousness. Unfortunately, he was not so lucky. His savior ran for what felt like forever, and even Tesson had to admit that this was an impressive display of physical prowess.

He had no idea how long they had been on the run. When the other Protoss finally slowed down, there was not a single cell within Tesson's body that didn't hurt.

"It seems we are safe...for now." the deep and calm voice said, and Tesson felt a strange sense of relief. He had never heard that voice before, but it was the kind that inspired trust and confidence. "Wait, my brother, I will put you down." When Tesson heard that, he braced himself. His savior was surprisingly careful when he put the mauled Protoss down. The former Dark Templar closed his eyes and sighed.

"Thanks..." was everything he could say.

"It was nothing." the voice replied. "I am just glad that we reached you in time. How are you?"

"Hurt." Tesson said.

"You have endured wicked punishment, my friend. I wish I could call upon a healer to look at your wounds, but right now I have no one at my disposal. Maybe if I manage to contact my carrier we can get you to a healer. Until then you will have to endure, I'm afraid."

"Car...rier?" Tesson mumbled and looked up. He opened his eyes again, and when he saw the imposing figure in front of him...

"Just my luck." he whispered.

Right in front of him was a warrior of the Khalai.

And not just any warrior. When Tesson looked at that masterfully crafted armor, he noticed the insignia on it. Of course, he knew what they meant, he wasn't so dense. However, he had also seen this insignia before, with his own two eyes. Selendis wore them. And Selendis was an...

"Executor?" The moment the other Protoss heard that title, he knelt down right in front of Tesson and placed his hand on Tesson's shoulder.

"You recognize these symbols? Yes, you are correct. I am an Executor. However, I have not come here to cause you or your people any harm. Please, I have come in peace." When Tesson heard that, he started to laugh. A Khalai, telling him that he was on a mission of peace!

"Gha!"

Well, he would have laughed if his whole body hadn't been in so much pain.

"You have to calm down, my friend. Relax, you are safe now. At least for the time being." When Tesson heard those words, he could feel how cold anger started to fill his mind.

"You...are not my friend...Khalai!" he hissed. Tesson didn't care if this guy was indeed an Executor. Besides, wasn't there a rule that there could only be one Executor at a time? He knew that Artanis had been Executor and that Selendis had inherited that position when he had become Hierarch. So... had Selendis been replaced? Given her volatile nature, that was probably a wise choice.

Still, there was something strangely familiar about this Executor. It was as if Tesson had seen this face before, even though he was certain that they had never met.

"I see...you are cautious." the Executor sighed. "A wise move, given the history between our people. And I cannot blame you for that. However, I do have no intention of hurting you. On the contrary, I and my people were looking for your kind for quite some time now."

"My kind?" Tesson asked, trying to act as if he had no idea what this Executor was talking about.

"Nerazim." the Executor explained, and Tesson turned his head away when he heard that. "We came here to search for our long-lost brothers and sisters." Long lost? Was this guy for real? It didn't matter, he was probably only making fun of Tesson anyway.

"I am no Nerazim. And I do not wish to be close to a Khalai either. Leave me alone."

"I understand your reservations." the Executor told him. "And under normal circumstances, I would love to honor your request. Unfortunately, these are dire times, and I cannot do that. I need to find the one you call the Dark Prelate. I am looking for the one called Zeratul."

Okay, now this was getting them nowhere.

"You...must be living...under a rock." Tesson snarled. "Zeratul...is dead." When the Executor heard that, he stood up again and shook his head in disbelief.

"No...it cannot be." he whispered.

"What did you want from him anyway, huh? Did you think he would tell you the secrets of our powers?"

"Yes." was the answer, and it caused Tesson to chuckle.

"Well, he will not tell you. Unfortunately, it does not change anything, because the Dark Prelate already handed the secrets over to _Artanis_." He spat the name out like some kind of curse.

"Artanis?!" the Executor shouted in surprise. "How do you know of Ar...no, nevermind. This... this changes everything. We need to return to Aiur, we need to tell the Conclave about this."

"Conclave? Wait, the fascists that have almost killed all of my people?!" Tesson hissed. "They are back in power?" To him, the Conclave was nothing but history. However, the Executor didn't seem to understand that.

"Fascist, hmm?" he mumbled and sighed again. "I do suppose there is some truth in that. Yes, my kind has done your people wrong. Many times. And I am sorry for that." Tesson didn't know which was worse; the fact that an Executor was apologizing to him, or the fact that he felt genuine shame coming from the mind of this warrior.

Still, Tesson was nothing if not stubborn.

"You can shove that apology up your-"

"Executor!" a new voice suddenly interrupted him, and Tesson looked to the side. The warrior that had decapitated that talkative human appeared from behind a tree. There was a cut covering his right eye, but aside from that, he seemed unscathed.

"Fenix! What happened? Your eye, did-"

"Ah, it's nothing!" the Zealot barked. He sounded more annoyed than in pain. "This enemy landed a lucky strike, that is all."

"It does not look like a lucky strike to me, old friend." the Executor replied. "Did you defeat this human?"

"No." the warrior called Fenix growled. Fenix, that name rang a bell. Tesson had heard it before. He believed that both Artanis and that mechanical abomination called Talandar had used that name a few times. "Slippery little thing. Was a lot faster than I imagined. I was careless."

"No, you were not. This warrior was simply better than you, and you do not want to admit that." the Executor sighed.

"Whatever." Fenix growled and looked down at Tesson. "What about our friend? Has he something interesting to tell us?" When Tesson heard the warrior's voice, he felt the anger returning to him. This one was so much like the Khalai he hated and despised. Even now this _Fenix_ was looking down on him, both literally and figuratively.

"Our wounded brother has told me grave news. It appears that Zeratul is no more." the Executor said.

"And you believe him?" Fenix wanted to know. "Tassadar, do not tell me that you have become gullible."

Tassadar?

Wait, what?!

"Tass...adar?" Tesson whispered in disbelief. Both Khalai looked at him and frowned.

"You have heard of me?" the Executor wanted to know. And much to Tesson's dismay, he nodded. Of course, he had heard of Tassadar. The one that had killed the Overmind, the Executor who had sacrificed himself to save the entire sector from the Swarm. Even among the Nerazim, there were those who called him a hero. And, as far as Tesson knew, he had actually defied the Conclave's orders. So that meant that he was almost alright. Almost.

"This...this cannot be right." Tesson whispered. And then a crazy thought entered his mind.

"I am dead...and this is punishment for my sins."

"Oh, joy." Fenix growled. "This one does not seem to be very lucid, Tassadar. I do not think we can trust what he is telling us."

"No." the Executor replied. "I do believe him. I can sense honesty in his words. This one is a lot stronger than you think." Getting compliments from dead Khalai, this was just perfect. Tesson was about to say something very unfriendly when suddenly something happened.

"Now listen, you stupid piece of-" he started, but then he fell silent. His eyes widened when a strange sensation reached his senses. It was like a psionic touch, something that he had felt only a few times, and always during moments of crisis.

"Is he broken?" Fenix wanted to know, but then Tassadar gestured his old friend to be quiet. They watched how Tesson tried to get back to his feet, and how the former Dark Templar turned around. He looked at a point beyond the trees and wiped the blood off his forehead.

"But...how?"

In his mind, he could feel a psionic call for help. It was a device, one that Dark Templar used when they were in need of assistance. It was specifically designed that only those trained in the arts of the Dark Templar could sense it. However, it wasn't just a big "HELP MEEEEEE!". No, it contained a lot of information. Like the general position of the one who called for help.

And the identity of the warrior who was calling out.

"Zeratul?"

* * *

"I don't like this." Jim growled.

"You said that before, Friend Raynor. Several times, actually." Zeratul replied. Both of them were hiding behind a row of trees, waiting for something, anything to happen.

"Yeah, well, I still don't like this. And I just want you to know that."

"Noted."

"I don't like this."

"If this is any help to you..." Zeratul then said. "...I do not like it either."

"She should be back by now." Jim muttered, and even though he didn't use her name, Zeratul knew immediately who he was talking about.

"Do you think that she intends to betray us?" the Dark Prelate wanted to know. Jim didn't answer that question immediately. Instead, he stared at the jungle in front of him and frowned.

"No..." he whispered after a while. Zeratul frowned when he heard that and looked over to Jim.

"Is that what you think? Or is that what you hope for?"

"Choose whatever sounds better to you." Jim growled. And with that, the conversation was over. After a while, Jim looked up and stared at that beautiful sky above them.

"What if this doesn't work, Zeratul? What if we fail?"

"We cannot allow ourselves to think like that, Friend Raynor." the Dark Prelate told him. "As long as we are alive, there is hope."

"Hope..." Jim repeated and shook his head. "...tell me, why are you doing this? Is this really because you want to help me?" Zeratul didn't answer that question immediately. Instead, he looked up to the sky as well.

"You wonder why I help to save Sarah Kerrigan, even though she has caused my people so much pain. You want to know why I am not giving in into vengeance."

"Pretty much, yeah." Jim confirmed. And then he looked over to Zeratul. "So?"

"I do not think that I can give you a satisfying answer. All I know is that vengeance will not solve a thing. I do not deny that I would enjoy watching Kerrigan face justice, but then what? Everything would return to the way it was? Shakuras is gone, Friend Raynor. Raszagal is dead. This failure will always be mine, and I have accepted that. Perhaps...I just want to rest in peace."

"Even though you could live again?" Jim asked. "You could be with your people again, lead them. You could settle down, and be a teacher. Or something like that. Maybe even-"

"James." Zeratul interrupted him and used his first name. Their eyes met and Jim could swear to see both gratitude and sadness in the gaze of the Dark Prelate. "Please, let it rest."

"But-"

"Please." the Protoss requested once more, and Jim decided to give in. After a while, they resumed staring at the sky above them.

"You know..." Jim then said. "...this is not how I thought how our honeymoon would look like. It's always something with that woman. Love hurts."

"Indeed." was all Zeratul replied. And then there was some more silence. It was almost unbearable, and Jim felt as if he had to do something, _anything_. Instead, he was forced to wait. And there was a human tradition for moments like these. It was called "small talk".

"I wonder how this is even possible." Jim mused. "As far as I know, there is no central star this planet is orbiting around. It's just surrounded by a nebula. We should be toast, the radiation should be deadly, yet-" However, Zeratul wasn't really into small-talk. He raised his hand and gestured Jim to shut up.

"Silence!" the Dark Prelate whispered. "I think I heard something."

"Please, don't let it be hybrids." Jim whined. "Anything but hybrids. Seriously, I would rather kiss a Hydralisk!"

"No..." Zeratul gasped when he turned around. "...these newcomers are not Zerg." He turned around, and Jim could already see the disbelief on Zeratul's face. By now, he had gotten quite proficient when it came to reading the facial expressions of a species who didn't even have noses or mouths.

"Zeratul? Buddy? Please, don't do this to me! My nerves are already non-existent!" Jim pleaded. However, that's when he heard those heavy footsteps. He looked in the same direction as Zeratul and could see how some leaves started to rustle when something huge approached.

"No hybrid, no hybrid, no hybrid." Jim whispered next to Zeratul. And that's when something emerged from the jungle. Something big. Something powerful.

Something obnoxiously loud.

"...better be close, I am sick of chasing spectres and phantoms through the darkness!" Fenix announced when he stepped out into the clearing. That's when he saw the two figures of Jim and Zeratul. He raised his psi-blades but didn't activate them. When he recognized the nature of these two, he lowered his arms and shook his head.

"James Raynor. You have the uncanny ability to show up when no one expects you." Fenix declared, and Jim felt nothing but relief when he saw his dead friend. However, before Jim could say anything, Fenix looked over to Zeratul and squinted his eyes.

"And you must be the one we have been looking for. It would appear that the rumors about your death were greatly exaggerated." the mighty Zealot muttered. "So much for "reliable intel"." Neither Jim nor Zeratul had any idea what Fenix was talking about. That's when another figure emerged from the jungle. Or two, to be more precise.

Jim noticed how Zeratul stiffened when he saw the newcomer.

"It is you..." he whispered and made a step forward. "...Tassadar."

When the Executor stopped right in front of them, they looked each other into the eyes and Jim noticed that Tassadar was not alone. He was carrying another Protoss on his shoulder, one that looked as if he was dead.

"You have heard of me?" Tassadar asked.

"More than that, mighty and noble Tassadar. And it pains me that we have to meet again under these circumstances." Zeratul replied.

"Meet again?" the Executor wondered. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, boy." Jim whispered. "Explaining all of this will take a while."

"Executor, Tassadar...we have to talk. Now." Zeratul declared.

* * *

Zeratul and Tassadar had vanished behind some trees. Jim couldn't blame Zeratul for being cautious. What he was about to tell Tassadar was beyond fantastic. Ridiculous would be a good way of describing it. If Jim would be in Tassadar's shoes, would he believe any of this? If someone would tell him that he's just a dream come to live? Created by a being so powerful that it defied all reason and logic?

Jim knew the answer to that. No. No, he wouldn't. He would fight that knowledge with everything he had.

Perhaps that was the reason why Zeratul had decided to talk with Tassadar in private. Next to Jim, Fenix looked at the jungle around them and made sure that nothing would sneak up on them. There was little doubt that Fenix would have laughed at such words. However, this short moment of peace gave Jim time to look at the third Protoss they had brought here.

"Who's that?" he asked Fenix, who just shrugged when he heard Jim's question.

"He does not like to share his name with others. He is Nerazim, albeit a very unfriendly one." the Zealot replied. Jim knelt down right next to the other Protoss and took a good look at him. This one seemed to be indeed a Nerazim, at least the green glow of his eyes made Jim believe that. Then again, what did he know about Protoss' eyes anyway? As Jim looked at the Protoss, he realized two things. The first thing was that this poor fellow looked like shit. He was covered in bruises, and there were countless cuts all over his body. Dry, blue blood covered his skin, and there was an especially nasty cut on his throat. It almost looked as if someone had tried to take his head off.

The other thing was the "he"-part. Jim had no idea if this Protoss was even a male. This one was pretty slender and completely naked. But without any visible, well, genitals, it was impossible to tell if this was a guy or gal.

"You don't look so good, Lady." Jim mumbled, and the Protoss looked up to him.

"I'm not a lady." a rather manly voice answered, and Jim pulled his brows up.

"Sorry, didn't mean to insult you. It's just...kinda hard to make out any details when there's nothing dangling between your legs. Just sayin'." he mumbled, and the Protoss groaned in pain when he moved his shoulders.

"Do not worry, I feel the same about you humans. All I can do is to stare at those tiny mouths with these weird white things in it-"

"Teeth, they are called teeth." Jim told him.

"...and that pink tongue. How do you even use those things?"

"Ah, trust me, many people don't know how to use their mouths."

"I am inclined to agree." the unnamed Protoss mumbled.

"So, who are you? A young version of Zeratul? Or someone I have forgotten about? Or are you someone from Sarah's memories?" Jim asked.

"Say what?" the Protoss replied and Jim just sighed.

"Nevermind." He looked over his shoulder and into the direction where Zeratul and Tassadar had gone. They were gone for not that long, but Jim was still worried. How would Tassadar react to what Zeratul was about to tell him? Would he accept it? Would he ignore it?

When the two Protoss finally returned, Jim, Fenix, and the unnamed one turned their heads around. Jim imagined that the look on Zeratul's face was serious. However, even without being a pro at reading Protoss' body-language and facial expressions, Jim could tell that Tassadar was visibly shaken.

"That can't be good." he muttered. When Fenix saw the shocked expression on his friend's face, he walked up to him and put his hand on the Executor's shoulder.

"Tassadar, what is the matter? You look as if the world is about to come to an end." the mighty warrior wanted to know.

"There is truth in your words, old friend." Tassadar mumbled, and then he sighed. He looked over to Zeratul and nodded. "I will need a moment. Please, excuse us. Fenix, follow me. We need to talk." Jim watched how the two mighty (and technically dead) warriors vanished behind some trees. When they were gone, he looked over to Zeratul.

"That doesn't look good. What did you tell him?"

"Everything."

"Well..." Jim growled." ...shit."

"Indeed." Zeratul agreed, and then he turned around to the other Protoss. "And who would you be?" he then asked. The mangled Protoss looked up at him, and his eyes widened when he finally had the time to take a good hard look at Zeratul.

"It is you...it is really you." the Protoss whispered. "You are alive."

"You know who I am?" Zeratul asked, and the Protoss nodded.

"Of course. You are the Dark Prelate. Zeratul. The one that ventured into the Void, the one that saved us all." When Zeratul heard that, he knelt down next to the Protoss and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"What is your name, my son?" he wanted to know.

"Tesson. I am Tesson."

"Tesson. I apologize, but I have never heard that name before. Have we met?"

"No." the Protoss called Tesson explained. "I saw you, a few times, but only from a great distance. We have never spoken to each other, but I know of you, Dark Prelate. And the fact that you are alive..."

"Tesson, I am afraid that things are not the way they seem in this place." Zeratul said with a soft voice.

"But...but you are here! This changes everything!" the younger Protoss whined. "We can return to Aiur! Our people need a leader! Vorazun has sold us out to the Khalai, our way of life is at risk! Now that Shakuras is gone, and now that Kerrigan has returned, we need you more than ever!" When Zeratul heard that, he frowned. For another fragment created by Sarah, this one was very lucid.

"I am afraid that this is not possible. I know that this is hard to comprehend, but there are things going on right now that outweigh any other issues."

"But...we are talking about our people, Dark Prelate! Is their plight not the most important thing we should worry about?" Tesson whined.

"Sometimes, the plight of the people we care about pales in comparison to the bigger picture. Especially when the fate of the entire galaxy hangs in the balance. I am sorry, young Tesson. Besides, from what I have heard, Artanis has united our people. This is a feat that not even I had dared to dream of and-"

"Artanis!" Tesson suddenly hissed. "He has torn us apart, Zeratul! Soon, not even the term Nerazim will hold any meaning to our people! Please, I am begging you!"

"I am sorry...but I cannot do that." the Dark Prelate said and turned away. "Do not worry, Tesson. Should we succeed, neither you nor I will have to worry about the future anymore. 'Tis is but a dream." Tesson was too confused to figure out what Zeratul was talking about, and there was no time left. As he walked away, Tesson suddenly tried to get back on his feet. However, he failed miserably.

"I WAS BANISHED BY MY PEOPLE!" he suddenly screamed. "I was abandoned and thrown into the darkness because I wanted to protect them!" Everyone froze when they heard the pain in Tesson's voice. "My sin is that I love my people! And I was not willing to see how they would fall victim to oppression yet again! And now? Now I am alone! Alone and lost in the darkness! And even you, the legendary Zeratul...you would turn your back on me? Why?!" All eyes were resting on Zeratul, and Jim could see how the Dark Prelate clenched his hands into fists.

"I can sense your sin, my child." Zeratul then whispered. "It weighs heavily upon your soul."

"What do you know about my sin?" Tesson spat out, showing genuine surprise when Zeratul had managed to look through him right from the start.

"I know it because I carry the same burden with me. A mistake, one that led to others paying the price. I can see it all over you."

"How the...never mind that!" the younger Protoss hissed. "Dark Prelate, your people need you! This dream of a unified race, it devours what makes us Nerazim! I cannot speak against Artanis or his followers. But you, you could! You are a legend! I do not know why you have left us, but they claim that you died! Please, come with me! Let us return to Aiur and lead our people to-"

"Enough of this!" Zeratul barked, and Jim was surprised to hear real anger in the voice of the Dark Prelate. "You are but a child, Tesson. I can sense the righteous fury in your heart, and in your mind. However, it has clouded your senses! You wish to help your people, then help them! But not by tearing them apart."

"But...but..." a visibly shaken Tesson stuttered. That's when the other two warriors returned. When Jim looked over at them, he could see that Tassandar looked better. However, now it was Fenix that seemed to be in distress. Zeratul got back up and turned towards the two other warriors. He had no time to deal with the twisted sense of righteousness this young Protoss carried within him. There was simply too much at stake here.

"Have you told him?" Zeratul asked, and Tassadar nodded. "And? Will you help us?" Both Tassadar and Fenix looked at each other. It was the mighty Zealot who nodded first.

"Whatever this place is, whatever fate has in store for us, I would never back away from a fight." Fenix declared, and Tassadar agreed with that.

"For Aiur?"

"For Aiur, my old friend."

"Oh, how touching!" a new voice suddenly reached their ears, and every one turned around. When Jim spotted the Queen of Blades, he could feel how his heart skipped a beat. However, when he saw those purple eyes, he realized that this wasn't the Queen of Blades that he hated so much. No, this was the Primal Queen of Blades.

"Sarah?" Jim asked, just to be certain.

"In the flesh. Or the mind. Or, well, whatever." she growled and looked at both Tassadar and Fenix. "Never thought I'd be happy to see you again, you old farts."

"What is a fart?" Fenix wanted to know. It's kinda hard to explain that to someone who doesn't have a butt.

"You are...a Zerg. Zeratul told me of you. The...Queen of Blades, yes? You are a fragment of the person that is responsible for all of this." Tassadar then mused. Sarah pulled a brow up when she heard that.

"Well, it's probably for the best that you don't know me...yet. Our history was, well, complicated." That was one way to describe it.

"We do not have time for this." Zeratul interrupted her. "We need to take James Raynor to Sarah Kerrigan, the real Sarah Kerrigan. This is the only thing that matters right now." He then looked down at the injured Protoss. "I am sorry, young one. But we have to hurry. You are in no shape to fight, so you will remain here. I wish I could do more, but there is nothing I can do. Forgive me." As Jim watched the Protoss called Tesson, he could see the pained look on his face.

"Please...what about our people?" Tesson whispered. Zeratul turned away and looked at the other warriors.

"We four need to act as a shield. James Raynor's life is more important than either one of us. We are not many, but we shall-"

"Actually..." Sarah suddenly interrupted Zeratul, and they all looked at her. "...I found a way to improve our numbers."

"Oh, no. Tell me you didn't." Jim whined. That's when a cruel grin appeared on Sarah's face.

* * *

The moment Jim stepped out of the open, he groaned and shook his head.

"Worst. Plan. Ever. Of all times."

"Indeed." Zeratul agreed when he stepped next to Jim and looked at the enemies in front of them. The soldiers of Mobius hadn't spotted them yet, but it was only a matter of time until they would.

"Those are a lot of tanks." Jim mumbled. That's when the deep laugh of the other warrior next to him could be heard.

"Hahaha. It hardly matters, my friend! The more enemies, the better! This shall be a glorious battle!" Fenix declared. Next to him, the third Protoss shook his head.

"Your eagerness for battle will be your undoing one day, my old friend! But then again..." Tassadar explained. "...from what I heard, we already died once. Therefore, death has no jurisdiction over us anymore." Suddenly Jim felt very small. Like the smallest and skinniest kid in school. You know, the member of the chess club that ended up on the football team. During the Super Bowl.

"Just for future reference..." Jim mumbled to Zeratul. "...I still think that this is a horrible plan." However, before Zeratul could reply something, the soldiers of Mobius finally spotted them.

"Over there! Enemies!" someone barked and the four warriors, well, three warriors and a dud, straightened themselves. It was Fenix who ignited his blue psi-blades first.

"Oh, this will be glorious!" the Zealot laughed. Tassadar, who seemed to be a lot less thrilled about all of this, looked over to Zeratul.

"You did not tell me one thing, Dark One." the Executor said. "Was it worth it?"

"We lost many in the battles that followed, mighty Executor. But yes, it was worth it. Now, we are whole again." Zeratul replied, and Tassadar sighed when he heard that.

"Then it is all I could have asked for. Very well. The duty of a Templar only ends in death anyway. So once more into the breach, my comrades." the Executor proclaimed and made a step forward. The troops of Moebius were about to open fire. Tanks turned their turrets towards them, loopholes on the bunkers were opened, and several of the hybrids took positions right next to those fortifications.

"THIS IS EXECUTOR TASSADAR!" the warrior barked. "By the authority given to me by the Conclave, I demand you to lower your weapons and let us pass!" The only answer they received was laughter.

"Sounds like you amused them." Fenix chuckled.

"This is your final warning!" Tassadar shouted once more. "Let us pass, or face the consequences!" Behind them, something moved inside the jungle. And it wasn't the trees. Not this time.

"Ready your guns!" someone barked.

"So much for that." Jim groaned. "Anyone got a plan b?"

"Prepare to fire!" the commanding officer barked.

"Finally! This will be fun!" Fenix shouted and started to laugh at the same time.

"Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" Suddenly a new voice reached them, and Jim groaned when he recognized that voice.

"Oh, no... not that guy too." Jim groaned. A single soldier walked past the defensive line and stopped a couple of dozen meters away from the three Protoss and the human. He wore a marine's power armor, but even though his face was covered by the helmet's visor, Jim recognized him immediately. His armor had a different color scheme, so were the insignia on it. And then there was that voice. The loudspeaker on his suit was powerful enough so this man could be heard across a battlefield. And the microphones were sensitive enough to hear anything that was going on hundreds of meters away. Good, that way Jim didn't have to yell.

"Well, well, well." the soldier said and stemmed his fists against his hip. "Look what treacherous piece of filth has come to say hello. What's the matter, Raynor? Think that you and your dirty alien yokel friends can do as you please?"

"Duke."

Edmund Duke opened his helmet, and even though the distance between them was too big to see the detail on Duke's face, Jim just knew that he was the real deal.

"It is getting worse." Zeratul explained. "We have to hurry." Jim gritted his teeth when he heard that. What would happen next? If Mengsk's favorite (and very dead) pet was there, then what about good old Arcturus?

"What's the matter, Raynor?" Duke barked. "You look like you're lost. Good God, look at your clothes! Not even wearing a uniform. I never understood why Mengsk thought you could be of any use to us. You will always be nothing but a disgrace." Jim knew that arguing with this person was pointless, but if there was one man he hated even more than Arcturus, it was Edmund Duke.

"Is that so?" Jim screamed back. "And how did you end up here, huh? Also, Moebius? What happened to your precious Alpha Squadron? Those boys no longer good enough for a dirty scumbag like you?"

"I was offered a chance, and I decided to grab it." Duke replied. "Unlike you, I don't enjoy fighting for lost causes." Before Jim could say something else, Zeratul placed his hand on his shoulder and reminded him that they were on a tight schedule.

"Friend Raynor! We have to hurry and-"

"Yes, your dirty alien friend is right!" Duke interrupted them. "Let's not waste any more time. Men! Get ready to kill these fools!" the General said before he turned around and walked back towards his line of defense.

"Going so soon?" another voice echoed over the desolate field. And this time Duke did stop at once. He turned around and closed his visor, that way he could magnify the creature that was walking out of the jungle.

"You!" Duke hissed.

"Why, Edmund, it is so good to see you." the Queen of Blades cooed and joined the group of three Protoss and one human. Both Fenix and Tassadar weren't very happy with that, but they knew what was at stake. Or at least they were able to work with what they were told.

"You look good. Especially considering the fact that I killed you myself." Sarah chuckled.

"Is she trying to get him mad?" Zeratul wondered and Jim pulled his brows up.

"Trust me, she's a master when it comes to that." he groaned.

"READY GUNS, WIPE THEM OUT!" Duke barked, and Jim watched in horror how one tank moved its turret a bit to the side and fired a round straight at them. It didn't get very far, though. Everything happened too fast for Jim to truly realize what was going on. Fenix stormed forward and raised his psi-blades. Both Sarah and Zeratul stepped in front of Jim and shielded him from the impact. The moment the tank round hit Fenix's personal shield, it exploded immediately. Jim saw how fire engulfed him, but it never touched him. The energy of Fenix's shield, combined with Tassadar's and Sarah's psionic energies, was more than enough to keep him safe. When the explosion evaporated, Jim looked around.

"Let's not do that again." he said mostly to himself. Sarah turned her attention back to Duke and started to laugh.

"Is that all you have to offer? A bunch of hybrids and mindless zombies? Oh, Edmund, you're so out of luck this time."

"Is that so?" Duke replied. "The way I see it you're just five. And my numbers are legion." And what was Sarah's answer to that?

She started to laugh.

It was the kind of laugh that could chill the blood in your veins. And that's when Jim realized that shit was about to get real.

"What is so funny, you damn bitch?" Duke wanted to know.

"Oh, I'm laughing at you, Edmund. To think that this bunch of weaklings can stop me! Perhaps you have forgotten who I am?"

"You're just a monster now, girl." Edmund shot back. "You're nothing! A bug to be squashed beneath my boot." And that's when the trees behind those five were pushed aside. It was too bad that Edmund had his visor closed and was too far away, Jim would have loved to see the expression on the bastard's face. A big Zerg emerged from the jungle. It looked vaguely human, at least its upper torso. But below its hips a huge, spiderlike body started. It stopped right next to Sarah and bowed its head in a gesture of respect.

"My Queen..." Zagara declared. "...we stand ready."

"I'm not just any monster, Edmund." Sarah chuckled and stretched her arms out. Behind her, countless creatures came out of the jungle. Zerglings. Hydralisks. Even Ultralisks appeared on top of the hill. And above them, the sky started to darken when thousands of Mutalisks climbed into the air.

"I am the Swarm!"

* * *

The defenders had almost no time to react. They had already set up a defensive position and all their guns were pointed at the enemy. It was a good line of defense, one that made use of overlapping firing lines. Even if one bunker or tank would be destroyed, others would be able to take over. Against any conventional foe, this would have been highly effective.

But the Swarm wasn't conventional.

Thousands of Zerglings and Hydralisks poured onto the desolate landscape like they were a muddy flood made out of claws and teeth. The concentrated fire of the siege tanks blew hundreds of bodies away, but in the end, they only managed to achieve two things. First, they made room for even more Zerg to attack. And secondly, they made the Zerg even angrier.

The light fire from the bunkers proved to be very effective against all those fast Zerglings, but then there were the Ultralisks. The huge beasts were hit by countless of artillery rounds before even one of them went down. The defenders managed to kill many of these monstrosities, but even then, more kept just coming and managed to break through Mobius' lines. And the hybrids? No matter how formidable they might be as an opponent, even they couldn't defeat the might that was the Swarm itself.

A hybrid would slay an Ultralisk, but then three more would just arrive and take their sibling's place.

And then the flyers arrived.

Missiles were launched, and explosions bloomed like flowers above them. It was one hell of a firework. Blood, muscles, and tissue fell from above. It was quite the spectacle, but soon even the massive air defense batteries were unable to keep up with the countless Zerg that were pouring out of the sky.

Mutalisks unloaded their corrosive saliva, and there were other creatures as well. Jim hadn't seen any scourges in ages. A lot of people thought that scourges were only a threat to flying machinery, but that's because they had never witnessed how thousands of these things smashed into the ground, exploded, and released their acidic load over the defenders.

It was a goddamn carnage. Or, to put it into another word, it was Zerg.

Jim had no time to enjoy the scenery. The moment the party started, the Queen of Blades turned towards him and Zeratul.

"Now's our chance! GO!" And Zeratul knew what that meant. He grabbed Jim by the shoulder and pulled him with him. They had to hurry. Sarah turned back to the broodmother standing right next to her.

"You know what to do. Let not a single one escape. Except for the Protoss, of course." Of course. Zagara bowed her head in respect.

"I follow your vision...even though I don't really understand it." her second-in-command declared. That was all that mattered right now. With the Swarm under her command, Zagara would be more than a match for Duke and Mobius.

As for the two Protoss? Well, two Protoss doesn't sound like much when compared to the endless numbers of the Swarm. But these two weren't just ordinary Protoss. We're talking about Fenix and Tassadar! Forged in the fires of wars long before Jim, Sarah, or even Duke had been born, they presented the epiphany of Protoss strength and courage.

Well, Tassadar was. Fenix was just slaying everything that looked like an enemy.

"I could get used to this!" the Zealot barked while hundreds of Zerg ran past him. At least someone was having a good time. Tassadar, on the other hand, decided to take a subtler approach. A hybrid was standing right in front of him while the battle was raging around them. However, both opponents didn't seem to care. The fight was a spectacular albeit short one. In the end, the hybrid was simply no match for the Executor who had blown the mighty Overmind into pieces. Okay, Tassadar had also used the Gantrithor to ram it into the beast's body, but who cares about such details?

Tassadar gathered his strength and unleashed a psi storm that turned the hybrid into a piece of coal. The creature didn't even manage to get close. Its skin was scorched off his flesh, its eyes exploded, and the blood inside its veins started to boil. The creature was turned into an oversized barbecue within seconds. When Tassadar was done, he lowered his hands and gathered his strength for a short moment. And while he did that, the Swarm continued to wreak havoc among their enemies.

"Show-off!" someone screamed, and Tassadar looked over his shoulder. It was Fenix, who jumped down from a destroyed tank. "A fine mess you made!" The Executor only chuckled when he heard that.

"You seem to enjoy yourself far too much, my old friend." When Fenix heard that, he ignited his psi-blades once more and prepared to join the Zerg in battle.

"It would appear that the enemy is getting some reinforcements!" the Zealot shouted and pointed with his blade into the distance. Tassadar's eyes followed the gesture and could see what Fenix was talking about.

"It appears that this might be the final battle, my old friend."

"If that is true, then let us make it a memorable one!" Fenix replied. They watched how countless hybrids and humans moved towards their location. That's when a certain broodmother stopped right next to them.

"Oh, more fresh meat. Excellent." Zagara chuckled. "Minions! Slaughter them all!" And then she turned her head towards the two Protoss.

"Care to join us?" she asked and both Protoss exchanged looks. In the end, it was Tassadar who only shrugged his shoulders and nodded.

"To think that this is how things would turn out." the Executor whispered, but then he watched how Fenix just stormed towards the enemy's lines once more.

"One day..." Tassadar sighed. "...you are going to be the death of me, old friend." Zagara chuckled when she heard that.

"Oh, no. That honor will belong to us, Protoss. Now come on. Nothing makes more fun than slaughtering humans!"

* * *

The battle just served one purpose; to allow a group of three people to slip past the enemy lines in order to do what they had to do. Luckily for them, the guys from Moebius had been so nice to lend some of their equipment to them.

"I don't think this is such a good idea!" the Queen of Blades screamed and pressed herself even tighter against Jim, who had to concentrate on the landscape in front of him. Unlike earlier before, Jim didn't have to pay that much attention to the surrounding area. Now that the lush jungle was gone, he could truly push the vulture bike to its limits.

Or at least he could drive a lot faster than before since there were no trees in his path.

"Maybe we should slow down a bit!" Sarah screamed again, but Jim had to concentrate to not lose control over the heavy machine.

"We cannot afford to slow down!" Zeratul barked. He was holding on to the back of the bike and his withered cape was almost torn off by the wind. "We need to find Narud before he finds the real Sarah Kerrigan! Only the Ancestors know what he might do to her!"

"If we crash and die, that won't be much of a help either!" Sarah shouted back and looked over her shoulder.

"We have to take the risk!" Zeratul insisted. And Jim? He had no time to listen to their bickering. Piloting a vulture bike that was going faster than 200 kilometers per hour took some serious skills. Doing that with someone sitting on the back seat was even harder. Doing it while there was a 300 kilogram heavy Protoss clinging to the back of the bike was a whole different story.

That's when Jim heard something behind them. All three of them looked over their shoulders and that's when the missiles struck the ground in front of them.

"HOLD ON TO SOMETHING!" Jim screamed and leaned the heavy vulture bike to the side. Dirt and small stones rained down on the machine, but Jim knew better than to slow down.

"BANSHEES!" he shouted when the flight of four approached them. "Shit! That's exactly what we needed!" He knew that he couldn't outrun them. They were a lot slower than that Protoss scout fighter he had dealt with before, but they were still fast enough to stay on his tail.

"We need to hide!" he shouted.

"No!" Zeratul shot back. "We need to go faster!"

"There's no cover!" Jim replied. That's when he realized that Sarah had her eyes closed. And she looked as if she was concentrating on something...

That's when a smile appeared on her face.

"Don't worry boys. Help's already here." Before Jim could ask what she was talking about, one of the Banshees vanished in a fiery explosion. The other machines reacted immediately, but it was already too late. Suddenly, dozens of Mutalisks descended from above and unloaded their corrosive load upon them. The Banshees tried to fight back, but Jim had no time to watch the outcome of the battle. With the last threat finally out of the picture, he pushed the vulture bike to the limits, and the three raced towards the horizon. As Jim watched the sky in front of him, he noticed that it looked like if the horizon was on fire. There was no doubt in his mind anymore, that's where Sarah, _his_ Sarah, was.

He tightened his grip on the controls and gritted his teeth.

"Hold on, Sarah." he whispered. "I'm coming for you."

* * *

Alone.

He was alone.

They had left him behind.

Tesson didn't care that he had been in no condition to fight, they had _left him behind_. He had managed to keep himself afloat for all these months ever since they had banished him from Aiur. But now? Now something had changed. This was the moment when he finally realized that he was alone. And that no one would come for him.

He could hear the sound of battle in the distance. It went on for a long time, but at one point it was replaced by silence. However, Tesson didn't care. He just lay there, resting with his back against a tree, while he was staring at no point in particular. His body still hurt, but his mind was too numb to care.

It was when something within Tesson's mind finally broke.

He had failed everyone...


	78. Act III - Chapter 22

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 22**

 **So close, yet so far**

* * *

At a certain point, neither Jim nor Sarah nor Zeratul wanted to say anything. Every single one of them was lost in their own thoughts. What was the Queen of Blades thinking? Was she cursing the fact that she wasn't even the real Sarah Kerrigan? Was she planning to wait for the right moment to strike so she would be able to claim the title "the real Sarah Kerrigan" for good?

The old Queen of Blades would probably have done something like that. However, the primal Queen of Blades was different. Now that she knew that she had killed Mengsk almost two years ago, the thirst for vengeance was gone. It was as if a veil had been lifted from her sight, and now she could see the truth. And that meant that she had to help the man she loved.

As for Zeratul, well, who knew what was going on inside the Dark Prelate's mind. The fact that he seemed to be hellbent on saving Sarah Kerrigan appeared to be utterly ridiculous, given their shared past. Then again, Zeratul had always lived by a code of honor. A weird code of honor, one that didn't make much sense to Jim most of the time. But a code of honor nonetheless.

And Jim? He tried to think of nothing, tried to shove these doubts and fears into the furthest corner of his mind. He didn't want to think about the implications should they not succeed. What if Narud would kill Sarah? Was that even possible? What would happen if people like Duke, the old Queen of Blades, Rumm and Narud would return to the world? "Chaos" wasn't the right word to describe that. It would be a disaster!

And what if Narud would indeed be able to find a way to return Amon back to life?

The very thought was enough to cause Jim to shudder.

They continued to travel towards that burning horizon. More and more bolts of lightning appeared, but they were all frozen in time. Still, at one point, Jim had to slow down. The cracks in the ground simply became too big and maneuvering in such an environment took all of his skills.

"Friend Raynor!" Zeratul barked. "We cannot-"

"YEAH, I KNOW!" Jim shot back. "We can't slow down! Well, look around! This ain't a goddamn highway!"

"Maybe we should stop and proceed by foot?" Sarah suggested, but Jim shook his head.

"No, we're still faster this way." Jim replied.

"We need to hurry up!" Zeratul said again.

"No! We should slow down!" Sarah demanded.

"Damn backseat drivers!" Jim snarled and tried to ignore them as much as possible.

"Zeratul!" Jim then barked as they drove around another bolt of lightning that was growing out of the ground. It kinda looked like a gigantic tree made out of pure light.

"Yes, Friend Raynor?" the Dark Prelate asked.

"Once we find Sarah, the real Sarah, what then? Please tell me that you got some sort of plan."

"Unfortunately, I do not have a plan. All I know is that we have to find and stop Narud before he reaches her. Only the Ancestors know what might happen if we fail. I want to be honest with you, I do not wish to think about the possible consequences of our failure." Zeratul explained. When Jim heard that, he made a mental note to himself; never ask a question if you can't live with the answer. He was about to ask something else when the Queen of Blades spotted something in the distance.

"Jim, slow down!" she urged him.

"No, I can go faster." Jim replied, but that's when Sarah snarled in frustration, grabbed Jim's head, and forced it to the side. For a second, he thought that she was about to break his neck. However, she just wanted to point his attention to something in the distance.

"Jim, look!" And that's when he saw what she was talking about. He turned the heavy vulture bike to the left and headed for the small object in the distance.

"Friend Raynor, we have to-"

"Not now, Zeratul!" Jim shot back. Only then Zeratul saw that object in the distance. Well, the only thing they saw was smoke. Heavy black clouds rose high up into the air, and when they moved in closer, they could smell burned steel and fuel. It wasn't Narud, that much was obvious. But it was a sign.

"That's..." Sarah mumbled when she finally realized what that thing was. Jim needed some more time to recognize the shape of that object. Well, it would appear that the Queen of Blades' eyes were also far superior to Jim's. Or was that because she had been a trained sniper and he a trained... _something_.

When they reached the wreckage, Jim finally decided to slow down and brought the vulture bike to halt at a safe distance. Zeratul did complain, telling them that there was no time to lose. But when Jim climbed off his bike, the other two joined him. They walked towards the wreckage and when they were only a couple of dozen meters away, they all stopped.

"That's one hell of a landing." Jim mumbled when he looked at the wreckage of the dropship. He had seen his fair share of crash landings, and to him, it was pretty obvious what had happened. The pilot had tried to land the dropship on its belly, but he or she had overestimated his or her speed. There were several impact points in the distance.

"Looks like the pilot came in too steep and bounced off the surface." the Queen of Blades said and Jim nodded. It was exactly what he was thinking.

"Seems like the pilot tried to save the situation by going full thrust." Jim agreed.

"But the dropship was already out of control." Sarah continued.

"And that's when he smashed his ride right back into the ground."

"And from there on out the dropship bounced over the surface like a stone over the water." Sarah concluded. They both looked at each other and chuckled.

"You know..." Jim then said. "...if this thing doesn't work, we can still become damage appraisers."

"Heh, now that's an image." Sarah mumbled and shook her head. "Still, I wonder what caused it to crash." There was almost no visible damage. That's when Jim had an idea. He walked around the dropship while keeping his distance. When he reached the other side, he pulled his brows up.

"I think I know why. Take a look." Both the Queen of Blades and Zeratul followed him, and when they saw the other side of the dropship, they knew what he was talking about. It's kinda hard to fly a dropship if there's only half of it left. Jim frowned and looked around. Whatever had hit the vessel had ripped it in half. But it looked like something had cut through the steel like a hot knife through butter. When Jim saw all those bolts of lightning, he realized what had happened.

"See, Zeratul?" he said to the Dark Prelate. "That's why you slow down if you don't want to get hit by bolts made out of pure energy."

"Noted." Zeratul said and pointed his finger at the dropship. "You think that Narud used this vessel?"

"I don't see why not. Guess the pilot overestimated his abilities, though." Jim replied.

"But what if he has used more than one dropship?" Zeratul asked, and Jim realized that it was a good point.

"Shit. You're right, better get going. Come on, we have to...Sarah?" Jim asked when he saw how the Queen of Blades walked towards the wreckage.

"Sarah, what's the matter?" he wanted to know.

"Kerrigan!" Zeratul shouted. "We have no time to lose!"

"Put a sock in it, Zeratul!" Sarah hissed and stopped a few meters away from the wreckage. And then she...sniffed the air?

"Sarah?" Jim asked.

"I know that stench." she snarled. "I can smell the bastard." Both Jim and Zeratul exchanged surprised looks. However, before Jim could say anything else Zeratul ignited his psi-blade and moved closer to the wreckage.

"Stay back, Friend Raynor!" Zeratul ordered, and Jim was about to say that he wasn't just eye candy. But then he remembered that his two bodyguards were a Protoss warrior and the other one was the meanest killing machine he had ever dated. And he had dated many vicious girlfriends over the years.

Sarah flexed her blade wings and waited until Zeratul was right beside her.

"Well, I'm gonna wait here and give unhelpful advice!" Jim mumbled and shook his head. Neither Sarah nor Zeratul seemed to care about Jim right now. It was truly a sight to behold; both the Queen of Blades and Zeratul approached the downed dropship as careful as possible. As Jim watched them, he couldn't help but wonder how weird this image was.

The real Queen of Blades and the real Zeratul had been mortal enemies. If they would be here right now, they would probably try to kill each other. But these two right here? They both had the same overall goal. And that was to set things right.

But still...

...what if they would fail? What if they wouldn't be able to save Sarah, the real Sarah? There was no doubt about the fact that people like Mengsk, Duke, or the old Queen of Blades should never be allowed to return to the real world. But what about the others? Like Zeratul and this Queen of Blades right now? Or a certain young girl Jim had met a short while ago. Or Tassadar and Fenix. Jim wondered how Artanis would react when he would meet Zeratul, Tassadar, and Fenix again.

Then again, what would happen if they would meet Artanis in this place?

These implications were starting to make his head hurt. Just imagine two Matt Horners.

That thought was scarier than anything else he had witnessed so far.

If the Queen of Blades and Zeratul were having similar thoughts, they sure as hell didn't show it. The rear hatch of the dropship had been ripped off, and both Sarah and the Dark Prelate exchanged quick glances. It was Zeratul who nodded first and Sarah knew what he meant. She stepped behind him while he took point. There was no way to tell if Narud was still inside that drop ship and they didn't know what he was capable of. Jim watched how the two stopped right in front of the rear hatch of the dropship.

And then they stormed into the broken vehicle.

Jim didn't even notice that he was holding his breath. It was a shitty feeling. He was used to taking point, and he had stormed more than one room, ship, and planet before. To be relegated to the sidelines just felt wrong. He clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth while expecting the sound of battle. But the only thing he heard...was silence. And that was even worse because he had no idea what was going on in there. He looked over to the vulture bike. What if Narud was still inside and had ambushed these two, what then? Would Jim be able to reach the vulture bike in time and continue his journey on his own?

The worst thing about being forced to wait and do nothing was that it gave you time to think. Jim imagined all sorts of horrible things. The minutes seemed to turn into hours, and he could feel how he started to sweat like crazy.

"...can't have gotten very far." Sarah's voice suddenly reached his ears, and Jim sighed in relief. That's when he saw how Zeratul emerged from the wreckage with his psi-blade deactivated.

"We still have to hurry. Narud's whereabouts are of no concern to us once we find Sarah Kerrigan." the Dark Prelate explained. The Queen of Blades followed him shortly. Huh, to think that he would be happy to see the Queen of Blades one day. That's when he noticed that she was holding something in her hand. Something that had roughly the size of a human arm and...

...oh wait, it _was_ a human arm.

"Narud was here, Friend Raynor. However, he is gone now." Zeratul explained, but Jim could only stare at the ripped off arm in Sarah's hand.

"Don't tell me you're hungry." Jim wanted to know, and Sarah just gave him an annoyed look.

"Very funny." she shot back. "Here, maybe you want to take a bite." She then showed him the arm and Jim needed a moment to figure out what was wrong with it. It was still covered with the sleeve of a white lab coat. The same lab coat Narud had worn. That wasn't a proof that this arm belonged to that wretched creature, though.

Something was wrong, though, but Jim couldn't tell it right away. Only when he took a closer look at the stump, he realized what was wrong.

Human blood wasn't blue.

"So, where's the rest of that bastard?" Jim asked, but both Sarah and Zeratul shook their heads.

"There was a lot of blood, but no body." Zeratul explained. "The arm was stuck, it would seem that he cut it off in order to free himself."

"So, he's still out there." Jim mumbled and both of them nodded. "Then let's get going. At least now we should have a good chance to catch up with that bastard." And then he walked back to the vulture bike. Both Zeratul and Sarah joined him, and the Queen of Blades threw the arm simply away. They climbed on the bike and Jim started the engine.

"Let's get going. We lost enough time." he said and then the bike shot forward.

Behind them, the severed arm started to twitch and suddenly the fingers on the not-so-dead hand pushed the appendage around. It turned its palm into the direction of the vulture bike, and that's when the skin covering the palm was pulled apart and a sickly eye appeared. It stared at the vulture bike until the vehicle was no longer visible and then it rolled around one more time. The fingers started to bend in unnatural directions and it dug itself into the dead soil before it started to burrow into the ground and towards its master.

* * *

They were making good progress, now that no one was shooting at them. Still, Jim couldn't help but think about Tassadar and Fenix. What would happen to them should they die in this place? Would they just be reborn? Or would they truly die, like the original Fenix and Tassadar?

Was there even a point thinking about this?

They were dealing with powers no one had ever seen or heard of before. If even the Protoss had no idea how to make any sense to it, then what chance did Jim have?

Whatever, there was no point thinking about it right now. They were getting closer, Jim could feel that. The presence in the back of his mind felt so powerful right now. However, at the same time, he could sense that the closer they got, the stronger the sense of dread became. Maybe he was imagining things (well, he was most definitely imagining things), but it felt as if Sarah, the real one, wanted him to stay away.

 _Don't come, Jim. Please...don't._

"No can do, Darlin'." he mumbled. The Queen of Blades, who pressed her chest against his back, frowned and leaned forward.

"What did you say?" she shouted against the wind. Jim looked over his shoulder and was about to reply something, but then he just shook his head.

"Forget it. Was just thinking of something." The Queen of Blades looked him straight into the eyes when he said that. It was clear that she didn't believe a single word and was about to say something. Her mouth was already open when Zeratul suddenly intervened.

"FRIEND RAYNOR!" he barked behind them and Jim's head snapped back forward. "WATCH OUT!" But by then it was already too late.

The vulture bike was fast, yes. But right now, they weren't that fast. So only 80 or 100 kilometers per hour, given the fact that the surrounding area didn't allow them to go any faster. But the slower a vulture bike is, the harder it is to turn it around. The moment he heard Zeratul's warning, Jim could see how something broke through the surface of the ground.

"OH SHI-" Jim managed to scream. He hit the brakes immediately, but it hardly mattered because there was no time to come to a safe halt anyway. However, he did manage to catch Zeratul off guard. The vulture bike relied on two different ways to break. Since it was a hoverbike, conventional breaks wouldn't serve much of a purpose on a thing like this. So, it used two systems. The first one was a forwardly pointed repulsor. The other one was air breaks installed on the rear of the machine.

The same air brakes Zeratul sat on.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" the Dark Prelate screamed in surprise when he was thrown off the back of the machine, but Jim had no time to apologize. He managed to slow the bike down to what felt like 50 kilometers per hour. That's when the creature catapulted itself forward and smashed its body right into the front of the vulture bike.

The rate of mortality among vulture pilots had always been higher than among other types of units, with the sole exception of Firebats. Maybe it will surprise you to hear that the most common reason for a vulture bike pilot to bite the dust isn't combat action. As a matter of fact, there were many combat troops that usually aren't killed by bullet wounds or claws but other causes.

Tank drivers or Thor pilots for example. A lot of them usually die when the tank or their walker are blown up, yes. But even if a round hits the tank and doesn't penetrate the hull, they might end up dead. Why? Well, the impact of the round might be enough to create that much kinetic energy that they simply end up with a broken neck.

Fun-fact; combat medics have the highest chance of receiving a fatal bullet to the head by friendly fire.

Well, maybe not so funny for the medics...

Why was Jim thinking about this all of the sudden? Well, kinetic energies were on his mind right now because he wondered how much would be left of his body when he would hit the ground. The typical reason for a vulture bike pilot to die in peace times was death by blunt trauma. There were actually seat belts on those things, however, typical vulture pilot never used those things anyway, and Jim was no exception. So, when the creature slammed into the bike, Jim was catapulted out of his seat and propelled forward. For a moment, it felt like he could truly fly. It was actually a nice feeling. Until he realized that the ground was getting closer really fast.

Oh, in case you're wondering, the main reason for vulture pilots to die _during_ war times is blunt trauma as well.

Jim pulled his arms in front of his face. A pointless gesture, but he was acting purely on instinct. Behind him, the vulture bike was turned into a piece of modern art.

"JIM!" he could hear the Queen of Blades's screams, but it was all happening too fast.

The second before he hit the ground felt as if time had stopped. He could see all the details of the cracked ground beneath him. And there was just one thought inside his mind right now, a very appropriate one.

 _This is gonna hurt._

It did hurt when he finally made contact. It hurt like hell. He screamed and could hear a loud, cracking sound. Pain shot through his right arm and his screams of fear turned into screams of pain when he felt how his arm was broken.

That's when he realized that whatever he had made contact with, hadn't been the ground. It had hit him from the side. Something was wrapping itself around his body, and he could see claws and tendrils and carapace. And that's when he realized that the creature that had attacked them had now managed to grab him. The moment he smashed into the ground, the air was forced out of his lungs. The momentum was so strong that both he and the creature rolled over the ground like fishes in a barrel. He screamed in pain when his broken arm collided with the ground once more.

"Jim, hold on!" Sarah's voice reached his ears, and only then he realized that it wasn't the attacker who had grabbed him. It was the Queen of Blades, and she was shielding him with her body. They slowed down eventually and Sarah used her blade wings in order to come to a halt. She rammed them into the dusty ground and that's when they finally stopped.

Jim panted and groaned in pain. His left hand wandered over to his right arm. There was no doubt about it, his upper arm bone was broken. Still, better than a broken neck.

"Jim, are you alright?" Sarah asked and looked into his eyes.

"My arm!" he hissed. "It's broken!"

"FRIEND RAYNOR! KERRIGAN!" Zeratul screamed from the distance. He was back on his feet and covered in dust. Between them was the ruined vulture bike. You couldn't even recognize the once so fast and shiny vehicle anymore. On the wreckage cowered a horribly malformed creature. Half its body still looked human. The other half...not so much. But even then, everyone knew who that was.

"Narud!" the Queen of Blades hissed and got back on her feet. Amon's loyal servant snarled in anger. His overall shape was still human, but from the stump where his arm had used to be, two long tentacles had sprouted. They looked like the tentacles hybrids had on their backs, and each one ended in a sharp and deadly claw.

"You think that you have managed to stop me?" the creature hissed. "You just delayed the inevitable. The real Sarah Kerrigan is close, I can sense her! I will just slay you here and then no one will stop me!"

"Oh, really?" the Queen of Blades shot back. "By my headcount, we are two and you're just one. Besides, if those new memories I've seen are indeed real, then I did slay you before. Can't be so hard then." She looked down at Jim and gave him an apologizing smile. "Sorry for not counting you in."

"Iz' fine." Jim managed to press out. His arm did hurt like crazy and he actually felt the urge to ask Sarah to use some of her healing abilities on him again. Funny, not so long ago he would have rather chopped his own arm off than ask the Queen of Blades for any help. Guess that's how things can change, huh?

"You are not the only one who has access to the Queen of Blades' memories, you foolish fragment!" Narud hissed. "Perhaps the real Queen of Blades managed to defeat me, but you are not even real!" Uh, trash talk coming from an overqualified cockroach.

"Oh, I'm about to give something real to you!" Sarah snarled back. "Some real pain!" She made a step forward, but then Zeratul intervened.

"No!" he screamed. "Do not take him lightly! I can sense something different about this creature, something has changed. We need to take him on together." However, the moment the Dark Prelate spoke those words, the creature on top of the wreckage started to chuckle.

"Oh, how little you know of this place, of its powers! You flex your claws and your little fists and think that you know what true strength is. But you can't even see all that raw power that is right in front of you! Here, let me show you the true depths of Sarah Kerrigan's strength. The strength that rightfully belongs to Amon!" And then the malformed body of their enemy started to scream and twitch. Jim, Sarah, and Zeratul watched in horror how an unnatural scream left the monster's throat. Narud leaned forward and something pushed against the tattered remains of his lab coat. Fabric tore and skin was ripped apart when the shell that had once been known as Dr. Emil Narud started to fall apart.

"I think I'm gonna puke." Jim whispered. They watched in horror how the creature started to change and turned into something different, something that looked like a mixture between a hybrid and something even worse. And then it started to grow in size.

The three had to turn their heads up to follow Narud's face. The skin fell off and a big maw appeared, filled with countless sharp teeth. More tentacles sprouted from its body, and they danced around like deadly whips.

"Back! BACK!" Sarah screamed when the tentacles shot towards them. One managed to hit Zeratul, but he vanished into a thick, black cloud and emerged several dozen meters in the distance when he blinked himself into safety. Sarah turned around and grabbed Jim. He screamed in pain, but she couldn't go easy on his broken arm right now. With a mighty leap, she jumped high up into the air. When they landed, she put Jim down and turned back to the creature. And when she saw the full size of Narud, she had to swallow hard.

"Kerrigan!" Zeratul shouted from the other side. "We need to attack together! If you go for the legs, then I-"

"NO!" the Queen of Blades barked. "There's no time! Zeratul, take Jim and bring him to my other self!" When Narud heard that, he leaned forward and started to chuckle. He now looked like a goddamn hybrid on steroids.

"Hahaha. You think you can defeat me on your own?" he wanted to know. "You cannot even siphon the usurper's powers. But I can, and I will use Kerrigan's own strength to devour her only hope to become whole again." And then he chuckled again. "I think that will be a fitting punishment for what you have done to my master."

"Sarah..." Jim panted in pain. "It's too dangerous!" That's when suddenly Zeratul appeared next to them.

"No." the Dark Prelate said. "She is right. We cannot defeat this enemy. We have to find the real Sarah Kerrigan."

"You think that I will just let you leave like that?" Narud shouted and rammed his claws deep into the ground, preparing to catapult himself towards them.

"There's no time." Sarah explained and looked at Zeratul. "Go! Take him! Bring him to the real me!" And the Dark Prelate nodded.

"As you wish." But when Jim heard that, he fought his way back on his feet.

"No! We're gonna get there together! We will not leave you behind!" They had no time left, but Sarah decided to walk up to Jim and give him a warm smile.

"I want you to know that I'm grateful for the time we had. No matter how brief it was." Was she referring to the time he and the real Sarah had spent together? Or just their little trip in this place? "When you find her...when you find the real me...tell her this." Before Jim could ask what the hell she was talking about, she leaned forward and pressed her lips on his own. His eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't pull away. He could see how purple tears streamed down the Queen of Blades's cheeks, and then he remembered that it didn't matter what shape or form Sarah had. In the end, her kiss always felt the same. Behind them, Narud screamed in rage and stormed towards them. Sarah broke the kiss and made a step backward.

"I love you. Always remember that." she whispered. Then she turned around, rammed her blade wings into the ground, and catapulted herself towards the enemy.

"SARAH!" Jim screamed and wanted to run after her, but then he felt how Zeratul pulled him away. The Dark Prelate slung his arm around the smaller human and closed his eyes. Crossing some distance by using the powers of the Void was not that easy, but the Dark Prelate tried to reach out with his senses and find out if Narud had spoken the truth. Maybe he too could access Kerrigan's power. And that's when he found the source Narud had referred to.

There was so much power!

Maybe...maybe he could use it to blink to Sarah Kerrigan's position in an instant. Ge had to concentrate. He, or rather the real Zeratul, had never tried anything like that, especially not with someone else in his arms.

It took him mere seconds to gather enough strength and reach out with his senses. And Jim? He was unable to do anything. He watched in horror how the Queen of Blades engaged Narud. She slammed into the bigger creature and rammed her claws and blade wings deep into the monster's body. Narud screamed in pain, and for a second Jim hoped that Amon's servant would end up like that hybrid Sarah had slaughtered before. But then his hopes died a horrible death when Narud grabbed the Queen of Blades, took her small body in his two clawed hands...

...and ripped her into two pieces.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Jim screamed when he saw how Narud tossed the two halves of the Queen of Blades away like some kind of trash.

And that's when Zeratul blinked them away. The last thing Jim saw was the dead and lifeless face of the Queen of Blades, staring at a point somewhere in the distance.

* * *

The moment Zeratul and Jim returned to the real world, Jim felt as if his whole body was freezing on the outside and burning up on the inside. The Dark Prelate released him, and Jim fell immediately to his knees. His skin was covered with frost and he felt as if he had spent a whole day inside a goddamn freezer. He gagged and could feel Zeratul's heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Friend Raynor, are you alright?" However, Jim wasn't even able to listen. Right in front of his eyes, he could still see Sarah, and how that creature had ripped her apart like she had been nothing but a doll.

He knew that this was an image that would haunt him until the day of his death.

Which would come a lot sooner than hoped, should they encounter Narud once more.

"My friend, we have to hurry, I do not know how far I-" Zeratul tried to say.

That's when Jim's stomach decided to revolt. He fell forward, landed on all fours and started to puke. There was hardly anything in his stomach at all, only burning bile erupted from his mouth. The real Zeratul probably would have been confused by what was just happening, but this Zeratul next to him knew that humans sometimes did things like that. When they were sick. When they were drunk.

When everything seemed too much to go on.

The Dark Prelate knelt down right next to Jim and put his hand on the human's back.

"We have to go." Zeratul said with a soft tone in his voice, but he knew that Jim needed this moment. More hot bile came out of his mouth, and he could feel how hot tears started to stream down his face. He could still feel her soft lips on his own. And now...she was dead.

Zeratul seemed to realize what Jim was thinking.

"She sacrificed herself so we could have a chance to finish this. I know that it is hard to accept, but-"

"She's dead!" Jim gurgled and looked up to Zeratul. His eyes were reddened and there was so much pain on his face right now.

"I know, but she was not the real Sarah and-"

"SHE WAS REAL TO ME!" Jim screamed in rage and pain and started to sob. Next to Jim, Zeratul closed his eyes and sighed. He shook his head and when he opened his eyes again, he looked at the horizon. Only then he realized that they were at the foot of a hill. No, not a hill. A plateau? It didn't matter, though, because he could see countless bolts of lightning frozen in time above them. There were so many of them, there was no doubt that this was the place.

They had finally found her.

Zeratul looked back at Jim.

"James." he then said and Jim looked up at him. Even though the Dark Prelate didn't have a mouth, Jim felt as if he was giving him a warm and sympathetic smile.

"She would have wanted for you to go on. I know that you are in a great deal of pain, but please, let your grief not cloud your senses. We have to go on." However, Jim was not in the mood to listen to him. He wanted to say something, but then he groaned in pain when the shock subsided and his arm started to hurt again.

"Damn!" he snarled and pressed his left hand on his arm.

"What is the matter?" Zeratul wanted to know.

"My arm! It's broken!" Jim hissed back. When Zeratul heard that, he grabbed the piece of torn cloth that he had used as a cloak and tore it into pieces.

"What...what are you...AGH!" Jim screamed in pain when Zeratul started to tend to Jim's wounds. He used the fabric of his cloak as a bandage and worked quickly. It still hurt like hell, but Jim endured it. As a final touch, Zeratul wrapped another piece of cloth around Jim's shoulder and put the man's arm into a sling.

"Here, this should help." Zeratul said and stood back up. He reached down and offered Jim his hand, who looked up and gritted his teeth in pain.

"For her." Zeratul whispered and Jim nodded.

"For her." And then he grabbed the hand and Zeratul helped him back up. "AGH!" Jim hissed in pain. "Gonna feel that in the morning." Only then he finally started to look around and could see where they were.

"This is it?" he whispered.

"I believe so." Zeratul mumbled. He watched how Jim clenched his left hand into a fist. Then he brushed the tears away and nodded.

"Then let's finish this." He walked forward and snarled in pain. His arm was hurting like hell, but he refused to give up. Zeratul was right, they had to end this madness, one way or another.

"When this is over..." Jim panted when he started to climb up that hill. "...I never want to see hills again!" Zeratul was right beside him and made sure that Jim wouldn't stumble and fall. The ground was covered with rocks, and part of it had been turned into glass. They walked past more of those golden bolts of lightning. By now they reminded Jim of trees made out of pure light. They all formed a huge arc that led to the other side of the hill. When Jim looked at that, he couldn't help but chuckle, even though it was a bitter one.

"What is so funny?" Zeratul wanted to know.

"There's a legend...from Old Earth..." Jim panted while they continued to fight their way up to the top. "...it says...that if you follow a rainbow...you'll find a dwarf...and a pot of gold..."

"I believe it was not a dwarf, but a leprechaun." Zeratul corrected him, and Jim stopped before he looked up to the bigger Protoss.

"Are you correcting my own memories now?"

"It is hardly my fault that you cannot remember St. Patrick's Day correctly, Friend Raynor." Zeratul replied, but Jim didn't laugh about that comment. He was still thinking about something else...

"We should have saved her." he then whispered mostly to himself, but Zeratul still managed to hear him.

"It would have been our death. There was nothing we could have done." the Dark Prelate tried to reason with him. All Jim could do was to witness the scene before his inner eyes over and over again. The way that creature grabbed Sarah, the look of defiance on her face.

Even in death, she had refused to show her fear.

"You know what's the worst?" Jim said and shook his head. "Until a short while ago, I would have never thought that this is possible to see anything in the Queen of Blades but the monster the Zerg had turned her into. I guess I can't do that anymore..."

"What do you mean?" Zeratul asked and Jim sighed. He turned around and looked at the desolate landscape. It had been quite the adventure, one that he could have gone without. Unfortunately, it wasn't over yet.

"The things I saw..." Jim mumbled. "...I don't think I've ever known Sarah at all. I never cared for anything that lay beyond my own horizon. I never tried to understand her. And look where it has gotten us." And inside his mind, he remembered the death of the Queen of Blades over and over again.

"There was a time when I wanted to kill her myself. Now I would chop my own arm off to get her back." he said. For a long time, no one dared to say a word. Jim closed his eyes and tried to get the image out of his head, but he failed miserably. Zeratul put his hand on the shoulder of the man, but he too didn't say anything. It was one of these moments when words were not needed.

"It is indeed strange..." Zeratul agreed. "...when I saw Kerrigan after her return to you for the first time, I felt furious. She was still alive, even though she committed crimes worse than anything I had ever seen before. And I hoped that some sort of divine justice would fall upon her. I watched how you two struggled even after you were reunited. And I saw what was done to Sarah Kerrigan before she met the real Zeratul." The Dark Prelate fell silent for a moment and gathered his thoughts before he continued.

"I realized two things. The first thing is that I cannot judge someone for what was done to them. All that hate, all that rage...I do not think that it was her choice. Not anymore. As for the other reason...the hate I felt towards Sarah Kerrigan was not my own. It was that of the real Zeratul. And I refuse to listen to feelings that are not even my own. I know what Sarah Kerrigan did to Raszagal, but it happened in a different life, during a different time. Perhaps I and this Queen of Blades would never have become friends...but she has my gratitude and my respect." And now Jim actually started to chuckle.

"Say, Zeratul?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"Do you Protoss sometimes think about how things could have turned out differently? Like if you had made a different decision like you actually did?"

"Many times, Friend Raynor. Many times." Zeratul said. "But it does not matter anymore. Right now, we can only move forward. But once we succeed, and I have no doubts that we will, tell her that she owes me big time..." And then Zeratul raised his other hand and formed a thumbs-up with his three fingers. "...partner." An exhausted smile appeared on Jim's face.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you, Zeratul. I couldn't have done any of this without your help."

"Nonsense!" the Nerazim replied. "I am sure you could have done it on your own. Only a lot slower and way less impressive!" And now Jim actually had to chuckle, at least until his broken arm screamed in protest.

"Hahahah...agh! Don't make me laugh. It hurts."

"Then how about we get you to Sarah Kerrigan." Zeratul explained and Jim nodded. They climbed the hill up and Jim cursed when he almost slipped and fell on his face several times. He had no idea how many times Zeratul said "Watch out!" or grabbed him in the last moment, but when they finally reached the top of the hill, Jim sighed in relief and then...

...his face lost all color.

"By the Ancestors." Zeratul whispered next to him.

"Sarah?"

* * *

It hadn't been a hill. Or a plateau. They had climbed the edge of a goddamn crater. At first, Jim wondered if an asteroid had caused this. Or a nuke. But it was none of that. Remember all those golden bolts of lightning? The one that tore through the landscape? There were hundreds of them, thousands even, and all were forming a gigantic arc. They all met up in on point high above the center of the crater. And below that point was...

"What is this?" Jim whispered.

"I have no idea." Zeratul replied.

It looked like...a tree made out of pure energy? Jim had no idea how else to describe it. It resembled those bolts of lightning, but it was far bigger than any tree either Jim or Zeratul had ever seen or heard of. Jim's eyes wandered down the, well, tree made out of energy until they reached the bottom.

And that's when Jim saw it.

"Sarah..." he mumbled and then he made a step forward. "SARAH!" he screamed her name again and started to run down to the center of the crater. Zeratul tried to stop him. Not because the Dark Prelate had a secret agenda and this was the moment where he would show his true colors, but simply because he was worried that Jim would slip, fall and break his own neck.

After all that had happened, that would be a rather anticlimactic end of this journey.

As for Jim? Well, Sarah was nowhere to be seen, at least not with his eyes. However, he could sense her. The presence in the back of his mind was so strong, he could feel her! All those random pictures and thoughts, they were suddenly crystal clear.

 _In the end, this is probably a fitting punishment for what I have done._ Jim could hear Sarah's voice in the back of his mind. _If only I could apologize to Jim. Or all the others..._

The closer he got to the energy tree, the more details he could make out. Like that the base of the trunk looked like a huge orb, easily big enough to contain a human being.

Or something far more powerful...

Jim slowed down when he realized that it wasn't an orb. No, it was something else. Something he had seen before, only then it had been made out of flesh and carapace.

It was a chrysalis. A chrysalis made out of pure psionic energy.

Jim finally came to a halt several dozen meters away from it. He could feel her. It felt as if Sarah was standing right in front of him, as if she was all around him at once.

"Incredible..." Zeratul whispered when he stopped right behind Jim. "...so, this is the true extent of your powers, Sarah Kerrigan? Is this what Amon had tried to achieve?" However, Jim didn't listen to what Zeratul was saying. He made a step forward. And then another one. And another one. He reached out with his hand and was about to touch the raw energy. The closer he got, the stronger the presence in the back of his mind became.

"Friend Raynor, wait! These energies, they are dangerous!" Zeratul shouted. But Jim ignored him. He had finally reached her. After all that pain, after all that suffering...after the things she had sacrificed for him...

And then he could see it. He could see a figure floating inside that chrysalis. He couldn't make out any details, but it was obvious that it was a woman. Jim raised his hand and was about to touch the surface of the chrysalis when suddenly a new voice reached their ears.

"Do not do that, James Raynor."

"WHO IS THERE?!" Zeratul barked. He ignited his psi-blade and grabbed Jim by the shoulder before he pulled him back and used his own body to shield the man. That's when another figure walked up from behind the tree and looked at them.

Or, to be more precise, slithered up from behind the tree.

"Izsha?" Jim asked.

"So, you have managed to get here. I must admit, I did not think you would be able to achieve that." the former Zerg said.

"I see you're just as charming as ever." Jim growled.

"And you are just as oblivious to what is going on as before." Izsha replied. Zeratul lowered his psi-blade when he realized that Izsha posed no threat to either him or Jim.

"You know what is happening?" the Dark Prelate asked, and Izsha turned her attention back to him.

"I know what her Majesty has told me."

"And what would that be?" Zeratul wanted to know.

"That you should leave. That you should turn around and forget about her. Soon, this place and everything that is in it...will cease to exist."

"What...are you talking about?" Jim whispered, and Izsha turned her attention back to him.

"It means that her Majesty has made up her mind. It means that she has decided to put an end to her own life...by allowing evolution to take its natural course." When Izsha said that, there was so much sadness in her voice.

"She wants...to die?" Jim asked again in disbelief.

"It is not about what her Majesty wants." Izsha explained. "It is about what she believes is right. And she has come to the realization that there is no place for her in this universe. So perhaps the next life will offer her another chance." When Jim heard that, he gritted his teeth and snarled in anger.

"Bullshit." he hissed. "That's bullshit! Why the hell would Sarah say something like that?"

"It is not my place to question her Majesty's wisdom. All I know is that I will remain by her side...until the very end."

"You would die with her?" Zeratul asked and Izsha lowered her gaze.

"I only wish to serve her Majesty. To live in a world without her would render my very existence meaningless."

"Rather dead than jobless, huh?" Jim snarled. "I don't believe it. You're lying. You just say that to make me leave, to get the hell away from this place. You don't like me, I get that. But I went through hell and back to get here, so if you think that I'm gonna just turn around and leave, you're dead wrong, sister!"

"I am not related to you, James Raynor." Izsha said with her typical no-nonsense attitude.

"I sure as hell hope so!" Jim shot back. "Listen, I'm done talking to proxies. So, if Sarah wants to spout more nonsense, she can do that to my face!"

"That is not possible. Her Majesty has made up her decision and-"

"I don't care!" Jim shouted. "I had a really shitty day, probably one of the worst of my entire life, and I will _not_ stand here and listen to this load of bullshit. You don't want to help me? Fine! Then I'm gonna tear Sarah out of that thing and ask her myself. Or are you gonna stop me from doing that?"

"These energies are dangerous, James Raynor." Izsha explained. "Touching them will only cause harm to you." She then raised one of her arms and Jim could see how the black carapace on Izsha's appendage was covered with burn marks. Some parts of her hardened skin had been scorched away, and the burned flesh beneath it was clearly visible.

"You...tried to touch her?" Zeratul asked and Izsha nodded.

"Yes. Unfortunately, her Majesty refused to let me come any closer. I doubt that you will be able to succeed."

Challenge accepted.

"Watch me!" Jim hissed and walked up to the chrysalis. He took a deep breath and reached out with his left hand. He could feel that raw energy flowing through his whole body. It was as if every molecule of his body was affected by it. It wasn't unpleasant. No, it was far from that. But he had no idea how to describe that feeling.

"Sarah...it's me." he whispered and then his fingers touched the chrysalis.

"GHAAA!" Jim screamed in pain and yanked his hand back. He stumbled backward and looked at his left palm.

"Friend Raynor!" Zeratul shouted and hurried to his friend's side. But all Jim could do was to stare at his own hand. "Are you hurt?" The right answer to that question would probably be "Yes". But when Jim saw all those blisters on his fingers and palm, he felt a different kind of hurt. One that came from inside his chest.

"As I told you." Izsha reeled. "There is nothing to gain here, James Raynor. Turn around and leave. It is the best course of action for all of us." When Jim heard that, he clenched his hand into a fist and hissed in pain. But it didn't matter. He had survived worse. He walked back up to the chrysalis and raised his hand once more.

"Friend Raynor, do not do this! We will find another way and-"

"No!" Jim barked. "I'm done looking for other ways. This time we're going to do it my way!" And then he pressed his hand on the chrysalis once more. Jim screamed in pain when his skin was burned, but he did not give up. Before his inner eye, he could see the last moment of the Queen of Blades' life...how Narud had ripped her apart as if she had been nothing but a doll.

If that Sarah had been able to sacrifice her life for him, he would be able to sacrifice his hand for the real Sarah.

"RAYNOR!" Zeratul barked and was about to intervene, but Jim did not allow that.

"STAY BACK!" he screamed and continued to push with all of his might. He could feel how the flesh of his fingers was almost well done, but he ignored the pain. "I'm not gonna quit now!" Jim could sense Sarah. He could see how the figure inside the chrysalis started to twitch. She was turning towards him and reaching out with her hand. And their fingers were about to meet, he could feel it.

That's when the chrysalis started to pulse, and Jim was thrown backward. Zeratul grabbed him and tried to prevent Jim from being blown away, but the psionic shockwave was so powerful that it sent both of them flying. Jim landed on his back and hissed in pain. He immediately got back to his feet and looked at his own hand. Most of the skin on his palm had been burned away, and he could smell his own scorched flesh.

"Friend Raynor..." Zeratul groaned. "...we need to find another way and-"

"NO!" he screamed, stumbled back towards the chrysalis, and was about to put his hand on it once more. He had to reach Sarah, even if it would cost him his entire arm.

"I'm not gonna stop now, I'm not gonna leave Sarah behind and-"

"It's okay Jimmy. You don't have to do this."

He froze when he heard that voice. It was the voice he loved so much. It belonged to a woman, not a girl or a teenager. And it didn't show any signs of infestation either. And...

...it came from right behind him.

"By the Ancestors." he could hear Zeratul whisper. Jim looked down at his own hand, and then he clenched it once more into a fist. Blood dripped from his fingers, and the pain wandered from his hand all the way up to his elbow. And then he turned around.

"Sarah?"

She looked like the real deal. Red hair. Green eyes. Ghost suit.

"Yes, Jim. It's really me. Sorry for causing you so much trouble. Guess I am truly a bothersome girlfriend." But Jim didn't laugh. Instead, he walked up to Sarah and looked her straight into the eyes.

"It is you. I finally found you." he whispered and raised his injured hand. He opened his blood covered hand and wanted to put it on her cheek. But the moment he touched her...his hand went right through her head as if she was nothing but a mirage.

"What...?" he gasped in shock and a sad smile appeared on Sarah's face.

"Sorry, Jimmy. I just...projected myself here so we could do this face to face. I owe you that much." There was so much sadness in her voice, and he felt it in the back of his mind as well.

"What do you mean? Sarah, just open that damn chrysalis so we can get you out of there!" But then Sarah made a step back.

"I'm sorry, Jim. But that's not an option I'm afraid."

"What are you talking about?" he wanted to know and Sarah sighed.

"I had time to... _think_." That didn't sound good. "Perhaps it is better if it ends here. I have cheated death so many times, maybe my time has just finally come. Who am I to fight fate?"

"I don't believe you." Jim whispered. "That's not you doing the talking. Sarah, you're tired and in pain, I get that. And I saw what happened to you. I know that you feel guilty because of what happened to your mother, but-"

"That's not it!" she interrupted and dropped her shoulders. "Jim...I can't go on like this. There is no future for me. For us. I thought that we could be together, but I was just lying to myself."

"I don't believe that! And neither do you!" Jim shot back, but Sarah just shook her head.

"No, Jim. I don't want to go on anymore. I can't. There's so much blood on my hands, so much guilt. I will never be able to undo what I have done. The crimes that I have committed...there is no excuse for them. I know that now. I'm a bringer of death, Jim. Artanis was right all along. I killed everyone I cared for. I don't want you to end up on that list as well."

"I saw it, Sarah. It was not your fault!" he tried to reason with her, but she just shook her head.

"It's too late, Jim. I made up my mind. I had hoped that we wouldn't see each other again like this, but now it can't be helped." She took a deep breath and Jim could see how her mental projection started to flicker.

"Sarah? What are you trying to tell me?" She showed him a gentle smile.

"I want you to know...that I really enjoyed the short time we spent here together. You made me feel normal. And that means a lot to me." Suddenly Jim had to remember Smith's words when the former Ghost had talked to him on Korhal.

 _You gave them purpose._

"No, Sarah. Please, don't do this!" he urged her, but she just shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Jim. But it's better this way. For all of us. But don't worry, there's still some magic left inside me. I know you will probably hate me for that, but if there's one thing I'm used to, then it's being hated. Be happy, Jimmy. And remember this; I will always love you. Goodbye."

He reached out to her. He wanted to stop her, he yelled her name, he cursed all the gods and demons he could think of. But it didn't help. Behind him, the tree of light started to pulse, and Jim didn't know in which direction he should look.

"Jim..."

And then everything turned into bright light. Jim screamed in pain and tried to shield his eyes, but it was everywhere.

"Jim, wake up!"

It felt warm. And gentle. It felt like Sarah. But then it became hotter and Jim screamed in pain.

"Jim, what's the matter?"

Someone...was calling him?

It wasn't Sarah, it was someone else. A woman. He recognized that voice from somewhere. He had heard it before. But where?

"Jim, wake up! Please, wake up!"

So much light. Too much, it was just too much.

"Sarah! Stop!"

"Goodbye, Jim..." he could hear Sarah's voice.

"SARAH!"

* * *

"NO!" Jim screamed in shock and jerked back up. He looked around but was too confused to realize what was going on around him. His right arm hurt, so did his left hand.

"Jim, calm down! Please, calm down!" Someone grabbed his shoulders and tried to press him back down on the bed. The hands belonged to a woman. They were delicate but possessed a surprising amount of strength.

"What...what is this?" Jim gasped and his eyes rolled from one side to the other. He was inside a room. He knew this room, he had been here before. "Where am I? Where's Sarah? Zeratul? Are you there?"

"Jim, you're home! You're in our home!" the woman who sat next to him said, and Jim finally realized who was sitting right next to him. He looked into the woman's eyes in utter disbelief.

"Liddy?!"


	79. Act III - Chapter 23

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 23**

 **Too Good to be true**

* * *

''Where am I?'' Jim stuttered while looking around. He was inside a bed, a very comfortable one. Man, he couldn't even remember the last time he had slept in such a comfortable bed. That must have been...during his time on Korhal, when Matt had parked him in one of Arcturus's old shags.

"Is this...am I back on Korhal?" he asked, and the woman next to him had to laugh when she heard that.

"Korhal? What are you talking about?" she laughed. "Oh, Jim. You must have hit your head really hard. Tell me, what day is today?" He looked back at the woman sitting on the edge of the bed and tried to process what was going on.

"Liddy? Is that you?"

"Yes, Jim. It is me. Oh, my, maybe the doctor was right. You hit your head pretty bad back there. She told me that you might have a concussion. Tell me, Jim, do you know who I am?" Lydia Raynor asked with a worried expression on her face. Jim stared at her and opened and closed his mouth over and over again. Right now he looked like a stupid fish.

"Lydia..." he whispered. That person was his wife. The longer he stared at her, the more details he noticed. That blonde hair, those blue eyes. And of course those cute freckles.

"Well, I'm glad that you can still remember your wife." Lydia chuckled.

"But...but you're dead." Jim whispered and Lydia's eyes widened in shock.

"What? Jim, that's not funny! Stop talking like that! What if Johnny hears you?" Now it was Jim's turn to look at her in shock.

"Johnny? He's here too?"

"No, he's at his grandparents' right now. I asked them to look after him since you need to rest and he wanted to play with his daddy. Still, your reaction isn't normal. I need to call the doctor. Now lie down and don't move. Try to get some sleep. I'll be right back." she told him. Jim had questions, many questions. However, before he could ask any of them, Lydia stood up and walked out of the room. He tried to grab her wrist, but then he winced in pain and looked at his left hand. It was covered in bandages and he felt a disgusting, pulsing sensation. Had he...burned himself?

Only then he realized that his other arm was in just as bad shape as his hand.

"Agh!" he groaned and sunk back into his bed. His forehead was covered in sweat and he felt so tired. Jim took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down. It also gave him the chance to look around. This room...he knew it. Of course he knew it, he had spent many nights in this room. And this bed.

It was his bedroom. The bedroom from his home back on Mar Sara.

How was this even possible? Jim rolled his eyes from one side of the room to the other. Everything was just the way he remembered it. From his position, he could look out of the window, but he couldn't see anything unusual. It seemed that it was midday, though it was hard to tell. Since this world was surrounded by a massive stellar nebula, day and night were rather theoretical concepts anyway.

But...Mar Sara wasn't inside a nebula. Something was wrong, and Jim felt strange. It was if all of his senses were clouded, and forming a coherent thought seemed to be impossible. There was something in the back of his mind...something that wanted to tell him something important. That he had to save someone. Someone...

" _Please...she needs you!"_ a familiar voice pleaded with him, but he was too tired to listen to it.

"...hello? Yes, it is me." he could hear the woman speaking to someone from beyond this room. No, not just any woman. Wife. His wife, Lydia. But...how was that even possible? Hadn't he talked to someone else mere moments ago?

"Sarah..." he whispered, and inside his mind, he could see another woman. It wasn't Lydia. He knew her, though. He had seen that red hair and those green eyes before.

"Sarah!" he moaned again, but that's when his head started to hurt like crazy. He groaned in pain and closed his eyes. Jim gritted his teeth and had to fight the urge to scream. Inside his mind, he could hear someone else's voice.

" _Please, you have to endure! She needs you!"_

He groaned once more before the pain finally started to fade away.

"...he's awake now, but it looks like he can't remember what has happened. Could you please come over and take a look at him?" That was Lydia. Liddy! It sounded like she was in the living room and talking to someone...

"...no, he hasn't said anything about the accident. He's in bed right now and tries to rest. But I'm still worried, so if you could...yes? Oh, thank you. That is so nice of you. Thanks." Jim sighed while listening. He was so exhausted! He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. Both his left hand and his right arm hurt like crazy, but that wasn't what kept bugging him.

It was those damn headaches!

It was as if there was something in the back of his mind that tried to reach out to him, that tried to tell him something. But the harder he tried to focus on that thing, the further it slipped away. Like a dream you once had. You know that feeling? The moment you wake up, you can still remember every detail. But mere seconds later, you can't even tell what the dream had been about.

He continued to stare at the ceiling and felt how his body succumbed to fatigue. He felt so tired, so very tired. As if he hadn't slept in ages. And his head hurt so much.

Surely it wouldn't be much of an issue if he would close his eyes for a short while and try to sleep for some time. It wasn't like there was anyone in mortal danger, right? Just a short nap...he was so tired...so very tired.

It was as if his mind was falling apart. He couldn't remember when he had been this tired before. But even as his mind slipped into unconsciousness, there was a voice in the back of his head whispering soothing words to him.

 _It is better this way, Jim. For both of us._ Right, this lady was right. It was better this way.

But then another voice spoke to him. It almost sounded exactly like the first one, but there were some minor differences.

" _No! You can't! Not now! She needs you. And you need her. This is not how it's supposed to end!"_

For some odd reasons, those words caused him to wince in pain. His mouth opened once more and only one word left his lips before his lights finally went out.

"Sarah..."

…

…

…

"Jim?"

…

"Jim?"

…

"Jim, can you hear me?" a female voice asked him. He tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids were so heavy. It felt as if they were made out of concrete. He had just closed his eyes for a second, couldn't they just leave him alone? He just wanted to sleep, goddammit.

"Jim, it is me, Ariel. Can you hear me?" Ariel? That name rang a bell, but he was too tired to care.

"I don't know, Dr. Hanson. He's has been like this for hours!" That voice belonged to Lydia, there was no doubt it. "I tried to wake him up like you told me to, but he would only groan and then nothing."

"Lydia, I told you, call me Ariel." the doctor replied. "And you shouldn't worry too much. The way I see it he's suffering from a mild concussion, but his temperature is fine and so are his vital stats. I scanned his brain and there were no signs of cerebral bleeding or anything that should make us worry. From what I can tell, he's just really exhausted."

"I don't know..." Lydia mumbled. "...he looks like he's in pain. And then he continues to whisper that name over and over again."

"Name?" Ariel asked. "What name?"

"Sarah."

Sarah...when Jim heard that name, he could feel how he shuddered, even though it was just a little bit. Sarah...that name, he had heard it before. Of course, he had heard the name Sarah before, it was a perfectly normal name. He had met many women with the name Sarah, there was nothing special about it. But still...something was different about that particular name.

If only his head wouldn't hurt so much every damn time he tried to think about it!

"Hmm...I don't know about any Sarah. Maybe we should ask Captain Horner if he knows someone with that name." Ariel then said.

"Maybe we should get him on the Hyperion? Just to be safe? You could use the ship's sickbay for-"

"Lydia, please calm down." Ariel tried to reason with the other woman. "Jim is fine. Well, not fine, but he will be okay. What he needs now is rest. Now, if you're dealing with someone who's suffering from a concussion, you should wake them up regularly and ask them if they still know where they are. But knowing Jim, he will just get grumpy and tell us to shove our heads up our own butts." Ariel then continued. "So how about this? We let Jim sleep for now. I will visit you in the evening again. I will also give him a mild sedative and some painkillers for his arm and hand. When I'm back, I will change the bandages and then we'll see how he will feel the next day. How does that sound?"

"I don't know." Lydia sighed. "I don't want to keep you away from your other work, Ariel. I think I can change the bandages myself and-"

"Sorry, Lydia, but no!" Ariel insisted. "This isn't a normal cut. These are severe burns, and only someone with medical training should change those bandages. Besides, the other colonists can try to not kill themselves for at least 48 hours. And getting out of the medical office is nice for a change. So you got the choice, Lydia. It's either me or I'll send Stetmann to look after Jim's wounds."

Jim could hear how Lydia made a gagging sound when she heard that offer.

"On second thought; how about you join us for dinner today?" Lydia suggested.

"Hmm, it would be nice to eat something decent and not those rations Stetmann loves so much."

"I know that we haven't been able to grow any crop until now..." Lydia replied. "...but there is enough fish and stuff from the ocean, so why are you still eating rations?"

"Uh...Egon hates them. Especially the squid-fishes. Their little tentacles remind him of those aliens he's so afraid of. So he traded as many favors as possible to get all the rations he could get his hands on." Ariel said.

"That explains why _he_ hadn't anything decent to eat for ages, but that doesn't explain why _you_ have to do the same thing." Lydia wondered, and Jim could hear how Ariel sighed.

"What can I say? There's so much work to do, Lydia. I know that I preach more about healthy diet than the Reverend does about God's mysteries. But from the scientific point of view, these rations contain everything a human organism needs and-"

"To quote my husband..." Lydia interrupted Ariel. "...they taste like ass." Jim could hear how Ariel sighed again.

"Yes, they do taste like ass. But they're easy to make and it doesn't take much time to prepare it and-"

"And you don't know how to cook." Lydia concluded. There was another sigh.

"I can't even boil an egg without blowing the kitchen up." Ariel admitted. "But that's no reason for me to bother you and-"

"Nonsense!" Lydia cut Ariel short. "You will join us for dinner today. And when you will check on Jim tomorrow in the morning, I will make sure that there will be a hot cup of coffee waiting for you."

"Lydia, that is really not necessary and-"

"This is not open up for debate, Ariel! You fix my husband, I fix your stomach. Deal?" Yep, that sounded like Lydia. There was no point trying to fight her when she had her target in sight. Ariel sighed once more before she finally relented.

"Okay, okay. You've won, I will do as you say. But now I have to go. I need to get back to the office and make sure that Egon hasn't blown the place up...again."

"And Jim?" Lydia asked once more.

"Let him rest. Right now sleep is the best medicine. If his condition hasn't changed at all until tomorrow morning, I will call the Hyperion and ask Captain Horner to send someone to pick Jim up. Then we can use the ship's sickbay to check on him. But I doubt that it will be necessary. Just relax, he has survived far worse than that."

"I really wish he would stop being so reckless..." Jim's wife whispered.

"Well, that's nothing a doctor can cure, that's your job." Ariel chuckled, and Jim could hear how the two women left the bedroom. When he was finally alone, he tried to listen to everything that was going on around him, but all he could hear was the...ocean?

The more time passed, the harder it became to stay awake. Jim's minds longed for sleep's sweet touch, but even then, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. It was as if there was something important he was supposed to remember. However, the longer he tried to stay awake, the harder it became to concentrate.

There was someone he was supposed to save, someone very dear to him...be he couldn't remember much else.

Sarah...he had to find Sarah...

Sarah...

Sa...rah...

Sa...

Who?

* * *

When Jim woke up again, he felt like shit. He didn't know what felt worse, his head or his body. He groaned and tried to say something, but his throat felt like he had gurgled with razors. He tried to open his eyes, but it took him several attempts to do so.

He was still inside his bedroom. For a long time, all Jim could do was to stare at the ceiling. But it wasn't all bad. The more time passed, the more the pain faded away, both inside his head, and in his arm and hand. And that gave him time to think.

The only problem was; there wasn't anything to think about.

Eventually, he gathered enough strength to sit up.

"Mother of-!" he managed to gurgle. So much for "no pain anymore". At first, he thought about giving up, but then he managed to muster all the remaining strength. He succeeded in getting up into a prone position, but then he felt a strange sense of vertigo and wanted to hold onto the bed. The moment he placed his left hand on the soft sheets beneath him, he hissed in pain. What the...?

He looked at his own hand and frowned.

Someone had said something about burns. His hand was hidden under layers of bandages, and the all too familiar smell of burn ointment assaulted his senses. The bandages looked like someone had just changed them. They were, so to say, _"brand new"_.

Haha.

Ugh...

The worst thing, however, was that Jim had no idea how he had managed to burn his hand in the first place. He did notice that it wasn't just his left hand that had been treated. He turned his head to the other side and looked down at the plaster cast someone had put on his upper arm. And the entire damn rest of his arm. Go figure. At least his fingers were free, even though he had no use for them since he wasn't able to move his arm even one inch.

He knew what a broken bone felt like, so he recognized the dull pain in his upper arm.

Jim had suffered many injuries before, he was no stranger to burns or broken bones, or both of them combined. But there was one thing that made him frown in confusion.

It was the fact that he couldn't remember how he had received those injuries in the first place.

It was as if there something clouding both his senses and memories. No matter how hard he tried, Jim couldn't tell how he had ended up in this pitiful state. Well, at least someone had decided to put some fresh clothes on him. How considerate! Though he couldn't even remember the last time he had worn a normal pajama...

"...and then this brute of a Marshal tells me that I should keep my panties on and that everything would be peachy. But if I wouldn't stop worrying about the overall health of the colonists, I could start doing physical examinations, starting with him." a female voice reached Jim from beyond his bedroom. He turned his head to the door and frowned.

"I still can't see why the Mayor decided to make _that guy_ the new Marshal." the woman growled. He remembered that voice. It belonged to Ariel.

"You shouldn't worry too much. It is just a temporary solution. I'm pretty sure that the Mayor will find a suitable replacement soon." That voice belonged to Lydia!

"Liddy?" Jim groaned, hoping that she would hear him.

"Well, we had a great Marshal!" Ariel then declared. "I still don't know why your husband decided to quit, not after everything he has done for us. And this colony needs a good Marshal. A better one than the current one."

"Please, not you too!" Lydia moaned. "You sound like the Mayor. It was Jim's decision, he simply didn't want to be responsible for so many people anymore. He told me that he's done with wearing a badge. And quite frankly, I'm just happy that I don't have to worry about Jim getting in trouble anymore."

"You mean like the fact that he walks off into the woods by himself, gets lost, and we find him only days later with severe injuries?"

"I'm sure he had his reasons." Lydia tried to defend her husband. Jim wasn't really listening, he was too busy trying to get out of the bed instead. But with a broken arm and a non-functional hand, it was easier said than done. At first, Jim wanted to roll over to the side of the bed, but then he realized that he couldn't do that. Rolling over his broken arm would have been a bad idea. So, the only way to get to the edge of the bed was to, well, bounce. Under normal circumstances, it would have been hilarious to watch this; Jim Raynor, bouncing over his own bed in order to get back on his feet.

Well, at least he managed to get to the edge of the bed. He put his feet on the ground and tried to stand up. It took him several attempts, but when he was finally on his feet again, it felt...

...effin' horrible.

Jim needed all of his strength to not fall flat on his face. Once he was certain that he wouldn't collapse, he stumbled over to the door.

Damn...was there a part of his body that _didn't_ hurt like hell?

Well, at least someone left the door open, so he didn't have to try opening it with his mouth. And that had to count for something, right?

He left his bedroom and knew immediately which way he had to take. Turn right, take six steps, then you're next to the bathroom. Seven more steps and you're in the living room. He knew this because it was still his house. He had done this plenty of times. There had been times when he had come back home in the middle of the night, after a long, hard day full of work. So, in order not to wake his family up, he had tried to get into bed without turning the light on. At first, he had failed spectacularly, waking everyone in the house by accident. But over time he had learned how to walk through his own house even in utter darkness.

The moment he entered the living room, he could smell something. Something delicious. Something that he hadn't smelled in a _long_ time.

Coffee.

"...and then this idiot just started to scream my name over and over again. Dr. Haaaansoooon! Dr. Haaaansooooon! Arrrieeeeel!" the doctor mocked her subordinate. She sat at the dinner table and had a cup of coffee in her hand. And opposite to her sat...

"Liddy?" Jim mumbled, and both women looked up in surprise and shock.

"Jim!" Liddy shouted and stood up. "Why are you up? You're supposed to rest!" But Jim didn't really listen. As if on cue, he could feel how the room started to spin around his head.

"Ugh..." he groaned. It was only thanks to Ariel's fast reaction that he didn't kiss the floor.

"Quick, he's fainting!" she shouted, and both women reached Jim just in time to prevent him from collapsing. They helped the groaning man over to the couch and when Jim was finally lying again, Lydia put her hand on his forehead.

"You stupid dud. What are you think you're doing? You're supposed to rest!" Lydia whispered. Jim groaned in discomfort, but even then, he managed to show her a smile.

"I smelled your coffee." When his wife heard that, she had to sigh and shook her head.

"How did I end up with a husband like you?" she wanted to know.

"Beats me." Jim answered. "Could I get a cup of coffee?" Lydia was about to reply something, but then Ariel intervened.

"You're supposed to rest, Jim. Drinking coffee won't really help, you know." That's when Ariel knelt down next to Jim and put her hand on his throat. She was checking his pulse and then she pulled a small flashlight from her pocket. "But since you're already awake; follow the light with your eyes. That's right. Can you tell me your name?"

"Jim..." Jim answered.

"Your full name." Ariel insisted.

"James...Eugene Raynor."

"Good. You know who this is?" Ariel then asked and pointed her finger at Lydia.

"Liddy...my wife." He could see the look of relief on Lydia's face when he said that.

"Do you know who I am?" Ariel then asked.

"Doctor Ariel Hanson. But...I thought you weren't a medical doctor."

"Oh, now someone is getting snippy!" Ariel said with a grin on her face. "It's either me or Stetmann. You do remember Stetmann, right?"

"I remember how he hooked up the water purification system of the Hyperion to the waste recycler. That Stetmann?"

"Well, your memory seems to work just fine." Ariel then said. "Still, you should not overdo it. Besides, we still don't know what happened to you. Maybe you can tell us more."

"I...don't know." Jim said. Suddenly there was a big hole where his memories were supposed to be.

"Are you sure? You went out on your own three days ago." Lydia said. "You didn't come back, so the Mayor sent out search parties to look for you. They found you out there with a broken arm and a burned hand. Jim, what happened?" his wife wanted to know. But all he could say...was nothing.

"I can't...remember."

"Hmm." Ariel hummed. "Jim, do you know where you are?"

"In my home..." he answered.

"Yes, that is right." Ariel agreed. "But on what world?" When he heard that, he blinked in confusion.

"What...what do you mean?"

"Please, Jim. Answer the question: What world do you think we're on?" Ariel wanted to know, and Jim looked over to Lydia as if she knew the right answer. This was his house, right? So, there was only one right answer.

"Mar... Mar Sara." When he said that, he could see the worried expression on both women's faces.

"Jim..." Lydia whispered and pressed her hands against her mouth. Had he said something wrong?

"Jim, you have to listen to me..." Ariel then said. "...we are no longer on Mar Sara. You left the world over ten months ago."

* * *

"What?" Jim whispered. The look of shock on Lydia's face made him realize that they weren't trying to make fun of him. Ariel too seemed to be worried, but her look was far more professional and serious.

"Jim, what year is it?" she asked and he squinted his eyes. He opened his mouth and for some odd reason he wanted to say "2508", but nothing came over his lips. He had little doubt that he looked like an absolute idiot right now. Behind Ariel, Lydia winced when she saw the confused look on his face.

"Jim, what's the last thing you can remember?" Ariel wanted to know.

"I..." Augustgrad. Under attack. Again. Artanis at his side. Ar... Artan...who? The moment he remembered those memories, they seemed to fade away into nothingness. There were other things, random pictures that made less sense with every passing second. He saw creatures, huge and horrible. He saw himself standing on a world made out of black rocks and lava. And then there was a woman...her body was horribly malformed, but her face looked vaguely familiar.

 _Thank you, Jim. For everything._

She had been...sad? But who was she? And why did his chest hurt so much when he thought about her? Jim groaned in pain and tried to press his hand on his chest.

"Jim!" Lydia gasped and knelt down right next to her husband. "What's the matter? Ariel, he doesn't look good!"

"No, he doesn't." Ariel agreed. "Try to calm down, Jim. Perhaps I should get a message up to the Hyperion and tell Captain Horner to send a dropship down so we can treat him in the sickbay. I'm pretty sure it's just a temporal effect, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Lydia, a word please?" she then asked and Lydia nodded. Both women walked over into the kitchen and started to talk about Jim. They tried to be as subtle as possible, but it hardly mattered because Jim wasn't really able to listen to them anyway. He was too busy fighting the throbbing pain inside his mind. Whenever he tried to think or remember his last lucid memory, they all seemed to slip through his fingers.

"...I still don't think it's something life-threatening, but I will call the Hyperion and ask if they can send me some equipment down here." Ariel said to Lydia.

"Are you sure you don't want to take him up there and use the ship's sickbay?" Lydia asked with a worried tone in her voice.

"Only if his condition gets worse. Jim needs rest right now, I don't want to put him on a dropship, fly him up there, and then drag him all the way to sickbay. Not unless it's really necessary. I will go over to my office now. You just keep an eye on him. Talk to him, but don't say anything that could upset him. Also, no coffee. Doctor's orders."

"What if he doesn't remember anything? Should I tell him about what has happened?" Lydia asked.

"I can't see how that could be of any harm. But take it easy. Maybe you can help him to remember things. Remember, Lydia, this isn't a movie. Most cases of amnesia after a concussion are just brief episodes. Besides, he still remembers you and me. I would say that's a good sign."

"Thank you...for everything you're doing for us. And for Jim." Jim's wife mumbled and Ariel chuckled.

"It's the least I can do after your husband saved me and my people from those aliens. Now excuse me, I better get going. And thanks for the coffee, best coffee I had in ages." Jim heard how both women walked up to the door and then how they said goodbye to each other. For a short moment silence returned to their small home. When Lydia returned to his side, she grabbed a chair and sat down right next to him.

"Oh Jim...just what happened to you out there?"

"Can't...remember..." he whispered when those throbbing headaches finally started to fade away.

"Jim, what can you remember?" To hell with being subtle, Lydia would not allow this to go on.

"I don't...know..." He tried, he really did. But the pictures inside his head didn't make any sense at all to him. Especially the image of that malformed woman getting ripped into two pieces by a nightmarish monster continued to haunt him, even though he had no idea who she was.

"Jim, please!" Lydia urged him. "Try to remember. What's the last thing you can recall?" Jim's eyes rolled to the side and he could see the worried expression on his wife's face. Her blue eyes and her blonde hair were just the way he remembered it, so there was at least one memory that was intact. And so, he tried to work his way through all those other memories. Many of them faded away into obscurity the moment he remembered them, but others remained.

"Mar Sara..." Jim whispered. "...Backwater station, there was something going on. Some weird alien stuff and then..." Suddenly his eyes widened in shock when he remembered something else.

"Johnny! Johnny is gone, he's...!" He wanted to get up, but his wife leaned forward and pushed him back down.

"He's fine, Jim! Johnny is fine, he's with his grandparents right now!" And when Jim heard that, he stared at Lydia with wide open eyes. And that's when...

"Jim, what's the matter?" his wife whispered when thick tears of joy started to stream down Jim's face.

"He's safe? Johnny is safe..." he just stuttered.

* * *

"But Johnny...was tested by the Confederates. They said that he was...gifted." Jim said once both of them had calmed down. They had started to put the pieces back together. Lydia had even made a fresh cup of coffee and helped Jim to drink it, even though it was strictly against doctor's orders.

"Yes, and when they came for him, you refused. I wanted to send him away, but you put your foot down on it. We had quite the argument back then. And I hate to admit it, but you were right about that one." Lydia sighed. For some odd reason, Jim was happy to hear that.

"I think...I remember." Jim replied.

"I thought that the Confederacy could help Johnny with training these abilities, but now that I've met a few Ghosts, I'm glad that you didn't let Johnny go."

" _It's wrong, and you know it."_ a voice spoke to him from the back of his mind. _"It didn't happen that way."_ But the voice was weak, and he just shook his head in order to get rid of it.

"What...then?" he asked and could see the pained expression on Lydia's face.

"It all happened so fast. One day you were called out into the badlands to investigate an incident near Backwater Station. The next thing I know is that the Confederacy showed up. You and the Magistrate, you gathered as many people as possible, and then these aliens arrived."

"Aliens?" Jim wanted to know, yet he could remember a lot of claws and teeth. Lydia nodded and sighed.

"Yes. You know, these beasts called-"

"Zerg." Jim mumbled and Lydia's eyes widened in surprise and hope. Was he starting to remember things?

"Yes. Of course, we didn't know about any of that back then. You, the Magistrate, and some soldiers tried to protect us, but then this group of terrorists showed up and saved us."

"Terrorists...you mean the Sons of Korhal?"

"Yes. Yes! You remember them?" Lydia wanted to know.

"I think...some of it. Mengsk, he..."

"You didn't trust him." Lydia interrupted him. "Said that he was a madman playing nice. He was planning an attack on Tarsonis, and that's when you and a group of officers decided to hijack the Hyperion, gather as many people as possible, and then we left the Koprulu Sector. We encountered a few people in need on our way out, like the colonists of Haven. The whole sector was falling into chaos, and then these _other_ aliens showed up. We heard their voices of the comm links...they were calling themselves the-"

"Protoss." Now things were finally coming back to him. Pictures of thermonuclear fire entered his mind, raining death from the sky, turning lush worlds into dead husks.

 _"It was not like this. Almost, but not quite. You know what really happened. You have to remember! For her! For us."_ the voice spoke to him again, but he chose to ignore it.

"Some refugees joined us, but not many. The last broadcasts we received from the Koprulu Sector were talking about all-out war. Tarsonis fell, and more aliens started to attack human worlds. That's when the Magistrate decided to cut all lines of communications and block all incoming messages. There was simply nothing more we could have done. And so, we set out to find a new home." Lydia took a deep breath. "We came here nine months ago, Jim. We are all that's left."

* * *

They were no longer on Mar Sara. If they had stayed on that world, they would all be dead by now. Lydia tried to tell Jim everything that had happened between now and then. After taking command of the Hyperion, Jim had used the help of a former young officer of the Confederacy called Matt Horner to take the civilians to safety. It had been a running battle, but in the end, they had managed to leave the Koprulu Sector behind with minimal losses. They had even managed to pick up some colonists from Haven when that world had been under attack by those Zerg. And not one second too late, because after they had evacuated the colonists, golden ships had jumped into the system and glassed the whole surface of the planet.

The Hyperion and a small group of other vessels had spent over one month on the run. They had only slowed down to do the most necessary maintenance. Among the refugees had been a group of "freedom fighters" from Meinhoff. And one of their men, a grumpy guy called Swann, had managed to keep the Hyperion's engine working for as long as possible. They had found this planet while squeezing the last drop of juice out of the FTL-drive of the battlecruiser.

When they had jumped into that nebula, it had been an act of desperation. Who in their right mind would try to enter a stellar nebula, right? They had done it because Hyperion wouldn't have been able to fly around that damn thing. It had been a bargain, yes.

But it had paid off. Who would have thought that there was a planet inside that nebula, save from any prying eyes?

A paradise, hidden among layers of stellar clouds and radiation.

"Huh...can't remember any of that." Jim mumbled after hearing Lydia's story. "But there's one thing I don't get...if this is a different planet, then why are we in our house?" That question caused Lydia to smile.

"You promised that to Johnny. During our escape, he cried so many times and wanted to go home. So you told him that you actually disassembled our house before we left Mar Sara and that you stored it in one of the Hyperion's cargo bays."

"Sounds like the worst plan of all times." Jim chuckled and Lydia agreed.

"Yep. But once the guys heard about that, they wanted to do something about it. Our house was the first one that was put together. The Magistrate ordered that."

"Should have said no." he groaned.

"You did. But in the end, everyone just chose to ignore you."

"Heh, I like the sound of that." he mumbled. "And then what? How did I end up..." he looked down at himself. "...like this?" And that's when Lydia sighed.

"We don't know. One day you just said that you would go out for a walk in the afternoon, but you never came back. I told the Mayor about it, and they sent out search parties. They couldn't find you and I was already expecting the worst..." Jim could hear how Lydia's voice became weaker and how her eyes started to water. "...but then you just walked out that damn jungle, all banged up and with a broken arm and a burned hand. And you were whispering a name over and over again."

"A name?" Jim asked. "What name?"

"Sarah." They looked into each other's eyes for a long time and then Lydia placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Jim, is there something you want to tell me? Who is this Sarah?" Jim opened his mouth and wanted to reply something, but then...

"I... I don't know."

Who was Sarah?

* * *

There was a bench on the veranda of their home. He knew that bench well, he had bought it for Lydia when she had been pregnant and had wanted to sit outside and enjoy the weather. They had shared many tender moments on this bench, you could even say that it was the best gift he had ever made to his wife.

"How the hell did this thing end up here?" Jim mumbled when Lydia helped him to sit down on it. "Don't tell me someone made this from scratch too!" But his wife just shook her head.

"No, when we were told to pack things and hurry, I just managed to grab Johnny and some clothes. But you actually went back to the house and threw some personal stuff on the loader. The Magistrate was mad as hell when you did that, but you just said that you had to get your son's teddy." Then she chuckled. "Of course, _you_ managed to put half of our household on one loader and your vulture bike."

There was still a big hole in his mind, a place that was void of all memories. He couldn't remember any of this. Then again, it sounded really stupid. And stupid was Jim's specialty.

"Here, sit down and enjoy the view. Some fresh air should be good for you." Lydia then explained, and Jim groaned when he placed his butt on the hard wood of the bench.

"Doctor's orders?" he asked.

"My orders." Lydia replied.

"Yes, Ma'am." Jim chuckled. "And what are you doing?"

"Unlike you, I can't sit around all day and relax. I still need to go and see some people. And I need to check on someone very special." When Lydia said that, Jim looked up at her and pulled his eyebrows up.

"That sounds ominous. Anyone I should know? A secret admirer or lover that you haven't told me anything about."

"Oh, you could say that." Lydia teased him with a wicked smile on her face. "You might say that this man has taken my heart by surprise, and there was no way for me to not fall for him." A part of Jim knew that she was just making fun of him, but even then, he couldn't help but feel a bit jealous.

"Must be one hunk of a guy." he muttered.

"Oh, he is. Good looking, pretty smart, got that from his mother, or so I was told. Can be quite reckless, but he got that from his father. And all the girls in the kindergarten already adore him." Lydia said.

"Wait, what?" Jim asked. "Kindergarten?" And that's when Lydia started to laugh out loud.

"Oh, Jim! You can be so dense at times. I just wanted to get back to the colony and pick up Johnny." When Jim heard that, he tried to get back on his feet immediately.

"Johnny? Where is he, I want to see him!" He felt some strange sense of despair...as if something had happened to their son. Something horrible.

" _You know what happened to him."_ the sad voice inside his mind said. _"I'm...sorry."_

"Not so fast, Mister!" Lydia barked and put her hands on his shoulders. She pushed Jim back on the bench and there was nothing he could do about it. Right now, he was weak as a kitten. It didn't change the fact that Lydia possessed a surprising amount of strength. She might appear frail, but there was a lot of strength hidden within her. "You will stay right here and do a whole lot of nothing! And don't you dare to walk off on your own again, or I will swear that you wish that no one will ever find you again." She could be really scary if she wanted to.

"How's Johnny?" Jim then asked and tried to change the subject. Lydia sighed and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Shaken. He knows that something is wrong, and he saw you when they brought you back. He's now with his Gran Gran and Grandpa, but you know that he's a rather sensitive child. You should make it up to him somehow. Maybe let him win a match of arm-wrestling?" When Jim heard that, he looked at his burned hand and his broken arm.

"Oh, haha. Very funny."

"Well, you deserve that much for scaring the living hell out of us."

"Fair enough." Jim sighed. That's when Lydia's features softened. She leaned forward and pressed her lips on his cheek. Jim closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment. There was something strange about this moment. As if he hadn't felt Liddy's tender touch in ages, not just days.

"I'll be back before you know it. In the meantime, how about you relax and enjoy the view?"

"The view?" Jim wondered and then he finally took the time to look around. "Whoa..." he whispered. Their house was close to the beach, but it was unlike any beach Jim had ever seen. Most of the coast was made out of black volcanic rocks. The coastline was covered by palm trees, and there was a small beach only a few footsteps away from them. And the ocean, oh that ocean! It was crystal blue and the reflection of the nebula above them gave them a reddish hue. You could lose yourself in the moment just by staring at the ocean.

"I'll be back as soon as possible. You just stay here and take a break. And don't you dare to do something so foolish and reckless again." He looked at his wife and sighed.

"Yes, dear." And with that, the argument was over.

* * *

Lydia was gone for not even two minutes and Jim hadn't even been able to fully calm down to enjoy the scenery when loud footsteps reached his ears. They sounded like they belonged to some sort of caveman. And then he heard a deep chuckle and he sighed.

"Sure thought the Missus would never leave." When the huge, brutish man stepped on the veranda, Jim had to squint his eyes in order to recognize him.

"Tychus?"

The man laughed. It was a deep laugh, one you only hear from crooks and brutes.

"Hey there, buddy! Thought you had already forgotten about me." He walked towards Jim and the whole veranda vibrated under the weight of his heavy steps. When he stopped right in front of Jim, the injured man could smell the stench of sweat, cheap aftershave, and of course, the big cigar Tychus was enjoying right now. The only thing that spoke in the thug's favor was probably the fact that he had shaved and that the light blue uniform he wore was clean, even though it looked like it was a few sizes too small. But the badge of a Marshal sure had been polished until it was beyond shiny.

Wait, the badge of a Marshal?

"What the hell?" Jim groaned. "Which moron made you Marshal?"

"Hehehe, oh, you noticed? It suits me, don't'cha think? Makes all the bitches swoon when I walk past them." Yup, that was Tychus for ya'.

"You sure they don't faint when they smell your cheap aftershave?" Jim mumbled and the brute chuckled again.

"Ah, it's fine. I'm a person of authority now!"

"That sounds like a nightmare coming true. Didn't anyone tell you that you have to live up to a certain kind of civility when being a person of authority?"

"What? No one said anything about that!" Tychus complained, but when he saw the annoyed look Jim's face, he laughed again.

"Hehehe, just keep your panties on, Sparky. This is just temporal, so don't get used to seeing me all respectable and stuff. When you went AWOL, they just needed someone to fill your shoes. They just needed someone to show off and threaten to beat up people if they don't behave." Yes, that wasn't at all like Jim's personal nightmare; Tychus unleashed.

"Don't get me wrong, Tychus...but who in their right mind would make you Marshal?"

"You did." Tychus answered.

"Ah, that explains it." Jim mumbled and Tychus chuckled again.

"Well, actually it were your new best pals, the Magist...sorry, Mayor and the boy scout Captain. You always stood up for me when that guy wanted to throw me into the brick. And since you were once a criminal and became legit, they thought that I should get a chance at this too."

"And, you like it?"

"Hell, no!" Tychus grunted. "This uniform is way too small and dem' bitches don't even turn around when I walk past them."

"Maybe it would help if you wouldn't refer to them as "dem' bitches", you know." Jim mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just came here to see how you're doing. So, how is the great hero Jim Raynor doing?" When Jim heard that question, he sighed and looked back at the ocean.

"I don't know." he whispered. "Just heard that I'm missing a few months of memories, don't know if I should be happy about that or not. From what I heard, a lot of bad stuff happened."

"Yeah, heard about that one." Tychus grumbled and Jim looked up at him.

"What? How the...does everyone know what's going on and I'm the only one who doesn't?"

"Naaaa!" Tychus chuckled. "I'm just pulling your chain over here, buddy. I was just listening to what the Missus and Doc Cold talked about."

"Doc Cold? Seriously?" Jim wanted to know, and Tychus chuckled again. Jim didn't know what was more unnerving, ´the fact that Tychus' uniform was several sizes too small and as a result, his biceps looked like he was about to rip his own shirt to pieces just by flexing his muscles...

...or the fact that Tychus was wearing a goddamn uniform in the first place.

Tychus Findlay in a clean uniform was just like putting lipstick on a Hydralisk; not really pretty and not very believable either.

Wait, what was a Hydralisk?

Jim groaned when fresh pain shot through his mind. Images of horrible creatures before his inner eye, but before he could make sense of these images, they faded away almost immediately.

"You okay, buddy? You look like shit." Tychus wanted to know. He took another drag from his cigar, took it out of his mouth, and ashed right on Jim's veranda. The injured man groaned in discomfort.

"I would feel better if you would not use my veranda as a trash bin." Jim growled, and Tychus chuckled again.

"Sorry 'bout that. Hey, why don't you call the local law enforcer and ask them what they have to say about that, huh? I bet the Marshall will be _thrilled_ to help you. Heard that he's an awesome guy." Oh yeah, that was exactly what Jim would do. Only then he realized something else Tychus had said just seconds ago.

"Wait, you were eavesdropping on us?"

"I can be very subtle if I want to, Jimmy." Tychus explained. "And I do know how to sneak from time to time."

"And why would you do that, huh?" Jim mumbled.

"Let's just say that me and Doc Cold had a rough start. Here's a pro-tip, partner; if you piss off the doctor, do that _after_ she has done a check-up."

"What did you tell her this time, Tychus?" Jim groaned.

"Nothin'." the brute defended herself. "I was the perfect gentleman."

"Somehow I doubt that."

"Hey, it's true! I told her even that her tits are really great and that her ass is one of the best I've seen. And I just suggested that she should ditch the lab coat and wear something that would show a little bit more skin, ya' know?"

"Oh no, you didn't." Jim groaned, but the goofy smile on Tychus's face said that he had done exactly that.

"Hey, it's in her best interest!" Tychus defended himself. "I told her that a doctor should also help people easing their mind. We're all under a lot of pressure and sometimes a man needs some relief and-"

"Stop it." Jim growled and felt the urge to gag. "I don't want to hear the rest of the story."

"Ach, marriage has made you soft, buddy! And all that boy-scout acting? Please, I bet you truly enjoy this "one woman only" show and having kids. Me? I want to be free as a bird and enjoy all the colors of the rainbow, if you know what I mean." Unfortunately, Jim knew what Tychus was talking about. Now there's a picture that he couldn't get out of his head. Great.

"Tychus, do us all a big favor and never procreate. It would be the end of humankind as we know it."

"Hehehe, no worries 'bout that, partner!" Tychus chuckled. "I would rather jump into a volcano than having a shitty little brat annoying the hell outta me." Jim wanted to say something. Something like "I have a son, you know?", but then he just sighed.

"Please tell me you haven't come here to just spend time with me because I don't think I can take your sparkling sense of humor right now." Jim then said.

"Ah, you're no fun." Tychus mumbled and shook his head. "Actually, I just wanted to do my job. Oh, and don't give me that look! Trust me, I'm gonna force that badge down your throat the moment you're fit for duty. But until then, well, let's just pretend that I actually know what I'm doing. And there are two things I need to ask of you."

"Me? What is it about?"

"When we found you, you were delirious. Now, I don't think it's anything important, but pretty much everyone wants to know what you were talking about, including the Mayor. He's kinda breathing down my neck on this one."

"What _w_ as I talking about?" Jim asked. He couldn't remember anything that happened back then.

"You were shouting for someone to not go, to not leave you behind. Sarah. Now there are many who heard you scream like a madman, and they are afraid that there is someone with that name still out there. We've got roughly ten thousand people down here, and some wonder if one was lost. There were also families ripped apart, and now some hope that this Sarah is one of their loved ones. I told them that they should just ignore it, but then the Mayor told me to do an... uhm...how is it called again?"

"An investigation?" Jim offered and Tychus snapped his fingers.

"That's it. An investigation. So, you know a Sarah that's still out there?" the Marshal wanted to know. Jim opened his mouth...and then he closed again. He tried to search his memories for that name, but all he found was...

...nothing.

"I don't know." he whispered and stared out at the ocean.

" _You know her. And she needs you."_ He gritted his teeth in pain, but Tychus didn't seem to care about that.

"Case closed, I guess. Oh well, I did my part." Tychus yawned and took another drag from his cigar. "There's just one more thing that I need." Suddenly, Jim felt so very tired.

"And what would that be?"

"Your duty weapon, can I have it? Maybe the bitches will be more impressed if I would have a gun of my own." When Jim heard that, he just groaned and suddenly he felt very, very, _very_ tired. But there was one thought on his mind that he couldn't ignore. Something that was nagging at him.

Who was Sarah? And why did he feel guilty when he thought about her?


	80. Act III - Chapter 24

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 24**

 **Family**

* * *

After Tychus was gone (and no, Jim didn't hand his gun over to the man), Jim was finally able to gather his thoughts. Or what was left of it. There wasn't much going on his head, though. All he did was to stare at the ocean in front of him and marvel at the view. This place was so beautiful that Jim was afraid that he was just dreaming. But this place was real. Very real. And that helped him to accept that the entire rest was just as real.

Lydia, Tychus, the Hyperion. In a way, it all made sense and so he stopped questioning any of it. There was still a strange sense of dread in the back of his mind, something that he couldn't really put his finger on. But with each passing moment, he felt calmer and more at peace than he could even remember.

"Maybe...this isn't so bad, huh?" he whispered to himself. Perhaps the best way to describe this place was...tranquil. At one point, Jim watched how a small object appeared in the sky. He squinted his eyes and it took him some time until he managed to make out enough details to identify this object as a battlecruiser. It had to be the Hyperion.

Jim remembered the Hyperion. He could see countless of battles before his inner eyes. Like the time when the Hyperion had evacuated him and his boys from Mar Sara, just when Tychus had found him and...

...no, that wasn't right. The Sons of Korhal had saved his people from Mar Sara, yes. But the Hyperion hadn't been part of that fleet. Then why did he remember the Hyperion fleeing from Mar Sara while countless aliens were pursuing her? The throbbing headaches returned, and then he shook his head and tried to clear his head.

He succeeded, but he still didn't feel very good.

And that's when his wife returned.

"Oh, my, you're still in the very same place I left you! And you even managed to not break another limb, I'm impressed." Lydia said when she stepped on the veranda. Jim turned his head around and gave his wife a tired smile.

"I aim to please."

"Well, that's debatable." his wife replied. She sat down right next to Jim and leaned her head against his shoulder before she closed her eyes and sighed.

"Just what were you trying to do out there, Jim?" she whispered and he could feel how his chest started to hurt. He felt guilty for causing his family so much trouble.

"I don't know." he admitted. "I just...it's like there's a hole where my memories were supposed to be and-"

"Jim, I want to ask you something, and I expect an honest answer." she said with a soft but stern voice. Jim knew that voice, she usually used it when he had done something incredibly stupid. He tried not to break out in sweat.

"Of course, what is it-"

"Is there another woman? Another woman you wanted to see?" Straight to the point. Jim turned his head to the side and looked at her. She still had her eyes closed, and her expression was a calm one.

"Say what?" Jim asked.

"You heard me. Jim, I love you. But I deserve the truth. No, I _demand_ the truth. Is there another woman in your life? One named Sarah?" The moment Liddy asked that question, Jim could feel how something inside his mind started to scream at him both in shame and anger. Shame because he felt like there was someone else, even though he couldn't really remember anything. And anger because his heart knew that no one had the right to blame him for the way he felt.

It was as if his body remembered things his mind couldn't...

When he opened his mouth and gave Lydia an answer, it felt as if it wasn't him doing the talking.

"No. No, there isn't."

" _There is, and you know it!"_ the voice inside the back of his mind almost yelled at him. _"And no matter how much either one of you want to deny it, neither one of you can go on without the other anymore!"_ Jim didn't notice that the voice sounded almost desperate. Nor did he understand why it sounded so vaguely familiar.

"Good." Lydia whispered. "Good. I believe you, Jim. So, let's never have this conversation again, yes?" And again, it wasn't really Jim who answered.

"Yes. I'd like that." And Lydia? She did what she had always done; she made him feel like the luckiest idiot in the whole universe. Jim felt how she nestled her chin against his shoulder, and they both just enjoyed the scenery and some peace and quiet.

"By the way, where's Johnny?" Jim asked after a while and he could hear how Lydia sighed.

"He wasn't there. Gran Gran took him to the market in order to get some fish."

"Market? We got a market?" Jim asked, and when Lydia heard that, her worried expression returned. But then she gave him a warm smile.

"It was the Mayor's idea. We're still a long way from calling this place a town, but we're getting there. And the marketplace can become quite lively from time to time. Even though the only thing you can get there right now is fish, fish, and even more fish."

"At least we got something to eat." Jim mumbled and suddenly Lydia started to chuckle.

"You know, it's not that bad. Johnny even said that he wants to eat something else. He would even like to try some spinach and broccoli now. Too much fish, I guess." Now Jim had to chuckle as well. The thought that their son would eat his spinach without a deceleration of war was just too good to be true.

"And the rest of the colony? What people did we bring along?" Jim asked. "Could you...tell me more? Maybe it'll help me to remember."

"Worth the try, I guess." Lydia hummed. "We got a bunch of former Confederates among us, and some who belonged to those Sons of Korhal. When they saw that the Koprulu Sector was starting to fall apart, they decided that we offered the better health plan. Aside from that, we got a lot of folks from Mar Sara with us. Roughly four thousand people. And then there are the colonists from Haven, those were seven thousand in total. Well, at least we got seven thousand to join us. Though I'm not sure about those numbers. We picked up some stranglers on our way out, and some folks decided to find their luck elsewhere. We got people from all over the sector here. Meinhoff, the Combine, even from Umojan space. Now that doesn't matter anymore. Now we are all just refugees on a new world."

"And who's in charge?"

"Right now... the Mayor, I guess. Or Magistrate, whatever you like to call him. There are some voices that demand something like elections, but right now we have more important things to worry about. Like finding a way to grow some crop on this world."

"Maybe I could help. I know a thing or two about farming and-"

"You already did that, Jim." Lydia interrupted him. "That's why you decided to turn down the badge in the first place. But don't worry, right now we have another _expert_ working on that problem. Even though he's just as stubborn as you are." she chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jim wanted to know, but Lydia just shook her head.

"Forget it, it's not that important. Besides, you told me that you were done with being a peacekeeper. And I was really happy to hear that. Don't get me wrong, Jim, you were a good Marshal. The best one we could have asked for. But there were times when I was worried that you would never be able to put the gun down for good, you know?"

"I guess so..." Jim whispered. "...though I'm not so sure I like the idea of Tychus being the Marshal." When Lydia heard that, she pulled her head back up and looked over at Jim.

"Jim! Are your memories returning?" However, he just gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, hate to disappoint you. Tychus was just here and annoyed the hell outta me." The moment Jim mentioned his old buddy's name, the expression on Lydia's face turned sour.

"That brute was here? When? What did he tell you?!" Her reaction did surprise Jim a bit. Then again, they were talking about Tychus. There were people who would start shooting the moment they would lay their gaze upon him. Sometimes it was even enough to mention that you knew Tychus, and someone would try to beat you up.

Yep, that was Tychus Findlay for ya'! A true people-person! Maybe he would become the next Mayor?

God, now there's a thought that's too scary to keep it.

"He just wanted to talk and see how I'm doing...I guess. And then he asked me if he could have my handgun."

"Please tell me you didn't hand it over to him."

"Maybe I can't remember the last few months, Liddy, but I sure as hell remember that you should never allow Tychus to get near a gun. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. I've seen it." The next words he said were barely a whisper. "But now that you mention it...I can't remember where I put that damn thing. I guess that's not a good sign."

"You said that you wanted to hand it over to the Mayor, but I don't know if you actually did that. We should ask him if we get the chance. Now, how about I prepare dinner and you sit here some more and enjoy the view? Ariel will be here soon, and I promised her something decent to eat. Deal?" He looked his wife into the eyes and a weak smile appeared on his face.

"Deal." She kissed him on the cheek and then she went inside.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Jim still lacked the strength to do much except following Lydia's orders. He wanted to be of some help, he even tried to set the table, but Lydia just shooed him back out of the house and told him to "sit down and enjoy the view, goddammit!"

Soon, the delicious smell of Lydia's cooking filled the area and Jim's belly started to rumble. He felt famished! He tried to relax, he really did. But even then, he couldn't stop thinking about what Lydia and Tychus had asked him. About a woman named Sarah. He had told them that he didn't know any Sarah.

That was a lie.

The name meant something to him, yet he was unable to say what it was. Was it a friend? It couldn't be a lover. Jim was sure about that, he wasn't the kind of guy who would be unfaithful to his lady. No Sir, Jim was a one-woman guy. No, there was no doubt inside his mind, there was no other woman in his life.

" _And you know why. It was because she came after Liddy."_

He winced in pain when the throbbing headaches returned, but then he just shook his head and tried to ignore it. In the end, the pain would fade away.

Ariel Hanson showed up, just the way she had promised it. They spent a nice evening together, sitting inside the house, enjoying Liddy's wonderful meal, and talking about what you could call the "good old days". Jim couldn't really say why he felt that way, but it was as if he hadn't done this in ages. And you know what? It felt good.

He had to listen to a few cheap jokes from Ariel regarding the fact that Lydia had to feed him.

"Isn't that what most men dream of?" Ariel teased Jim when Lydia fed him another bite. "Someone to look after them? To feed them when they manage to break both their arms?"

"Heh, if you think that's how we men roll, then I suggest that Liddy over here tells you about our honeymoon."

"I'm not interested in kinky bedtime stories, Mr. Raynor." Ariel replied with an amused tone in her voice.

"Oh, it certainly is a bedtime story. But not a kinky one." Jim chuckled and looked over at Lydia. "Wanna tell her?"

"I thought you never wanted me to tell the story to anyone? You know, since it would smash your pride or anything like that." Lydia mumbled.

"Ah, I was such a drama queen back then. Just tell her." And so Lydia did. Their honeymoon. Ah, yes. Sweet memories. Mar Sara was a very dry world, but there were oceans. Had been oceans. Though "really big lakes" would be more fitting. Lydia and Jim had spent two weeks in a resort. It had offered a level of luxury both of them hadn't been used to, and it had all started so promising. But then Jim had caught the flu and had spent twelve of their fourteen days inside the bed. He had said things like "I'm too young to die" and "Now that I finally find a girl, I have to bite the dust" and so on. And Lydia? She had shown far more dignity than he had and had acted like a real pro.

The story was an amusing anecdote and it helped to break the ice. Soon, Jim, Lydia, and Ariel were talking about all sorts of things. They were making fun of each other, they were making fun of people who weren't present. Like the Mayor, Captain Horner. And Stetmann. Especially Egon Stetmann.

After they were done with the dinner, Jim offered to take the dirty dishes back to the kitchen, but both women just groaned.

"Is he always like this?" Ariel asked and Lydia nodded.

"Usually he's more obnoxious about it, though. The fact that he's just offering it means that he's really exhausted. Go to bed, Jim. I clean this up."

"And I will take a look at your hand and your arm." Ariel said. Damn, two against one. Who was he to argue against that, huh? And so, Jim did as he was told. He was truly tired and was looking forward going to bed. "Here, let's go into the living room. I got my equipment over here." the doctor told him. Jim sat down on the couch and watched how Ariel removed the bandages on his left hand. And when that was done...

"Hmm..." Ariel hummed.

"Hmm? Hmm like, hmm, interesting or hmm, I think we have to amputate?" Jim asked, but much to his own dismay, Ariel didn't smile.

"It's not that serious, but it isn't good either. You still got all five fingers and we don't have to cut off your hand, but that's pretty much all the good news. I know you are a big boy, so I'm going to be straight with you; you will probably never be able to fully use your hand again. The skin is severely damaged and the scars will eventually cause your fingers to stiffen. Under normal circumstances, we should replace the skin with cloned tissue, but we don't have the equipment for that right now and-"

"It's fine, Doc." Jim interrupted her. "I will manage."

"Hmpf. You men and your macho-bravado." Ariel harrumphed. "Anyway, I have never seen burn marks like these. They look like radiation burns, but there is no radiation. Just what the hell did you do to yourself?"

"I..."

" _You tried to do the right thing."_ the voice spoke to him.

"...don't know."

Ariel knew better than to pry, and so she just cleaned the wound and applied a fresh bandage. Jim winced in pain, but in the end, he managed to endure. And Ariel managed to keep comments like "Men are such babies!" to a bare minimum. Once she was done, Jim realized how weak he was. That little effort had cost him almost all of his stamina. He was tired, so very tired. He was already lying in his bed when the Doctor finally said goodbye to Lydia.

"He's still not fine, but a lot better. I'm going to check on him in the morning. I think it's better to take it slowly, one step at a time. I don't want to take any drastic measures just yet." he could hear Ariel's voice coming from the living room.

"I really appreciate what you did for us. But I don't want to keep you away from your other duties." Ah, good old Lydia. Never wanted to become a burden to pretty much anyone.

"Nonsense!" Ariel replied. "After that coffee you made? Soon you wish that you've never made me that offer in the first place." Both women laughed and said goodbye to each other, and when Ariel was finally gone, all Jim could hear were the light footsteps of his wife. He tried to not fall asleep in an instant, and at least he managed to be still somewhat responsive when he noticed that she entered the bedroom.

And then he felt how she climbed into the bed and snuggled against her husband. He was almost gone when she whispered into his ear.

"Good night, Jim."

He mumbled something, he knew that. But it turned out to be mostly gibberish, so Lydia didn't really pay attention to it. The problem was; he knew what he was trying to say.

"Good night, Sarah."

* * *

Perhaps it was not much of a surprise that Jim was dreaming about Mar Sara, considering everything that they had experienced so far. It was a nice day. The sky was blue, and even though there was not a single cloud to be seen, it wasn't as hot as it could be.

He was outside. And he wasn't alone. There were many people, and all of them were wearing their finest suits and dresses.

Mar Sara was a dusty and dry place, you would only wear suits and dresses on truly special occasions because after that they would be ruined.

Jim remembered that day. He had always been afraid of this moment. And the days shortly before this had happened he hadn't been able to eat or sleep. But now none of that mattered anymore. He looked up at the man in front of him and could feel how his heart started to beat like crazy, while he was afraid of what the future would have in store for him.

It was just a small gesture. Well, small from a certain point of view. He looked the Reverend straight into the eye, and there were at least one million places he would rather be right now. But he had to do this. For himself. And for Lydia.

"We have gathered here..." the Reverend started, and Jim felt as if jolts of electricity were running through his body. The Reverend could see the mixed emotions on Jim's face and offered a toothy grin to the younger man.

"...to celebrate this special moment. Today, we bear witness how two people will form a sacred bond, one that will lead them down a new path on the journey of their life." Jim swallowed hard when he heard that. Right next to him was Liddy. She looked absolutely beautiful. Lydia had always been a pretty woman, but now she looked stunning. Her white dress wouldn't survive this day, the dust of Mar Sara would make sure of that. When she felt his eyes on her, she looked over to Jim and gave him a warm smile. And that was more than enough to make Jim forget about his doubts.

He wasn't a big fan of suits and dresses, but this day was special. It was their wedding after all.

"...it is always good to see how two people decide to enter the harbor of marriage and to found a family." Oh God, they knew about their little secret?

"You told them?" Jim whispered to Lydia, who placed her hand on her belly, and he could hear quite some mischief in her voice.

"What did you expect? It's a small place after all."

Jim wished that he could stop time, go back home, take a deep breath, and think it over once more. He loved Lydia, he really did. But marriage sounded so...serious. Would he be really the husband Lydia deserved?

" _There is more to you than that."_ a strangely familiar voice said to him. _"And while this story didn't end well, there is another one to be written. You told me you failed them, but you haven't failed_ her _yet. Think of her! Think of Sarah!"_

"Sarah?" he whispered, but no one seemed to care about him. He gritted his teeth when he felt a strange sense of despair.

"Jim, what's the matter?" Lydia asked with a worried expression on her face.

"Mister Raynor, are you okay?" the Reverend asked. He looked at Lydia, and then at the Reverend, and then at Lydia again. Behind them, the crowd started to chuckle. They probably thought that he would answer "Can I have some more time?" instead of "Yes, I do.".

"I... yeah, I'm fine." Jim said. He looked over his shoulder and could see the amused, confused, and (somewhat) embarrassed faces of close friends and relatives. And then he saw them...

The two people in the front row, he recognized them immediately. A warm smile appeared on his face when he saw the tears on the older woman's face. She didn't have to say even one word, he could practically hear her thoughts.

"Can't you act like an adult even on the day of your wedding?" she seemed to tell him, and he gave her an apologetic nod.

"Sorry, Mum." he whispered. Next to her was a man. Even though you could see that he wasn't young anymore, he still seemed so strong, so sturdy. He looked just the way Jim remembered him. The way he wanted to remember him.

"I'm proud of you, my son." his father seemed to say, and Jim felt pride when he heard those words. Not because he wanted to hear those words but...well, okay, he always had wanted to hear those words. Because that meant that he hadn't screwed things up.

It was one of the few things Jim truly regretted; the fact that his father had never been able to see how Jim had managed to turn his own life around.

" _He wasn't there. Because this is not real. Please, you have to return to_ her _!_ that voice pleaded with him. But Jim didn't care. So, this was a dream? Well, it was an awesome dream! It was no nightmare, that much was for certain. He could tell because he was still wearing his clothes. You know that nightmare, right? When everything seems to be perfectly fine, yet then you realize that you're totally naked? Well, this time it wasn't like that.

It was a nice dream. There were some things that he remembered, like when they had kissed, or when the people started to throw rice at them. And when he looked at the crowd cheering for them, he recognized all those faces, even though many of them hadn't been there in the first place. Like his parents. Or Matt. He hadn't even known Matt back then. There was a blonde man that looked vaguely familiar. He had seen him before, but he just couldn't remember where or when. And why was that man wearing a uniform and a saber?

It didn't matter, though. This was a dream. And that meant that nothing had to make any sense. Like the fact that Tychus and Matt were arguing who was better suited to be Jim's best man.

And that's when he saw her.

She was standing in the last row, and Jim realized immediately that she was different from all the others. He couldn't really say why, but somehow, she seemed more _real_ than the rest. The first thing he noticed was that red hair. And then those green eyes. More and more details became visible, and Jim realized that he was actually staring at her. While no one else seemed to notice or care about that, he knew that something was strange.

Because she was staring right back at him.

And she was...sad?

The dream went on. Jim didn't realize that, though. Unlike before, he was no longer aware that this was a dream. What he experienced were memories, mixed with things that had never happened. He and Lydia danced, so did the other guests. And like any normal dream, there was no real beginning or end. All he could say was that he felt happy.

He danced with Lydia, he danced with his mother. He could see the happy expression on his father's face.

"The boy finally managed to turn his life around." Yeah, he had done it. He had proven his father wrong, and by that, he had made his old man so damn proud.

" _You told me that you failed them. Your family. Lydia, and Johnny, you told me that this is a_ _burden you have to carry. But there are others that need you. That will need you. And that need you now."_ the voice continued to whine, but he managed to ignore it.

However, even as Jim enjoyed himself to the fullest, he tried to figure out who that redhead was. He had seen her before, he was certain of that. He could see her from time to time, walking through groups of friends and former comrades.

"Jim, say cheese!" someone said, and he did as he was told. They took their pictures, people he couldn't remember or he had never heard of gave him a hug. But he was no longer able to listen to them. He looked around, yet suddenly the woman was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey..." someone said and put a hand on his shoulder. Jim turned around and looked into his newlywed wife. "...what's with the serious look! You are supposed to enjoy yourself!" Jim managed to give her a warm smile, but he could feel that something was wrong.

"I am, it's just..." he mumbled.

"Just what?"

"Did you see that woman?" Jim asked her, and Lydia stemmed her fists against her hip.

"James Eugene Raynor!" she chuckled. "We're not even married for five minutes and you're already looking at another woman? Oh, how can I live with this shame?" But Jim didn't smile. A strange sense of dread started to fill his chest. This woman, he knew her. He was sure of it.

There! There she was! She was walking away from the party, but he would recognize that red hair everywhere.

" _Of course_ _,_ _you know her!"_ the voice inside the back of his mind yelled.

"Jim, what's the matter?" Lydia whispered.

"James? Are you alright?" his father asked.

"Commander, what's the matter?" That voice belonged to Matt Horner. And there were more. All of them were suddenly so worried, and all of them were standing around him. It was as if they wanted to shield him from the other woman, but he knew that he had to talk to her. He could feel it in his bones. He clenched his hands into fists and started to push his way past the crowd. At a certain point, he had to fight his way through.

"Jim! Don't go!" he could hear Lydia behind him. She sounded worried.

"Son, don't do it! She's no longer part of your life!" That voice belonged to his father. Who? Who didn't belong to his life anymore? He had to find out! It felt as if he had to fight his way past a wall made out of human bodies. And that's when the dream turned unpleasant. Suddenly, it felt as if he was drowning. They pushed him back, and he tried to fight his way through. But no matter what he did, people he deeply cared about tried to block his path.

Jim could see how the woman with the red hair walked towards a house in the distance. He knew that house, he had seen it before. He couldn't really tell where he had done that, though. It was maddening! It was as if the answer was on the tip of his tongue. He reached out with his arms and tried to touch her, even though she was so far away.

"Son, let it go!" his father said.

"Commander, you wouldn't risk all of us just to get your girlfriend back, now would you?" Matt asked.

"Jim..." Lydia whispered to him. Suddenly she didn't sound so lively anymore.

"I need to talk to her!" Jim barked and used all of his (imaginary) strength to fight his way past all those people.

"Jim, please..." Lydia pleaded with him. She sounded so weak, so fragile...

"I know her! I know her from somewhere! I need to know who she is!" Jim screamed, but the other people didn't seem to care about it.

"Jim, please look at me." And that's when Jim suddenly stopped. He felt an icy chill running down his spine. Something was wrong. He couldn't force his way through this wall made out of people.

"Jim, I need you to look at me." Liddy whispered. She sounded so weak. As if...

Jim turned around, and when he saw Lydia, his eyes widened in shock.

"No..." was the only thing he managed to say. It was Lydia. His Lydia. Just the way he remembered her, shortly before she had died. The once healthy skin had turned into a sickly white, her eyes were reddened, and she looked so thin! It was wrong to see her like this.

"Jim...why did you abandon us?" she wanted to know, and that's when the dream finally turned into a nightmare. She stumbled towards him, but it just looked so wrong! She looked like a dead woman walking. He rushed over to her and grabbed her frail body.

"Liddy!"

"Why did you...allow this? You said...you said you loved me..." she whispered as she collapsed into his arms.

"No! NONONONO!" he screamed as he watched how Lydia's life started to fade away right in front of him. And there was nothing he could do.

"I'm disappointed in you, my son!" he could hear the voice of his father.

"She was so nice, and how did you repay your kindness?" his mother asked. It was as if all the demons inside his mind were mocking him at once.

"No! No, please! Don't go, Liddy!" he sobbed and pressed the cold body of his wife against his chest. But it was too late. There was nothing he could do. Not now. Not then. Never.

"No...dear Lord, no! Please, that can't be right! Please, I can't-"

"Jim." a new voice reached him, and someone placed a hand on his shoulder. The moment that hand touched his shoulder, the people around him started to vanish. Everyone, except for Lydia. He froze for a moment, and when he finally decided to look over his shoulder, he could see another familiar face. And that's when his lips formed a name, even though his mind couldn't remember it.

"Sarah...?"

"It's fine, Jim. Just wake up." the woman told him. And then, for an impossible short moment, he could remember everything.

And that's when he woke up.

* * *

"SARAH!" Jim screamed when he finally awoke from his slumber. He looked around and felt confused while suffering from the aftershock of the nightmare. It took him a while to calm down, and to realize that he was alone. His bed. He was inside his bed. Had it all been a dream? God, Jim sure as hell hoped so. He fell back on his bed and winced in pain. His hand! His arm! Why did they...

...oh wait, now he remembered.

"Ahhhnnn..." Jim groaned. The moment he was no longer asleep, he could feel how his body started to ache again.

Damn, they had taken a number on him!

Whoever "they" were...

Jim needed some time to calm down. His forehead was covered with sweat and all that adrenaline was still coursing through his veins. All he could do was to stare at the ceiling. Whatever he had dreamed of, the memories were already starting to fade away into nothingness. He raised his left arm and looked at his hand. The bandages hadn't been changed yet. He could hear voices, though. This time they weren't inside his mind, they were coming from the living room. For a moment, Jim thought about trying to get back to sleep, but somehow that thought didn't seem so appealing anymore.

So instead, he got to his feet and stumbled out of his bedroom. He was still wearing his pajamas, but this was still his house, so to hell with that.

"...and he was looking at me as if I just had told him that I killed a bunch of puppies and ate them." Ariel sighed while enjoying another cup of coffee. She was sitting at the dining table, and Lydia was sitting opposite to her.

"You could have offered him to join us, you know?" Lydia chuckled. "Egon might be a bit weird, but he is not a bad guy."

"Oh, trust me, when he starts talking, he just never stops. Besides, he just doesn't like fish. He just sniffed and told me that he would rather enjoy another ration of ham and eggs." Ariel sighed.

"He can't possibly eat those things till the end of his life!" Lydia said. "I mean, he has to run out of those things eventually."

"Sadly, no. He managed to acquire enough to go on for a long, long, looooooong time."

"Hehe, oh you poor, poor wom-oh my God, Jim!" Lydia shouted and jumped to her feet when Jim staggered into the living room.

"Can I have now some coffee?" he mumbled, and Ariel pulled her brows up when she heard that.

"Jim, you should be in bed!" Lydia scolded him. She hurried over to the injured man and helped him to sit down on the couch. "What happened? You're covered in sweat!"

"Had...had a bad dream...I think." he mumbled and took a deep breath. "Besides, lying in bed all day is just not my style." When Ariel heard that, she had to chuckle.

"Why can't men just do as they were told, huh? Why do they always have to do foolish things and make things harder for everyone else, including themselves?" she wanted to know. Jim looked over at the scientist and gave her an exhausted smile.

"Because if we would always act reasonably and do the right thing, we would be women."

"Hahaha!" Ariel laughed. "Good answer!" She then got up and walked over to a bag she had brought with her. "Since you're already here, I might as well change your bandages now. It won't take long." Jim nodded and Ariel started to remove the old bandages. When Lydia saw his burned hand, she winced.

"Oh, Jim!" she whispered and pressed her hand on her mouth. It would appear as if she hadn't been able to see his injuries yet.

"Don't worry, it looks worse than it feels. Actually, it is not that baaAAAAAD! OUCH!" he screamed when Ariel touched the sensitive flesh of his burned hand.

"Hmm, the wound is dry and there are no signs of inflammation. As far as I can tell it's healing smoothly. I will put some more ointment on it, and then we will see how the skin will react." she explained.

"What happened to "Needs a lot of fresh air and sunlight?", huh?" Jim muttered.

"That only applies to water corpses." Ariel replied, and Jim swallowed hard when he heard that.

"Noted." he said. When Ariel was done, she packed her things and thanked Lydia for that cup of coffee.

"Well, you're always welcome here." Lydia explained and they exchanged a few more pleasantries before Ariel was finally gone. As for Jim? Well, he sat on the couch and suddenly he felt the urge to switch the TV on, only to realize that there was none.

"Jim? I need to go to the market, is there anything you need?" Lydia asked him, and Jim looked up at her.

"Market? Actually...I would like to come along." he mumbled.

"I don't think that's a good idea." his wife interjected. "You're in no shape to-"

"Please!" he moaned. "I'm not a goddamn potato that needs to be put into the ground! I do want to see some people and get out for a change!" Lydia looked at him and sighed.

"Very well. You can come with me. But not like this. Ariel said that you can use the shower, I suggest that you put on something different than your pajamas." she told him and Jim nodded.

"Sounds reasonable. Okay, I'll be right back." he groaned and got back up on his feet. He dragged his body into the bathroom and realized that he had to use the toilet. He stepped in front of it and was about to do what a man sometimes had to do, but then he realized that there was a small problem. He couldn't grab his pants with his left hand, and neither could he use his right hand unless he would go down on his knees. So, he stood in front of the toilet and frowned. There was just one solution to this epic dilemma.

"Liddy? Love? Could you help me over here?" His wife arrived a few moments later, and when she saw how he stood in front of the toilet and looked at her like a sad puppy, she had to chuckle.

"Oh, that reminds me of Johnny's potty training!" she said and he sighed.

"Please, could you just give me a hand over here?" he asked her and Lydia walked up to him.

"This reminds me of our honeymoon." she snickered and Jim groaned. She helped him to pull down his pants and then she walked out of the bathroom.

"Hey? Hey! Can't you...like...uhm..." he tried to say. Lydia stopped and looked at him with a mocking expression on her face.

"James Eugene Raynor! You and your smutty mind!"

"What? WHAT? No, that's not what I meant, I was just-"

"You can sit down like any other civilized man, Jim." Lydia teased him. "Trust me, it's not that hard." And then she walked out of the bathroom while laughing. "You men, I will never understand why you enjoy doing that while standing."

* * *

Their house wasn't that far away from the colony. It took them roughly fifteen minutes to get there, and mostly because Jim was slowing them down. When they finally reached the outskirts of the settlement, he cursed himself for asking Lydia to join her.

"Should have stayed in bed..." he mumbled to himself at one point, but Lydia didn't seem to have heard him. Or she had decided to ignore his whining. Either way, when they entered the colony, Jim couldn't hide his relief anymore.

"Thank God!" he groaned. The path to their home was little more than beaten track. But when Jim stood on concrete again, he sighed in relief.

"Man, civilization sure has its benefits." he said and his wife gave him a cocky grin.

"If I remember correctly, you were the one who wanted to have a house outside the colony." she replied. "And now you're telling me that civilization has its benefits? You got some nerves, Mister!" The smile on her face showed that she wasn't angry at him. As they walked through the outskirts of the colony, he recognized a lot of familiar faces.

Like...really a lot of familiar faces.

"Marshal Raynor!" a man shouted. They were walking down a big street that appeared to lead directly to the marketplace. Jim didn't really know where to go, so he just followed Lydia's lead. However, as he looked at all those houses, he realized that they looked vaguely familiar as well. Before he could contemplate on that issue, another man spotted him and his wife and walked right up to them. Jim squinted his eyes and it took him some time to realize who the man was.

"Reverend?" The other man laughed when he finally reached them.

"So you do recognize me? Good! I was worried that you had used the opportunity to pretend that you've forgotten about me. That way you wouldn't have to tell me how much my preaching bores you!" He knew the Reverend well. Jim wasn't a man of God, or at least he had never truly believed in anything that stood in the Bible. But the Reverend had always been a good man. And he had never bothered trying to "turn Jim into a believer". And no matter how much man's technology had advanced, a person like a reverend was still important for a lot of people. Especially on a world like Mar Sara.

Only those who have never been in a truly desperate situation can laugh at those who have faith. You don't have to share their beliefs, but those who are worth their money will always be willing to listen to you and offer some comfort. That doesn't sound like much.

But sometimes that's just what someone needs. Jim knew what he was talking about.

 _We have gathered here to pay our respect to Lydia Elizabeth Raynor..._ he could suddenly hear the voice of the Reverend inside his own mind. He winced in pain, and both the priest and Lydia looked at him with a worried expression on their faces.

"Jim?"

"Mister Raynor!"

"It's fine! It's fine, I'm just...still a bit, well, deranged." he lied and took a deep breath. He looked over at Lydia and shuddered.

"Jim, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, nothing, it's just..."

 _Those who knew Lydia Raynor will always remember her as an exceptionally tender soul._ the voice inside his head continued, and he gritted his teeth.

"Maybe we should go back home, I'm-" Lydia tried to say, but Jim just shook his head.

"No! No, it's fine, I just need a moment and-"

 _Someone who always thought about others before herself._

"Mister Raynor...James. You should not push yourself too hard!" the Reverend said and Jim looked at him.

"I said I'm fine, I just need to-"

"Let's find you a bench where you can sit down." the Reverend then suggested and Lydia nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea, Jim. Come on, there's a bench right over there. Just sit down and take a breather. I will go and look for Ariel, maybe she can help you. Reverend, would you be so kind to-" Lydia asked the other man while she helped Jim over to that bench.

"But of course. I will keep him company until you find her." the Reverend said and helped Jim to sit down. He then did the same thing and gave Lydia a friendly nod. "Don't worry, I will keep an eye on your husband."

"You sure about that?" Lydia wanted to know. "He can be a handful. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about."

"While I'm no longer that young..." the Reverend chuckled. "...I do believe that I'm more than capable of preventing your husband to do anything stupid again."

"Oh, you have no idea..." Lydia muttered before she walked away. Jim watched how she vanished from his sight and then he took a deep breath.

"Is there something on your mind, James?" the Reverend asked. "Something you want to talk about?"

"Not really." Jim mumbled and looked around. There was something strange about this place. The colony, it seemed familiar. He couldn't really say why, though.

"Perhaps you just don't want to share your thoughts. I understand that. Really, I do. But in my experience, it is never good to keep secrets from the ones we love."

"Uh huh." Jim mumbled while he continued to look at the houses of the colony. Something was wrong, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"James, I know that you don't consider yourself a man of great faith. And I know that you fell asleep during more than one of my sermons. But sometimes talking about your problems can help, yes? And I can listen. I promise you that no one will hear what you will tell me and-"

"'The hell is that supposed to mean?" Jim asked and looked over at the Reverend. The man fell silent for a moment, but then he sighed.

"James, people are worried about you."

"People?" Jim asked.

"Yes. You see, you saved a lot of them. You, as well as the Magistrate, were the ones that led us to this world. A lot of people care about you. Perhaps we weren't able to show our gratitude the last few months, but I want you to know that I-"

"What the hell are you even talking about?" Jim shot back, and the Reverend sighed.

"There has been...talk. About you. About how you walk into the jungle one day and vanish. I understand that you have been under a lot of pressure and that you no longer want to carry it on your own shoulders. Is that why you decided to step down as Marshal?" Right, that story...Ariel had mentioned something like that. He would love to answer that question, but he just couldn't remember anything.

"I don't like the way this conversation is headin'." Jim mumbled.

"James...Jim. There are so many people that like you, that love you. Not just your family, but I think I speak nothing but the truth when I say that whatever it is that is bothering you, you can talk to us and-"

"You think that I'm suicidal." Jim then snarled and the Reverend fell silent. He looked at the preacher and frowned. "You think that one day I just decided to go nuts, head into the forest, and snuff myself, isn't that right?"

"While that's not exactly my choice of words...the thought did occur to some of us and we simply want to-"

"Hahahaha..." Jim started to laugh, but it was no happy laugh. "...oh, this is pure gold."

"I know how this might seem to you, James, but I assure you that I'm-"

"That you're what, huh?" Jim hissed. "Concerned about my wellbeing? Really? I don't remember what happened, but I think that I've dealt with enough shit in my life to know that suicide isn't the answer."

"James, please. Calm down, I just wanted to let you know that-" But Jim wasn't in the mood to listen. Suddenly he felt angry. He got back up and started to walk away.

"James? James, where are you going?" the Reverend wanted to know.

"As far away from you as possible." he snarled as an answer, but he had his doubts that the other man had actually heard him. The colony wasn't that big, Liddy would probably find him anyway. Right now, he just wanted to leave that damn man behind, no pun intended.

Suddenly, his good mood was gone, and as he walked through the narrow streets of the colony, he didn't pay attention to all those people around him. Perhaps he should have done that because then he might have realized that something was wrong with them. Instead, he just stared at the ground in front of him. Sometimes he heard a "Hello, Mr. Raynor!", or a "Hey, look! It's the Marshal!" But he tried to ignore the others as good as possible.

His way led him towards the center of the colony. The noise gave it away. He could hear how people were shouting and how all kind of stuff was unloaded. He reached the end of the road and when he stepped out in the open place, his eyes widened in surprise.

It was a market alright!

He could see several market stalls, and people were offering all sorts goods. Mostly fish and fish-squids, but there were also some fruits and vegetables. They looked ordinary enough. Fruits like tomatoes and stuff like that. Jim wondered where they got that stuff from, though. A logical conclusion would be that the colonists would use hydroponic gardens. It was nothing unusual. On the contrary, most colonists used them to grow crop for the first few years after establishing a settlement. Just because there's dirt, doesn't mean that you can grow something on it.

Jim stopped in front of one market stall and checked the outlet with keen eyes. Everything seemed very fresh, and the tomatoes all looked almost identical. They also looked flawless, which probably meant that they were either cloned or had been grown in hydroponic gardens...maybe both. There were a lot of different fruits like tomatoes and bananas, but no crop or anything like that.

So yeah, he was pretty certain that they had grown these things in hydroponic gardens.

What, surprised to hear that?

Jim was the son of a farmer after all. And he had spent his youth on a farm. And believe it or not, he had never stopped thinking of becoming a farmer himself one day, even though he had done his best to bury those thoughts under dreams of grandeur for many years.

"Well, if it isn't the Marshal!" the owner of the market stall said. "How's life?" But Jim wasn't in the mood for small talk.

"Ah, been better. But hey, I'm gonna survive." he replied. There was something odd about that man, though. When Jim turned away, he knew that he had seen him before. But not on Mar Sara. And not on Haven either. Or Meinhoff. Jim decided to explore more of the market, but much to his own surprise he already knew where he had to go. It was just the way he remembered it. Even the fountain in the middle of the market was just as in his memories.

And then he finally realized why he recognized this place.

He had been here before. Many times. Not on this world, but on this marketplace. As a child.

This was the same marketplace as on Shiloh, his birth world.

But...how was that possible?

However, before he could think about it any further, he heard a high-pitched scream right behind him.

"Daaaddyyyy!" a small boy screamed, and Jim froze for a second. No. No, it couldn't be. He turned around and could feel how time started to slow down. Deep inside his mind, he could hear that damn voice screaming at him.

" _Please, don't do that! Don't do that to yourself! This is not real! You are only hurting yourself!"_

But when the small boy reached him and wrapped his arms around Jim's legs, he couldn't care less about that voice.

"Johnny?" The boy started to cry immediately when he hugged his father with his small arms.

"Missed you...was scared!" his son whined, and Jim could feel how his own tears started to fight their way to the surface. Ah, to hell with the tough-guy attitude. Jim managed to go down on his knees and looked his son straight into the eyes.

"Johnny, is that you?" But his son didn't answer. Instead, he slung his short arms around Jim's chest. And Jim? He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong. However, at the same time his instincts as a father made it impossible to ignore his son.

"Daddy!" Johnny cried, and Jim used his left arm to pull the small boy into a tight embrace.

"Johnny, it's you." he whispered and closed his eyes. And that's when his own tears started to flow. Before he could form another thought, a new voice reached his ears. A voice he knew too. A voice that he hadn't heard in a very long time.

"My, look who we have here! Jim, what are you doing here? Oh dear, just look at you! You look horrible!" Jim opened his eyes and looked up. There was an older woman standing right in front of him. She was probably in her late fifties, but there was still a lot of strength emanating from her.

" _You know it's not her! She died! She died a long time ago!"_ the voice pleaded with him, but right now he couldn't care less about that. All he could do was to stare at the woman with a shocked expression.

"Mum?"


	81. Act III - Chapter 25

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 25**

 **A Moment of Peace**

* * *

„Mum?" Jim whispered. By now he shouldn't be surprised by seeing people that he hadn't seen in a very long time. But still, seeing his mother right in front of his eyes...for some odd reason, he felt like this was impossible. His mother had always been a strong and independent person, the only woman who had been able to keep Jim's father on a short leash. The best way to describe Karol Raynor would be "resolute and caring". Being the wife of a farmer meant living a harsh life, but his mother had always been a tough one.

She had also been the brain of the Raynor-household, but that was probably not much of a surprise.

Still, as Jim looked at the woman, he saw another picture of her in front of his inner eyes. And that picture didn't show a strong and healthy-looking woman, but a disease-ridden body that was barely alive.

"Mum, is that you?" Jim whispered, but that's when Johnny looked over his shoulder and over to his grandmother.

"Gran Gran! I found Daddy!" A gentle smile appeared on Karol Raynor's face.

"Yes, you did. But Johnny, you can't just run off if you see someone you know! I almost lost you out of my sight! What if I lose sight of you? You need to be more careful!" she told him and walked up to the two.

"But...it's Daddy!" Johnny tried to defend himself, and Karol sighed before she looked at her son.

"I wonder who taught him that, hmm? You Raynor-men sure know how to ignore any advice you don't like to hear." However, Jim was too shocked to say anything.

" _They never met. You know that. Your mother never saw Johnny, never held him in her arms."_ the voice inside the back of his mind told him. And much to his own dismay, it was getting harder to ignore it.

"Jim?" Karol Raynor asked when she saw his shocked expression on her son's face. "What's the matter? Are you in pain?"

"I...I..." he stuttered but didn't know what to say. It felt as if there were two different minds inside his head. The first one wanted to believe that nothing was wrong. What Jim had heard and seen so far had been, well, _reasonable_. From a certain point of view, it even made sense.

What is the one dream pretty much everyone has?

Well, aside from winning the jackpot of course...

What would you do if you could live your life again, only this time all the things you screwed up never happened?

Well, get in line then.

Jim knew that this was wrong, he knew inside his very soul. This woman couldn't be his mother, his mother had died many years ago, had succumbed to a devil called cancer. But there was another piece of his soul, one that didn't want to accept that, that wished that what he saw right now as the reality. Jim winced in pain when the throbbing headaches returned, and his son looked up to Karol Raynor.

"Gran Gran, Daddy is hurt!" Johnny said and the expression on Karol's face became worried. She knelt down right next to them and put her hand on Jim's cheek.

"Jim, what's the matter? Oh my, you look horrible! Why are you here anyway? Lydia said you were supposed to rest!" Inside Jim's mind, that pleading voice was pushed back little by little. He tried to concentrate on what truly mattered. And what mattered was the little boy in his arms. Jim took a few deep breaths and used all of its willpower to fight his way back to the here and now.

"I'm fine...I'm fine, just feeling dizzy. I guess I'm just tired. I had a rough night." he then said and looked into his mother's eyes. There are some things that will never change. And one of those things was that he had always loved his mother. So why the hell couldn't this be real then? Jim was confused, yes. He knew that there was something wrong, but he had to focus on something, right? So why not focus on the things that were right in front of him? He closed his eyes and pulled his son closer to his heart.

"Jim, are you alright? Why are you crying?" his mother wanted to know when he felt how hot tears started to stream down his face.

"Daddy? Are you sad?"

"No..." Jim whispered. "I'm not sad. Everything's fine, John. I'm just...just so happy to see you again." And then he looked up to his mother. "Both of you."

"Jim, you should rest. You're in bad shape. Lydia should have never allowed you to come here, you should be in bed!" Karol Raynor mumbled and sighed. "All I wanted to do was to grab something to eat for lunch and what do I find? One son, slightly damaged. You are just as much as a handful as you have been as a kid. I can't understand how you managed to survive all those years without me watching over you! You're just as bad as your father." When Jim heard that, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Dad...is here as well?" Jim mumbled, and his mother pulled her brows up.

"Of course he is! Jim, what is this all about, what is it with all those questions? Did you hit your head and lose your memory or something like that?"

"Yes." Jim answered truthfully, and Karol was about to laugh when she realized that her son was actually telling her the truth. He could see how she went pale.

"Oh, Jim. I didn't...oh dear Lord, I'm so sorry. But why the hell are you running around like this? Seriously, what happened to you? And why are you all by yourself? What was Lydia thinking? I need to talk to your wife, this is unacceptable and-"

"It's fine, Mum!" Jim groaned. "I asked her if I could join her. I just wanted to get out of the house and see some people and... well, I guess I got lost when I decided to run away from the Reverend."

"Figures that the lost, grown-up puppy I find by accident is my own son. Jim, how bad is it? Perhaps we should take you to the doctor and-"

"Ariel already took a look at me. Said that all hope is lost and you should start digging a hole and-" He tried to make a joke, but his mother wasn't amused.

"James Eugene Raynor! That is not funny!"

"Gran Gran, can we take Daddy home with us?" Johnny asked. "I want to show him what Grandpa and I made!"

"You're right, Johnny." Karol sighed. "We should get your father back home. He looks like he should sit down and relax a bit."

"I'm fine, I just need-"

"That was not a suggestion, Jim!" his mother insisted, and he knew that there was no point in arguing with this woman. She and Lydia were the only two women he was truly scared off.

" _There's a third one, and that one is actually a whole lot scarier. And she's still alive..._ " the voice in the back of his head whispered to him. Suddenly, his headaches returned and he could feel how his son pressed himself against his chest.

"Daddy! Wanna show you! Wanna show you!" Jim put his hand on his son's head and brushed through the brown hair.

"I guess I could use a short break." He had to focus on what was right in front of him. Whatever that voice inside the back of his mind tried to tell him, it could wait. "But I would like to sit down for a while and take a breather. Not sure if I'm gonna make it back home in one go." His mother shook her head and gave him a stern look.

"Letting you walk back home like this? I think not! We're going back to _our_ house, it's closer and then I'm going to call a doctor."

"But Ariel-" Jim tried to protest.

"Isn't the only doctor we have here! I just didn't say anything because Dr. Hanson seemed like a good person and because she and Lydia get along well. But I can't just stand by and watch how you drag your wounded body through town because no one can look after you for even five minutes!" Oh God, it was like being a kid all over again. What was next? She would ask him if he had changed his underpants?

"Mum, please...it's fine, I'm just-"

"You look terrible, Jim!" his mother cut him short. "You should be in bed, and you definitely should _not_ be running around on a market just like that!" Jim sighed. He knew that having an argument with his mother would only lead to one result; he would have to admit that he was wrong.

Jim felt the urge to tell her how sorry he was. Sorry for being such a bad son, sorry for leaving her and his father behind, for not being there when they had needed him. But...that wasn't real, right? His parents were alive, his mother was right in front of him! Right now, he just wanted to shove these doubts as far away as possible. Jim looked at his mother with weary eyes and nodded.

"Okay. Just...just tell me that your home isn't that far away." When he said that, his mother's expression became even more worried.

"Jim, are you telling me you don't remember?"

"Is Daddy sick?" Johnny asked, and Karol Raynor realized that this wasn't the time nor the place to have a conversation like this in broad daylight. Besides, people were already starting to look.

"No, your father is fine." Karol said. "He just needs some rest. Come on, Johnny. Let's go home and make something to eat. And then your father can relax a bit." When Johnny heard that, he pressed himself even tighter against Jim's chest.

"Wanna get carried! Daddy, carry me!" he said with the enthusiasm only a small child could possess.

"No, John! Your father is hurt, he can't-"

"Sure thing, partner!" Jim cut his mother short. "But hold on tight!"

"Jim, that's not a good idea!" his mother told him, but Jim didn't listen. He felt the urge to hold his son in his arms, broken limbs and burned hand be damned! Johnny did as he was told and slung his arms around Jim's neck. Since his left arm was still alright, he put it around Johnny's waist and got back on his feet.

"Ufff...there you go! Ho, partner! You're so heavy all of a sudden! Did some growing while I was gone, huh?" He needed a few moments to make sure that he wouldn't fall over, but no matter how weak he felt, no matter how much pain he was in, there was always enough strength left to carry his son.

His _son_.

"Let's go home." Jim whispered into Johnny's ear and followed his mother.

* * *

The Raynor's residence was just outside the colony and actually a lot closer to the settlement than Jim's and Lydia's house. It took Jim almost his entire strength to carry Johnny all the way there, and his mother urged him more than one time to just put Johnny down and take him by the hand, but Jim could be just as stubborn as the rest of the Raynor-family.

When they finally reached his parent's house and Jim saw it with his own two eyes, he stopped and frowned.

"Jim, what's the matter?" his mother asked when she realized that her son wasn't moving anymore.

"That's...your house." he mumbled.

"Of course, just as I told you. Just-"

"It just looks like your old house, like our home on Shiloh!" Jim cut her short. That...that just didn't make any sense, and suddenly the doubts started to return to him.

"Yes, I know...but your father wanted it to look just like our old home. You know how stubborn he can be. A lot of folks felt the same way."

"Is that why the marketplace looks like the one back on Shiloh?" Jim wanted to know and his mother nodded.

"Yes, I guess that's how people want to remember the past. You know how that is." Actually, he didn't.

" _Convenient, isn't it? It's all the way how you remember it. Please, you have to turn away! She needs you!"_ the voice in the back of his mind pleaded. And much to Jim's own dismay, he had to admit that the voice had a good point.

"Daddy, what's the matter?" Johnny wanted to know, but then Jim shook his head.

"It's fine, partner. I'm just...a bit tired, that's all."

"But I want to play with Daddy!" Child-logic 1-0-1. When little Johnny wants to play, he wants to play.

"No, John. Your father needs some rest. Don't worry, you can help me to get some seasonings from the garden, yes?" Jim's mother suggested, however, Johnny wasn't exactly pleased with that idea.

"Aw, but I want to play with Daddy!" the little man pouted. Adorable, but totally ineffective when dealing with a grandmother like Karol Raynor.

"No buts, Mister! You will help your grandmother and let your father rest. Come on, Jim. Let's get you inside." Jim only sighed and nodded. John was starting to get heavy, and when Jim put him down, he groaned in discomfort.

"Man, my back's killing me." he said mostly to himself and followed his mother into the house. The moment he stepped inside, he looked around and froze for a second. It was just the way he remembered it, just like it had been when Jim had left that house all those years ago. It even smelled like home. You know that smell, don't you? Everyone knows it. The smell of home, the place you grew up in.

The voice inside the back of his mind didn't scream in protest, not this time. It didn't have to because Jim knew that something was wrong. He just didn't want to accept it. Not yet anyway. Karol didn't have to show him around. He walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Everything was just the way he remembered. Even the goddamn couch. He stared out of the window and was deeply lost in thoughts.

"Jim?"

Whatever was going on, he knew that something was wrong. He closed his eyes and tried to focus his mind.

"Jim, can you hear me?"

Perhaps he was just imagining things. He had a concussion, right? Maybe in a few days, everything would make more sense. Or he should go and see Ariel, tell her about his, well, hallucinations? His family would be worried, yes. However, sometimes you couldn't solve everything on your own, sometimes everyone needed some sort of professional help.

"Jim!"

"What?" His head jerked back up and he looked up to his mother. "Did you say anything?" he asked, and Karol Raynor gave her son a worried look.

"Jim, what's the matter? You seem...distracted. Maybe you should go and see a doctor. Another doctor."

"I'm fine." Jim replied. "Just exhausted." Next to his mother was his son. Johnny's expression was just as worried as that of Karol. Children knew instinctively when something was wrong, and John was no exception.

"Is Daddy hurt?" the young boy asked and Jim gave him a warm smile. He raised his left hand and put it on Johnny's head, even though it still hurt.

"Nothing serious, partner. Your father just tried to climb a tree and didn't know how to get back down, so he decided to land on his face." Jim joked. When Johnny heard that, his eyes widened in joy.

"Tree? I want to climb a tree! Mommy and Gran Gran won't let me!"

"And unless you want to end up like your father, I would say that's a good thing." Karol declared. "Now come on Johnny, we should let your father rest a bit. Don't worry, there will be plenty of times when you will be able to climb up trees and we can blame your father for not paying attention." Well, that sounded promising.

"Now come on, little man. We should leave your father here and let him rest. And when we're done, we're going to make something to eat, and then Grandpa will take you back home, how does that sound?" Karol asked. Johnny wasn't really happy about that, you could see it on his face.

"Okay..." he mumbled and when his grandmother offered him her hand, he grabbed it.

"That's my boy!" Karol said with a warm smile on her face before she returned her attention towards Jim.

"We'll be just outside. The kitchen is just where the old one was, so if you want something to eat or drink, knock yourself out."

"Thanks, Mum." Jim groaned and decided to rest a bit. He was about to lie down and his mother was already on her way out when he heard her voice once more.

"And don't you dare to put your dirty shoes on my couch, Mister!"

"Yes, Mum." Jim said and took off his shoes. Both his mother and his son were gone when he finally threw his legs around and leaned back. He looked up at the ceiling and tried to ease his own mind. A lot had happened, and he didn't really know what to make of it. He could feel how he became tired again, perhaps it was nothing surprising after everything that had happened to him. But this time sleep wouldn't come for him. He was about to drift off when he heard footsteps. Heavy footsteps.

"James?"

He tried to calm down and find some inner balance. He had never been into meditation or stuff like that, but contemplation wasn't an alien concept to him. Still, he couldn't silence that nagging feeling in the back of his mind. Something was wrong, and there was raging a battle going on inside his mind. The wish that all of this was real versus the (hidden) knowledge that it wasn't.

"James, wake up!"

Whatever would happen, he felt as if it wasn't in his hands anymore. Perhaps he should just let everything take its natural course? Whatever was going on, it was probably just a problem inside his head. Hmm, his family was probably thinking that he was starting to lose his mind. And who could blame them?

"James Eugene Raynor!" a loud voice barked, and Jim finally opened his eyes.

"Wasn't me!" he screamed and looked around. Right in front of him was a person. It was a man, and a large one! He was slightly taller than Jim and had broader shoulders. Now, Jim didn't have to hide when it came to physical prowess, but this man had the edge in pretty much every aspect. A life of hard work had made him age faster than most other men of his age, but even then, Trace Raynor was an imposing figure.

"D-Dad?" Jim mumbled, still half asleep.

"Well, at least your eyes seem to be still okay. Guess we have to work with that." his father chuckled. "How're you feeling, son?"

Son.

 _"So this is...no._ _Nevermind_ _. Please, we don't have time for this."_ the voice inside his mind whispered. Right in front of his inner eye, he could see his father as well, but it was a different Trace Raynor he saw there.

Old, sick, and weak. Close to death. It had taken him all of his strength to speak to the camera that recorded one last message to his son.

 _I will always love you...but I cannot condone how you live your life, son._ He...hadn't been proud of Jim. He had loved his son, but he hadn't been proud.

"James, what's wrong? Are you in pain, son?" his father asked when Jim winced groaned. Those damn headaches! He would kill to get rid of them.

"Not more than usual." Jim replied and got back up.

"Son, I love you. You know that. But I have to tell you one thing." Oh joy, here we go. "You look like shit." When Jim heard that, he had to laugh.

"Well, at least I look like I feel."

"You look like you lost the godmother of all brawls." his father declared. "Did you get in a fight or anything like that?"

"I..." Jim began, but then he stopped. He looked at his own hand and frowned. "I don't remember."

"So Lydia was right. You can't remember anything." Trace muttered, and Jim looked him into the eyes.

"You...know?" he stuttered and his father sighed.

"I met Lydia in town. She was not very happy when she realized that the Reverend had lost you. In fact, she was quite upset. I managed to calm her down by telling her that there's no way that you can get lost again while being inside the colony. But I didn't think that I would find you here."

"Well, Mum kinda found me. And then...well, Mum kinda found me. You know how she is."

"Indeed." his father replied and Jim frowned when he heard that. Indeed? Wasn't that the line from someone else? But who?

"How're you holding up, Jim?" his father asked and Jim sighed.

"Been better. Been worse. Did you...hear what happened?"

"Parts of it. Maybe you haven't noticed it, but you have been the topic of the day. Of the week, even." Jim groaned when he heard that.

"That bad?"

"You know how people are. You should apologize to your wife, though. She's been under a lot of pressure since all this happened. And those damn yokels can't stop gossiping about it, telling all kind of stories. Most of them involve a woman named Sarah."

Sarah...

"Jim, is there anything you want to tell me?"

"Not you too." he groaned. "First Liddy asks me if I cheated on her, then the Reverend wanted to know if I wanted to snuff myself out there, and then Mum treated me like I was twelve again. So, let me tell you this; I don't know what happened, but I do know that I didn't cheat on Lydia and that I didn't want to kill myself." He looked into his father's eyes and after a while Trace nodded.

"Okay. I believe you, Jim." That did surprise him. All Jim could hear was honesty, though.

"I have the feeling that you would be the only one."

"You're my son, Jim. God knows you received plenty of deficiencies from me, but you were always an honest soul. As for Lydia? You should make it up to her somehow. Flowers might do the trick. And as for the Reverend, well, I never liked that asshole." When Jim heard that, he had to chuckle.

"Amen to that." Both men laughed and then Trace finally sat down on the other couch next to Jim.

"You probably heard that question plenty of times, but I still need to ask you; what do you remember?" his father asked and Jim closed his eyes.

"I... I don't know. It's still all a bit shaky. And I still have a hard time to make sense of it all. But...but I can do this. You guys don't have to treat me like I'm some kind of human vegetable."

"I know, Son." his father then said. "But you're not alone in this. Take your time, but if you need someone to talk, you know that my door will always be open for you."

"Thank you, Dad, I really-"

"TRACE! HELP! ANYONE!" When Karol's screams reached the two men, both of them looked out of the window in shock.

"Karol!"

"Mum! Johnny!" Both men jumped to their feet and ran towards the door.

"Stay inside, Jim! You're in no shape to-"

"Like hell I will! That's my mother out there! That's my _son_ out there!" Jim shouted and hurried after his father. Trace had no gun at his disposal. Trace Raynor was no pacifist, he had never believed in a non-violence approach. But that didn't mean that he condoned violence just for the sake of more violence. You could say that he had a "healthy" relationship towards violence...even though that sounded odd.

Trace had taught Jim that sometimes you had to stand your ground, especially against bullies. And that you should rely on your own strength. However, at the same time, you should never use your fists against someone who is harmless or innocent. His father had been quite the brawler in his younger days, something he had never been proud of.

But whoever was out there, they would be in a world of hurt soon enough.

Trace stormed out of the house and Jim was right on his heels. All they had to do was to follow the screams of both his mother and Johnny.

"NO! STAY AWAY FROM US!"

"MOM!" Jim screamed as they hurried to the other side of the house, right where Karol's small spice garden was. This time Jim didn't bother thinking about the fact that it looked just like the spice garden on Shiloh...

"KAROL! JOHN!" Trace shouted, and when they came around the corner of the house, both of them froze immediately. This house looked identical to their old one, yes. But there was one difference, and that was the surrounding area. On Shiloh, the Raynors' residence had been surrounded by fields, fields, and even more fields. Here it was just a few dozen meters away from the jungle. The attacker...was not attacking. He stood at the edge of the jungle and did nothing but to stare at them. He didn't have to do anything, though. His very presence was enough to scare the living hell out of Karol and her grandson.

Protoss could have that effect on humans.

"Dear Lord." Trace whispered when he saw the huge creature. This one was definitely a bit much for Trace's fists. Behind him, Jim was just as shocked to see this huge creature, but for different reasons.

He recognized that Protoss, even though he couldn't say why. But weren't Protoss all supposed to be the same? The alien turned its huge head towards the two men.

"Friend Raynor, I have finally found you!" And behind him, Trace Raynor could hear how his son whispered a name.

"Zeratul?"

* * *

"Why is Daddy hurt?" John asked for the umpteenth time while Karol was cutting back some wild chives.

"Because from time to time, your father likes to think with a part of his body that isn't his brain. He got that from his father. And I do pray that you won't end up like those two." his grandmother replied.

"Is Gran Gran angry at Daddy?"

"Yes, but that is normal. Sometimes sons just like to make their mothers mad, it would appear that it is nature's law."

"Is Gran Gran angry at me too?" Johnny asked and Karol looked up at him.

"What? No! Why should I?" Johnny was right next to her and plucked some basil.

"Because I ran to Daddy on the market. Gran Gran said that I should not run away on my own." Karol sighed when she heard that. She removed her gardening gloves and put her hand on John's head.

"John, listen; sometimes your dad does stupid things. Sometimes he needs to be reminded by us that he can't do things just because he wants to. We are still a family, and family has to look out for each other. Never forget that, yes?" Perhaps Lydia wouldn't be very pleased by the fact that Karol was trying to teach Johnny on how _not_ to be like his father, but Jim's wife would realize that there were things that she didn't know about her husband. Like how much of an idiot Jim could be if he wanted to.

"Yes, Gran Gran." Johnny replied, but Karol could already see that he wasn't really paying attention to what she tried to tell him. She sighed again and made a mental note. Yep, he truly was his father's son.

"John, I know that we adults had not much time for you and that there are a lot of things going on that scare you. But believe me, we are safe now. And your father? He will be okay in no time! Trust me, when he was a little boy, he always injured himself, and a few days later he was already running around like nothing had happened. And then you two can do something together. Like going fishing. How does that sound."

"Don't wanna fish. Fish stinks." Johnny complained.

"Only if it's old. Fish can be healthy and-"

"Wanna chocolate!"

"Of course you do." Karol sighed and thought about the days where they would run out of chocolate. Right now, the colony still got plenty of supplies, but that wouldn't last forever. And what do you need in order to make chocolate? Milk. And what do you need in order to produce milk? Cows.

The colonists from Haven had actually brought some cows with them, but right now "chocolate" was not exactly very high on their priority list.

There were ways to create chocolate by using stuff like soya, but have you ever seen the reaction of a child when you tell it that the chocolate tastes funny because it's made out of plants? Trust me, you won't get far with arguments like "it's actually healthier!" and "there's not as much sugar in it!", because in the end, children want sugar and chocolate. End of story.

"Hmm, maybe we still have some chocolate in the kitchen. Would you like to have some?" she asked, and suddenly Johnny was no longer thinking about his father's injuries. Not if there was chocolate out there!

"Yes! Wanna have chocolate!" Lydia would probably be less than pleased, but it was a grandmother's privilege to spoil her only grandchild.

"Very well! Then let's...wait, who's there?" Karol asked when she heard heavy footsteps coming from the nearby jungle. Not again. Someone was out there, trespassers no doubt. Oh God, Trace would probably scream bloody murder for them to get lost and wouldn't calm down for the rest of the day. Besides, the Mayor had ordered that no one was to enter the jungle without a good reason.

Good thing that the former Marshal and Karol's son had decided to ignore that standing order...

The rustling became louder, someone was about to come out of the jungle.

"Whoever is out there, this is private property! My husband won't be pleased with anyone running around without telling us-"

And then this huge, gray creature emerged from the jungle.

Karol knew how Protoss looked like, she had seen their broadcasts, warning the humans to leave their homes before they would glass the worlds beneath them with their mighty ships. She recognized the alien's shape, even though she had never seen a living Protoss with her own eyes like this. For a second, she thought that this alien hadn't seen her, but then it turned its massive head towards her and Johnny and looked her straight into the eyes.

Glowing green eyes...the Protoss's gaze felt as if it was looking right through her. Karol didn't really know what to do, she reacted solely on instinct. This world was supposed to be safe! They had just escaped death and destruction! And now one of these creatures was here? She grabbed Johnny and pulled him into a tight embrace. The creature made a few steps towards them and Karol screamed in terror.

"TRACE! HELP, ANYONE!" she screamed, yet the Protoss didn't seem to be fazed by her loud voice. Instead, it squinted its eyes and she could see how it lay gaze upon Johnny.

"Oh no..." the creature mumbled, and they could hear its voice inside their mind. "...not his son!" As it stumbled towards the two humans, Karol tried to jump to her feet and run away, but she was no longer a young woman. She slipped and fell on her back while holding little John in her arms.

"Gran Gran!" her grandson screamed in fear. He had no idea what was going on, all he knew was that his grandmother was in panic, and that was enough to scare the living hell out of him. She tried to crawl away as the Protoss continued to walk towards them.

"NO! STAY AWAY FROM US!" she screamed again, but the gray giant just raised his arm and it almost seemed as if he was reaching out to her.

"Please..." the Protoss muttered. "...I need to find James! Where is he?"

"MOM!" a familiar voice shouted from the other side of the house. It was Jim! She could hear more footsteps, and then two men came around the corner.

"KAROL! JOHN!" Trace screamed, but when he and Jim saw the Protoss, the two of them froze in an instant.

"Dear Lord." Trace whispered and lowered his fists. Behind him, Jim seemed to be just as shocked as everyone else, maybe even more so. The Protoss turned towards the two newcomers and straightened itself.

"Friend Raynor, I have finally found you!" At first, everyone seemed to be confused because there were currently four people with the name Raynor present. However, it was Jim who finally said something, something that didn't make any sense to anyone, except him.

"Zeratul?"

* * *

"Indeed!" the Dark Prelate announced and made another step forward.

"Don't you dare to come any closer, you damn critter!" Trace Raynor barked and raised his fists once more. A pointless gesture? Perhaps. But he would rather buy his family the time they needed to get the hell away from this alien by sacrificing himself than to go down without a fight!

"Friend Raynor, please! Time is running out! Sarah Kerrigan in on her last breath and I do not know how much more time we have until everything will be too late!"

"Get away, you damn monster!" Trace barked and hurried towards the Protoss. He wasn't suicidal or anything like that, but right now he was the only one who could offer some sort of resistance. He grabbed a shovel that leaned against the fence of the house and positioned himself between Zeratul and his family.

"I haven't...come here...to hurt anyone." the Nerazim panted. "But I need...to speak with...James Raynor."

"You won't get near my son!" Trace snarled and raised his shovel, ready to ram it into the Nerazim's body. "Why are you here? How did you find us?"

"Trace, be careful!" his wife shouted while Jim hurried over to his mother and his son.

"Daddy!" Johnny screamed and tried to free himself from Karol's embrace. When he managed to break free, he ran over to his father and slung his arms around Jim's legs.

"I'm here, everything's fine!" Jim shouted before he grabbed his son with his left arm and lifted him up in the air. To hell with the pain, he had to get away from here! "Mum, come on, we have to go!" He was simply following his instincts. Inside the back of his mind, the voice that sounded so familiar screamed at him that this Protoss was not the enemy. But all the adrenaline running through his veins made it hard to listen to that voice. Not that it mattered, right now he had other things to worry about.

"Jim! Get them inside! Call the Marshal!" his father shouted and tightened his grip around the shovel.

"Trace, no!" Karol screamed in terror. She knew that her husband would never stand a chance against a Protoss.

"I have not come here...to cause any harm." Zeratul explained. "I need to talk to James Raynor, it is about SarahAAHHH!" the Dark Prelate screamed when Jim's father attacked him. Under normal circumstances, attacking a Protoss with nothing but a shovel was suicide. But the Protoss didn't even try to defend himself, and the shovel was actually really sharp. Zeratul winced in pain when Trace rammed the metal into the alien's stomach. Protoss' skin was thick, yes. Far thicker than leather and easily five times as sturdy. But Trace knew what he was doing. He put enough strength into the attack to cut a human in half. Fortunately, Zeratul was no human. The man still managed to score a critical hit, though. Blue blood gushed from the wound right below his chest, and the Dark Prelate stumbled backward. But even then...Zeratul did not fight back. He pressed his hand against the bleeding wound and groaned in pain before he raised his head and looked past Trace and right at Jim.

"Friend Raynor! Please, you have to listen to me!" Zeratul pleaded with him. "You have to come with me! Sarah Kerrigan's life is in great danger and we are running out of time!" Jim was already on his way back into the house while carrying his son to safety. But when he heard that name...

"Sarah?" he whispered and stopped. He looked over his shoulder and stared at Zeratul.

" _You know what to do!"_ the voice inside the back of his mind screamed. _"She needs you! And you need her! Please, I'm begging you!"_

But all Jim did was to stand there like a statue and do nothing. That name. That Protoss knew about Sarah?

But _who_ was Sarah?

Suddenly Jim screamed in pain. All of the sudden it felt as if his head was about to explode.

 _You will hold her lives in your hand._ he could suddenly hear the voice of Zeratul in his mind. But it felt like a memory...

 _Because I can give you the one thing you always wanted..._ another voice whispered to him. It sounded like it belonged to a man, someone familiar. _...the chance to save Sarah Kerrigan._

"Daddy? What's wrong?" Johnny whined. The little boy was scared, and he had more than enough reasons for being frightened. But Jim wasn't able to answer, he wasn't even able to make another step forward.

"Jim!" his mother yelled when he fell to his knees. He pressed his son as hard against his chest as possible.

"Daddy! You're hurting me!" little John protested, but all Jim could do was to grit his teeth in pain.

 _Even you have to admit that this crazy bitch is beyond redemption!_ He recognized that voice. It belonged to Arcturus Mengsk...

Jim let go of his son and dropped on all fours. His whole world turned into pain. It was as if someone was cutting his head open and ramming needles deep into his soft brain.

 _You would do anything to get your girlfriend back!_ Matt? But when had he said that? He couldn't tell...real memories, and those who only felt like they were real, started to fight for dominance.

"Karol! Get them to safety!" Trace barked while he tried his best to keep the Protoss at bay. He had managed to injure that damn alien, yes. But making a Protoss bleed and defeating a Protoss were two very different things.

"RAYNOR!" Zeratul shouted. "We are running out of time!" His voice felt like a whiplash inside Jim's mind. He fell on the side and grabbed his own head, ignoring the pain of his burned hand or his broken arm. Next to him, Johnny started to cry and put his hand on his father's shoulder.

"Daddy! Get up! Daddy!" It was heartbreaking, but Jim couldn't say or do anything.

 _...if you see that one thing that makes you happy, if you find the one thing that can make you whole again..._ That was Matt's voice again.

 _...grab it. Grab it and don't you dare to ever let go of it again._

"Make it...stop!" Jim hissed in pain and despair.

"Trace! Jim is...something is wrong with him!" his mother screamed when she hurried towards her son. His father cursed like a sailor and looked the Protoss dead in the eyes.

"You! Whatever you do to my son, stop it! At once!" But Zeratul only shook his head while pressing his hand against the bleeding cut right below his chest.

"It is not me who is doing this. Please, let me through!" he pleaded.

"Not a chance! You have to kill me first! Take this!" Trace roared and attacked the Dark Prelate once more. And Zeratul? He only raised his arms in self-defense and made sure that Trace wouldn't score another lucky hit. The sharp shovel cut through the skin of his arm, but otherwise, Zeratul did not defend himself. Blue blood was spilled when the Dark Prelate's thick skin was pierced.

 _You were the only one who ever believed in me..._ her voice echoed through his head and the pain became unbearable.

 _...do you still...believe in me?_

"Sa...rah..." he groaned and could feel how blood started to drip out of his nose.

"Please, you have to let me pass!" Zeratul tried to reason with Trace, but Jim's father would rather die than to let the Protoss pass. Why should he? He had no idea who Zeratul was.

Jim, on the other hand, rolled over the ground and groaned in pain. Johnny slammed his little fists against his father's chest, he screamed at Daddy to get back up again. The boy didn't understand what was going on, he only knew that his father was in pain. It was one of those moments who could traumatize a young child for the rest of its life.

"Karol, get help!" Trace screamed when he realized how dire their situation was.

"But-"

"No buts! NOW!" her husband barked, and it was one of those moments where it was better to do as you were told. She looked at her son, who was starting to bleed from his nose and his ears, and then to her crying grandson. And at the same time, her husband tried to do his best to keep that damn alien at bay. She took a deep breath and grabbed John.

"NO! DADDY!" the small boy screamed when his grandmother grabbed him and ran away from the house. There was no way that she could carry her son, but she would be damned if she would leave her own grandchild behind. With hot tears in her eyes, she stormed towards the nearby colony. Maybe someone had heard their screams? She had to hurry!

Behind her and Johnny, Jim groaned again and managed to roll on his back. His eyelids started to flutter and it felt like his brain was about to fall apart. Random images appeared before his inner eye. He saw a woman...with red hair. And then the same woman, but with strange tendrils instead of hair...

 _When you find the real me...tell her this..._

A kiss. A soft kiss, so tender, and full of sadness. Jim grabbed his own head and screamed in pain and terror. Too much. Too much! It was all too much! Sarah. Her name was Sarah! All these memories started to implode and gather in a single place. And that's when all those old memories started to reemerge.

Antiga Prime.

 _Captain Raynor, I have secured the perimeter and... you pig!_

Tarsonis.

 _Just stop it, Jimmy! That knight in shining armor routine doesn't suit you._

Char.

 _Oh, I have become so much more. I am now part of something even greater, Jimmy._

But there was more...

 _There's something evil in me._

 _Like riding a bike..._

 _You were the only who ever believed in me._

And then...

 _Leavin' on a jet plane,_

 _I don't know when I'll be back again..._

"YAAAAARGGH!" Jim screamed when unspeakable pain shot through his mind. His eyes rolled into the back of his skull and he could feel how something flooded his mind. He couldn't describe it, but it felt like it was tearing him apart from the inside. He didn't hear how his father screamed his name and ran over to him. His body started to convulse and twitch uncontrollably. It was as if he was having a seizure.

"Jim! Stay with me!" he could hear his father's screams. But he couldn't do that. More images flashed past his inner eye. He could see it, see it all. Not all of it made sense to him, it all happened too fast. He could feel how someone pressed him down in order to make sure that he wouldn't hurt himself. It was a violent seizure and his head jerked from one side to the other. His legs and arms kicked and hit in every direction, and his father tried to pin him down.

Then suddenly two more hands pressed him to the ground.

"What are you doing?" his father screamed.

"Helping." Zeratul replied. "James Raynor is my friend. And I cannot allow him to die here." Jim wanted to scream, but only a gurgling sound left his throat. The pain continued to torment him, and when his lights finally went out, he was grateful for that.

* * *

"Jim?"

His head felt like someone had used it for target practice.

"Jim, can you hear me?"

He couldn't feel his body. And that couldn't be a good sign, right?

"Jim, please...can you open your eyes?"

That voice...

"Perhaps we should leave him alone and-" another woman suggested. It was...his mother?

But that couldn't be right. His mother was dead. As for the first voice...

"You be quiet! You left them alone!" she hissed. That sounded like...Lydia?

"Liddy, please." a new voice interfered. It belonged to a man, someone he knew. No, it couldn't be. "That's not what Karol wanted to say. Please, everyone should just calm down." That sounded like...his _father_?

"Calm down? Calm down?!" Lydia hissed. "I almost lost both my son and my husband to a damn alien, and now you want me to calm down?"

"Please, Mrs. Raynor." someone else said. "I too believe that Mr. Raynor has a point. We're doing everything we can to locate that alien. You are safe here for now. I asked Captain Horner to send another detachment of marines down here to secure the colony and find the Protoss." Okay, now he was confused. That voice sounded like...

"Ma...gistrate?" Jim whispered when he managed to open his eyes. He was inside his parents' living room and lying on their couch. Right next to him was Lydia. She held his hand in hers, yet he could barely feel her touch. Oh, please don't say that he had managed to break his own neck and now he was paralyzed!

"Hey, Jim. I go by "Mayor" nowadays." the Magistrate replied. He hadn't seen the man in quite some time. For some odd reason, it felt like they hadn't seen each other in ages, though. "How are you feeling?"

"Like shit." Jim whispered and the other man chuckled.

"Yeah, well...you look like shit too."

"Where am I?" he wanted to know and the Magistrate knelt down right next to Lydia.

"Home. Your parents' home. When your mother reached the colony, we immediately send some guys with guns over to you, but the party was already over. The Protoss is gone, and we have no idea where he could be. Your father managed to scare him off, which doesn't come as a surprise to me. Like son like father, huh?"

"I... I just managed to land a lucky strike." Trace said with a distant voice. Jim's eyes rolled over to his father and he looked the older man right into the eyes. Something was wrong. His father was not a poor liar, but Jim knew that he wasn't telling the truth.

"Well, it was one hell of a lucky strike." the Magistrate replied. "Jim, you had some kind of...seizure. Don't worry, Dr. Hanson took a look at you and there's no permanent damage. But she gave you a mild sedative so you could rest. Still, now that you're awake, there is something we need to ask you. I'm sorry, Jim, but it can't wait." The Magistrate looked over to Lydia and sighed.

"Jim, who is Sarah?"

The moment the man mentioned that name, Jim winced in pain. He could see her inside his mind. Red hair. Green eyes...and tears of gold streaming down her face.

"Jim! He's in pain!" Lydia whined and put her hand on his forehead. "We should take him to the Hyperion and-"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Raynor...Lydia." the Magistrate interrupted her. "...but the whole colony is now under lockdown. Ships that come from the Hyperion are not allowed to return, we cannot risk that this Protoss might sneak on a dropship and manages to infiltrate a battlecruiser."

"Sounds...reasonable." Jim groaned and the Magistrate chuckled.

"Knew you would say that. But don't worry, your family is safe. The Marshal and several deputies are currently guarding this house, and some marines of the Hyperion have already started to search the nearby jungle."

"Tychus...is protecting my family?" Jim whispered. "Then all is lost..." But then his eyes widened in shock and he tried to get back up.

"Johnny! Where's Johnny, is he-"

"He is fine, Jim!" Lydia shouted and pressed her husband back down. "He's fine. He's upstairs and sleeps. Everything is fine now." If he could only believe that.

"Jim." the Magistrate than said. "While you were out of commission, you said some strange things. A name. Over and over again. Sarah. And that she's in danger, that you have to save her. Jim, if there's someone out there, we need to know more. Who's Sarah?"

Who was Sarah?

It was as if he could almost answer that question, like he was so close to the truth. But then he gritted his teeth in pain and groaned.

"I don't...know!"

"Jim, please!" his wife urged him. "Who is she?" There was pain in her voice. She probably thought that this Sarah was someone very dear to Jim. Well, that wasn't very far from the truth, now was it?

"Jim, I know that you're in pain, but you have to try to tell us-" the Magistrate tried to ask, but that's when Trace Raynor intervened.

"That's enough!" the older man barked, and everyone looked over at him.

"Mr. Raynor, please. I understand that he is your son and-" the Magistrate attempted to reason with him, but Trace just shook his head.

"No. You heard what Jim said. He doesn't know. No matter how much you ask, you won't get another answer. So, let him rest. End of discussion." his father growled, and no one dared to say otherwise.

"And what do you expect us to do?" Lydia wanted to know. There was a lot of bitterness in her voice.

"Go up and see how Johnny is doing." Trace offered. "It was a long day and we all need some rest. Go, leave Jim alone. I will watch over him." No one liked the idea, but this was still Trace's house, and he knew how to shoot any form of criticism right out of the next airlock.

"Very well. The Marshal and his men will continue to protect the house, though." the Magistrate then explained. "I will return to my office and discuss things with Captain Horner. Maybe he has an idea how to find the Protoss' ship. Somehow that bastard must have come here on his own. I can't imagine that he managed to hide on the Hyperion for all those months without anyone of us noticing it." And so, the Magistrate left. Both Lydia and Karol decided to leave Jim and Trace alone as well, and soon only the two men remained behind. For a long time, all Jim did was to listen to his own breath. Trace was sitting next to him and looking at his son's face.

"Just what have you gotten yourself into, Son?" he whispered and leaned forward. "Jim. Who is Sarah?" Jim looked at his father with weary eyes.

"I don't know."

"I think you do." his father replied. "I just think that you don't want to remember." When Jim heard that, he had to frown.

"What...what do you mean?"

"Jim, I know that you're not feeling well. I know that something is bothering you. And now I think I know what it could be." his father explained. "I had a little talk with a certain someone. Someone who holds you in very high regard. He told me a story. A story so unbelievable that I didn't want to believe it. But you know what he did?" Trace asked. "He saved your life. I have no idea what this Protoss did, but he saved your life. He said that he was your friend. Is that right?" Trace wanted to know.

"I..." Jim almost wanted to say something like "Don't know.", but then he fell silent.

"I take that as a yes." his father growled. "Jim, listen...I didn't understand half of what that creature told me, but he wanted me to tell you something. He said that Sarah...is about to die." When he heard that, Jim felt how his chest started to hurt.

"Son, listen, I don't know what's happening right now, but I know something is wrong. And both you and the Protoss, you are at the center of it all." Trace said, and Jim looked his father right into the eyes. He tried to make sense of it all, but he failed miserably.

"Zeratul...his name is Zeratul." Jim whispered.

"So you do know him." his father muttered and sighed. "What else? Who is he? Why is he here? And what does he really want from you?"

"I... I don't know." Jim hissed and closed his eyes. Tears started to stream down his face. His father stared at Jim's pained expression for a long time before he brushed with his hand over his short hair.

"Damn fine mess you made there, Son." he growled and shook his head. "I didn't tell them. I told them that I drove the Protoss away. And I didn't tell them that he probably saved your life. I'm not stupid, I know that there's something wrong. Something happened to you, James. And whatever it is...I'm afraid that it's taking my son away from me. I don't know what this is all about, but I know that this is not my decision. So, I ask you; what is it you ask me to do?" Jim opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say. All these fleeting images were barely making any sense.

"I don't...know!" he repeated his statement, but this time he felt nothing but despair. Why was everyone asking him things that he couldn't answer? His father saw his pain and frowned.

"Jim..." he then said with a soft voice. "...there's something I wanted to tell you. I wanted to do that for a long time, but I guess I was too stubborn or too proud to do that. You know how old men are. At one point, we think that talking about emotions isn't what makes the world go around." Jim opened his eyes and looked over to his father.

"What?"

"When you joined the military...when I heard that you had decided to become a freelancer...I was worried. Worried that you would ruin your life because of one stupid mistake, one idiotic decision. There was not a single day when I or your mother weren't thinking of you. Of what you were doing. _How_ you were doing." his father explained. "You went out there and did what you felt was right. And you failed. And then you stayed away. There were times when I wanted to get out there, find you, and drag you back home. But I didn't. And you want to know why?" Both men looked each other into the eyes.

"Why?" Jim whispered.

"Because I am a coward."

Coward? Trace Raynor? The man who had taught Jim to stand his ground? Good one!

"What?" Jim managed to gurgle and Trace showed him a sad smile.

"Jim...I never went out there because I was scared. Scared that I wouldn't find you and return empty-handed. And scared that I would find you but couldn't accept what you had become. And so I didn't go. When I should have helped you, when I should have stayed by your side...I didn't. Because I was a coward." Jim wanted to reply something, however, he felt as if he was about to choke. The smile on Trace's face turned from sad into gentle.

"But then something happened. You turned your life around. You settled down, you found a girl, and you had a family of your own. You decided to break away from that life of crime, you decided to become legit again. And I haven't told you that, but I want you to know it..."

In all the years that would follow, Jim would always ask himself one question; was that how his father had truly felt? Or was it just what he had always hoped to hear? In the end, it was one of many questions he would never be able to answer.

But perhaps that wasn't important anyway. Perhaps all Jim had ever wanted to hear were just those words...

"...I'm proud of you." Trace stood up and walked over to his son. He placed his hand on Jim's shoulder and looked him straight into the eyes.

"You did the one thing that I couldn't. You went out there and did what you felt was right. And you failed. However, instead of giving up, instead of losing yourself in a life filled with crime and violence, you decided to walk the other way. It is something I never did. Because the truth is..." Trace then took a deep breath. "...you are a lot braver than I ever was, Son. And I'm proud to be blessed with a son like you." His father tightened his grip on Jim's left shoulder.

"So, I'm asking...who is Sarah?"

"I don't know..." Jim whispered back, and then he frowned. "...but I think I can save her." And that's when Trace nodded.

"Good. Then get up, Son. It's time to do the right thing."


	82. Act III - Chapter 26

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 26**

 **The Worst Kind of Pain**

* * *

As a young boy, Jim sometimes had managed to make his parents really mad. Okay, he had actually managed to do that a lot of times. Like that one time, when he had destroyed another boy's bicycle because he had tried to ride it all the way down the hill.

To make a long story short, he had ruined that bike and in return had been grounded for an entire month. The lesson his parents had taught him had been simple; if you wreck other people's stuff, you will have to face the consequences. Of course, the consequences had turned far worse when he had decided to sneak out of the house, take his own bike, and head out in order to meet with some friends. One month of grounding had turned into three months. Jim still remembered how he had tried to sneak into the barn near the house where his bike had waited for him.

And so had his father.

Oh, the look on Jim's face had been priceless! The thirteen-year-old boy simply hadn't been able to believe that his old man had outsmarted him just like that. It had taught Jim a very important lesson.

No, not that you should do everything your parents tell you.

More like; if you do something that's against the rules, make sure that no one finds out.

They waited hours until everyone was either asleep or no longer paying attention. There were still some deputies around, though. These guys were meant to protect the house, but they weren't very happy with that order. Perhaps because they knew that a lousy pistol wouldn't do much against a goddamn Protoss.

When everything had fallen silent, Trace had opened the door and looked outside.

"Clear. Let's go." He and his son hurried over to the barn as fast as possible. Since there was no night on this planet, they had to move fast in order to avoid detection. Jim had done this many times, but never with the consent of his father. Under normal circumstances, this would have been hilarious. But Jim was all out of humor. When they were halfway to the barn, he suddenly stopped and looked back at the house. The two people he cared most about were in that house, Lydia and John. He felt like he was betraying them, but he knew that they would never allow him to leave. Well, Lydia would never forgive him for that, but he could deal with this when everything was over.

Right now, there was a job to be done.

"You know..." Jim whispered while trying to stay close to his father. "...I can't even remember how many times I sneaked into the barn in order to get my bike and go see my friend when you were sleeping."

"I stopped counting after the thirty-ninth time." Trace replied. He looked over his shoulder and saw Jim's disbelief. "Oh, now come on! What did I tell you about outsmarting an opponent?"

"Make him believe that he's stronger than you."

"Exactly. That will make him overconfident and you can take him by surprise. And let me tell you something, Son; you were never very sneaky."

"Then why didn't you ground me all the time?" Jim wanted to know.

"Because I knew that you only wanted to see your friends. I only punished you when you had done something wrong. Of course, your mother wasn't so happy about that."

"And here I always bragged in front of my friends that I was a goddamn ninja." Jim sighed. "So much for that childhood memory."

"I watched you countless of times, James. Every time you sneaked away, I watched you from the window of our bedroom. And I was always afraid that something might happen to you." his father explained, and Jim stopped when he heard that. He looked over his shoulder and at his parent's house. The first window to the right, first floor...that's where both Lydia and Johnny were right now. They were sleeping...

"They will understand...eventually." Trace said when he saw how Jim hesitated.

"Not so sure about that." the younger man mumbled.

"Jim, we have to hurry!" his father urged him, and Jim nodded.

"Yeah. You're probably right." He then averted his gaze from the window and both men continued towards the barn. Neither one of them noticed how a small figure appeared in the window and how it pressed its small hands against the cold glass.

When they finally reached the barn, Jim watched how his father pulled a key from his pocket. He unlocked the door and squeezed himself inside. Jim followed him and made sure to close the door behind him.

"I don't want to sound ungrateful..." he whispered when he saw how his father vanished into the darkness. "...but how does that grand plan of yours look like anyway?" It took Jim some a few moments until his eyes had adapted to the darkness. But when they did...

"Is that your old truck?" Jim whispered. The same truck that his father had owned on Shiloh?

"Yep, old Betsy never failed me. Couldn't leave her behind when we had to abandon home." his father's voice reached him from the shadows. "...at least that's what I thought." Jim knew that there was something wrong with this statement, but he couldn't finish that thought because suddenly his head started to hurt again.

"When the Marshal and his boys came, I had to act quickly. Help me with that, will ya'?" Trace asked, and now Jim could finally make out the silhouette of his father. He stood behind something big, something roughly the size of his father's truck, only much thinner. It was covered by a tarp and Jim had no idea what was beneath it. But it had to wait because Trace walked over to a heavy crate and started to push it away.

"I'm not exactly much help right now when it comes to lifting heavy things." Jim answered and his father groaned.

"I thought...children...were supposed...to show respect...to their elders!" Trace panted when he shoved the crate to the side.

"And I watch respectfully as you push stuff around." Jim replied. "Dad, what is this...wait a sec!" Suddenly he recognized what his father was doing. The crate stood on a trap door, a small secret hideout his father had used from time to time. Nothing too fancy, pretty much everyone on Shiloh had used something like that. You know, in order to have a safe place should a hurricane appear. Or the tax-man.

"When the Marshal and his boys came...I told them that I checked the barn myself. But they still checked the whole place. Good thing that they weren't doing a good job." Trace explained and raised his foot. He stomped on the trap door one time, two times, three times, and then made a step backward.

"What now?" Jim asked, but that's when the hatch was opened and a gray hand with three fingers appeared. Jim's eyes widened in shock and he almost fell on his butt. From the secret room beneath the barn, the Dark Prelate emerged. Jim didn't know what to say or do, he felt both fear and relief. A part of him didn't know what to make of this, another part recognized the alien in front of him.

"Friend Raynor. I have finally found you..." Zeratul said and made a step forward, but then he groaned and fell on his knees.

"You don't look so good, pal." Trace muttered when he looked at the wounded Protoss. "Sorry 'bout the shovel to the stomach, though."

"Dad, what is this about?" Jim demanded to know. His father looked over at him and he could see the serious expression on Trace Raynor's face.

"That's what I want to know. My Son, who saves us all from certain doom, decides one day to walk into the jungle and disappears without telling anyone what he has planned. He returns a few days later. He's injured and doesn't remember anything. But he is always screaming a name; Sarah. And then, when everything seems to be fine, an alien shows up and my son has some kind of seizure. I try to save him, but I can't. And then this guy does what I can't." Trace pointed with his finger at Zeratul. "He then tells me that you have to save Sarah. That, whoever she is, she will die if you don't. And I realize that there's something going on that I don't understand."

"Why are you doing this?" Jim whispered.

"Because I trust you." For a long time, neither one of them said a word. It was Zeratul who finally started to speak after a while.

"I am sorry, Friend Raynor. For everything that has happened. But we are running out of time. We have to hurry. Sarah Kerrigan, I can take you to her. Now."

Sarah Kerrigan...

"Sarah..." Jim whispered and he stared at his left hand. Red hair. Green eyes. And a gentle smile. And so much sadness inside her heart, so much pain. Trace watched the expression on his son's face and looked over to Zeratul.

"And where would this Sarah be, huh?" the older man wanted to know.

"Four days by foot, beyond the desolate landscape and-" Zeratul said, but that's when Trace almost yelled in anger.

"Beyond the BADLANDS? Now you're telling me that you want to take my son to the only place that is off limits for everyone?!" Trace roared in rage.

"Badlands?" Jim asked, and both the other man and the Protoss looked at him.

"You don't remember?" Trace muttered and sighed. "Oh, Jim...the badlands are a place we don't understand. Weird stuff is happening there. Bolts of Lightning frozen in time, the earth itself is dead. The Mayor ordered that no one was allowed to go there."

"And that is where Sarah is." Zeratul explained.

"Go figure." Trace growled

"Then I have to go there." his son whispered.

"We have to hurry! It will take us roughly four standard days to get there and-" Zeratul groaned.

"Four days? Zeratul, I can't even walk straight for one hour!" Jim shot back. And inside his mind, the other voice said something as well.

" _She doesn't have four days..."_

"Good thing that I got this baby here then." Trace Raynor said and turned towards the object that was still hidden under the tarp. He grabbed the cover and pulled it away, and when Jim saw it, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh no..." Zeratul groaned. "...I really start to hate these machines."

It was a vulture bike.

And not just any vulture bike. It was _Jim's_ vulture bike. The one that he had used on Mar Sara. He walked over to the machine and placed his burned hand on the cold metal.

"How the hell did that thing get here?" he wanted to know and his father sighed again.

"You left it here. There's no room for that thing in your home, and Lydia didn't want to have that beast standing around. She was afraid that you would take John for a ride one day. And Karol agreed." his father explained.

"Then we have to use it." Zeratul said. "Time is of the essence. I was afraid that we would not be able to reach Sarah Kerrigan in time, but with this, we might be able to do it. However, we have to go now!"

"Hold on!" Jim barked. "I have no idea what this is about! Dad, you can't be serious! What is-"

"JIM!" his father shouted and walked over to his son. He grabbed Jim by the shoulders and looked him straight into the eyes. "We have no time for this. Please! Just do what you think is right! And we both know what that is. Now, the deputies and the Marshall will notice when someone will start the vulture bike, I will try to buy you as much time as possible. But you need to act quickly!"

"I...I don't think I can do this." Jim replied.

"Yes. Yes, you can. And you want to know why?"

"Why?"

"Because you're my son." Trace declared with a proud smile on his face. "And my son is no quitter." Jim opened his mouth and wanted to reply something, but then he just closed it and nodded.

"Okay...okay, I'll do it. But tell Liddy and Johnny that I'll be back as soon as possible." When Jim said that, a sad expression appeared on Trace's face, but he managed to regain his composure almost in an instant.

"I will. Now get going, Jim!"

"I need some time to fire up the engine." his son replied.

"Do that. I will go back to the house and try to gather all the deputies so no one will follow you guys. Oh...and one more thing..." Before Jim could say anything, his father grabbed him and hugged him.

"Wha...?"

"I want you to know...that I'm so damn proud of you, my son." Trace whispered into Jim's ear before he released his son and turned around. He walked back to the door of the barn and slipped outside without looking one more time at Jim. However, the younger man could swear that his father was...crying? When he was gone, Jim stared at the door.

"Friend Raynor, there is something else we need to discuss." the Protoss behind him said, and Jim sighed. He turned around and was about to reply something very unfriendly when suddenly the huge hand of the alien grabbed his head. For a second he thought that the creature would simply kill him right here and now. But then...

"YAAAARGHH!" Jim screamed when suddenly raw psionic energies flooded his mind. For a second, it felt as all if his brain cells were about to explode, but then the moment was already gone. And that's when it all came back to him...

 _This could be our home..._

 _I killed my own mother..._

 _When you find the real me...tell her this..._

It was as if someone was cutting through the fog that had clouded Jim's senses for so long. Sharp pain caused him to groan, but it paled in comparison to what he was seeing. Everything that had happened until now hit him at once. His parents...and their deaths. Mar Sara. Lydia and Johnny, and how they died. All the people he had lost. All the battles he had fought. And then there was she...

 _Sarah._

The one thing that still mattered to him. He stumbled backward and had to hold onto the vulture bike. He hissed in pain and shook his head in order to clear his thoughts. When Jim finally had calmed down, he looked around and frowned.

"Where...where am I? Sarah?" That's when he recognized the Protoss right next to him. "Zeratul? What's going on here? Where's Sarah?"

"That is a long story, Friend Raynor. And I am afraid that we do not have the time to discuss this matter. We have to return to Sarah Kerrigan. There is still hope, but it fades with every passing minute." Jim shook his head when he heard that.

"I...I had a dream, Zeratul. A weird, scary dream. But it was so real! I saw my...my family. My wife and my son, and there were my parents and-"

"Daddy?" Both Jim and Zeratul froze when they heard the small boy's voice. They turned their heads around and could see Johnny, who was standing right next to the door.

"Oh no..." Jim whispered in shock. "...it was no dream?"

* * *

The little boy had managed to sneak out of the house after both his mother and his grandmother had fallen asleep. He had watched how his father and his grandfather had hurried over to the barn. Daddy and Grandpa were having fun? Johnny wanted to have fun too!

And so the small boy had left the room, walked down the stairs and managed to get to the barn with no one noticing him. He had seen how his grandpa had started to talk to all those police officers and how he had lured them away. Johnny didn't understand Trace's strange behavior, but he knew one thing; his Daddy was inside the barn. And Johnny wanted to play with his father!

No one paid attention to the small boy running over the green grass and towards the barn. He was almost too short to reach the doorknob and had to stretch himself in order to grab it. He slipped into the barn and looked around.

"Daddy?"

It was too dark to see much, but he could make out two figures. The first one reminded him of his father, as for the second...

"Oh no..." Jim whispered "...it was no dream?"

"Daddy!" Johnny shouted and ran towards his father. He didn't care about the other figure, why should he? The Protoss, however, made a step backward and vanished into the shadows.

"James Raynor, we do not have time for this!" Zeratul urged him. "We have to be on our way." But Jim looked like he was confused. Suddenly it all came together, the strange experiences of the last few days and how it all had started. However, Jim's mind wasn't a goddamn computer, he needed time to process all of this, to make sense of it.

Unfortunately, there was no time left.

"Daddy, wanna play!" little Johnny shouted and slung his arms around Jim's legs.

"Friend Raynor!" Zeratul whispered from the shadows. "We have to hurry!" Johnny looked up and could see two green eyes glowing in the darkness.

"Daddy, what is that?!" he asked with a frightened tone in his voice. This was bad, if Johnny would scream out loud then Tychus and his men would rush to the barn. Jim had to act quickly. And so he went down on his knees and put his burned hand on his son's shoulder.

"It's okay! He's a friend, Johnny! A friend of mine, a very good one too! He won't hurt you. See, he's harmless. Come out, Zeratul. So he can see you." The Dark Prelate hesitated for a short moment, but then he stepped out of the shadows and stopped right in front of them.

"Johnny, now I need you to listen carefully; This Protoss is a friend, and he's-"

"Whoa!" his son gasped. "He's big!" Suddenly he was no longer scared, maybe he had only been frightened before because his grandmother had been terrified. Whatever the reason, Jim sighed in relief.

"Yeah, he is. Now Johnny, listen to me; I need you to go back into the house and return to your mother. Can you do that?" he asked, but Johnny just shook his head.

"Wanna go with Daddy!"

"James Raynor..." Zeratul whispered and put his hand on Jim's shoulder. "...perhaps you should take a moment." Jim looked over his shoulder and frowned.

"Why? I thought you said that we were in a hurry? We need to find Sarah and-"

"Friend Raynor." the Dark Prelate said again. And this time there was so much sadness in his voice. "You know what is going to happen if we succeed." At first, Jim had no idea what Zeratul was talking about, but then he started to remember and he went pale.

"No..." Jim whispered and Zeratul nodded.

"James, all of this will seize to exist if we manage to save Sarah Kerrigan."

Jim didn't dare to answer to that. He turned his eyes back to his son and could feel how his chest felt as if it was about to implode.

"No...no...you can't ask me to do this." Jim whispered.

"I am afraid that there is no other choice, Friend Raynor."

"But you said...you said that this would become reality!" Jim spat back.

"Yes. At the price of Sarah Kerrigan's life." Zeratul replied.

"But...there has to be another way! You can't ask that of me! I can't do that!" Jim hissed in despair.

"Daddy? What's wrong?" his son wanted to know, but Jim wasn't able to answer that question. The implications were simply too cruel. Tears started to stream down his face, and he could hear Zeratul behind him.

"I am truly sorry, my friend." the Dark Prelate said. "But you know the truth. If we do not stop this, the reunion with your family will be a short-lived one. The Queen of Blades, the Overmind, Narud...and even Amon. They all could return to this realm. And then-"

"Stop it!" Jim hissed once more, and Zeratul lowered his gaze.

"I am sorry..." the Nerazim said again and returned to the shadows. "...the decision is, of course, yours. We both know that there are no other options. At least...now you have the chance to say goodbye."

"Daddy?" his son asked. "Are you going away?" Jim looked into his son's big eyes and had to swallow hard.

And now he had finally hit rock bottom.

"No..." Jim whispered and put his hand on his son's cheek. "Daddy is going nowhere." That's what he wanted to say. That's what he wanted to believe. This was a second chance, how many people could claim to get one?

He wanted to grab his son, head back over to his parent's house, go to Lydia and then tell her that they would go home. It was what his heart told him to do. It could become reality, right? He could have his family back, right?

RIGHT?!

Jim had believed that he had experienced the deepest pits of despair, that nothing could torment him anymore. He had been wrong.

Deep in his heart, he knew what he had to do. There was no right or wrong, but a father couldn't just turn away from his own child!

No, his heart knew what he had to do. What he wanted to do. And suddenly he realized where all of it had gone wrong...

" _I'm so sorry...so, so sorry."_ the voice in the back of his mind wept. Now he remembered this voice, it almost sounded like Sarah's, and it had bugged him ever since she had left him after killing Amon.

He looked into his son's eyes and a sad smile appeared on Jim's face. His heart knew what he had to do. But this was not the moment to listen to your heart. The heart can be a fleeting thing, and it can turn any man into a fool. Or worse, into a murderer. When Jim had left his home in order to join the military, he had followed his heart. Because it had felt like the right thing to do back then. Sometimes you had to listen to your heart, yes. And sometimes you have to listen to what your brain tells you is right.

Jim knew that this place was doomed. Even if his family would become real again, what about the others? The Queen of Blades (the one that wasn't very friendly), Narud, and whoever Sarah's mind had created so far? It would be a short reunion. Jim would fight them. Of course he would. But he knew that he wouldn't be able to save his family. He would lose them all over again.

He wouldn't be able to do that. He knew that it would break him for good.

And there was another reason. Even though the logical part of his mind told him that any reunion with his family would be a short-lived one, there was another problem.

He could have his family back, yes. He only had to sacrifice the woman he had fallen in love with.

Now, this was the godmother of all cruel jokes. What had he done to deserve this?

"Friend Raynor..." Zeratul whispered. Perhaps he could feel Jim's despair? Or his doubts? Jim could feel how his own conviction started to fall apart just as he looked at his son.

"Daddy? Are you...leaving?"

Inside his chest, Jim could feel how a part of him just died.

"No..." he whispered and put his hand on his son's cheek. "...Daddy isn't going anywhere." But that was a lie. He swallowed hard and had to fight back the tears. In the end, he failed miserably.

"James!" Zeratul pleaded with him to reconsider, but right now Jim didn't care about the Dark Prelate. He had made up his mind...

"I just need to go and see someone. She's a good friend of mine, and right now she's in a great deal of pain. And I have to help her."

"Do you have to go?" his son pleaded and Jim nodded.

"Imagine...imagine it would be your Mum. Or Gran Gran. If they were in pain, you would want to help them, right?" Johnny nodded when he heard that and Jim's smile turned softer. "Of course you would. Because you're a good boy."

"Will you come back when you helped your friend?" his son wanted to know with nothing but innocent in his voice.

Right now Jim wanted to be dead. He wanted it just to end. No more pain, no more fear, no more sadness. Unfortunately, he couldn't. He had to do this. If not for his own sake, then for the sake of all those who wouldn't enjoy a return of the Queen of Blades, or Arcturus Mengsk, or Amon, or the devil himself.

He had to put an end to it. One way or the other.

"Yeah." Jim lied to Johnny. "Yeah, I will come back really soon. And then you and I will do something fun, yeah? Like climbing trees." When his son heard that, his eyes widened in glee.

"Really? You will climb trees with me?"

"Every damn tree on this planet, Johnny." Jim replied. Hot tears started to stream down his face. He couldn't fight it anymore. "Now do me a favor. Can you do that, partner?" And Johnny nodded like crazy. "Get back to your Mum. And let her sleep. When she wakes up, tell her...tell her that I'll be fine and that she shouldn't worry. How about it, partner?"

"Okay!" Johnny said and tried to show Jim a military salute, only to fail spectacularly by putting his own hand on his head.

"Good man." Jim whispered. Then Johnny turned around and wanted to leave the barn, but Jim decided to do one last act of foolishness. He reached out and grabbed his son with his left arm and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Daddy? What's wrong?" his son suddenly whined, not understanding why his father was acting like that. "Why are you crying?" And that's when Jim realized that he was crying like a little, well, child.

"It's okay, Johnny. Daddy is just under a lot of pressure. Everything will be fine once I'm back." he lied again. He leaned back and looked his son once more into the eyes.

"Johnny, there's something I want you to know." Jim sobbed. "I want you to know that I love you. Both you and your mother. I always loved you and that will never change. Yes?"

"I love you too, Daddy."

Oh damn...

He pressed Johnny against his chest and gritted his teeth in pain. However, this time it wasn't his broken arm or his burned hand that caused him any pain. No, it was his very soul that was tearing itself apart.

"Daddy, you're hurting me!" Johnny whined and Jim loosened his tight grip on the small boy.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Jim then let go of Johnny and put his hand on the boy's cheek. "Promise me..." he said with a choking voice. "...promise me to take care of your mother, will you do that?" Johnny nodded and Jim swallowed hard. He had to gather all of his remaining strength and gave his son one last gentle smile.

"Good. Now go back to the house, yes? And don't look back." Jim was a coward, he knew that. He wanted Johnny to go because he knew that he wouldn't be able to do what he had to do when Johnny would ask him to stay. However, Johnny was a good little boy. One that listened to what his father told him to do.

"Okay, Daddy. I love you!" he said and kissed his father on the cheek. Jim winced on the inside and watched how his son turned around and hurried towards the door. He didn't even look over his shoulder when he slipped outside. The little man had no doubts that his father would return to him. When he was gone, Jim stared at his own hands and more tears started to stream down his face.

"I know that my words cannot ease your suffering, Friend Raynor..." Zeratul then said as he stepped out of the shadows again. He put his hand on Jim's shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze. "...but it had to be done." Jim closed his eyes and felt the urge to look for a gun and blow his own brain out. But then he took a deep breath and got back on his feet.

"I need a minute to-" he tried to say, but that's when they heard just outside shouting.

"Johnny!" It was Lydia. "Where have you been? Where is your father?"

"-or not." Jim gagged and walked over to the vulture bike. He activated its systems and realized that it was in perfect shape.

His real bike had never been in perfect shape. He looked over to Zeratul. Tears were still streaming down his cheeks, but he now knew that there was no turning back. He climbed on the vulture bike and grabbed the controls with his burned hand. It hurt, yes. But the pain was nothing compared to what was going on inside his heart right now.

"Let's go." he snarled and Zeratul nodded. The Dark Prelate climbed on the bike's back and then Jim activated the antigrav repulsors. The vulture bike jumped half a meter up into the air before it stabilized itself.

"Jim? Jim! Where are you!" It was Lydia's voice again. But it wasn't the only one.

"Where is he?" Tychus barked.

"Sir, we don't know." someone else said, but Jim didn't recognize that voice. And then...

"Johnny, have you seen your father?" Lydia asked.

"He told me that you shouldn't worry. But he has to help a friend! He and his alien friend." Jim gritted his teeth when he heard that.

"Hold on!" he barked, and Zeratul did as he was told. Jim turned the vulture bike around so it would face the big door on the front of the barn.

"I hear something! It's coming from the barn!" one of Tychus' men yelled.

"JIM! Is that you?!" Lydia screamed in terror, but he had to do this.

"Forgive me...Liddy...Johnny. I love you." And then he pushed the pedal to the metal. The vulture bike jumped forward. The wooden doors of the barn offered no resistance and when the heavy bike broke through it, Jim could see the shocked faces of Tychus, his men and...

"JIM!" Lydia screamed in terror. Their eyes met for a second, and he could see that she carried Johnny in her arms. And his son? He gave his father a thumbs-up and smiled at him.

"Bye-bye, Daddy! See you soon!" Johnny shouted, and Jim screamed in pain and rage when he turned the heavy vulture bike around and headed straight for the nearby valley. Behind him, he could hear the screams of his wife and Tychus and his men. But it didn't matter.

It just didn't matter anymore.

Nothing mattered anymore.

* * *

No one followed them. And Zeratul didn't say anything either, something Jim was grateful for. The airflow had dried his tears, but it didn't change the fact that he felt the urge to ram his vulture bike into the next tree at full speed.

" _I love you, Daddy."_

Jim tried to concentrate as much as possible on the landscape right in front of him, but it didn't change the fact that he felt dead on the inside. Just how much could a man take before he would break? Jim had reached that point a long time ago. Now the only thing that resides inside his chest was a black hole where his soul had been.

He felt empty.

He felt dead on the inside.

Zeratul seemed to notice Jim's sour mood. Though "sour mood" was not the right way to describe how Jim felt. Defeated? Heartbroken?

The more distance they gained to the colony, the more Jim could remember. It all came back to him. Unfortunately, that didn't make it any easier for him. On the contrary, he remembered what Zeratul had told him earlier. That if Sarah dies, everyone else might become real again. He hadn't really cared about that. All he had tried to do was to get Sarah back, his Sarah. But now things had changed. What he had seen, what he had experienced...it had shaken his resolve.

A part of him still wanted to turn around and return to his family. And who could judge him for that, huh? He was truly caught between a rock and a hard place. It was a dilemma, one that he couldn't solve just like that. One that would haunt him for the rest of his days, which wouldn't be that long anyway should he not succeed.

Well, at least he didn't have to ask for directions. All he had to do was to drive towards the horizon that looked like it was on fire.

"Not very subtle, Sarah." he whispered to himself and made sure to keep his vulture bike on course.

There were so many things he had to think about, but he didn't want to. Right now Jim wanted to hear nothing, see nothing, and talk to no one. That's why he wasn't very happy when Zeratul started to talk again.

"Friend Raynor..."

"Not now, Zeratul." Jim growled.

"But Friend Raynor-"

"Please, I don't want to talk about it."

"James, we do not have any time to lose!" the Dark Prelate urged him.

"I know that! _I know that!_ You told me plenty of times!" Jim spat out and looked over his shoulder.

"Then why are you slowing down?" his companion asked, and only then Jim realized that he had indeed slowed his vulture bike down and now they were traveling at a pitiful speed. Well, pitiful for vulture bike-standards anyway. "While I do not appreciate the nature of these vehicles, I know that they can travel much faster. So please, we need to hurry and...James? James, what is the matter?" the Dark Prelate wanted to know when Jim slowed down even further. The vulture bike taxied to a standstill and all Jim could do was to stare at the landscape in front of him.

"James, what is the matter? We need to move and-"

"I can't." he replied.

"What?"

"I can't do it, Zeratul. I can't. I'm done. It's too much. I can't decide which one has to live and which one has to die." Jim mumbled.

"I understand how you feel, but-"

"Do you?!" Jim hissed and looked over his shoulder. Zeratul's eyes widened when he saw how fresh tears streamed down the man's face. "Do you really know how I feel? That was my family... _IS_ my family! I can't abandon them! Not again!"

"You know that your reunion with them will be a short-lived one." Zeratul tried to reason with him, but Jim wasn't in the mood to hear that right now.

"I failed them, Zeratul." Jim suddenly whispered and stared back at the landscape in front of them.

"What?"

"My family. I failed them. I allowed them to take Johnny away. And I wasn't able to save Liddy either. She died because I was a failure as a husband and a father. Because I wasn't the man I should have been."

" _You learned from that mistake."_ the voice in the back of his mind told him.

"She died from an infection, there was nothing you could have do-" Zeratul said.

"She died of a broken heart." Jim cut Zeratul short. "I lost my family because I wasn't man enough." And then he shook his head. "I can't, Zeratul. I can't do that again. I can't abandon them again! I...I..." Someone once said that real men don't cry. Well, whoever had said that probably never had lost a child. Jim had no idea what else he could do. He lowered his head and started to sob again.

For a long time, Zeratul did nothing but to watch Jim. He put his hand on the man's shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze.

"Even though I have seen your memories, I still do not understand much of your species. Our kind treats family differently, but we too love our children. I..." Zeratul sighed. "...I myself never had children of my own. And I was never as close to my parents as you were. But when I spoke to your father...when I saw your son...I felt their pride and love for you. And I admit that I am somewhat envious. The way you treat family? It is without holding back. It is admirable...and scary."

"Scary?" Jim asked.

"Yes, scary. Perhaps that is the reason why I never found someone, perhaps that is the reason why I never had a family of my own. I could not imagine loving someone the way you do. But even then you know what your duty is. And that is remarkable."

"You suck at pep talks." Jim growled.

"Indeed. But that is not the point here. Saving Sarah Kerrigan is the only logical course of action and you know tha-"

"NO!" Jim suddenly screamed and jumped off his vulture bike. "No, I don't know that! Screw logic! Can't you see what this means to me? Perhaps they are not real to you, but they are to _me_!" He turned away and started to kick a nearby deadfall.

"GOD..." Jim screamed. "...EFFIN'..." And Zeratul watched how Jim screamed out in rage and despair. "...DAMMIT!" He continued to kick the piece of dead wood until he was too exhausted to go on. He dropped to his knees and started to sob again.

"Why...why, Sarah? Why did you have to do that? Did you think...that my family would me make happy again...knowing that I would have to sacrifice you to get them...get them back?" His tears fell on the earth and vanished in the ground. When Zeratul heard that, he climbed off the vulture bike and walked over to his companion.

"Damn...just damn..." Jim whispered and shook his head. "Why, Sarah? Why?"

"It was not her doing, James." Zeratul then said, and Jim sobbed a few more times before he looked over his shoulder.

"What?" The Dark Prelate sighed when he heard that question and knelt down right next to Jim.

"What I will tell you now..." the Nerazim then said. "...will probably cause you even more pain. And I deeply apologize for that. But you do deserve the truth. What you have experienced...the family that has returned to you...that was not Sarah Kerrigan's doing. It was your own." When Jim heard that, he stared at Zeratul for a long time. And when he finally managed to say something, it was just one word.

"Bullshit."

"It is the truth, Friend Raynor." Zeratul said with a sad tone in his voice. "Sarah Kerrigan is more powerful than anything we can imagine. But even if she dies, her powers will live on. They are everywhere, deforming reality as we speak and-"

"I'm not a psionic! Right now I can't even open a can of soda on my own, how the hell am I supposed to create people just out of thin air?!" Jim hissed.

"Because you wished to be with your family again. And because you share a connection with Sarah Kerrigan. Narud tried to get to her because he wants to secure her powers, her essence. He believes that these powers will enable him to bring Amon back to life. And I fear that this could be very much the case if Narud manages to succeed in reaching Sarah Kerrigan. And he is not the only one that poses a threat. Now that Sarah Kerrigan's mind is starting to fall apart, her powers run rampant. And they found something to do when you wished for everything to end, for to be with your family again." And when Jim heard that, his eyes widened in shock.

"No..." he whispered. "...no." The implications were clear. It meant that he had done that to himself. And it also meant...

...that deep down in his heart, he had decided to abandon Sarah.

"James, please. We have to go!" Zeratul urged him, but Jim just stared at the horizon. "James!"

"What's the point?" he replied. "What's the point, Zeratul? I can't do this. I'm not the man that can stop this madness. I can't save her. Just like I couldn't save my own family." Sometimes, when you hit rock bottom, you feel like you are in a deep pit, so deep that you can't even see one ray of light, that you can see no hope or no future at all. Zeratul realized that Jim was no longer willing to go on, that he was all out of juice. Who could blame him? He had achieved the impossible. Jim Raynor had endured things no other human could have endured, things that not even most Protoss could have endured. But no more.

"James, there is something I have to tell you."

"I don't wanna hear it." Jim whispered.

"It is important. It is a message. From your father." And when Zeratul said that, the man looked at him.

"What?"

"We talked. When he hid me in this barn. He asked me where I knew you from, why I helped you, and who Sarah was. I told him everything." When Jim heard that, his eyes widened in shock.

"What are you saying?"

"He knew that he was not real. He knew that once you would manage to save Sarah Kerrigan, his own existence and that of everyone else would seize to exist. Including everyone in the colony. And your family." Zeratul explained and Jim shook his head.

"No...no, you're lying. Why would he do that? Why would he allow me to leave and-"

"Because..." Zeratul interrupted him and put his hand once more on Jim's shoulder. "...he wanted me to tell you that you did not fail your family. You did not fail your wife or your son. And you did not fail your parents either. And you will not fail Sarah Kerrigan either."

"And why's that?" Jim asked with a choking voice. And Zeratul's next words caused Jim's eyes to widen.

"Because...there are things that are just worth fighting for."

* * *

The moment the Mayor entered the living room, all eyes turned towards him.

"And?" Lydia asked and looked up. There was so much confusion all over her face, and there was no one who could blame her for that. After all, her husband had just decided to flee on a vulture bike, with a huge alien at his side.

"I called the Hyperion, they will dispatch additional troops as soon as possible. We will place the whole colony on a lockdown, and Captain Horner will do a scan of the whole archipelago from above. However, that will take some time."

"But...but what about now?!" Lydia whined and stood up. Her whole body was shaking, and pretty much everyone in this room felt pity for her. Well, maybe everyone except for Tychus. "We need to find Jim!"

"I know, that's why Captain Horner sent a specialist down here. She's hour best hunter, and she will try to go after him." the Magistrate said. That's when a woman stepped into the living room and shouldered her heavy sniper-rifle.

"Hello, beautiful!" Tychus chuckled when he saw the blonde woman. Though he was only staring at her butt. She was wearing a skin-tight Ghost-suit, and her blue eyes looked at everyone as if she was checking them out.

"And?" the Mayor asked, and Nova frowned.

"I checked the barn. There are not many tracks I can follow, given the fact that they used a vulture bike. But I've worked with less."

"Please!" Lydia whined and hurried over to the former assassin. Nova seemed to be highly uncomfortable when Jim's wife grabbed her hand and looked her into the eyes. "You have to find him! Bring him home, to his family!"

"Sure, whatever." Nova growled and looked over to the Mayor. "A word, please?" The man in charge nodded, and together with Tychus they walked out of the room. The Raynor's were left behind, and when Lydia sat down on the couch again and began to sob, Karol walked over to her daughter-in-law and comforted her the best way she could.

"Don't worry, Liddy. I'm sure everything will be okay. I just know it." However, Liddy was not able to appreciate that. Trace hadn't said anything. All he did was to stare out of the window and think about what would happen next. He hadn't told the others anything. They wouldn't understand. Hell, even he didn't really understand any of this.

"My Son..." he whispered. "...I am proud of you."

* * *

"Hmm...hmm...hmmm..." Johnny sang while he sat on a crate inside the barn. His mother had been angry at him because he had sneaked out of the house, even though she had told him not to do it. He felt really bad for making his mum angry. But not bad enough for not doing it once more. Right now all the adults were so confused, they didn't have any time to look out for a small boy who didn't want to listen to anyone.

His daddy had promised him to return, and little Johnny had no doubts that he would be back soon. That's why he had sneaked out again. Everyone in the house thought that he was inside his bed, but Johnny was sneaky! He was a little ninja!

Waiting was boring, but when his daddy was back, he would go climb trees with him!

And so Johnny waited inside the barn. It was the only place where his dad could park that awesome vulture bike!

That's when Johnny heard something. At first, he thought that it was his mother, who had finally figured out that he was no longer in his bed. He had watched how Lydia had cried, and what he heard sounded like a woman weeping. He looked around and blinked a few times.

"Mum? Gran Gran?" But no one answered. However, the weeping continued, and Johnny jumped off the crate he was sitting on. "Hello?"

"...I didn't know...I had no idea that it had been like this..." a woman's voice whimpered. It was coming from the other side of the thin walls of the barn. Johnny, totally oblivious to what was going on around him, decided to go and check it out. He slipped out of the barn and stumbled to the back of the building on his short legs.

And when he walked around the corner, he stopped and tilted his head to the side.

"Hello?"

Right in front of him was a woman. She had huddled herself against the wall of the barn and pulled her legs up to her chin. He had never seen that woman before, yet for some odd reason he liked her.

"Why are you crying? Are you hurt?" Johnny asked, and that's when the woman looked up. She was young, though still a lot older than little Johnny. When their eyes met, he blinked in surprise. There was something odd about this young woman. She was crying, yes. But her tears...they were glowing!

"Are you a princess?" Johnny suddenly asked. When the young woman heard that, a sad smile appeared on her face.

"A...Princess? Why do you think that?" she chuckled. But it was a sad chuckle.

"Mommy tells me a story from time to time, of a princess crying for someone to save her. Are you a princess?" Johnny watched how a gentle smile appeared on the young woman's face.

"I suppose you could say that. You're Johnny, right?" When he heard that, his eyes widened in surprise.

"You know me?"

"Yeah, I do. I have heard so much about you." she whispered, and for some odd reason Johnny felt as if he could trust the young woman. It was strange because his parents had always told him to stay away from strangers.

"Who are you? Do you know my daddy?" When the young woman heard that, she had to swallow hard. It was as if that question was causing her pain.

"Yes...he and I, we are..." But then her voice failed her and she looked away. "...they told me. They told me about all of this. But seeing it with my own two eyes? It's not fair. None of this is fair." Johnny watched how the young woman swallowed hard.

"Are you a friend of daddy?" Johnny asked again, and the young woman took a deep breath. She wiped away her glowing tears and offered the boy a warm smile.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you. It's a secret, you know. Only really brave boys can now of it." When Johnny heard that, his eyes widened in glee.

"I am a brave boy! I can even count to 12!" Nevermind that those two things aren't even related to each other.

"Really?" the young woman asked and offered him a somewhat roguish smile. It almost looked like the smile Jim offered to people whenever he had a _really_ smart idea. "But it's a secret. I can't tell you, only if you promise to keep it to yourself. You can't tell anyone, not even your mother. Can you do that?" Johnny thought about it for a moment, and then he nodded.

"Yep, I can! Now tell me! Tell me!" he pleaded, and the young woman gestured him to come closer. When he was near her, she leaned forward and whispered something in his ear. And when he did it, his eyes widened in awe.

"You are my-"

"JOHNNY!" Lydia's voice suddenly reached them from the house. Darn it, they had figured out that he had sneaked away. "JOHNNY, WHERE ARE YOU?" The young woman placed her hand on Johnny's cheek, and a fresh tear streamed down her face.

"Go to your mother." she then whispered. Instead of giving her backtalk, Johnny nodded and turned around. When he was about to vanish around the corner, the young woman shouted his name once more.

"Johnny!"

"Yes?" he asked and stopped. The smile she showed him was both sad and gentle at the same time.

"I'm glad that we met. Now go." And when the young woman was finally alone again, she buried her head between her knees again and continued to cry.

It wasn't over. Not yet. There was still one thing that had to be done.

"Please..." she whispered. "...save her. I need you. Both of you." And then she looked up to that magnificent sky and more tears of gold streamed down her face. "Please..."

* * *

The journey to the badlands was a silent one. Zeratul's words hadn't eased Jim's pain, nor had they restored his resolve. He was simply flying on autopilot. It was the only way how he could go on right now; to ignore his heart and the pain in his chest as much as possible.

Badlands...

That's what his father had called the place Sarah's powers had ruined. And it was a fitting name. The moment Jim spotted the golden bolts of lightning, he had to shiver. Inside his mind, he wondered if there was something else that would go wrong. By now it was obvious that the universe loved to kick him in the balls every time he was about to reach Sarah.

They reached the place where the Swarm had fought Mobius, but the battle was finally over. It looked as if the Swarm had won, though there was no real way to say that for certain. Jim had to slow down when he saw all those bodies. He saw dead Zerg, dead Terrans...and two dead Protoss. He was about to slow down once more, but Zeratul put his hand on Jim's shoulder and shook his head.

"No, Friend Raynor. Do not look back. This is the price we all will have to pay should we not succeed." It felt disrespectful, but Zeratul was right.

"What about Narud?" Jim suddenly asked. "It has been days, right? Then why hasn't he reached Sarah yet?"

"Oh, he has. However, he no longer poses a threat." When Jim heard that, he had to frown.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You will see for yourself soon enough. Now please, we are almost there. Let us hurry." And so Jim did as he was told. The closer they got to Sarah, the more he had to slow down. The condition of the landscape had taken a turn for the worse, and soon they moved with the speed of a snail. The unlikely pair continued their journey until they reached another wreckage. It was a crashed dropship. And soon after that, they came past the point where...

Suddenly Jim started to slow down.

"James, do not do this, we have to-"

"I can't leave her like this." Jim just whispered. So perhaps they were on a tight schedule, but even among all this madness, there was something that he just had to do. A last act of kindness. He owed her that much.

The body still lay where Narud had killed her. Both parts. Jim climbed off his vulture bike and hobbled over to the upper half of the body. He could hear Zeratul's pleading voice, but he chose to ignore the Dark Prelate. He had to do this. Jim knelt down right next to her and looked into her empty eyes. He didn't dare to look further down than her chest. He knew that there was nothing left but flesh and entrail,s and he didn't want to see that. Her lower body lay a couple of dozen meters away, the blood had already dried up. And as he stared into the dead eyes of the primal Queen of Blades, he had to swallow hard. Jim put his hand on her cold cheek and a sad smile appeared on his face.

"I want you to know..." he then whispered. "...that you're now officially my second favorite Sarah of all times." And then he closed her eyelids one final time. As he looked into her face, he did no longer see the infested woman she had become. Or the Zerg. Or the monster. He saw a Sarah he had never bothered to care for.

"James, please. We have to...what are you doing?" Zeratul asked in confusion when Jim grabbed Sarah (or what was left of her) and lifted her off the ground.

"Whadda'ya think?" he hissed in pain. He could only use his left arm, but thankfully her body wasn't that heavy. There wasn't a lot left anyway.

"James, it is too late to help her, she is dead!" Jim didn't care. He was done with listening to what he should do or what he was supposed to think. He put the Queen of Blade's upper body down right next to the vulture bike and then he stumbled over to the other half of her body. It was a grizzly sight and he felt the urge to puke, but he endured it.

Jim had no idea how he managed to do that, though...

The smell of blood was horrible, and when he returned to the vulture bike, he put the other half of her body down and then he opened a hatch on the backside of his bike.

"James, what is this about?"

"You've been in my head long enough, Zeratul. By now you should know what I'm about to do."

"Once this situation is resolved, there will not be anybody left anyway." Zeratul explained.

"But if we fail...then she will at least have a place where she can rest in peace. And just so you know...if you were the one lying over there, I would do the same thing for you." Jim replied and pulled a shovel out of the trunk of his bike. He looked for a good place to start digging and when he found it, he rammed the shovel into the cracked and dry ground and started to dig a hole. Zeratul watched how Jim tried to do what he felt right, but the man failed miserably. Ever tried to dig a hole with one arm? Well, it doesn't work. Hot tears streamed down Jim's face, and after a while he threw the shovel away and started to pull at the cast that was still covering most of his right arm.

"To hell with this thing!" Jim hissed and used all of his strength to rip that damn cast away. His arm was broken, yes. But at least now he could partially use it to-

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Jim asked when he finally managed to rip the cast away. Zeratul, on the other hand, just walked over to the shovel and picked it up. For a second, Jim thought that the Dark Prelate would break it, but then the Protoss did something Jim wouldn't have expected.

He started to dig.

"Do Protoss even believe in digging their deceased?" Jim wanted to know.

"Does it matter?" Zeratul replied and Jim sighed. No, it didn't. Not all Protoss would vanish into thin air when their lives ended. Sometimes a corpse would remain behind, but Jim couldn't care less about that right now. He walked back to the vulture bike and pulled a tarp out, one that was used to camouflage the vehicle if necessary. Jim put the piece of cloth on the ground and the remnants of the Queen of Blades inside. He wrapped the tarp around her body and when he was finally done, he grabbed his right arm and hissed in pain.

When the hole was deep enough, Zeratul walked back to Jim, picked the body off the ground, and placed it in the hole. And then he grabbed the shovel once more and buried the Queen of Blades. All Jim did was to watch with empty eyes how Zeratul did all the work. It wasn't much, and it probably was beyond pointless, but it was the only way how Jim could show this Sarah his respect.

When Dark Prelate was done, he made a step backward and allowed Jim to stand in front of the grave. He stared at the pile of dirt and felt a lot of guilt. But there was something else.

"You never had a life of your own..." he whispered. "...but at least now you have a place to rest. Thank you. For everything." Maybe he lacked the resolve to finish the fight...but she had possessed enough conviction to sacrifice herself for him. The least he could do was to honor her sacrifice by seeing this through to the end. And then he turned around and walked back to the vulture bike. He hissed in pain when he sat down and looked over to Zeratul.

"Come on, we don't want to keep Sarah waiting." he mumbled and Zeratul nodded. The Dark Prelate climbed on the back of the vulture bike but didn't dare to say a word. He didn't have to. He could see the determination on Jim's face. The time had come...

...the time to finally finish this.


	83. Act III - Chapter 27

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 27**

 **Hope**

* * *

When their final destination finally came in sight, Jim knew that this was it. It was either do or die time. He didn't want to sound dramatic, but he knew that there were only two possible outcomes; they would either succeed...or this whole show was over. He knew that because he didn't have the strength to do it one more time.

He was tired. So damn tired.

Jim wasn't angry anymore. Or sad. He just felt empty.

As the crater came into view, he asked himself if anything he had done so far had served any purpose at all. His mind was ruled by self-doubts, and the nagging feeling of being nothing but a failure kept bugging him. It didn't matter what his father had told him, right now he felt like a goddamn waste of human limbs.

Even if he would manage to get back to Sarah, even if he would manage to talk to her...what should he tell her?

 _Sorry, Darlin'! Got sidetracked because I had to spend a few days with my dead family instead of saving you. Hope you totally understand!_

Yeah, right.

Jim had no idea what to do should they succeed. For many years, he had dreamed of nothing but getting Sarah back. But now? Should he managed to get her back, what then? The things he had witnessed, the things he had learned about her...it had changed everything. How was he supposed to look into Sarah's eyes and pretend that nothing had happened?

At one point, he thought about hitting his head so hard on purpose that he would lose his memory all over again. It wasn't a brilliant solution, but a solution nonetheless.

The closer they came to the crater, the harder it became to fight the sense of dread inside his chest. A short while ago, Jim would have been relieved to finally see Sarah again, but now he was scared. Scared, exhausted, and burned out. He had his doubts if he would be any aid to Sarah. Besides, what use did she have for him anyway? What could he possibly offer to her?

A hug and an endless supply of roasted squid-fish?

Maybe...it would be better for both of them to go their separate ways once this was over. It had been a nice dream, had it not? The boy who would do anything to save his princess, the princess who will become a goddess, and they would all live happily together for the rest of their lives.

Or not.

The closer they came to the crater, the more details he could make out.

"Oh my God..." he whispered when he saw how everything had changed since the last time he had been here. At first, it looked like there was a huge dome made out of pure light covering the crater from one side to the other. However, as they came closer, Jim could see countless gaps. It was still those bolts of light, but there were so many of them now!

At one point, Jim realized that this place looked like a forest. A forest made out of pure psionic energy. And just when he was about to ask himself what this was, he could see something at the base of the crater. Something that was a sight to behold. He slowed down and this time Zeratul didn't complain.

Under normal circumstances, Jim would have smiled. Payback is a bitch, isn't it? However, he was too tired and too exhausted to enjoy the moment.

"Like I said..." Zeratul said when Jim climbed off the vulture bike. "...Narud is no longer a factor."

"Indeed." Jim whispered, repeating the same line Zeratul had used so many times.

"Thisssss..." the creature in front of them gurgled. "...changessss nothing!"

"I beg to differ." Jim replied and looked at Narud. Or what was left of him. It. Whatever.

Up till now, Jim hadn't seen how these psionic lightning bolts were created in the first place. They didn't even move, at least not that Jim could tell. They obviously had to come from somewhere, but so far Jim hadn't considered them to be very dangerous.

Apparently, he had been wrong.

As for Narud? Well, that damn beast certainly had seen better days. It was still as ugly as hell, but at least it was no longer a threat.

"Not gonna lie to you, Tinkerbell..." Jim muttered. "...but you look like shit."

He had no idea how this had happened, but did it matter? Probably not. One of those bolts of lightning had skewered Narud. The golden arc of energy ran through the creature's chest and pinned it to the dusty ground. There was no way for Narud to go anywhere. The beast would have to rip his own chest open in order to break free, and Jim had his doubts that this damn freak would survive that.

"You think..." Narud gurgled. "...that you have won? Amon shall rise again! And then he will restore me and purge you!" Jim made a step forward, and Zeratul reached out to grab him by the shoulder.

"No, James! Don't, this beast is still dangerous!" Narud tried to prove Zeratul right, and suddenly the tentacles on the beast's back jerked up and shot towards Jim. He didn't even flinch when they stopped just a meter away from him. He was too far away for Narud to rip him apart. The beast roared and screamed, and blood started to flow out of its maw and its chest.

"Hope you're in pain, asshole." Jim whispered. "For what you did to her." He had to remember the last moment of the Queen of Blades and closed his eyes.

"She was weak!" Narud hissed. "Weak and worthless! It will be your...gha...your fate as well. Once...once I'm free, I will devour you all!"

"Your threat would scare me if you hadn't been turned into a giant kebab. An _ugly_ giant kebab." Jim mumbled.

"I will tear your skin off your flesh!" Narud snarled. "I will rip out your eyes and roast them over a fire!"

"Charming." Jim replied.

"James, we have to hurry. Sarah Kerrigan is close and we have to-"

"Did you enjoy it?" Jim interrupted the Dark Prelate, but he wasn't talking to the Nerazim. He stared at Narud and frowned. "Did you enjoy killing her?"

"She was weak. She was just a tool that I had no longer use for!" Narud replied.

"Hmm...a tool, huh?" Jim whispered. "Now where have I heard that before?" Arcturus. The Overmind. And Narud. She had been nothing but a tool to them, right? And suddenly Jim had to chuckle.

"You know...here's a tip. For the next life. If you try to use Sarah Kerrigan as a tool, she's gonna suckerpunch you for good. And if she's busy, then I will do that for her." And then he stared at the wounded creature and a grin appeared on his face. It was a very scary grin.

"James, what are you planning to do?" Zeratul wanted to know. "We do not have time for this."

"Oh, just wait and see. It won't take long. And you might enjoy this. I still owe this bastard a world of hurt. And I intend to deliver it." Jim snarled and stumbled back to the vulture bike. He climbed on it and started the engine. He turned the bike around and drove it up to the bolt of lightning Narud was impaled on. Jim stopped just out of Narud's reach and climbed off the bike once more.

"What is thisssss?" Narud hissed. "You think that you can hurt me?"

"Dunno." Jim replied. "But since you already look like a kebab, how about we add a little heat to the mix. Whadda'ya say, buddy?" he asked and looked over to Zeratul, who only managed to frown.

"Release me! RELEASE ME!" Narud screamed, but Jim didn't care. He knelt down next to his vulture bike and removed a hatch. With a few swift moves, he managed to gain access to the main energy source of the vulture bike; two fuel cells, powered by nuclear material. Not much, but more than enough to allow the bike to travel as fast as a Zergling on stimpacks.

"What is this? What are you doing?" Narud demanded to know.

"Oh, you gonna see real soon. Hope you like it warm." Jim knew what he was doing. He removed the safety bolts on the two fuel cells and then he activated the engine. He disengaged the thrusters and set the engine to full throttle. The vulture bike started to scream when its engine started to go to full power.

"What is that sound?!" Narud screeched, and Jim had to admit that it sounded like the goddamn scream of the damned.

"That, my dear friend, is a vulture bike's engine set to overload." He then walked behind the vulture bike and gave it a hard push. Its repulsors were still working and so that was enough to make it move towards Narud. "So, here's the deal; if an engine on a vulture bike overheats, it shuts down. Because if it gets too hot, the fuel cells might rupture and leak fuel. Radioactive fuel. _Highly volatile_ radioactive fuel." He imagined that he could see the fear on Narud's face, but perhaps it was just Jim's imagination.

"No! You cannot hurt me!" the creature screamed in rage, but it couldn't do anything anymore. The vulture bike hovered closer to it, and it tried to use its tentacles to stop the vehicle. The moment its appendages touched the machine, Narud screamed in pain.

"Oh, just so you know..." Jim then said and made a step backward. "...if you remove the safety bolts on the fuel cells, this baby heats up _really_ fast. It will get so hot that it melts within seconds. And then...well, I don't want to spoil the surprise. Just see for yourself." Narud blinked in anger when it heard that. The monster screamed and rammed its tentacles into the vulture bike, but that's when the machine burst into flames.

And it still moved towards Narud.

Under normal circumstances, Narud could have destroyed this vehicle easily. But now the creature was weak, and within seconds the vulture bike turned so hot that you couldn't even stand a few meters away from it. Jim had to back away because the heat became unbearable. And then the fuel cells started to leak their load.

Fire engulfed the machine, fire that was hot enough to melt metal. The repulsors were still working, but soon the vulture bike started to steer to the right. It didn't matter, though. It was close enough.

"NO! TAKE IT AWAY! TAKE IT AWAY!" Narud screamed in pain and terror.

"Just so you know, that's how two thousand degrees Celsius feel like. Hope you enjoy it. Now burn in hell, you damn beast." Jim mumbled. And then he watched. He didn't care about Zeratul's uneasiness. He just wanted to see Narud burn. The vulture bike made contact with the bolt of lightning and then its repulsors finally gave away. The flames started to consume Narud's body almost immediately.

And Jim watched.

The monster screamed in pain. Or was it fear? Its carapace was burned from its flesh and its weak limbs twitched in despair. But there was nothing it could do.

And Jim watched.

Soon its scream became almost unbearable. Skin, muscles, and then even bones were scorched. Its face started to come apart, yet Narud continued to scream.

"MASTER! HELP MEEEEE!" it screeched.

And Jim watched.

Perhaps he was a hypocrite because he had urged the Queen of Blades to show her enemy the mercy of a quick death when she had dealt with that hybrid. But right now, he couldn't care less about that. Right now, he wanted to see blood. Right now, he wanted to see Narud suffer.

And Narud did suffer.

Jim knew that they were on a tight schedule, but he waited until there was nothing left but a scorched corpse. Only then he turned around and walked towards the crater where Sarah was waiting for them. Zeratul stared at the dead creature for a little while longer, but then he shook his head and decided to follow his companion. This journey had taken its toll on all of them. The Dark Prelate could only hope that Jim would be able to overcome this pain one day.

Based on the assumption that they would be able to save Sarah Kerrigan.

Jim stopped caring about Narud the moment he turned away from it. As he walked towards the edge of the crater, he didn't say a word and didn't look back either. Everything that lay behind him was no longer important.

What lay in front of him was important.

Climbing up the walls of the crater was a goddamn nightmare. Again. However, this time there were so many of these golden bolts of lightning that it felt as if he was walking through a goddamn forest made out of pure energy. Jim tried not to touch anything. These "trees of light" didn't seem to be very dangerous. Then again, Narud probably had thought the very same thing.

On their way up, neither Jim nor Zeratul said even a single word. Jim groaned in discomfort when they finally reached the highest point, and when he looked at the center of the crater...

"Oh, damn..." he managed to whisper. "Zeratul...just what the hell is that?"

"I have no idea, James."

The best way to describe it would be...a forest made out of energy? Those things looked like trees. Trees made out of golden light. And in its center was...

"Please tell me that we don't have to climb that tree. Or whatever that thing is." Jim mumbled. In the center of the forest was one tree that was huge. Was it one hundred meters high? Two hundred? It was hard to tell, but Jim knew that this tree was different. That was where Sarah had to be.

Or...what was left of her.

Suddenly cold fear gripped his heart.

"What if we're too late, Zeratul?" he suddenly whispered. He felt the heavy hand of his companion on his shoulder.

"Should that be the case..." the Dark Prelate said. "...then I will personally take you back to your family and protect you all for as long as I can." Zeratul then wanted to make a step forward.

"Zeratul, wait!" Jim suddenly stopped him, and the Nerazim looked over his shoulder.

"I know that I sound like a broken record, Friend Raynor, but we have to hurry and-"

"There's something that I want to get off my chest first." Jim interrupted him. "Something that I should have done a long while ago. But I was too busy wailing in self-pity."

"That is not necessary, my friend. I know what-" Zeratul tried to explain to him, but Jim just shook his head.

"No. No, I did you wrong, Zeratul. You always called me "Friend Raynor", but I wasn't much of a friend, now was I? I yelled at you, screamed at you, cursed your very existence. Yet here you are, ready to sacrifice yourself to save the one woman you once hated so much. And why? Because you're a better person than I am." Jim then took a deep breath. "Point is...I want to thank you, Zeratul. For everything that you have done for me. For her. Even if this thing goes south, then I want you to know this; I could never have asked for a better friend." At first, Zeratul didn't say anything, but then he had to chuckle.

"Better not let Matthew Horner hear that. He will not be pleased." the Dark Prelate joked, and Jim had to laugh as well.

"Yeah, well...should we make it out of this alive, I totally have to tell him about that. Though he will probably not believe a single word anyway."

"Maybe you should take a picture." Zeratul suggested. "Hello Matthew, wish you were here right now. Your old friend, James Raynor."

"Hahaha...I totally have to do that." Jim agreed, and even though Zeratul had no mouth, Jim could swear that the Protoss was smiling on the inside.

"What?"

"It is good to see that you plan for the future. Now we only have to make sure that you will see this future come to pass." Zeratul said.

"You're always the optimist, aren't you?" Jim mumbled.

"I aim to please! Now, let us proceed. We can pat our backs once this is over." And so, they started to walk towards the center of the crater. As they entered the "forest", Jim could swear that he could hear something.

 _Don't come..._

 _...give it a rest..._

 _...you never deserved his love anyway..._

 _...Mommy, no!_

 _...soon everything will be over..._

"You hear that?" Jim asked Zeratul, who turned his head around but couldn't hear anything.

"No. What is it?"

"It's Sarah...I think. She's...talking. Can't you hear her?"

"No." Zeratul replied. "But given everything that has happened so far, I would not be surprised if she is actually talking to you right now. What is she saying?" Jim stopped and closed his eyes. He tried to figure out what all those voices tried to tell him, but then he just shook his head.

"It's...it's no use. It's everything at once. I can't make out any details." Jim hissed. He looked up to those trees made out of light.

"Sarah?" he yelled. "Sarah, if you can hear me, it's me, Jim! I'm back! Please, Sarah! You have to listen to me!"

 _Look what I have become..._

 _...Captain Raynor, I have secured the perimeter and... you pig!_

 _There's something dark in me, Jim..._

Jim cursed and looked around, but no matter where he looked, there was no one around.

"What is it, James?" Zeratul wanted to know. "What does she say?"

"Nothing? Everything? Don't know, she's not answering." And that's when suddenly a new voice reached their ears. Both of them turned around when a dark creature slithered up from behind one of those golden trees.

"Her Majesty has fallen silent some time ago. She no longer answers anyone's questions." the creature said, and Jim looked her straight into the eyes.

"Izsha."

The strange snake-woman stopped in front of them and stared at the ground in front of her. Even though Jim still had a hard time to interpret her facial expression, he could swear that she was...sad?

"What do you mean; she has fallen silent?" Zeratul asked. He stepped closer to Jim, ready to activate his psi-blade should the situation call for it.

"At first she continued to answer my question. But then...it stopped. Now...she is silent."

"So she's back there, right? She's at that huge tree behind you." Jim wanted to know, but all Izsha did was to close her eyes. She didn't have to answer that question, though. It was all the answer Jim needed. And so, he started to walk forward. That's when Izsha raised her tail and prepared herself to attack Jim.

"JAMES!" Zeratul barked. He grabbed the smaller man and pulled him back. Just in time, because when the tip of Izsha's tail smashed forward, it hit one of those golden trees like a whip. The tree exploded into a shower of sparks and Jim realized that she could have ripped his head off easily.

"Treacherous creature!" Zeratul barked and stepped in front of Jim. He then activated his psi-blade and prepared to attack. "I knew you could not trust a Zerg! Prepare to meet your maker, you-"

"Zeratul, wait!" Jim barked and the Nerazim froze.

"Friend Raynor, she is trying to-"

"No!" Jim shouted again. "Don't!" And while Zeratul didn't seem to be very pleased with the idea of holding back, he did as he was told.

And so did Izsha. Jim looked at her and frowned.

"Why do you hesitate?" Zeratul wanted to know. "This creature is between us and Sarah Kerrigan, we need to proceed and-"

"Why won't you let us pass?" Jim wanted to know and Izsha tilted her head to the side.

"Because it is what her Majesty ordered me to do."

"Figured that much." he mumbled. "You do know what's about to happen, don't you?"

"Yes." Izsha replied.

"Sarah is about to die." Jim still said.

"I am aware of that." You could actually hear the bitterness in Izsha's voice. Jim walked up to her, even though Zeratul tried to stop him.

"No, James! Wait, she is dangerous."

"No, she's not the enemy." Jim replied. He walked towards her and could see how Izsha raised her tail, ready to rip him apart.

"I will not let you pass!" she warned him one last time, but Jim just stopped right in front of her and looked up.

"So..." he then said. "...you're not gonna let us pass?"

"No."

"Why?" Jim wanted to know.

"Because it was her Majesty's last order."

"She said that she didn't want to see me again?" he asked again. Izsha opened her mouth and wanted to reply something, but then she stopped. It appeared as if she needed a moment to come up with a fitting answer.

"She...did not mention you. She just wanted to be left alone."

"Well, guess that had to be sufficient." Jim mumbled to himself before he shook his head. "So, what is it that _you_ want to do?" he then asked and Izsha frowned.

"I do not understand that question."

"Oh, I think you do." he replied. "Is this what you want? To perish here, on an unnamed world, at the ass end of the galaxy?"

"Of course not!" Izsha hissed back.

"Then what is it you want to do?" Jim asked again. Izsha didn't answer that question immediately. He could see the mixed emotions on her face. And that said something because her face was pretty much like a blank sheet of paper. But then she took a deep breath and straightened herself.

"I will not let you pass, James Raynor!" she declared.

"But you want to." Jim shot back.

"And why should I do that?"

"Because you don't want Sarah to die."

For a long time, Izsha didn't say anything. When she did, Jim could hear the frustration in her voice.

"I serve her Majesty. It is the very reason for my existence. I will continue to serve her. And I will obey her orders."

"Even though you know that her orders are bullshit?" For a second, it seemed as if Izsha would grab Jim and rip him apart, but then she just growled something.

"It is not my place to question her wisdom."

"Then perhaps I should do that." Jim replied. "You love her, don't you?" Izsha looked him straight into the eyes when he asked that.

No, this wasn't about romance. This wasn't the same kind of love he felt towards Sarah. It was a different kind of love. Some sort of adoration that went deeper than anything a human mind could comprehend. Jim had to admit that there was a certain kind of innocence to this kind of affection.

"My feelings towards her Majesty are of no importance." Izsha then declared with a sad voice. She was like a child, and Sarah was like a mother to her.

A few days ago, Jim would have laughed out loud. Or felt disgusted. But now? Now he realized that he had only loved one part of Sarah. A part he had believed to be the only one, at least the only one that mattered. And Izsha? Well, she represented a side of Sarah that he had never bothered trying to understand.

"I think they are." Jim said. "Because right now, they are the only thing that can save your Queen." This time Izsha didn't say anything.

"I know that you don't want her to die. And you're probably like me; you want everything to return the way it was. Well, here's some bad news for both of us." Jim explained. "That ain't gonna happen." And then he sighed. "You see, when I got here...I thought that I had my Sarah back. It was the only thing I cared for. And what can I say? I've been a fool. Probably still am. I didn't want to see that Sarah...that there is more to her than what I love about her. At first, I tried to ignore it. Then I tried to make up excuses so I could tell myself that everything was fine when in fact it wasn't." He dropped his shoulders and looked at his own burned hand.

"That's my sin. My failure. And I will have to live with that." he whispered and closed his eyes. "When I should have seen Sarah for the person she truly was, I only cared for my very own image of her. And that's how I alienated her." Jim opened his eyes again and stared at his burned hand once more.

"But let me tell you something; sulking won't solve a thing. I was a poor lover, I know that. I even imagined how it would be like to have my own family back instead of helping her. Even so...turning your back on the problem will solve nothing." Jim explained to her. "Trust me, I've been there. It won't change a thing. So, what is it you want to do?"

"I will not let you pass!" Izsha replied.

"That wasn't my question. What is it you want to do?"

"I..." Izsha began, but then she closed her mouth and lowered her gaze. "I wish for everything to become the way it was."

"Me too." Jim agreed. "Even though we probably mean something very different. But that won't happen. No matter how much we hope for that. But..." he then raised his finger. "...maybe we can do it better this time, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know if I can save Sarah. Maybe it is already too late, but at the very least I have to try. And all you have to do is to let me pass."

"I cannot do that." Izsha insisted, but Jim felt like her conviction was wavering.

"What is it you want to do?" he asked again.

"That is not the point here and-"

"It is the point. It was always the point. You want to serve Sarah, I get it. But ask yourself this question; can you serve her by following her orders to the letter? Or would you serve her better if you would listen to your heart?" And then he made another step forward. He was just a meter away from Izsha now.

"James!" Zeratul barked. Jim was too close to her for the Dark Prelate to help him.

"So, I ask one more time; what is it you want?" Jim wanted to know, and Izsha looked him straight into the eyes.

"I..." she said. "...I have to follow her orders. If not me, then who will?"

"Sometimes you have to do what you gotta do. We're not so different, you know? I wanted just wanted to follow my heart. I thought that it was enough. But I was wrong. I should have listened to my brain. I guess in your case you should start to listen to your heart, huh?"

"My whole reason for existence...is to serve her." Izsha whispered.

"Then do that." Jim told her. "Once she's back." Her eyes widened when she heard that. Izsha looked over her shoulder and Jim could tell she was no longer a threat to him. And then, after a long time, she slithered to the side. Jim stepped past her, but when Zeratul was about to follow him, she blocked his path.

"No. He may go. Alone."

"James..." the Dark Prelate said, and Jim realized what he was trying to tell. He turned towards the Nerazim and gave him a sad smile.

"Well, I guess there's no point in letting the Lady wait anymore, huh?" he joked and Zeratul nodded.

"Indeed."

"Zeratul, listen-" Jim wanted to say, but then the Dark Prelate placed his hand on Jim's shoulder.

"Everything that needs to be said has been said." Zeratul explained. "I want to thank you, my Friend."

"Thank me? Why?" Jim asked.

"I am not the real Zeratul, yet you never saw anything but him in me. It made me feel alive. And even though I am not him, you gave me the chance to witness the survival of my own species. Maybe I will pass on to the next world and be able to tell the real Zeratul that his hopes and dreams have become reality. And for that...I have to thank you." The Dark Prelate then reached out with his hand and offered it to Jim.

"This is it, huh?" the smaller man asked.

"Only if you succeed." Zeratul replied. "Though I have no doubts that you will."

"Wish I could have your confidence, Zeratul." Jim sighed. "Well, it has been one hell of a ride, hasn't it?"

"Indeed."

"Hnnn..." Jim chuckled. "I'm gonna miss that line." He then grabbed Zeratul's hand and showed the Dark Prelate a warm smile.

"Thank you, Zeratul. For everything."

"Go now." the Nerazim just said. "And do not look back. It is time to make Sarah Kerrigan whole again. And yourself too, my friend." Jim opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but then he realized that everything had been said. So, he just nodded and turned away. When he walked past Izsha, her tail came around and blocked his path once more. He looked over at her and could see the pain in her eyes.

"Promise me..." she whispered. "...that you will succeed." He couldn't do that. There was no way to tell if he would be successful. And so...

"I will." he just replied and Izsha pulled her tail away.

"Then go." she told him and Jim did as he was told. But before he vanished from their sights, he looked once more over his shoulder. And that's when he looked into Zeratul's eyes. And what did the Dark Prelate do?

He gave him a thumbs-up.

It was time...

* * *

At one point, Jim stopped and looked around. Those trees made out of light...they looked like something he had seen once. It looked less than a forest and more like...neurons? Hmm...did that mean that he was walking through Sarah's brain?

"God, now that's a scary thought." Jim mumbled. After all the mind-screwing so far, he didn't want to think about it. But...but what if he was just a part of her imagination as well? Well, whatever. There was no point in thinking about that now. It wouldn't get him anywhere anyway. Jim could tell that he was close. The whispers around him became stronger, and that's when he finally felt something inside the back of his mind again, something that he hadn't felt in a while.

 _So you've come back..._

Jim stopped and sighed.

"Hey, Sarah."

 _You shouldn't have._

"Couldn't help it, Darlin'. Though I owe you an apology first. Kinda got sidetracked." he explained and dropped his shoulders.

 _I saw it..._ she answered. _Didn't think you would come back to me. I saw how happy you were..._

"Yeah, well...like I said; I got sidetracked. I know that it's a lousy excuse, but it's all I have to offer right now."

 _You...you should have stayed with your family. They need you._ He could sense her sadness. And her guilt.

"Right now, there's someone else who needs me. Someone who's very dear to me."

 _You shouldn't have come, Jim._ Sarah then whispered to him. _It's too late._ Jim could feel how his chest started to hurt when he heard those words. He knew that he had to ignore that now, though. It was not just about him. All the people who had brought him here...they had done it to end this madness. He owed it to himself, yes. But he also owed it to them.

"How 'bout you let me be the judge of that." Jim replied and resumed walking towards the center of the crater...that looked less than a crater and more the insides of a brain. God, now he couldn't stop thinking about that, great.

 _You shouldn't have come, Jim..._ There was a pleading tone in her voice.

"Now you sound like a broken record." Jim mumbled and continued to move forward. "How about we continue this conversation face to face and-"

 _Jim..._ Sarah then said to him. _There is no face left._ He froze when he heard that.

"What?"

 _Jim...turn around. Don't do this. There is nothing ahead but regret. Please..._

But then Jim felt how a sense of dread started to fill his chest.

"Sarah. SARAH!" Jim screamed and hurried to the center of the crater. What did she mean, there was no face left? He had no idea what she was talking about, but it did frighten him. And when he finally reached that huge tree in the center, he looked around.

"Sarah! Where are you?" he shouted. The tree in the center was huge, but even then, he couldn't see Sarah. The chrysalis of light he had seen before...it was gone. Was she inside that tree?

"Come out! Talk to me! At least you owe me that much!"

 _I can't, Jim. There's no longer a face left. No longer a body left. What you see in front of you...that is what I am now._

And when Jim heard that, realization started to creep through his mind.

"No..." he whispered when he looked at those trees around him. It did look like some sort of neural network, but that...was impossible.

 _So you see, hmm?_ Sarah said with a sad, sad voice. _You see what I have become. I'm sorry...I didn't want you to see this. Didn't want you to see me like this. I guess...I guess I wanted you to remember the way I looked when I was still human._

"What is this?" Jim asked and pulled his brows up.

 _My body? Or what's left of it? I don't know. It's...hard to find the right words to describe it._

"How could this happen?!" Jim asked.

 _It's...too much. I can't control all these powers anymore. It was too much for me from the start. I have surpassed the Xel'Naga, Jim. I evolve, but unlike the Zerg, I can't stop it. I can't control it._ And then she said something that made him feel even more horrible.

 _I am scared, Jim._

He lowered his gaze and looked at his own burned hand. This...this wasn't right. It was a dream, another nightmare! He stumbled over to the huge tree. Or was it some sort of brainstem?

"What's gonna happen now?" he wanted to know.

 _I don't know. I suppose it was just a matter of time. I can feel how my consciousness is fading away. I'm sorry, Jim. But you cannot follow me where I'm going. Not this time._

"I don't understand...why now? Why is this happening now?"

 _It's too much, Jim. I tried to fight it, but I can't even control it. It's eating me up from the inside. And how can I, can someone who doesn't even know what she is, hope to control these powers?_ And that's when he realized what she was trying to say.

"You gave up."

 _I can't go on, Jim. I cannot fight these powers, I cannot keep them under control. So I came to the conclusion that...I will just allow nature to take its course._

Was this it? The next step in human evolution? Was this what would happen if you would take boundless psionic powers and force them upon a human? However, Jim wasn't willing to give up just yet.

"Then...can't you get rid of these powers? Can't you just, I don't know, whisk them away?"

 _It's not that simple, I'm afraid. But hey, at least you won't remember me as a bloated bag of flesh with tentacles, right?_ Sarah tried to joke, but Jim wasn't laughing. He stepped towards the big tree, or whatever it was, and could feel how his emotions were starting to get the better of him.

"There has to be a solution!" he sobbed. "I can't let this happen!"

 _It already happened, Jim. It is too late for me. Please...do me one favor; remember me not like this. Remember me...as the woman I once was._

And that's when Jim sighed.

"I can't..." he whispered. "...I'm sorry, but I can't."

 _I... understand._ Sarah replied and he could feel all that pain in her soul.

"I don't think you do, Sarah." he then explained. "The reason why I can't do that is...because I don't know you. I thought I did but...I was just lying to myself. The things I learned about you in the last few days...they made me realize how little I know of you." He took a short break and Sarah wasn't saying anything. He gathered his thoughts and took a deep breath. "I should have listened to you...should have taken _more time_ to just listen to you. Now I feel like a fool. Because I think of all those moments when I could have stopped you...should have stopped you. But I didn't. And now we're here. End of line. Full circle."

 _There was nothing you could have done, Jim. It would appear that we were never meant to be together. It was a nice dream, though._

"Perhaps. But...I guess there's still no other place I would rather be." he said to the tree in the center...which wasn't a tree at all. He placed his hand on it and realized that it wasn't hot anymore. A sad smile appeared on his face.

"Whatever's gonna happen, Darlin'..." he then whispered. "...we will face it together." And then he could feel how the light started to engulf him.

* * *

The moment Jim opened his eyes, he knew where he was. By now this place had become his second home. Or his first home, considering the fact that he actually no longer had a real home to begin with.

"We have gathered here to pay our respect to Lydia Elizabeth Raynor." the Reverend started to speak. Again. Jim sighed when he looked at the man. Maybe perishing wasn't so bad, at least he wouldn't have to deal with this guy anymore.

"Always look at the bright side of life." he mumbled and turned away.

"Those who knew Lydia Raynor will always remember her as..." However, Jim wasn't even listening anymore. By now he could repeat those lines in his sleep and... well, that was a bad choice of words. Point is; whatever the Reverend was saying, Jim had heard it so many times that it would haunt him in his dreams and... ugh...again, bad choice of words. Jim scanned the horizon and spotted the house almost in an instant. At first, it had been a church, one from Jim's memory. But now it looked like the home of someone he had met a short while ago. He turned away from the funeral and walked directly towards the house.

"...who always thought about others before herself. I think it is safe to say that no one of us has ever met such a kind soul before."

"Should have punched you in the face when I got the chance." Jim growled while the house in front of him came closer and closer. He had punched a lot of people, but never a holy man. Now it seemed as if he had missed one hell of an opportunity.

The house looked actually really nice. It was rather unique, though. It looked like a windmill and was made out of stones. Jim had never been to TarKossia, so he had no idea that many people used to live in houses like these. It wasn't Jim's preferred style of housing, but he had to admit, there was something strangely romantic about it. He looked at the tip, and for a second, he wondered if someone would open a window and throw out a really long red queue. One that he could use as a rope and then he could save the princess that was waiting for him on the inside.

But no Rapunzel this time.

There was no need for a princess anyway. As Jim moved closer, he could see a figure behind a window...a figure with red hair.

When Jim finally reached the house, he could no longer see her, though. But it didn't matter, he knew that she was there. He stepped on the veranda and stopped right in front of the door. And then...he waited.

What should he tell her? Was she even willing to listen? Did anything he had just told her moments before make any sense at all? He sighed and shook his head. Well, there was only one way to find out.

Instead of trying to force the door open, he just raised his hand and...

...started to knock.

"Sarah? You in there?"

For a long time, he didn't hear any answer. But when he did, he could hear that her voice was weak and exhausted.

"No..."

"Figured as much." Jim chuckled. "By the way, nice house. Looks truly unique. What's with the windmill look?"

"It is...was...my family's home." Sarah replied.

"Really? Well, I wouldn't mind living in such a house." Jim said.

"Until you try to sleep in it when there's a storm. Trust me, it's like sleeping next to a crying banshee."

"Care to let me in?" Jim asked. "It's kinda dusty out here."

"I would rather not do that, Jim. I would prefer to be alone." Sarah muttered.

"I know that feeling. Very well." he groaned and leaned with his back against the door before he sat down and stared at the dusty landscape in front of him. So all he did was to do...nothing. However, he could hear Sarah though, how she was breathing. She was close, very close. And that's when he realized that she was sitting on the other side of the door. The only thing that was between them was a thin piece of imaginary wood.

"Jim...could you please leave?" she asked after a while.

"Hey, this is my head, isn't it? Are you telling me that I'm not welcomed in my own mind?" he chuckled.

"That's not it, I just...I wish to be alone when it's...it's..." she tried to say, but then her voice failed her.

"Going to end?"

"Yes." Her voice was but a whisper.

"Trust me, I know how you feel. But...I can't go. Truth is, I'm just as tired as you. I'm all out of juice as well."

"Jim..." Sarah pleaded with him. "...it's too late. There's nothing you can do."

"Perhaps you're right. But even then, there's no place I would rather be." He could hear a choking sound from the other side of the door. It sounded like someone was close to tears.

"I can't..." she stuttered. "...I can't guarantee your safety if you stay here. You might...perish, just like I will."

"Works for me." Jim just replied.

"Jim, please! That is no joke! I truly don't know what-"

"Sarah." he said with a warm and soft voice. "It's fine. I know what you're trying to say. But Darlin', I'm done running. And I tell you this; I will stay by your side. Till the bitter end." Well, that wasn't exactly a good choice of words, now was it?

"I don't want you to die..." she whispered. And that's when a sad smile appeared on Jim's face.

"And I don't want to go on living without you."

And who says that men don't know how find the right words, huh? Jim's smile vanished when he heard how Sarah started to sob.

"Sarah? Are you okay?" Alright, that was a stupid question.

"I never asked for this!" she replied. "None of this!"

"I know." he said with a soft tone in his voice. "I finally know that."

"I never wanted to become Ghost. I never wanted to become the Queen of Blades. And I didn't ask to become some sort of freakish space goddess either!" And that's when he heard how Sarah started to cry.

"I'm sorry, Jim...I should have never brought you here."

"Well...if you hadn't, I would probably now lie in a puddle of my own vomit. Or Smith would have locked me up so I wouldn't hurt myself. So yeah, all in all, it's not how I had imagined my last moments...but it's a lot better than anything I can imagine right now." Jim chuckled.

"Tsk...only you could say something like that. How could it be any worse, huh?" Sarah hissed, and Jim could sense a bit of that old fire and arrogance in her voice.

"Well, there are no Zerg who want to rip me apart. There are no Protoss who want to slice me apart. And there are no humans who want to shoot me on sight. So, I guess that has to count for something."

"I... I am sorry, Jim. For everything. Everything I put you through." she whispered.

"Remember what I told you some time ago? About the blame-game?" he asked.

"I don't know what else to do, Jim." she admitted. "I just don't know what else I could do. I thought that...that we could stay here, you know? Since there's pretty much no one in this galaxy who seems to like me, I thought that the one person who does wouldn't mind being here with me. And now I will be responsible for your downfall as well."

"I'm not the only one." Jim then interjected.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I'm not the only one who cares about you, Sarah. I met Izsha. She seems to be very...fond of you." he said, and for a long time Sarah didn't say anything. But then...

"I was afraid of the day when you two would meet." she admitted.

"Why?"

"Because...because I was afraid how you would react. I knew that you would be angry...seeing me alongside a Zerg who likes to call me "Your Majesty" every ten seconds."

"I was...at first." Jim then said. "But not anymore. Sarah, whatever has happened to you, whatever decisions you had to make, you made them because you wanted to live. I get that now. And Izsha? Well, I have to admit; for a Zerg she's okay."

"Hmm..." Sarah chuckled. "...I bet she would be _delighted_ to hear that." And then both of them fell silent. No one said a word, they didn't have to. Not until he could hear how Sarah shivered.

"Sarah? Are you okay?" Stupid question, yes.

"I'm...tired. And cold. So cold." she replied and Jim put the back of his head against the wooden door.

"Sarah, please...let me in. Just this last time. If this is the end, then please...let us walk that path down together." He expected that she would either refuse or just ignore him. However, after some moments, he could hear how the lock on the door clicked when it was unlocked. He looked over his shoulder and frowned, but before he could give Sarah the chance to rethink her decision, he jumped to his feet and pushed the doorknob down. He opened the door, stepped inside, and then he saw her...

"Hey, Sarah."

* * *

For a long time, neither one said anything. Sarah was sitting on the floor with her back leaned against the wall. She had pulled her knees all the way up to her chin and had slung her arms around her legs. She looked up at him and when their eyes met, he could see that she had cried.

"Hey, Jim. Sorry for the mess I made." That comment caused Jim to chuckle.

"It's fine. By now I'm used to it." However, his comment didn't cause Sarah to laugh. Instead, she just buried her face between her knees and fell silent. Jim sighed and walked over to her. He pressed his back against the wall and slid down until he was in the same position as Sarah.

"So..." he then said. "...how was your day?" Instead of ignoring him, Sarah took a deep breath and answered that question.

"Had better. Started pretty good. Had a date with a guy. A bit dumb, but has a good heart. Thinks that you can fix everything as long as you believe in it. Kinda stupid, but cute. And he makes the best squid-fishes I've ever tasted."

"Hmm...sounds like one son of a gun. So, what happened? Why are you not with him right now?" Jim decided to play her game. "Did he do something stupid? Let me guess, he did not treat you like a lady!" He could hear how Sarah sighed.

"No...no, it wasn't his fault. It was me. I... I made him think that I was someone else. Someone who could give him the one thing he wanted most."

"Oh, and what would that be?" Jim wanted to know.

"A future."

"AHAHAHAHA!" Jim burst out into laughter and now Sarah raised her head and looked at him both confused and annoyed.

"What is so funny about that?"

"I'm happy!" Jim replied and Sarah shook her head when she heard that.

"Happy? Why would you be happy?"

"Because...at one point you believed that there was a future. And that makes me happy."

"Your display of optimism sickens me." Sarah snarled, but it only caused Jim to laugh even harder.

"Hahaha! Having second thoughts already? Guess it's good that this thing went south then! Or you might have ended up with an optimist for a boyfriend." When Sarah heard that, she had to shudder.

"Now that's a scary thought..." she mumbled and Jim laughed once more. He grabbed her hand and took it in his own. It felt warm. It felt real.

It felt right.

"So, there's no hope?" he wanted to know.

"Please, Jim...I don't want to talk about it, I..."

"If this is the end, Sarah...then please, tell me. Hey, look at me." he said, and she raised her head and did as she was told. When their eyes met, she could see the pleading expression on his face. "Please...I want to know why everything went to hell. Otherwise, I would only ask myself for the rest of my life if I could have prevented it."

"If you stay here, Jim, then you will die. So you don't have to worry about any of that for very long." she mumbled.

"Please...Sarah. I won't leave your side, but I have to know." She saw his pain, his fear, and his doubts and sighed once more.

"It's...too much." she then said.

"Your powers?" Jim asked and she nodded.

"They keep growing, and no matter what I do, they don't stop doing that. At first, I managed to contain them, but now...now I lack the strength to do that. It's all out of control, Jim. And whenever I try to concentrate, it only gets worse. Then another part of my mind springs to life and frolics around. My body...is failing me."

"And there's no way to save you? What about the Xel'Naga keystone, it could-"

"It's too late for that, Jim." Sarah sighed. "The cracks...they would never be able to heal in time. Besides, I can't do that anymore. Even if I would manage to use up all that power, it would just return eventually. And I can't fight it. It would only prolong the inevitable. So, I decided to..."

"...let nature take its course." Jim finished that sentence and she nodded.

"I'm sorry, Jim. But I don't want to fight anymore. I'm done fighting. I'm tired and sick of it. And fighting for what? For a future that will never come to pass?" As Jim heard her words, he realized that he had felt the very same way not too long ago. Sad. Defeated.

Empty...

He grabbed Sarah's hand and kissed it.

"I only wish I could do more." he whispered. "Anything to help you."

"You made me dream of a better future. You believed in me when no one else did, not even myself." Sarah said with a quiet voice. "And I know that my words will probably not ease your pain, but...I love you, Jim." Golden tears started to stream down her cheeks. Golden tears...huh, he had missed that. Sarah leaned to the side and put her head against Jim's chest. "Just...hold me, yes? Until it's over. Can you do that?" And so, Jim did as he was told. He took her in his arms and pressed his lips to her forehead.

"Okay...okay..."

And so, they decided to spend their remaining time enjoying the moment.

"It is not fair." Sarah whispered at one point.

"I know. I know." Jim muttered. "If there was only a way I could help you. But I guess that's the fate if you're the boyfriend of a goddess and-"

"I'm not a goddess." Sarah growled, but Jim just continued with his monologue.

"-can't do anything except for riding a vulture bike like a young god. If only I could take some of that load off your shoulders." He sighed and closed his eyes. "Hmm...perhaps we should have been born as Protoss." Sarah raised her head and looked him straight into the eyes.

"Now you're just trying to make me angry." she snarled and Jim chuckled again.

"No! I'm serious! Think about it! Like those Archons! Two beings merge and become one. Or...one and a half."

"Oh yeah, I totally like that idea." Sarah groaned. "Too bad neither you nor I have any idea how that works."

"True..." Jim whispered until suddenly a thought raced through his mind. A crazy thought, an utterly ridiculous thought. It was an idea. An idea that was beyond stupid. But if you're really desperate, you don't care about how crazy an idea is. His eyes widened when he realized that maybe there was still reason for hope.

"...then again, I think I know a guy who could help us with that."


	84. Act III - Chapter 28

**...**

* * *

 **Act III**

 **Fifty Shades of Sarah**

 **Chapter 27**

 **A Second Chance**

* * *

Zeratul's work was done. If everything would work out the way he hoped, he wouldn't have to worry about the future anyway. He knew that. He had accepted that.

He had made peace with himself.

That was probably a lot more than the real Zeratul could claim to have achieved. However, even though this Zeratul possessed centuries worth memories that had taught the original Dark Prelate both patience and wisdom, he too wasn't immune against frustration. And that was exactly what he felt when he heard Jim's voice screaming through this psionic forest.

"Zeratul! ZERATUL!" Jim shouted when he finally reached clearing where Zeratul had decided to sit down and meditate. Izsha was nearby, she had kept an eye on the Dark Prelate the entire time. But when Jim reached them, he stopped in front of Zeratul and took a few deep breaths. The Nerazim got back on his feet and walked over to the man.

"James Raynor, while it is always good to see you, my friend, I have to ask you this..." he said and grabbed Jim by the shoulders. "...why in DAMNATION have you returned? You were supposed to-"

"It's too late for that, Zeratul." Jim interrupted him, and the Dark Prelate made a step backward.

"No..." he whispered and shook his head. "...after everything we have done? This cannot be..." But at the same time, he didn't have any reason to question Jim's words. Why should he? Behind them, Izsha slithered up to them and looked at Jim.

"Her Majesty...you were able to speak to her?" she asked and Jim looked her straight into the eyes. He took a deep breath and then he sighed.

"Yeah..."

"How...is she?"

"Not well." Jim replied truthfully. And then he stretched his arms out and included the entire area around them. "But...well, say hello to Sarah." At first, neither Zeratul nor Izsha seemed to understand what Jim was talking about. How could they? However, it was the Dark Prelate who was the first one to realize what the man was referring to.

"No. This is impossible..." he mumbled. And that's when they could hear _her_.

 _You never were very good when it came to seeing the obvious, Zeratul. Glad that hasn't changed one bit._ Sarah's voice echoed through their minds.

"Your...Majesty?" Izsha whispered and looked around.

 _Izsha...I'm sorry for not answering your calls._ Sarah then said. _I guess I scared you, huh?_

"No." Izsha replied truthfully. "Because I have faith in you, your Majesty." This time Sarah didn't answer, but all three of them could sense her pain when she heard that. And her guilt. And her shame.

"I do not understand." Zeratul then said. "How is this possible? Why did it not work and-"

"Zeratul! ZERATUL!" Jim barked and forced the Dark Prelate to look him into the eyes once more. "I need you to listen to me! Okay? I know I'm using your line now, but we are running out of time! There's something I need to know, and you're the only one who can give me an answer. The thing is-"

 _Jim, please...give it a rest. It is too late._ they could hear Sarah say. There was so much sadness in her voice that even Zeratul was starting to feel how his chest started to hurt.

"No! NO!" Jim barked and turned around. It looked like he was just screaming at random trees, but he knew that it didn't matter in which direction he yelled, she could hear him either way. "When all options are used up, when there's nothing left to do, _then_ I will give it a rest! But not as long as there's still hope! And you better start believin' in me, Darlin', 'cause I ain't done just yet!" And this time Sarah remained silent.

"I do not understand, James." Zeratul muttered. "What is this about?" And that's when Jim suddenly seemed very excited.

"Okay, here's the deal; Sarah says that she can't control her powers anymore. It's too much. Her mind's fractured and all the energy is making it worse. So I was thinking..." Jim then theorized. "...what if we put her back together? You know, if Sarah can't do it on her own, maybe we grab the other versions that are running around and fuse them back together? Like...like one your Archons! Maybe she can't shoulder the load alone, but what if-"

"No." Zeratul replied and Jim stopped for a moment.

"What do you mean, no? At least hear me out! This is-"

"No!" Zeratul interrupted him again. He put his hand on Jim's shoulder and sighed. "Friend Raynor...James. I understand what you are trying to say, but that is not how a merging works. Besides, we have not the time to find even one of the fragments."

"There's something we have to do!" Jim shouted in frustration. "Protoss can do all crazy things with their psionics, why can't Sarah do the same?!"

"A merging like you suggest is out of the question, Friend Raynor!" Zeratul replied. "Only those Templars who have achieved the highest form of enlightenment, only those whose hearts and minds are at peace with the world and themselves can hope to achieve this state of tranquility. And even then, it is a sacred bond. Both sides must be equals, both in strength and in willpower. If not...the result is horrible. Trust me, I have seen what happens if a merging goes wrong, if it is used to create a twisted mockery. It gives birth to cruel ambitions, and the creature that is created will suffer under its own imbalance. No one deserves this fate."

"But Sarah can't control those powers anymore! We have to fix her mind somehow!" Jim pleaded. It had been a stupid idea, yeah. But, as someone once said, if it's stupid and it works, it ain't stupid. He had placed almost all of his hopes on Zeratul knowing how to fix this, but now...

 _Jim, you tried. You tried harder than anyone else, and I will never forget that. But it's over. Please, just accept it. Leave now, then you can still live!_

"No! NO! I will not leave you! Not again! I will rather die than see how you fade away!" he screamed. "There has to be another way! We are gonna try nonetheless! We're gonna look for the other Sarah's, there are three of us, I'm sure that Zeratul and Izsha can help us and-"

 _Jim, it is over. I appreciate your effort, but it could never have worked._ Sarah explained and Jim lowered his gaze. He stared at his burned hand. And then suddenly...

"Actually..." Zeratul whispered. "...I think that James might be onto something." No one dared to say anything and all eyes turned towards the Dark Prelate. It was Izsha who said something first.

"What are you talking about?"

"What James Raynor suggested is impossible. We would require another being of equal strength to merge them, and even then, the result would be an abomination. Unless we find a living Xel'Naga by accident, that is out of the question. However..." Zeratul suddenly stopped.

"However? Spit it out, man!" Jim shouted and Zeratul looked straight at him.

"I once encountered an uncanny pair of travelers. They were forced to walk down the same path due to some...events. Until I met them, I thought that something like that would be impossible and-"

"Zeratul! Get to the point!" Jim urged him and Zeratul sighed.

"Protoss can share not just thoughts. With training and skill, it is possible to share memories and even an entire consciousness should the need arise." he explained. "But I always thought that this was something that only Protoss could do. Until..." he then trailed off.

"Until?" Jim demanded to know.

"...until I met a Terran whose mind had become the home of a Protoss Preserver." Zeratul said. "I did not think that this was possible, but the mind of the Protoss was still intact. She resided within this Terran's mind for a long period of time."

"She?" Jim asked and Zeratul nodded.

"It was an accident. A freak accident. However, it taught us a lesson, something that we never thought to be possible."

"And what's that?" Jim wanted to know.

"That a human mind can carry another consciousness within itself, albeit for a short time." And that's when Zeratul's eyes widened. "Of course! Why did I not think about it before that!" He looked at Jim and put his hand on the smaller man's shoulder.

"James, you are indeed a genius!"

"I am?"

"He is?" Izsha asked with a disbelieving tone in her voice.

"Yes! This could work as a solution! Do you not see that?" Zeratul wanted to know.

"Sure, I totally do." Jim mumbled. "But...could you say it out loud, so that we can be sure that we're talking about the same thing here?" He had no idea what Zeratul was talking about.

"Back then, a Protoss Preserver placed her body in a stasis field, mere seconds before she would have succumbed to her wounds. She had done that in order to save her consciousness. She had hoped that someone would find her eventually. Of course, she had hoped that it would be a fellow Protoss. However, when she ended up inside the mind of a Terran, she was just as surprised as the man that she could actually exist inside a human mind." And that's when Zeratul turned away from Jim and started to walk up and down like he was thinking about something.

"Now I do not know all the details, even though I did meet them...but I remember that this man carried the Preserver's consciousness for weeks, maybe even months before it almost killed him."

"Killed him?!" Jim stuttered and that's when Zeratul looked him into the eyes.

"Human minds are a lot nimbler than that of Protoss, James." Zeratul explained. "You have just begun to explore your own potential as a species, and unlike us, no superior species tempered with your physiology. That was why even our scientists were baffled by the fact that a Protoss mind could survive inside a human, even though it almost killed him." Well, that sounded promising...

"But...how can that help us, Zeratul?" Jim wanted to know.

"If we cannot remove the powers from Sarah Kerrigan...maybe we can remove Sarah Kerrigan from those powers." Zeratul then explained and Jim finally started to understand.

"That's..."

 _Out of the question._ Sarah intervened.

"Sarah!" Jim shouted and looked up. "If this-"

 _No, Jim!_ she replied. _Even if it would work...all the raw psionic energy would break free. Right now, I am the only thing that keeps it together. And besides...what would I be? Nothing but a ghost, trapped in your mind. Please, I don't want to live like that._ Jim was about to reply something, but then Zeratul spoke again.

"Perhaps that is not necessary." he said. "Right now, you cannot control your powers. It is too much because your mind is too weak. But we can use that to our advantage!"

"How?!" Jim whispered. Zeratul looked at him and frowned.

"As far as I remember there are plenty of Sarah Kerrigans on this world right now." the Dark Prelate mused and Jim realized what he was talking about.

 _It can't work. The moment I leave this place, it will all come apart. I am sitting on a goddamn bomb over here! I cannot move, or it will explode!_

"Kerrigan..." Zeratul then said and directed his voice at her. "...you will lose this battle sooner or later anyway. If this plan fails...then our demise will simply reach us faster than expected. There is nothing to lose."

 _It doesn't change the facts, Zeratul. The moment I will leave this place, everything will collapse and-_

"I will take your place." the Nerazim then said and everyone went silent.

 _You always took me for a fool, weren't you?_ Sarah whispered. _Was this your plan? To get my powers? To take your revenge?_

"Zeratul, what are you talking about?!" Jim shouted. He too didn't like that idea, but the Dark Prelate just raised his hand and gestured everyone to be quiet.

"Sarah Kerrigan, you have come a long way. And so have I. However, there is one thing where I am ahead of you. I already died. So, death has no command over me." he explained.

"Zeratul? Buddy, what is it you're trying to-"

"I will take Sarah Kerrigan's place. I will command the powers. And then I will transfer her mind into one of the Sarah Kerrigans that are currently available."

 _You will never make it! These powers...they are too powerful! They will rip you apart in an instant!_ Sarah hissed and that's when Zeratul chuckled.

"Ah, to hear the arrogance of the Queen of Blades once more. Power, my child, is no substitute for experience. I have listened to the whispers of the Void far longer than any of you. But you are right; I do not expect to last very long. Long enough, however, to get all of you to safety. That I can do." For a long time, neither one dared to say a word. This was the plan? To make Sarah...human again?

"Can it work?" Jim whispered.

"Who knows." Zeratul replied. "But I believe that it is worth the risk."

 _No..._ Sarah said.

"Sarah! Please! If there is a chance to save you, then we have to try it! Please, I'm begging you!"

 _You expect me...to put my life into Zeratul's hands?_

"Thanks to my time inside James' mind, I finally understand why you humans enjoy irony so much." Zeratul replied. "Do not worry...should this work, I will tell no one that you were saved by Zeratul. It would ruin both our reputations."

I... _can't...I don't..._ Sarah wailed, and that's when Jim took a deep breath.

"Okay. Okay, I understand that this is difficult. So how about we do this? Everyone who's for going along with Zeratul's plan raises their hands!"

 _You cannot be serious!_ Sarah hissed, but Jim just raised his hand high up in the air. He looked over to Zeratul, who did the same thing.

"It is settled then!" Jim announced.

 _I didn't raise my hand, Jim._ Sarah growled.

"You don't have any, Darlin'." he replied. "Besides, two against one."

 _No... there is another one._ And that's when everyone looked at Izsha. _Izsha...tell them._

"My Queen wishes to be left alone." Izsha then announced and Jim felt how his chest started to ache. And then the Zerg straightened herself. She looked Jim into the eyes and then...

...she raised her hand.

A smile appeared on Jim's face when he saw that.

 _You are...idiots!_ Sarah sobbed. _All of you! Why can't you just leave me alone?_

"Because..." Jim then told her. "...life without you would be pointless."

* * *

Sarah didn't talk. She didn't tell them to stop either, all she did was to remain quiet. They reached the center of the crater together and stared at the mighty tree in the middle.

"It is...incredible." Zeratul said when he realized what was going on around them.

"Don't tell me you enjoy this." Jim muttered, but the Dark Prelate just shook his head.

"Forgive me, James, but...there are legends among my kind. Legends we tell our children. About a place so beautiful that words cannot describe it. One of them is about a golden forest where all our dreams and desires come true. I cannot fathom how these legends could actually be real...but to think that I would stand inside this place one day..."

"I don't want to sound like an ass..." Jim interjected. "...but can't we hurry up?" When Zeratul heard that, he looked over to Jim and nodded.

"Of course. We have all spent enough time chasing shadows. Let us begin." Zeratul walked over to the big tree and gestured Jim to come closer.

"So, what's it gonna be?" the smaller man wanted to know.

"To be honest...I am not certain myself." Zeratul admitted and Jim could feel how his left eyelid started to twitch.

"Are you trying to test my patience over here?" he barked.

"I said that I once witnessed how a human carried the mind of another being in his own brain. I never said that I knew how to transfer one mind to the other. I just said that a human brain can house more than one consciousness for a short while." Zeratul corrected him, and Jim raised his hands. For a second it looked as if Jim was about to strangle the Dark Prelate to death.

"Then how the _hell_ are we supposed to do this, huh?" he wanted to know.

"I had hoped that Sarah Kerrigan would help us with that." Zeratul replied truthfully, and Jim realized that this plan was probably one of the worst he had ever been part of. And he had been part of a lot of bad plans! Jim looked up at the big "tree" and sighed.

"What do you say, Sarah? Can you do it?"

But Sarah...did not answer that question. Jim waited a short moment, and then he took a deep breath and looked around.

"Sarah, please. Don't do this. Don't let it end like this."

 _I'm not certain that this is the right way, Jim..._ she whispered. _I..._

However, before she could continue, he walked up to the giant tree made out of light and placed his burned hand on it.

"Sarah...there's something I once told you. And now I'm gonna tell it to you again. I never gave up on you, Sarah. So please...don't you give up on us." He was afraid that she would shut them out again, that she would decide to ignore them for good. He knew that, in the end, it would be her decision. If he could only make her understand how much he needed her.

"Sarah...there's still so much I want to do. I wanted to see places, meet people. I wanted to see Aiur again, only this time when it was ruled by the Protoss. I wanted to go to Shiloh and visit the place I grew up. And I know it sounds crazy, but I also wanted to visit Earth one day. To see the place where we come from with my own two eyes. But you know what all these ideas had in common?" Jim wanted to know.

 _What?_ Sarah asked, yet he could sense her exhaustion and her dismay.

"That you would be by my side."

For a long time, Sarah didn't say a word. He could sense her mixed emotions. Her pain and fear were fighting against hope and a deep sense of longing. She was afraid of what would happen if they would succeed. How could she hope to return to a normal life? She didn't even know what a normal life was! And yet...he could feel the other side of the coin: The fear that this wouldn't work. That she would allow hope to return to her, only for it to fade away.

They say that hope is the last thing to die. Romantic, isn't it?

But if it dies...it's as if the last light in the universe flickers away. The last star dies. And the only thing that remains...is despair.

She was afraid that she would lose hope again.

Jim walked up to the huge tree and placed his hand on the golden surface.

"How about it, Darlin'? Care to dance one more time?" he asked and Sarah remained silent once more. He could sense her inner conflict. She wanted to be free of this burden. She wanted to have a peaceful life. But fear had been a part of her life for so long. Every time it had seemed to work out in her favor, fate had decided to shit all over her breakfast.

The seconds passed and turned into minutes. And those minutes felt like they turned into hours.

And then...

 _Zeratul...how do I do this?_

The Dark Prelate walked over to Jim and looked up. He placed his hand on the surface of, well, Sarah and pulled his brows up.

"Open your mind." he advised her. "Listen to the world around you. Not with your mind, but with your heart."

 _I don't know...how..._ Sarah replied.

"Calm your thoughts." Zeratul then said. "See the world for what it is. It is a stream, and we all are just passengers riding from one end to the other. We are just particles, yet we are all connected. Reach out and feel those particles. Feel how they react to each other. How they dance with each other. Matter and life, it is all the same. Can you sense them?"

 _Yes..._ Sarah whispered.

"Good." the Dark Prelate replied. Jim looked over at the Nerazim and frowned. He had no idea what Zeratul was talking about, and it made no sense to him at all. But if it made sense to Sarah, then who was he to make fun of it? Next to him, Zeratul continued to guide Sarah.

"Now take a good look at those particles. They are the same...yet they are different. We are all made out of stardust, but we all look different on the inside. We have hopes, dreams, and fears. Search for these particles. Find them!"

 _I don't...I can't...there are too...too many..._

"Concentrate on the ones closest to you. Can you sense them? The ones that are with you right now?" Zeratul tried to help her.

"Sarah, please...do as he says." Jim whispered.

 _It's...too hard. They all...look the same!_ she replied. _I can't tell them apart!_

"Not on the outside, no. But look inside them. See them for what they really are. And find the one particle that cares the most about you. Find James Raynor."

And again Sarah didn't speak to them for quite some time. But then...

"Haaaa...!" Jim gasped when he felt how something touched his mind. It as a completely alien sensation, and he lacked the vocabulary to describe how it felt. Though he had his doubts that mere mortals would be able to understand how he felt right now.

 _ **Jim?**_

Something had changed. Her voice, it felt so close...like she was right next to him. Hot tears started to stream down his face.

"Sarah...is that you?"

 _ **Yes.**_ she sobbed. _ **Yes, it is me, Jim...oh Jim, I'm so sorry...for everything.**_ However, before Jim could say something, Zeratul intervened.

"I know that this can be overwhelming, but we have to focus! Kerrigan, concentrate on Jim! Now, this is critical, you both have to listen to me. Once this starts, there is no turning back. And we will most likely not have a lot of time. So, whatever is going to happen, you will have to do exactly as I say. There will be no time for questions, there will be no time for doubts. Is that understood?" Zeratul asked. Jim looked over at him and nodded.

"Yes." he said.

" _ **Yes..."**_ Sarah agreed and that gave Jim hope.

"Good. Now, Kerrigan, this is it. You have to open your mind. Let go of your fears, of your hopes, of your dreams. Free yourself of all that fuels your desires. Concentrate only on the thing in front of you; James' hopes, fears, and dreams. Embrace them. Let those emotions become your own." And then Jim shuddered when he felt how something entered his mind. His eyes widened in shock, but that moment only lasted for a moment.

He had been probed before. He knew what it felt like when someone was inside his mind. He had never enjoyed it. But now it was different. Now he knew who it was. And he welcomed her.

 _ **I can...I can see it...Jim...I can feel you!**_ Sarah sobbed again, and Jim was about to say something when Zeratul interjected again.

"Do not get distracted!" he barked. "This is it! Kerrigan, you have to let go of your powers now! If you enter his mind without doing so, it will destroy James!"

 _ **Then...then what am I supposed to do? I don't know how I can do that!**_

"You have to let go. Drop the wall that surrounds your mind and open yourself to the universe itself." Zeratul explained. Jim still had no idea what the Nerazim was talking about, to him it sounded like some superstitious mumbo-jumbo. So, the universe itself, huh? Jim could sense Sarah's fear. This was it. He could feel how every fiber of her being was fighting it. She didn't want to let a Protoss in her mind. She didn't want Zeratul to be in charge of her fate.

"It's okay, Sarah..." Jim whispered and a gentle smile appeared on his face. "...just let go. And I will catch you." And then he had to chuckle. "But be warned, I didn't do much cleaning. It's quite the mess up there." Before she could finally do something, Zeratul said one last thing.

"Know this..." he explained. "...the moment she leaves, everything will collapse. I do not know how much time we will have. I do not know if I can save you. So if there is something you want to say, this is the moment to do so."

Jim closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the surface of the golden tree. There was a gentle smile on his face.

"I love you."

And after a while...he got the answer he wanted to hear.

 _ **I love you too...**_

And then Sarah finally let go.

And everything came to an end.

* * *

Light. Everything was light. It surrounded her. It wasn't real, though. Sarah couldn't feel her body. That was nothing surprising, she hadn't felt her body in quite some time. But this was different. She couldn't sense anything! It was as if her mind was unable to reach out and touch things. Was this how people felt who were born without psionics? It felt so...dull. So empty. There had been times where she hadn't been able to use her psionics, yes. When she had been drugged or unconsciousness. But even then, she had been able to feel _something_...

Even when the Zerg had torn her into pieces and transformed her into the Queen of Blades, she had felt what had happened around her. She couldn't remember a time where she had felt like this...

It felt...normal?

She looked at her own hand. It certainly did look like her own hand, but why couldn't she feel anything? The answer to that was simple...

...she was still without a body.

She looked around, but didn't recognize this place. It wasn't the dream that kept tormenting Jim, this wasn't Mar Sara, and there was no funeral. It took her some time to realize that she had seen this place before. But that didn't help her one bit. It looked exactly like when Sarah had said goodbye to Jim, right after she had defeated Amon.

 _Go, Jim...go..._ she remembered her own words from back then. An icy chill ran down her spine when she recalled that moment. Back then she had thought that her life was about to end. So she had told Jim to leave. So many things had happened since then. Yet right now, it all felt like a bad dream. She turned around, but no matter which way she looked, all she could see was a bright light. But worse than that was the fact that she couldn't sense Jim.

If everything had worked out the way Zeratul had promised, then she should be able to sense Jim!

"No..." she whispered. "...no, please! NO!" Fear started to grip her heart. And that fear soon turned into despair.

"Jim?" she called out to him, but no one answered. "Jim!" But no one answered.

"Are you there? Can you hear me?!" She should have never agreed to this. Whatever had happened, she was no longer in control. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not use her powers. It was like someone had stripped her of her most precious sense. It was like losing your eyesight, only far worse.

"Jim? Izsha?" she shouted. "...Zeratul?"

No one answered. She decided to move, but she had no idea where she was going. It didn't really matter because there was neither a beginning nor an end in this place. And then she finally realized what this was all about.

This wasn't Jim's mind...

"No... nononono..." she sobbed and looked at her own hands. "No! NOOOO!" Sarah screamed when she realized that Zeratul had played her for a fool. He had finally done it. He had achieved his revenge. She dropped to her knees and started to cry. Hot tears streamed down her face, but something had changed. They were no longer made out of gold...

Those were normal tears.

She screamed in pain and despair, but no matter how hard she tried, she just could not reach out with her senses. But then...

"...ara..." A voice. It was a voice. She could barely hear it. At first, she thought that it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but after a while, she heard it again.

"...arah!" It sounded like someone was screaming.

"Jim...?" she whispered and turned her head around. Since everything looked the same, it was impossible to see where the voice was coming from.

"Sarah! Can you hear me?" There was no doubt about it. It was Jim! Her eyes widened and she got back to her feet.

"Jim? Is that you?" she shouted.

"Sarah? Sarah!"

"Jim!" she screamed once more.

"Sarah, can you hear me? Please, talk to me!" Fear gripped her heart, and even though she couldn't really feel her body, she started to run. She had no idea where she was heading, all she tried was to follow Jim's voice.

"Jim!" she shouted his name, and he yelled hers back. She ran for what felt like hours, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find him. And after a while, she finally slowed down. She dropped to her knees once more and pressed her hands against her face. It was too much. A life full of hatred, war and destruction had left its mark on her soul. She didn't want to go on like this. It had been her last chance, her last hope to have something like a somewhat normal life. But it would appear that she had just lied to herself.

"I'm such a fool...such a fool..." she sobbed. What had happened to the strong and courageous woman? The same woman that had faced a goddamn god and emerged victoriously? Well, perhaps that aspect of Sarah was still somewhere out there, doing whatever the hell she wanted to do. Point is, she was not here right now.

The only one who was here...was a scared woman who had no longer any reason to keep on fighting.

But it was about to get worse.

"To think that I would once see you like this..." a familiar voice spoke to her. She raised her head and looked over her shoulder. And when she saw that figure, her eyes widened in shock.

"You..."

"The universe..." Zeratul explained. "...does indeed have a sense of humor. But I do not appreciate it." Sarah didn't dare to say anything. She couldn't. She had been outplayed, had fallen into Zeratul's trap like a fool. And now?

"What...what have you done?" she whispered. "What have you done to Jim?" Zeratul did not answer her question. Instead, he walked closer to her and stopped only a few meters away from her.

"I believed that revenge was no longer on my mind. But to see you like this...on your knees. Weak. Defeated. Perhaps it is wrong to say that, but it gives me satisfaction to see you like this." the Dark Prelate announced. Sarah lowered her gaze and stared at the ground in front of her.

"So, this is it? You finally get your revenge. For what I did to Raszagal. For everything I did. That was your plan all along." There was no fire in her voice, no anger, no nothing. Just...exhaustion.

"You brought this unto yourself, Kerrigan." Zeratul explained, and then he raised his hand and looked at it. "But to think that this would be the full extent of your powers. It is...magnificent." Well...that didn't sound good.

"It will destroy you." she whispered. "Just like it destroyed me."

"Indeed." the Dark Prelate agreed. "But the way I see the universe now is...words cannot describe it. This is what the power of a god must be like."

"Just be done with it." Sarah then said. "End me and be done with it. But please, spare Jim. You called him your friend!" When Zeratul heard that, he lowered his gaze. Suddenly there was so much sadness in his voice.

"It pains me to say that..." he declared. "...but I cannot spare him either." When Sarah heard that, her eyes widened and she jumped to her feet.

"No!" she screamed. "Leave him out of this! This is about you and me! He has nothing to do with this!"

"On the contrary, he is in the center of it all. I cannot spare him." And then Zeratul turned around. "I now understand. I understand what this power is all about. It is magnificent...and horrible at the same time." And then he clenched his hands into fists. "The things I could do with these powers! I could restore Aiur to the way it was, I could purge the Zerg from the face of the galaxy! All with a blink of an eye." But then he opened his hands again and looked at them.

"But you did not do that. All that power...yet you did not use them to destroy us." Zeratul mumbled. He then turned back towards Sarah and looked her straight into the eyes.

"These powers...they should not be wielded by anyone. No mortal should lay gaze upon them. And no one should dare to dream that they are gods." he explained. "And that is why I have come to this conclusion." He walked up to Sarah and stopped right in front of her.

"Sarah Kerrigan!" he then announced. "For the crimes you have committed, for the countless of lives you have taken...I condemn you!" Suddenly Sarah was scared. She knew that Zeratul wouldn't go easy on her.

"I condemn you..." he continued. "...to live."

"What?" she whispered.

"You shall continue to exist. Not as a mortal, but as something else. These powers? They shall be part of you forever. But you will not use them for evil. You will use them as a force for good. And to make sure that you will not deviate from that path, you will share your existence with James Raynor from now on." Sarah made a step backward when she heard that.

"What are you talking about?!" she shouted.

"Your death would achieve nothing." he then explained. "It would not bring your victims back. It would not heal the wounds you have inflicted. However, your pain shall be James Raynor's. Your fate shall be his. From now on, you will no longer just live for your own sake...but for his sake as well."

"You can't do that!" Sarah replied and Zeratul chuckled.

"Ah, young Queen of Blades. So young, yet so arrogant. You wielded these powers like a hammer, you never cared to understand its true nature. It is so much more than raw power. It can destroy life...and it can create." Zeratul answered.

"But I... I can't control these powers!" Sarah sobbed. "It will only happen again!"

"Yes. Unless you find a way to master them." the Nerazim declared. "However, if you fail, you will not be the only one to perish. James Raynor will meet the same fate too."

"NO!" Sarah screamed. "Leave him out of this!" But Zeratul just shook his head.

"James' love for you goes beyond logic. I have seen it with my own eyes. He would rather die than to live without you. His life...will be in your hands." And then he made a step back and the light started to become even brighter.

"Mark my words, Kerrigan..." Zeratul said once more. But at the same time, she could hear Jim's voice again.

"Sarah! Sarah, open your eyes! Please!" She looked around and suddenly it felt like his voice was so close to her.

"...this...is justice." And then everything turned into light yet again.

* * *

Jim closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against the surface of the golden tree. There was a gentle smile on his face.

"I love you."

And after a while...he got the answer he wanted to hear.

 _ **I love you too...**_

And then Sarah finally let go.

And everything came to an end...only to start anew.

Jim gasped when he felt how a warm sensation spread to his mind. He wasn't able to describe what he was feeling. And it all happened too fast.

"That is right..." Zeratul whispered next to him, but he wasn't talking to Jim. "...let it go. Let go of your ambitions and dreams. Free yourself from what has controlled you for so long, Sarah Kerrigan. Free yourself from fear and anger, from rage and the lust to conquer." Something was happening, Jim could tell that much. But it all happened far too fast. Right next to him, Zeratul gasped and threw his head back.

"Zeratul!"

"I can feel it!" the Dark Prelate replied. "So much power! It is...so much." And then Zeratul did something Jim had never watched him do. As a matter of fact, he couldn't recall having witnessed something like this ever before.

A Protoss that was laughing hard.

"Ha..."

"Hahaha..."

"Hahahahaha!" Zeratul laughed.

"Zeratul, buddy...you're freaking me out over here!" Jim said, but it was no longer in his hands. Ah, who was he kidding, it had never been in his hands in the first place. He had been just a passenger along the ride. The Dark Prelate closed his eyes and Jim could see how golden streams of energy started to flow out of the trees...it looked like they were searching for something. Behind them, Izsha was equally worried.

"What is going on?" she demanded to know, but Zeratul didn't answer that question.

"You heard the lady! Zeratul, what is this?"

"It's working..." the Dark Prelate whispered.

"What is working?"

"The powers...Sarah Kerrigan's powers, they are looking for guidance. For a will to command them." Did that make any sense? Probably not.

"Well, then tell them...tell them to get lost or anything like that!" Jim barked. "Stick to the plan!" But what Zeratul said next made Jim curse on the inside.

"I am sorry, James. Unfortunately, I can no longer do this. These powers...they are too powerful to let them go to waste. The things one could do with them..." Now he didn't sound like good old Zeratul at all.

"This was not part of the plan, Zeratul!" Jim hissed and behind him, Izsha decided to act. She slithered up to them and raised her tail, ready to strike Zeratul down.

"Stop whatever you are doing, Protoss!" she demanded, but when Zeratul did not react, she attacked him. The attack was short-lived, though. The moment her tail came around, Zeratul looked over his shoulder and squinted his eyes.

"Agh!" Izsha gurgled in pain when something gripped her whole body. She was lifted high up into the air by an invisible force. And then the same force smashed her against a nearby golden tree. Jim watched in horror how everything was taking a turn for the worse.

"No! Zeratul, stop!"

"I cannot do that, James. I know see the truth. Forgive me, but it is the only way." the Dark Prelate replied and turned his attention back to Jim. "Please, believe me, it is better this way." Jim was about to do something. He knew that he wouldn't stand a chance against a Protoss, but he wouldn't give up without a fight. He made a step forward and wanted to throw himself at Zeratul. All the Nerazim had to do was to blink and Jim felt how his body froze.

"What...is this?"

"Friend Raynor...James..." Zeratul then spoke with a soft voice. "...I am sorry...for what I have to do. But I now see that there is no other choice." Jim couldn't help but feel betrayed. What was this all about?

"Don't...do it..." Jim managed to gargle and Zeratul placed his hand on the smaller man's shoulder.

"Do not be afraid. It will only hurt for a second." And then the Dark Prelate turned his attention back towards the tree in front of him. The ground started to shake, and beneath their feet, Jim could see how the earth cracked open.

"What's happening?!" he managed to hiss.

"Sarah Kerrigan's powers...they are looking for someone to command them. Without a will to guide them, they will consume all. You long for a will to command you? Pick me!" Zeratul declared and closed his eyes. From all over the place tentacles made out of golden light slithered towards them. They ignored Jim, they were only interested in Zeratul. He watched in horror how they touched the Protoss, how they wrapped themselves around him.

"So... much...power..." Zeratul whispered. "The universe...itself is speaking to me." Jim recognized that kind of talk. Sarah had told him something very similar when they had met again. She had even admitted to him that, in the beginning, all those powers had clouded her senses.

"Don't...do it..." Jim gurgled and Zeratul looked right at him. But when he stared into the Protoss' eyes, he didn't see that green glow anymore. Instead, it looked like was looking into a pitch-black abyss.

"It is time." And then Zeratul closed his eyes and groaned. The golden tentacles seemed to react. They pulsed and twitched and then...they started to change their colors. The gold was replaced by an intense green, and Jim watched in awe and shock how it wandered from Zeratul all the way back to all these trees. They too started to change their color. But there was more. The ground beneath them started to shake even harder, and Jim had a hard time to stay on his feet, especially since he wasn't able to move at all.

"ZERATUL!" Jim screamed in terror. The trees around them began to pulse and shift. It was like everything around them was coming to life. Everything became so bright that all Jim could do was to avert his gaze. He closed his eyes, but it didn't help. This wasn't just any ordinary light, he could feel it even on the inside. It was as if he was in the center of a storm...no, it was as if he was in the center of a goddamn star.

Jim couldn't see what was going on. But from the outside, it was quite the sight...

* * *

Trace Raynor stood on the veranda of his house and stared at the horizon. He could see the golden light in the distance, how it pulsed and started to become even brighter. He watched it and a sad smile appeared on his face.

"You did it, James. Remember...I'm proud of you." Behind him, the door was opened and Lydia came out.

"Oh my God!" she whispered. "What is this?" She had Johnny on her arm. He raised his finger and pointed at the pulsing light.

"Is that Daddy?" he asked and Trace walked over to his daughter-in-law and his grandson. He took both in his arm and gave them a gentle smile.

"It's okay. Everything will be fine." he told them. And then they shared this last moment together...as a family.

* * *

From above, it looked like the energies were collapsing on themselves. It almost looked like a star was about to be born. It was beautiful and horrible at the same time. And then those energies started to move. They started to move upwards. At first, they did so slowly, but soon they picked up the pace. It looked like countless tendrils made out of light, and they all reached out to the stars. They gathered above the planet and remained there for some time...

...and then they exploded, and the whole world was engulfed by light...

Jim didn't see any of this, it was all just too bright. When the light finally started to fade away, he looked around and realized that he was still in the forest made out of energy. But something had changed. He stared at the gigantic tree in front of him and could see how it started...to dissolve. Right in front of his eyes, the energy began to fade away, and millions of small lights were floating up into the sky. Everything was coming apart.

"What is this?" Jim whispered. And then he heard Zeratul's voice.

"It is justice delivered." He turned around and realized that he could move again.

"Zeratul!" he hissed. "What have you done?"

"What I promised myself a long time ago." the Dark Prelate replied. "What I should have done a long time ago."

"You said that you weren't interested in revenge!" Jim shouted and Zeratul looked him straight into the eyes.

"I lied."

Those words...felt like a poisoned dagger someone rammed right into his back. Jim didn't know what to say. After everything that they had done, after all the hardship they had encountered...he felt defeated.

"What did you do?" he whispered.

"What felt right." Zeratul announced. "It is all over now, James Raynor. This nightmare...is finally over." Jim wanted to scream at Zeratul, but he lacked the strength to do so. He felt dead on the inside. He couldn't even feel Sarah anymore.

"So... what now?"

"Now...the rest is up to you." Zeratul explained and looked over at the giant tree in front of them, the one that hadn't dissolved yet.

"What do you mean?" Jim whispered and followed Zeratul's gaze. He stared at the surface of the tree that was fading away until he could make out something that wasn't made out of pure energy. At first, he didn't recognize it, but then he realized what it was.

Fingers...and a hand.

"No..." Jim gasped. He hurried towards the vanishing tree and reached it just in time. The moment her body appeared in front of him, Jim reached out with his hands. She was unconsciousness, but he could see that she was breathing. That she was alive!

"Sarah!" he screamed and caught her in time. She was so light! He could hardly believe his own eyes. He was almost out of strength and so the only thing he could do was to catch her and sink to the ground. It was her. It was Sarah! His Sarah! Tears started to stream down his face and he looked up to Zeratul.

"Why?"

"Because there are many different ways to deliver justice. She will know what I am talking about. Tell her this, though, I dispersed her powers...for now. However, they will return to her one day. It might take years. It might take decades. But it will happen eventually. Use that time to heal her wounds, to fill those cracks. These powers are part of her, and only she is able to carry them. They are no privilege. They are a burden. A burden she shall carry for the rest of her existence."

"Hnnn..." Sarah suddenly groaned and Jim looked down at the woman in his arms.

"Sarah?" he whispered, but she didn't react.

"Sarah!" And then her lips started to move.

"...Jim?"

"Sarah!" he gasped in relief. "Can you hear me?" Jim tried to make her wake up, but she didn't react. He didn't know what how he should feel about this. Relieved? Happy? Angry? It was all too much for him to process. He looked up to Zeratul while tears continued to stream down his face.

"What's going to happen now?"

"Now...it is up to you. Both of you." Zeratul then declared. Sarah groaned in his arms and Jim looked down.

"Sarah! Sarah, open your eyes! Please!" he begged her. He could see how her eyelids started to flutter and then...

...she finally opened her eyes again.

Sarah appeared to be confused and disoriented for a moment. Until she finally recognized Jim's face. She raised her hand and placed it on his cheek.

"Jim?" All he could do was crying like a little boy.

"Yes..." he sobbed. "...yes, it's me." And then he said the words he had thought he would never say again.

"It is over. It is finally over."

"On the contrary..." Zeratul told him. "...this is just the beginning of your journey." Jim wanted to reply something, but then his eyes widened in shock.

"Zeratul, you..." he gasped as he watched how Zeratul's body started to dissolve as well. The Dark Prelate started to chuckle.

"It is as I said; everything will return to the way it was. Now, farewell, James. I know I caused you pain and that I betrayed your trust. Maybe...you will be able to forgive me in the next life." Jim managed to give him a smile. He still had no idea what had happened right now. But there was still one thing he had to get off his chest.

"Thank you. For everything."

All Zeratul did was to raise his hand and give Jim a thumbs-up.

And then...he was gone...

* * *

For a long time, no one dared to say a word. All Jim did was to look at Sarah, who was still in his arms. She was naked, but he hardly cared for that right now. Her eyes were closed, and there was a peaceful expression on her face. He couldn't remember a time when she had looked this peaceful. He placed his hand on her head and brushed over her soft hair. Behind them, Izsha got back up and slithered towards the two of them. She looked down at Sarah and Jim could see the relief on her noseless face.

"My Queen..." She knelt down in front of them and placed her hand on Sarah's forearm. No one spoke. They were too exhausted. Jim wanted to sleep. More than anything he wanted to rest. He sighed and looked around. The crater was still there. And it was still a barren wasteland. Well, they sure had left their mark on this world, that much was for certain. He looked at the horizon and sighed. Now that everything was said and done, he wondered what would happen next. Only then he realized that something was wrong.

The horizon, it looked...different. Jim squinted his eyes and tried to figure out what was wrong.

And then he finally saw it.

Stars.

He could see stars. The sky above them had changed. The stellar nebula that had surrounded the world, it was gone.

Or at least parts of it. Through the huge gaps in it, Jim could see stars. And even though he didn't recognize any of them, he knew what this was.

It was the Milky Way.

Sarah's powers had blown a huge chunk out of that nebula. He remembered what Zeratul had told him.

 _I dispersed her powers...for now. But they will return to her one day._

"What will happen now?" Izsha asked. Jim sighed and placed his hand on Sarah's cheek.

"Now? Now we will make your Queen whole again. How does that sound, huh?" Jim replied.

"It sounds...acceptable." Izsha agreed and tilted her head to the side. "What are you doing?" she then asked when she watched how Jim lay down and pulled the still sleeping Sarah closer to him until she rested safely in his arms.

"I just...need to close my eyes for a bit. It was...was a long day. Hey, Izsha...could you do me a favor?" he then asked and looked up the Zerg-lady. She studied his weary features and then lowered her gaze.

"I shall watch over you." she told him, and Jim gave her a weak smile.

"Thank y..." But then he had already fallen asleep.

And the expression on his face? It was just as peaceful as the one on Sarah's.

* * *

Zeratul could feel it. So this was what dying felt like? It didn't hurt. Not that it mattered, though. However, he was amazed that there was still something left of his consciousness. While he, or rather the real Zeratul, had walked the Void, he had never truly believed in an afterlife. So when he suddenly found himself on the beach of this world again, he was truly confused.

Maybe this had all been just an illusion? Maybe he hadn't succeeded?

"It worked...you did it. You saved them." When Zeratul heard that soft voice, he turned around and frowned.

"Kerrigan? But...how?" He had dispersed her powers, she shouldn't be able to even lift a finger!

There was a woman, standing only a few meters away. At first, Zeratul thought that it was Kerrigan. But then he realized that there were some differences. They resembled each other, but there was something else, something that was strange.

"Who...are you?" Zeratul wanted to know. "Why am I still here? I..." That's when a gentle smile appeared on the young woman's face, and suddenly Zeratul felt as if he was at peace. As if everything was the way it was supposed to be.

"I am sorry." the young woman whispered. "I did not want to keep you from your well-earned rest. Not after all what you have done for them. And for me."

"For you?" Zeratul whispered. "Who are you?" He took a closer look, until he made out some more details. It was true that most Protoss couldn't tell humans apart, but Zeratul had learned to look for the details. And when he saw those brown eyes, he recognized them.

"No...it can't be..."

"Someone once told me to not overthink things." the young woman said. "It will only lead to headaches. And no one likes those." She turned her head away and looked at the beautiful ocean in front of them. "It is strange...I was told about this so many times, I thought I was prepared to see it. But now that I'm here...it is so very different from what I imagined it would be like."

"You came here...to save them?"

"No. That was your job. And for that, I will be forever in your debt. I wanted you to know that. I wanted to thank you, in person." She then looked back at him and showed him another smile.

"Thank you, Zeratul. It is an honor to meet you."

The Dark Prelate remained silent for a long time. When he finally spoke again, there was some sadness in his voice.

"Your gratitude is appreciated, but not necessary. I did what was right. Only time will tell if this was the right decision."

"It will be. Believe me, I know." the young woman replied.

"Then...this is it? I can rest now?" the weary Protoss wanted to know.

"Yes. Yes, you can..." And then the young woman took a deep breath. "...after you have done one last thing. There's someone you have to talk to first."

* * *

The place was just as dusty and desolate as Jim remembered it. It even felt dirtier and dustier than in reality. He stared at the group of people in the distance and listened to them carefully, even though he had listened to that speech so many times. However, this time it was different.

"We have gathered here to pay our respect to Lydia Elizabeth Raynor." the Reverend started with his speech. There was no visible reaction on Jim's face, though. Not this time. All he did was to listen.

"Those who knew Lydia Raynor will always remember her as an exceptionally tender soul. Someone who always thought about others before herself. I think it is safe to say that none of us has ever met such a kind soul before. The things she has done for us will never be forgotten." The person next to Jim shifted her weight from one leg to the other. She didn't like this place, he knew that. Then again...neither did he. But he had to do this.

"Because while she walked among us, she always provided us with a smile." the Reverend continued. "It was a rare gift, one that not many possess. And one that will be greatly missed." Jim lowered his gaze and thought about what had happened. The person next to him noticed his pain and wanted to say something, but then she remained silent. This was his moment, and she didn't want to disturb it. He appreciated that, but it was not necessary. On the contrary, he reached out with his hand and managed to grab her own. He gave it a soft squeeze and could feel how she sighed in relief.

"Lydia was **not** just a friend. She was a sister. She was a daughter. But most importantly; she was a mother and a wife. She had a family." When Jim heard those words, he could feel how the person next to him shivered. He knew why. He knew about her doubts and fears. He knew because he could feel them in his own mind.

It would need some time to get used to it, but then a weak smile appeared on his face.

 _There's no one I would rather have inside my head..._ he thought to himself.

However, there was no longer a "himself".

"Careful what you wish for." she whispered right next to him and he turned his head over to her. He looked into Sarah's eyes and gave her hand another soft squeeze.

"Let's go." was all he said.

"If you want some more time, or if you want to be alone, then I can just-"

"No." he interrupted her. "The past is past. It's time to move on. Come on. Let's go home."

"Home, huh?" Sarah muttered. "And where would that be?"

"Wherever we want it to be, Darlin'." he said to her and when she heard that, she smiled back at him.

"Yeah...that sounds nice." And so, both of them turned away from the funeral. They walked over to the house that once had been a church, then a normal house, then like Sarah's old home. And now? Now it looked like a mixture of Sarah's and Jim's old homes. Sarah stepped through the door, and Jim was about to follow her in when he stopped in the doorframe and looked back once more. In the distance, he could see four figures. Three of them were human. And one was Protoss. Jim smiled when he recognized them. His father had put his arm around Lydia's shoulder while carrying Johnny at the same time. They all smiled at him. And next to them...was Zeratul.

"Jim? Are you coming?" he could hear Sarah and nodded.

"Yeah." he whispered. A part of him was still sad that he had to do this. However, another part could hardly wait to see what lay ahead of them. He closed the door behind him, and the dream that had accompanied him for all those years finally seized to exist.

It was time for a new dream.

* * *

 **...**

 **End of Act III**

 **...**

 **Coming Up Next:**

 **...**

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **...**


	85. Act IV - Chapter 1

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 1**

 **A Fresh Start**

* * *

 **A few Months later...**

 **...on a remote world at the edge of Dominion space...**

* * *

The air was hot and stale, even though the heat of the afternoon was already starting to fade away. At first, you could hear nothing. This place hadn't seen any visitors for years. Even the dust was covered with dust. The light that fell through the dirty windows illuminated an abandoned place. Whatever had happened, it looked like the former inhabitants had left this place in a hurry. Everything was still the way how it was supposed to be.

The furniture had seen better days, though. The only thing left of the couches were the heavy wooden frames. Most of the cushioning was gone, it was unclear wherever it had just rotted away or some rodents had used it for their nests. Or as food. Or both.

The wallpapers were coming down as well. All in all, this place didn't look like the home it once had been but like a grave, a place that was void of any life.

However, the time of quiet slumber was about to come to an end. Heavy footsteps could be heard, they were coming from the outside. At first, it appeared as if whoever had come was about to leave. This place was forsaken, no one had come here in ages. So why now?

Yet when someone stepped on the veranda outside the house, it was clear that they had come to this place for a reason. And that they would not leave. The footsteps became louder and inside the house a few bugs and what could be considered the current tenants started to skitter around and look for a place to hide. No one had bothered them for ages. Generations of them had resided here without ever seeing a human being.

Well, that was about to change.

The front door was pushed open, and countless bugs and other critters ran for cover.

"...might I say that I was really happy when I heard that someone was interested in this estate." a man said as he stepped into the house. To say that this man was corpulent would have been an understatement. He was simply fat. Fat and sweating like crazy. His shirt was soaked and once inside, he took his hat off, pulled a kerchief out of his pocket and wiped all that sweat from his forehead. He turned around and showed the people outside a big grin.

"See? Just as I told you! It might not look like much on the outside, but it is still a beautiful home on the inside!" he said and made room for the other persons.

"Ladies first?" a male voice asked.

"No thanks." a woman replied. Her voice sounded like she was annoyed, disgusted, and amused at the same time.

"Please, please!" the fat man said. "Come in! It's really nice in here and not as hot as outside!" A man entered the house and looked around. He was in his late twenties, maybe early thirties. He had broad shoulders and short brown hair. He wore a simple shirt and a fresh pair of jeans...though the dust and dirt had already taken its toll on his clothes. He took a deep breath and grinned.

"Nice. Really ni-ghaa ghaa gha..." he suddenly had to cough when he inhaled some dust. He leaned forward and the fat man walked over to him. Without asking for permission, he patted the younger man on the back and caused him to hiss in pain.

"Don't worry! All you have to do is to open the windows and let the air blow through this place and it will be as good as new!" the fat man declared. "Here, let me open some windows!" He then walked through the house and opened all the windows he could find. The younger man remained behind, and when he had finally calmed down, he looked over his shoulder.

"Wanna come in?" he gargled while tears streamed down his face.

"Uh huh." the woman mumbled. "Not so sure 'bout that, love."

"Come on, it's all fi- ghaa ghaaaaa ghaaa..." he started to cough again, and the person outside sighed. When the woman finally entered the house, she looked around and frowned.

"You know, I knew that when broker said that "it might not look much on the outside, but wait till you have seen it from the inside" that this would end badly." she told him and sighed. "This place is a dump." The man, who had finally managed to calm down a bit, straightened himself and coughed once more before he grinned at her.

"Aw, come on! You have to look at what this could be!" he told her and she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"A testbed for allergies?" she offered and he shook his head. However, before they could say anything else, the fat broker returned.

"Well, that is much better, isn't it? Ah, fresh air! And suddenly this whole place looks so much more like home, don't you think?" he asked and started to laugh. Both the woman and the man next to her watched in awe (and disgust) how the fat broker's belly and his chubby arms wiggled like they were made out of pudding. As were his chins. All three of them.

"Well, it certainly has its charm..." the man agreed, and he could sense how the woman next to him groaned on the inside.

"I know what you mean!" the broker replied. "Well, it is like I told you; this estate is a real gem. All you have to do is to polish it and it will shine like a star in the sky!"

 _Star in the sky, huh?_ the younger man could hear her voice in the back of his mind, but he decided to ignore it. At least for now.

"Well, what can I say? It certainly has a lot of potential." the younger man declared.

 _Yeah, as a dump._ her voice echoed through his mind, and he put on a forced smile. He looked the broker straight into the eyes and tried his best to ignore her comment, at least for now.

"I'm glad you see it that way, Mister Rennard." the fat man agreed. "Now, would you like to see the rest of the building?" The broker was too eager for the woman's taste. It was so obvious that it was painful to watch.

"Actually..." the man called Rennard said. "...I would like to do that. However, I think that we want to do that in private. If you don't mind." For a moment the fat broker didn't seem to understand what Rennard was talking about, but then his eyes widened when he saw the skeptical look on the woman's face.

"Oh. Oh! Oh, of course. Silly me. Yes, I understand. Tell you what, I will wait outside and look through the papers once more. That will take a few minutes anyway. If you need anything, do not hesitate to call me!" He then bowed a bit and wobbled out of the house. As he walked past the woman, you could see how the expression on her face turned sour. When he was gone, the younger man looked at her.

"What? You haven't seen all yet!" he said.

"It's a dump, Jim. No one has lived in this place for years."

"Yeah, well...that's why it's so cheap." Jim replied, and the redhead sighed once more.

"I can't believe I agreed to this. Tell me again why I did that?" she muttered, and Jim walked over to her. He took her into his arms and offered her a gentle smile.

"Because, Sarah, I won't stay even one more day on Ulnar. And _Sternenheim_ is getting boring." _Sternenheim_. The name they had finally come up with for their new home. Or one of their new homes. It meant "Starhome", and since the world was still inside a stellar nebula, that name seemed to be rather fitting.

"You're just still mad because Niadra, Izsha, and Karax beat you every damn time you play poker with them." Sarah replied.

"Playing with them is just not fair. They don't even have mouths!" Jim growled. "You can't even say what they're feeling!"

"Izsha has a mouth." Sarah said.

"That doesn't count, she still has the ultimate poker face." Jim replied and he could see how Sarah had to snicker. She slipped out of his embrace and walked through the abandoned house.

"But still...why this place?" she wanted to know and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Dunno. It just felt like it was worth the try. This place is so far out that I doubt that anyone will bother us here. Besides, I remember that the guy who owned this place had this awesome beer in his fridge." When Sarah heard that, she pulled a brow up.

"I thought you were done drinking alcohol."

"You know what I mean." Jim replied, and she sighed when she saw his lines of thought inside his mind. Of course she knew what he meant, they had talked about this for quite some time after all. She still wasn't really convinced that this was a good idea, but she was no longer willing to discuss this matter. Deep in her heart, she knew that he had a good point.

What annoyed her was the fact that he knew that she knew that.

She sighed and turned away from Jim. Sarah crossed the arms in front of her chest and looked around.

"This place still looks like a dump." she said. "I wonder what happened to the inhabitants, though. Guess the Confederacy took good care of them."

"Who knows, maybe they managed to get off this world. That little boy was a brave little soldier, I bet his family got away in time."

"Tanner, his name was Tanner." Sarah said and Jim's eyes widened in surprise.

"You remember the boy's name?"

"Yeah. I also remember that the boy and his family didn't live in this house. The Confederacy had arrested the owner of the house just a day prior to our mission. His name was Hammond." Sarah continued, and Jim pulled his brows up.

"Really? Huh, can't remember any of this." Perhaps he shouldn't be too surprised, though. Between their mission back then and now lay years. Many years of fighting (and drug abuse) had caused some of his memories to be nothing more than faint shadows.

"That boy...to him it was just one huge adventure." Sarah muttered and took a deep breath. "I hope they got away, though." She walked up to a window and looked out of it. Out in the distance, she could see the remnants of the small settlement. Time had taken its toll on those ruins. And so had the Confederates. They had burned the entire village to the ground. Was it because of Jim's and Sarah's mission all those years ago? Or had it been just a random act of violence?

No one knew. The settlement had been abandoned years ago, and the only building that remained was Old Hammond's farmhouse. It stood apart from the old settlement, perhaps that was the reason why the Confeds hadn't bothered burning it to the ground as well. Now it was the only building within a radius of fifty kilometers.

Outside Sarah could see how the broker was making a call. She squinted her eyes and grimaced.

"He's gonna try to screw us over." she declared and Jim stepped behind her.

"You can read his mind?" he asked and she could sense his concern. A smile appeared on her face.

"Oh, I don't have to read his mind to know that. Besides, he stared at my ass every time he got the chance." she replied. "He's gonna screw us over."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. "Jim sighed. "So, what are we gonna do about it?" For a long time, Sarah didn't say a word. But then she shook her head and her long red queue of hair flew from one side to the other. By now her hair was so long that it reached all the way to her lower back. Jim liked that new look of hers.

"Hmm...I guess we can either just accept it..." Sarah mused. "...or go to war. I could summon Izsha and tell her to bring a full detachment of Hydralisks with her. We could have this world conquered within one week." She then looked over her shoulder and into Jim's eyes. "...yeah, thought you would say that." she chuckled when she sensed his thoughts. "Getting screwed over it is then."

"Don't worry, getting screwed with can be fun from time to time." Jim explained.

"That's an interesting choice of words, love." Sarah replied and looked back out of the window. She looked at the fat broker and sighed. "At least you could have chosen a world that's not made out of dust and dirt."

"Like what? Aiur?"

"HA!" Sarah barked. "Now here's an idea that could lead to some fun. Or not." She then turned away from the window looked around.

"Did I mention that this place looks like a dump?" she asked.

"You might have mentioned it one or two times, yes."

"Good. Then let me say it again; this place looks like a dump."

"For someone who lived many years inside a hive, you sure have high standards, Darlin'." Jim mumbled.

"A hive is not so bad. There's always underfloor heating." Sarah then shifted her weight from one foot to the other and the wooden floor squeaked below her. "Here I'm afraid that the floor will just collapse."

"Hey, at least give it a cha-" But then Jim was cut short by the fat broker who walked back into the house.

"Oh, I hope I didn't interrupt you while discussing anything!" the broker said and showed them an apologetic smile, but even without the ability to read any thoughts, Sarah could tell that he had just waited for the right opportunity to do exactly that. Being so close to this man made her realize that she was actually glad that her psionics weren't working right now. Because that meant that she sensed what he thought while he was looking at her.

"Oh, we were just discussing how much potential this place has!" Jim chuckled.

"Excellent! Excellent! So, this house does suit your tastes? If so, maybe we should talk about the contract's details and-" the broker started.

"I leave you boys alone." Sarah just said and turned away from them. Jim was about to say something, but she just chuckled.

 _Your idea, you deal with it._ she thought, and he groaned when he heard her voice inside his head.

"Yes, my love." Jim sighed and dropped his shoulders.

"Wonderful! Well, Mr. Rennard, there are a few things we have to talk about. Since you are not a local, we need certain securities in order to finalize this transaction. Now, the fee for someone who is not from around is usually 150 percent of the buying price and-"

"150 percent?!" Jim barked. "Are you outta yer' mind?!"

"Now, now, everything is fine. You see, there are ways to reduce the overall fee by..." But Sarah didn't care about that. It had been Jim's idea, so he could deal with that guy. Besides, if she would catch him staring at her ass one more time, she would return to her old ways. Even if it was for only but a few seconds.

No one would find the body.

 _That's not funny._ Sarah could hear Jim's voice in the back of her head, but she couldn't help but snicker. She left both men behind and started to explore the house. It was strange...it looked exactly the way she remembered it. Of course, it was nothing but a ruin right now, but it still looked just the way she remembered it. Sarah walked into the living room and stopped.

Right in front of her was that old woodstove. The same woodstove she had sat in front of all those years ago.

Huh...it was strange. Back then the world had been so very different. Simpler, yes. But not necessarily better. She walked up to the woodstove and put her hand on it. It was covered with dust, but even then, she had to smile.

 _Everyone has a favorite food!_ Sarah remembered Jim's words from all those years ago. _It's physically impossible not to!_

"Well, I don't have a favorite food." she repeated her words from back then, but she knew that this was no longer true. She would never openly admit it, but Jim's squid-fishes did taste really well. She had no idea how he managed to do that since all he seemed to do was to roast them over the fire. She had done the same thing many times, but for some odd reason, her squid-fishes just didn't taste quite as good.

 _It's the secret ingredient!_ Jim said to her through the bond they shared. _It's love!_

"Ugh..." Sarah groaned, but then she had to chuckle. She brushed some of the dust away and looked at a spot right in front of it. That was the spot where she had sat when they had visited this place. Huh, she had never been into nostalgia, but now she couldn't help but wonder how much had happened since then. Years had passed, yes. However, it felt more like several lifetimes. Back then she had been so angry, so frightened. She had been afraid of living a normal life. She still was, but at least she was no longer alone.

Sarah turned her head around and could see an old armchair. It was just as ruined as all the other pieces of furniture in this house. While the wooden frame looked like it was still alright (even though there were some bite marks on its legs), the cushioning was completely gone. That's when she saw that empty beer bottle standing right next to it and she had to smile.

"We've come quite the way, haven't we..." she whispered.

 _Heh, wait till you see what I have planned for this place!_

She sighed when she heard that. Sarah was afraid of what he would try to do to this place. She looked once more at the woodstove and imagined how it would look like to sit in front of it once more, with a blanket wrapped around her. She had to admit that she liked that image.

"Whatever you have planned, Jim...this one stays right where it is." Sarah mumbled and turned away. The rest of the house was in a rather pitiful state. The kitchen looked as if a tornado had decided to throw a party in it, and let's not even talk about the bathroom! Seriously, the bathtub looked as if it had been the home of a Zerg larva! Sarah walked up to the sink and opened the faucet. The broker had told them that the house was hooked up to constant water, but for a long time, nothing happened.

And when finally something came out of the faucet, it certainly didn't look like water.

"So much for a hot bath in our new home." Sarah sighed and checked the other rooms. It was nothing special, it was just a normal house, but even then, Sarah realized that her words had a certain ring to them.

 _Our new home...sounds nice._ Jim said.

"I guess so." Home. Her home. "Though I never thought that I would live in a dump one day."

 _Oh, now you're just mean._

"Hehe...wait till Izsha sees this place. Then you will know what "mean" means."

 _Hmmm..._ she could hear Jim grumble and it put a smile on her face.

The bedroom looked nice. But that bed...oh God, whatever had used it as a nest was hopefully no longer around. Sarah had promised Jim that the Zerg that still followed her would not come to this world, but right now she wished she had some Zerglings at her disposal to deal with whatever had been here before.

They had talked about this for days, weeks, months. At first, she had laughed at his idea. Then she had been annoyed. And then...she had started to think about it.

In the months since their little _adventure_ on Sternenheim, things had changed. It had been...rough. For both of them. A lot of tears, a lot of excuses, a lot of screaming. Well, not so much screaming, but a lot of crying. Perhaps the biggest change was the fact that there were no more secrets between them. And believe Sarah when she says that it had been rough. It had taken its toll, on both of them. But it had been necessary, even though Sarah still didn't want to remember those days.

Well, at least she hadn't been able to go nuclear again.

Zeratul hadn't lied. He hadn't exaggerated either. He had truly managed to do what Sarah had never been able to. Not only had he managed to restore her body, but he had also managed to disperse her powers. For now, anyway. So they had been trapped on Sternenheim. She, Jim...and Izsha. And someone else. Well, it had been fun. At first. Perhaps they would have spent the rest of their lives on this world if not someone had decided to save their sorry butts.

Sarah hadn't been able to do much about it either. So all of them had been quite surprised when a certain Phase-smith had managed to create a new warp gate that could create a stable connection between Ulnar and Sternenheim.

It had been rough for Jim as well. Accepting things for what they were, not how he wanted them to be, that was something he hadn't been used to. And there had been a lot of things that had made him doubt himself. Things like Niadra, for example. So, they had spent most of their time sorting things out.

At one point, Jim had started to think about what to do next. And so, he had come up with a crazy idea. It was so utterly crazy and ridiculous that Sarah had flat out refused it. However, if there was one word you could use to describe James Raynor, then it was "relentless".

" _A home. A normal place where normal people live. You know; humans. Doesn't have to be a big city, doesn't have to be Augustgrad either. Just a colony at the ass end of the sector."_ he had suggested.

" _What would be the point of that?"_ she had asked.

" _Sarah, you never had the chance to have a normal life. I know this sounds crazy, but...but I think that it could help you."_

Like said; at first, she had refused that idea. However, after months of annoying the crap out of her, Jim had finally managed to win her over. Mostly because their time on Sternenheim was beyond boring and because she was sick of walking through Ulnar's halls and study stuff that she didn't understand. To Jim, it was a chance to enjoy what he considered a "normal life". To Sarah, it was a change of scenery.

But to think that they would end up on the world they had visited all those years ago...

When she was done with looking around, she decided to return to Jim and the broker. Just in time.

"...thirty percent." she could hear Jim snarl. She walked into the room and saw that both men had turned their backs towards her.

"Ah, Mr. Rennard, please! You know that I can't go that low! 110 percent!"

"I could buy some dirt from the local government and build a house way cheaper." Jim replied. "Thirty-five percent."

"You could. But the economy isn't what it used to be. Getting the things you need to build a house will cost you quite a lot." the broker said. "105 percent."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Jim shot back. "If you tell me that I have to spend a lot of money to fix this house, then why are you trying to take away all of my money?"

"Inflation!" the man replied as if this would answer anything. "One hundred percent. And that is my last word!"

"Oh man, that is too bad. You know, I really wanted to have this house, but one hundred percent is simply too much!" Jim shot back. "Forty percent."

"Out of the question. But I tell you what; I will do something incredibly stupid and go below the magical line of one hundred percent. But only if you promise me that you will never tell another broker that I did! They will call me an idiot for the rest of my life!" Well, that sounded promising. "95 percent. And not one percent less!" The broker offered his hand to Jim and he stared at it for a long time. But then a smile appeared on his face and grabbed the man's hand.

"You drive a hard bargain, but I accept." Jim couldn't see how Sarah pressed her hand against her eyes and groaned in pain and despair.

"Excellent!" the fat broker replied, a huge grin on his face. Why shouldn't he be happy? He just scored big time. "So, let us get the papers signed and then you can finally call this lovely house your own home. Ah! Look who has come back! Mrs. Rennard, so good that you came to join us!" Sarah felt the urge to stay as far away from that guy as possible.

"Actually..." she mumbled. "...we're not married."

"Oh! How curious!" the broker said. "Forgive me, I just assumed that you were-"

"Kluivert. The name is Kluivert." Sarah told him and winced on the inside when she spoke out that name. Sarah Kluivert. Brrrrrr...

 _Still better than Jane Shepard._ Jim replied and she took a deep breath. Nope, she would not give him an answer this time.

"Kluivert...sounds Dutch." the broker said and Sarah pulled a brow up. What the hell was Dutch?

"I wouldn't know." she mumbled and then she shook her head. All she wanted to do was to get this thing over with. Jim sensed her frustration and decided that it was time to hurry things up.

"So, what do you need to make this thing official?" he wanted to know and the broker looked like he was about to explode due to all that happiness he was feeling inside his tiny fat heart. He had all the reasons to feel that way, he was about to experience one hell of a payday.

"Well, aside from an ID check, I will need your signatures and of course your banking information. Once I got that I will have my secretary check your creditworthiness and if everything works out, you should be able to move in your new home in less than a we-"

"What if we want to pay in cash?" Jim interrupted the broker. The fat man stopped and blinked a few times as if his brain needed the seconds to process what Jim had just said.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Cash. You know, we would like to buy it now. As in: Right now." Jim explained, and the broker stared at him for some more seconds.

"Well...sure, that could be arranged, but-"

"Great!" Jim said with a big grin on his face. "Just one more question; do you accept gold?"

And that's when Sarah saw the most lecherous grin she had ever seen. There was even drool dripping from the broker's chin.

* * *

"He totally screwed you over." Sarah said as she watched how the broker's car vanished in the distance. She stood on the veranda of the house and the sun was about to vanish beyond the horizon. There was not a single cloud and Sarah marveled how that fiery red ball slowly disappeared. Jim, who stood right behind her, wrapped his arms around her slender body and chuckled.

"Yep."

"You said to Karax that you would need that gold for an important scientific project, remember? He spent months pulling the gold out of all those wreckages, and he was looking forward building a new and improved warp gate. Just imagine his sad face when I'll tell him that you used that gold to bribe a fat broker." Sarah mused.

"Now you're just mean."

"Better get used to it." Sarah replied and sighed. "Just what do you see in this place? It's so...dull."

"Kinda like Mar Sara, I know. But hey, that is part of its charm!"

"Since when is dull _charming_?" she wanted to know, but then Sarah just shook her head. "Nevermind. I'm tired. Maybe we should get back to the hotel. I could use a shower. And something warm to eat would be nice."

Yes, you heard right; hotel. They had come here all the way from the planet's capital, a city with roughly one hundred thousand inhabitants. Getting out here had taken several hours, and they would return in the middle of the night if they would go back now. The nearest settlement was fifty kilometers away, though they hadn't visited that place yet. When they had arrived here, they had played it safe. Sarah hadn't really felt the same kind of giddy enjoyment Jim had. And she would have never thought that her experience as a Confederate assassin and his experience as a, well, thief and crook had helped them to stay unnoticed. James Rennard and Sarah Kluivert, former refugees from Mar Sara. Both had lived some time in Augustgrad (technically, that wasn't even a lie, at least when talking about Jim), but the big city hadn't been the place where they had wanted to spend the next years.

So, when the Dominion had decided to start a program to encourage people to move to the fringe worlds in order to reconquer the worlds lost during the war against the Zerg and Protoss, the couple had decided to grab that chance.

Sarah hated to admit it, but it was a good story, a believable one.

Officially, they had come to this world four weeks ago and spent their time looking for, well, a new home. She had left all those details to Jim, mostly because it had been his plan. And because she was still not convinced that it was a good idea.

The truth, of course, was a bit different. They had come here by using a Protoss vessel Karax had salvaged from all those wreckages that were still on Ulnar. Under normal circumstances, Sarah could have used her powers to just travel to this planet in an instant. However, "normal" was a relative term these days.

Even as a teenager, even as a child, even when they had drugged her or she had been asleep, Sarah had always felt the world around her. Her psionics had never rested. Sometimes they had been weak, yes. However, now things were different. For the first time in her life Sarah felt...nothing.

Normal.

She felt...normal.

Well, aside from the fact that she could hear Jim's thoughts, but hey, that's as close as normal as it can get, right?

"Actually, I got a better idea..." Jim whispered into her ear and she pulled an eyebrow up.

"Jiiiim...what did you do?"

"I kinda...checked out today when we left the hotel." he said and she looked over her shoulder.

"Oh no, you didn't."

"Oh, don't worry. I got some stuff in the trunk of the car. Like sleeping bags and something to eat and..." He stopped when he could sense Sarah's frustration. "...come on, it will be fine. It's like camping, only with walls around us!"

"Something used the bed to breed its offspring!" she shot back.

"Then we will buy a new bed. Tomorrow. We'll drive back to the city and get the things we need. Or we could head in the other direction. There's another settlement to the south, only fifty kilometers away from here. How does that sound?" Jim wanted to know. Sarah turned around and looked him into the eyes.

"You're serious about that, aren't you? About this!" she pointed at the house behind her. "Being home."

"It's worth a try!" he replied and she sighed. Sarah didn't know which was worse; the simple nature of Jim's big plan, or the childlike glee he felt when he was thinking about a place both of them could call home. Well, the least she could do was to give it a try.

"Fine. But should _anything_ crawl into my sleeping bag tonight, I will be so out of here!" she snarled and Jim gave her a lecherous smile.

"Does that include me?"

"Shut it, Mr. Rennard."

* * *

Sarah had to admit that there was something nice about this place after all. There was enough firewood in the barn to fire up the woodstove, and once the sunlight was gone, they both sat in front of the oven and enjoyed the flickering of the fire. They had wrapped a blanket around their shoulders that kept them warm. Even though the woodstove produced some heat, it was still pretty cold outside.

"Guess the heating is one of the things I need to fix first." Jim mumbled mostly to himself.

"The water doesn't work either." Sarah said and Jim sighed.

"Yeah, talked about that with the broker. Said that the settlement had its own water pump system, but no one has looked at that thing for years. Guess it needs some fixin' too."

"Perhaps we should find a way to get Karax down here so he can do his magic." Sarah suggested.

"What? Why? I can fix that stuff myself, there's no need for Karax to come out here. Besides, he's far too busy deciphering Ulnar's secrets."

"Jim, I love you. But you're the only man who can turn a water pump into a nuclear fusion reactor by accident." Unfortunately, Sarah had a point there. He had tried to help Karax working on some tech. To make a long story short; that part of Ulnar was still highly radiated. Niadra even had been forced to move one of her hives so it wouldn't produce hot cooked larvae. Everyone had agreed that Jim should stay away from makeshift warp gates after that.

"Well, we can make a list and look for the stuff we need tomorrow." he sighed, pulled Sarah closer and inhaled her scent.

"We've come a long way, Darlin'." he whispered into her ear.

"Hm-hmm..." she mumbled and continued to stare into the fire. She tried to feel it, tried to bend it, tried to make it do whatever she wanted to do. But all she managed to do...was nothing. Jim noticed her absent-minded look and tilted his head to the side.

"What's the matter?"

"I was just thinking..." she replied. "...didn't you say you wanted to visit Matt? See how he's doing?" It was true, he had mentioned something like that several times. And he did want to see Matt again.

"Maybe some other time. There's still so much to do, and from what I heard everyone is quite busy on Korhal. The last thing he needs is how his old pal spooks him. Besides..." He then looked into Sarah's eyes. "...I will have my hands full with fixing the house. But after that is done...sure, why not?"

"I don't want to go to Korhal." Sarah then said. "What happens if they recognize me? I can't change my appearance anymore. And I'm pretty sure that Sarah Kerrigan is still wanted for several accounts of war crimes." When Jim heard that, he said nothing. He didn't have to. They had talked about this plenty of times by now, and much to his own dismay Jim had to admit that Sarah was right.

"Too bad. I totally wanted to go to this year's Christmas party with Jane Shepard." he humbled and she chuckled. And then no one said anything for a long time. When both finally started to get tired, they decided to roll into their sleeping bags and listened to the world outside. Occasionally you could hear a wild animal in the distance, but there was nothing to be afraid of. And no, they didn't share a sleeping bag. They did, however, hold each other's hand until they finally fell asleep.

There was a warm smile on Jim's face when he finally closed his eyes. He knew that they would see each other on the other side soon enough.

* * *

Ramelow. The world they were on was called Ramelow. It was on the outer edge of Dominion space. It had been an unimportant piece of dirt during the Confederacy's rule, and it pretty much was still an unimportant piece of dirt. In a way, it was not unlike Mar Sara had been. It was one of those classic border worlds. The only thing it lacked were Zerg.

It was a rather dry world, but there was still some agriculture going on. However, ever since the Dominion had taken over most of the worlds formerly aligned to the Confederacy, a lot had changed.

Not necessarily for the better...

With the war against the Zerg and the Protoss, the Dominion had put economic emphasis on heavy industries. At first, most farmers had tried pull through, but soon the price for grain had dropped way below good and evil. Instead, mining had become the most important industry. There were still some uranium mines out there, but with the Dominion's shift in policy, that too had changed.

Here's a lesson; if a rich nation decides to shift its focus to other economic sectors, it can get rough. It might lead to a somewhat higher unemployment rate. But on a fringe world? It usually leads to a disaster.

The Confederacy had been the primary buyer for agricultural products. The Dominion hadn't jumped in, and so the locals had been forced to either move away or adapt. A lot of farms had gone bankrupt. Mining had been lucrative, at least in the beginning. But now the mighty beast that had once been the war machinery of the Dominion was silent. Oh, the irony. Now the Dominion was paying good money for agricultural products in order to help their new allies in the Combine.

Unfortunately, there were just not enough farmers around anymore.

The small settlement in the middle of nowhere was a typical product of those last few years. It had been a small town at one point, but now there were only a couple of hundred people left. They either didn't want to leave, because they still considered this place their home, or they couldn't because they had no money to buy a passage to another world.

"New Thompson." Sarah muttered when they drove past the town sign. "Makes me wonder if there's an Old Thompson." She stared out of the window of their jeep and tried to find anything interesting, but there was simply _nothing_ out there. The trip had taken roughly one hour. The street wasn't in a very good condition, and at first, it had been quite the bumpy ride. So bumpy that Sarah had, in fact, wished they had used a vulture bike and not a goddamn jeep.

The town wasn't very big. It consisted of a main road, a small marketplace (that was totally deserted), a church that looked like it had seen better days, and all the stuff you would expect. The whole place looked pretty run down and the people Sarah saw didn't look so good either.

"Hey, look. They even got a small corner shop!" Jim said and pointed with his finger on a building that looked like it was about to collapse. There were people coming out of the house and they were carrying stuff. Stuff like food.

"That looks promising. Hey, how about this? You get the food and I see if they got something like a hardware store. Maybe they have some spare parts I can use to fix the water pump." Jim suggested as he parked the jeep close to the corner shop. He sighed when he sensed that Sarah was still not very happy about that idea.

"Oh, come on!" he complained. "It's a water pump! It can't explode, you know!"

"Water's made out of hydrogen. And guess what they use in hydrogen bombs." Sarah replied.

"Okay, I'll get the food, and you look for a hardware shop. How does that sound?"

"Better. Well, let's do this." Sarah opened the door of the car and was about to get out when Jim grabbed her hand.

"Wha...?"

"Hey!" Jim said and looked her into the eyes. "Remember why we are doing this, yes? This is not a combat zone. Normal people. Normal problems. No one's gonna go after us, yeah?"

"I'm not going to start a war, Jim. Don't worry, I know how to act like a normal human being." Sarah replied. "Greet the people, shake their hands, and if something happens, only gouge out one eye. That way they still have the other one!" She saw Jim's shocked expression and sighed. "Oh, come on! Can't even take a little joke, I see. Eh, I better get going. Let's meet back at the car." And then she stepped out of the jeep and was on her way. Jim watched her for some time and could see how more than one man did the same. When Jim got out of the car and walked up to the store, he saw how a young woman was looking out of the shop's window and looking right at Sarah.

Jim reached the door, he opened it and saw a woman with a little boy holding her hand. They were about to leave the shop, but then they stopped.

"Oh, here. Please, lady's first!" Jim said and held the door open for them. The woman looked him straight into the eyes and he could see her confusion and her caution. Without saying anything to Jim, she walked out of the shop and pulled what appeared to be her son with her. She didn't even say thanks when she left. Jim looked after the woman and her son for a while before he shook his head and walked into the store.

"Keep the door closed! Otherwise, all the heat is coming inside!" someone barked and Jim did as he was told. He walked through the corner shop and frowned.

He knew what a typical store on a fringe world looked like. Local products, nothing too fancy. But the first thing he noticed was that most of the stuff wasn't fresh. Or local. He reached out and grabbed a can. Almost everything the store sold was canned. He looked on the label and could see that the can contained plums. There was corned beef, pickle, some bags filled with potatoes and onions.

"That's it?" he whispered to himself.

"You're just gonna stand here or you here to buy something, pal?" the voice that had told him to close the door spoke again and Jim looked over this shoulder. It was the owner of the shop, or at least Jim suspected that. It was a burly man with a thick beard and a bald head. His face was covered with wrinkles, yet he looked way older than he actually was. Jim could tell that. The man's beard was brown and his eyes were crystal blue.

"Just checking what you got here, Chief." Jim said and offered the man a smile. But the owner just snarled something and shook his head.

"Better buy something, I'm not gonna wait here until you checked every damn item in my shop." Before Jim could say anything, the man turned his head to the side and looked at the young woman that was staring out of the window. The same woman that had watched Sarah.

"Paula! Get back inside, you're scaring away the customers with you staring out of the window!"

"Have you seen that woman?" she asked.

"You mean Nancy? Yeah, she came inside but didn't buy anything. And why? Because you're acting weird again!"

"No, out there! There's a woman! She's so pretty." the young woman said and Jim frowned. There was something strange about that girl. As if she wasn't really in touch with reality.

"I don't care! Get back into the house! You're scaring away my customers!" the owner barked and pointed with his finger at Jim.

"What? Oh, no, it's fine, I'm just..."

"Paula! Get out of here!" the man barked once more, and Jim watched how the young woman finally turned away. She walked past Jim and didn't even look at him. She was the exact opposite of the owner and if the owner truly was her father, then she certainly came after her mother. She was very thin and pale and had long brown hair. She wore a light summer dress and the way she moved reminded Jim of an ethereal being. She opened a door that had an "Employees only" sign on it and when she was gone, the owner sighed.

"Sorry 'bout that." he mumbled and Jim could see how the burly man's features softened.

"She's yours?" Jim asked and chuckled.

"My sister's. But Paula might as well be my own flesh and blood. Raised her myself. Anyway, what can I do for you?" Suddenly the owner seemed a lot friendlier.

"I was just looking around. Need some food and other stuff."

"Yeah, well...unfortunately what you see is what you get. Sorry, but we're all out of fresh goods right now."

"So I noticed. Weird, though. The shops I knew back from home weren't supermarkets either, but they mostly got local stuff." Jim said and now the man looked him straight in the eyes.

"We're you from, son?" he wanted to know.

"Shiloh." Jim replied truthfully. "Though I live many years on Mar Sara." And that was true as well. The owner whistled when he heard that.

"You're quite far away from home, Mister."

"Well, actually I had hoped that this place could become home some day." Jim said and the other man frowned.

"Say what?" That's when Jim walked up to the owner and offered him his hand.

"James Rennard. Me and my better half, we just bought a farm fifty klicks north of here." The eyes of the owner widened and he grabbed Jim's hand and gave it a hard squeeze.

"Oh! So, you're the newbie!" Newbie? "Heard about someone buying Ol' Hammond's house. Didn't think it was true, though." When Jim heard that he had to chuckle.

"Damn! We just bought it the other day and now people already know?" he laughed.

"Better get used to it, pal. We're a small community, and if a lizard farts on the other side of the valley, someone will notice. Words travel fast around here."

"Heh, yeah...I know what you're talking about." Jim said.

"Good. Then you know that you were the topic of the week. Word has it that some people had arrived here some time ago and were looking for a new home. Still, didn't think that anyone would actually go for the Hammond's residence. Must be in really bad shape."

"Meh, nothing I can't fix."

"Well, you sure as hell don't look like one of 'dem city-boys. Farmer?" When Jim heard that, he smiled and nodded.

"Grew up on a farm. Learned it from my father."

"Hmm..." the owner muttered and now he smiled as well.

"Carter. The name's Carter. Nice to meet you, James."

"Please, call me Jim." the younger man replied.

"Very well. So, do you want to buy something or just want to go on wasting my time?" Carter wanted to know, but Jim knew that it wasn't meant as an insult because there was a big grin on Carter's face.

"Heh, I think I will spend some money here, yeah." And that's when he looked around. "Oh, by the way; there are a few ingredients I need. Maybe you can help me with them."

"Hmm...depends. What are you looking for?" Carter wanted to know and a gentle smile appeared on Jim's face.

"Milk, starch, butter, a bunch of eggs, flour, baking powder, and some chocolate." At first, Carter didn't say anything, but then he nodded.

"I think I got some of that stuff in the freezer. Wait a sec, I'll get it."

* * *

When the man stepped out of the corner shop, the redhead was already waiting next to the jeep. He carried some supplies and when he reached their vehicle, he asked the woman something, but she just shook her head. They were exchanging words, yet in the end, all the man could do was to sigh. They then got back into the car and left the settlement.

He had watched them the moment they had entered the settlement. He had watched from the other side of the street. When they were finally gone, he stared after them for a long time, even when they were finally gone from his sight.

Some people greeted him, but he only nodded or offered them a "hey". Those two...they looked like trouble.

And it was his job to make sure that trouble would stay as far away from these people as possible.

When they finally arrived at their new home, Jim brought the supplies back into the house. Sarah had told him that there was no hardware shop in town, so they had to figure out something else on how to fix the building. Maybe he should ask Carter for help. That man appeared to be surprisingly helpful. When Sarah got out of the car, she groaned and didn't even try to hide the fact that she was glad that they were no longer surrounded by people.

Jim was already in the kitchen and about to prepare something special for Sarah when he heard how a vehicle approached. It sounded like some sort of buggy.

"Jim!" he could hear Sarah's voice. She didn't sound worried, but annoyed. "You better come out here." He sighed and put all the stuff away. It was still a surprise after all. When he stepped onto the veranda, he arrived just in time to see how someone stepped out of a vehicle. It was a hellion, and it carried Dominion markings.

The man who climbed out of the vehicle straightened himself and walked over to Jim and Sarah. He gave her a nod.

"Ma'am." Sarah only crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared at the man with cold eyes. He didn't wear a uniform, but Jim still realized who that man was. The badge on his chest gave it away.

"Hello!" Jim said with a friendly smile on his face. "What can we do for you, Marshal...?"

"Markson. Travis Markson." the Marshal replied. He was kinda young for being Marshal. Then again, Jim had been around the same age when the Magistrate had made him a Marshal on Mar Sara. Markson was a lean man with blonde hair, blue eyes, and a three-day-old beard. He showed the same "tough guy"-attitude Jim once had. He walked up to the Marshal and offered his hand to him.

"James Rennard. But you can call me Jim. Nice to meet you." However, the Marshal didn't grab Jim's hand. Instead, he turned to the side and walked up to their house.

"When I heard that someone actually bought the old Hammond's residence, I thought that someone had misheard that." Markson said and Jim shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, well...you heard right then. Just bought it. I would love to invite you in, but the place is a mess right now."

"If you say so..." the Marshall growled before he turned towards Sarah. "I take it you are his wife?" When Sarah heard that question, she pulled one brow up. He was talking to her as if Jim wasn't even present.

"We're not married if that's what you mean." she told him.

"I see." the Marshall mumbled as if that explained anything. He walked over to their jeep and looked inside.

 _What's his problem?_ Jim could hear Sarah's voice in the back of his head. H just looked over at her and shook his head.

"Is there anything we can do for you?" Jim wanted to know, however, the Marshall acted like he hadn't even heard Jim's question. Then, after what felt like an eternity, he finally turned back to the two of them and looked Jim straight into the eyes.

"I just wanted to say hi."

"Hi." Sarah replied with a cold tone in her voice. Even without their connection, it was clear to Jim what she was thinking about that man. He sighed and realized that it would be better to face this problem head-on.

"Something tells me that this isn't just a friendly visit from our local law enforcement officer." Jim said and put his hands on the handrail of the veranda.

"How very perceptive of you, Mr. Rennard." Markson replied and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I saw you in New Thompson. Was a bit surprised to see some new faces around, we don't get many newcomers out here. So I was even more surprised when I heard that a young couple decided to settle down at the ass end of this world with no other soul close by."

"Perhaps we just enjoy the solitude." Sarah offered, and the Marshal's features softened when he looked at her. However, that moment only lasted for a second. He looked back at Jim with barely hidden contempt.

 _Are you seeing this? Or am I imagining things?_ Sarah asked and Jim had to agree.

 _Maybe he wants to kill me and marry you._ Jim replied.

"Ramelow is my home." Markson suddenly explained. "I was born here and I grew up here. And as far as I'm concerned, I will die here one day. However, I know that this place isn't exactly paradise by other people's standards, so if a young couple comes here and buys an abandoned house with gold, that is suspicious enough. But why the hell should they leave Korhal with a bag full of gold? Unless someone had to leave Korhal because they were in some trouble." And then Markson placed his hand on his revolver.

 _Oh boy, someone likes to play bad cop. How frightening._ Sarah said to Jim. _How about it? You distract him and I break his neck? No one will ever find the body..._

By now the line "No one will ever find the body." had turned into Sarah's favorite thing to say.

 _Naaa, he's just acting all tough. You know, alpha male stuff._ Jim explained.

 _Hmpf...well, if he decides to mark our home by pissing against it, I'm gonna break his neck._ And that's when Jim had to snicker.

 _What?_ Sarah wanted to know.

 _You called it "our home"._ he said. _That's a good start._

"What's so funny?" the Marshal wanted to know. Since he had no idea that these two persons shared a very unique connection, he didn't know what they were talking about either.

"Nothing, it's...listen, I understand. You checked our background, and I'm impressed. I get it, this is your home and you don't want any trouble. But believe me if I tell you; we didn't flee from Augustgrad and we aren't criminals." Jim declared. "All we want to do is to find a place we can call home and enjoy some peace and quiet."

"Is that so?" Markson asked, and it was clear that he didn't believe them a single word. "Well, I guess we will see about that. I just wanted to say hello and greet you to the neighborhood. And should you ever need any help, don't hesitate _to call me_." Markson sounded like he meant the exact opposite.

"Great!" Sarah announced and squinted her eyes. "Have a nice day then. Now excuse us, we have things to plot...I mean...to do." she said and showed him a fake smile. The Marshal looked once more at Sarah, and his features softened again. But then he shook his head and turned around. He walked to his hellion, climbed inside, and closed the hatch. He started the engine and a few seconds later the buggy was already on its way back to New Thompson.

"Looks like you made a friend already!" Sarah announced. "Well, that was fun."

"Meh, he's harmless. Barks and acts like a tough guy, that was just meant to scare us."

"Oh, you sound very certain about that." Sarah replied. "What makes you believe that?" Jim chuckled when he heard that question.

"Because that's how I did it when I was a Marshal." He then turned away and walked back inside. "Now come on, forget about that guy. We should get something to eat and then go to sleep early. Tomorrow will be a busy day after all." When Sarah heard that, she groaned.

"Oh great, you know how to motivate a girl, love."

"Hehehe, come on! How about it? You take care of the woodstove, and I will prepare the food." Both of them went inside and Sarah pulled a brow up.

"Oh, and what's on the menu today? Corned beef and potatoes?"

"Something like that. And a small surprise." When Sarah heard that, she stopped and looked at Jim.

"Surprise? What are you talking about?" However, Jim didn't answer her question. Instead, he just walked into the kitchen and chuckled.

"Better start preparing the food now, as long as we still got daylight. And no peeking!" When Sarah heard that, she just sighed and decided to do as she was told. She returned to the living room and after a few moments, the fire inside the woodstove was burning again. The smell of burned wood was nice. Sarah didn't know why, though. Perhaps because it was harmless? She had smelled so many burned things. Steel. Plastic. Flesh. Blood.

But burning wood smelled...nice.

She sat down in front of the oven and sighed. So this was what Jim had planned for them? She had to admit, it was less boring than spending their time on Ulnar staring at walls, or on Sternenheim staring at the ocean. Now they were staring at dusty plains! A big improvement!

Even though the smell of the burning wood was so strong, she could still smell the food Jim was preparing. Sarah knew that he was enjoying cooking for her and she didn't mind. Then again, what use did she have if she was only sitting around, looking pretty?

Maybe she should think about job hunting.

One ex-Ghost, slightly used and abused, several times infested, risen to godhood and got sucker punched along the way, currently undergoing rehab.

Yep, there were plenty of jobs out there for someone like her.

However, right now staring at the fire seemed just fine. It helped her to calm her mind, to distract her from thinking about the here and now. She didn't even notice when Jim entered the living room with two plates in his hands.

"Darn it! You know what we forgot to get? Cutlery! There's still old Hammond's stuff, but it's so dusty that I wouldn't even stab a Zergling with that!" He sat down right next to her and handed Sarah her plate. "Hope you don't mind using your fingers this time. I know, not very romantic, but-"

"It's fine, Jim." Sarah replied and looked at her plate. Huh, corned beef and potatoes. She grabbed a piece of meat and put it into her mouth.

"Hmm...you know what? I never thought I would miss corned beef one day." she said and Jim chuckled.

"Yeah, I know. And potatoes! Real potatoes!" It was probably the most boring dish of all times, but Sarah had to admit that it tasted really good. Outside, the day was coming to an end and the sun was almost gone. When they were finished, Jim took the plates and brought them back into the kitchen.

"Guess we need to find a way to get power back soon. Either that or we should buy a really large supply of candles!" he shouted over to her from the kitchen.

"Constant water would be nice too. Guess we should check out the water pump tomorrow." Sarah said.

"Yeah, first thing we should fix." Jim agreed. "And a real bed would be nice. Sleeping on the floor gets boring really fast."

"A bed, huh?" Sarah whispered mostly to herself. A bed for the both of them? It kinda made sense, they were lovers after all. But the idea still seemed so...normal. They didn't use a bed on Sternenheim, they could just sleep on the warm sand. There were a bunch of cots on Ulnar, equipment that had been left behind by the Dominion. However, it wasn't the same. As Sarah started to think about the implications of the things Jim wanted to do, she felt scared. She pulled her knees up to her chin and slung her arms around her legs.

She didn't know what lay ahead of them. What would await them in the future? Would her powers return one day? Or would she stay the way she was now? She didn't know. And she didn't know wherever she wanted her powers to return to her in the first place.

She still hadn't come to terms with what happened.

"Hey, you still hungry?" she could suddenly hear Jim asking.

"Not really, why?"

"Oh, I hope you still got some room left. I got a surprise for you." Oh God, that didn't sound good.

"Jim, please, can we just go to bed and..." She looked over her shoulder and up to Jim, but when she saw the object in his hands, her eyes widened in shock.

"No..." she whispered.

"Well, if I remember correctly I still owe you one. And don't worry, this time it's the real deal. I even put chocolate inside." He sat down right in front of her and presented a cake to her. Now that it was so close, she could smell it. And it smelled delicious. There was even a candle on it.

"I know it's a bit late. Several years actually. But I thought you might appreciate it. Happy Birthday, Sarah." Jim said when he offered Sarah a piece of chocolate cake. And what did Sarah do? She pressed her hands against her mouth and tried to fight back those tears. She failed miserably, but it didn't matter.

"Hey..." Jim chuckled. "...at least try it before you start to cry!"

It was the most delicious cake she had ever tasted. And this time she savored its taste. Jim watched how she devoured the cake while tears of joy streamed down her face. If she had only done that all those years ago, if she...

"Hey..." Jim whispered again and put his hand on her cheek. "...the past is past. So instead of thinking about what happened, how about I make another cake tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow. And every day after that."

"I would like to eat more cake." Sarah agreed and felt something she hadn't felt in a long time. She felt innocent glee.

That night they _did_ share a sleeping bag.

And it was the best birthday Sarah ever had.


	86. Act IV - Chapter 2

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Everything looks better in Purple**

* * *

Carter, the shop owner, had been right about one thing; word traveled fast out here. Soon the young couple that moved in into old Hammond's house was the most discussed topic, yet neither Jim nor Sarah cared about that. They were busy enough fixing whatever had to be fixed. And there was plenty of stuff that needed to be repaired. They started by throwing all the broken furniture out of the house. They threw it on one big pile and used it for a bonfire. What was left behind was an almost completely empty house. The only thing they spared was the woodstove and most of the kitchen.

Sarah was not just a help, she basically cleared the house all by herself. Jim watched her closely and noticed that she was very eager to set all that stuff aflame as if she was not just trying to burn the furniture, but bad memories as well. After that, they had started to clean the house.

Sarah had never cleaned a house in her entire life.

She had cleaned her room in the Ghost academy, yes. And her quarters on the ships she had served on. But aside from that?

Sarah had lived so many years, yet she had never cleaned even a single window in her life. Which was kinda hard if you don't have any clean water at your disposal. And so, Jim had checked out the water pump system. Against better judgment, Sarah had decided to not check on what he was doing.

In the end, it would take Jim three days to get the water pump working again. And for the next couple of weeks, they would return to the settlement and the capital on several occasions in order to get everything they needed. It was so...mundane. So normal. So _boring_.

For the first time in her life, Sarah got a glimpse of what a normal life could be like. And she had to admit that with every passing day, the house started to look nicer. First, it became cleaner, then cozier. And yes, sitting at the table and with your butt on a chair while eating was better than sitting on the ground. The bathtub proved to be beyond redemption, and Sarah was glad for that. The thought of taking a bath in that thing...hell, no! And that coming from a woman who had bathed in the Primal Spawning Pool! So out with the old, in with the new. The bed shared the same fate. But hey, at least they found what had turned it into a breeding ground!

Or what was left of it...

The house had a cellar and they only found out about that when they threw out all that furniture. It would seem that even the broker hadn't known about the cellar, otherwise he would have screwed them over even harder. The cellar was filled with, guess what, supplies. Canned food. Neither Jim nor Sarah had dared to open those cans, though. Both knew what biological weapons could do. And so, they had burned what was left of the supplies.

Was it worth mentioning that the fire had turned green when they had thrown the cans into the flames?

And they found what had used the bathtub and the bed as a nest in the basement as well.

Neither Jim nor Sarah had any idea what that thing was, or had been, aside from the fact that it was ugly like hell.

"Looks like someone took a Zergling and beat it with the ugly stick." Jim said.

"Or one of Abathur's failed experiments." Sarah agreed. Whatever it was, it took them ages to scrape if off the floor. Even in death, it proved to be quite the fighter. Aside from that, they made good progress. It took them roughly two weeks, but after that, the house actually started to look like a, well, house. There were things she would have to get used to, though. Like the bed. _Their_ bed.

It was actually quite amusing; Sarah Kerrigan, driving into the city, buying a bed and watching Jim how he tried to put it together. And the first night sleeping in that bed had been...weird. Not unpleasant, but simply weird. The thought of having a home was still somewhat alien to her.

"You will get used to it." Jim had told her, but the doubts about that remained inside her mind. At the end of the day, they just fell on their bed and were asleep before they could even think about having some quality time. However, it wasn't that bad since they would see each other again in their dreams anyway, the place that was their true refuge.

* * *

"What color?" Jim asked as they sat at the table and had breakfast. Sarah held a cup of coffee in her hands and stared out of the window. There were actually a few dark clouds out there today. So, it could rain on this world after all.

"Huh?" Sarah mumbled and looked over at Jim. "What?"

"What color?" he asked again, and then he shoved another portion of scrambled eggs into his mouth. Scrambled eggs, mixed with cereals. Or, how Jim liked to call them, eggereals. Brrrrr...

"What color what?" She wanted to know and Jim pointed out of the window.

"The house. What color should we paint it?"

"Dunno...wooden?" Sarah replied and Jim sighed.

"I thought about...yellow."

"Yellow?" When Sarah heard that, she pulled her brows up. "Why yellow?"

"I guess it would look nice. Yellow is bright, it is nice. Yellow like the sun. Or sunflowers. What do you imagine when you think about yellow?" Jim wanted to know.

"Urine." Sarah said without missing a heartbeat and Jim almost choked on his eggereals.

"Okay, not yellow then. How about...red? What do you think about red?"

"Blood."

"Okay, then blue?"

"Protoss psi-blades, trying to cut me into pieces."

"Brown?"

"Shit. And Hydralisks." Sarah mused.

"Fine, you know what? I leave the color to you. You can just come up with something and I will roll with it." Jim then sighed and Sarah took another sip of her coffee.

"Hmm, that could bite you in the ass, love. What if I want to paint the whole house pink?"

"Then we will paint it pink." Jim declared and offered her a warm smile. When he was finished with his meal, he stood up and gave her a kiss on the cheek before and walked into the kitchen.

"So, what's the plan for today? Let me guess; fixing the house." Sarah mumbled.

"Hey, it's coming along nicely. And now that we finally got rid of that dead rodent, the smell is gone too!" she could hear Jim calling from over the kitchen. A few seconds later he started to curse like a sailor.

"What's the matter? Finally figured out that eggearels are disgusting?" she wanted to know.

"Nope, but we're running short on supplies. Guess fixin' the veranda has to wait, gotta head to New Thompson and get us something to bite." he replied and Sarah took another sip of coffee. That's when an idea formed inside her head.

"You know..." she said. "...how about you fix the veranda and I get the supplies?" Even though Jim didn't reply anything, she could sense his hesitation. A part of her was annoyed by it, but another part knew why he felt that way. "Don't worry, I won't cause any trouble. I'm a big girl, Jim. I can look after myself. Besides, I don't intend to spend all of my time just sitting around and doing nothing." She could sense how Jim wanted to convince her of not going, but then she felt how he sighed and knew what she was talking about.

"Just...be careful, okay?" he said.

"I promise" Sarah replied and then she stood up, walked into the kitchen and gave Jim a quick kiss on the lips. She slung her arms around his neck and gave him a warm smile.

 _I do appreciate what you're trying to do, Jim. But we both know that I'm not the kind of girl that needs to be protected from the harsh world out there. I'm a big girl, you know?_

"You certainly are." Jim replied after hearing her thoughts inside his mind. He then placed his hand on her cheek and sighed. "Sorry for being so overprotective."

"It's fine." Sarah said and then she kissed him once more but with a lot more feeling this time.

 _That "knight in shining armor"-routine just never gets old._ she then added.

* * *

When Sarah parked the car near the marketplace, she stepped out of it and looked around. The place was just as dull and boring as the last couple of times she had been here. She noticed that a lot of people were staring at her, but it didn't really bother her. Now that her psionics were out of commission, she couldn't hear their thoughts, their questions, their doubts, and their fears.

Sarah had always considered humans to be an ignorant species above all else. Ignorant about the suffering and pain of their own kind. But now that the only thing she felt inside her mind was Jim, she realized that she had judged a lot of people too harshly.

She was still not sure wherever she liked the fact that she was no longer able to use her psionics or not. It was as if someone had amputated a limb, as if someone had decided to take away a sense, her most important sense. However, at the same time it had given her...peace.

But what would happen when her powers would start to resurface again? Did she even want them to return?

Well, it wasn't in her hands. That damn bastard Zeratul had made sure of that.

 _He did what he had to._ Jim thought and she sighed.

"Sorry..." she whispered and made sure that no one saw her talking to herself. She looked around and realized that there were more people around than usual. And it didn't take long for her to find out why.

There was a market going on.

"Guess I should check that out." Sarah said to herself. As she walked towards the marketplace, she acted like nothing had happened. But even without her psionics she knew when someone was watching her. There were a lot more people here than Sarah would have expected. Certainly more than usually lived in this town. You could almost call it "lively".

Almost.

New Thompson consisted of more than just an old church and a corner shop, but you couldn't tell most shops apart from normal homes. There was a bar that was always filled with grumpy looking men. There was the Marshal's office, which looked actually rather hilarious since there were thick metal bars in front of the windows, yet the thin walls looked as if you could punch your way through them. There were a kindergarten and an elementary school too.

Seeing those kids play outside was a strange sight for Sarah. She couldn't even remember the last time when she had seen children in their natural environment. And the fact that she thought about "children in their natural environment" probably said a lot about her relationship with kids.

She had none.

Well, it wasn't really on her to-do list anyway.

Sarah had never thought about having kids herself. For one; for a trained assassin, having a family isn't exactly on one's priority list.

And secondly; the option of having children was no longer available to her.

The Confederacy had made sure that she wouldn't conceive a child by accident. Or willingly. Did it come as a shocking surprise that they had sterilized her? Even if they hadn't done that, her infestation would have killed the chance of having a child. Getting deinfested and reinfested hadn't helped much either.

Perhaps she could have repaired that, well, damage by using her powers, but that was no longer an option.

Besides, she just knew deep in her heart that she would be a horrible mother. So she was relieved that Jim wasn't dreaming about a family anymore. It was selfish, yes. And probably cruel, but Sarah was glad that Jim was no longer in the mood to talk about the value of a family. Seeing Johnny again had been rough for him, she knew that.

No matter how normal their relationship seemed to be on the outside, both of them were still weak and vulnerable on the inside. They only had realized that there was one thing that could help them to overcome all that pain and guilt. And that was the love they shared.

Sarah walked past all those market stalls and pulled her brows up when she heard how all these people tried to gain her attention by praising their own products. What were those guys called again? Barkers? Well, they certainly were loud. They were offering meat, rations, tools, and clothes.

"Lady! Lady!" someone screamed and Sarah turned her attention towards the pitchman that held a truly horrible dress high up into the air. "Such a beautiful lady! How about it? I got the finest dress on all of Ramelow and..." But Sarah just turned away and continued to look around. She wasn't interested in dresses. She was proud of herself because even though so many people were screaming how great their goods were, she still noticed the person that followed her. Perhaps she couldn't sense the person with her psionics, but she still knew how to check her surroundings like a true professional.

 _One person. Female. She's no threat, but she's definitely stalking me._ Sarah though.

 _What?_ she could suddenly hear Jim's thoughts inside the back of her mind. _Sarah?! Is everything fine on your end?_

 _Oh yes._ she replied. _Don't worry, there's just a girl following me. Don't worry..._ And then she said the one thing Jim didn't want to hear. _...no one will find a body._

 _Sarah!_ he groaned.

Sarah snickered when she felt Jim's distress and withdrew from that conversation. She tried to look as harmless as possible, stopping in front of several market stalls, browsing through the products and asking for the price, only to shake her head and move on. It was actually a lot of fun! Until she stopped in front of a market stall that offered something she hadn't seen in quite some time.

"Are those real?" she asked and pointed with her finger on one of those red fruits.

"You're more than welcome to try! But you have to buy one first." the seller replied. Sarah was about to grab one, but then she saw the price tag.

"Fifteen credits for one apple?!" she said and shook her head. "Are you kidding me?"

"Lady, do you know how hard it is to get apples out here?" the man wanted to know and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You don't like my prices, you don't have to buy one. It's that simple. But just so you know; these apples are worth every damn credit I charge. They are of the finest quality and from Tyrandor VII."

"Wait, they're not even from Ramelow?!" Sarah asked with a disbelieving tone in her voice. Sending apples to another planet so they would end up in a dusty and dirty marketplace on the ass end of the sector? Seriously?

"Pffff...you don't seem to be from around, lady!" Sarah was starting to hate the fact that people were calling her lady. "Almost all the fruits you see on this world are imported. Considering the fact that they come from another world, fifteen credits is a reasonable price."

"What would stop me from buying an apple, keep the seeds, and use it to grow an armada of apple trees myself?"

 _That only works with Zerglings, Sarah._ Jim explained to her. And the seller seemed to agree with that.

"Hehehe, you're more than welcome to try. Tell me how it worked out. Oh, you should buy a whole crate then. Don't worry, I won't charge the full price. You can have it for, well, 12 credits per apple. That would make-"

"Pah!" Sarah barked and turned away. Behind her, the seller started to chuckle, but then he just turned his attention to another potential customer. Sarah checked the rest of the market; however, she couldn't stop to think about that seller. If there was one thing that she couldn't stand, then it was getting lectured. If someone gave her a smug look and told her that she didn't know how the world worked, it caused her blood to boil. And even though there was no threat of her going nuclear again, she sure as hell didn't enjoy getting her buttons pushed in all the wrong places.

"So how hard can it be to grow a damn apple tree, huh? When I was Zerg, I grew countless hives!" she whispered mostly to herself.

 _Growing trees, especially fruit trees, is hard._ Jim then explained to her. _It's a lot tougher than growing crop. It takes years until they finally produce fruits and you need tons of water. More than we currently have available. That guy has a point._

Fun fact; Sarah didn't like it when people reminded her of being wrong. She could be cocky, arrogant, and pretty nasty business if she wanted to.

But that was also part of her charm.

"Hmm..." she growled when she thought about that. She appeared to be lost in thought when she turned around a corner and walked into a small back alley. Even then she never forgot about the person trailing her. She vanished around the corner and then she did what she had done so many times.

It didn't take long for the young woman to enter the back alley. She looked around and scratched her head.

"...but...she was here a second ago." the young woman said to herself. She was very thin. Under normal circumstances, Sarah would think that she was malnourished, but there was something strange about that girl. She was pale and her eyes were so big that she almost looked like an elf. She walked into the alley and looked around.

"Where did the pretty lady go?" she whispered and turned towards a small crate someone had left there. It was way too small to hold a person inside, yet she sat down in front of it and opened it up.

"Are you in here?"

That's when Sarah walked out of the shadows and leaned against the wall. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and frowned.

"It's a bit small for one person, don't you think?" she asked, and the young girl woman eeped in surprise and jumped to her feet. She looked over to Sarah and tilted her head to the side.

"It is you!"

"So it would seem." Sarah replied. "The question is; who the hell are you, and why are you following me?"

"I saw you...when you came to the town."

"That's not an answer to my question, girl. Who. Are. You."

"Me?" the young woman asked and looked up to the blue sky. It was as if she had to seriously think about the question.

"I am... Paula. I am Paula!" she then said as if she had just remembered her own name.

" _So that is Paula..."_ Suddenly Sarah could hear that voice again, the voice that almost sounded like her own. She hadn't heard it in quite some time now.

 _Did you hear that?_ Sarah thought. She was talking to Jim and could feel his consent.

 _Yeah..._ he replied. _...sounds like our mysterious friend is back._ By now, both of them had realized that this voice, although it almost sounded like Sarah, didn't belong to her. They had tried to figure out where that voice is coming from, but so far, they hadn't had any luck. And in the months since Sarah's mental breakdown, they hadn't heard that voice again.

Whatever, they hadn't solved that mystery in the last couple of months, they wouldn't solve it within the next ten minutes either. So Sarah decided to concentrate on the matter at hand.

"Well, Paula...it is nice to meet you. My name is Sarah. And I would like to know why the hell you're stalking me."

"I wanted to see you!" Paula replied as if that would explain everything.

"Well, ain't that nice." Sarah growled. "Okay, listen...I have no idea why you're-"

"Paula!" a new voice suddenly interrupted Sarah, and she recognized that voice almost in an instant. She looked over her shoulder and could none other than Marshal Markson.

"Marshal."

"Miss Kluivert." he said with a friendly tone in his voice, but then he pointed his attention back at the other woman. "Paula, your uncle is looking for you. And he is not pleased that you left home all by yourself. What if you would have injured yourself, hmm?"

"But..." Paula replied. "...I wanted to say hello to Sarah!" Sarah could see the confused look on the Marshal's face.

"You two...know each other?" he asked and Sarah shifted her weight from one leg to the other.

"Of course!" she spat out. "We're best friends! We went to school together and now we finally met again!" That's when Markson realized that she was just making fun of him.

"I see." he said with a frosty tone in his voice, but then he shook his head and looked back at the young woman. "Paula, you have to come with me now. Your uncle is worried and he won't leave me alone until I get you back. So please, be so kind and follow me, yes?" However, instead of going with the Marshal, Paula walked up to Sarah and grabbed her hand.

"What the...?" Sarah managed to mutter, but she knew that this girl was no threat, so she decided to not break her neck.

"I am your best friend?" Paula asked and smiled from one end of her face to the other. "That makes me so happy!"

 _Oh crap..._ Sarah thought when she heard that. Suddenly she had to think about that one Zergling she had found on a distant world, right after she had escaped Arcturus' attack on the installation deep within the Umojan Protectorate...the one with the broken tusk. It had followed her like a dog, which had been highly unusual.

Speaking of which...what the hell had happened to that Zergling anyway?

"Well, better get you back to your uncle." Marshal Markson sighed. "Come on, Paula. You shouldn't be running around outside and you know it." Sarah watched how the Marshal grabbed Paula's wrist and pulled her with him. He looked as if he had done that many times before. There was something strange about that girl, but Sarah neither had the time nor the nerve to deal with that. She waited until both of them were gone and then she walked back to the market.

She didn't see anything that caught her interest. But the very fact that she was walking over a market was still something that she had to get used to.

Not once she had been able to do something like that. Her life had been nothing but war, death, and destruction. And the brief moments of peace in between? They had been too short to do something normal. Jim was right about one thing, though; she had no idea what a "normal human life" felt like.

She came past one market stall with "the latest fashion from Korhal!" and couldn't help but to stop.

"Latest fashion, huh?" Sarah whispered to herself when she looked at one of the dresses that were for sale. It didn't matter that this was the worst possible place for selling dresses. And neither did it matter that all these dresses were hideous. It was the color that made Sarah smile.

They were all copper-colored...

"Guess someone left an impression, huh?" she mumbled before she turned away. The seller noticed her too late. He tried to get Sarah's attention, but she had no use for a dress. So, she continued to walk around, but there was nothing else that caught her eyes. The market wasn't just about food and dresses, you could get all sorts of things, even toys for children. When she walked past another market stall, she realized that she didn't even own a goddamn wallet. It was Jim's wallet.

Just when she was about to give up, she could hear an all too familiar voice behind her.

"Ms. Kluivert." She sighed when she heard her new name. It hadn't been her idea, but Jim had been so proud of it. She looked over her shoulder and when she saw the Marshal, she really wished she had her abilities as a Ghost back. If only to blow his head up. But the moment she had that thought, she regretted it immediately. She was...it was easy to annoy her. And then she thought things that she didn't mean to think.

"Oh, it's you." she snarled when she looked into Markson's eyes.

"I am sorry for what happened right now. Paula is...a good kid. She's just not very bright. I hope she didn't startle you with her...weirdness."

Insensitive much?

"Kid?" Sarah asked. "She's young, but she's hardly a kid."

"Well, if you don't grow up in this world and can fend for yourself, then you might as well stay a child for the rest of your life."

"How poetic." Sarah gagged and was about to turn away when Markson made a step forward.

"Ms. Kluivert! Sarah is it?" Oh, now he wanted to use her first name?

"Ms. Kluivert is just fine, thank you very much." Sarah refused his request and decided to get back home. She didn't like that man, there was something fishy about him. And she couldn't shake the feeling that he was interested in her. Romantically interested in her. The thought was absolutely stupid. After everything that had happened, could she find anyone who would accept her like Jim had done? And let's not start on what Jim had done for her during all these years. Their connection went deeper than anything any normal person could understand.

So, if this guy was truly trying to seduce her, then she wasn't really looking forward to his future attempts.

"Are you...going to stay here for a while?"

Oh boy. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy...

"Actually...I wanted to return home now. There's still so much to do, and there's not really much here that has caught my eyes."

"Oh...I see." She could hear the disappointment in Markson's voice. "Well, it is a long trip back to your home." No, it isn't. "How about you get something to eat first, huh? New Thompson isn't a big town, but we got a nice little bar, McReedy's. They serve some really tasty-"

Okay, that was enough!

"Now listen to me, you-" Sarah turned back towards him and was about to stab her finger into his eye. Perhaps she could no longer blow someone's head up with a mere thought, but her nails were really sharp.

"Ms. Kluivert, Sarah. I wanted to apologize. For what happened earlier."

 _Say what?_ she thought.

"Say what?" she repeated her own thoughts.

"I know that I was not very friendly, and I would like to apologize. But you see, being a Marshal is hard work. And seeing new faces can always be...well, I wanted to tell you that I am of course happy to see someone new coming to town." For some odd reason, Sarah felt like he was only referring to her and not Jim.

"Point is..." Markson continued. "...I really think we should get to know each other better. If you know what I mean."

What.

The.

Actual.

Hell.

He was trying to seduce her! There was no doubt about it!

 _Hey, you should be flattered!_ Sarah could hear Jim's amused thoughts.

"Not funny..." she growled.

"What did you say?" Marshal Markson asked and tilted his head to the side, not realizing that she wasn't even talking to him.

"It's...ah, forget it. Listen, I really have to go now." she wanted to say. But the Marshal made a step forward and suddenly he was so close. Like...really close.

"Forgive me, I didn't want to be intrusive or anything like that..." Really? "...I just wanted to, well, apologize for what I said."

"How _decent_ of you." Sarah didn't even try to hide her sarcasm, yet the fool in front of her didn't notice that.

"I know that I can be, uhm, _aggressive_ at times. It's a bad habit of mine, one that I seriously have to work on. But...I still wanted to apologize and tell you how sorry I am." Wait, was he trying to give her the puppy eyes?

"Your apology has been noted." Sarah replied and was about to turn around when Markson did the one thing pretty much no woman appreciated; he touched her. Sarah looked over at his hand resting on her shoulder, and for a short moment she wondered if she should just break it here and now.

"I'm glad to hear that. But please, there's no need to be so informal. You can call me Trevor."

 _Uuuuhhh...you can call him Trevor!_ Jim said to her, and she had a hard time not to yell at both of them. She could imagine how Jim was rolling over the dusty ground while laughing his own ass off. Jim was now probably the only man in the whole galaxy who seriously enjoyed the fact that other guys tried to hit on his girlfriend.

Perhaps after all the both of them had gone through, they knew that there was no chance in hell that they would find someone else they could fall in love with.

"Well, it was nice to talk to you, but I really need to go now." Sarah growled and turned away.

"Please, I want to apologize. How about I, uhm, invite you to dinner?"

"No thanks, I will eat something when I'm back home." Sarah flat out refused, but then she could hear Jim's voice in the back of her mind again.

 _Are you crazy? Darlin', that guy is offering you free food! Come on, Sarah! You have to grab that chance! I would!_

You could actually hear how she started to grind her teeth. It was like being caught between a rock and a hard place. Or, to be more precise, between one idiot and one idiot she was in love with. Suddenly she felt tired and annoyed. She just wanted to get home.

"Now excuse me, I want to go back home." she mumbled and turned away from the Marshal. She could hear how he was about to follow her and clenched her hands into fists. If he would dare to touch her one more time, she would remove some of his teeth. With her fist.

In the end, it didn't come to that.

"Well, see you around!" she could hear the Marshal behind her, but Sarah just shook her head.

"Don't count on it, slimeball." she snarled. Fortunately, the Marshal couldn't hear what she was saying. She just wanted to go back home as fast as possible. Huh, when she had been Ghost Nr. 24, no one had dared to approach her like this. And let's not forget about the Queen of Blades. Ha, now she had to imagine how the Marshal would react if the infested Sarah Kerrigan would stand in front of him.

"I doubt that he would invite me over to dinner if that would happen." she said mostly to herself.

 _I would totally do that._ Jim replied, and a warm smile appeared on her face.

"Yes, you would." she agreed. She was on her way back to the car when she came past one last market stall. The seller offered tools and building materials.

And paint.

Sarah stopped in front of the market stall and tilted her head to the side.

There was yellow paint. Blue. Red. Even brown and black. And that's when she saw the perfect color. She pointed her finger at the one bucket and looked at the seller.

"How many buckets will I need to paint a house with that?"

* * *

The veranda was squeaking. As far as Jim could tell, there was nothing wrong with it. The veranda was stable and in good condition. But it was squeaking and it was driving Jim mad. At first, he had checked every plank but hadn't found anything that could be responsible for that damn sound. So, he had started to take it apart but hadn't found anything either. Only a critter that looked like a mixture between a scorpion and a flounder that had used the underside of the veranda as a nest. It had hissed at Jim, and it were moments like these where he wished to have his revolver back.

After dealing with the flourpion (he really had to stop naming things) he had checked the rest of the veranda, but no luck; the squeaking continued.

You know, at one point a problem turns into a major problem just because you start to get all worked up about it. Jim could look at it from a pragmatic point of view; since they didn't have a doorbell (yet), they could use the squeaking veranda!

He had wanted to do a lot today. Like checking the fields that belonged to this house. Or what was left of them. He also had to check on the equipment that was still inside the barn. There was even a tractor. One without any wheels and no engine. That was probably the reason why no one had bothered to steal that thing. Or they had just decided to take the wheels and the engine with them. But that was something that could be fixed.

He had to check the rain gutter as well. This place was dry, yes. But if you put a rain gutter on your house, then there can be only one reason for that; because you effin' need it.

"Oh, damn...I just remembered. Sarah? Can you hear me?" he suddenly asked and looked up at the blue sky.

 _What a stupid question._ Sarah answered almost immediately. _What is it?_

"We could use a radio. You know, something that helps us to keep in touch with what is going on around us."

 _And what would that be? Today's breaking news! Nothing happened! Like always!_

"I don't know." Jim replied and stood up. He turned towards the horizon and took a deep breath. "The wind is starting to taste different. I think rain's coming."

 _You're shitting me, right? "The wind is starting to taste different."? Is that even a thing?_ Jim had to chuckle when he heard Sarah's skepticism.

"Oh, there's a lot you have to learn about living a farmer's life, Sarah."

 _I'm not going to live a farmer's life, that's your fetish. I'm just here to enjoy the nice weather, the clean air, and the good cake._

"Hehehe...just get back home. It gets lonely without you." He could sense how Sarah sighed when she heard that.

* * *

When Sarah finally returned, Jim sat on the veranda and looked at the horizon. There was a grumpy expression on his face and when Sarah stepped out of the car, she had to chuckle.

"What's the matter? You look like you just lost an argument against a Zealot."

"Something like that..." he growled and pressed his hand on one plank of the veranda. When he pushed it down, a squeaking sound could be heard. "...tried to fix that damn thing for the whole day, but it just won't stop squeaking!" He then looked up to Sarah with weary eyes.

"And how was your day? I heard that the local Marshal kinda likes you." However, Jim didn't smile. Not because he thought it wasn't amusing, but because he was simply too tired.

"Agh, don't remind me." Sarah groaned and shook her head. "It is strange and I have to admit, it's really uncomfortable. That guy isn't even trying to hide the fact that he would like to toss me over his shoulder and carry me into his man-lair."

"Ha! Man-lair, that sounds great. Like he's some sort of caveman that wants to club you and pull you by the hair." Jim laughed.

"Wouldn't surprise me if he would actually try something like that." she sighed. "Still, it is strange..."

"What?" Jim asked and Sarah crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"It was strange to see how hard he tried, yet I was unable to read his thoughts. I could tell that he was just trying to hit on me, but not being able to know what he was thinking was...odd."

"You miss your powers?" Jim asked and she sighed.

"I don't know. It is so strange, talking to people without knowing what they're thinking...it is hard to get used to that. When I used to walk through crowds, I always had to listen to their thoughts. Their voices were irrelevant because most people don't say what they mean. But on that market? All these sellers yelling at me, trying to get my attention in order to sell me useless crap...at least I think they wanted to screw me over. But I wasn't really able to tell if they were honest or not." She walked over to Jim and sat down right next to him. And then she leaned against his shoulder and sighed. "Humans are so confusing."

"Yeah, they are. And the older you get, the more confusing they become." Jim agreed. Then he turned his head towards Sarah and looked into her green eyes. "I have to confess something to you."

"The toilet isn't working." Sarah guessed and Jim chuckled.

"No, I fixed that one." He then took a deep breath and put his arm around her shoulder. "When all of this ended, when Zeratul did...whatever he did to you and me...I was scared. When I heard your thoughts in my own mind, when I realized that I couldn't shut you out, I was frightened. I didn't know wherever I would be able to live like that. But you know what? I was wrong. Having you in my head? Even after such a short time, I can't imagine losing that feeling again." When Sarah heard that, a weak smile appeared on her face.

"Damn..." she whispered. "...you truly know your way with sweet words, Mr. Rennard." She then leaned forward and placed her lips on his.

 _I aim to please, Ms. Kluivert._ Jim thought back.

They enjoyed this tender moment. So much in fact that they watched how the sun was about to vanish beyond the horizon.

And then...

"By the way, our friend has talked to me again." Sarah whispered, and she could see how Jim nodded.

"Yeah, I heard her too. Haven't heard of her in quite some time, hmm?"

"Ever since you saved me from myself." she mumbled.

"Zeratul did most of the work." Jim told her, and she frowned when she heard that.

"Yeah, well, he wasn't the real Zeratul anyway, but just a piece of your mind. So, I would rather thank you, my marvelous hero and-"

"You sure as hell don't want to admit that Zeratul saved the day." Jim chuckled.

"Meh..." was the only thing Sarah replied, and then they fell silent again. The mystery behind the voice they heard from time to time had to wait for another day to be solved.

"I should prepare dinner as long as there's still light. Still haven't fixed the power." Jim said, but Sarah snuggled closer to him.

"I brought candles. Just...just stay here and enjoy the moment, yes?" Sarah asked Jim decided to do as he was told.

"It is strange." Sarah mumbled after some time. "For the first time in my life...I don't know what to do with it."

"You're bored?"

"I didn't say that. It is just...I never made plans for the future, Jim. Well, no plans except for "staying alive" and "conquer the galaxy" maybe. But that...that was different. For so many years, I just wanted to kill Arcturus. I thought that it would be the end to all those questions, that everything would turn out the way it was supposed to be. But after he was dead, the next battle was just waiting for me. And now? Now I don't know what to do with myself."

"You're looking for a purpose." Jim analyzed and Sarah closed her eyes. For a long time, she didn't dare to say anything, but then she nodded.

"Yes..."

"Hmm...tough one. They never really trained you for this, have they?" Jim mumbled.

"The Confeds? Or the Zerg?" Sarah asked and Jim had to chuckle.

"Both, I guess."

"The Zerg weren't so bad." Sarah mused. "Free healthcare. The Confeds didn't even pay me a salary. All I got was a bunk and some food from time to time. And most of the time it wasn't even warm. When I was Zerg, all I had to do to get something warm in my mouth was to grab a piece of creep and chew on it." She noticed how Jim shuddered when he imagined that and a smile appeared on her face. And so, they continued to stare at the horizon.

"Clouds...looks like rain is coming." Jim mused after a while.

"As long as it isn't like those storms on Sternenheim, I'm cool with that." Sarah replied. The sunset was spectacular. They watched how the sun moved behind the clouds and illuminated them from behind. The bloated rain clouds changed their color from a dull gray to a bright red, and for a short moment, they looked like they were on fire. And when the sun moved even further down, it reached that sweet spot between the horizon and the cloud line. Both Sarah and Jim had to close their eyes for a moment when the star shined especially bright. It was as if this perfect ball of fire wanted to say goodnight to them. They felt the warm rays on their skin one more time...

...and then it was over.

They didn't get inside, though. Neither one said a word, both just wanted to stay outside, sit on the veranda, and enjoy the silence. They watched how the last remnant of the sun's light vanished and how the stars appeared over their heads. Sarah looked up and sighed.

"What are you thinking about, Darlin'?" Jim asked. They didn't share all thoughts and memories, so his question was an honest one. And he deserved an honest answer.

"I was just thinking...that's Tarsonis up there." Sarah looked up and pointed with her finger at a flickering star. She wasn't referring to the planet, but the star that Tarsonis was orbiting around.

"That's not Tarsonis, Darlin'." Jim whispered. "That's Tyrador. See, that thing over there is Tarsonis, the big yellow-"

"No, Jim. That's Tarsonis. What you're pointing at is Phebes." Sarah corrected him. He pulled his brows up and gave her an amused look.

"Oh, really? I think I know my way around with stars, Darlin', and I tell you: That ain't Tarsonis."

"Just because you always used sensors and star maps to navigate. When I was Zerg, I had none of that. Navigating through space meant to tell an overlord or a leviathan where it should go. Trust me, I know a few things more about navigating in space without using tech than you do." She wasn't bragging, just stating a fact.

"Oh, now you're totally bragging." Jim refused that theory and started to laugh. "Okay, enlighten me. What's that?" He raised his hand and pointed at a star in the distance.

"Toulson."

"Okay, that one?"

"Folsom."

"Right...that one?"

"Arcadia."

"Hmm...and that one?"

"That's Korhal."

"Korhal?!" Jim barked. "Ha! That can't be Korhal! It is too close to-"

"There's Korhal, above it is Tarsonis, three stars to the right is Mar Sara. See it?" Sarah then traced the location of each star with her fingers. Jim's eyes widened when he realized what she was talking about.

"I'll be damned...you're right." he whispered. "But if that's Tarsonis, what is that small blue star on the far right? That can't be Aiur, we can't see it from here."

"Which one?" Sarah asked. "The one next to the angry red one? The red one is Char, the one close to it should be Antiga. They only look close because of our current position."

"Okay, but what about the single blue one?"

"Oh, that's..." Sarah began before she suddenly became quiet. "...that's...TarKossia." For a long time, neither one said a word. It was Sarah who finally started to speak again after a while.

"It's funny...I can't even remember that much about that place. It's just...I don't even know how I'm supposed to feel. Even now I don't know wherever I should visit that place...or stay away."

"Place?" Jim asked and Sarah nodded.

"There's still a house on TarKossia. Well, _maybe_ there's still a house there. Maybe there are things that I could learn...about the things that I can still not remember." They had talked about it, many times actually. Going to TarKossia was not a good idea, at least not right now. While the planet was a colony on the edge of colonized space, it was a lot closer to the central worlds than Ramelow. And Jim didn't want to risk drawing unwanted attention.

"We have time, Sarah." he then said and pulled her into a tighter embrace. "All the time in the world. Little steps. And we will deal with every problem once it arises."

"Sounds so simple." she whispered back. "I wonder if everyone fails so hard at living a normal life, or if it's just me."

"We all suck at living a normal life, Sarah. Most people just learn to pretend that failing at life doesn't bother them. You're holding up just fine."

"If you say so..." Sarah mumbled and that's when Jim gently grabbed her chin and made her look into his eyes.

"I know so." And that's when he kissed her again.

* * *

The next day started very slow. They got out of bed, and after breakfast, Jim did what he enjoyed doing most these days; he cursed like a sailor.

"Goddammit!" he shouted when Sarah found him in the barn.

"What's the matter?" she wanted to know and yawned.

"Ach, I need some tools to fix this damn thing." he said and kicked against what once had been a tractor.

"Why not just buy a new one? We got enough money from all that gold Karax managed to salvage." Sarah suggested and took another sip from her cup filled with coffee.

"Now where's the fun in that?" Jim wanted to know and gave the tractor another hard kick. "Besides, if we would run around and buy all sorts of new stuff, people would start to get suspicious. And I don't want to give the Marshal yet another reason to breathe down our neck."

"Your neck." Sarah corrected him. "He breathes down your neck. I think he would like to do something very different with my neck, though." All Jim did when he heard that was to snicker.

"Shouldn't you, I don't know, be jealous?" she asked and Jim looked over at her.

"Huh..." was all that he answered.

"Huh? Huh like; huh yes or huh no?"

"Huh..." he repeated his initial statement and shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. I just don't feel like I should be worried. I guess that I'm not afraid that you will run off and marry that guy. If I'm honest, then I'm more concerned that one day Izsha will try something like that." Now there was a thought that was worth to be ignored.

"Pah, so much for my grand plan of making you jealous and fight to the death for my honor." Sarah mumbled and took another sip of her coffee.

"Don't worry, should the Marshal get too clingy, I will distract him so you can break his neck. And no one will find the body."

"Hey, that's my line." she protested, but then Jim stretched himself and turned away. "So, any plans for today?"

"Hmm, need to get some tools and stuff. And some supplies. By the way, we're running out of coffee. Could it be that you drink way too much of that stuff?" Jim asked and Sarah took another sip.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." she replied. She really could use another cup, though.

"Anyway, there's still a lot I have to do. So, if you would be a darlin' and could get those supplies, I could-"

"No." Sarah interrupted him and Jim blinked in surprise.

"No?"

"No. Sorry, Jim, but today I got plans of my own. You have to go to New Thompson and get those supplies yourself." When Jim heard that, he couldn't help but look at her in surprise.

"Plans? What plans?"

"My plans. Don't worry, it's harmless. But I want you out of my hair when I do this." When Jim heard that, he squinted his eyes.

"Sarah? What are you up to?"

"Like said, it's harmless. But I want to surprise you. So, do me a favor and shut the hell up. Trust me, you're going to like it." she added with a cocky grin on her face.

"Whenever someone says "You're gonna like it", it usually means the exact opposite thing." he explained and Sarah shook her head.

"You can be such a party pooper. Just let me do my thing, okay? You will love it, I promise." Sarah watched how Jim looked at her for a very long time. At first, it seemed as if he would object, but when she sensed his thoughts, a smile started to wander over her face.

"I'm so gonna regret it, aren't I?" Jim asked.

"A-yup."

"Very well..." he sighed, and suddenly Sarah's smile turned into an all-out grin. Jim noticed that and just had to ask.

"Why are you so happy all of the sudden?" Instead of answering that question right away, she walked up to him and kissed him right on the mouth. He was too perplexed to question his luck, but when he finally got this answer, he could sense Sarah's good mood.

 _Because you trust me. Thanks for that._

Sometimes the simple things are the ones that make us happy. When they broke the kiss, Jim looked into Sarah's eyes and sighed.

"Well, I guess I should be going then. No point in wasting more time. Is there anything I should look out for? Coffee maybe?"

"That'd be nice. Just take your time when you're gone, love." Sarah replied.

"Just what the heck are you up to, Sarah?"

"Oh, just wait and see..."

* * *

When Jim was finally gone, Sarah didn't waste any time. She just waited until the car was no longer to be seen. She then hurried to the other side of the house where she had hidden the paint buckets. She had brought more than enough paint to finish the job, she was certain of that. Sarah opened the first bucket and dipped the brush into the liquid. She then pressed the wet brush against the dry wall and started to cover it with a new coat of paint while making sure that her thoughts didn't reach Jim. What did reach him though, was a sense of childlike glee, something Sarah hadn't felt in ages.

With a big grin on her face, she started to give their home a new color.

"What can I say..." she whispered to herself. "...everything looks better in purple."


	87. Act IV - Chapter 3

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Purple Rain**

* * *

New Thompson wasn't as bad as one might think. Yes, it was on the ass end of nowhere and yes, there wasn't much going on here. But Jim had grown up on a world that was pretty much like Ramelow. And he had spent much of his adult life in places like these. The "big city" had never been Jim's turf. Sure, he knew how to behave when being surrounded by "civilization". Well...most of the time. He had proven that during his short stint on Korhal.

Though he was pretty sure that a lot of the folks back in Augustgrad were glad that "Mr. Caveman" was no longer around.

They say that "home is where your heart is". And that "there's no place like home". You only start to think about these words once your home is gone. And Jim? Well, let's just say that he was pretty experienced when it came to "losing one's home".

Ack, enough with the "..." stuff...

As he walked into the corner stop, the burly man with the bald head and the thick beard looked up and Jim imagined that he was smiling at him. He couldn't really be certain since Carter's beard kinda looked like a dead beaver glued to the man's face.

"Well, look who's here. My favorite customer!" Carter said, and the friendly tone of his voice made Jim realize that he was indeed happy to see him.

"Hey hey, look who's talking! My favorite cutthroat!" Jim replied, and all Carter could do was to laugh out loud.

"Yeah, I guess there's some truth in that. So, how's life?" the shop owner wanted to know as Jim walked up to him and placed his hands on the counter.

"Need some stuff, thought you could help me with that."

"Stuff? Like what?" Carter asked and Jim pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it over to the other man. Carter took a good look and then he pulled his brows up.

"Uhm...I don't want to sound like a jerk, but why the hell do you think that I'm selling this stuff? I'm just selling food and supplies. As you can see." he then added and pointed at the shelves around them.

"Dunno, but I just hoped that if you couldn't help me, you knew someone who could." Jim replied.

"Hmm..." Carter frowned. "Energy cells for a tractor are hard to get out here. No one's been doing farming in years. Same goes for the other spare parts. But..."

"But?" Jim interrupted.

"...but maybe I do know someone who could help you with that. Still know some old pals from my short-lived mining days. These days they usually only sit on their asses and stare at the sky while hoping for a miracle to happen. I'm no techie, but those cars, drills, and trucks they have do use energy cells and have really big tires. So that could work."

"Could you ask them if they're willing to sell some of their stuff? Or at least point me in the general direction where I can find them?"

"Ah, don't sweat it!" Carter chuckled. "They come into the town almost every week. If I see them, I will tell them that someone likes to pay them too much money for worthless trash. How does that sound?"

"Like an awesome deal." Jim replied with a grin on his face. He then tilted his head to the side. "So, you were a miner once?"

"What?" Carter asked. "You thought that I was a local who always ran this shop?"

"Maybe." Jim shrugged his shoulders, and Carter had to laugh when he heard that.

"Ha! Only shows that I've been on this damn world for far too long. No, Sir. I'm not even a local."

"Seriously? Where are you from then?" Jim asked.

"Tarsonis."

 _Well...shit._ he could hear Sarah's voice in the back of his mind, and he felt obliged to agree.

"Well...shit." Jim spoke out what Sarah had thought. Carter laughed again, but this time it was no happy laugh. There was a lot of bitterness in his voice.

"Yeah, well...with Tarsonis gone, there weren't many places for someone like me to go. Suddenly all those years of working for the Confeds weren't so good on my resume anymore."

"You were a soldier?" Jim wanted to know, but Carter just threw his head back and barked in laughter.

"Me? A soldier? Hell no! Hahaha! Oh, no. I was a legal advisor, worked for some ministries back in the day. Not so much today anymore though. Funny though, when the Confederacy was absorbed by the Dominion, they pardoned almost every soldier and officer they could get their hands on. The ones that weren't so lucky were the politicians and members of the civilian administration."

"Huh...must have been rough." Jim mumbled and Carter shrugged his shoulders.

"Meh, I'm over it. Didn't always felt like it, but the years in exile have helped me with that. Besides, it's not really a secret out here. Everyone knows, and I like to tell people right away who they're dealing with. Otherwise, you would just hear rumors and think that I'm some kind of secret government agent that is waiting for a signal to plunge this world into chaos and establish the "New Confederacy"." Carter continued, and this time it was Jim who had to laugh.

"Don't laugh, that happened on a few occasions." Carter growled.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." the older man sighed. "It's a small place where everyone knows each other. But sometimes people get funny ideas. And those funny ideas turn into really annoying ideas. A few years back, someone accused me of being Arcturus Mengsk in disguise. You know, beard and all." Carter pointed at his own beard. "Even had to shave me in order to prove that I'm not Mengsk. But of course, that guy only considered that a proof of my guilt."

"Must have been fun. How does the story end?" Jim wanted to know and Carter shrugged once more with his shoulders.

"Eh, at one point the last Marshal just decided to drop the charges. Saw that it was pointless. As for the other guy? I think he drank himself into a stupor and fell into a pit filled with Kriechers."

"Kriechers?" Jim asked.

"Indigenous critters. Nasty bunch. Roughly the size of mice, look like some sort of scorpion and pancakes."

"Oh, you mean a flourpion!" Jim then said.

 _Oh God..._ he could hear Sarah groan.

"Flourpion?" Carter wanted to know.

"Yeah, looks like a mixture of scorpion and flounder."

"Uh...did you touch it?" Carter then asked.

"No."

"Good. Here's a tip; if you see another kriecher, just run. Or burn it with fire. They're nasty."

"Why's that?" Jim wanted to know. He had fought enough crazy shit in his life, he wasn't scared about kriechers...though he still thought that "flourpion" sounded much better.

 _No, it doesn't._ Sarah told him.

"The males are nasty but harmless. It's the females that you should look out for." Carter explained.

 _I like these critters already._ Sarah mumbled.

"Uhm...how do I tell them apart?" Jim asked and Carter pulled an eyebrow up.

"How big was the kriecher you saw."

"'Bout this size." Jim said and used his hands to show Carter something that had roughly the size of a, well, flounder.

"Hehehe, that was a male. So don't sweat it."

"But it was guarding eggs." Jim replied.

"Meh, don't worry. Those are just male eggs. Trust me, you will recognize a female kriecher when you see one. And one of her eggs. They're a tad bit bigger."

"How much bigger?" When Carter heard that question, he pointed with his hand on the counter between them.

"About this size. They're nasty. Can tear a man apart in seconds. Bet you haven't seen anything like that in your life, son."

"Meh, it can't be worse than Zerg." Jim replied.

 _Charmer._ his lover chuckled. But that's when Carter crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked Jim straight into the eyes.

"You fought Zerg?"

Uh oh...

"Uhm...yeah." Jim mumbled. "Only once, though. Well, twice. But I never saw much action and... uhm, Carter? What are you doing?" he asked when he watched how the shop owner walked up to the door and closed it. For a second it looked as if he was about to ambush Jim, but then he gestured the younger man to follow him.

"Come on, it's midday. Dinner time. I could use something to eat. And you're new, so you got new stories to tell. So how about it?" Carter wanted to know.

"You pay." Jim demanded and Carter chuckled.

"Let's see about that." And so, both men left the shop and walked over to the small bar on the other side of the street.

* * *

The bar/restaurant was called McReedy's and it had a unique charm to it. The kind of _unique charm_ you tell other people about so the owner doesn't feel insulted. Jim decided to just follow Carter, who walked straight towards a table in the corner and sat down like it was his usual spot.

"Hey, Nancy! Two times menu of the day and a beer and...?" Carter looked over at Jim who sighed.

"A cold water please." Several heads turned around to Jim when they heard that.

"Water?" Carter asked. "Seriously?" Jim gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Alcohol and I don't go along so well." he then explained. It was...something that he had decided for himself. Oh, his body was in perfect shape. Better than that actually. When Sarah had healed his wounds, she had left him with internal organs that were as good as new. However, that didn't mean that Jim wanted to walk down that path again. He had been an addict once, an alcoholic. There was no point in sugarcoating it. If you want to solve a problem, the first step is to admit that you have one. And Jim? Yeah, he had been an addict. Yet he was done with that life and this was a way to prove it to himself.

"I see." Carter mumbled and waited for his beer to arrive.

"So, what do you think about New Thompson?" he then wanted to know as they waited for their meal to arrive.

"Fine, I guess. It's nothing fancy, but not a hellhole either. Kinda reminds me of Mar Sara. Only less dusty and not quite as dry."

"Right, you said that you're from Mar Sara." Carter mumbled.

"I said that I'm from Shiloh. I lived on Mar Sara for a few years." Jim explained.

"What happened?"

"My, aren't you a curious one?" Jim chuckled and leaned back. The chair he was sitting on was old, but comfortable.

"Just because we barely get any new meat out here. And I've been itching to talk to someone who actually saw the world with his own two eyes and not through a holoscreen. Besides, people will always come to me and talk. I don't just trade with food and supplies, I also trade gossip. And let me tell you one thing; telling me the truth beats the alternative of people making up stories."

"The truth, eh?" Jim whispered to himself and took a sip from his glass. The cold water felt good.

 _Someone wants to hear a story._ Sarah mumbled. _I leave that to you._

"Thanks, Darlin'." Jim whispered again and looked out of the window.

"So, you fought the Zerg, eh?" Carter then asked and Jim continued to stare out of the window.

"Straight to the point I see." Jim whispered back and turned his attention back towards the other man. "What about you? Ever faced the Zerg?"

"I asked first." Carter shot back. Jim noticed that the expression on the burly man's face seemed almost...pained.

"Yeah, I fought the Zerg." Suddenly Jim felt like he should have ordered a beer. Or a whole sixpack. And a few bottles of whiskey.

"When? Where?" Now that was a bit too blunt for Jim's taste. He looked into the other man's eyes and sighed again. Time for Operation "Believable Cover-Up Story".

 _Ugh..._ he could sense Sarah's distaste for how he called it.

"Two times...once on Mar Sara, when they attacked. I joined the local militia and then, well...it was a goddamn mess."

"And the other time?" Now Carter almost sounded hopeful. Just what was this all about?

"Augustgrad. Back when the Swarm attacked Korhal. It was a goddamn mess all over again, and they were looking for recruits or anyone who knew how to handle a gun. Lucky me." That was actually a pretty good cover-up story. It was easy to remember and you could always add additional stuff. Plus, it was a story that was believable because Jim knew a lot of guys who had experienced the exact same thing.

"I see...so you weren't on Tarsonis." Carter whispered and Jim looked the other man straight into the eyes. But Carter was staring at his own hands. Suddenly Jim realized what Carter was trying to talk about.

"You had...family there?" All Carter could do was to nod. But then he shook his head and sighed.

"Nevermind that. Sorry for bothering you about that. Still, I just had to ask, and I hope you don't mind." Carter took a deep breath and tried to change the topic, but he failed miserably. "How is it? How is it fighting these things?" When Jim heard that, he chewed on his lip. It was strange, Tychus had asked him something like that some years ago. And Jim? He had answered that you only know fear when you see how endless numbers of Zerg are barreling down on you.

However, this time Jim remained silent. For a long time, neither one of them said a word.

"Here! Hope you enjoy your meal, boys." the waitress said when she walked over to them and placed a plate in front of each one of them. Jim thanked her and grabbed the knife and fork. He then looked at what he was about to consume and froze.

"Wait a sec... that looks like your roast beef and your potatoes!" Jim said.

"Of course it does. What else should they offer here?" Carter chuckled and shoved a huge load into his mouth.

"Does this mean they just use your supplies to run this show?" Jim asked. He knew that this place wasn't in the best shape, but even then, he would have expected a bit, well, more. Hell, even a roasted flourpion would have been an interesting challenge. But then Jim shrugged his shoulders and started to eat.

"Hmm, not bad." he mumbled. Whoever was the cook, he or she knew how to turn a can filled with roast beef into a decent meal.

"Yeah, I know. Good old Mary knows how to turn a can of roast beef into something delicious. She gets supplies for free and makes sure that the less fortunate get at least one warm meal a day."

"Say what?" Jim asked when he heard that. When Carter saw the confusion on Jim's face, he had to chuckle.

"Heh, my shop isn't a regular shop. I work for the government." Uh oh. When Carter saw the look on Jim's face, he burst out in laughter. "Hahaha! Oh, look at your face! You look like I'm some sort of secret agent who's about to snuff you! Relax, kiddo. I'm just in charge of the local supply shop."

"Local supply shop?" Jim wondered and Carter nodded.

"Yep. The people in the big city decided to install these shops out here. When the economy crashed, a lot of people moved into the city, but they don't have enough jobs there either. So they told people to stay where they were and made sure that they get the bare minimum they need in order to survive."

"And how did you end up here then?" Jim wanted to know. This time it was Carter who sighed.

"I worked as an administrative official, but as a former Confederate, most people weren't really happy as long as I was around. And the fact that I'm from Tarsonis sure as hell didn't help either." Carter explained. "So when they were looking for people to man those supply shops, I volunteered."

"They must have roughed you up pretty bad." Jim wondered. "Not many would move out here."

"Look who's talking." Carter chuckled.

"Fair point."

"Actually..." Carter then continued. "...it wasn't just about me. There was another reason why I moved out here." Jim turned his head to the side and looked out of the window.

"Your sister's daughter."

"Yeah. She was always different, and the city wasn't a good place to raise her, so-" But then Jim cut Carter short and pointed with his finger out of the window.

"No, I mean: there she is! Is she...only wearing her underwear?" Carter looked out of the window as well and went pale.

"Motherf-PAULA!" he then screamed and jumped up. Without wasting another second on Jim, the older man stormed out of the bar and ran towards his half-naked niece.

"Paula, I told you to stay inside! What are you doing out here?" Jim could hear Carter yelling. The young woman said something, but Jim couldn't understand any of it. The burly man then grabbed his niece by the wrist and pulled her back into this house.

"Must be tough..." Jim muttered to himself. It was brutally obvious that there was something wrong with this girl. But he was no doctor and he knew that it was not his place to question how Carter treated her. So all Jim could do was to stare down and look at his own meal. He shrugged his shoulders and decided to dig in.

After a while, his companion returned. He sat down without saying a word and started to eat his meal.

"Hmm, that is some good roast beef!" a deep male voice said, and Jim finally realized that this newcomer wasn't Carter.

"Wait a sec... who the hell are you?" Jim asked and put his fork to the side. The man who was in front of him and almost choked when he heard that question.

"Now that's an odd way to ask!" he chuckled and just shoved another portion of potatoes and beef into his mouth. Jim leaned back and frowned when he took a good and hard look at that man. His dark skin gave him a natural edge on this world, but somehow Jim had the feeling that he wasn't a local. The man had long, gray hair and had pulled it into a ponytail. His face reminded Jim of someone he once had known, but then again, he had met so many people, and after a while, most of them started to look the same.

Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen this man before. Or at least someone who resembled him a lot.

"Isn't that stealing?" Jim asked when he watched how the newcomer continued to devour Carter's meal.

"Not if it's for a good cause." the man replied and offered his hand to Jim.

"Book. You can call me Book."

"Nice to meet you, Book." Jim mumbled, still not knowing what was going on. Only then he noticed the collar.

"You're a priest." Jim noticed.

"Shepherd, actually." Book replied and continued to eat Carter's meal.

"Shepherd? Isn't that...some kind of sect?" Jim asked, trying to remember what he heard. All Book did was to chuckle. He almost choked on a piece of potato again. Instead of using Carter's beer to swallow it down, he grabbed Jim's glass of water and flushed the food down his throat.

"Ha, only those who don't know much about our order would say something like that. We don't even have a membership fee! Everyone knows that sects use something like that." Jim didn't reply anything. Religion was just as much of a hot topic as sex and drugs. Pretty much everyone would say that it's private business, only to shove their junk into your face. So yeah, just like sex and drugs, the fuel that makes humanity go 'round and 'round. Jim watched how Book finished his meal. Or, to be more precise, Carter's meal.

"Hmm, that was delicious!" Book said and looked over his shoulder. "Please, give my regards to the cook! She has truly outdone herself this time."

"Sure thing." the waitress mumbled, not caring one bit about what Book said to her. He chuckled once more and then he turned his attention back to Jim.

"So... you are the new one."

"Is this where you ask me if I am baptized?" Jim asked and Brook laughed again.

"Oh, no! I'm not here to convert anyone. Would be pretty pointless anyway. God can't compare to beer, at least out here."

"Now that's an interesting thought." Jim growled, but it just caused Book to laugh again. Man, that guy sure as hell liked to laugh a lot. Book took another sip from the beer and leaned backward.

"I had hoped to meet you earlier, but you prove to be quite the elusive one." Book said and put his hands on the table.

"What can I say? I enjoy the solitude. What do you want?" the younger man demanded to know.

"Oh, don't worry. I am the local cleric and I just wanted to say hello to the people who have decided to settle down out here. We don't get many newcomers these days and-"

"Yeah, word travels fast out here, already heard that." Jim interrupted him. "Listen, I don't want to sound like an ass, but I'm really not in the mood to share my innermost with a reverend-"

"Shepherd" Book corrected him.

"Whatever. Let's just say that I spent many years listening to the same preach over and over and over again." Jim explained and closed his eyes for a moment. He tried to remember it.

 _We have gathered here..._ he could hear the voice of the Reverend inside his mind, but now it was no longer a dream that kept haunting him through time and space. Now it was just a memory. One that faded away when Sarah sensed it and banished into the depths of their shared subconscious.

"Hmm, yes. I understand. But don't worry, I'm not the preaching kind of guy. I'm much better at listening."

"Uh huh."

"Now, there's no reason for being so hostile. I just wanted to introduce myself and tell you that my door is always open for you."

"Does that include your fridge?" Jim wanted to know and Book chuckled yet again.

"Is that an invitation?"

"We don't have a fridge yet." Jim replied. "And don't take it the wrong way, but a priest is the last thing I would invite to dinner."

"Shepherd." Book corrected him yet again.

"Whatever." Jim said once more. He saw the grin on Books face and frowned. "What?"

"Oh, nothing. You just remind me of someone I used to know. I think I will enjoy this."

"That sounds like a threat." Jim growled. Suddenly, he was no longer hungry. Book seemed to notice Jim's sudden lack of appetite and pointed with his finger on the other man's plate.

"Do you still want to eat this?"

"By all means...dig in." Jim said and shoved the plate away from him. Book didn't waste any time and started to eat with gusto. Jim felt as if this was the cue to leave. He was about to just stand up when Book finished his meal and leaned backward.

"Well, that was tasty. Thanks for your generosity."

"Actually..." Jim mumbled. "...it was Carter's treat."

"Oh! In that case, I should thank him for the meal. Where is he anyway?" the cleric wanted to know and Jim pointed with his finger out of the window.

"Had to catch the girl wandering around. Paula, I think." When Jim mentioned the name, Book sighed.

"Ah yes. Poor girl. Sometimes one has to wonder what plans God has for someone as tender and gentle as her." Oh great, here we go...

"Sorry, but I think I have to go now." Jim tried to cut the conversation short.

"Oh, is that so? Maybe I can accompany you? I too have to return to the church." Jim winced on the inside when he heard that.

"I think I parked in the other direction. Sorry." And that's when Jim stood up and said goodbye to the man. He thanked the waitress and even though Carter had invited him, he paid for the meal and stepped out of the bar. Jim took a deep breath and was about to walk back to the car when he heard a familiar voice.

"Mister Rennard. How nice to see you here." Jim sighed and looked over his shoulder. This wasn't his lucky day...

"Marshal." He just wanted to give the man a quick nod and then be on his way. But of course, it wouldn't be this simple. It never was.

"You have come here alone?" Marshal Markson asked and Jim managed to keep a stupid reply to himself.

"Just here to grab some stuff. Nothing too fancy. I was actually on my way back home, so if you wouldn't mind-"

"Actually..." Markson then said. "...I would like to speak to you." Oh great...

"About what?" Jim asked, but he knew that this wouldn't end well.

"About you." Oh, this was getting better and better by the second. Maybe Jim should do what Sarah had suggested to him. If no one would find the Marshal's body, no one would be able to blame Jim or Sarah. Jim sighed and was about to reply something funny, but when he saw the disgust on Markson's face, he really wondered why assholes always found a way to ruin his day. He was about to ask if Markson was Arcturus' illegitimate son. That way killing him would actually be a good thing, that way Valerian wouldn't have to worry about anyone trying to claim his throne.

Well, at least no one that was related by blood...

"Listen, I understand that you don't like me. Seriously, I can sense the vibes from the other side of the planet. But please, I'm just a normal guy. So, whatever you have to say, we can do that some other time, yes?" Jim then turned away and was about to walk away when the Marshal stomped with his foot on the ground.

"Not so fast!" he barked. "I'm still the law out here, and if I say that you will answer questions right now, you will do so." Jim stopped and looked up to the sky. By now it was covered with gray clouds. It would start to rain soon, Jim could sense that.

 _Were you like this when you were a Marshal?_ he could hear Sarah asking.

"No, I wasn't." Jim whispered.

"What was that?" the Marshal barked again and Jim turned around.

"Listen, I..." But then Jim fell silent when he saw that Markson has placed his hand on his gun. Jim knew a threat when he saw one.

"Just come with me over to my office. Now." Jim was about to tell Sarah that he would need some more time before he would come back home. Something between a day and lifelong, depending on what the Marshal had in mind. However, before the Marshal could set his plan into motion, someone else decided to join the party. The door of the bar was opened and Shepherd Book stepped outside.

"Ah, Marshal Markson! Oh, good to see you!" the cleric said and walked up to the two men. Jim saw how an annoyed look appeared on Markson's face. Huh, it seemed as if Jim wasn't the only one who didn't enjoy Book's presence. The Marshal looked over to Book and gave him a quick nod.

"Shepherd." was the only thing that left Markson's mouth. He was about to turn his attention back towards Jim when Book walked up to him and placed his hand on Markson's shoulder.

"It must be a sign of above, I was looking for you. Marshal, there's something I need to talk about with you."

"Can't that wait? I'm kinda busy right now, Shepherd." Markson growled, but Book didn't seem to care about that.

"I don't think so. You see, there is a serious thing I would like to talk about. It's about the next sermon I want to give. I would like to ask you about your opinion." Jim could see the frustration on the Marshal's face, but he didn't dare to laugh. He was afraid that Markson would shoot him right here if he would do that.

"That's fascinating, Shepherd, but can't that wait? Besides, I don't see how I could help." But Book didn't seem to care about that.

"Oh, don't sell yourself short, my son. You see, the topic that I want to preach about is infidelity and the commandment "Thou shalt not covet". And I would like to talk about you with that." Book explained. The Marshal blinked in confusion when he heard that.

"What? Why me?"

"Because it is a serious topic. And you know this town better than anyone else. The thing is; I don't want to stir up any form of conflict within the community, but I was informed by some of my flock that there are some people with _unfaithful thoughts_ running around. And I believe it is my duty to inform the people about the consequences of this kind of behavior."

"Fascinating." Markson growled, not realizing who Book was talking about. "How about we can discuss that once I'm-"

"I especially would like to talk about the ones who tempt others to perform adultery. For there is a _special place_ in hell for those people." Brook said with a grin on his face. The Marshal froze when he heard that and looked back at Book.

"Special hell?"

"Special hell." the Shepherd confirmed. "Now, since the next preach is tomorrow, I would like to talk to you about this topic now. I just want to know if you think I should go easy on the people. Or if I should give them a stern warning." Book put his arm around the Marshal's shoulder and led him away. It wasn't clear to Jim wherever Markson was a God-fearing man, but at the very least he seemed to be rather embarrassed.

"Now, the bible is clear on this topic. It says that "Though shalt not commit adultery". But what does that actually mean? Well, let me start by telling you about the nature of man! In the beginning, there was..." Book started and led the already annoyed Marshal away, but not without looking over his shoulder and giving Jim a wink.

"Hmm...maybe he isn't such a bad guy after all." Jim mumbled and shook his head. "Better get the hell out of here." Otherwise, Book would tell Markson why "Thou shall not kill" was so important after the Marshal had put a bullet through Jim's head. Bad Karma and all.

He wanted to check on Carter, but the shop was closed and there was no one around. So, he decided to solve that problem another day. Besides, it was getting late and the weather was taking a turn for the worse. Time to head back home.

* * *

The trip back home wasn't very exciting. Why should it? There was no war going on anymore. There was no need to prepare for a fight. And the only thing that kept bugging Jim right now was how to get the spare parts for the tractor, and when he should start to prepare the fields for seeding.

"Huh...maybe I should check the fields first." he mumbled to himself. The horizon behind him was already dark gray and he realized that there was some heavy rain approaching. Hopefully, it wouldn't be as bad as the rainstorms on Sternenheim. Well, at least he wouldn't have to worry about crazy palm trees trying to kick him in the back. Still, he hadn't achieved much today. Almost nothing to be exactly. Well, they still got some supplies left, so they wouldn't starve tonight. Maybe he and Sarah should drive into the big city tomorrow and look for the spare parts he still needed. It would ruin the whole day, yes. But at one point he had to make sure that this farm would actually produce something.

"So, what do you think Sarah. Wanna go to the big city tomorrow?"

 _Uh...what?_

"Didn't get what I wanted, shall we drive into the city tomorrow?"

 _Uh huh...wait, are you on your way back?_ Sarah suddenly asked and he could sense her distress.

"Yeah. What's the matter, Darlin'?"

 _Shit! Shitshitshitshit! No! Goddamit!_ he could hear Sarah yell on the inside. He felt her frustration and how she was close to panicking. And that was something Sarah was not known for.

"Sarah? Are you okay?"

 _No! Yes...I mean...shit. Uhm...nevermind! Just take your time, you need some more time to get back, right?_

"Actually...I can see our house. What's the matter? Sarah?" But Sarah wouldn't answer anymore. Jim could feel that something was wrong, and so he decided to hurry back home. The vehicle rumbled over the unpaved road that led to their house. He drove past the remnants of the other houses, the ones that had belonged to the old settlement. It was kind of depressing to see those ruins every day, but Jim didn't own that land. And he had better things to do than to clean up this mess. Besides, those were the ruins of at least two dozen houses. There was no way for Jim to do this on his own. Even with Sarah's help, it would be impossible. You would need heavy equipment to remove all the rubble.

Still, seeing all those burned down houses...it reminded Jim that not every tragedy had been caused by the Zerg. Some things were the products of man's twisted ambitions. The old Confederacy had been known for its eagerness to discipline its own citizens by using force. And fire.

Jim shook his head and concentrated on the road in front of him. When he reached their home, he parked the car right in front of it and stepped got out.

"Sarah? Is everything alright?" When he heard her voice from the other side of the house, he could hear her distress.

"Yes! Just...everything's fine, just go inside, I will join you in a minute!" Well, that wasn't suspicious at all. He sighed and decided to check on her. Jim walked around the house and could hear how something fell on the ground, and then how Sarah cursed like a Sailor.

"Sarah? Sarah, what's going...on..." Jim said when he walked around the corner and saw what Sarah had been up to.

At first, he didn't say anything. Sarah was fine. Well, fine was probably the wrong word. She was unharmed, yet you could see that she was close to tears. Sarah Kerrigan, close to tears? Who would have known? She looked over to Jim and seemed to be desperate.

"There's just no end to it!" she whined and Jim looked at the wall. And then a gentle smile appeared on his face.

She had managed to cover roughly one-third of the wall with purple paint, but it looked like the worst paint job of all times.

"So, purple, huh?" Jim asked and had to laugh. "Well, I certainly wouldn't have come up with that idea." Sarah dropped her shoulders and lowered her head.

"I thought...that I could finish it until you were back. But then I started to put the paint on the wall and once it was dry, it looked horrible!" When Jim heard that he laughed even harder.

"You thought you could paint a house in a few hours? Oh, Sarah! Hahahaha..." There were things Sarah didn't like. Getting laughed at was one of those things. Even then she seemed just...demotivated. Suddenly Jim felt how Sarah's emotions changed. He could sense her own fears and doubts and he sighed.

"Isn't that just great." she whispered and threw the paintbrush away. "Look at me. Now that I'm nothing but a normal human, I can't do anything on my own. I don't even know how to paint a house. 'Effin useless, that's what I am!" Jim watched how Sarah turned away from him and how she lowered her head in shame.

It had happened before. Perhaps people who knew Sarah would be surprised by her sudden outburst, but things had changed. And this was one of those moments. Sarah had always defined herself by her abilities and powers. They had been the reason why others had shaped her into the person she had become. But they had also been her tools of trade. Now that she was no longer able to use them, she felt weak. Powerless. Vulnerable.

Useless.

In a way, Sarah had to learn things that most other people learned at a young age. Given the fact that she wasn't exactly the most patient person in this universe and not exactly humble either (two- character deficiencies Jim truly enjoyed, because it was part of Sarah's entire being), she was still dealing with those issues.

The truth was; Sarah wasn't alright. She was still struggling and everything that had happened had taken its toll on her. She was insecure and afraid, even though she would never openly admit it. It was moments like these when she would drop her shield and let others see how she truly felt. Jim knew that because of their shared bond, but he also knew that she didn't want him to see her like this.

Jim walked up to her and did the same thing that he had done so many times before. He put his arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I wanted to surprise you with it." he could hear her whisper and he smiled.

"I know. For future reference; painting a whole house usually takes several days." he told her.

"Yeah, I noticed. And the paint looks like shit."

"It's a bit dark. And it could use a second coating." Jim mused. "But overall...I think I like the idea."

"You're just telling me that to make me feel better." Sarah mumbled and Jim chuckled.

"Yeah. But it doesn't change the fact that you had a good idea. A light purple might do the trick." He turned his head back to the house and smiled. "Maybe lilac. And white window frames. Would look nice." It certainly wasn't the most common color for a house, but then again; those two were probably the most unusual couple in history anyway.

"I thought it would be easier." Sarah whispered after a while. "To think that something so easy and mundane as painting a house could be so bothersome."

"Hahaha, painting a house is anything but easy. Trust me, it's annoying as hell."

"Couldn't you have told me about that earlier?" Sarah muttered and Jim chuckled again.

"And miss the opportunity to find something that I can teach you about? Never!" he said and looked her straight into the eyes. "Hey. Don't sweat it, yes? As far as I know, Matt never painted a house either. So did a lot of guys I knew. Tychus once burned a few houses down, but I doubt that he ever painted one. Though now that I think about it there are countless people that probably have never done something like that. Or can you imagine Arcturus painting the walls of his palace?"

"Yes..." Sarah mumbled. "...with the blood of his enemies."

Oh, she just knew how to ruin a perfect moment. But Jim wasn't willing to get her away with it.

"No, seriously. Think about it. None of those guys ever did that. You know, boring normal stuff. Or did the Zerg ever paint their hives?" Now Sarah looked at him and pulled a brow up.

"No. Why wouldn't they?"

"See? So how the hell could you have learned about that, huh? I bet Artanis never did something like that either. Or can you imagine him holding a brush in his hand while giving that nexus a shiny new golden coating?" Jim imagined how it would look like and he could see how Sarah grunted when she saw the picture of Artanis with a brush in his hand. But that image didn't stop there.

"Just think about it. Just he and the brush, wearing nothing but dungarees and a straw hat." And much to Sarah's dismay she could see the image before her inner eye. She saw Artanis wearing said dungarees and that straw hat. He was singing a god-awful song about "stealin' Auntie Raszagal's chickens".

"Hehehe, Huckleberry Artanis." Jim laughed. "I can totally see it right in front of me. Also, Zeratul would make one fine hobo." Somewhere in the afterlife, Zeratul was probably not happy with that image, but the Dark Prelate had always been some kind of hobo, right? A weird-ass, century-old alien hobo, but hobo nonetheless.

"Oh, on that much we can agree." Sarah whispered.

"Hey." Jim said and grabbed Sarah's chin. They looked into each other's eyes. "It's a process, remember? Just because you haven't done something yet that doesn't mean that you suck at it. It's just normal for those who grew up with it. But that isn't the majority. Or do you think most folks that live in Augustgrad have ever done something like that? Painted a house? Fixed something with their own hands when it broke down? Hell, I have never fixed a goddamn water pump in my entire life! That's why it took me three days to do that. Now for a guy like Swann, that would have been easy money. Don't be ashamed of something you never had the chance to do."

"It's just..." Sarah then sighed. "...it reminds me of everything they taught me. But all those skills are worthless. Except if I want to kill someone. I was always the best at what I did. I took pride in my abilities, even now I know it's wrong. Still, I thought it would be easier. That all that training as a Ghost would be good for something. But look at me! I can't even paint a house."

"Well, that's only because no one has ever told you the secret behind painting a house. It's an old family secret my father once told me." Jim then explained.

"You're shitting me, right?" Sarah asked, but Jim shook his head.

"Nope. You're lucky because I'm a master when it comes to painting a house. Did it plenty of times. You see, the first thing you need is the right color. Then you need time and a helping hand."

"I didn't want to waste your time with it, Jim." Sarah replied. "I know you got plenty of other stuff to do, so I wanted to do this on my own. Right now I feel so useless and-" That's when Jim leaned forward and kissed her. Sarah's eyes widened in surprise, but only for a second. She then closed her eyes and just allowed it to happen.

 _Small steps, Sarah._ Jim reminded her. _This isn't about me, it is about you. About us. And we will make every step together._ Right, his great plan of showing her what a human existence could be like. When they finally broke the kiss, Sarah just enjoyed the warm feeling she felt inside her mind whenever Jim was thinking about her. However, every moment has to end eventually. In this case, it wasn't their choice, though. They both looked up when they felt how heavy raindrops started to fall down on them.

"Rule number one when it comes to painting a house: Don't do it while it's raining." Jim chuckled.

"Noted. But shouldn't we get the paint inside and-"

"Sarah." Jim said with a soft voice. "That is industrial paint. You can't use that for painting a wooden house." When Sarah heard that, she pressed her head against Jim's chest and said something about "idiot" and "epic", but that's when Jim laughed once more. He grabbed her hand and pulled Sarah back inside. Not a moment too soon, because when he closed the door behind them, the rain started to fall.

With nothing else to do, they decided to call it a day. Jim prepared dinner while Sarah sat next to a window in the living room and stared outside. She watched how the rain started to wash away all the dust and dirt.

"Didn't think it would rain this much." she whispered to herself at one point. "This place looked so dry when we first got here."

"Well, this place did see a lot of agriculture back in the day. So perhaps it was just a very dry season. Happens from time to time. Just because it's a dry place doesn't mean that you can't grow some crop." Jim explained to her from over the kitchen.

"Whatever you say." Sarah mumbled. That's when suddenly a bright flash of light illuminated the sky, and only seconds later thunder roared through the heavens. "Hell of a storm." she whispered. "Reminds me of Sternenheim."

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about cranky trees trying to beat us up." Jim said and Sarah couldn't help but grin when she heard that. Yes, by now she had heard about "Captain Palmer" and how that palm tree had decided to kick the living crap out of Jim. Neither Jim nor Sarah knew what had happened to that particular palm, though. Was it still alive? Or had it perished after Sarah's meltdown, like so many other things and creatures that had called Sternenheim their home.

The creatures on Sternenheim were strange indeed. Two different sets of evolution had created a planet that could be called paradise...with minor exceptions. There was literally not a single creature in the ocean that was a threat to humans. No matter how many tentacles they had, there was nothing that could pose a threat to Jim or Sarah. And as far as they knew, there was nothing poisonous out there either. On top of that, the ocean was filled not with saltwater, but freshwater. How was that even possible? They had no idea. But it was wonderful.

As for the plant life on...well, that was a different story.

There were no animals on land, the only lifeforms that crawled over the planet's surface were plants. Cranky plants and screaming plants. And some of them were rather vicious. Getting firewood was always quite the adventure, especially if the firewood tried to burn you in return. But staying on Sternenheim would have solved nothing.

"Meal's done! Come and grab it!" Jim said when he walked into the living room. He put the plate on the table and sat down, but then he looked over at Sarah, who was still staring out of the window. She watched how the rain started to soak the landscape and turn it into an all-out mud festival. Right now, she kept her thoughts to herself, but Jim knew what she was thinking about.

"Hey, grab it before it gets cold, Darlin'!" he laughed, trying to lighten up the mood by acting especially friendly. After a while, Sarah just stood up and walked up to him.

"Don't take it personally, but I just want to go to bed now. It does smell delicious, though. Good night, Jim." she said and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. She then left the living room and Jim could hear how she walked up the stairs before she headed into the bedroom and closed the door behind her. For a long time, he didn't say anything. All he did was to stare at the lunch in front of him. Suddenly he wasn't hungry anymore.

He wasn't angry. How could he? Jim knew that Sara was still struggling with everything that had happened. And there were a lot of uncertainties waiting for them. In the end, it would be Sarah who had to shoulder those things. All he could do was to stay at her side and be there for her when she needed his helping hand. For someone who had always been strong and mighty like Sarah, it was hell, and Jim was aware of that. She could no longer do what they had trained her to do. And she could no longer be the person she once had been.

After the breakdown comes the cleanup.

Yet Jim had no idea how he should help her. Maybe...maybe he should find something that would help Sarah to occupy her mind. Something that would allow her to use her some of the skills she still possessed. But what could that be? Slitting throats sure as hell was something that wouldn't be helpful.

And so, Jim started to think. In the end, he didn't touch lunch either. All he did was to think about was to find a way to help Sarah.

And Sarah?

She sat on their bed and stared out of the window. The thunderstorm was impressive, even though it was not nearly as dangerous as the storms they had on Sternenheim. At one point, Sarah sighed and decided to go to sleep. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day. And outside? Outside the storm continued to rage on. Only that it was no longer a normal storm...

* * *

Bolts of lightning continued to ravage the skies for a long time. It was a storm, unlike anything this world had ever seen. The raw energy that moved through the sky was not a natural weather phenomenon. Many kilometers away from Jim's and Sarah's house, the energy stream started to solidify. It was quite the spectacle, yet there was no one around to witness it. Bolts of lightning smashed into the ground and tore it up.

You could call it some sort of warp storm, but not one that was fueled by psionics, but technology.

Any warp gate needs another gate in order to form a warp bridge. But that's only half the truth. The ground started to shake when the portal finally formed. It did so high above the ground. It looked beautiful and horrible at the same time, like a hole in the sky that was surrounded by a halo made out of pure light. For some time, it all it did was to grow in size. It wasn't very big, but that didn't make it any less impressive.

A warp connection that didn't need two warp gates...

Every phase-smith would tell you that this is impossible. Except for one...

The light that surrounded the gate started to glow even brighter, blinding anyone who would lay gaze upon it. It was so bright that no one would have noticed how that long and slender creature simply emerged from the hole in the sky and fell down like a stone. You could see that it was some kind of lifeform. It didn't land gracefully, though. Its long, snakelike body smashed into the muddy ground, and seconds later the warp gate collapsed on itself.

As the storm continued to rage on, rail fell down and washed away the smoking evidence of the unusual arrival. The creature that had come here didn't waste any time, though. It stretched its limbs and its tail and checked its own body for any permanent damage. Luckily, this time most of its skin was still intact, so this was definitely an improvement compared to the last time it had tried this way of traveling. Still, there were a few scorch marks all over the long, serpentine body.

She would have to tell Karax to fix all those mistakes. Just because she could handle the pain and the injuries didn't mean that her Majesty could do the same. At least in her current condition.

Izsha then looked at the horizon and into the direction where her Majesty's new home was. She slithered forward and didn't pay any attention to the thunderstorm that was going on above her own head. If a lightning would hit her...well, she could handle it. With her long and armored body, she was practically a walking and talking lightning conductor.

It had been quite some time since she had talked to her Majesty. There were quite a few things she had to report.


	88. Act IV - Chapter 4

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Look who's come for Dinner...**

* * *

The next day the rain kept on pouring down from the sky, so working outside was out of the question. There was still more than enough to do on the inside, but Jim knew that sometimes you had to change the scenery in order to get a fresh perspective. And so, after a long breakfast, he told Sarah that he had to go to New Thompson in order to get some supplies and that he wanted her to come with him. Sarah didn't complain or come up with any weird reasons for staying home, yet she wasn't looking forward to it either. So they got in the car and were on their way to New Thompson.

Sarah was silent for most of the trip. All she did was to stare out of the window and look at the rain that kept pouring from the sky. It took Sarah a while until she realized that they weren't heading for New Thompson. She looked over to Jim and he could sense her distaste for anything he might have planned for her.

"Jim, where are we going?" she wanted to know, and Jim showed her a warm smile.

"Capital City, of course."

Fun-fact; the name of the capital city of Ramelow was Capital City. It seemed as if the settlers ran out of names at one point...

"I thought you wanted to get supplies from New Thompson." Sarah said, yet Jim only shrugged his shoulders.

"Meh, weather makes it impossible to do anything outside, and I thought we could just go to the city and do something fun for a change." Jim replied.

"Fun? Like what?"

"Dunno. We'll see it when we get there. It's a trip to the city. Here's a tip; you're supposed to enjoy it!" When Sarah heard that, she turned her head away and instead continued to stare at the landscape. The closer they came to Capital City, the less it rained. Eventually, the rain stopped altogether and you could even see the sunlight breaking through the thick clouds. The landscape surrounding Capital City was a lot prettier to the eye than their new home. They drove past fields covered with green grass and rivers filled with deep blue water.

"It looks so...peaceful." Sarah whispered. They had been here before, but she had never truly taken the time to enjoy the scenery. The closer they got to the city, the more traffic they encountered. Capital City was not very big, at least when compared to such gigantic molochs like Augustgrad. 80, maybe one hundred thousand people lived in the city. However, that also meant that this city had its own spaceport. Not a very big one and there was hardly any traffic going on, but a spaceport was an important connection to other worlds.

Back on worlds like Augustgrad, the spaceport usually was far away from any urban area. Every minute dozens of spacecrafts started and landed. And we're not talking about dropships or smaller vessels. No, Sir! We are talking about the big colony ships, interstellar liners, and those gigantic mineral transports. Living in close proximity to such a spaceport was not fun. But this spaceport was a lot smaller, and on their way there Sarah counted just three ships landing and one taking off.

Sarah wondered where those ships were going and where they were coming from. Who were the people that were on those ships? Did they know anything about the real world? The world Jim and Sarah had seen and fought in? Perhaps the thing that bothered Sarah the most was the fact that everything seemed so damn _normal_. These people had never seen a real Zerg. And Sarah? She knew every secret the Zerg possessed because she had been Zerg for many years.

"You know, these people probably have never seen a real Protoss either." Jim suddenly said as he sensed her thoughts. She looked over at him and frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sarah asked and Jim chuckled.

"It's not always you and the Zerg, Darlin'. I think that I know a lot more about Protoss than most other humans out there."

"Oh, really?" Sarah shot back with a snippy tone in her voice. "I doubt that your knowledge about the Protoss equals my knowledge of the Zerg. No offense, love." That comment caused Jim to grin from one end of his face to the other. He could already hear that arrogant tone in her voice he had missed so much. Yes, Sarah could be quite arrogant at times. But that was part of her charm. Besides, beneath that arrogance was a very vulnerable woman, one that had never learned to deal with her frustrations.

"Heh, I doubt that there's that much to know about the Zerg. I mean, even with the Overmind and all...the Protoss have a society that is millennia old. They have art and a rich history and-"

"What good is art and history if you just start to wage war on yourself in the end anyway, huh?"

"Now that's a bit harsh." Jim replied.

"Is it? The Protoss had everything. Yet they decided to split into factions and duke it out. So I ask again; what good are art and history and fancy stuff like traditions if they just end up killing themselves? The Zerg might have none of that, but why do you need something like that if you decide to nuke the living hell out of each other anyway?"

"That's..." Jim tried to say, but then he realized that Sarah had a good point. "...you know, when you see it like that, you could say the same about human history and art." he then mumbled.

"What I'm saying is that I never shared nor understood the fascination with "society" and history and art and stuff. I get it, it's pretty. It's interesting. It could be a nice hobby. But aside from that? I don't care if some prince once saved a princess many centuries ago and saved an empire by doing so. I don't care If someone once wrote a beautiful poem that makes people cry. I just don't see the point in holding on to something that's so far in the past that you need history books to read about it."

Those...were a lot of words, and it caught Jim off guard. Sarah was rarely in the mood to talk about stuff that she didn't really care about. He felt like he should use that opportunity. He didn't want to push Sarah, but at the same time, he knew that he couldn't waste that chance.

"It's not all bad. Sometimes it can help if you look back and see where you came from." Jim explained.

"Like tactics and stuff?"

"No. Well, yes, but I'm not talking about military and war. I'm talking about society and stuff. About who our ancestors were that came here."

"As far as I know, the "settlers" who came here were mostly convicts that the people of Earth wanted to get rid of." Sarah replied.

Damn, she really knew how to ruin the mood.

"Point is..." Jim tried to reason with her. "...it gives people hope. And strength. To know that the guys that came before us had to deal with horrible stuff as well. And they succeeded. That means that we can gain strength from that. It makes us realize that hope is not pointless because other people had to deal with the same problems."

"You mean there were people before us who had to fight the Zerg, the Protoss, and a crazy space god while becoming a completely new lifeform? Only to be stranded on an unknown world and be at the mercy of a dead Nerazim who enjoys kicking me in the teeth?"

"Well, if you put it like this..." Jim sighed and decided to not go on. It didn't stop Sarah from smiling.

"What makes you so happy?"

"I won the argument."

"Pah!" Jim barked, but it was good to see Sarah smiling again.

They parked the car close to the city's center, but not without Sarah making fun of the fact that they were close to the center of Central City. The city was by no means big or impressive, but it had a lot more to offer than New Thompson. Comparing Central City to New Thompson was like comparing Augustgrad to Central City. They were all in their very own league. Jim and Sarah walked towards what looked like the main shopping street. There were not that many people around. The weekend hadn't arrived yet, so most people were still working. But if Sarah had to walk through a city filled with people, then the current amount of folk running around was acceptable.

"So, what is the great plan you had in mind?" Sarah asked when they stood at the entrance to the shopping street. She pulled her brows up and looked over at Jim when she felt how he linked his arm with hers. The grin on his face was worthy of that of the biggest lucky idiot of all times.

"Now we're gonna have fun, Darlin'."

Fun. Well, that certainly was something Sarah hadn't experienced very often. She was about to tell Jim that she was in no mood for "fun", but then she realized that he would not give up until her mood had improved.

And those who knew James Raynor knew that he could be relentless.

The city itself was not in a great shape. Everything looked good on the outside, but a lot of shops didn't have much stuff on display. Sarah didn't keep count, but roughly one out of four shops seemed to completely abandoned. They tried to keep up an appearance, but it was obvious that this place had seen better days.

They came past an apparel store for women, but Sarah only wasted a second looking at what the shop had to offer. So apparently the fashion of the season were tank tops and miniskirts. Sarah wasn't really into fashion and clothes, yet she would rather be stoned to death than wearing something like that. Right now, all she wore were jeans and a black hoodie. It was practical and comfortable, that's all Sarah cared for. Those skimpy clothes looked like the wet dream of a fifteen-year-old boy. There was no way in hell that she would wear something like that.

"You know, that Ghost-suit was kinda sexy." Jim mumbled when he sensed her distaste for that kind of fashion.

"It was form fitting. That's something different. Besides, it didn't put emphasis on my naughty bits." Sarah replied. It caused Jim to chuckle.

"And that coming from a woman who technically ran around naked for many years." he said, referring to the time when she was Zerg.

"That was different. You can't compare carapace to _that_!" she said and pointed with her finger at one miniskirt on display. The only positive thing you could say about it that it was "only 5,99!", but that was pretty much all that spoke in its favor. The bright pink color didn't really help either.

"Meh, some people like that I assume. It does look a bit cheap though." Jim mused

"A bit cheap? As in; a nuclear strike is a bit overkill?" Sarah shot back and he sighed.

"Well, don't worry. I would never ask you to wear something like _that_."

"Oh, lucky me." Sarah sneered. "How wonderful that I found a man who doesn't tell me what to wear!" Oh, she was getting better alright. Being snippy was a good sign for that. "Just so you know; being covered in carapace is a lot better than wearing something like this."

"Again, you were naked all the time back then."

"No, I wasn't." Sarah replied.

"Yes, you were. You were covered in nothing but carapace. The only reason why no one cared was because you, well, you know..." This was an awkward conversation. Everyone who walked past them probably wondered what the hell they were talking about. Sarah did notice what Jim was trying to tell her, and she had to chuckle.

"Oh, you think that I was fully Zerg _down there_ as well?"

"Of course. I mean, it's not that everyone had funny thoughts when they stared at you, but there was hardly anything to look at, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, trust me, even as a Zerg, I was a woman. Even down there." Sarah suddenly teased him.

"You were running around willy-nilly, Sarah. I think I would have noticed. You were all carapace down there." Yep, weird conversation indeed.

"I got three words for you, love." Sarah then replied. " _Retractable bone plates_." That caused Jim to laugh out loud. But after a while, he stopped laughing and looked over to Sarah.

"Wait, you're serious?" But all Sarah did was to smile and leave him with his imagination. Unfortunately, the only thing Jim could think of right now was a Hydralisk wearing lipstick and a red wig. And that was an image that caused both of them to shudder.

"You're just impossible." Sarah groaned.

"I sure hope so." Well, no miniskirts for Sarah. Good to know. It was one gift he would never give to her, that much was for certain. They continued to walk down the street, and it was interesting to see Sarah's reaction towards pretty much everything. The flower shop had nothing that Sarah was interested in. The roses and tulips looked nice, but to Sarah, they were nothing but green stuff with different colored tips.

There was a music store selling all kinds of genres, but that too didn't interest Sarah. It was nice for Jim to browse through those blues records, though. He had enjoyed that music as a young man, but half of those artists didn't tell him anything. And let's not start about all that new stuff that had no soul whatsoever. Kids these days, brrrr...

So music wasn't really Sarah's thing either. She walked through the shop, listened to some stuff they had to offer, but to her it didn't matter wherever it was the newest single from Korhal's "hottest boy band" or some country song from the border worlds.

Music just didn't seem to be one with Sarah Kerrigan.

She did hum the melody of "Leaving on a Jet Plane" though, but that was pretty much the only reaction she showed.

Sarah did stop in front of a hairdresser and looked at all the suggestions for a new haircut.

"I can't say wherever those people on those pictures are men or women." she mumbled. "How would anyone run around like this?"

"Perhaps you have to wear miniskirts in order to appreciate it." Jim offered and both imagined women _and_ men wearing miniskirts at the same time. They both shuddered and agreed to never think about this again. There was a cake shop, yet all Sarah said was that she wasn't into strawberry cake. She didn't even want a piece of chocolate cake as long as Jim hadn't made it. While it caused Jim to feel some sense of pride, it didn't help him to find something that would put a smile on Sarah's face.

A food store had some apples, but when Sarah saw those prices, she became angry again. Jim offered her to buy some, but she wasn't willing to throw out money for something as mundane as an apple.

Or an orange.

Or a banana.

Or a pineapple.

Jim was about to give up when they reached one last store. It was a bookstore, and when they walked inside Jim looked around. It wasn't very big, but it even had real books. Printed ones. It was funny; even though there was no real reason for books to be printed anymore, they kept producing these things anyway. You could use a data pad, and many people did that. But some things just seemed to never change. One of them was humanity's fascination for printed books.

Jim browsed through the historical stuff. Sarah knew about his curiosity when it came to Earth's history. He was mostly into the pre-space age. Sometimes he would talk about nations and places she had never heard about. She was certain that most people living in the Koprulu Sector had no idea what Jim was talking about. The only exception was probably survivors from that UED expedition a couple of years back, but Sarah didn't really like to think about those guys.

Stukov had been alright...in a way. But only after he had been turned into a monstrosity. Before that, he had been nothing but a pain in her butt.

Sarah stood between the shelves and looked for a point to start from. She probably looked kinda lost, because after a few minutes a saleslady showed up and offered her help.

"Is there anything you're looking for?"

"Uhh...I'm just browsing. Thanks." Sarah mumbled, but the saleslady didn't seem to care about the fact that Sarah wanted to be left alone.

"Maybe you want to check the new releases? There are a lot of works that might be interesting for you. Do you have any genre that you like most?"

"Uhhh...not really." Sarah replied. The saleslady offered Sarah a big grin and walked over to a table with a large number of different books. There was a sign above the table, telling everyone that those were the new releases.

"Here, maybe this could be interesting. It's Dawn, the new love story from Mary Stephan. It is about the forbidden love between a young woman and an infested man, who was turned into a Protoss because of being infested." When Sarah heard that, she pulled her brows up.

"Infestation doesn't cause a human to become a Protoss." she mumbled.

"Well, it is a love story." the saleslady replied. "But if you're not into that, how about this?" She walked over to another shelf. "This one came out two months ago, but it is still one of our bestsellers. Parry Hotter and the Order of Adun." She handed Sarah the book, who sighed and took a good look at it. When she saw the cover, she had to frown.

"What the hell...?"

There was a young woman on the front cover. She wore glasses and had a scar on her chin. But there were two other figures behind her too. One kinda looked like Zeratul, the other like...a male version of the Queen of Blades? Sarah turned the book around and read the what they had printed on the backside.

"Parry is in her fifth year in the Ghost Academy when tragedy strikes again. This time she has to find her... _godfather_ Zabazul and rally her friends and allies in order to foil the evil Zurg Overlord Kurragan plans of conquering the...oh God." she stopped and shuddered when she realized what this was about.

"There are four more books in the series. And the first two books have been turned into movies. If you like-"

"No thanks." Sarah said and put the book back on the shelf. She sighed and was about to look for Jim and tell him that she just wanted to get home when she saw a book that immediately caught her interest because it showed something very familiar to her.

"What's that?" she said mostly to herself, and when the saleslady saw what Sarah was looking at, she nodded.

"Over there you have the non-fiction section. I don't really know much about those books though. But if you like I can ask one of my colleagues if-"

"Thanks, but that won't be necessary." Sarah told her and walked over to the shelf. She grabbed the book and looked at its cover. It was big and weighed a lot, though mostly because it had a lot of "colored photos" inside, just like the cover said. What made this book so interesting to Sarah weren't the colored photos inside.

"The Zerg. The Myth and the Reality." she whispered and opened the book. But it didn't take long for her to realize that humans had no idea what was myth and what was reality when it came to the Zerg. She closed the book and put it back, but then she looked at the other books and realized that they were even stranger.

 _Arcturus Mengsk. The Man. The Savior. The Legend._

Now she felt the urge to burn this place down.

 _A Life in the Spotlights. The Donny Vermillion Story._

Huh, that would be a nice gift for Jim.

"Don't you dare!" she could hear Jim hissing from the other side of the shop and had to chuckle.

 _Tarsonis: The Real Story._

 _En Taro Adun. An Insight into Protoss Psyche._

 _The United Earth Directorate. Hoax or Reality?_

Nothing seemed to be very interesting. It was funny to see how many people claimed to know what really had happened, though. However, Sarah remembered not a single name when she looked at the authors. Well, there was Donny Vermillion, but that wasn't...

"Wait a sec." she suddenly whispered when she found a book that actually caught her interest. She grabbed it and when she held it in her hand, she frowned.

"Lurking in the Shadows..." Sarah whispered the title. "...the Truth behind the Ghost Project. By...Michael Liberty." She opened the book and read the first page.

 _Little is known about the men and women who are only known as "Ghosts". Even now that the Dominion has released a great deal of information regarding the Ghosts, who they are, and what purpose they had, there are still a lot of questions open. In my time as a freelance journalist during the Great War, I encountered several of these Ghosts. Given the fact that the operatives themselves are no longer a secret, I have decided to write down what I have found out over the years. About the Ghosts in general and who they truly were._

"You found something?" Jim suddenly asked. Sarah closed the book and looked over her shoulder.

"What? Oh, no... I'm just..." But then she looked back at the cover of the book and put her fingers on Michael's name. The book was published a few months ago. So that meant that Michael Liberty was still alive. Suddenly Sarah felt happy. It was somewhat surprising, considering the fact that Michael had done everything to piss off the mighty and powerful.

"...I think I want this book." she then said and Jim gave her a thumbs-up.

"And?" she then wanted to know when they paid the book. "Did you find anything?"

"Well, there was a coloring book with Zerglings and Zealots inside. It even comes with ten felt pens. I always wanted to paint a Zergling pink and a Zealot green." Sarah groaned when she heard that.

"Are we done here?" she wanted to know and Jim showed her a goofy smile.

"Yep. Just need to get to the DIY market. We need some color for the house after all. But first..." Jim said when they stepped out of the bookstore.

"...but first what?" Sarah asked and Jim pointed with his finger at an ice cream stand.

"I'm buying."

* * *

Eating ice, sitting on a bench...Sarah couldn't remember when she had done something like that. They watched how more and more people walked through the shopping street. School was over, and a lot of children and teenagers were among the crowd. Sarah took a few licks from her ice but it didn't taste very good.

"This is nice, isn't it?" Jim asked, however, Sarah didn't say anything. He looked up at the sky and sighed. The clouds were all gone. It was actually quite the beautiful day. Lush trees, green grass, and the water that came out of the nearby fountain looked especially clear. They were sitting on a bench in the local park, just in sight of the shopping street, and were doing, well, nothing.

"I guess so." Sarah whispered. She had done stuff like this before, but not just for fun. On one or two occasions she had used this tactic to spy on a target. But even then, she hadn't eaten...ice cream. And she couldn't decide which target she could focus on.

"You know how you call a target that isn't a target?" Jim asked when he sensed her dark thoughts.

"What?"

"People."

"I know that."

"Then why do you look at those people like they're threats that need to be eliminated?" Jim wanted to know.

"Old habits die hard, I guess."

"Sarah..." he started, but this time she cut him short.

"Listen, Jim, I'm not about to start a riot, okay? It's just...I understand what you're trying to do here. And I do appreciate it. It is just that I'm...well..." she tried to explain how she felt. And that proved to be surprisingly difficult.

"It's just that...?" Jim tried to get her to finish her sentence and Sarah sighed.

"I feel...uncomfortable. Here. Like this. I feel exposed. Naked. Like I'm not in control."

"Sarah, that's how-"

"Please don't say it." she groaned and Jim looked over at her.

"Say what?"

"That this is part of human existence. Of not being in control and all that stuff."

"But that' is part of-"

"I said don't say it. Please. I don't want to hear it." Sarah grumbled and stared at all the people passing by. Families with children, lovers, old couples. It would appear that this park was quite popular.

"You are human, Sarah. And this what humans do."

"No, Jim." Sarah replied. "A _part of me_ is human. That is something completely different. I understand what you're trying to do, really, I do. But the number of humans I can tolerate is limited. The number of people I care for is hardly worth mentioning. And there is only one human that I love, Jim. All this..." She looked around and included the people around them. "...doesn't make me feel happy." For a long time, no one said a word. Sarah could sense that Jim wasn't happy with what he just had heard. They listened to the sounds of the people; children screaming in joy, adults talking and chatting.

So, for a long time, neither one said anything.

"Then...what would make you happy?" Jim wanted to know.

More silence followed.

"I don't know." Sarah answered.

And for the first time, Jim realized that this was not a battle that he could win. That this was something Sarah had to figure out on her own. And the only thing that could help her with that...was time.

"Can we go home now?" Sarah then asked and Jim looked at his half-molten ice.

"Yeah. Let's go home."

* * *

It wasn't exactly how Jim had hoped things would turn out. But hey, at least Sarah had found a book. So the trip hadn't been totally for nothing.

It sure felt like that, though.

Well, the weather had improved. That meant that Jim could check the fields and see in what shape they were. Though he already knew the answer to that. They were in a pitiful state. If you want to grow crop, you can't just put seeds into the ground. And if you don't tend to a field, if you don't prepare it, then it will be nothing but dirt after one or two seasons and you have to start all over again.

However, right now Jim couldn't concentrate on the fields. His thoughts always returned to Sarah, and what she had told him. He felt like he had done something incredibly stupid. Sarah didn't seem to care about his doubts, or she was very good at hiding it. All she did was to stare out of the window while they were driving back home. She wasn't even reading her book. And right now, she tried to keep her thoughts to herself. Unlike Jim, who was still new to this mind-reading stuff, she knew how to do that.

All in all, this trip felt like a goddamn kick to the balls.

When they arrived back home, Sarah got out of the car and walked back into their house without even saying a word. Jim watched how she vanished from his sight before he placed his head on the steering wheel and sighed.

"Just what am I doing wrong? Zeratul, you're still out there? I could use your help right now." But Zeratul was no longer around. This time he was all on his own. Finding something that could help Sarah...wasn't as easy as you might think.

Jim leaned back and looked out of the window and at the horizon. He had to find something that would occupy Sarah's mind. The book was probably the right thing, but how long would that last? How long would Sarah be able to live like this? Right now, she was just doing nothing. There was no goal for her. She seemed lost, and it was hard to watch. He wanted to help, he really did. But how?

Maybe he should give her more room. Give her time. Let her sort things out on her own.

However, he had done that for months now. After her, well, breakdown, they had spent many hours on Sternenheim holding each other. Then they had traveled to Ulnar. Exploring that place had been interesting, especially if there was an entire hive of Zerg watching your every move. Yet the one image he couldn't forget was Sarah sitting on the beach on Sternenheim and staring at the horizon. She had done that for hours while deeply lost in thoughts. Thoughts she hadn't shared with Jim.

After a while, Jim got out of the car and was about to get back into the house. He was already on the veranda when he noticed something strange.

There was a drag mark on the muddy ground. Jim stopped and frowned. It looked like someone had dragged something heavy through their property. And the drag mark led straight to the barn.

"What the hell?" Jim mumbled. He stepped down from the veranda and followed the trail. Whatever had caused it must have been big. It looked kinda familiar, though. He walked up to the barn and saw that the door had been opened. And the trail led right inside. He stepped into the barn and looked around.

"Sarah?" he yelled, hoping that she could hear him from over there. "Did you drag something into the barn?"

 _No. Why?_ he could hear her voice inside the back of his mind.

"Better come over here, I think we got an uninvited guest." What had Carter said? Female flourpions could get really big?

 _Kriechers. He called them Kriechers._ Sarah corrected him. Ah, that snippy tone in her voice. Oh, how he had missed that.

"Tomatoes, _tomatoes_." Jim muttered and looked around. When he walked past a few tools, he grabbed a pickax, just to be on the safe side. Everything looked fine, there was nothing unusual. He walked around the tractor without wheels or engine and frowned. The drag marks vanished into thin air as if whatever had caused them was no longer around. Jim didn't notice how something above him started to shift and move. It was big. Really big. Far bigger than a human. And it was dark. The creature lowered itself from the ceiling and didn't make any sound. When it touched the ground, Jim turned around and suddenly his eyes widened in shock.

"AAAAAAAAAAIIIzsha! What the hell!" he screamed and pressed his hand against his chest. "Do you want to give me a heart attack?!"

"Is that a rhetorical question?" the former Zerg asked and tilted her head to the side. Jim looked up at her and studied her emotionless features for a second before he just sighed and leaned against the tractor.

"Oh boy...oh boy, you sure know how to scare the shit out of others, has anyone ever told you that?"

"No." Izsha replied truthfully.

"Well..." Jim growled. "...for future references; you do scare the shit out of others. Never do that again." That's when Sarah finally arrived.

"Just what the hell is going on...Izsha?!" she yelled in surprise. The huge snake-lady turned around and suddenly Jim was no longer important.

"Your Majesty. We have not seen each other in quite some time." Izsha replied, yet she too was somewhat surprised when Sarah just walked up to her and...

...gave her a hug.

Jim could see the surprised look on Izsha's face, even though it lasted only for a second. Then she slung her arms around Sarah and closed her eyes.

"I missed you." Sarah whispered and Jim felt a sting in his chest. For some time, no one moved or said a word, but Jim could sense that Sarah's mood had improved drastically.

"Don't want to be who ruins the reunion..." Jim said after a while. "...but how did you get here? By ship? If so; where is it?" Sarah and Izsha let go of each other and the dark snake-woman looked over to Jim.

"I arrived here by other means of transportation." she explained and then turned her attention back to Sarah. "I have come here to report on Karax's progress and the current status of Ulnar. First, I am happy to tell you that we were able to remove most of the radiation caused by-"

"Hold on, hold on!" Jim intervened. "How the hell did you get here? You still didn't answer my question. Just how the hell did you get here?"

"I used Karax's new warp gate." Izsha then replied. "He managed to remove most of the radiation you have caused by accident and has stated that he should soon be able to create a stable connection between all the worlds you wish to visit. He still needs some time to work out all the minor problems, however."

"Minor problems?" Sarah asked and Izsha raised her tail. Its tip was still scorched.

"Until these problems have been solved, I strongly recommend for you to not use this way of transportation, your Majesty." Izsha explained.

"And me, right?" Jim asked and Izsha looked him straight into the eyes.

"No. Feel free to use that form of transportation. Actually, I think you should try it. Now." There was an awkward moment of silence. Jim looked over at Sarah and pulled his brows up.

"She's joking, right? Please tell me that she has just learned to improve her sense of humor." He would never get an answer to that question.

"My Queen, it is good to see you." Izsha declared and turned her attention back to Sarah. "How are you? You look...exhausted." A weak smile appeared on Sarah's smile.

"Well, you know what they say; if you don't use it, you lose it." she said and Izsha tilted her head to the side.

"Your powers have not yet returned to you?" All Sarah could do was to shake her head. But Izsha didn't seem to be fazed by that. On the contrary. "In that case, it is good that I have come here. Keeping you out of harm's way is the only thing that matters." Jim was about to ask if that included him, but he already knew the answer to that.

"So, how are the others?" Sarah asked, referring to Karax and Niadra and her brood. And a certain someone. Izsha opened her mouth and was about to say something when they heard how a car approached.

"Mother of-" Jim cursed and looked out of the barn. There was no doubt about it, someone was coming.

"Who could that be?" Sarah muttered and then she sighed. "Please don't tell me that it's that Marshal. I really have no time for that douchebag right now."

"Shall I dispose of this human?" Izsha asked, and Jim gritted his teeth. This was bad. He looked over at the two women, well, the one woman and the other snake-woman-Zerg-whatever and sighed.

"You two stay put. I will deal with whoever that is. And please, keep her inside the barn, yes?" Jim pleaded to Sarah, but suddenly something had changed. A wicked grin appeared on her face and she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"No promises!" she said and Jim bit his lip. He could hear how the car stopped and how the door was opened.

"Hello?" a man shouted and Jim recognized the voice immediately.

"Oh shit. Carter?" Now there was one man he didn't want to cause any problems. "You two! No word! I mean it!" he snarled and hurried out of the barn. He closed the door and the last thing he saw was the gleeful expression on Sarah's face. She just loved it when he was getting one served.

"Anyone home? It's me, Carter. Jim?" the other man shouted again, and Jim could hear how the veranda started to squeak.

"I'm here! Wait a sec, I'm in the back!" he yelled back and took a deep breath. "Calm down. Calm down. Everything's fine. Just don't act suspiciously. There is nothing strange going on. And there sure as hell is _not_ a former Zerg in my barn..." he mumbled mostly to himself.

"Two former Zerg!" he could hear Sarah shouting from the barn and was about to reply something very unfriendly. But then...

"Jim? You're there? Wait, I come around and-" Carter tried to say.

"No!" Jim barked. "I'm coming over to you, just, uhm, hold on a sec!" He then hurried to the other side of the house. Up till now, he hadn't even known that Carter owned a car, but the pickup looked as if it had seen better days. However, out here it wasn't about how good a car looked like. The only thing that mattered if it could get the job done. Carter was still standing on the veranda when Jim finally reached him.

"Hey, how's li... holy shit, are you okay?" the older man asked when he looked at Jim.

"What? Why?" Jim almost yelled.

"Uhm...you looked kinda pale. Like you just saw a ghost or something." Carter replied, and Jim sighed.

"That was...ah, nevermind. Sorry, I just had to...deal with _something_." Better not talk about the details.

"You need help with whatever you're doing?" Carter asked and Jim's eyes widened.

"What? No! No, everything's peachy. Uhm...what can I do for you? Why did you come all the way out here anyway?" Jim tried to change the subject. Carter sighed and walked back to his pickup. He opened the hatch and pointed with his finger on something that was covered with a big tarp.

"I asked a few guys for the stuff you were looking for. Figured you would like to get your hand on that stuff as soon as possible." Carter grabbed the tarp and pulled it away. Jim's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the piece of equipment Carter had brought along.

"A powercell?" Jim said and Carter nodded.

"Yup. It's one of those industrial ones, the ones they use on trucks and tractors alike. Since they are all standardized I guess you can use that on your rig. The guys who sold it to me also got a bunch of tires, but they have like twenty different sizes, so I had no idea which one to grab. However, the people back at the mine said that you could go there and see for yourself." When Jim saw that, he didn't know what to say.

"I... uhm...I don't know what to say, Carter."

"How about; thanks?"

"Thanks." Jim replied with a dry tone in his voice. "Still, I don't know if I have enough money to pay you right away. Is it-"

"It's fine, this one is a freebie." Carter told him, and Jim needed a moment in order to process that.

"Say what? Carter, I can't do that!" Jim protested, but Carter just laughed and grabbed the powercell.

"Phil."

"What?"

"Phil. My first name is Phil. Sounds a lot better if you use that instead of calling me Carter all the time." Okay. Phil then. Jim shook his head and still had a hard time processing any of this.

"Okay, Cart...I mean Phil. Just why the hell are you doing this? I mean..." Jim started, but that's when Phil Carter sighed and turned back to Jim.

"I wanted to apologize, okay? Yesterday was kinda...crazy. I didn't want to leave so suddenly, but with Paula, you never know what's gonna happen next." Phil explained.

"But...you haven't brought her along, right? Where is she then?"

"Shepherd Book's looking after her. He offered me his help should I ever need it and, well, this time I decided to accept his offer."

"A priest offering to look after a young woman? Uh, I'm not sure what to think of that." Jim muttered and Carter started to laugh when he got Jim's dark joke.

"Oh, don't worry. By the time I'm back home, he will beg me to take Paula back. I love her, I really do. But that girl can be quite a handful if you know what I mean." Phil said and Jim looked over his shoulder and over to the barn.

"Oh, trust me, I know exactly what you're talking about." the younger man muttered. He could sense Sarah. And he could sense that she was enjoying herself. Great, that damn snake had managed to make Sarah happy just by saying hello while he-

"Ground control to Jim! You there, son?" Phil asked and snapped Jim out of it.

"Wha...? Oh, sorry. I was just...had a long day, that's all. Still, I'm still not sure wherever I can just accept that. Phil, this is the most generous thing anyone has done for me in... hell, I can't even remember!"

"Well, there's one thing you could do for me." Phil replied.

"And what would that be?"

"You could offer me something to drink. I'm so goddamn thirsty!" That's when Jim chuckled.

"Very well, let's go inside. But be warned, our home isn't in a great shape right now. There's still a lot we have to fix." He led Phil inside and made sure to let Sarah know. But even though he concentrated really hard, he had the strange feeling that she wasn't even paying attention to him. Perhaps he should get rid of Phil as fast as possible. And no, that didn't mean that he had to kill him. When they stepped inside, Phil whistled and was clearly impressed.

"Wow, looks like shit on the outside, but I like what you did on the inside." Phil said.

"Thanks...I guess. Though I gotta warn you, right now we don't have much to offer." Jim replied. They entered the kitchen and all Jim could do was to offer some water, but Phil was fine with that. Jim filled a glass for himself and enjoyed how the cold liquid streamed down his throat.

"So, where's the Missus?" Phil asked and Jim almost choked when he heard that question. He coughed a few times and then he took a deep breath.

"In the barn. Doing...stuff. I don't know."

"Sounds like someone had an argument." Phil chuckled. "Better apologize to her, otherwise Marshal Markson will make his move." But Jim couldn't laugh about that. He looked Phil straight into the eyes and sighed.

"Right. That guy. Guess we should have looked for another place to settle down." he growled and Phil chuckled again.

"Trevor is not a bad kid. A bit stiff and takes himself far too seriously, but he's not as tough as he likes to act. Trust me, he gave me the same kind of treatment when I got here."

"The Marshal gave you a hard time too?" Jim asked and Phil laughed again.

"Oh, hell no! He wasn't Marshal back then, just a very angry kid whose father had just left. Kinda the typical story out here."

"His father left?" Jim asked and Phil nodded.

"I guess it's only fair to tell you about him and a few others. Trevor...he's a local. Born here, grew up here, and if you screw up he will tell you how wonderful this shitty place is. His father was a miner who went off-world to earn some money, but at one point he just vanished. Trevor doesn't really talk about his old man, but I think he believes that the man just abandoned his family."

"Any other relatives?" Jim asked and Phil nodded again.

"A mother, but she passed away a couple of years back. He went into law enforcement in order to support her. The old Marshal took pity on him and made him deputy. And when the Marshal retired, Trevor became the new Marshal."

"Wait...he isn't even a fully trained Marshal?" Jim asked with a disbelieving tone in his voice. Even Jim had learned about all kinds of laws before the old Magistrate had made him Marshal on Mar Sara!

"Out here, no one really cares. Central City sure as hell doesn't. We don't even have a goddamn Mayor, so yeah...but hey, we now got a preacher, so that has to count for something."

"Right..." Jim growled. "...Book. He ate your dinner."

"Ha! Yeah, he tends to do that. Still an ok-guy, though. He arrived a few months before you did, so I can't really say much about him. Also, he gave me some money afterward. So, everything's fine."

"Hmm..." Jim growled.

"You don't like him?" Phil asked, and Jim hesitated for a moment.

"That's...complicated. Let's just say that I'm not really much into God and all that stuff. Especially preachers. I'm just...not the kind of guy who likes to sit down and listen to a sermon."

"Hmm...guess I can relate to that." Phil muttered.

"You can?" Jim asked and the other man nodded.

"After Tarsonis...well, let's just say that I lost a lot that day. Not only family but also something inside myself." Phil sighed and suddenly he looked a lot smaller and a lot older. He couldn't be any older than forty, though. "Look, I know that this might sound odd and you probably wonder why I kept bothering you yesterday. Well, I just wanted to apologize. I guess I was a bit too forceful."

"It's fine, Carter...Phil." Jim corrected himself.

"Yeah, well...I just don't want you to think that I'm a weird guy who's asking creepy questions. It's just that we don't get many outsiders and you seem to be an ok-guy. So yeah, I didn't want you to think that I'm some kind of creep or anything like that." Now Jim had to chuckle.

"Trust me, it takes a lot more before I consider someone a creep." he said and thought about Izsha, who was still in the barn...hopefully.

"I'm glad you think that way, really I am." Phil mumbled and then he pulled his shoulders up. "So, where's the Missus anyway? Still in the barn?" he then asked and Jim's eyes widened.

"She's...somewhere around. Dunno, I don't check on her every two seconds." Usually, this was the moment when he would hear Sarah making a snippy remark, but now everything that he sensed was silence.

"Hmm, well, just so you know; your Lady turned a lot of heads around. I must say, I have never met someone as beautiful as her."

"I make sure to tell her." Jim said with a dry tone in his voice.

"Hahaha, oh, don't worry. I don't intend to become another secret admirer. Though you two should come over to town on the weekend. New Thompson might not be that big, but every first weekend in the month there is a-"

"Don't say it." Jim groaned. He knew where this was going. A big grin appeared on Phil's face.

"...square dance." When Jim heard those two words, he shuddered. He remembered square dances from Shiloh. And he had never liked them.

"It's not that bad. The beer is pretty good." Phil explained, but then he saw Jim's sour expression and frowned. "Sorry...forgot. You don't drink any alcohol."

"It's fine. Just...I think there's still a lot to do before we can have some fun in the big city." Jim sighed.

"Sure, but working nonstop will only ruin you. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. Say, why don't you just take a break and come over to my place tomorrow? Me and some boys play poker now and then. And we really could use another man since we're one guy short."

"Did he die?"

"Nope, arrested for trying to smuggle." Carter explained. "Anyway, what do you say, Cowboy? Wanna have some fun for a change?" he asked and offered his hand to Jim. For a moment Jim was dumbfounded, but then he realized what Carter was trying to tell him.

He was offering Jim his friendship.

At first, Jim hesitated. He tried to remember all his other friends, but only Matt came to his mind. The entire rest of his former gang was either dead or had joined the Raiders in order to fight someone or something. Like Swann. And all the other friends? Well, most of them were also dead. Like Tychus. As for the rest...

Having real friends...huh, Jim couldn't even remember the last time he had called someone a true friend. Except for Matt of course. And even though Tychus had ended up on the wrong side of Jim's gun, he still considered the brute one of his best friends.

Ironic, isn't it? You kill a man, a man who betrayed you, yet you still consider him as your friend?

Well, it probably was a human thing; to overlook the bad stuff while remembering all the good things.

Wasn't this how his relationship to Sarah worked, too?

Ugh, better not venture there...

After a while, a weary smile appeared on Jim's face and he grabbed Phil's hand.

"Sounds like fun. But I'm warning you; I'm a terrible poker player." he chuckled and so did Phil.

"Good, because neither am I. Nor are the others. We just play to have fun."

"Now that sounds like an awesome idea." Jim said and looked around. "There's still a lot to do, but I'll definitely take you up on that offer." Both men continued to talk for a bit. Phil Carter was the kind of person you just had to like. Rough looking on the outside, but soft on the inside. And it would seem that he too was looking for a friend. Or at least someone to talk to.

"So, you wanted to talk to someone who has been to Tarsonis, right?" Jim suddenly changed the topic, referring to what they talked about just the other day. Phil sighed and suddenly he looked really tired.

"Yeah, sorry about that. It's just...it's kinda an open wound. I wasn't on Tarsonis when it happened. Many think that Tarsonis was just a place where a lot of douchebags lived. But it was also the home for billions of people. My home."

"Is that why you want how the Zerg are?" Jim asked and Phil sighed again.

"I think...I don't know. I lost everything back then. I never had a family, but there was this girl from public relations...Susan. She was cute and smart and the thought that she...well, let's better not go there." Since they already were discussing grim topics, Jim couldn't help but ask.

"But Paula, she is really...?"

"Yep, she's really my niece."

"Was she with you when it...happened?" Jim asked and suddenly Phil laughed.

"No. No, she wasn't. It was...rather strange actually. After Tarsonis fell, I tried to get back to the world. But of course, that was impossible. Everything was one huge mess and I had nowhere else to go. I heard about refugee camps on other worlds and I actually was on my way to Korhal, since that's where the only organized government was still operating. But then..." Phil suddenly fell silent.

"But then?" Jim asked and he could see the pained expression on the other man's face.

"I don't know...I know it sounds crazy, but it was as if I had to travel to Halcyon."

"Halcyon?" Jim asked. That had been a Confederate world. One that had survived the Great War with almost no scars. Phil nodded.

"There was still a strong Confederate presence on that world. And a lot of refugees from Tarsonis had managed to get there. I don't know why, but for some odd reason something told me that I _had_ to go there."

"Something?" Jim asked again, and he could see that Phil wasn't happy talking about this topic. Yet he was willing to answer Jim's question nonetheless.

"I can't describe it. It was just like someone was calling out for me. Someone I knew. So, I went to Halcyon and just...I don't know, wandered straight into a refugee camp at the edge of the capital and there she was."

"Paula?" Phil nodded.

"Don't ask me why or how something like that was possible. She was among the orphans, yet she recognized me immediately. Since I was a Confederate official, I urged them to check her DNA, and it proved that she was my niece. With everything going on, the Confeds on Halcyon had to worry about more important things, so they just...looked the other side when I grabbed her and left the planet."

"And the rest of her family?" When Phil heard that question, he just shook his head. Jim could see how the eyes of the other man started to turn wet. It was better to drop this conversation for now. They did talk about some more stuff, but most of it was harmless. Phil was giving Jim a few names that would come in handy and the history of New Thompson, which basically was; someone named Thompson founded it one hundred years ago, but since someone else named Thompson had done that before, they had decided to call it "New Thompson". End of story.

"Well, I better be going now." Phil said after a while and looked at his clock.

"Worried about Paula?"

"Yeah. And Book. I'm afraid that Paula has either driven Book mad when I return, or that he has converted her."

"Huh, being converted is a lot scarier." Jim mused and both men laughed. When Phil finally said goodbye, Jim escorted him back to his car and watched how the pickup vanished behind the horizon. Hell, that was the first friendly encounter so far. And no, Book didn't count. The sun was already about to go down.

"Another day in paradise over." Jim mumbled and walked back into the house. He closed the door behind him and sighed before he closed his eyes and-

"So, this is the place her Mistress uses as a hive?" the huge snakelike creature in the middle of the living room said and Jim screamed in surprise and terror.

"AAAAAAAAIzsha...not again. Seriously, stop sneaking up on me!" he yelled, but Izsha didn't really seem to care about Jim at all. She looked around and seemed...disappointed?

"This place does not even have its own spawning pool." she said as if any good house should have a sauna, underfloor heating, a walk-in closet, and of course a spawning pool.

"Sorry, we decided to go for a wine cellar instead." Jim mumbled. That's when Sarah appeared behind Izsha.

"Hey, Jim. I'm just showing Izsha the house." she said as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "So far I think she hates it." Jim stared at the both of them for a while before he just shook his head and walked right back into the kitchen.

"I'm gonna make dinner now." he just growled and decided to think about all the possible implications Izsha's arrival could cause. Hopefully, she would be on her way out and back to Ulnar soon enough. Even though Jim knew that Izsha was harmless, he still didn't feel comfortable when she was around. She was just _too_ Zerg for his taste.

Her loyalty was impressive, though. Even though Sarah was no longer the all-powerful creature she had been, Izsha had decided to stay at her side. And she was the one who kept Niadra in check. Though Niadra herself was a weird one as well. She lacked any ambition of doing what Zergs usually did. It would appear that guarding Ulnar suited her just fine.

Jim did what he always did. He prepared dinner and when they started to eat it, Izsha informed Sarah of everything that had happened in the meantime. And Sarah? She was listening with a smile on her face.

"Karax has made considerable progress in creating a translation matrix in order to get access to some of Ulnar's secrets. He hopes to present you some solid results in a couple of decades."

"Decades?" both Sarah and Jim said at the same time.

"To quote the Phase-Smith; Ulnar is secrets, wrapped around in even more secrets. And unlike Terran technology, it does not come with a manual." Izsha explained. "He also said that one of the major problems is that there does not seem to be a central point where all systems converge, no central network. Instead, all the systems that operate Ulnar seem to coexist. Karax describes them as a group of semi-sentient artificial intelligences that cooperate without any real form of hierarchy. Since there is no central access point, all he can do is to work his way through one system at a time."

"Sounds tedious." Jim mumbled.

"Karax said that he enjoys this task. He feels like a pioneer, doing things no other Protoss has ever done before."

"Well, at least someone's happy." Jim muttered. When he was finished, Jim just stood up and cleaned his dish. He could hear how Izsha continued to talk to Sarah, telling her about all the stuff that was going on on Ulnar and Sternenheim, even that the biosphere of the world was starting to regenerate after Sarah's, well, meltdown. Jim watched how those two continued to talk about what had happened and then Sarah started to tell Izsha about what she had been up to.

The two of them...looked happy. Especially Sarah. It was as if her best friend had come to visit. She even gave Izsha a warm smile.

And Jim? He realized that he hadn't seen that smile ever since they had come here.

"I'm going to bed now." Jim said

"I'll be there in a minute!" Sarah replied, yet Jim had his doubts about that.

As he lay down and stared at the ceiling, he could hear Sarah and Izsha talking beneath him. And he could hear how Sarah laughed from time to time.

In the end, Sarah wouldn't come to bed. Jim could tell because he stayed up the entire damn night.

"Just what the hell am I supposed to do, Sarah?" he whispered to himself, but he wouldn't get an answer. Funny, when he had come up with this plan he had thought that everything would turn out a lot easier.


	89. Act IV - Chapter 5

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 5**

 **How Adults solve their Problems**

* * *

When Sarah woke up, she noticed that something was not right. The ceiling looked strange. It didn't resemble the ceiling in their bedroom. She stretched her limbs and then she realized the next thing that was wrong; she wasn't lying in her bed. She was lying on the...couch?

"What the...?" she mumbled and looked around. She was indeed lying on the couch, and this wasn't their bedroom either, but the living room.

"Your Majesty." a calm voice spoke to her and she looked up.

"Izsha?"

"Yes, my Queen?"

"Did you...did I fell asleep on the couch?" Sarah wanted to know.

"No. You fell asleep while sitting over there." Izsha explained and pointed at the table next to them. "I put your body here because this piece of furniture appears to be more comfortable."

Good ol' reliable Izsha. A warm smile appeared on Sarah's face. She got back up and yawned. Sleeping on a couch was not really an issue if you were young and in good physical shape, all Sarah had to do was to stretch her limbs and then she sighed.

"Hmm...I smell coffee. Jim?" However, Jim didn't answer.

"Jim?" she asked again, but nothing happened. She tried to concentrate on their connection and reached out to him, but all she got was a distant feeling of...something. She couldn't really describe it, the only thing she could say was that he wasn't in the vicinity. A confused expression appeared on her face.

"James Raynor left the house early in the morning." Izsha declared when she saw Sarah's worried face. She looked up to her most trusted advisor...no, up to her friend and frowned.

"Could have said something." she growled.

"He did not want to wake you up. He told me to look after you, and that he does not know when he will be back."

"Well..." Sarah said with a sunny tone in her voice. "...at least he made coffee, so everything's fine." She got up and walked into the kitchen. Jim had prepared breakfast, and so all she had to do was to grab it and dig in. Sarah sat down and enjoyed her breakfast. To everyone that wasn't her or Jim, this whole scene was probably utterly surreal. Here she was, drinking some coffee while a former Zerg was watching over her. But at the same time, it gave Sarah something to hold on to. Izsha wasn't just a friend or someone she liked, the dark snake-lady represented a piece of Sarah's own self. Even though she had been Zerg for only a couple of years, it had shaped her. Both as a person, and as a woman.

Just like Jim was in love with her human side, Izsha loved the Zerg that was still a part of Sarah. However, Jim had been right about one thing; the love the two of them felt towards Sarah was completely different. Jim...he loved her like a man loved a woman. It was human love, one that was based on hope. Hope for the future, that the next day would even better than the last one. As for Izsha? Well, the closest thing Zerg had to "love" was devotion. Just like the old cerebrates who had served the Overmind faithfully. The nature of the Zerg was to fight in order to grow stronger. That included the Swarm as a whole. So, if a Zerg was willing to not go to war with you, that was a sign of respect.

Either that or you were too effin' pathetic for it to waste its time with you.

Izsha was no longer Zerg, but then again, what was still Zerg these days anyway?

"So, how's Niadra doing?" Sarah asked and Izsha tilted her head to the side.

"As said, her brood has managed to secure all of Ulnar. The biomass is limited, but she has adapted to that. Still, she has expressed the wish to secure more biomass in the future in order to improve the overall quality of her forces. Karax has suggested that, once he has perfected the warp gate, Niadra will be able to secure additional sources for biomass on other worlds."

"That's...not what I meant." Sarah mumbled

"I do not understand, your Majesty." Izsha replied truthfully.

"How is Niadra doing...how is she? Not her brood. She always was kinda, how shall I put it, strange? I should know, I created her, but she accepted Jim and Karax and never really tried to devour them. Did that change?"

"No, her behavior towards Karax is still very much the same. She is, however, different from the other broodmothers I have met so far. Including Zagara." Izsha admitted.

"She's a strange one, right?" Sarah mused. "Maybe the time in the freezer has damaged her brain. Or maybe she's just a very special snowflake."

"If you wish for it, Niadra could send a small detachment of her brood to this world in order to fortify this position." While the thought was tempting, Sarah just chuckled when she shook her head.

"Oh, I don't think Jim would appreciate that. Besides, this planet has never even seen one single Zerg. Let's leave it at that, okay?"

"As you wish, your Majesty. Though I would like to point out that a world without Zerg is boring."

"Hahaha..." Sarah chuckled again. "...in that case, you will have to hold up the flag of the Zerg, Izsha." And then she sighed and looked out of the window. The weather had improved, the blue sky actually looked really nice. Sarah had no plans for today, so she didn't really know what to do next. She could see that the car was gone, so there was no way to leave this place. It wasn't much of an issue, though. Sarah didn't feel like going anywhere anyway. New Thompson? No. Central City? Nope. And since those were the only places with people, Sarah didn't know what else to do.

"Guess I should start looking for a hobby." Sarah mumbled. She didn't mind the fact that there was nothing to do. She thought about what to do and after a while, she looked up to Izsha.

"By the way, what's with _him_?" she asked, and Izsha realized immediately who Sarah was talking about.

"So far, he has not returned. Nor has he tried to make contact with us. Karax is certain that he has not left Sternenheim, so we can assume that Tesson is still on the world. Do you wish for me to track him down?"

"No..." Sarah mumbled. "Leave him be. From what I can tell, he doesn't really seem to be any threat. Besides, as long as he is on Sternenheim, he can't run around and warn other Protoss. Not that I think he would do something like that. For a Protoss, he sure as hell doesn't have much love for his people."

Tesson...

* * *

 **Sternenheim**

 **Shortly after Sarah's rescue...**

* * *

When Jim opened his eyes, he was greeted by the most wonderful sight he could imagine. What he saw was so beautiful and perfect that he started to cry. He was still tired, and his entire body hurt like hell. But he was alive.

...and so was she.

"Sarah?" Jim whispered, and he watched how her eyelids started to twitch. When Sarah finally opened her eyes, he could see that beautiful green he had missed so much.

"Jim?" she mumbled. She sounded weak, and even now he could see the exhaustion all over her face. Who could blame her? He was probably not looking any better. Everything was still fresh on his mind. The fear, the pain, the anxiety, it was all still there. So was the memory of what had happened. The Queen of Blades, the Primal Queen of Blades, Nr. 24, the small kid...and of course his dead family.

"I..." Sarah whispered. She closed her eyes and a single tear streamed down her face. The first thing Jim noticed was that it was no longer made out of gold. Did that mean that she was human again?

Somehow, he had his doubts about that.

"...never wanted for you to see that."

"What?" he asked.

"All of it." And then she opened her eyes again. When Jim saw all that pain and hurt inside her gaze, he raised his hand and placed it on Sarah's cheek.

"It wasn't your fault, Sarah. I wish...I wish that I had known. But I was too caught up in my own dreams and illusions. You had to endure all of that on your own for so long. And what did I do? I never even tried to understand who you really are." When Sarah heard that, a weak smile appeared on her face.

"Didn't...didn't you say that this blame-game sucks?" she wanted to know.

"Yeah, I guess I did say that." Perhaps they should talk about what had happened, but neither Jim nor Sarah had the strength to do that. Not now. Maybe later. Jim used what strength he could muster and pulled Sarah closer to his chest. Right now, he didn't even notice that she was naked, nor did he care about that. He felt just exhausted. And relieved. He felt as if he had fought the most intense battle of his entire life. In a way, it had been even more exhausting than all the "normal" battles he had fought so far. Was it because it had been truly the most demanding battle of his life? Or did he feel especially exhausted because of all the things he had witnessed?

Jim's thoughts wandered back to the people he had met. He closed his eyes and felt so much sadness when he remembered how he had said goodbye to Johnny. Sarah could feel his pain, and while she too was so exhausted that she just wanted to sleep, she raised her hand and placed it on his cheek, just as he had done before.

"Jim...I'm so sorry..." she whispered. He opened her eyes and sighed. She could see it all over his face, but more importantly, she could see it in his mind. Something was strange, she just knew that. Her psionics, they weren't responding. It was as if she had lost her abilities, as if they were...

...gone.

However, one thing that she still could sense was Jim's mind. She had no idea how that was even possible. But Jim's thoughts and feelings, they felt as if they were part of her own mind. This went deeper than any probing she had ever done. There was a certain kind of beauty to it. Had Zeratul done that? Or had she just hit her head really hard, and now she was suffering from a concussion?

Whatever was going on, Sarah could see everything that Jim had experienced during those few days. How he had been beaten up by Nr. 24, how he had witnessed the death of little Sarah's family, how he had experienced Tarsonis all over again.

And, of course, how he had seen his family again.

Sarah didn't know what to say when she saw those images. How Jim had felt when he had seen Liddy again, and his parents. And how he had said goodbye to Johnny.

"I'm so sorry, Jim. I shouldn't have made you experience any of this." Sarah whined.

"Zeratul..." Jim suddenly replied. "...told me that it was something that I wanted to see. That it was a product of my imagination. So yeah, I guess I'm just a born masochist."

"Aren't we all?" Sarah tried to make a joke, and it actually caused Jim to smile.

"Well, at least we got some common ground to start from, hmm?"

"Always the optimist." she whispered.

"Masochism and optimism go hand in hand, didn't anyone tell you that?"

"Not really."

However, before those two could continue to talk nonsense, someone else joined their conversation.

"Your Majesty, you have regained consciousness." Both turned their heads around, and when they saw the huge dark figure right next to their feet, Sarah sighed in relief.

"Izsha..." she whispered.

"My Queen, how are you feeling?"

"Like shit." Sarah replied truthfully. But then she offered her friend a weak smile. "But I'll live."

"Then you should rest, my Queen." Izsha said and placed her hand on her chest. "I will make sure to watch over you." When Sarah heard that, she sighed and closed her eyes. She had almost fallen asleep again when she heard Jim's voice.

"Is...is everything over? All those people, are they...?" He was obviously talking to Izsha.

"They are all gone. As far as I can tell, all fragments of her Majesty's mind have returned to her."

"Well..." Jim sighed. "...at least that means that we don't have to worry about any unwanted guests right now and-" That's when they heard heavy footsteps, and Jim and Sarah looked to the side. They saw how a Protoss stepped out of the jungle right next to them, and both their eyes widened in shock.

"Oh no..." Sarah gasped. "It's not over?"

"Zera...Zeratul?" Jim gasped when he saw the Protoss. At first, he truly thought it was the Dark Prelate. But then he could see the difference. This Protoss wasn't Zeratul. Sarah squinted her eyes, and when she recognized the Protoss, her eyes widened in surprise.

"You?!"

"I apologize for this situation." Izsha suddenly declared. "It would appear that the prisoner has somehow managed to follow me here. I take full responsibility for this, my Queen."

"Wait, so he's...real?" Jim mumbled, and the Protoss looked him straight into the eyes.

"Real..." the Protoss repeated that word as if he wasn't certain about that. The only thing Jim could tell that this one had to be a Nerazim, since his eyes glowed green. And he was carrying something in his arms. At first, Jim thought that it was just a piece of torn cloth. The Nerazim held it between his three-fingered hands as if it was something special. It took Jim a moment to finally recognize it.

...it was Zeratul's cloak.

The Protoss moved forward. He walked past them and didn't even seem to care about Izsha. He had something in common with Jim, both of them looked like they had gone through hell and back. The Protoss didn't even say a word when he sat down close to the beach and stared at the horizon. He kept the cloak in his hands, and aside from that, he didn't say anything. All he did was to look at the sea. Nothing else.

"Who...is he?" Jim wanted to know.

"I think he never told me his name." Sarah whispered.

"Tesson..." the Protoss only answered. "...my name is Tesson."

It was the only thing that he would tell them for a long time.

* * *

"I take it Tesson hasn't changed much since we left?" Sarah asked and looked up at Izsha.

"No. Karax has even ventured to Sternenheim and tried to talk to him, but so far Tesson has decided to elude us. It appears that he wishes to be left alone."

"Then leave him alone. Seems like he's the kind of guy who doesn't like to run with a crowd." Sarah then sighed and looked around. Just what should she do now?

"Well, I'm open to suggestions. Did you have any plans for today?" Sarah asked and Izsha nodded.

"Indeed. I wanted to examine the surrounding area in order to find a suitable place for a future warp gate. I also wanted to take a good look at this world and see if there were any creatures around that could help Niadra and her brood to keep Ulnar secure. Does this world have any indigenous creatures that could be of any use?" Izsha asked and Sarah remembered how Jim had mentioned those flourpions, but then she just shrugged her shoulders.

"You have to ask Jim about this. He knows this place more than I do."

"I would rather not do that." Izsha replied and Sarah sighed.

"You two...you're like two cats put in a bag. At least try to be nice to him." she requested.

"I shall...try." Izsha explained, which caused Sarah to sigh yet again. She started to contemplate on Izsha's words for a while and realized that she didn't know much about anything that this place had to offer. She took another sip of her coffee and then she looked up to Izsha once more.

"You know...I think it's time to do some scouting! Care to join me?" Sarah asked and that caused Izsha to actually smile.

"It would be my honor, your Majesty."

* * *

When Jim got back from his trip to Central City, he stepped inside and looked around.

"Sarah?" However, no one answered. It wasn't much of a surprise, though. He could feel her presence in the back of his mind, but he could tell that she was busy doing...something. He walked into the living room and could see her empty cup of coffee, but aside from that, there was no sign of Sarah. Or Izsha.

On the one hand, Jim wasn't too happy about that. Having Izsha running around was just like begging for something to go wrong. On the other hand, that damn snake-lady could be sneaky if she wanted to. Maybe Jim wasn't too fond of her, but he knew that Izsha was harmless. Well, at least for a Zerg. He had spent the entire last night staring at the ceiling and thinking about, well, Sarah. In the end, he had come up with a couple of ideas, so he had decided to get moving just before dawn. The first thing he had done was to drive to Central City and get some stuff needed to finally fix the house for good.

Once back, he put the stuff into the barn and looked at the tractor. The powercell was standing right next to it, he still had to install it and check if the damn machine was actually working. So he spent one or two hours removing the old powercell and installing the new one. It took him some tweaking, but in the end, he managed to get the engine running again. Jim was actually quite proud of that achievement, yet he knew that there was no one around to celebrate him, or even give him a high-five. Besides, he still had to get some tires before he could actually use that damn thing.

Then he had to check the acres.

Then he had to find a supplier for crop seed.

Find out about the general water situation on this world.

Learn more about the indigenous critters and pests.

What the people used on Ramelow to deal with the pests.

And of course, find someone who would actually buy his crop. Though that seemed to be the smallest of his problems. When in doubt, ask Carter. Jim was grateful for all that work because it helped him to focus his mind on something other than Sarah. But no matter how hard he tried, his mind would always return back to her.

Funny, for the first time since...he didn't even know when...he truly didn't want to think about Sarah.

Sounds rough?

Hey, show us a couple that doesn't have problems like that from time to time. After a while, Jim decided to take a break. He went back into the house and prepared dinner, but in the end, he shared it with no one. Sarah, whatever she was doing, had decided to stay away. He wasn't worried about her, he knew that Sarah could look after her. But hell, she could at least have left a message.

Given the fact that they shared a special kind of connection, this seemed a bit odd. Maybe even stupid. But still...would have leaving a note behind that much of a hassle?

 _Hey, Jim! It's Sarah! Me and my girl Izsha, we are out doing whatever. Don't worry, I will be back soon. Love you, Sarah._ or something like that. Jim could try to reach out to her, try to use that connection they shared. But he didn't want to. He wasn't in the best mood right now. And what was the best thing to distract a troubled mind?

WorkWorkWorkWorkWorkWorkWork.

So that's what Jim decided to do. He left something for Sarah in the oven, he even left a small note for her.

 _Sarah. If you read this, then I'm getting some stuff from New Thompson. There's something to eat in the oven._ He stopped and thought for a second if he should write something else. Something like "We should talk" or "I love you". But in the end, he would only write one thing.

 _Take care._

And then he was on his way. He got back into the car and soon he was heading towards New Thompson.

* * *

Even though Sarah wasn't able to use any of her psionic powers, she wasn't just a brick. Her body was in excellent shape, and if there was one thing that she could do even without a head on her shoulder, it was marching. As a Ghost, she had done that so many times. And we're not talking about a walk in the park. A lot of her missions had meant that she or a small team had been dropped off several kilometers away from the actual target location. Then she would have to get there by foot, assassinate the target (because let's face it, that's what her job had been all about) and after that, she still would have to get to the exfiltration point, which usually was in the exact opposite direction.

Some mission had taken days or weeks. Her longest solo mission had lasted for two and a half months. She had only brought her sniper rifle and a pair of night vision goggles along for the ride. It had meant to find food in the wilderness. She had eaten her fair share of critters, and since an open fire would have given away her position, she had killed them and eaten them raw.

Not her finest hour, sure. However, the life of an assassin was anything _but_ glorious. And let's not even start talking about all the sewers she had been in over the years. The things she had walked and swam through...

"Better not tell Jim when he kisses me the next time." Sarah said to herself while walking up a stony hill.

"Your Majesty?" Izsha asked while she slithered behind Sarah.

"I was just thinking out loud. Nevermind." She didn't know how many kilometers they had managed to cover, but it felt like at least ten. She didn't mind, though. Like said, marching was something she was used to. And it felt good. There was no other human soul around, except for Izsha of course. The solitude felt nice. As Sarah worked her way up a hill, she could feel the pleasant pain in the muscles of her legs. It was like stretching her wings, and only now she realized how cramped she had felt inside that house. It's walls, they were so close to her. She felt confined when she stayed for too long inside their home. Fortunately, there was more than enough room out here.

Civilization was like a cell to Sarah. It wasn't just because of her past as a Zerg. She had never been part of "human society" like Jim had. Even during her time as a Ghost she had stood apart from the rest. She knew what Jim was trying to do, she just hadn't found the courage to tell him that she wasn't too fond of all of this.

But...they were stuck together. So the least Sarah could do was to give Jim the chance to prove her wrong.

When they reached the top of the hill, Sarah took a deep breath and brushed the sweat from her forehead. Huh, it would seem that she wasn't in such a good shape as she had thought. She looked at the horizon and what she saw...

"Well, look at that." Sarah whispered. Right before their eyes was a large system of canyons and ravines. The landscape in front of them looked like you could easily get lost in it. And a part of Sarah's mind immediately realized that this place was perfect in order to hide stuff.

Sarah looked around and took a moment to enjoy the scenery. Even though there wasn't much vegetation, this whole place had a rough charm to it. Kinda like Mar Sara, or the Grand Canyon on Earth. The soil here had a different color too. Sarah could see the deep red of the canyons with brown rivers running through them. There were a few trees scattered around, but aside from that, the vegetation was pretty pathetic, especially when you compared it to places like Sternenheim or Zerus. But it still had its very own charm.

Besides, for someone who had called Char her home for many years, this place was paradise.

Sarah squinted her eyes and scanned the area. After a while, she spotted a tree standing on a small plateau.

"There! That's where I want to go." she declared and started to climb down the hill. Izsha didn't question her decision, nor her reason for saying so. All she did was to slither after her Queen and make sure that nothing would happen to Sarah. When they reached the bottom of the ravine, Sarah realized that they were standing inside a riverbed. The ground was still wet and it looked as if a lot of water had just flowed through this ravine a short while ago.

Climbing up the walls of the canyon was exhausting, but Sarah didn't mind. Behind her, Izsha made sure that Sarah wouldn't slip and fall, but aside from that, she remained silent. It took the two of them roughly half an hour until they finally reached the place Sarah had pointed her finger on. Sarah sighed and sat down beneath the dead tree. It offered almost no shade at all, but it was something to lean against. She put the backpack that she had brought along next to her and pulled a water bottle out. After refreshing herself, she offered the bottle to Izsha, who just declined.

"Thank you, my Queen. But I do not require your water."

Good ol' reliable Izsha.

Sarah shrugged her shoulders and pulled something else out of the backpack.

"A... book?" Izsha wondered and tilted her head to the side.

"Yeah." Sarah whispered and brushed with her fingers over the name of the author. Izsha slithered up to Sarah and looked at the cover.

"Michael Liberty. You knew this man." That wasn't a question. And it wasn't much of a surprise that Izsha recognized that name. She still possessed the thoughts and memories the old Queen of Blades had stored inside her mind, including names of people that Sarah Kerrigan had known. Not all of them though, only the ones that could have been of some sort of use.

"Yeah..." Sarah mumbled again. "...I found this book by accident. Michael was...well, I guess the word _friend_ would be too much, but I liked him. He was scared of me, of my abilities. However, he was one of the few people who recognized me as a person. He had a good hear,t and even though he was scared of so many things, he still fought for what he considered the truth. You don't find many people like that, Izsha. If you do, you might want to tell them that they're something special." she explained and smiled when she saw the year when this book had been published.

It was the current year.

"I always wondered what happened to Liberty. But this book means that he's still alive."

"And that makes you happy." Izsha said. And again, it was no question.

"Yeah, I guess it does...the galaxy could use more Michael Libertys." Sarah mused and opened the book. She started to read the foreword again, but after half a page she stopped when she noticed that Izsha's head was right behind her, looking at the book and trying to read it. But it looked like a rather uncomfortable position, so Sarah suddenly had an idea.

"Want me to read out loud?" she offered and Izsha lowered her head.

"I would never dare to ask you to do that..." she said.

"But?"

"But I would like that."

New and improved Izsha, actually able to articulate her own wishes. So Sarah turned her attention back towards the book and started to read the foreword again, only this time out loud.

"Little is known about the men and women who are only known as "Ghosts". Even now that the Dominion has released a great deal of information regarding the Ghosts, who they are and what purpose they had, there are still a lot of questions open. In my time as a freelance journalist during the Great War, I encountered several of these Ghosts. Given the fact that the Ghosts themselves are no longer a secret, I have decided to write down what I have found out over the years. About the Ghosts in general and who they truly were." Well, she already knew this part. But then...

"The reason for wanting to learn more about the Ghost project are manifold. Like pretty much everyone else, I too heard dark tales about shadowy assassins working for the Confederacy, but for most people, these stories were just the product of conspiracy theories. I want to admit one thing right away; as a boy and a young man I was fascinated by the idea of people who possessed supernatural abilities and were some kind of secret agents. That, of course, was long before I heard of things like psionics, and how much of a burden it can be to those who possess this ability." Sarah continued and fell silent for a moment.

Reading those lines felt strange. It was like Liberty was sharing his most inner thoughts with everyone who was reading this like he didn't even care what people would think of him.

"When I started to work as a journalist, I continued to hear dark tales of these so-called "Ghosts". Most people considered them to be nothing but a myth, some sort of bogeyman that lurks in the shadows, waiting to strike when you least expect it. I admit that it was also my youthful enthusiasm that made me look for any piece of information that I could find. I met a lot of people who told me that what I was doing was pointless, that I was indeed chasing nothing but _ghosts_."

It was fascinating. Sarah had never bothered thinking about how normal people had thought about Ghosts. She knew what soldiers had been thinking about her kind. The normal ones had feared Ghosts, or had hated them. The big shots had seen nothing but highly effective weapon systems. Sarah continued to read through the first chapter. Most of it was nothing spectacular, it was mostly about all the hints and pieces of information Liberty had gathered over the years. She had to admit; a lot of those hints had been dubious at best, many of them had been nothing but bullshit.

Still, Liberty had continued to look for the truth.

And that made him special.

Sarah continued to read the book. At one point, she stopped caring about the time. It was neither too cool nor too hot, so she could just enjoy the fresh air.

"Chapter one...what is a Ghost? Huh..." Sarah mumbled. "...that's actually a good question." She was curious to find out what Michael Liberty had to say about her kind.

"Ghosts. The very name tells us a lot about these men and women. It isn't just a nickname, like with so many other military units. The name itself is already a testimony to what people should expect when they meet Ghosts. Or when they don't. A ghost is something that doesn't exist, something that you cannot see or touch. It is a rather fitting description. But where do they come from? Even now that the Terran Dominion has started to release formerly classified files about their Ghost program, there are still a lot of open questions. Unfortunately, there is not much information on the original Ghost project available anymore. During the fall of Tarsonis, a lot of classified files of the Confederacy were lost. And the Dominion was not able to recover all of it. Even though the Terran Dominion has been known to hold back on information, during my research I have encountered a lot of support, which makes me believe that those files are indeed lost." Sarah read out loud and sighed.

"Yeah, that sounds all too believable..." she growled. She was certain that there was still something on Tarsonis. But the very thought of traveling to Tarsonis was simply out of the question. So she continued to read.

"To make things short; Ghosts are people that possess unique psionic abilities. For many years, officials of all nations denied the existence of something called "psionics", but with the appearance of the Zerg and the Protoss, two alien species who are known for utilizing similar abilities, it was no longer possible to keep this a secret..."

Sarah continued to read the first chapter, but it didn't tell her anything groundbreaking. It was just about all the small pieces of information he had pieced together over the years. Aside from the fact that it was interesting to see how an outsider had perceived the Ghosts, there was nothing that truly fascinated her. On the contrary, it was pretty boring.

The next chapter wasn't much better either. It was about the history of the Ghost project of the Confederacy, and about what psionics truly were. And even though Michael did his best to describe how they worked, he was doing a poor job at it.

He even admitted that at one point.

"Hahaha...oh boy." Sarah chuckled before she continued to read those lines out loud. "I am aware that what I'm trying to do here might be pointless. Describing psionics to someone who has none is like describing hearing or seeing to a deaf or a blind man. And I am also aware of the fact that I myself have to imagine what it would be like to be psionically gifted. Though this "gift" seems to be more like a burden. Perhaps it would be best to quote a Ghost here, someone I met many years ago."

And that's when Sarah actually quoted herself.

"Imagine that you can hear the thoughts from everyone around you. The only problem is; you can't shut it out like you can close your eyes or plug your ears. Even when you sleep it reaches out. There are times...when you don't know wherever the thoughts inside your head are your own or that of someone else and..." That's when Sarah's voice suddenly failed. She remembered when she had said that to Liberty. Suddenly she winced in discomfort.

"My Queen?" Izsha asked when she saw the pained expression on Sarah's face. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think so. I'm just...guess I just remembered something."

"This man...Michael Liberty. I remember his name, yet I do not know much about him. What he writes seems to upset you, my Queen." Izsha didn't really articulate it like a question, but Sarah knew what her friend and advisor wanted to know. She sighed and stopped reading for a moment.

"He was...a strange fellow. I remember how he was always scared of everything, yet he still continued to look for the truth."

"You sound like that is something unusual." Izsha said and tilted her head to the side. "Are humans not scared a lot of times?" That caused Sarah to laugh.

"Ha! Yeah, I guess you could say that. You're right, people are scared all the time. But usually, they try to hide it or act all brave or aggressive so you won't notice it. But Michael? He openly admitted it. I think I've never met someone whose thoughts and words were the same, with one exception..." And suddenly Sarah gasped.

"And who would that be?" Izsha asked while Sarah stared at the horizon and into the direction where they had come from. All she did was to whisper one name.

"Jim..."

Suddenly Sarah felt horrible. She knew what he was trying to do. She also knew _why_ he was trying to do it. Why was it so hard to just sit down with Jim and talk things through? Both of them had fought many battles, both of them had faced gods and demons, yet when it came to their relationship, they weren't any smarter than most other couples. Even with their special connection, they still managed to act foolishly.

Sarah closed the book and stared at the horizon. It was already afternoon, maybe Jim was back home. She could sense his presence, but couldn't say where he was or what he was doing. What she could sense, however, was that he wasn't in a good mood.

Like, he was in a really bad mood...

Like, he was furious...

"Oh, Jim." Sarah whispered again. Great, now she felt like a douchebag. She put the book back into the rucksack and got back up on her feet.

"My Queen?" Izsha asked.

"Come on, Izsha. Let's go home. I guess I have to say sorry to someone." On their way back, she could sense Jim's anger and his frustration, and it was like a bright fire burning inside the back of her mind. There was no use avoiding this, they had to talk about it. Even though Sarah wasn't in the mood for talking.

Long after the two were gone, the dead tree that had provided shade for them started to change when a few buds appeared on the formerly dead twigs...

* * *

"God...effin...DAMMIT!" Jim barked in frustration and smashed the cards on the table in front of him.

"Didn't see that coming." Phil agreed and threw his cards away as well.

"How many games are that? Seven?" a man named Jenner asked. He looked over to his buddy, a man called Archer, who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Dunno. Stopped counting after the fifth." All of them turned their faces towards the dark-skinned man sitting with them at the table. There was a content smile on his face.

"What can I say? God likes me!" Shepherd Book announced before he pulled all the chips on the table towards him.

"That's not what a preacher is supposed to say." Jim mumbled and Book gave him a surprised look.

"And since when would you know what a preacher is supposed to say, hmm?" Book asked while showing Jim a smug grin. It was the kind of grin that made you want to vomit, and Book had mastered it.

"Dunno..." Jim replied. "...but the preachers and priests I met always said that gambling is bad for the soul."

"Different order. And hand me over another beer, will ya'?" Book replied. Phil groaned and stood up. He walked into the kitchen and got everyone a new beer, except Jim.

"Must be one hell of an order that allows its preachers to rip off poor bastards." Archer growled.

"Call it an "educational rip off". That sounds a lot nicer." Book said and leaned back. "Anyway, where's my beer? And let's play another round, I have a good feeling in my left little toe!" Whatever that was supposed to mean. Jim growled something very unfriendly. When he had come back home and Sarah hadn't been there, he had felt both annoyed and exhausted. So Sarah preferred to spend her time with Izsha? Very well, if that was the case then he wouldn't bother them. He had made sure that there was something to eat waiting for Sarah, in case she should come back. And then he had just grabbed the note and had thrown it away.

Phil had invited him to a poker evening he threw from time to time, and without anything else to do, Jim had decided to accept the offer.

Jim was by no means a good poker player, average at best maybe. Matt had always been much better at playing poker, that's why he had played that fateful game back in Deadman's Port. Like said, Matt was a damn good poker player. Unfortunately, Mira Han had been much better. Or she had been a brilliant cheater.

But Book? It was as if this guy felt a twisted kind of pleasure every time he would win another game.

"I don't know..." Jenner mumbled when he thought about playing another round.

"What's the harm?" the Shepherd asked. "It's not like we're playing for money!"

"Whenever a priest says "What's the harm?", you should double your caution." Jim growled and pushed his cards over to Phil. "Come on, another round. He can't be this lucky. No one is." Phil shrugged his shoulders and collected all the cards before he put it into the small machine that shuffled and handed them out.

When Jim looked at his hand, he knew that he was screwed. But hey, maybe one of the other guys would be able to break Book's winning streak.

Five minutes later, even this dream died a horrible death.

"Well, I said it once and I say it again; God loves me." Book mused when he put his cards on the table and caused all the other men to groan.

"That can't be God's doing!" Jim shot back. "You're the devil in disguise!"

"Hohoho, someone finally found out about my devious plan!" Book laughed and Jim tilted his head to the side.

"You're the weirdest priest I've ever met."

"Good!" the Shepherd replied. "That means that I do not live up to your expectations! Also, full house."

"Goddammit!" Jim barked and the other men groaned. It was also the end of the poker party. It was already dark and Jim put his head on the table.

"This just isn't my day..." he growled.

 _Jim?_ he suddenly could hear Sarah in the back of his mind. _Where are you?_ Against better judgment, he decided to stay quiet. He wasn't in the mood for that right now. Was she back home? Well, good for her. That didn't mean that he had be there for her 24/7, right?

"Oh my, it would seem that I crushed your spirit." Book laughed. "Does that mean that you will no longer gamble?" Jim turned his head to the side and looked up at the older man.

"Was that your plan? Show people that gambling is bad by sucker punching them?"

"Maybe?"

"Well, I'm out." Jenner said.

"Yeah, me too." Archer agreed, and the two men stood up and said goodbye to everyone. Phil rubbed his eyes and stood up as well.

"Well, better clean this mess up." he mumbled, grabbed the empty beer bottles and took them into the kitchen. For a while, Jim didn't say anything. He could still sense Sarah in the back of his mind, how she tried to reach out to him. She wanted to talk.

Well, too bad. Because he wasn't in the mood for talking right now.

"You don't look so good, James." Book said after a while. They were alone. Jenner and Archer had left, and Phil was cleaning up in the kitchen.

"Is that your professional opinion, Doc?" Jim growled, and Book chuckled again.

"Just a keen observation, my friend."

"Oh, really? And what else did your keen eye observe?"

"That you seem to be in a foul mood, my friend. Trouble with your wife?"

"We're not married." Jim mumbled.

"Yet it is obvious that the two of you are closer than any married couple I've ever met." Book hummed and now Jim finally sat up straight again. He looked into Book's eyes and frowned.

"What would a priest know of that stuff anyway."

"Oh, I wasn't always a Shepherd, you know. And even though I myself was never married either, I do know a thing or two about women."

"Trust me, you don't know anything about Sarah." Jim growled. "She's one of a kind."

"Oh, I don't have any doubts about that. She truly is unlike any woman I have ever met. But perhaps that is the problem. Sometimes what we need is a new perspective. Like from an outsider." Book suggested.

"Wait a sec..." Jim barked. "...did you do that on purpose? Beat me at poker in order to get a chance to talk to me?"

"Maybe? Did it work?" Book asked back and Jim shook his head.

"Unbelievable." was all he had to say to this.

"James. I understand that you're not a man of faith. But I am responsible for the people that live here. People come to me when they want to talk, and sometimes I come to them if they don't want to talk."

"That's not at all pushy." Jim mumbled.

"Yeah, well...this isn't Augustgrad, social etiquette there demands that you leave people alone with their problems because they tell you it's none of your business." Book replied. "But what good is that? They're still unhappy, and so is everyone else."

"You're from Augustgrad?" Jim asked and Book shrugged his shoulders.

"Lived there for a while. Like said, I wasn't always a Shepherd. And I wasn't always called Book."

"What?"

"Hahahaha..." the Shepherd laughed. "...when I was introduced into my order and became a Shepherd, I chose a new name. I spent a lot of time in the order's library and read a lot of books. You could say that they helped me to figure out what I wanted to do with my life."

"And what would that be?"

"Well, not sitting in a damn library and waste my life reading books!" Book said and laughed again.

"So, you called yourself Book...because you don't like books? I guess that makes sense...or not." Jim growled.

"Sometimes, the things we do are not the things that make us happy." Book explained and Jim sighed.

"Amen to that. Wish it was easier to figure that shit out, though."

"Maybe you _do_ want to talk about it." Book suggested.

"You won't leave me alone until I do, right?" Jim sighed and Book gave him a big smile.

"A-yup." When Jim heard that he groaned and leaned back. He crossed the arms in front of his chest and stared at the table in front of him.

"It's just...I don't know what to do anymore. Sarah...she's been through a lot. We came here so she could relax, find some inner peace, but nothing I come up with seems to interest her. Or worse, it annoys her, yet she's too polite to tell me to the face what she thinks."

"Hmm...sometimes helping those who are close to us is especially difficult because we are biased. We only see the person we love; therefore, we don't have the distance we need in order to look at the problem from a neutral point of view."

"Ain't no neutral ground when dealing with Sarah." Jim muttered and Book laughed again.

"Yes, women can be like this, right? They are complex creatures, one that we men cannot hope to understand. It is easier to understand how Protoss or Zerg think!" It was probably meant as a joke, but Jim wasn't laughing. Mostly because he kinda knew how Protoss' minds were working. And he was kinda in love with a woman who had shaped the Zerg into their current form, right after the Zerg had shaped her into something else...

He could still sense Sarah in the back of his mind. She was trying to talk to him, but he just decided to ignore it. Perhaps it was only what a coward would do, but right now he didn't want to listen to her.

"Perhaps you took the wrong approach." Book then suggested. "Perhaps instead of looking at it from what seems enjoyable, you should look at what she has to offer, what skills she has that she could offer to the community."

The word "genocide" came to Jim's mind, but he kept that one for himself.

Wasn't that the whole problem? That right now Sarah didn't even know herself what to do?

"Is there anything she excels at? Something that she's so good at that no one can rival her? Maybe she's a good cook? Or she's good with children? Maybe she knows how to knit?"

"No, no, and nope." Jim replied.

"Well, you know her better than anyone else. There must be something that she excels at. Even though I only saw her from afar, she strikes me as a proud woman. But it's the kind of pride that comes from skills, not from arrogance." When Jim heard that, he had to frown.

"What? When did you see her?"

"When you first came to the town of course."

"And you can tell this much just by looking at people?" Jim wanted to know.

"What can I say? It's my job to figure out people."

"Uh huh. Good to know." Jim growled and continued to think about what Sarah was good at. But without her psionics, what was there left of her? And suddenly Jim realized what that meant. Take a person. Take away everything that defines that person, and what do you get? An empty vessel? People were still people. And Sarah was still the same person that she used to be. Cocky, a bit arrogant, full of herself, and at the same time very gentle.

But now all those abilities she had possessed, that had helped her to define herself as a person, were gone.

"My, that is actually pretty sad." Book sighed when he watched how Jim didn't say a word. "Anything?"

"Well..." Jim mumbled and tried to think back to the time when they first met. "...she's pretty good with knives."

"So she _is_ a good cook!" Book said and Jim sighed.

"Uhm...no, not that kind of knives..."

"Oh...I see." Book replied and there was an awkward moment of silence.

"She's quite the marksman though." Jim mused.

"Knives and marksman? So, she used to be a soldier, just as I thought." When Jim heard that, his eyes widened in shock.

"What? How the...where did you get that from?" However, all Book did was to laugh again.

"How many times do I have to say that I had a life before I joined my order. And I have seen people like you. And her." Suddenly Jim felt how an icy chill ran down his spine.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Jim growled and looked over to the kitchen where Phil was still busy cleaning up. Book realized what Jim was getting at and placed his hands on the table.

"I won't say anything. I promise. But I know former soldiers when I see them. The way they walk, the way they carry themselves through the day. She more than you I might say." When Jim heard that, he leaned forward and looked Book straight into the eyes.

"I would appreciate if you would keep that to yourself!" he hissed and Booker smiled at him.

"Only if you allow me to help."

"That's none of your business!" Jim growled.

"When people are in need, it is my business. I understand that you don't want to talk about it. And I'm not asking for your life's story. But if you decide to stay here, then you will be part of this community. And as the Shepherd it is-"

"Yeah, yeah. It is your duty." the younger man replied and sighed. Funny, when he had come up with the idea to bring Sarah to a world with normal humans, he hadn't planned for anything like this. However, before they could continue their little talk, Phil walked back into the room.

"So, you two sweetcakes, what are you talking about?" he wanted to know. It was Book who spoke first.

"Oh, the usual. You know, what sweetcakes like to talk about." he replied and gave Jim a thumbs-up as if he wanted to tell the other man that everything was fine.

"Well, I guess it's time for me to call it a day as well." Book then announced before he stood up and stretched himself. "It was fun, men. We should do that again real soon."

"Yeah, I don't think so." Jim said. Book laughed once more before he said his goodbye, but not before telling Jim that "he would think about that problem as well", whatever that was supposed to mean. To Jim, it kinda sounded like a threat. When Book was finally gone, Phil looked over at Jim and frowned.

"What was that all about?"

"Nosy priest who doesn't know anything about the concept of privacy." Jim replied and then he shook his head. "Anyway, I guess I should be going too now. It's already getting late, and I still need to drive a bit until I get back home."

"Guess so." Phil said and offered his hand to Jim. "Still, was fun having you around. Hope we can do this again some other day." Jim looked at Phil's hand and suddenly he had to think about Matt, Swann, and all the other people that he had left behind. A new friend...it had a nice ring to it. He grabbed Phil's hand and smiled.

"Sure, why not. But do me a favor; no Shepard next time we play poker. If he wants to play with the rest of us, pick some game where he won't beat us. Like Russian roulette." Both men laughed and then Jim finally said goodbye. Just when he was about to leave the house, another figure came out of the kitchen.

"Can I come with you?" the young woman asked and Jim could see Phil's exhausted expression.

"Paula, you should be in bed!" he groaned, yet Jim chuckled when he heard Phil's frustration.

"But I wanted to see Sarah!" the young woman said like it was the most normal thing in the world. Jim sighed when he heard that. Right now, he wasn't so sure wherever or not _he_ wanted to see Sarah. Deep inside his heart, he knew the answer, but right now...

"I'll tell her that you would like to meet her." Jim mumbled. He was too tired to wonder just why the hell this girl was so fascinated with Sarah, but given her mental state, that was probably not something he should be worried about. Still, when he finally stepped outside, Paula placed her hand on his shoulder one last time and whispered something into Jim's ear.

"Don't worry. I will keep your secret safe, just like Book's!" she whispered before Phil hushed her back inside. Jim got into his car and then he was on his way back. He didn't notice how Paula continued to stare out of the window of her room. Or was she just staring into the direction where their home was?

* * *

It was the middle of the night when Jim finally got back home. When he walked up to the door, he could see that there was a light flickering inside. He hadn't fixed the electric system yet, so someone was using a candle. Jim stood in front of the door and was about to open it, but then he hesitated. He could sense Sarah on the other side. She wanted to talk to him, yes. There was only one small problem with that.

He wasn't in the mood to talk.

So, he had the choice. He could act like a real man, open that door, and face the problem head on...

...or he could turn around and avoid any confrontation, knowing that in the end, it would only prolong the inevitable.

But Jim was just one man, and his frustration was growing with each passing day. He understood that Sarah's situation was difficult, but why couldn't the universe cut him some slack for a change, huh?

And so, Jim decided to revive a century-old tradition, something many men had done during the ages when facing difficult situations that included the women they loved.

It was called "sleeping in the car". Jim turned around and did just that. He walked back to his car, got back inside and stared at the house in front of him for a long time. He could sense Sarah's surprise and her confusion, and he felt like a douchebag. But it wasn't the first time he had done something like that. Oh no, he had done something like this on a couple of occasions. However, that had been during the time when he had been married to Lydia...

Jim pushed the driver's seat back and stared up at the ceiling of the car.

He could sense Sarah's anger, then her frustration, and finally how she relented. The last thing he saw was how the candle inside was blown out and then everything went dark.

Perhaps sleeping would help him to figure something out. But even then, he couldn't help but miss Sarah's touch. Yet as long as he wasn't able to help her, what good was he to her anyway?

Fixin' Sarah...proved to be a lot more complicated than he had expected.


	90. Act IV - Chapter 6

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 6**

 **Sometimes it's just better to say Nothing**

* * *

The next day Jim did his best to avoid Sarah as much as possible. Not very manly? Maybe, but right now he couldn't care less. You know what really sucks about sleeping in a car? It's not that uncomfortable, but it gets cold really fast. And the only way to get warm again would be to start the engine, something that Jim hadn't done in order not to wake up Sarah.

Perhaps it was divine justice that he hadn't been able to sleep even for one second. At one point, he had looked out of the window of the car and saw the most mediocre sunrise of all times. The early morning fog blocked most of the red light, so all Jim saw was how the black sky turned gray before it turned into a milky white.

Still, Jim noticed that it was a good sign. It took quite some time until the sun gained enough strength to cut through the fog and the blue sky appeared. It also meant that there was a lot of water in the atmosphere. Perhaps doing farming would be easier than he had anticipated? Well, one could hope...

When it was bright again, Jim got out of the car and stretched his muscles. Oh boy, sleeping inside a car was something for younger folks. It wasn't because his body was old or anything. Physically he had never been in a better shape. Technically he was close to forty, yet stuck in the body of a mid-twenty. There were worse things than that. But it wasn't the physical discomfort that was bothering him because he felt none.

No, he had done crap like this just far too many times to appreciate it.

Oh, he had done this on several occasions, mostly when Liddy had been mad at him. Jim had slept inside the car (or on his vulture bike), he had slept on the couch, and he had even slept in the bathtub one time. Perhaps it was just a sign that his relationship with Sarah was becoming more and more normal? Jim didn't want to think about that, though. He walked up to the house and hesitated for a second. He could sense Sarah, but he could also feel that she wasn't awake. So he got back inside and prepared breakfast.

Since he hadn't slept at all, he needed a hot cup of coffee. All he did was to force a morning roll down his throat and empty his cup as fast as possible. He then left some hot coffee for Sarah and got out of the house. He walked into the barn and did a quick inventory of the stuff he still needed, like those damn tires for the tractor.

When he had been married to Lydia, this technique of sitting things out had never worked. Here's a tip; when the woman that you love is mad at you, then she's just effin' mad at you. Oh, he had experienced his fair share of hostile encounters with Lydia, but later on, it had changed. Not because those two had stopped arguing, but because there had been someone who had helped mediate things.

As Jim checked the tractor one more time, he suddenly had to remember how Johnny had brought them together again. He just had looked at Jim and asked "Is Daddy angry?", and suddenly Jim had realized that it wasn't just about him, but his family.

But when Jim started the engine of the tractor, only to see if it was still working, he did notice how one large figure entered the barn. By now he didn't even care about her presence anymore, but when Izsha stopped right in front of him, she looked at him with a cold expression.

"James Raynor." she said to him and he looked up.

"What?" Let's face it; both Jim and Izsha would never become friends. They could tolerate each other, but that was it. They only thing they had in common was that they cared for Sarah, each one in their own weird way.

"Her Majesty wanted to talk to you." Hah, that sounded like he was supposed to ask for an audience.

"Is she awake?"

"No, she's still resting and-"

"Then it can wait." Jim just cut Izsha short and climbed off the tractor. He then walked over to a shelf and continued to go through all the stuff that was lying around in order to figure out what else he still had to get.

"Her Majesty was upset about how you were not willing to listen to her. It caused her a great deal of stress." Izsha explained, but Jim didn't need anyone to tell him the brutally obvious.

"Yeah, well...sorry 'bout that." Jim mumbled, but he wasn't really listening. Still, he was sorry about everything, but at the same time, he had no idea how to fix this. Therefore, he had decided to stay away.

Male logic; if you can't fix it, leave it alone until everything sorts itself out on its own.

It only works until it collides with female logic.

The usual result is always the same. Tragic, tears, and you could have avoided it if you would have listened to female logic in the first place.

But when had men ever done that, huh?

Exactly...

"Why did you refuse to talk to her?" Izsha asked, but Jim didn't answer that question. Explaining his feelings for Sarah to Izsha seemed utterly pointless. What did she know about human emotions anyway? He was about to ignore her completely when she tilted her head to the side and managed to score a critical hit.

"Perhaps you were lying when you told her that you love her." she said, and that's when Jim turned towards her and pointed his finger right at her noseless face.

"Now listen up, you big snake!" he hissed and Izsha's eyes widened in surprise when she watched his sudden outburst. "You don't know shit! And don't think that just because you spent some time with Sarah you know everything about me as well!" However, unlike Jim Izsha possessed the ultimate poker face. She just tilted her head to the side and stared at Jim with those yellow eyes.

"Then why do you claim that you love her when at the same you try to chastise her for not doing as you would like her to do."

"That's..." Jim snarled in barely contained anger. "...not what it's about! Besides, what would you know about relationships, huh? To you, she's just your goddamn eternal queen bee or something like that. You're nothing but an overly complex Zergling!"

"During my creation, no Zergling-DNA was used." Izsha just replied with a no-nonsense tone in her voice. "On the contrary, the blueprint that was used by Abathur was-"

"I don't care!" Jim barked, and for a second, he was scared that he would wake up Sarah, but he was on his way out anyway. He walked up to the barn's door and was already close to it when suddenly Izsha's tail came down like a boom gate.

"Where are you going?" she demanded to know and Jim gave her an annoyed look.

"Get out of my way, Izsha. I need to work." He put his hand on Izsha's tail (that was warm and surprisingly soft, even though it was covered with carapace) and just pushed it away. Or at least he tried to push it away, but that damn tail was made out of nothing but pure muscle. It didn't even move one damn centimeter. So instead, Jim decided to climb over it. Izsha didn't stop him, but before he could leave the barn, she spoke up again.

"You say that you love her, yet your very presence and your actions cause her Majesty pain and discomfort. How does that make any sense?"

"Newsflash! It doesn't."

"One has to wonder if you are even trying to help her to-"

"You don't want to finish that sentence!" Jim said, and for the first time ever Izsha seemed almost impressed when she saw the serious expression on his face.

"I do not understand what she sees in you." Izsha then explained. "Her Majesty loves you, yet right now you only cause her distress. If your strategy is to help her, I am not able to see it." That caused Jim to laugh out loud, but it was a bitter laugh.

"Ha! Now that's something we can agree on." he snarled and Izsha frowned.

"I do not understand. What are you trying to tell-"

"It means that I have no effin' clue what I'm supposed to do!" Jim screamed at her. To hell with being quiet, he was close to a meltdown.

"What do you mean?" Izsha asked. Suddenly he could see the confusion on her face. Heh, seeing an emotion on Izsha's face was already a success, maybe he should ask Book for another round of poker!

"I'm trying to help Sarah! But no matter what I try, I just don't see her smile anymore! Yet all you have to do is fall from the sky, and suddenly her mood gets better. So why am I even trying? If I can't reach her, if I can't reach _out_ to her even though we share this strange connection, then what does this say about what I have to offer to her, huh?"

"She loves you. Is that not enough?" Izsha wanted to know.

"She might as well love a brick." Jim shot back. He then stretched his arms out and included the whole place. "Look around. And look at me. I'm nothing. I'm just a man. I was never something special, never like Sarah. She is...so much more than I can even imagine. And she's stuck with me. So I thought I could at least give her a home. A place where she can relax, where she can feel protected. Yet she doesn't even seem to care about that. So if this isn't what she wants, what can I do, huh?" And that's when Izsha actually said something that made Jim wince.

"I love her Majesty." the former Zerg announced. "But even then I do understand that she is no longer Zerg. She will never become the Queen of Blades once more, she will never lead the Swarm into battle again. And I have accepted that. However, that does not mean that I cannot be at my Queen's side. I have accepted that she is no longer Zerg. Perhaps you should accept that she is no longer human." And then Izsha straightened herself.

"Because right now...her Majesty is not happy."

"Yeah, well..." Jim whispered mostly to himself. "...neither am I." He then turned around and just walked out of the barn. This time Izsha didn't stop him.

* * *

Jim walked out of the barn and straight to the car. He still had to get some things. He didn't notice the woman hiding behind the other side of the barn. When he was finally gone, Sarah looked up to the sky and could feel how something wet streamed down her face.

"Must be the rain." she whispered, but there was not a single cloud in the sky above her.

* * *

For a long time, Sarah remained where she was. She leaned with her back against the barn and thought about what she had just heard.

"It's never easy, is it?" she whispered to herself, knowing that no one was listening.

Or she had thought so.

"What is never easy, your Majesty?" Izsha suddenly asked, and Sarah almost freaked when she realized that the former Zerg was right beside her.

"Wha...? Oh, you startled me, Izsha." she said and sighed.

"Forgive me, my Queen. It was not my intention to do that."

"I know it wasn't." Sarah sighed and wiped the last tear from her cheek. Crying would help no one. It was utterly pathetic, she was aware of that. Given the fact that she had been through hell and back, why did she suddenly react like this? Perhaps because she shared Jim's problem; she too didn't know how to make this work.

But at least Jim was trying. He was doing something, even though it was pointless. As for Sarah? She was drifting, floating in limbo, unsure what to do next. With her powers, it would have been easy. But now?

Human existence, that's what Jim had wanted to show her, to tell her about. Perhaps all Jim did was absolutely normal for a human, but Sarah wasn't human anymore. Besides, the things most humans dreamed of (a home, a family, and a steady job) were hardly the things Sarah cared about. And she wasn't Zerg anymore either. The instinct that told her to evolve and to conquer, it was gone as well.

"I guess I should have refused to come here. Would have spared us a lot of tears." she sighed and pushed herself away from the barn. Jim was gone, so there was no reason to stay hidden behind the building. Besides, when there was a huge snake-lady like Izsha next to you, you were anything but hidden.

"Guess I should do something." Sarah muttered, but what the hell was supposed to do? Finishing that book? That was an idea and-

However, before she could finish the thought she could hear how a car approached and her eyes widened in surprise. Jim was coming back? Sarah clenched her hands into fists and tried to shake off her doubts. If Jim was coming back, then she had to talk to him. And this time he wouldn't just get away from her.

She walked over to the house and could hear how Jim stepped out of the car. He had parked behind the house and out of her sight. Izsha followed her closely, just like she always did. Sarah didn't try to reach out to him this time, she wanted to catch Jim by surprise. If he didn't want to talk to her, then she would make it for him impossible to avoid her. She could hear those heavy footsteps coming closer and looked over her shoulder and up to Izsha.

"Maybe you should knock his lights out should he try anything funny like running away." she joked and Izsha only nodded. Good thing that Izsha knew that she was only joking. They walked around the corner of the house and so did Jim. They looked into each other's eyes and...

...that's when Sarah realized that it wasn't Jim.

"Ms. Kerrigan, Sarah...I wanted to see how you're doing and..." Marshal Markson said when suddenly he saw the dark snakelike creature standing right behind Sarah.

"...what is that?" Both Sarah and Markson went pale immediately, and Sarah could see how his hand wandered to his gun.

That's when Izha's tail came around and hit Markson right against the head. It all happened so fast that neither Sarah nor Markson had any time to react. Sarah watched in shock and horror how Markson took a devastating blow to the head. Yet he didn't go down immediately. He blinked a few times...and then he just fell backward.

There was an awkward moment of silence, and all Sarah could do was to stare at the man lying in front of her.

"What...the...HELL?!" she screamed and looked over her shoulder. "What did you do?!" Izsha tilted her head to the side as if she didn't understand the nature of that question.

"He was about to do "something funny", my Queen." she just replied, and Sarah could feel how her left eyelid started to twitch. She then looked back at the Marshal and grabbed her own head.

"Oh, this is bad..."

Well, it was about to get even worse.

"Marshal? Is that you?" a new voice suddenly reached their ears. Whoever it was, it was a man. And he was really close.

"Did you find them? I would hate to come all the way out here only to find out that they aren't home!" That guy was right around the corner. Sarah pulled at her hair and thought about her options, but there was no time. She turned around to Izsha and said just one word.

"Hide!" Within seconds, the huge body of Izsha vanished when she burrowed herself in the ground.

And that's when the other man came around the corner.

"Now this is truly strange, I wonder...dear Lord! Marshal!" Shepherd Book shouted when he saw the knocked-out man. He then looked up to Sarah with an expression of disbelief on his face.

"What happened here?"

"He...surprised me?" Sarah said and laughed, but it was an awkward laugh. Both of them looked down at the Marshal and only then Sarah realized that Markson was still breathing. She sighed in relief and Book nodded when he heard that.

"Yes, he has an unhealthy obsession when it comes to you. Serves him right, I guess." Book muttered and then he shook his head and offered his hand to Sarah as if nothing had happened.

"By the way, I should introduce myself. Shepherd Book. Nice to meet you. And you must be Sarah Kluivert, right?" Sarah, who was still a bit surprised by everything that had just happened, looked Book straight into the eyes. Then she looked at Markson, who was out cold, and then at the ground behind her. The soil didn't even look like someone had touched it, yet Sarah could still feel the vibrations of Izsha's body right beneath her.

If there was one thing Zerg, even former Zerg were good at, then it was hiding in plain sight.

"He...just came around and I reacted. There was nothing I could do!" Sarah said and Book just sighed.

"Ah, so young and reckless. Well, I guess that was a nice punch." the Shepherd just said. "Wish I could have seen it." Wait, wasn't that guy supposed to be a preacher or something like that?

"Aren't you supposed to be a preacher or something like that?" Sarah spoke out her own thoughts and Book just pulled his shoulders up.

"There are many kinds of preachers, my child. Let's just say that sometimes a man has to feel the effects of his own stupidity. I warned him that something like this would happen one day. I even gave him a sermon about that. Some people just never learn." Book sighed. He then looked at Sarah and showed her an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, this must all seem very strange and I can understand if we startled you. Please, let me assure you that there's a perfectly good reason for us being out here."

"Oh, really?" Sarah asked and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Suddenly she could feel how her old, snippy self returned to her. "And what would that be?" The smile Book gave her was probably the friendliest she had ever seen.

"Oh, it's simple. I wanted to ask you if you could shoot someone for me."

…

…

…

To say that there was an awkward moment of silence would have been the understatement of the century. Sarah stared at Shepherd Book, and for a moment she truly considered to yell for Izsha so her friend could finish the job.

And, to quote herself; no one would find the bodies.

Instead, all Sarah said was "Say what?" That's when Book laughed again.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That sounded truly menacing. Bad choice of words. I don't want you to shoot someone, but something."

"That's only better by a small margin." Sarah replied and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Also, what makes you think that I'm interested something like that?"

"I could give you the short answer out here or the long answer if you help me to get the Marshal somewhere where he doesn't have to lie in the dirt."

"I'll go for the short answer, please."

"James." was the only thing Book said and Sarah frowned. She looked at Book, then at the Marshal and then at Book again.

"You take the legs, I take the arms." she just growled and grabbed Markson's sleeves in order to get him into the house.

* * *

They put Markson on the couch and then Book looked around.

"That is a very nice home you have there." he said.

"Thanks." Sarah replied with a dry tone before she just stared at Book like she was expecting him to do something.

"So..." the Shepherd said.

"So..." Sarah said as well.

"Hmm..."

"Well..."

"Indeed..."

"If you say so..."

This had to be one of the most awkward conversations Sarah ever had experienced.

"Do I smell coffee?" Book suddenly said and Sarah blinked in confusion. Only then she realized what the man was talking about. She opened her mouth in order to tell him to shove the coffee up his...well, nevermind that. Instead, she just sighed and realized that this was still about keeping a low profile.

Even though Izsha was still outside, waiting to deal with both men should the situation demand it.

"You want some?" she mumbled and Book gave her a warm smile.

"How can I say no to such a kind offer? A shot of milk and two pieces of sugar. If you don't mind." There was something truly awkward about this guy, but Sarah just walked into the kitchen and turned the coffee machine on again.

"I must say..." she could hear Book talking to her from the living room. "...you knocked the Marshal out for good. I'm impressed."

"That doesn't sound like something a priest should say. Aren't you supposed to, I don't know, refute all sorts of violence?" Sarah wanted to know.

"Different order." was all Book replied and Sarah couldn't help but frown when she heard that.

"Well, that sounds promising." she mumbled. When the coffee was done, she filled two cups and walked back into the living room. "Here you go." They sat down at the table and all Sarah did was to stare at Book while he took a sip from his cup.

"Hmm...that's some good coffee." Book said. Sarah didn't even touch her cup, though. All she did was to stare at Book and cross her arms in front of her chest.

"So, you wanted me to shot Jim?" she suddenly asked, and Book almost choked when he heard that.

"Agh...gha...ugh...gooo...I mean...gha...no. No, I don't want you to shoot James." Book stuttered and looked over to the still unconscious Marshal. "Not sure about this one though." He sighed before he looked back at Sarah.

"I had an interesting talk with James yesterday. And well, after a night full of sleep I decided to do something that is expected of me anyway."

"Shove your nose in other people's business that isn't yours?" Sarah asked and Book laughed again.

"Oh, I'm going to like you!" he told her and then he sighed yet again. "I'm just here to talk. To offer advice, and to help people with their problems."

"Why?" Sarah wanted to know with nothing but suspicion and hostility in her voice.

"Because I'm a Shepherd? Because that's what we Shepherds do?"

"Your job is being an idiot?" That comment caused Book to laugh yet again.

"I guess you could say that. Still, I couldn't help but notice that James was in a foul mood."

"I wonder why's that..." Sarah growled.

"Well, if you ask for my professional opinion-"

"I don't." Sarah interjected, but Book didn't even stop for a second before he continued.

"...it is because he feels helpless. He wants to help someone who's very dear to him, but he doesn't know how. And that causes him a great deal of pain and discomfort." This was the perfect moment to tell Book that he could shove his opinion up his butt, however, instead Sarah felt a sting in her own chest.

"I don't think I want to talk about this topic." she growled.

"Understandable. But pointless. I tell you now the same thing that I told James; you are now part of this community. And we look after each other. And if someone needs help, we offer that help. And if that someone declines that offer, we're going to shove our help down their throats wherever they like it or not."

Isn't friendship just magic?

"I got enough stuff shoved down my throat by so-called "friends", thanks." Sarah mumbled, only then realizing how strange that sounded.

"I'm just telling you what I told James; that sometimes all you need is a fresh perspective."

"How about this perspective? Me, alone at home, with no one bothering me?" Sarah suggested, but Book didn't even reply to that.

"I was told that you're good with knives and a pretty good marksman." Book suddenly said and caught Sarah off guard.

"What? Who said that?"

"James."

"Oh...right..." she mumbled and shook her head. "Listen, I really don't want to talk about any of this, okay?"

"Fair enough. I just wanted to tell you that we could use someone with those skills. Like I said, there's something you could shoot for us." The very idea seemed to be utterly ridiculous and so Sarah just shook her head.

"Sorry, I don't think that it would be a good idea."

"Oh, I understand." Book said with a soft voice. "So, James was just trying to make you feel better by implying that you're a good marksman. I see. Sorry for that." When Sarah heard that, her left eyelid started to twitch.

"What's that supposed to mean? I _am_ a good marksman. The best you've ever seen!" Suddenly she felt angry.

"Oh, I'm sure you know how to handle a gun, but the way James talked I assumed that you would be an exceptional marksman. It's alright though, I guess I will just continue to look for someone else who can do the job." That's when Sarah stood up and leaned forward. Her face was just mere centimeters away from Book's.

"I'm the goddamn best sniper you have ever seen or heard of, Mister. So good luck with finding someone who's better. Because there is no one." Even without her psionics, Sarah was still the goddamn best sniper the Ghost-project had ever produced. Period. Exclamation mark. Three times in a row.

"Well, that is good to hear. Because we could really use someone who knows how to use a rifle." Book explained. Sarah sat back down and stared at the older man. Even though she couldn't read his mind, she didn't feel like he was a threat or anything like that. She had learned to read people not just by using her psionics, but also their body language. And Book? He appeared absolutely harmless.

"What are you talking about?" Sarah growled and Book took another sip from his cup before he finally started to explain everything.

"I recently met two men that work as hunters. Well, they at least try to work as hunters. Are you familiar with kriechers?" Book asked and Sarah nodded.

"Yeah, they're some kind of pest around here, right?"

"You could say that. The kind of pest that can bite your head off. Normally, they aren't that much of a problem, but sometimes they get too close to settlements. Now, the males are harmless, but the females...well, you don't want to end up on their dinner plate. The thing is, they are fast, strong, and possess incredible sharp senses. The only way how to kill them is to shoot them from afar. And with afar, I mean _really_ afar."

"What range are we talking about?" Sarah wanted to know.

"You should ask Jenner or Archer about that."

"Jenner and Archer?" she asked and Book sighed.

"Ah, those are the names of the two guys. They're good men, but they don't really know how to use a gun. I mean they probably know how to shot themselves into their own feet, but that is hardly enough."

"So you want me to solve your pest problem by shooting those critters?" Sarah asked, still not convinced.

"Well...yes." Book just admitted.

"Finding someone who can shoot critters shouldn't be that hard." Sarah muttered. "I fail to see how I could help you with that."

"Most of the people living here were never soldiers, Ms. Kluivert." Book explained to her. "Sure, they know how to shoot, but they don't know how to shoot at something and hit it. Trust me, I've seen Archer in action. His name is pure irony. And it would be of great use to our community. These kriechers are growing bolder with each passing season. Soon they will be close to New Thompson. And every time when civilization and wildlife collide, it gets ugly for both sides."

"Civilization, huh?" Sarah mumbled. "Isn't that a bit much? It's just a small town."

"Civilization is where people are. It doesn't have to be anything fancy." Book said, and suddenly Sarah had to remember her talk with Jim about the value of civilization.

"Well, that's nice." she growled and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I would be of much use."

"That's too bad, because I think that you would have a lot to offer to this community."

"I seriously doubt that." Sarah whispered and turned her head away. Suddenly she had to think about Jim and all his attempts to make her feel better. Was this his doing? Had he sent Book over here to get her out of her isolation?

Somehow, she had her doubts about that. Jim wanted to help her, yes. However, sending a priest after her? That wasn't his style, especially considering the fact that the same dream with the Reverend had tormented him for years. No, Sarah didn't believe that Jim had asked Book to come here. But that left her with another question.

"I get why you came here." Sarah mumbled and then she pointed with her finger at the man that was lying on her couch. "But what about him?"

"Ah..." Book sighed. "I guess I am responsible for that. You see, I don't have a car. So I asked the Marshal if he could drive me out here. He was very eager to do so, I might say."

"I bet he was..." Sarah growled, remembering the fact that this kid had a crush on her.

"Well, the drive here was very interesting. I was actually able to tell the Marshal about the dangers of seducing another man's wife, and how someone who would do that would end up in a very special kind of hell."

"Special kind of hell?" Sarah asked.

"Special kind of hell." Book said again. The way he talked it sounded like it was just a very weird amusement park. "The Marshal is not a bad man. However, even though he is the Marshal, he is still very immature. He would need someone to guide him, to help him become more responsible." When Sarah heard that, she pulled her brows up and could feel how her left eyelid started to twitch.

"Wait...are you saying that I should _pop his cork_?" For a short moment, Book said nothing. He looked at Sarah with a baffled expression on his face. Only then he realized what he had just said and then he started to laugh.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Book's laugh was loud and full of glee. It was the kind of laugh you could listen to all the time.

"What's so funny?" Sarah wanted to know, and the Shepherd needed a moment in order to calm down. He wiped a tear from the corner of his eyes and shook his head.

"I'm so sorry, I just realized how that must have sounded. Oh Lord, I truly didn't want to suggest that you should, uhm...how did you put it? Pop his cork? Oh, I like that expression. But no, I wasn't even referring to you when I said that."

"I don't think I want to hear any more of this..." Sarah mumbled.

"Truth is..." Book then continued. "...I wanted to talk to both you and James. Is he...around as well?"

"No." Sarah replied immediately and Book realized that she didn't want to talk about it. Too bad that the Shepherd didn't care about that one bit.

"I see. I guess he's busy...doing stuff?"

"I wouldn't know." Sarah muttered and turned her head away. She really didn't want to talk about this topic with a complete stranger.

"Hmm...I think I now know what the problem is." he mumbled, yet Sarah only managed to hear "problem".

"What did you say?" she asked, but Book just shook his head.

"Nothing! Nothing! Everything is fine. Say do you know when Ja-"

"...AT IS THAT?!" Markson suddenly screamed when he regained consciousness. He tried to jump back on his feet but failed miserably. It appeared as if he wanted to grab his gun and look for an enemy that wasn't there. His body was still in bad shape and all he managed to do was to fall with his face on the ground while gurgling something about "big black snake". Both Sarah and Book looked over to the Marshal, and Sarah couldn't help but swallow hard.

"Oh, crap..." she whispered, but Book just sighed and walked over to the younger man.

"Relax, Marshal. Everything's fine. There was an unfortunate...accident." Book said as he knelt down right next to Markson and helped the man back on the couch. Trevor Markson looked around and tried to find a monster that was no longer there.

"I saw it! I saw...something! A monster! Shepherd, my gun! Quickly, we need to-" But before the Marshal could pull his gun out of his holster, Book grabbed it and handed it over to Sarah.

"Here, just to be on the safe side. Looks like the Marshal hit his head really hard." Sarah got up as well and walked over to them. She took the gun into her hand, but not before noticing how Shephard handled the gun in his hand. The way he held the weapon reminded Sarah of a seasoned soldier. And there was something else...

Book used his thumb to switch the safety off and on. That move...it was something the old Confederacy had taught her soldiers. And not just any soldiers. No, that was something only officers were taught...

Just who was that man anyway?

"Monster! Shepherd, there's a monster out there!" Markson gurgled, but all Book did was to sigh and help Markson back on the couch.

"It's all fine, there is no monster out there. You...uhm...well..." He looked over his shoulder and over to Sarah, who stared at the gun in her hand with a frown on her face. She hadn't had a gun in her hand for so long now. And no, the fact that some of her fragmented minds back on Sternenheim had used guns didn't count.

Now that she felt the cold plastic of the pistol's grip in her hand, she couldn't help but feel strange. There had been a time when she had slept with her rifle in her arms. Now...it all felt so far away. How many people had she killed by firing a gun? She put her finger on the trigger and tried to remember those days when she had used firearms to fight, but it was as if her mind was refusing to think about that time.

"Ms. Kluivert?"

Killing had been an integral part of her life for so long.

"Sarah?" Book asked again and Sarah looked up at him.

"Yes?"

"Are you...okay?" he wanted to know and she stared at him, then at the gun in her hand, and then at Book again.

"Yes! I mean...nevermind." She put the gun on the table and turned back towards the two men.

"Shepherd, you have to listen to me-" Markson pleaded, but Book just rolled his eyes.

"It's fine, Marshal. You just hit your head. There is no monster. Though you should really be more careful." the Shepherd explained. "You were lucky that Ms. Kluivert just knocked you out." When Markson heard that, he blinked in confusion and then he looked over to Sarah.

"You...what?"

Sarah just shrugged her shoulders and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Sorry 'bout that. But you kinda scared me when you just stormed around the corner." She decided to jump on the bandwagon and use that explanation.

"You...but no! I saw it! I saw it, Book!" the Marshal continued, and Sarah started to chew on her lip. This was bad. If he wouldn't shut up, she had to come up with another solution. She didn't really think about anything when her eyes wandered back to the gun, but then Book shook his head.

"It's fine, Marshal. Look into my eyes! There is no monster around. Now, how about you start acting like a Marshal and stop scaring everyone. Got that?" Well, that didn't sound very friendly. But when Markson did as he was told and looked Book straight into the eyes, Sarah could see how he was finally starting to calm down.

"I could have...sworn that I saw something..." he whispered and Book nodded.

"That happens if we take a hit to the head. Better get used to it. Still, I guess we should get you back home. Maybe you got a concussion. Either way, we shouldn't bother Ms. Kluivert anymore."

"It's fine." Sarah said. "At least it was somewhat amusing."

"Well, we exist to please!" Book laughed, and then he helped Markson back up. The two men hobbled out of the house and to the Marshal's car. Sarah stopped in the doorframe and watched how Shephard shoved Markson into the Hellion, and then how he waved her goodbye.

"Well, I better take the Marshal back to New Thompson. It would be nice if you think about what we talked about." Book said and Sarah pulled her shoulders up.

"No promises."

"That's all I could ask for." Book replied and got back into the car. Sarah watched how the Hellion turned around and drove away. However, before Sarah could just relax, she saw how another car appeared in the distance.

"Now who's coming?" Sarah moaned and only wished for people to leave her alone. But then she recognized the car. Jim was coming back.

"Oh, joy." she said to herself and thought about going back inside and wait for him, but then she realized that he would probably just try to avoid her again.

Were all men this frustrating? Or was Jim just an especially annoying specimen? It was moments like these where she missed the good old days, when she had put a bullet through a guy's leg if he wanted to run away from her. Such drastic measures weren't needed right now, but Sarah liked to have several options. The car was heading right for the house, and when it stopped, Jim cranked the window down and looked over to Sarah.

"Was that the Marshal and Book just now?" he wanted to know and Sarah pulled her shoulders up.

"Sure seems so, doesn't it?" she replied and Jim frowned.

"What did they want."

"Talk...about stuff. Where were you anyway?" Sarah asked and Jim sighed.

"Doing stuff. Hold on, I need to get those things into the barn. I'll be there in a second." Before Sarah could reply anything, Jim just drove the car to the other side of the house and she could hear how he started to unload something. Sarah felt the urge to go over to him and tell him what a huge idiot he was. But she didn't do that. She couldn't really tell why, all she knew was that she didn't feel like _she_ should run after him. How about she would wait until _he_ would come to her, begging that she would take him back.

Jim took his sweet time until he was finally done. Whatever he was up to, right now Sarah couldn't care less about it. So when she walked back into the house, she looked around and decided to sit down on the couch. Waiting was not her style. Well, that was only partially true. She knew how to wait, she knew what it meant to be patient. What she didn't like was the fact that someone else was _making_ her wait.

At one point, she started to imagine that Jim was trying to prolong the inevitable and stayed away from her on purpose.

Well, she wouldn't let him get away with that for much longer. At first, she had felt annoyed by the fact that Jim wouldn't leave her alone. Then she felt bad for not being able to show Jim her appreciation. But now she was just angry.

Her worst-case scenario didn't come to pass because after a while she could hear how he walked up to the house. When he stepped on the veranda, the creaking sound caused him to curse. Sarah smirked when she heard that, but then she regained her composure and crossed her arms in front of her chest. It was actually pretty ironic; the moment Jim stepped into the house, it looked like a scene from a movie. Here they were, the angry wife and the husband who pretends to not know what happened.

Well, he wouldn't get away with that.

"Hey, Jim." Sarah said with a surprisingly gentle tone in her voice. He looked at her and she could see that he looked like hell.

"Hey..." was the only thing he replied.

"You look like shit." Sarah told him and he chuckled.

"Well, rough night."

"You could have come inside, you know that. I don't bite."

"I know that." Jim whispered.

"Then why did you avoid me." Well, that wasn't very subtle.

"I wasn't avoiding you." Jim replied and Sarah frowned when she heard that.

"Really? Sleeping in the car is no sign for avoiding me? Jim, listen...I know that the trip hasn't been that great so far. And I know what you're trying to do. But I want you to know that I'm not-"

"Wait..." Jim suddenly interrupted her and pointed his finger at the table. Or, to be more precisely, at the object that was still lying on the table. "...is that a pistol?" When Sarah looked over at the gun, she pulled her brows up.

"Oh...totally forgot about that one." she explained and Jim looked at her in disbelief.

"You...forgot about that one?! Sarah, where did you get that pistol from?"

"It's not mine, it belongs to Marshal Markson. He brought Book over here because he wanted to talk to me, and then Izsha accidentally knocked him out, so Book took his pistol away as a precaution." But if you think that this explanation would ease Jim's mind, then you're dead wrong.

"Izsha did WHAT?!" he yelled.

"He surprised us and got spooked, it all happened really fast. Don't worry, everything's fine and-"

"Someone saw Izsha and you say it's fine?!" Jim shouted again. "You know what that means? If anyone finds out who she is, then-"

"Nothing happened, Jim. He thinks it was a hallucination, so there's no need to be worried. Besides-" But now Jim was not in the mood to calm down.

"I don't think you understand, Sarah! This place has never seen a Zerg. Besides, if these people see something like Izsha, then we can just pack our things and leave. Is that what you want?" When Sarah heard that, she blinked in surprise. Did Jim really just say something like that?

"What?" she replied and watched how Jim put his fists on his hips.

"We're trying to build something out here. I understand that Izsha means something to you, but it's like you're not even giving a damn about what I'm trying to do! I mean why do I even bother if-"

Okay. That was enough. If this was how normal couples argued, then she wasn't too fond of that part of their relationship.

"You don't want to finish that sentence." Sarah growled and stood up. For a second it looked as if she was about to punch his teeth out. And believe it if we say that Sarah's punch was a lot harder than Izsha's.

"Why not? You said you wanted to talk, now you suddenly don't?" Jim shot back, and Sarah clenched her hands into fists.

"That's not talking. _You_ are angry because this plan of yours isn't working out the way you had hoped it would. And now you're frustrated and think you can take this out on me."

"Oh. Oh! OH!" Jim shouted. "Look who suddenly has become an expert on relationships! My, if I had known that you were such a pro, I would have asked you for permission to come up with an idea myself."

"That's...okay, this is ridiculous!" Sarah shot back. "You came up with that plan all by yourself, I had _nothing_ to do with it. Now, don't you dare to put the blame on me just because the plan you came up with doesn't live up to reality."

"I came up with the plan because I couldn't stand watching how lost you were."

"Oh, now this is just about me? And I should be thankful because you dragged me out here so I could watch stones turn into dust?!"

By now it was no longer about reasonable arguments. Both were just frustrated. Yet this moment was still special. It was their first argument as a "normal" couple. There was no dark godlike monster trying to devour the stars, there was no crisis. They were just unhappy and yelling at each other.

"Dust? Dust! This is all you see in this place, dust?!" Jim shouted and Sarah leaned forward.

"No. Right now I see something else. It starts with A and stops with HOLE!"

"You did NOT just call me an asshole!" Jim yelled and Sarah threw her arms up in the air.

"Hooray! The man I love can spell after all! I am so relieved because he sure as hell can't LISTEN TO WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO!"

"Then what is it you want to do?!" Jim demanded to know. Sarah opened her mouth and was about to answer that question. But then she suddenly stopped when she realized that she didn't know what to say.

"What? Something caught your tongue?" he asked and she gritted her teeth in anger and frustration.

"You know what? Forget it." she hissed and walked up to the table. She grabbed the gun, and for a second it looked like she was about to do something really stupid. However, instead of starting a killing spree, she just walked to the door.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Jim wanted to know and she looked over her shoulder.

"I'm bringing the Marshal his gun back. Don't worry, I won't try anything stupid. Like showing my own private Zerg around in town." Sarah just snarled and stepped outside.

"Sarah. Sarah! Wait!" Jim shouted, but she didn't listen to him. This argument was pointless and it served no other purpose than to piss her off. So all she did was to get in the car, start the engine, and then she was on her way.

* * *

"What was that all about?" Jim muttered when Sarah was finally gone. He walked over to the couch, sat down and put his hands on his face. It took him a while until all the adrenaline was finally out of his system.

Arguing was always the same. At first, you are mad as hell and all that adrenaline makes you say stupid things, things that you would never say under normal circumstances. Things that you regret the moment you come back to your senses. One would assume that people would figure that out eventually and stop acting like that, but some things would probably never change.

When he had finally calmed down, he felt the urge to find Sarah and apologize to her, but with the car gone, there was no way to go after her.

"You're a hero, Jim. A real hero." he mumbled to himself and stood up again. Sitting around and waiting for Sarah to return wasn't his style. Besides, he still had to work on that other project. There were still so many things to do, yet right now motivating himself was so hard. But he had to and so he got back on his feet and walked out of the house. He was on his way to the barn when he suddenly stopped and looked at the landscape in front of him.

There was a lot of sand out there...

Something behind him moved. At first, he thought it was the wind, but then he noticed how the ground vibrated beneath him. It almost felt like...

Jim turned around and suddenly something emerged from the ground right in front of him. It was huge and scaly and dark.

"AAAAAAAAAIzsha...dear Lord, would you stop doing that?!" Jim screamed when Izsha came out of the soil and shook off the dirt from her body. She stretched her arms and her tail, and then she looked into the direction where Sarah was heading.

"You angered her Majesty." she said with a cold tone in her voice and Jim groaned.

"Not you too." Jim groaned before he turned away from Izsha and walked towards the barn. All he wanted to do now was to work on something. It didn't even matter what he would do, as long as it would keep him occupied. Behind him, Izsha seemed to be unsure what to do next. Without her Majesty telling her what to do, she decided to follow Jim, even if it was just to figure out what he was up to.

When he was back in the barn, he looked around and sighed. There was so much to be done, yet all he could do was to think about his argument with Sarah. Working some more on the tractor? No, he wasn't in the mood for that. So, he decided to do the other thing he still had to do. He had bought all the stuff needed to finish the job today. He got most it from Central City, since New Thompson had no DIY-store. The plan had been to do this together with Sarah, but right now she would probably strangle him to death should he ask her for help. So he grabbed one of the buckets he had bought earlier and some brushes and carried the stuff back to the house.

"What are you doing?" Izsha asked and followed him again, but Jim didn't even bother answering her question. Instead, he opened the bucket and dipped the brush in it. When he pulled the brush out, it was covered with a light purple color.

"Well, hope you like it, Sarah." Jim whispered and started to paint the backside of their home. Though he was no longer sure if he should refer to it as "their" home anymore...

Because what point was calling it "our home" if Sarah didn't even consider it her home at all?

So Jim continued to paint the wall of the house while Izsha only watched. And both of them were lost in their own thoughts, even though they thought about the exact same thing.

Sarah.

* * *

When Sarah arrived in New Thompson, she had calmed down enough to not kill all the residents. However, that didn't mean that she was in a good mood either. The irony was that she and Jim shared the same problem. Both knew that they didn't want to argue, and both knew that they should talk this out like adults, yet both were too frustrated and angry to care about that.

Because let's face it; adults usually never acted like adults when it came to this kind of things.

When she arrived at New Thompson, she parked outside the Marshal's office and stepped out of the car. Some people noticed her and waved their hands like she was just an old friend they hadn't seen in a while, but Sarah didn't really care for them. The Marshal's Hellion was standing in front of his office, so he was probably inside. She walked into the office and looked around.

"Well...that's one hell of a workplace." she mumbled and shook her head. The office was small, almost cramped. There was a door at the other end of the room that led to the cells and then there was a staircase on the left side that led upstairs. The Marshal probably lived here as well.

"Hello? Anyone home?" she asked, but no one answered. Great. The last thing she wanted to do was to go hunting for a slightly damaged Marshal in order to return his firearm to him. She walked over to the counter and put her hands on it. Soon she started to drum with her fingers on it until she slammed her fist on the surface.

"Call 911, there's an emergency!" she suddenly yelled. "Terrorist demons from outer space are attacking the spaceport, we need someone to defend all the babies and virgins!" But again no one answered.

"Come on, I got a gun and I'm not afraid to use it! So either take it or I'm going to use it for fun!" And that's when she finally heard someone yelling back.

"Up here! In the flat!" That was Book. Sarah looked over to the staircase and started to grind her teeth. She just wanted to get rid of the gun, goddammit! She saw a trash bin, and for one second, she thought about just throwing the pistol into it and leave a note. But then she sighed and walked over to the staircase. Once she arrived at the top, she stood in front of a door.

"Book? Are you there?"

"The door is open, just come inside!" the Shepherd replied and Sarah sighed once more. She entered the flat and then...

"Whoa...talking about a man-cave." she said to herself and shuddered. This place was a mess! Seriously, even Jim's old bunk on the Hyperion hadn't been in such a bad shape. Dirty clothes were lying around everywhere, so were dirty glasses and plates. The air smelled stale and like, well, _man_. Someone hadn't let any fresh air into this flat since the fall of Tarsonis.

"Oh, Ms. Kluivert. Sarah. What a surprise to see you here!" Book said and Sarah looked over at him. He walked out of what appeared to be the kitchen and grabbed a few dirty plates.

"What are you doing?" Sarah wanted to know and Book chuckled.

"Oh, I put the Marshal in his bed. He should be fine by tomorrow. And since I'm already here, I thought I could-"

"...clean up his place for him?" Sarah asked in disbelief.

"Hahaha, oh, the Lord moves in mysterious ways, my child!" Book said and laughed again. "The Marshal is still a young man and who knows not much about life. Quite frankly, I think he could use a girlfriend. Someone who can whip him into shape."

"Sorry, I'm not interested." Sarah mumbled and Book laughed yet again. It was the kind of laugh that made you want to laugh as well. It was almost contagious. Almost.

"Oh, don't worry. The Marshal strikes me as a total beginner. I doubt that he could handle a full-blown woman like you."

Wait, was that a compliment or an insult?

"Thanks...I guess." Sarah replied, deciding to think of it as a compliment.

"Well, I know why I am here. But why have you come all the way out here?" Book asked and Sarah sighed. She put her hand into her pocket and pulled out the pistol.

"Here, you left this thing behind." she said and handed the gun over to Book, who didn't even flinch.

"Ah, thanks. I knew I forgot something. Could have been awkward to explain that to the Marshal the other day."

Awkward indeed.

"Well, that's all. I just wanted to get the gun back to you guys. I'm out of here." Sarah said and turned around. That's when Book spoke up again.

"How is James?"

"What?" she asked and stopped. Sarah looked over her shoulder and frowned.

"He came back when we drove away, right?" the Shepherd said. "Just wanted to know how he's doing."

"Fine...I guess." she growled. "I'll be on my way then."

"Oh. Okay."

Sarah was almost out of the door when she suddenly stopped. Book seemed to notice her hesitation and looked over at her once more.

"Is there anything else?" he wanted to know.

"Actually...yeah." Sarah whispered and then she turned once more towards Book and looked him straight into the eyes. "That offer...is it still open? You're still looking for a marksman?" She could see how a big grin appeared on Books face.

"Most definitely."


	91. Act IV - Chapter 7

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 7**

 **No Scope required**

* * *

When Sarah stepped out of the Marshal's office (and messy home), she could see that the day was already coming to an end.

''Another day in paradise'' she whispered, not realizing that Jim had used the same words at one point. Tomorrow she would meet those two men, Jenner and Archer. But there was nothing else to be done right now. So, she got into the car and drove back home. She didn't realize that there was a figure watching her from a window in one of those houses.

Paula placed her hand on the cold glass and watched how the car vanished into the distance.

"Sarah!" she whispered. "I want to talk to you!" However, she knew that she wasn't allowed to step outside. She had done that so many times in the last few days, her uncle wouldn't be happy about this.

"But you want to see her, don't you?" a soft voice spoke out loud, and all Paula did was to nod.

"Yes. I want to talk to her." She turned around and looked at the other person the room, who was sitting on Paula's bed. The young woman looked as if she was roughly Paula's age, maybe only a tad bit older. However, she couldn't be any older than in her early twenties.

"Maybe you should just go to her and do that." the young woman suggested, and Paula lowered her gaze when she heard that.

"But...she doesn't want to talk. She wants to be left alone."

"Well, she's going through some rough time right now. Both of them are." the young woman sighed and looked at her own feet. For some time, neither one of them said a word. Paula didn't know that woman, she had never met her before. However, the fact that she had suddenly appeared in Paula's room didn't even startle Carter's niece one bit.

"She...is in pain." Paula mumbled and looked out of the window. She watched how Sarah's car vanished in the distance.

"Yeah, they both are." the young woman whispered and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "And they are just so frustrating. Seriously, after everything they went through together, they still manage to get at each other's throat. These two, they are so different from how I remember them."

"Sarah...I want to talk to her." Paula mumbled. A gentle smile appeared on the other woman's face.

"Then you should go to her." When Paula heard that suggestions, she shook her head.

"I can't. Uncle is already mad at me."

"It's okay." the young woman told her. "He will understand. This is about Sarah, after all." Paula looked at the other woman and frowned.

"You think so?"

"I know so." When Paula heard that, a smile appeared on her face.

"Okay!" And then she turned around and walked out of the room. She had to see Sarah! If no one would take her there, then she would have to go there by foot! The young woman remained behind and sighed. Right now, she felt horrible for what she had to do. The knowledge that everything would turn out the way it was supposed to be, didn't help her one bit.

"That's what you tried to teach me all the time, isn't it, Dad?" she whispered to herself. "That responsibility is never easy." She looked up to the ceiling and took a deep breath. "I hope you're still proud of me. And I wish you would be here right now. I could really use a hug."

Sarah, who was the very reason for this rather awkward conversation, didn't know about any of this. She was too busy brooding. _Driving home_...that thought felt strange. Sarah never truly had been able to call a place home. Shouldn't the thought of home make you happy? Weren't you supposed to feel a warm, fuzzy _something_ inside your chest? Well, right now the only thing Sarah felt was some kind of dread. As she drove back home, she wondered what she should tell Jim. She didn't want to argue anymore, she was done yelling and screaming and shouting and all of that. But no matter how hard she thought about the problem, she couldn't find a good reason why the hell _she_ should be the one apologizing to Jim.

By the time she reached the house, it was already dark. There was a single light flickering in the living room, so Jim was home. Of course he was, where else should he be?

Sarah stopped the car in front of the house and then she waited. She could see how someone was moving inside the house, but she couldn't make out any details. It was truly ironic, considering the fact that Jim had felt the same way only one day earlier. She had been angry at him because he had decided to sleep in the car rather than face her. And now? Now the idea of doing the same thing was not so bad.

But no, she wouldn't do that.

She got out of the car and when she walked into the house, she realized two things. First, there was something to eat on the table. And secondly, Jim wasn't there. The figure she had seen was someone else.

"Your Majesty." Izsha said and lowered her head. Sarah gave her a weak smile and then she looked around.

"Where's Jim?"

"James Raynor decided to go to sleep. He told me that he prepared some food for you. Also, there's something special for you in the kitchen."

"Probably a bomb." Sarah mumbled and sighed. She walked over to the table and looked at what Jim had prepared for her. Soup. It was a red soup.

"Guess it's cold now..." Sarah mumbled and was about to turn away when Izsha slithered towards her.

"James Raynor said that it is a... cold tomato soup. You are supposed to eat it while it is cold." A weak smile appeared on Sarah's face when she heard that.

"I wonder where he got all that recipes from." she whispered and then she dipped her finger into the soup before she put it in her mouth. And you know what? The damn cold tomato soup tasted great. There was only one small problem; Sarah wasn't hungry at all.

Well, that wasn't really true. She was kinda hungry, but right now she still felt too agitated to just sit down and have a snack.

It was as if Izsha noticed what Sarah was thinking, and she grabbed the chair in front of the table and pulled it back so Sarah could sit down.

"Wha...?" the redhead asked, yet Izsha just tilted her head to the side.

"Given the limited nature of your current form, you have to ingest food on a regular basis, my Queen." Izsha said as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Limited nature, eh?" Sarah chuckled.

"Indeed. But since you are no longer able to absorb nutrients through your skin, and since there is no creep available, you have to use these means to keep your strength." Sarah looked into Izsha's yellow eyes and could see devotion and determination.

"You're not gonna let me off the hook, are you?" Sarah mumbled and Izsha nodded.

"You are correct, my Queen. James Raynor told me that I should make sure that you would eat something. And on this rare occasion, I agree with him."

"Well, it's good to see that you finally found something that you two have in common..." Sarah sighed and could feel how her own resolve faded away. Under normal circumstances, she didn't like the fact that someone else was making decisions for her. A lot of people had done that before. The Confederacy, Arcturus, the Overmind...

However, this time it was different. Sarah was too tired to have an argument right now. And she knew that both Jim and Izsha's motivations for doing this were the exact opposite of the Confederacy. Or Arcturus. Or the Overmind. These two were doing those things because they cared for Sarah, and she knew that. She sighed and decided to do as she was told.

The soup was _delicious_. There was no other way how to describe that. She didn't know why, but for some odd reason every meal Jim prepared tasted better than normal. She had tried tomato soup before, albeit never a cold one. This soup here tasted better than all the soups she had consumed before. When she was almost done, she pushed the soup bowl away.

"There is still some soup left." Izsha said and Sarah couldn't help but chuckle.

"Oh, now you're just sounding like mum."

"It is not my desire to parent you, my Queen. I just want to keep you healthy and protected. For as long as I can."

"That might be for a long time, Izsha. I don't even know if I will ever be the old one again." Sarah suddenly said and looked out of the window.

"You are asking yourself if your powers will ever return." That was not a question.

"Damn, you know me just too well." Sarah sighed.

"Knowing you is the very reason for my existence, my Queen. And it were never your powers that defined who you were, are, or will be." For a long time, Sarah didn't say anything. She just looked up to her most trusted advisor, no, to her friend and gave her a smile.

"If only Jim would feel the same way..."

"He will." Izsha suddenly said and Sarah frowned.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I will make sure that he does." That comment caused Sarah to snicker.

"Oh boy, I would pay real money to see that happening."

"Paying me is not necessary, your Majesty. I would not know what to do with money anyway."

"Oh, I bet you would come up with something. You're a lot more resourceful than most other people I know." When Izsha heard that compliment, she blushed and lowered her head.

"Thank you, your Majesty."

Sarah leaned back and looked over the staircase. She reached out with the only psionic ability she had left and could sense Jim that he was no longer awake. Perhaps it was for the better. Right now she felt too tired to face Jim. But what else could she do? She wouldn't sleep on the couch. She sighed and turned her attention to the ceiling.

"Just what am I suppose to do now, Lydia?" she suddenly whispered. "Was he always this annoying? How did you manage to not shoot him?" But Lydia wouldn't answer. Of course she wouldn't, she was dead. That's when Sarah remembered what had happened on Sternenheim.

Jim had sacrificed his chance to be with his family again in order to save her, even when Sarah herself had already given up on herself. And yet...he had chosen _her_. She had caused him so much pain, and now? Now they were arguing about what exactly? It was pathetic, and it made her feel even worse. However, at the same time, she felt so goddamn frustrated. It felt as if she wanted to scream. Or grab something with her psionics and tear it apart piece by piece, molecule by molecule.

It was a toxic mixture, Sarah was aware of that. Yet right now there was nothing she could do about it.

No, she wouldn't go up there right now. It wasn't her pride that kept her away from Jim but...well, okay, maybe it was her pride that kept her away from him, but to hell with that. So she grabbed her soup bowl and stood up before she carried it back into the kitchen. Even there Jim had left a candle burning so she could actually see where she was going.

She was about to turn around and leave the kitchen when she saw something standing next to the sink. At first, she thought it was a bread, but then she realized that it was something different.

"Oh no..." she whispered. "...Jim, you're such an asshole."

It was a chocolate cake.

There are some laws of nature that seem to be eternal. Like for example that rather than using words, men will try to use other means to show that they're sorry. Perhaps Jim was an idiot, but Sarah did appreciate the gesture. She grabbed one slice and tried it. And what could she say? It tasted just as good as she remembered it.

She had two more slices of cake before she decided to finally do what she should have done a long time ago. Go up, face Jim and talk with him. And so she walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs, but not before blowing out all the candles.

"Good night, I guess." she said to Izsha, who just lowered her head in order to pay her respect to Sarah.

"Good night, your Majesty."

"Oh, and should you hear people yelling and screaming, don't be alarmed."

"Do you require help with subduing James Raynor?" Izsha wanted to know, but Sarah just shook her head.

"No, but if I have to hide his body, it would be nice if you could dig a hole." Sarah said and started to walk up the stairs.

"I shall do so immediately." Izsha said and slithered out of the house. Sarah froze for a second and wondered if she should tell her friend that she had just made a joke. But then she sighed and decided to get it over with. She knew that Jim was sleeping, but she still tried to be as quiet as possible. She opened the door to their bedroom and then she stopped.

Everything was dark, and she needed a moment until her eyes had adapted to the lack of light. She could see Jim lying in the bed, but he had turned his back towards the door.

To think that Sarah had ended up like this...there was a place she called home, a man that loved her and, well, a friend that watched out for her. It sounded so normal, so mundane. A few years ago she had been the ruler of an alien species, the undisputed Queen of the Zerg. The only thing that had matched her power had been her ambitions and her lust for battle.

And then she had reached the next level.

It was kinda painful to admit that, but her current existence felt like a fall from grace. And deep inside her heart, she knew what was bothering her the most; it was the fear that this could be the existence she was supposed to share with Jim now. Not because she didn't want to be with Jim, but because after being a Zerg and after being something even more powerful a human existence felt so...pathetic.

As for Jim?

He was human. Of course he was, but he had always been more human than Sarah. Every fiber of his body told him that he was human, that he was born a man, and that he would rather die as a human than becoming something else.

Sarah moved without making a sound. You couldn't even hear her breath. She slipped out of her clothes and laid down right next to Jim. He grunted once, but aside from that, he showed no signs of waking up. She rolled onto her side and looked right at Jim's back. All she did was to watch how he breathed. She could feel the warmth of his body and reached out with her hand. She wanted to place it on his shoulder and her fingers were mere centimeters away from him, yet that's when she hesitated.

She frowned and then she finally pulled her hand back. Tomorrow. They would talk tomorrow. She sighed and turned around so both of them were resting back to back.

And to Sarah, it felt utterly wrong.

* * *

It had been a long day, and when Carter was finally done going through the inventory he sighed in relief, stretched his limbs and closed the shop's door. It was time to go to bed. Tomorrow would be just another busy yet boring day. He was about to receive another shipment of goods and that meant going through crates filled with all kind of stuff. Some of it useful, most not.

"Well, let's hope they will be late tomorrow." Carter mumbled to himself. That too happened from time to time. He yawned and then he walked into the back of his shop and into the living room of his house. The lights were still burning and he sighed.

"Paula, I told you one thousand times! Switch the lights off when you're going to bed." he whispered. He didn't want to wake his niece up. He cleaned up the kitchen and after that, he went upstairs. He walked past Paula's room and almost didn't see that the door was slightly opened. But that's when he felt something strange. Phil couldn't really describe it but was as if something was wrong. He stopped and then he walked back to the door, opened it and looked inside, just to make sure that everything was okay.

Everything was quiet, everything was peaceful...

...and Paula's bed was empty.

"Oh shit...Paula?" Phil gasped and entered the room. He switched the light on and looked around.

"Paula? Are you there?"

But Paula...was gone.

* * *

The next day it was actually Sarah who woke up first. It was still dark outside, yet you could see how a deep and dark blue started to appear on the horizon. She needed a moment to figure out where she was, but that's when she turned around and stared right into Jim's sleeping face.

He was still sleeping, she could tell that. He looked so peaceful and she felt no desire to change that. Besides, she still had a busy day ahead of her, so instead of waiting for the sun to go up, she rolled out of the bed and walked into the bathroom without making even one sound. Once she was done, she headed downstairs and was about to leave the house when suddenly a large creature emerged from the shadows.

"My Queen, where are you-"

"Shhhh!" Sarah hushed and gestured Izsha to be quiet. Her advisor and friend tilted her head to the side and seemed confused.

"Are you alright, my Queen?" she asked and Sarah nodded frantically.

"Yes, yes! Just tone it done a bit. Jim is still sleeping."

"Do you wish for me to wake him u-"

"No!" Sarah hissed. "Let him...just let him sleep."

"Did you talk?" Great, when had Izsha turned into a damn therapist?

"No." Sarah admitted and then she sighed. "No, we haven't. I'm...I don't want to talk right now. Besides, I need to get going. Don't want to be late on my first day of work."

"Work?" Izsha asked in surprise. "Did you find a brood to command on this world?" That comment caused Sarah to chuckle.

"Not quite. It's...they're just looking for someone who can handle a gun. Maybe it will help me to clear my thoughts or get a fresh perspective."

"Her Majesty shouldn't have to waste her time with such mundane things as work."

"Yeah, well...times change. Nowadays, even a Queen has to work for her living." Sarah mumbled. "Though if I'm honest; the Confederacy never paid me anything either. Nor did the Zerg. Perhaps making some money will help me to figure something out." Though Sarah had her doubts about that. Still, it was better than staring at the horizon and wait for a miracle to happen.

"If you like, I could return to Ulnar and acquire more gold from Karax." Izsha suggested.

"Na, it's fine. I know that Karax needs that gold for other things. Besides, if we would run around and pay _everything_ with gold, people would grow suspicious very soon. And Jim wouldn't like that." No matter how unhappy Sarah was right now, she didn't want to actively sabotage his efforts. But that's when Sarah suddenly frowned.

"Wait a sec...you can return to Ulnar?" she asked and Izsha nodded.

"I am in possession of a device that allows me to send out a signal which enables Karax to transport me back to Ulnar should the situation demand it."

"Really? What device? And where do you keep it?" And that's when Izsha pointed with her fingers at her own belly.

"Oh." was all Sarah could say. "That's..." Strange? Weird? Extreme? "...nice."

"If you want, I can hand it over to you. I do not intend to leave your side anyway. Here, I shall leave it in your possession." Izsha suddenly said and then she started to gag.

"Izsha?" Sarah asked, but her friend only gagged once more. Was she...? And that's when Sarah's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh no! Nonononono!" she hissed and hurried over to the dark snake lady. She placed her hand on Izsha's chest and gestured to keep it down.

"Tell you what, you keep that thing on, well, _in_ you for a while longer. I don't need it right away. How does that sound?" Izsha stopped gagging and tilted her head to the side. She swallowed something down and nodded.

"As you wish, my Queen." When Sarah heard that, she sighed in relief.

"Good. Good. Now...if you would excuse me, I have to go. I don't want to be late." she mumbled and turned away. She walked up to the door and opened it when she heard Izsha's voice once more.

"What is it you wish me to do while you are gone?" Izsha asked and Sarah looked over her shoulder.

"Take...take care of Jim, will you? And tell him that I love him. And that we should talk."

"Of course, my Queen." Izsha replied, and that's when Sarah felt how Jim was starting to wake up again.

"Better get going." she whispered to herself before she stepped outside and walked over to the car. And then she was on her way. When she reached New Thompson it was already bright day. And just like he had told her the day before, Shepherd Book was already waiting for Sarah in front of the church. She didn't even get out of the car, all she did was to stop in front of him and wait. When he didn't start moving fast enough, she lowered the window and pushed her head out.

"What are you waiting for?" she snarled and a wide grin appeared on Book's face.

"Good day to you too, Ms. Kluivert. I must say, I'm genuinely surprised. I didn't think you would actually show up!"

"One more word and I'm outta here." Sarah barked and Book realized that she was dead serious about that. So instead of wasting any more time, he just hurried over to the car and got inside.

"Where to next?" Sarah asked and Book pointed with his finger down the road.

"That way, please." When Sarah heard that, she suddenly had her doubts about this whole job. But it was probably too late to chicken out, so she turned the car around and drove into the direction the Shephard had pointed in.

"Well, this should be fun..." she growled while Book was smiling like an idiot right next to her.

"The Lord works in mysterious ways!"

"Shut up."

* * *

Jim knew that Sarah was gone when he woke up. By now he had figured it out quite well. He could sense if she was close by. So he was not surprised when he opened his eyes and there was only an empty spot right next to him. What did surprise him, however, was the fact that it looked like someone had slept in the bed. He placed his hand on the soft sheet and imagined that he could still feel the heat of her body.

So she had been here, but then she had left without speaking a word to him. Now, what did that say, huh?

Actually...he had no idea what this meant.

He had experienced his fair share of arguments with Lydia, but even then she had never been the one to walk out on him. So yeah, this was a first. And what could he say? It felt totally shitty. It made you feel stupid. And pathetic. And weak. Like you weren't worth someone else' anger. Like it was easier to be ignored.

Was this how Lydia had felt when he had done the same thing? Oh, he had done that on a couple of occasions. When he had been too annoyed to face her and had decided to stay away. However, Lydia was no more, this was Sarah. She was a completely different person, yet he was making the very same mistakes all over again.

Jim rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. The hardest thing about being a fool was that they rarely were able to admit that they were fools. And Jim? He was the King of Fools. Which made him the perfect match for Sarah, considering that she was the Queen of Idiots. A smile appeared on his face when he thought about that. He even had to chuckle.

"So what now, you fool?" he then said to himself. "Are you just gonna lie here and drown in self-pity? Or are you gonna do something about this?" He already knew the answer. And so he got back up and prepared to meet the day. Of course, it didn't take long for his day to turn a take for the worse. When he walked down and into the kitchen, the first thing he did was to switch the coffee machine on. The second thing he noticed was that the car was gone. He looked out of the window and frowned.

"Could have left a note, Sarah." he mumbled.

"Her Majesty-" Izsha suddenly spoke right behind him, but it caught Jim totally off guard.

"AAAAAAAAAHIIIzsha! _By the love of God!_ Stop doing that!" he screamed when he turned around and looked up to the former Zerg. However, like always Izsha didn't seem to care about how Jim felt about her.

"-has a job and she didn't want to be late on her first day. That is what she has told me." Jim needed a moment to process that. He blinked. He blinked again. And then he blinked at least ten more times before he finally managed to say something.

"She has a _WHAT?!_ When did that happen?"

"I am not sure, however, she told me to take care of you while she is gone." But Jim wasn't in the mood for that.

"What kind of job are we talking about?"

"I do not know."

"When will she be back?"

"I do not know."

"Who is her employer?"

"I do not know."

"Then what do you know?"

"That she wanted me to tell you that she loves you."

…

…

…

"But of course..." he whispered and turned away.

"She also said that you two should talk." You know that moment? The moment when you realize that the last few days have been nothing but a huge waste of time? Because you got yourself worked up on nothing but stupid things? Well, that's how Jim felt right now. He wanted to see Sarah. And, well, he wanted to apologize to her.

"Did she say when she will be back?" he asked.

"You already asked that question. And no, she did not." Izsha replied. He could just reach out to her and ask Sarah directly, but he still didn't want to do that. Not until they had talked things through. But without a car, what could he do? Well, he actually knew what to do. After he had a short breakfast, he got ready and walked over to the barn. Izsha followed him like a shadow, and it was starting to get truly unnerving.

"Can't you do anything else?" he asked her. "I don't know, like bury yourself and leave me alone?"

"Her Majesty ordered me to look after you. And that is what I will do."

"Of course you do." Jim growled, yet he knew better than to argue with Izsha. Doing that made as much sense as talking to a brick wall. On the bright side, he could continue with his work. So he grabbed another paint bucket, and soon after that, he was already starting to paint the rest of the house. He had to admit; while purple wouldn't have been his preferred choice, it didn't look that bad. Besides, it was a light purple, close to lilac. And Jim was pretty certain that there was no one else who had a house that was lilac colored. So yeah, hooray for individualism.

"...leaving on a jet plane. Dunno when I'll be back again." he started to sing as he painted the walls. And Izsha? She just watched how Jim continued to work. But even she couldn't hide her curiosity at one point.

"Why do you apply paint to this house?" she asked.

"I thought you once were a human. You know, before you were infested. Don't tell me you don't even know that."

"To Zerg, this is useless knowledge."

"Then why do you want to know about it now?" Jim wanted to know.

"Because I am no longer Zerg." He sighed when he heard that.

"The paint is supposed to keep the wood in good shape. And it looks better."

"Better? Better how?"

"I don't know, it just...looks nicer." Jim growled. "No one wants to live in a rundown shag. They say that a house represents the people who live inside it. So yeah, we humans kinda try to make it look nice."

"In order to show to others that you don't live in a "rundown shag"?"

"Yeah. No. Kinda...it depends." Jim answered.

"Your words do not make any sense, James Raynor." That comment caused Jim to laugh out loud.

"Ha! Better get used to it."

"So it would seem." Izsha sighed and fell silent. But that moment of silence only lasted for a short while.

"Why this color?" she asked and Jim sighed. So now she was getting curious? Great...

"Sarah likes it." he just said.

"Her Majesty does?" Izsha replied both surprised and disbelieving.

"What?" Jim asked as he looked over his shoulder. "Didn't you know that purple is her favorite color?"

"For Zerg, a favorite color is useless." she replied, and a grin appeared on his face.

"You didn't know. Hehehe. Don't worry, I won't tell your Queen that you don't know anything about her personal preferences." When Izsha heard that, she straightened herself and stared at Jim as if she was about to murder him.

"Uh...on second thought...never mind." he mumbled and decided to concentrate on painting the actual wall again. After a few minutes of peace of quiet, Izsha decided to annoy Jim once more.

"The paint is meant to preserve the house. And this color is her Majesty's favorite. Did you choose this color in order to pacify her Majesty?"

"That..." Jim started. "...is actually pretty accurate."

"I do not understand." And then Jim sighed and threw the brush into the paint bucket. He turned around and looked Izsha straight into the eyes.

"Okay, listen." he started. "There is no higher reason other than A: This house needs a fresh coat of paint and B: I've decided to use Sarah's favorite color. Why? Well, it's something different. It wouldn't have been my choice, but we're talking about Sarah here. She never does things by the book. And if this can put a smile on her face, then that's enough for me." When Izsha heard that, she tilted her head to the side.

"You think that it will make her smile?"

"Well, I kinda hope it. Not much else I can do about it, now can I?" he explained, and Izsha looked at the small part of the wall that was already covered with purple paint.

"If you think that it makes her happy, then why are you so slow?"

"Pffff...not you too." Jim groaned. "Listen, from someone who has painted more than one house to someone who never held a brush in her entire life, well, as Zerg; you can't paint a house in one day, especially if you're all by yourself." When Izsha heard that, she squinted her eyes and suddenly Jim wondered if she was about to do something that he would regret. However, instead of tearing him apart, she just turned away and slithered towards the barn.

Jim didn't ask her what she was about to do, he was just glad that she left him alone. He knew that this moment wouldn't last for long, though. But he didn't have to wait long for Izsha to return. And when she did...

"What the hell?" Jim mumbled when he saw how she carried several paint buckets and a couple of spare brushes over to the house. She stopped right next to Jim and put everything on the ground before she opened another bucket.

"Just what the hell are you doing?" Jim wanted to know and Izsha looked at him as if he was mentally handicapped.

"Painting the house."

"Uh huh...with six brushes?" he wanted to know and pointed with his finger at all the brushes lying on the floor.

"Of course." Izsha replied, and then she started to grunt. Jim watched how she gritted her teeth and he was about to ask if there was anything wrong. He could see how Izsha's expression turned sour and then pained.

"Uhm...Izsha? You okay?"

"Y-yes...I have not done this in some time, though." she grunted, and then she threw her head back and screamed.

"Holy shit!" Jim yelled and jumped back. Izsha's tail thrashed around, and for a second Jim thought she was about to, well, do something very scary. He could see how the carapace below her arms and on her backside started to shift and move. Jim watched in horror how her carapace broke and how blood flowed out of her wounds.

"Oh God, what is that?!" he screamed and so did Izsha. She threw her head back once more and hissed in pain when suddenly four long and slender arms emerged from those wounds. It had been some time since Jim had seen some blood and gore, and all he could do was to fight the urge to puke. Izsha, on the other hand, straightened herself and then she sighed as if nothing had happened. She looked at her two new pairs of arms and watched how the carapace on them hardened within seconds.

"That's...one hell of a party trick." Jim whispered. Izsha looked over at him as if nothing had happened.

"This should speed up the process considerably." she explained before she grabbed all six brushes and dipped them into the paint bucket. As she started to paint the house, all Jim could do was to marvel at that snake lady's speed.

"I should take money for this show." he mumbled, still unsure wherever he should be impressed or disgusted. Probably both. But then again; this was how his life was now. Crazy was the new normal. He turned away and walked over to the barn.

"Where are you going?" Izsha asked as she used all of her six arms to paint the house so fast that you could barely follow it.

"I leave the walls to you and gonna take care of the window frames." And so he went back to the barn and grabbed another bucket and a fresh brush. The bucket in his hand didn't contain lilac but white paint. It should look nice...in theory. Well, there was only one way to find out, right? When he returned to the house and started to work on those window frames, he couldn't help but look over to Izsha from time to time. When she was done with the lower part of the wall, she simply used her long tail to shove her upper body so far up that she reached the second floor without any problems.

"Guess someone doesn't need a ladder." Jim mumbled before he sighed and decided to continue his work. Maybe he didn't feel comfortable with Izsha being around, but at least they had one thing in common.

They both wanted to make Sarah smile.

* * *

Sarah wasn't smiling. In fact, she was doing the exact opposite. Her left eyelid was twitching and she was grinding her teeth.

"...and when Moses led his people through the desert, they eventually reached a place where they could take a break. And the Lord gave Moses the order to climb up a mountain and...Ms. Kluivert, are you listening to me?" Sarah looked over to Book and made sure that he saw her eyelid was twitching.

"Not really."

"Well, at least you're an honest one. I guess I don't have to talk with you about "Thou shall not lie". Hahaha. But in all seriousness, people should know more about the Bible and what it stands for. Have you ever read the Bible, Ms. Kluivert? May I call you Sarah?"

"No and no."

"Sarah it is then! Good!" Book laughed. "Glad we got that out of the way. Where was I? Ah yes, God and faith. Do you believe in God?"

"Can't say I do. Could we-" But Book didn't even give her the chance to finish that sentence.

"It is strange. When I talked with James, I got the impression that he is a man of strong faith, yet he doesn't seem to believe in God."

"Maybe he believes in a goddess..." Sarah mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"Nothin'!" she barked and tried to concentrate on the road ahead of them. Which wasn't very hard considering the fact that it was a straight line towards the horizon.

"Maybe you two should consider coming to one of my preaches one day. Every Sunday right before lunch. Sometimes we even have cake and coffee."

"No, thanks." Sarah growled. All this "Do you believe?"-talk was making her trigger happy. She felt the urge to shoot something. Thankfully, that was about to happen.

"How much longer?" she wanted to know and Book blinked in surprise.

"Uhm...it's Wednesday, so Sunday will be in-"

"Not that!" Sarah barked. "How long till we reach the hunters?"

"Oh! Uhm...we should be there soon. And they're not really hunters."

"They're not?" Sarah asked. "Then what are they?"

"I don't really know. Their names are Jenner and Archer, but until now I haven't been able to figure out if those are their first or last names, if they are related, or if they are part of a strange cannibalistic order of degenerates." Book said and Sarah gave him a weird look. "What? Even though I am a Shepherd, I still have a sense of humor." Sarah was about to reply that she wished he wouldn't have a sense of humor.

Or a tongue.

Or a throat.

"Is that it?" she asked and pointed at a hut in the distance.

"Yes, that's it. Just don't do anything rash or something that could scare them." Book explained.

"Why, are they dangerous?" Her question caused Book to laugh out loud.

"Ha! Oh no, they are harmless. But let's just say that they're not used to such a pretty woman like yourself visiting them in their home. They promised me to clean it, but you should brace yourself for the worst."

"And what could that be?" Sarah wanted to know.

"They don't have running water out here." Book replied and suddenly Sarah actually had to shudder.

"You should have told me about that before I accepted your offer."

"But then you wouldn't be here, right?"

"Rrrrrriggghhhttt..." Sarah snarled and continued to grind her teeth. When they finally reached the hut, Sarah's mood had already hit rock bottom. She stopped the car in front of the building and when she got out, she could already see the two figures that were probably Jenner and Archer. Or Archer or Jenner. Or whoever and whatever.

"Which one is Archer?" Sarah whispered to Book as they walked up to the two men and Book pulled his shoulders up.

"Honestly? I don't have a clue."

"Then why are we here?" Sarah wanted to know.

"Because they are the only men with a gun besides the Marshal. And he already told me that he wouldn't help us with this problem."

"Well, isn't the Marshal a nice person?" Sarah growled.

"He's not a bad kid." Book tried to defend him, but it only caused Sarah to chuckle. It was not a friendly chuckle, though.

"Strange, people always say that if they try to defend a real asshole." This time Book didn't reply anything and a smirk appeared on Sarah's face when she realized that she had scored a hit. They reached the two men and Sarah could see the uneasiness in their eyes. Some of her old reflexes remembered the look on those men's faces.

They were afraid of her.

Well, at least some things would never change.

"Shepherd! And...oh...you must be..." the first man said and had to swallow hard.

"That's Ms. Kluivert. You know, the lady we talked about the other day?"

"The pretty lady that we shouldn't creep out by staring at her breasts?" the second man said, and then there was an awkward moment of silence. Sarah pulled one of her brows up and looked over to Shephard, who just sighed and nodded.

"Yes, the pretty lady whose breasts you should not stare at." Book mumbled and gave Sarah an apologetic look. "I'm really sorry about that."

"Let's just get this over with, shall we?" Sarah growled and Shepherd nodded. He looked over at the men and gave them a warm smile.

"Would you get the item we talked about?" Both Archer and Jenner exchanged looks and then nodded. One of them hurried back to the hut and they waited until he came back.

"So who are you?" Sarah asked the one who stayed with them.

"Archer. The other one is my brother Jenner."

"Wait a sec...is Archer your first name?"

"Noooo." Archer replied.

"Then what is your first name?" Sarah wanted to know.

"Jenner." When Sarah heard that, she blinked a few times before she tried to make sense of that.

"So wait, your name is Jenner Archer? Then you have the same first name as your brother?" That question caused Archer to laugh out loud.

"What? Oh no! That would be weird! His first name is Archer of course!"

"So your name is Jenner Archer...and your brother's name is Archer Jenner. Is that right?" Sarah asked and the other man started to nod frantically.

"Yes! You finally got it! Hey, took you long enough. Say, you're not very bright, are you?" Archer said and Sarah thought for a moment if she should massacre everyone just here and now.

No one would find the bodies...

That's when the other guy returned. And he carried something in his arms. Something big, something Sarah hadn't seen in some time. But even then she recognized it immediately. It was a gun case. For a rifle.

"What the..." Sarah muttered when she saw the insignia on the gun case's side. It was that of the old Confederacy. Not only that, it had one star that was in the wrong position. Sarah recognized this small thing immediately because she had been trained to notice these things. This wasn't just a Confederate gun case, it was a black-ops gun case.

Jenner...or Archer. Or Archer Jenner or whatever, he reached them and presented the big case to them like it was some sort of trophy.

"Here it is! Just like we told you!" the man said and smiled at Book.

"Where did you get that thing from?" Sarah wanted to know and the man blinked both confused and unsure.

"Uhm...I'm not sure exactly. Was it...did we find it in the trash?"

"No, you idiot." his brother barked. "We traded it for something else, remember? That guy a few years ago who wanted to get some of our clothes and our car? He traded his stuff with us, including these awesome goggles that you could use to look through things."

Goggles you can use to look through things? That sounded like Ghost equipment. Did a Ghost trade this equipment with them? But why?

"Is there anything else this guy traded with you?" Sarah suddenly wanted to know, but both men shook their heads.

"No. We sold most of it for scraps or stuff we needed. We kept the goggles for a while, they were really awesome. But I think we overused them because at one point they didn't work anymore. So we sold them for scrap too." Jenner explained.

"It's because you used them to go to the bathroom every night!" Archer growled.

"Hey, it was really helpful! I didn't know that it came with an expiration date!" Jenner defended himself.

"You do know that these things use batteries, right?" Sarah growled. "And that they are rechargeable." But the look on the men's faces told her that they hadn't known about that.

"Well, to clear things up; these two gentlemen told me about this story during one of our poker rounds." Book intervened. "Now, there's a strict anti-gun law in place on all of Ramelow. Except for peacekeepers and government officials, no one is allowed to carry a gun. Exceptions are only made for hunters and people that live in the middle of nowhere in order to defend themselves from local wildlife. Then again, no one knows that these two gentlemen over here are in possession of such a high-quality gun."

"Does the Marshal know?" Sarah asked and Book pulled his shoulders up.

"I don't know. If he does, then he certainly doesn't care. Besides, as far as I know, the only two guns that he owns are a pistol and a shotgun. And both are of no use when hunting kriechers. These creatures have sharp senses and can smell you from kilometers away. A normal marksman will never be able to hunt them down. But if you're as good as James said then-"

"Trust me..." Sarah growled. "...I'm even better. Give me the gun case." she then said and yanked it out of Jenner's arms.

"Watch it, it's...heavy." he warned her, but that was not necessary. She was more than capable to handle the weight. She put the gun case down and opened it. And when she saw the rifle, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Well, that's not what I expected." Sarah mumbled when she looked at the weapon.

"Oh, you don't see many of those these days." Book agreed, which meant that he too recognized the type of the weapon.

"What do you mean? It's a rifle, right? Though we never truly got it to work." Archer mumbled. "Actually, we thought that it was broken or something."

"This thing isn't broken. And it's not just any ordinary type of rifle either." Sarah explained and brushed with her fingers over the metal frame of the gun. "It's a C-10 rifle." She knew this type of gun very well, she had used it for many years.

"Well, I still think it's broken." Archer said. "Never managed to fire a single bullet with this thing." That comment caused Sarah to smile.

"I guess it's time for a demonstration then."

* * *

Even with all the advancement in weapons technology, there are certain things you have to keep in mind when firing a gun. One of them was that the distance where you could actually hit a target depicted in movies was greatly exaggerated. For example; ever seen a movie where a guy uses a pistol and hits someone who's like one hundred meters away?

That only happens in movies. Most people can't hit a target that's ten meters away from them while handling a pistol. Same can be said about a rifle. The optimal range for those kinds of weapons is between 50 and 200 meters. And if you fire at a target that's 200 meters away, things will get tricky. And sniper rifle? Well, if you hit a target that's 800 meters away, you're a good sniper.

Now Sarah had lined up impossible shots. Her record was something over two kilometers. But that had been in an urban environment where the skyscrapers had blocked off every kind of wind. And she had used a rifle even more advanced than this C-10.

Oh, and she had used her psionics in order to guide the bullet into the target's skull. So without those abilities and that equipment, she had to be more realistic.

"That's...I'm not sure if that's a good idea, Sarah." Book said and she didn't need any psionics to tell that he was scared like hell.

"What do you mean? This was your idea after all." Sarah replied.

"I'm pretty sure I did _not_ suggest anything like that."

"You wanted a marksman. And here I am." She then looked at the small figure in the distance and took a deep breath.

"HEY! JENNER! NOW!" she screamed and the tiny person waved with his warm.

"I'M ARCHER!" he yelled back.

"I DON'T CARE! SHOW ME THAT CAN!" Sarah shouted and the man did as he was told. He raised his arm and Sarah took aim. She looked through the scope of the C-10 and licked her lips. The distance was just right, roughly 800 meters. Should be more than enough to deal with a kriecher. She took a deep breath and then she concentrated on the can Jenner or Archer or whoever was holding in his hand.

"Sarah, seriously...when you said that it's time for a demonstration, I thought of something less..." Book tried to reason with her.

"Grand? Spectacular? _Awesome_?" she suggested to him, but all the Shepherd could do was to gulp.

"...evil."

"Ah, you're just scared that you will have to explain to the Marshal that this was your idea in the first place." Sarah chuckled. "Besides, there's nothing that can go wrong!"

"Really? How's that?" Book wanted to know and Sarah turned her head to the side in order to show him a truly mad grin.

"If I hit the can, you know that I'm a good marksman. If I hit the landscape close to it, it should be enough to scare off any kriecher. And should I hit that guy, I will eliminate his genes from the gene pool. Either way; I win." When Book heard that, he stared at Sarah and you could see that he regretted bringing her out here.

"If you want to prove a point, there are other ways to do that." he said and Sarah switched the safety of the rifle off.

"Keep this in mind, Book; if you want to ask me to do things that I'm not fond of, you should know what's going to happen next. Like dragging me out here and let me deal with two degenerate hillbillies."

"What are hillbillies?" Archer asked. He stood right next to them and unlike Book, he didn't seem to be that scared.

"Nothin'." Sarah replied. "Say, Jenner..."

"It's Archer."

"Whatever." she barked back and looked through the scope. "Did you ever want to be an only child?"

"Uhm...not really. Not that I can think off. Why?" Archer asked and Book watched in horror how a cruel smirk appeared on Sarah's face.

"Nothing. Guess we're about to find out, huh?" she said and put her finger on the trigger.

"Okay, Sarah, that's quite enough. You've proven your point, I will no longer treat you the way I did and-" Book tried to reason with her.

And then she pulled the trigger.

With a loud _ **BAM!**_ the gunshot was fired, and Book couldn't even react. It all happened so fast. His eyes widened in shock and he looked over at the man in the distance. The Shepherd hadn't seen how the projectile had hit the man, but he gasped in shock when he watched when Jenner was on his knees.

"Oh no..."

"WOHOOOOO!" Jenner suddenly yelled and held a small object high up in the air. "It went right through! It went right through! How awesome is that?" And when Book saw how Jenner jumped to his feet and started to run towards them, he realized that he was sweating like crazy. Sarah lowered the rifle and looked at the older man.

" _That's_ how you prove a point." she said.

"Noted."

When Jenner finally reached them, he showed his brother the can.

"Look! You can even see the hole!"

"Holy hell! Now that was one hell of a shot. Are you some kind of a super-rifle-shooter-lady?" Archer asked and looked over at Sarah.

"Sniper. The word you're looking for is sniper." she corrected him. Sarah lowered the rifle and looked back at Book. "It's a good rifle. I can work with this one."

"That's...nice." Book mumbled, still somewhat shaken by what had just happened.

"So you take it?" Archer wanted to know.

"Uhm...I guess?" Sarah replied and the two brothers smiled.

"Great! Then let's talk about the price!" Archer said and Sarah frowned.

"Price? Wait, what?"

"Oh, don't worry. We don't want money. We just like to trade things. You know, goods and stuff." When Sarah heard that, she looked over to Book and gave him an annoyed look.

"Is that so?" she hissed and Book had to swallow hard.

"Don't worry, they promised me that they would ask for something reasonable." Book assured her. "So, what do you two want?" And that's when things became even creepier. Both Jenner and Archer exchanged looks and then they started to smile.

"I'm not gonna like that, am I?" Sarah whispered. And yes, she would not like it.

"Say..." Jenner started to speak first. "...you are a woman, right? Like...a real woman, yes?" Instead of answering that question, Sarah just turned her head towards Book and loaded another round into the chamber of the rifle.

"How fast can you run, Shepherd?" she wanted to know and the preacher raised his hands in self-defense.

"Now now, I'm sure we can agree on a reasonable fee. Isn't that right, boys?"

"Yeah, totally." Archer agreed. "So...you know, we never really...kissed a girl. And since you are a girl, we thought...?" For a long time, Sarah didn't say anything. All she did was to stare at the three men. When she finally started to speak again, a cruel smile appeared on her face.

"I got another idea. Say, Jenner. You liked that trick with the can, right?"

"Oh yeah! That was like totally awesome!"

"I can do even better." Sarah explained, and then she looked at Book again. And when he saw how her left eyelid started to twitch again, he knew that he was in deep shit...

* * *

"Dude, this is so awesome!" Archer said while he held the can high up in the air. Behind him was his brother.

"I know, right? But wait till you see the flash! Dude, it is so fast!" And just like his brother, he too held another can high up in the air. "Thank you, Shepherd! This is the most awesome thing we have ever done."

"I am glad you think so." Book stuttered. He stood in front of the two brothers and held up a can as well, but unlike the two brothers, his whole body was shaking. He watched the small figure in the distance and could see how she raised her rifle.

"YOU GUYS READY?" Sarah yelled and the two hillbillies behind him shouted "YES!" back. And all Book could do was to look up to the sky and curse his own existence.

"Oh Lord...why have you forsaken me?" But instead of God, it was Sarah who answered him.

"BY THE WAY, I CALL THIS ONE "THE NO-SCOPE"!"


	92. Act IV - Chapter 8

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 8**

 **Please keep your Hands inside the Vehicle at all Times**

* * *

On her way back home, Sarah couldn't help but smile. She just loved it when she could prove people wrong. And she was pretty certain that Book would never dare to ask something of her. So all in all it had been a good day. Next to her and on the front passenger seat was her trophy. Three cans, all with a nice, round hole in the middle.

Ah, remembering the look on Shepherd's face brought a smile to her own.

She would probably put those three cans somewhere special, somewhere where everyone would be able to see them. And then she would tell people what these cans were all about.

Ha, now that was something worth bragging about. Maybe she could ask Jim to put them on the wall or something like that and...

Oh damn...Jim.

Suddenly her smile vanished and she realized that he would probably not consider this to be very amusing.

"Damn it." she cursed and tightened her grip on the steering wheel. Jim wouldn't have approved of her little stunt, she knew that. If he would find out, he would be angry. However, this whole thing had been fun. A twisted kind of fun, yes, but fun nonetheless. Besides, Book had never been in any mortal danger. Sarah was good. No, she was the best when it came to sniping. So lining up that shot had been tricky, but far from dangerous.

Still, Jim wouldn't like it. So she looked over to the three cans and sighed. Sarah stopped the car and pulled the window down, grabbed one of the three cans and was about to throw it out of the window when she suddenly hesitated.

Why should she care if Jim wouldn't approve of what she had done? Because they loved each other? That didn't mean that she couldn't have some fun from time to time, right?

Right?

Right...

Sarah stared at the can in her hand for a long time and was unsure what to do next. Maybe all of this had been a stupid idea from the start. Maybe she should turn around and return the rifle to those hillbillies. Right now, the rifle was in the trunk of the car, stored safely inside its gun case. Great, Jim didn't even have to be around in order to ruin her mood. Maybe this could be considered as some kind of "progress", huh?

That's when Sarah came to the realization that progress was overrated.

As she stared at the can, she thought about Jim's potential reaction; how he would scold her like she was nothing but a child, that she was risking everything he wanted to build for them and so on. For a moment she felt how that old anger returned, but then she just sighed. She was too tired to get worked up all over again. Besides, hadn't Sarah come to the conclusion that it would be in the best interest of everyone that she and Jim would talk about this?

Bringing a sniper rifle back home would probably not help her to score a point or win the argument.

" _Hey, Jim! Look what I got! It's a C-10 rifle. Hey, remember those things? Hahaha, I used one of those when we met, remember? Oh, and its color flatters my hair, don't you think?"_

Somehow, she had her doubts that he would be amused by that.

Sarah snarled in frustration and clenched her hands into a fist.

"Ah! Shit!" she hissed when suddenly a sharp pain shot through her right hand. She had forgotten about the can inside her hand. The bullet hole had left a sharp edge, and when she opened her hand, she could already see the blood dripping from her wound. Sarah felt how the anger got the better of her and threw the blood-covered can out of the window. She looked at her hand and realized that the cut wasn't that deep. But cutting yourself with metal is like cutting yourself with paper; it hurts a lot.

She looked around and tried to find something that she could use to press on the cut. Since there was nothing close by, she decided to step out of the car and walked over to the trunk. She opened it and looked for the first aid kit. It took her only a few moments to patch herself up and when she was done, she was about to close the trunk when she suddenly hesitated.

The gun case was right in front of her. Several thoughts came to her mind at once. Sarah could get back into the car and drive back home. She could head for New Thompson and throw the gun at the Marshal's feet. Now that would be an interesting idea, especially considering that it would ruin Shepherd Book's not-so-good day even further.

She could decide to let Book off the hook, considering that she had given him the scare of a lifetime.

But if there was one thing that Sarah didn't know, then it was when to stop.

Aside from that, she could drive back to the hut of Jenner and Archer and... kill those two. Or give them the rifle back. Instead of making up her mind right away, she opened the gun case and looked at the rifle.

Sarah couldn't say if a Ghost had used that weapon, but it was definitely not a standard version. So, whoever had come here had been in the possession of special ops equipment. There was probably a story behind that. Who knew, maybe whoever had owned that equipment was still around. Or not. Who had that guy been? Or had it been a female operative? A Ghost? Or just a regular special ops member?

Had this person come here after the fall of the Confederacy, or even tried to get away from it long before that? Those were a lot of good questions, but Sarah had her doubts that she would ever find out what had happened to the owner of the gun. Then again, did it matter? Now she was responsible for it. She took the rifle out of the case and felt the weight of the weapon in her hands.

Terran equipment was heavy, far heavier than what the Protoss used. However, was sturdy, and this rifle was no exception.

As Sarah held the gun in her hands, she wondered how she should explain this to Jim. At the same time, she asked herself why the hell she had to explain it at all. He had come up with the idea of coming to this world, right? There was a problem with the local wildlife, and the locals needed someone who knew how to handle a sniper rifle.

Things were never easy, wasn't that right?

Maybe she was just overthinking things. Maybe Jim wouldn't be angry at all. He wanted her to experience what a normal human existence could be like, right? Being a hunter was a normal job. So, if anything, he should be proud that she was actually willing to carry her own weight.

Sarah closed her eyes and sighed. Why was she even thinking stuff like that? There was such a thing as overthinking a problem, making it bigger than it actually was. Strangely enough, Sarah suddenly felt the urge to shoot something. It didn't have to be anything spectacular. An Ultralisk would do just fine. She looked around and scanned her surroundings. Was there anything that she could use for some target practice? But aside from rocks, there was nothing.

Maybe firing a gun out here wouldn't be such a good idea. Then again, there was no living soul nearby anyway, so who cared? Sarah looked back at the rifle and started to chew on her lips. What was she supposed to do? Perhaps that was the wrong question. What was it she _wanted_ to do?

Well, if she knew the answer to that question she wouldn't be here, now would she?

After a while, Sarah decided that this was not the right moment for some fire for fun. She put the rifle back into the case and closed it. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Just what am I suppAGH!" Sarah screamed in pain when suddenly her right hand started to hurt again. She grabbed it with her other hand and turned away. It burned! As if she had burned herself. The pain was fresh and hot, and it felt as if she had cut herself all over again. The bandage turned red and she gritted her teeth. Did she cut a blood vessel by accident and only now it had decided to rupture? She applied more pressure to the wound. Soon the bandage was soaked with blood, far too much to simply ignore it.

"Crap!" she barked and grabbed the first aid kit once more. She pulled another bandage out and pressed it against the wound. She applied as much pressure as possible, but the blood would just continue to flow. It was far more than it should be. Sarah looked around. There was no one here, she was all by herself. Maybe she should reach out to Jim, tell him that she was in trouble? Well, what could he do, he was too far away. Maybe he could tell Izsha to come to Sarah. But then what?

"This isn't good, this isnAHH!" she screamed when another jolt shot through her hand. It burned! She could feel how her skin beneath the bandage was on fire! Slowly fear started to grip her heart. Sarah wasn't afraid of injuries, but she was no longer a Zerg or a Xel'Naga-whatever. She screamed again when more pain shot through her hand and then she felt how it wandered through her entire arm. Whatever it was, it felt horrible. Sarah dropped to her knees and screamed in pain. She tried to reach out to Jim and tell him to come for her, but the pain was just too strong.

She gasped and tears came to her eyes when the pain wandered through her entire body.

Too much. It was too much!

"Someone...help me!" she gurgled in pain, but then it the pain became so strong that Sarah was unable to even form one coherent thought. She tried to stay conscious, but it hurt so much! It was almost as bad as when she had been turned into the Queen of Blades. Sarah fell on her side and gasped one more time before the raging pain became even too much for her. The last thing that she could think of when darkness finally claimed her was one thing...

"Jim..."

And then nothing.

* * *

"...it is strange. To know that this is farewell." When Sarah heard that, a sad smile appeared on her face. She didn't want to look at the young woman, she didn't want to see the sadness in her eyes. Because she knew deep down in her own heart that she too didn't want to say goodbye.

"You've come a long way, little one." Sarah said while both women watched how the sun was about to vanish beyond the horizon. Perhaps it was fate that this sunset was especially beautiful? It was a nice thought, one that made Sarah smile. The sky looked like it was on fire and beneath it, the lush fields of this world reached as far as the eyes could see.

A part of her didn't want to leave. This place...it had become so much more over the years. But home? No... that it had never been.

"I only did so because of your guidance." the younger woman said. Her skin was pale and her dark hair looked like silk. She appeared frail, but not weak. Because there was strength inside her, one that you couldn't see with the naked eye.

"I only pushed you into the right direction. The rest was your own doing." Sarah explained and looked over at the younger woman. Her big blue eyes stared at the sky and it almost looked like she didn't even have to blink.

"No. You changed so much. Not just me or the others, but everything around you. And I will never forget your kindness." When Sarah heard that, she wanted to reply something. But then she could feel how her own sadness was about to overwhelm her. She tried to hold her tears back and gave the young woman a warm smile.

"You will be okay?" she wanted to know and the young woman nodded. She placed her hand on her pregnant belly.

"Yes. We will." the woman replied and a gentle smile appeared on her face as well.

"Have you come up with a name yet?" Sarah asked and the woman nodded.

"Yes." the young woman said and looked Sarah straight into the eyes. "We want to name her Louise."

* * *

"...rah? Sarah, can you hear me? Sarah, can you open your eyes?" Conscious slowly returned to her, but even then, it felt as if she had to fight her way through layers of exhaustion before she managed to groan in discomfort.

"Hnn..."

"Sarah? Sarah, can you hear me?" she could hear Jim's voice. She tried to open her eyes but failed miserably. It took her several attempts until she finally succeeded. And when she did...

"Hey...hey! Look who's finally awake!" Jim said and put his hand on her cheek.

"Jim...?" Sarah whispered. "What...what happened?" She looked around and tried to figure out where she was. It took her some moments to realize that she was no longer outside. This was their bedroom and she was lying on their bed.

"How...how did I end up here?"

"You don't remember?" Jim asked. He sat on the edge of the bed and gave her a worried look.

"I was...outside. Back home and then...then..." And that's when her eyes widened in shock. "...oh no. The rifle!" she whispered and looked at Jim. "You saw it?" But instead of scolding her or telling her that she had done it again, he just sighed and gave her a tired smile.

"Yeah, I did."

"You're...not angry?"

"I...no, I'm not. Well, I was. At first. But then I realized that it's pointless." He took a deep breath and then he grabbed Sarah's hand and gave it a warm kiss. "Sarah, I'm sorry. For everything I said. Or what I didn't say. I didn't want to yell at you and I don't want to argue either, I just...I guess I was..." he tried to say.

"Frustrated?" Sarah offered and Jim looked at her in surprise.

"Yeah. You could say that." he whispered and Sarah gave him a tired smile.

"I think I can relate."

"I'm sure you can." he replied and then took a deep breath before he said something that actually made Sarah feel better.

"I'm sorry, Sarah."

"Me too." she whispered back and they both smiled at each other before Jim leaned down and they shared a long kiss.

They say that making up with a kiss makes this kiss especially sweet. Sarah didn't know if that was actually true, but it sure felt nice. She could feel how the anxiety and frustration started to fade away, and how it was replaced by a sense of relief...and exhaustion.

Sarah actually didn't want the kiss to end, but when their lips parted, she sighed and looked up at Jim.

"What happened?" he asked and she frowned.

"I... don't know."

"What is the last thing you can remember?"

"I..." she tried to recall. "...Book. He took me to some hillbillies and they gave me the rifle."

"Book? Book gave you the gun?" Jim asked both surprised and confused.

"Yeah. Said that the town was looking for a good hunter in order to kill some kriechers." she explained.

"You mean flourpions." Jim corrected her.

"Don't push your luck." Sarah replied. "Anyway, they gave me the rifle so I could go hunting and then...I know that I was on my way back home. But then...nothing." Suddenly she could remember the strange dream she just had experienced, but those were only fragments, and none of them made any sense. She looked up at Jim and frowned. "What happened?"

"Dunno." he said and shrugged his shoulders. "The only thing I know is that you suddenly called out to me, screamed for help and then...nothing. One moment I could feel you in the back of my mind and then...nothing."

"What did you do?"

"Well, aside from freaking out and screaming your name? Not much." Jim chuckled. "Of course, when I ran around screaming for you, Izsha freaked out as well. She grabbed me and almost strangled me until I told her that you called out to me. And then we basically just ran into the direction I felt was right. We were lucky though, I could still sense you. That connection between us is actually pretty nifty. Kinda like a tracking device. You were roughly twenty kilometers away from home when I finally reached the car."

"You walked...all the way?" Sarah asked.

"More like; ran until I puked my guts out." Jim admitted. "Guess I'm out of shape. Izsha was a lot faster. When I reached you, she was already taking care of you. She wanted to carry you back home, but I managed to convince her that I would use the car to get you back."

"Where...is she?"

"She's outside, finishing painting the house."

"She...wait, what?" Sarah asked when she heard that and a tired smile appeared on Jim's face. Speaking of which, only now she realized that he looked really tired as well. That happens if you run twenty kilometers in less than two hours.

"It's a long story." Jim said. "I can tell you everything about it tomorrow. How do you feel?"

"Like shit."

"Hehehe, I guess so. I got an idea. How about you take a nice hot bath. I prepare something to eat and after that, we go to sleep. Let's talk about what happened tomorrow. How does that sound?"

"That..." Sarah began. "...sounds nice. I think I would like that."

"Good." Jim declared before he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. "So, take a hot bath now. That's an order."

"Yes, Sir."

* * *

When Sarah walked into the bathroom, the tub was already filled with hot water. She took off her clothes and was about to step into the tub when she came past the mirror. She only saw her own reflection from the corner of her eye, but that was enough to make her stop. She turned around and looked at her own image in the mirror.

"Oh, boy..." she whispered when took a good look at herself. She looked like hell. Her hair was a mess and there were dark circles around her eyes. And her eyes? Well, they were red, as if she had cried for a long time. Sarah realized that she looked just as horrible as she felt.

"Well, at least the look matches what's inside." she mumbled. And that's when she heard a voice in the back of her mind she hadn't heard in quite some time.

 _Ah, you're still the most beautiful woman of all times._ The moment she heard Jim's voice in her mind, and an exhausted smile appeared on her face.

"You're just saying that to make me feel better."

 _Does it work?_

"Maybe..." she answered and then she sighed.

 _Take a bath, Sarah. A hot bath, a warm meal and night full of sleep, and you will be as good as new._ And instead of continuing the conversation, she turned away from the mirror and stepped into the hot water. And what was there to say?

It felt divine.

As the hot water touched her tired skin, it felt like all the pressure and sadness and anxiety were fading away. Not only on the outside but on the inside too. She could do that because the fear and discomfort that had plagued her heart for the last few weeks were finally starting to vanish. The hot water caressed her skin like a lover. Sarah sighed in relief and closed her eyes.

She liked water, liked how it surrounded her. For a moment, she missed Sternenheim, its wonderful beaches, and of course that crystal blue ocean that was everywhere. Going there for a swim was wonderful. Letting yourself sink below the surface, floating like gravity had no reign over you while you could still feel the warm rays of the sun just beneath the water line.

While this wasn't the ocean on Sternenheim, it was the next best thing Sarah could think of.

She allowed herself to do nothing and let her mind just slip away. Now that she was coming to a rest, she could feel her aching bones. Sarah wondered how long she must have laid in the dust, and in a very uncomfortable position. At least that's what her muscles were telling her. She opened her eyes and looked at her own knees that were above the water's surface. And then she took a deep breath and sank down until her head vanished beneath the surface. She stayed there for what felt like minutes and until her lungs started to crave for sweet oxygen. She came back up and took a deep breath as she felt how the hot water streamed down her face.

Sarah then pressed her hands against her face hand rubbed the water from her eyes. And when she opened them and looked at her hands, she sighed. All the time in the water had caused her skin to shrivel up.

"Guess I should get out of the tub if I don't want to end up looking like a Protoss." she whispered and closed her hands.

But then she frowned.

Something was wrong. She opened her hands again and noticed that they were just fine. Both hands.

And that's when she realized it.

The cut.

It was gone.

Her eyes widened in shock. She stood up and stared at her own hand. There was nothing wrong with it. Her hand looked as if she had never injured herself. The water streamed down her naked body, but all she could do was to look at her right hand.

For a second, she wondered if she had imagined things. Maybe she hadn't cut herself at all, maybe it had just been a dream. But no, it hadn't been a fabrication inside her mind, she was sure of that. She had cut her hand, there was no doubt about it. And it had been a deep cut, she remembered all that blood pouring out of it.

But now it was gone.

"Sarah? Are you okay?" she could hear Jim yell from below.

She should tell him. Perhaps it was nothing, but this wasn't normal. And he deserved to know what was going on.

"I don't know." she whispered, yet she knew that he could still hear her. Not exactly very reassuring, she knew that. But that was just the way it was. She dried herself off and then she slipped into some fresh clothes. When she stepped out of the bathroom, she could already smell dinner. And the moment she smelled it, her empty belly started to rumble. She felt famished! It was hardly surprising, considering the fact that she hadn't eaten anything since...oh boy, she couldn't even remember.

She walked down the staircase while continuing to stare at her own hand.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Jim said when he walked out of the kitchen and looked up as she arrived downstairs

"I... don't know. But I think something is happening. To me." she explained and was about tell him about her hand when suddenly the door was opened and someone entered their home.

"My Queen. You are awake." Izsha declared and looked over at Jim. "You were supposed to tell me if she would regain consciousness."

"Get over it." Jim mumbled before he walked back into the kitchen. As Sarah watched how he and Izsha looked at each other, she couldn't help but to grin. Those two were like two cats you put in a bag. When Jim vanished into the kitchen doing stuff, Izsha slithered up to Sarah and lowered her head in respect.

"Your Majesty, how do you feel?"

"Tired." Sarah replied truthfully. "And hungry. But hey, at least I feel clean. So that has to count for something, right?"

"If you say so." Izsha said, not really getting what Sarah was trying to tell her. Sarah could see doubts in her friend's gaze, and so she made a step forward and placed her palm on Izsha's cheek.

"Sorry for scaring you." Sarah whispered.

"I was not scared, my Queen." Izsha explained. "However, I would prefer if you would not do something like this again."

"Noted." Sarah chuckled. That's when her stomach rumbled again. She placed her hands on her belly and moaned in discomfort.

"Oh man, I could really use something to bite!" Those words were enough to make Izsha turn around towards the kitchen and straighten herself.

"James Raynor! Her Majesty requires something to eat! Have you prepared her meal yet?" When Sarah heard the commanding tone in Izsha's voice, she couldn't help but giggle. Jim, on the other hand, didn't seem to be that happy about Izsha's new found attitude.

"This is just great..." Sarah could hear Jim snarl. "...now there's a Zerg who's telling me to work faster! If Matt hears about that, he's gonna laugh his ass off!"

"James Raynor, the Queen wants to eat now and-"

"Five more minutes, dammit!" Jim barked. "Either you shut up, or you can do it yourself!"

"Very well. I shall do that." Izsha said and slithered towards the kitchen. That's when Jim stormed out of the room and blocked the entrance to the kitchen.

"Oh, hell no! No Zergs allowed inside the kitchen!" Jim snarled. "You stay out, you hear that?"

"This is unacceptable!" Izsha replied.

"I don't care! You are covered in dirt. And quite frankly, lady; you're starting to smell! And I won't let you into the kitchen, not until you wash your hands! And your head. And the goddamn rest of your body!"

"Zerg do not require to-"

"Yeah, yeah. I know!" Jim interrupted Izsha. "You don't need soap and knowledge of proper hygiene. Well, I don't care! If you can bury yourself in the ground, you can also clean all that dirt off your carapace!"

"I shall not do something like that." Izsha replied and both of them continued their bickering until Sarah couldn't help herself anymore and burst out into laughter. She leaned forward and slung her arms around her belly.

"BWAHAHAHAHA!"

"Is there something amusing you, my Queen?"

"What's so funny?"

Both looked at Sarah, yet all she could do was to continue laughing. It took her a while until she had calmed down enough to say something. She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and then she shook her head.

"You two are just like fire and water. Watching you bickering is fun. Better than watching TV."

"If that is what amuses you, my Queen, then I shall make sure to continue to amuse you by demanding James Raynor to work even harder."

"Oh no, you won't, you oversized sna-" Jim shot back, but then he was cut short when a new sound reached their ears. Sarah looked over at Jim and frowned.

"Do we expect guests?" she asked, but Jim looked just as surprised.

"No... what the hell?" It was a car. And it was getting closer. And it was doing so very fast. In fact, there was almost no time to react. Whoever it was, it sounded like the car would just crash through the wall.

"Oh, crap." Jim whispered. The car didn't break through their walk. Its front lights fell through their windows, and it blinded Jim for a second. Then someone opened the door of a car and they could hear how a person ran towards the house. And only then Jim realized that Izsha was still standing in the middle of the room.

"Shit! Izsha, get out! Hide!" he hissed.

"I do not take orders from you, James Raynor." Izsha explained with a calm voice, but Jim didn't care. Sarah realized that this could end badly, so she decided to give Jim a hand.

"Izsha, hide. Quickly!"

"As you wish, my Queen. Where?" But then everything was happening too fast. The person was already on the veranda and you could hear how it squeaked with every step. Jim looked around and then he pointed at the staircase.

"Up! Quickly, take her up!" he said. Sarah looked over to Izsha and gave her a quick nod. And Izsha? She slithered up the staircase faster than anyone with legs could have done and the moment the front door was ripped open, the tip of her tail vanished out of sight. And then she was gone, just in time.

"PAULA?!" Phil Carter shouted when he stormed into the house and looked around. "Paula, are you here?" Both Jim and Sarah exchanged surprised looks.

"Phil? What are you-" Jim asked, but the man just ran over to Jim and grabbed his arms.

"Jim, have you seen her? Have you seen Paula?"

"What? No. Why...why should I?" He could see the fear and panic in Phil's eyes. "Phil, what's the matter?" And when Phil said those next words, Sarah could feel how Jim's heart skipped a beat.

"She's gone, Jim. Paula is gone."

* * *

It took Jim several attempts until he managed to calm Phil down enough for the other man stop babbling gibberish. Only then Jim noticed that Paula's uncle looked like hell.

"Phil, what's the matter? Paula is gone? Has anything happened to her?" Jim asked, but all Phil could do was to press his hands against his eyes and fight the tears.

"Damn...just damn. I had hoped that she would be here." the older man mumbled and put his hand down. He then looked over to Sarah.

"Paula...she is always talking about you. Ever since she saw you for the first time, she couldn't stop saying that she wanted to see you. What the hell did you tell my niece?" he snarled and Sarah blinked in surprise.

"I..."

"Hey!" Jim barked and both of them looked at him. "Phil, Sarah has nothing to do with whatever is going on. I have no idea why your niece is always talking about Sarah. And neither does she. Right, Sarah?" he said and looked over at his lover. Sarah crossed her arms in front of her chest and then she looked Phil directly into the eyes. There was a lot of hostility on both sides, but in the end, Sarah just nodded.

"He's right. Sorry, but I have no idea why your niece always acts the way she does when I'm around. However, I promise you that I didn't tell her that she should come all the way out here and see me."

"See? Paula isn't here, Phil. But maybe we can help." Jim suggested. When Sarah heard that, she pulled her brows up.

 _Are you serious?_ she wanted to know, but she already knew that Jim was in fact very serious about this.

 _If you would be out there, I would ask anyone who could help me._ Jim replied and Sarah sighed. He walked up to Phil and knelt down right in front of him.

"Phil, pal...what happened?" His new friend looked Jim straight into the eyes and then he lowered his gaze.

"I... I checked for Paula, wanted to see if she was sleeping. That was yesterday. It was already the middle of the night when I looked after her, but she was...gone, just gone. I woke up the whole damn town, but no one had seen her."

"What about the Marshal? Is he searching for her?" Jim asked, but Phil only shook his head.

"The Marshal wasn't even in his office. Some say that he was in his apartment, but no matter how hard I knocked, no one would open." When Sarah heard that, she had to swallow hard. The reason why the Marshal wasn't around was because he was still suffering from the knockout Izsha had applied to him the other day.

"And the rest? Isn't there anyone else who could help?" Jim wanted to know.

"I tried to find the Shepherd, but he too is nowhere to be found." Phil said, and Sarah groaned on the inside. She had left Book with those hillbillies. He was probably still out there...

"Wait..." Jim then asked. "...just how long is Paula missing? When was the last time you actually saw her?"

"I... yesterday evening. Why?" When Jim heard that, his expression hardened.

"Then we have to hurry. We already wasted too much time." He walked over to the door and looked back at Phil. "Come on, we have to go back to New Thompson." When Phil heard that, he shook his head.

"No! Paula isn't there! I need to find her and-"

"You won't find her here! Trust me, we have to act quickly! If Paula is out there, she's in real danger. But we need a plan to find her. And manpower. A lot of manpower. And for that, we have to get back to the town."

"But what if she shows up here?" Phil asked.

"Pal, tell me, does Paula actually know where we live?"

"No..." the older man replied. Jim walked back to Phil and placed his hand on the other man's shoulder.

"Phil, listen. There's still hope, but we have to act quickly. I have done this before, I know what we have to do. But you have to get up and come with me _now_!" He could see the panic and the despair in Phil's eyes and he knew what he had to do. Jim was telling the truth, he had done this before. Back when he had been Marshal on Mar Sara, he had helped to find kids that had run away from home on three occasions. And in two cases, he had been able to return the brats to their parents.

The most important thing was the aspect of time; if Paula was somewhere out there, they had to hurry. Yet at the same time they shouldn't be too hasty, otherwise, they would just screw things up.

"We're gonna drive back to New Thompson. Then we will get the people to help us." Jim declared and then he looked over to Sarah.

"Sarah, you can stay here in case Paula actually finds the place. Besides, you had a rough day too."

"You're sure?" she asked and Jim nodded. He then turned his attention back towards Phil and grabbed the other man by the shoulder.

"Come on, we have to hurry. Let's get going." He dragged Phil with him like some kind of luggage. The older man looked like he had already given up on his niece. Jim knew that the chances of her being dead were pretty high, but as long as there was no body, there was still hope left. As they walked through the door and stepped on the veranda, Jim could hear Sarah's voice just behind him.

"Jim, wait!"

"What is it?" he asked and turned around. Sarah walked up to him and placed her hand on his chest.

"That's for what you said earlier." she whispered and then she kissed him.

Perhaps it was the worst possible moment to share a tender moment like this, but Jim allowed himself the luxury to just enjoy the kiss, at least for a short moment.

 _Go find her._ he could hear Sarah's voice in the back of his mind and when they broke the kiss, he looked into her eyes and nodded.

"I will."

And then they were on their way.

* * *

Under normal circumstances, you needed roughly one hour in order to reach New Thompson. If you were in a hurry, you could make it in forty minutes.

It took Jim and Phil 15 minutes. Jim parked the car right in front of Phil's house and when both men got out, he looked over to his friend.

"You go up and see if Paula is back. Maybe she has found her way back home on her own." Phil nodded.

"And what about you?" he wanted to know.

"I'm gonna check if the Marshal is finally in his office. Maybe we get lucky." Jim replied. He knew that their chances were slim, but right now he would take any help they could get. When he reached the Marshal's office, he walked up to the front door and tried to open it, but it was locked.

"Hey. HEY!" he barked and slammed with his hand against the door. "Marshal, are you there?" Markson's hellion was standing right in front of his office, so reason would say yes, he was home. However, no one came to open the door. And there was no light burning, so maybe the Marshal was out? Jim tried to get some results for a few more moments, but then he gave up and turned around.

"Now of all times I have to rely on divine intervention." Jim growled when he looked over to the church. In towns like New Thompson, preachers and priests were just as important as law enforcers. They could be the center of the cultural life in such a place, and on occasions, they were even more important than mayors.

Wait a second...now that Jim thought about it, didn't this town have a mayor?

Well, whatever. Right now, he had to get help. And that meant that he had to rally the people of the town around him and tell them to help him and Phil. He reached the church and stormed inside. Its doors weren't locked, yet when he stood inside the building and screamed Book's name, no one answered.

"Of course..." Jim snarled. "...the one time I need a priest, he's not around. I won't forget that, Book!" He stepped out of the church and looked around. That's when he saw how Phil ran towards him.

"Any luck?" Jim asked, but the look on the other man's face was answer enough.

"No. Nothing. What now?"

"Marshal's not there, neither is Book. We need to do this ourselves then."

"But how?" Phil wanted to know and Jim looked around.

"We need to get the people out. It's kinda late, so we need something that gets their attention even if they're already asleep."

"And how do we do that?" When Jim heard that question, he looked around. Maybe running through the streets of the town while screaming like mad? Na, people would just ignore them. That's when Jim looked around and realized that they were standing right in front of the church. A grin appeared on his face.

"There's no chance that they will ignore that!" he whispered to himself and ran back into the building.

"Jim? Jim! What are you doing?" Phil had to wait for a few moments before he would get an answer. It took Jim a while until he found what he was looking for. And when the bell of the church started to ring, Jim stepped out of the building and looked around.

"Let's see when they realize that something is wrong."

It took not even two minutes before the first people stepped out of their houses. Most of them looked confused, some frightened, and a few even mad.

"What's going on?"

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Is there a fire?"

"The Zerg! It's the Zerg, I tell you!"

"I'm going to punch whoever is responsible for that! I want to sleep!"

After a few more minutes a small crowd had gathered in front of the church.

"Why is the bell ringing? Where is the Shepherd?!"

"Everyone!" Jim barked and jumped on a crate. "Listen up! There's a reason why we woke you up. Someone is missing, and we have to search that person!"

"Someone's missing?" a woman asked. "Who?"

"Phil Carter's niece, Paula." Jim answered, and then he noticed how the people looked at each other and frowned. That was not the reaction he had expected, but there was no time to wonder about that.

"Now, I know that you had other things in mind when you went to bed, but we have to act quickly. I need every able hand. First, we're going to form search parties, then we will search the entire town and every...hey...HEY!" Jim barked when he saw how the first people turned away. "Where the hell you think you're going?!" One woman turned around and looked up at Jim.

"That crazy kid? She's probably hiding somewhere close by. There's no need to wake us all up just for that!"

"No!" Phil barked. "I checked everywhere, she's not here. Please, you have to help me with this!" However, the people had already made up their mind and were about to turn around.

"ARE YOU SHITTING ME?!" Jim screamed and got their attention. "There's a young woman out there! She's alone! Maybe she's injured! And you just want to get back to bed and ignore that?"

"She's not one of our people, she just came here with him." someone said and pointed his finger at Phil.

"Yes, and she is weird. The way she stares at us scares our kids."

"You would let someone die because she's a bit strange or different?" Jim barked. "No! You will help. Either that or I will make sure that all of Ramelow will know that the people of New Thompson rather want to go to their warm beds than to help those who are in need. You want to be called decent people? Well, here's the chance to prove it! And it's a one-timer, this chance won't come again. So, if you're gonna get up tomorrow and look into the mirror, what is it you want to see? Someone who helped when a young woman was lost, or someone who just didn't care about anything?" Sometimes, people are like sheep. And the only thing you have to do so they listen to you is to act like a wolf. And Jim? Well, he possessed that natural aura that inspired people. Jim could see how some people started to change their minds.

But that's when a new and all too familiar voice reached their ears.

"That's quite enough!" Marshal Markson barked when he walked towards the crowd. He rubbed his head and looked like he had just been sleeping.

"What...Marshal?" Jim shouted. "Where were you?"

"Sleeping, obviously." the Marshal growled before he looked around. "Okay, show's over. Everyone, get back home and back to sleep. There's nothing to see or do here."

"Wait...WAIT!" Jim screamed when he saw how the people started to disperse. He tried his best to stop the people, and there were plenty who looked like they wanted to help.

"That's enough!" the Marshal yelled. "You!" He then pointed with his finger at Jim. "You're nothing but trouble! I'm going to lock you up and throw the keys away!"

"Marshal! We need to send search parties out there! Paula Carter is missing!" Jim explained as he walked up to the younger man.

"Yes, I heard." the Marshal growled. "Ever since you came here and yelled like crazy."

"You...you heard how I knocked on your door?" Jim asked with a disbelieving tone in his voice.

"Of course, I was awake. Now get lost or I will really lock you up." It took Jim a few moments until he had finally managed to process all of that.

"Someone is missing!" he screamed at Markson. "It is _your_ duty to find this person!"

"You don't have to explain _my_ duty to me, Rennard." Markson growled again. "Last chance, get lost." However, Jim didn't think about doing as he was told. He walked up to Markson until their faces were only centimeters apart.

"We need to find the girl!" Jim hissed, but Markson looked like he didn't care at all.

"Yeah, we can look after her tomorrow."

"What?! No! We need to search her now!" Jim screamed. "If we lose any more time, then-"

"She's probably dead anyway." Markson suddenly explained. "So, what's the point if we find her body in the middle of the night or tomorrow. It will be cold and stiff anyway." Behind Jim, Phil gasped in shock. Jim could barely believe what he was hearing. He placed his hand on Markson's shoulder and stared him straight into the eyes.

"She's not yet dead! We have to find her!" Jim urged him one last time. However, Markson wasn't interested in that. Jim noticed how the Marshal's hand wandered to his pistol.

"I don't care. Just shut up and come with me. Quietly." Markson then looked over to Phil. "Oh, and sorry for your loss. Paula was a cute girl." There was a moment of silence when no one dared to say a word. The only thing you could hear was the ringing of the bell. After a while, Jim looked over his shoulder and sighed.

"Ah, screw it." he said to Phil.

And then he rammed his fist into Markson's stomach.

The Marshal gagged when Jim's fist rearranged his inner organs. He stumbled backward and lunged for his pistol, but he was too slow. Jim's other fist shot forward and hit the other man's head. Markson blinked one, two, three times, and made another step backward. Jim could actually see how the Marshal's pupils dilated.

"Not again..." was all Markson could say before he simply fell down and landed on his back. At first, no one said a word. Not until Jim looked around and stared each and everyone directly into the eyes.

"Anyone else wants to _not_ help us find Paula?" When no one dared to say anything, Jim nodded.

"Okay. Then let's get everyone up and running! I need a base of operations and the Marshal has just donated his office. How _generous_ of him. Now, every person who can carry their own weight and a flashlight shall gather in front of the office." Jim said. And when no one dared to move, he only added three words.

"GET TO IT!"

* * *

Sarah was tired, so very tired. Honestly? She was glad that Jim had decided to leave her behind. Under normal circumstances, she would have felt insulted. But not now. Now she was just glad that she could enjoy a hot bath, a warm meal, and then crush the couch. She decided not to go to bed but wait for Jim here. And besides, the couch was still pretty comfortable.

As she lay there, she couldn't help but stare at her own hand.

There was no doubt about it, the cut was gone. And she hadn't imagined it either.

"My Queen?" Izsha asked when she noticed Sarah's worried expression. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know." Sarah whispered. "I just don't know." She didn't really want to think about it. Not because she was scared, but because she didn't want to keep her hopes up. What if her powers were truly returning? Also, was a vanished cut enough of a proof for that?

Zeratul had told her that he had only dispersed her powers and that they would return in time. More than half a year had passed since that and so far, nothing had happened. Nothing at all. So why now all of a sudden? And why something so insignificant as a cut that would heal?

Sarah knew that she had to tell Jim about it. Now that they had managed to look into each other's eyes again, she didn't want to repeat the same mistake once more. However, right now there were more important things to worry about.

"Izsha...tomorrow, when things are back to normal, remind me that I have to tell Jim about the cut."

"The cut, your Majesty?"

"The cut." Sarah confirmed before she lowered her hand and closed her eyes. She was about to drift off to sleep while Izsha continued to watch over her. Until...

 _She's looking for you!_

The moment Sarah heard that voice inside the back of her mind, her eyes shoot open and she looked around.

"Did you say something?" she asked Izsha, who was resting right next to her.

"No, my Queen."

"That's...strange." Sarah whispered. "Guess I'm already hallucinating things. Great." She closed her eyes and was about to doze off again when suddenly...

 _You have to get up! The girl, she is in danger! And only you can save her!_ Now Sarah knew that she hadn't imagined things. It was that voice, the voice that almost sounded like her own. But only almost. She sat up and looked around in confusion. Izsha noticed that something was wrong and slithered towards her Queen.

"Your Majesty, is everything alright?"

"It's...it's that voice I told you about. The one that Jim and I hear from time to time." By now it was no longer a secret, and Izsha knew what Sarah was talking about.

"What does the voice tell you? What does it want from you?"

 _Please, you have to go! She's in danger! Her life is in peril!_

Only then Sarah realized who the voice was referring to. She jumped to her feet and stared over at the door.

"Paula?" she whispered in shock.

 _Sarah...please! She only wanted to see you! She's alone out there, and scared!_ Sarah gritted her teeth and looked over at Izsha.

"Paula...Paula's in danger!" Her friend only tilted her head to the side.

"Paula? The girl that seems to be infuriated with you?"

"She's out there, and she's scared." Sarah interrupted her. She could sense the seriousness in the voice's, well, voice. And even though she still had no idea who the owner of that voice was (though she assumed that it was a part of her mind that just wouldn't stop leaving her alone), Sarah knew that this was no ruse, or hallucination, or joke.

"Jim?" she whispered and tried to reach out with her senses. She tried to talk to him, but he was too far away and she was too exhausted to tell him what was going on. However, she could feel the fear in her mind, a fear that wasn't her own. It felt so strong!

"I need to go." Sarah suddenly said and Izsha pulled her brows up.

"Go? Go where?"

"I need to find her." Sarah explained and then she walked over to the door.

"My Queen? Where are you going?" Izsha asked. Sarah grabbed the car keys and opened the door. She wasn't really sure what she was about to do, but she knew that she had to go. She looked over her shoulder and gave Izsha a quick nod.

"I'm going to look for Paula. You stay here. If Jim comes back, tell him...tell him that I'll be back soon. If anyone else shows up...hide."

"Maybe I should accompany you." Izsha suggested but Sarah just shook her head. "No, better stay here. Don't worry, I don't intend to collapse again."

"As you wish, my Queen." Izsha replied and lowered her head in respect. Sarah left the house and walked over to the car. She got inside and started the engine. And then she looked at the dark horizon. It was a pitch-black night, but Sarah knew where she had to go. The voice inside the back of her mind felt suddenly so close, so powerful. It was as if the owner of the voice was right around the corner...

All Sarah knew was that she had to listen to that voice, and it would guide her to where Paula was...

* * *

Izsha remained behind. With nothing else to do, she thought about her options. However, given her lack of any real hobby, she didn't really know what to do. Until...

"...leavin' on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again..." Sarah's voice reached her from the other side of the house. A frown appeared on Izha's face when she listened to that song.

"My Queen?"

"...so many times I've let you down, so many times I fooled around..." the voice continued to sing. There was no doubt, it was coming from outside, from below the kitchen window. Izsha slithered out of the house and around the corner.

"...now the time has come to leave you, one more time, oh let me kiss you..." When Izsha noticed the figure sitting below the window, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Your Majesty, did you not want to search for this girl?" It was already dark, and that's why she didn't really notice that the figure in front of her wasn't Sarah. Not until the young woman turned her head around and looked up to Izsha.

"Hey, Izsha." When she realized that this woman wasn't Sarah, Izsha straightened herself. Perhaps every other person would have been perplexed, or scared, but not Izsha. She immediately recognized that voice the moment she understood that it didn't belong to Sarah.

"It is _you_..." she declared and squinted her eyes. "...you spoke to me...on Ulnar."

"You could always look right through me. That's why I never tried to lie to them when you were around. You know, when I made a mistake or screwed something up. They always bought my excuses, but you never did." And then a warm smile appeared on the young woman's face.

"I missed you, Izsha."

"Who...are you?"

"Someone who cares." the young woman answered.

"Cares? About what?" the former Zerg wanted to know, and the smile on the young woman's face became even wider.

"Everything." When Izsha heard that answer, she squinted her eyes.

"That is not a satisfying answer. Who are you?" she demanded to know. And then the smile on the young woman's face became almost absurdly wide. And not only that, the smile reminded Izsha of someone else. Someone who she wasn't really fond of, and someone who possessed the ability to drive her beloved Queen mad every two seconds.

"Tehehehe...yeah, that runs in the family, doesn't it?" the young woman snickered, and then Izsha frowned again.

"Who are you?" she demanded to know one final time.

"I'll tell you, but only if you promise to not tell anyone else. It's a secret." Under normal circumstances, Izsha would have never accepted this request. If her Queen would ask her what had transpired while she had been gone, her friend and advisor would tell her the truth. However, as she looked at the young woman, she felt something strange inside her mind.

Trust...

She knew that she could trust this young woman.

* * *

Driving through the dark night was nothing that would scare Sarah under normal circumstances. However, right now she felt scared. It wasn't her own fear, though. If felt as if those emotions were coming from somewhere else...from _someone_ else.

The road leading from their home to New Thompson wasn't a straight line. There was some rough terrain between those two points, and you actually had to drive in a wide circle to get to the town safely. However, right now Sarah didn't care for safely. She followed the voice that was telling her where to go. She was drawn to them like a moth to the light.

But was it just light? Or a fire that would burn her?

Jim would probably have told her that she was doing a mistake, but he wasn't around right now. Soon it became a bumpy ride when she left the road. The dampers of the car screamed in protest, but Sarah didn't care. The voice in the back of her mind told her that she had to hurry.

 _She's in danger. And she's getting weaker._

Something was wrong.

Sarah wasn't really thinking, she was just reacting. It was as if she was flying on autopilot. The sense of dread that filled her mind became almost unbearable, and Sarah could feel how her own breath started to become ragged. She grabbed her own shirt and started to pull it as if it would help her to breathe.

 _Please...you have to help her. She's almost out of time!_

"Hold on. Hold on, I'm close." Sarah whispered, not even knowing what the hell was going on right now. The car hit something, and Sarah was almost smashed against the roof liner, yet she didn't care. Right now, she was the godmother of all reckless drivers. She pushed the car to its limits and really wished that she would sit on a vulture bike right now. She hit another stone. And another one. Sarah would feel this in the morning, and so would the car. But she couldn't stop.

 _Help her!_

"Hold on! HOLD ON!" she screamed and slammed her fist against the steering wheel.

 _She's scared!_

And then the voice was gone.

"No! NO!" Sarah yelled and pushed the pedal down. She was way too fast and couldn't react in time. So when the car hit another rock, she cursed and tried to stay on course. However, it was too late. The impact was so powerful that the heavy jeep was thrown around. Metal screeched and Sarah could hear how something exploded. When Sarah realized that it was a tire, it was already too late. She could feel how the car leaned to the driver's side and hit the brakes. It took her all of her skills to keep the jeep on all four wheels, and in the end, she succeeded. However, when she stopped, it was so sudden that her head shot forward and slammed against the steering wheel.

Stars exploded in front of her eyes and a sharp pain shot through her whole body. It felt as if someone had punched her in the face. Lights danced through her field of vision, and when she regained her senses, she shook her head and looked out of the windshield. The headlights illuminated the landscape right in front of her.

All she could see were sand and rocks.

And something else...

Something big. Something that was alive.

It took Sarah a moment to make out any shape or form. The creature was big, roughly double the size of a Zergling. It walked on four muscular legs and had a reptilian body, including a long tail that was covered with spikes. When the light of the car disturbed it, it turned its head towards the car and hissed in anger and rage.

Sarah wasn't squeamish when it came to beasts. Having your own army of Hydralisks sure can be awesome. And one of her former underlings had been a huge oversized slug. But even then, she had to admit...

...that thing in front of her? It was damn ugly.

While the body reminded Sarah of a reptile, the head was just hideous. It was long and flat, and the eyes were on the opposite sides. It looked like an especially ugly hammerhead shark. But the teeth. Oh God, those teeth were truly something else.

They looked like needles. Long and thin and transparent. Drool was dripping from the creature's maw, and its yellow eyes looked directly at the car. It opened its maw and released an annoyed hiss, telling the newcomer that it didn't want to be disturbed.

Because if there's one thing a wild beast doesn't appreciate, it is when you don't let it eat in peace.

And that's when Sarah saw the lithe figure that lay right beneath that creature. It was a human. And when Sarah noticed all the blood, she realized that she had found two things.

The first thing was the girl. She recognized that pale face in an instant.

It was Paula.

And the other thing?

She had finally found a female kriecher.

The predator turned away from the girl and towards the car. It flexed its muscles and then it jumped forward, ready to rip the newcomer into pieces.

"Oh, shit!"


	93. Act IV - Chapter 9

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 9**

 **Wildlife Endangers**

* * *

„And they dare to call Zerg ugly." Sarah whispered as she stared at the kriecher in front of her. The creature hissed both in anger and annoyance. The headlights of the car were bothering it. However, when the newcomer didn't do anything, the kriecher decided that its hunger was more important. It turned its attention back to the unconscious young woman beneath it.

"No! NO!" Sarah screamed and hit the steering wheel. The horn of the car caused the kriecher to scream in surprise and then it turned towards the car once more. In the simply mind of this creature, something so loud could only be another creature, one that wanted to challenge it for its prey. But this beast wasn't willing to let someone else have its meal, not after it had followed it for hours. It didn't even recognize the car as a machine, but only as a potential competitor for food.

"You want to be left alone?" Sarah whispered. "Well, too bad. You're _not_ gonna eat her." She hit the horn again and the loud sound caused the kriecher to scream in rage. Was the sound painful? Or was it just irritating the kriecher? Sarah couldn't tell, but it hardly mattered. Since the newcomer didn't want to leave, the creature screamed even louder and showed its fangs to Sarah. And boy, she had never seen teeth like those! And she had seen plenty of teeth.

The critter didn't want to back down, it would fight for its prey. However, the car and its headlights were bothering it too much. And since the car didn't leave, all it could do was to attack.

"Holy shit!" Sarah screamed when the kriecher jumped forward and landed on the car's hood. Its claws tore through the metal and its tail came around before it smashed out one of the headlights. Suddenly it became a lot darker, but it was still too bright for the kriecher's taste. Sarah was so close to that critter, the only ting between her and it was the windshield. She had to come up with a solution. And fast!

She pressed her foot on the pedal and the car shot forward. The kriecher was surprised, but only for a second. It rammed its claws deep into the metal, trying to tear this strange and loud animal apart. Sarah turned the car hard to the right, hoping that the kriecher would fall off. Unfortunately, she didn't get far. A loud, screeching sound came from below the car. It sounded like metal grinding on metal and told her that the car needed more than just a few new dampers. She pushed the pedal all the way down, yet the car would no longer accelerate.

"Shit!" she cursed and looked up. The kriecher was still there, but something was different.

It was staring right at her.

"Oh, that's not good." The critter had only seen the car as some sort of animal, but now it realized that there was something fleshy inside. Its primitive mind told the kriecher the only important thing it had to know; there was more food inside the car.

"MOTHER OF-!" Sarah managed to scream when the kriecher broke through the windshield. She managed to open the door at the same time and fell out of the car. The kriecher dug its teeth into the driver's chair and started to rip it apart. She stared up at the creature, then over to Paula. Perhaps she should just grab the girl and run? No, that thing would hunt them down.

She had to come up with a plan, and she only had seconds to do so.

Luckily, there was one solution nearby.

The rifle!

Sarah rolled to the side and got back to her feet. She hurried over to the trunk and hoped that Jim hadn't taken the rifle out of the car, or this would be the shortest rescue operation of all times. She reached the trunk and ripped trunk lid open. And when she saw the gun case, she gasped in relief. However, that moment was short-lived.

The kriecher had finally realized that the thing in its mouth wasn't made out of tasty meat but leather and stuffing. And when it looked around, it could see how that tasty weak creature was on the other end of the car. It had even opened the trunk lid, how convenient! The kriecher crawled over the front seats and the rear bench and was about to throw itself at Sarah.

Sarah's eyes widened in shock when she realized that there was nothing between her and that beast. She grabbed the gun case and pulled it out when the kriecher jumped at her.

"UNF!" she gasped when critter slammed into her. She managed to raise the gun case just in time and used it as a shield. But even then, the weight and strength of the kriecher were more than enough to throw her on the ground. Sarah's head hit a stone, and suddenly stars exploded right in front of her eyes. This moment only lasted for a second, though. Sarah felt something hot and wet on her face and when her sight finally stabilized, she stared into the maw of that damn creature. And the hot and wet stuff on her face? That was drool.

"Get...off...me!" Sarah snarled, but the kriecher didn't care. It sniffed Sarah's scent and came to the conclusion that she was very tasty indeed.

There was nowhere else to go. And there was no one around. Damn, she should have brought Izsha along, then this wouldn't have happened.

Oh, the irony! That thing would bite her head off while she had a gun in her arms. And the last thing she would see were those ugly yellow eyes and-

Wait a second. The eyes!

The kriecher opened its maw even further and Sarah realized that this creature would have made a fine addition to the Swarm. Something between a Zergling and an Ultralisk. It certainly was ugly enough to give a marine a run for his money. So when it was about to sink its needle-like teeth into Sarah's throat, she grabbed a stone and rammed it into the side of the creature's head. The punch alone wasn't that strong, but she aimed for the eye and when the sharp stone hit its eyeball, it screamed in pain and rage and let go of Sarah.

She started to cough when suddenly the pressure was lifted from her chest, but there was no time to relax. She rolled to the side and opened the gun case. The rifle was still there and her body still remembered how to react when her life was threatened. She grabbed the rifle, pulled it up and pointed it right at the creature, all in less than two seconds.

A loud _ **BAM!**_ echoed through the night, and the bright flash of the gun blinded Sarah for a moment. She could hear how the creature howled in pain and hoped that she had scored a critical hit. But when she blinked the bright flash away, she could see that the kriecher was still standing.

"Oh shit..." she whispered and pointed her gun at the critter. From this distance, there was no way that she would miss. All she had to do was to point the gun at the kriecher's head and-

 **Click...**

When Sarah pressed the trigger and nothing happened, her eyes widened in shock. The clip was empty. She looked over at the gun case and could see a spare clip, but there was no time to grab it, reload and then shoot this beast. So all she could do was to stare at the kriecher and swallow hard.

"Jim? Can you hear me?" she whispered. But Jim wouldn't answer.

"Jim, there's something I want you to know." Sarah said as the kriecher turned its head around and looked at the blood flowing down its side. So Sarah had managed to injure it.

"I just wanted you to know...I love you." she said and then she closed her eyes.

What a shitty way to die. After everything she had been through, after everything she had endured. So this was how she would end, devoured by some random critter on a backwater world.

"Rrrrraaaaaa..." the kriecher snarled and opened its maw. It made a step forward. And then another one. And another one. It had almost reached Sarah when it...

...turned away and ran off into the darkness.

Sarah didn't know what to do or to say. She stared into the darkness of the night and asked herself what had just happened. Had she seriously wounded the kriecher? Or had she showed it that she too knew how to bite back. Sometimes, if an animal realizes that it might risk injuries, it will back down. Maybe that was the reason? Whatever it was, it took Sarah a while before she finally realized that she was shaking like crazy. The rifle fell out of her hands and she stared at her shaking hands.

That had never happened before. Why were her hands shaking so hard?

Sarah closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths in order to calm down, but it barely worked. It was pathetic, really. She had endured so much more, yet right now all she wanted to do was to roll herself into a ball and cry.

"Sarah..." When Sarah heard the voice, she turned her head to the side and stared at the figure that lay a couple of dozen meters away. The headlight of the car shined on her and Sarah groaned in discomfort when she got back on her feet and slumped over to the young woman.

She reached Paula and fell on her knees. There was a lot of blood, and at first, Sarah thought that she was too late. But then she looked into Paula's eyes, and the younger woman looked right back at her.

"You...came..." Paula whispered. She was ghostly pale, even more so than usual. Was it because she was still in shock? Because her body was getting too cold? Or because she had already lost so much blood? Perhaps all three of those reasons combined? Sarah placed her hand on Paula's forehead and frowned.

"That voice...was that...you?"

"I wanted to see you, Sarah. And she said that it was okay. She told me that I shouldn't be worried. And she was right, you came for me." Paula replied as if that statement made any sense.

"You could...have called." Sarah panted, and then she frowned.

"That voice...that was you?" she asked again.

"I wanted to...talk to you." Paula whispered, not really answering Sarah's question.

"Why?" Sarah wanted to know, but she already knew the answer.

"Because you are like me." Paula said. "And I always wanted to meet someone who's like me."

"Somehow I have my doubts about that." Sarah mumbled and then she looked around. She stood up and slumped back to the car, but when she looked inside, she could see that the kriecher had trashed the place. The steering wheel had been ripped off and there was no way for her to use the car to get her and Paula to safety. So what else was there to do? What could she do? She walked to the trunk and got the first aid kit out before she returned to Paula and started to take a good look at the younger woman's wounds.

"Hold still." she whispered and started to check Paula's injuries. There were a lot of cuts and bruises, but nothing life-threatening. Well, aside from the fact that there was a lot of blood covering Paula's clothes. Sarah did her best to patch the girl up until she saw Paula's feet.

"Oh, hell..." Sarah groaned. "...where are your shoes?"

"Home." was the only thing Paula answered and the older woman shook her head.

"You walked all the way out here barefoot? Look at your feet, they look...not good." She didn't want to scare the girl, but Paula's feet were in very bad shape. She wouldn't go anywhere for a while.

"I wanted to see you." Paula mumbled and Sarah sighed.

"Of course, you wanted to see me. Everyone wants to see me." she growled and then she looked back to the car. There was no way that she could use it to drive back home. And there was another problem. While driving here, she hadn't paid attention to her surrounding area. She could follow the tracks of the car and try to get back home. Though seeing the tracks in the darkness would be tricky like hell. And then there was still that kriecher. What if that damn thing decided to return? Sarah started to chew on her lip and realized that she had to come up with a solution.

"Should have stayed in bed." she whispered. But then she got back on her feet and walked over to the gun case. She grabbed the rifle and reloaded it. She then slung the weapon over her back and returned to Paula.

"What...what are you doing?" the younger woman whined when Sarah grabbed her and lifted her up.

"Something stupid. Now shut up and take a deep breath. This is going to hurt."

"Hurt? Hurt hoUUUUOOO!" Paula howled when Sarah threw the girl over her shoulder.

"Yeah, it's not a very comfortable ride. But it's all we got right now." Thankfully, Paula wasn't very heavy. Sarah groaned when she felt how her muscles started to ache. Phew, she truly was out of shape. When Zeratul had reshaped her body, he could have at least given her the physical prowess she had possessed during her prime.

"Stupid Protoss..." she hissed and looked around. She was about to walk back home, but then she could see some lights in the distance.

"That's...New Thompson." she concluded. It looked like she was closer to the town than home. She didn't want to go there, but it was the most logical choice. And so she sighed once more before she started to march into the direction that would lead her to New Thompson.

Eventually.

* * *

When Shepherd Book finally reached New Thompson, he realized two things. The first thing was that his feet were killing him. Seriously, he had walked all the way from the hillbillies' hut back to New Thompson using only his feet. The same feet that felt like they were about to fall off.

He was not a young man anymore! His thighs were burning and every step hurt like hell. Well, it had hurt like hell until a few hours ago. Now he didn't even feel his own legs anymore. He did feel his feet, though.

Did he mention that his feet hurt like hell?

Because they did.

He was a man of God, and therefore above such things as anger and vengeance, but right now he felt the urge to get a car and use it to run Sarah over.

So yeah, the first thing he noticed when he finally reached New Thompson was the fact that his feet were killing him. And the other thing? Well, it was the fact that the entire town was on its feet. Several groups of people were running around like they were looking for something. They had turned on every light in the town, and every now and then you could hear someone yell something like "Over here! She could be behind these crates! I need some help!"

"Just what the hell is going on here?" Book mumbled, only to realize what he just had said. He looked up to the night sky and pulled his shoulders up. "Sorry." he apologized to his boss before he shook his head and stumbled towards the center of the town.

"Hey. Hey!" he yelled to one man, who was leading a group of five out of the town. "What's going on? Why is everyone on their feet?"

"We're looking for her now." the man just replied and Book frowned.

"Her? Who's her?"

"The girl! Who else! Hey, go to the Marshal's office. The boss is looking for every able hand to coordinate the search!" There were one thousand different things that Book wanted to ask the man, but at the same time, he was too baffled to ask even one question. There was a search operation going on? What had happened while he was gone? Book's body screamed for some well-earned rest, all he wanted to do was to get into his bed and sleep. However, he was no fool, he recognized a crisis when he saw one. And right now, he had to find out just what was going on. He slumped over to the Marshal's office and could see that almost half of the town had gathered in front of the building. Some of them looked like they had just returned from a long walk, others as if they were about to leave.

When Book reached the office, he had to force his way into the building. There were simply too many people inside that office.

"We searched the area near the Old Craig Riverbed. We checked everything here...and here." Someone had thrown everything out of the office, except for a big table with a lot of maps on it. That's when Book heard another voice, but because there were so many people mumbling, he couldn't really tell who it was. Though it had to be the Marshal.

"What about the area between those two places?" the Marshal asked.

"It's rough terrain. We tried to climb it down, but it's just too risky. If you want, we can try again and-"

"No!" the Marshal replied. "You did the right thing. The first thing you have to keep in mind when trying to save someone is that you don't get yourself into danger. We mark the area and will check it again when the sun rises. Now, how about this area?" he asked and as Book managed to fight his way towards the table, he could see how the Marshal pointed his finger at a spot on the map.

"That's...kriecher breeding ground. Without weapons, no one goes there. And we don't have any weapons." someone explained and the Marshal cursed.

"Damn. Then we can only hope that she didn't walk that way." That's when Book heard another voice. It belonged to Phil Carter.

"Oh, God. If she's out there...those beasts, they are going to ki-"

"Hey! HEY!" the Marshal barked, and Book could see how a man ran up to another one. Those two had to be the Marshal and Carter. "It's okay, yes? We don't know that yet. Okay? Deep breaths, you hear me?" As Book closed in on those two, he was surprised. He had never realized that the Marshal actually cared about other people. Maybe he had misjudged him all along and-

That's when the Marshal turned around and Book realized that this man wasn't the Marshal at all.

It was James Rennard.

"Phil, I know you want to stay here. But maybe you should go home and rest. If anything happens then-"

"No!" Phil refused. "If anything happens, if you find her...I want to know." There was so much fatalism in Phil's voice, yet all Jim did was to place his hand on the other man's shoulder and show him a sympathetic smile.

"Hey. We're gonna find her, yes? Everything will be alright!" All Phil could do was to stare into Jim's eyes and believe him. When he nodded, Jim gave him a smile and pointed with his finger at the door behind him.

"Maybe you could check on the kid, see how he's doing."

"Don't know if I want to." Phil snarled. "That asshole can rot in hell for all I care." Jim was about to reply something when he turned his head to the side and spotted Book for the first time.

"Well, well, well. Who do we have here? Book, where have you been and... holy hell, you look like crap!"

"It is good to see you too, Mister Rennard." Book said with a dry tone in his voice. "Especially when I consider that it is your wife that's responsible for my sorry state."

"We're not married." Jim shot back.

"Noted. Now, just what the hell is going on here?"

"Shouldn't a shepherd _not_ curse like that?" Jim wanted to know, but Book just shook his head.

"There are moments when you have to be polite, and there are moments when you just have to know what the _hell_ is going on, James. Speaking of which..." he asked and then looked around. "...what the hell _is_ going on here?" Both Jim and Phil exchanged looks and sighed.

"Paula is missing." Jim then said. "We're currently trying to find her. We got everyone on their feet and search parties all over the place."

"Paula is gone? Where is she?" Book asked.

"Shepherd, if we would know that then we wouldn't have this discussion." Jim shot back and Book had to admit that the other man had a good point there.

"Then...where's the Marshal?" he wanted to know and Jim pointed behind him.

"He's in the brig, taking a nice dirt nap. Things got a bit hectic. I guess he won't be too happy when he wakes up and sees me. Maybe he's gonna try to shoot me. Good thing that I hid his gun in a safe place."

"And where would that be?" Book asked.

"I tell you once this shit show is over. Now, if you don't mind, I have a rescue operation to coordinate." Jim said and turned his attention back towards the next group that had just returned. They showed him the places on the map they had checked and Jim marked them with a pen.

"Good. Take a breather, boys. And grab something to eat. You got thirty minutes, then I need you to check this area over here." Jim placed his finger on the map and one of the men groaned.

"We will be all by ourselves out there!"

"So is Paula." Jim replied and looked the men into the eyes. "Listen, I know that this sucks. But she's still out there. She's alone, she might be injured. She's most definitely scared. And we are her only hope. So suck it up, people. 30 minutes, then I want you out there." Much to Book's surprise, no one tried to come up with an excuse. All men just nodded and then they were on their way. Two more groups arrived, and Jim gave them the exact same orders.

Book couldn't help but be impressed. It was clear that Jim had done this before, he controlled the situation with a calm mind and a clear eye. He inspired confidence in the people around him, that much was certain. Another group arrived, this time it was some women.

"We checked every alleyway we could find, but there is no sign of the girl."

"Thanks. You too should take a break. After that I want you to check all the roofs of all the buildings. Maybe Paula is still up there." And so Jim continued to coordinate this whole show. Book was still tired, but seeing the entire town in such a buzz released so much adrenaline that he couldn't just go to bed.

"Is there anything I can do?" Book wanted to know and Jim looked over his shoulder.

"You could make sure that the Marshal won't kill me once he wakes up." the younger man growled and an exhausted smile appeared on Book's face.

"He's in the back?"

"Yeah." Jim said. "I put him in a cell."

"Why did you do that?" Book wanted to know. That's when Phil intervened.

"Because that _asshole_ just wanted to let Paula die, that's why!" he barked and Book pulled his brows up.

"He...what?" When Jim heard Books surprised question, he sighed.

"He didn't want to search for her. And he said some rather...stupid things. Let's just say that I'm pretty certain he and I won't become friends in this life anymore."

"Stupid things? Dear Lord, I'm gone for a few hours and when I return the whole world has gone mad!" Book barked and Jim laughed when he heard that.

"Hehehe, usually I'm the one who gets sucker punched all the time. So I don't have much pity to spare right now. At least until we find Paula. Now excuse me, I need a coffee." Jim said before he walked over to the coffee machine in order to get a steaming hot pot.

"Maybe I can try to reason with the Marshal?" Book offered.

"Good luck with that." Jim mumbled and turned his back towards the Shepherd. Book sighed and walked out of the office and into the room with the three cells. They had placed the Marshal in the cell on the far left and he was lying on a cot. Book stepped in front of the cell and looked at the young man whose eyes were still closed.

"This could get messy." Book mumbled to himself. It was enough, however, to make Markson open his eyes. He turned his head around and looked straight at Brook.

"Well, look who's here. Have you come here to laugh at me too, Shepherd?"

"Do you see me laughing, son?" Book wanted to know, but all Markson did was to snarl in anger. He turned his head away and showed his back to the Shepherd.

"Once I'm out here, I'm going to throw this bastard into this cell and let him rot forever!"

"That would be unwise, Son."

"Stop calling me "Son", Shepherd." Markson hissed. "Assaulting a law enforcement officer is a crime. And Rennard will pay for that." Well, maybe Book wasn't of much use out there, but he knew a troubled soul when he saw one. He walked over to a bench and sat down.

"Oh, this feels good. I was already thinking that my feet would fall off." he groaned and then looked over to the Marshal. "I heard that you didn't want to search for young Miss Carter. Is that right?"

"What's the point?" Trevor asked. "If she's out there, then she's most likely already dead. And I don't plan on wasting my time on a pointless rescue mission."

"I see." Book whispered. "Marshal...Trevor. I understand that right now you're angry, furious even. But I want you to understand that James Rennard is not your enemy. He is trying to help, and so should you."

"Go to hell, Shepherd." was all Markson replied and Book sighed. That man sure was a piece of work.

"Very well. Tell you what, I'm going to get you something to eat. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great, Shepherd. Say, why don't you get some steaming hot chilly and shove it up your own ass? How does that sound?"

"Painful." Book admitted. "Still, I guess you should eat something. Let's see if I can find something and-"

"Don't bother looking!" someone suddenly barked and Book looked over his shoulder. It was Phil Carter. "This guy can go hungry tonight." Trevor Markson looked over at the burly man and mumbled something very unfriendly, but then he just rolled to the side and showed his backside to the other two men again.

"You don't believe that. This situation is already dire, what we need now is to work together in order to find Paula and-"

"I won't work with this guy!" Phil hissed and pointed with his finger on the Marshal. "He didn't even consider looking for my girl. As far as I'm concerned, he can rot in this cell."

"Now, that is no solution and you know it. There's still someone out there that needs help. Marshal, I'm sure that we all could use your help. If you want, I can talk to Rennard. If we all work together then-"

"Just give it a rest." Phil interrupted him. "Jim already tried that. The kid here only yelled at him, telling him that he would rip him a new one. He's not interested in helping anyone. He's just a young punk with a gun and a badge and if you take those away, he's just a young punk." When Phil said that, Book could see how Trevor's whole body started to shake in anger.

"Now that is a harsh judgment, Mister Carter. Perhaps you should leave this to me and go see how James is doing. Let me deal with this." Book suggested. He could see the anger in Phil's eyes, but the burly man knew better than to waste any more time on Trevor.

"Fine. Maybe you can ask your boss why he didn't put a soul into this guy's chest." Phil then turned away and walked out of the room. All Book could do was to sigh.

"Now that is a fine mess you people made while I was gone..." he whispered and looked back at the Marshal. "Marshal...Trevor. Why did you not want to help them find Paula?"

"What's the point? There's nothing we can do anyway. You know that as much as I do." Markson replied. "If she's out there, she probably broke her neck because she stumbled and fell down a ridge. Or some kriechers have found her. In that case...well, it's better if we won't find her body."

"You can't be serious." Book replied. "This girl is part of this community. She's an innocent young woman that made a mistake. She shouldn't have to suffer because of that!"

"She's not even a local!" Markson hissed back and Book frowned.

"Say what?" When the Marshal heard that question, he got off the cot and walked back to the cell's door.

"It means that everything was nice and peachy before all these outsiders came here. And I kept the people safe. Now those damn newcomers are here and they cause nothing but trouble. They even instigated a revolt against me! Look around, the people don't even care about the fact that _I'm_ the one who represents the law out here!"

"Forgive me if I'm that blunt, but your decision to not help to find Paula is...questionable."

"Oh really? What do you know, Book? What do you know about this place and its people? You're just like them, like Rennard and Carter. You're an outsider. I was born here, these are _my_ people. Yet you and Rennard and Carter, you come here and act like you always lived here, like you're best buddies with everyone." There were so much anger and bitterness in Markson's words. Book was surprised by the sheer amount of hatred the Marshal spat at him.

"That is how things are, Marshal. People come and people go. And they rely on people like you to keep the order."

"Yeah?" Markson replied. "And what about me? What about what I want? No one gives a turd about that. The people used to listen to me, but now? All it took was for this bastard Rennard to knock me out and everyone was following his orders. I swore myself that I would never be pushed around again, Book. When I'm getting out of here, I'm gonna-"

"You don't want to finish that sentence, Son." Book said with a soft tone in his voice. "Let me help you. Let us talk. It's clear that something is bothering you, tormenting you. I only see that now, and for that I'm sorry. But I am here now, so let us talk about it."

"Go fu-"

That's when suddenly people started to shout and scream. Both Markson and Book turned over to the door and frowned.

"What's going on out there?" Book whispered and slumped over to the door. He walked back into the office, and the first thing he noticed was that everyone in the room had a look of surprise, shock, and relief on their faces. Book looked over at James and could see that the expression on the man's face was a mixture of surprise, worry, and pride. Phil Carter was standing right next to him and his expression was equally puzzling. It looked like he was both happy and sad at the same time. Tears were streaming down his face and he was stuttering strange un-words. Only then Book followed their gazes and looked over to the door. And that's when his eyes widened as well.

"Hey, boys..." Sarah panted as she stood in the doorframe, the unconscious body of Paula over her shoulder and the rifle slung over. She was covered in sweat and dust and looked like hell. "...I was going for a walk and look what I found by accident."

"PAULA!"

"SARAH!"

Both Jim and Phil stormed forward and finally, the rest of the people started to move towards the exhausted woman. And not one second too soon. They pulled Paula off her shoulders and Sarah wanted to make a step forward, but then she stumbled. She fell forward and almost landed flat on her face. But instead of cold wood, her face touched Jim's chest. He caught her and put his arms around his lover just in time.

"Put her down! Put her down!" someone barked and they placed Paula on a bench that was still inside the office. Book watched the whole scene and couldn't help but to sigh in relief. He watched how Phil knelt down next to his niece and started to cry like a little child. He didn't care that pretty much everyone inside the room was staring at him.

"Paula! Speak to me! What...what...WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" But Paula wasn't answering.

"Her lights went out a while ago." Sarah mumbled. "But she's fine otherwise. Just do me a favor, bind her down for the next couple of...years. I don't want to do that anytime soon." All Phil could do was to nod like crazy.

"Thank you. Thank you, Sarah." Phil stuttered and Sarah sighed.

"Yeah, well...I think I want to go home now." She then looked up to Jim and could see his worried yet proud expression.

"What-" he wanted to ask Sarah, but she just placed a finger on his lips and made him shut up.

"Not today, love. All I want is to go to bed. Oh...and I kinda ruined the car. Oops." she explained, and that's when she felt how her legs were starting to give out on her. "Unf..."

"Sarah!" Jim shouted, but she just chuckled.

"Hehehe, I think I'm pretty out of shape. I guess I should start doing some workout. Back in the day...I would have done this as a warm-up. Hey, before I forget it, I could really use a new pair of hiking boots. My feet are killing me." Sarah said and a warm smile appeared on Book's face when he heard that. He could relate to that.

"How...what?" Jim stuttered, but then Sarah pressed her lips on his and gave him a long kiss.

"I will tell you everything later on. Now...I just want to get back home. Don't make me say "please", yes?" she then told him and Jim nodded. He then looked at one man and gave him a quick nod.

"Call the search off. Tell the people that we got her." Only then the people around them seemed to realize that what had just happened. When people are under a lot of pressure and stress, they sometimes react slower than usual. But then the guy Jim was talking to finally realized what he was telling him. And that's when a big grin appeared on the man's face. He stormed out of the office and only seconds later you could hear his voice echoing through the streets of the town.

"We got her! We got the girl! She's alive!" And only then the pressure finally started to fall off the people's shoulders. They started to cheer and yell, some hurried over to Phil and patted him on the shoulders while he was still crying like a newborn baby.

It only took a few moments until thunderous cheering could be heard outside. The news spread fast and soon the whole town was celebrating. There weren't many things people could enjoy these days. The fact that they had found the girl meant that the search had been a success. It didn't matter that Sarah had saved Paula, in the end, the only thing that mattered was that they had searched for a missed girl and she was back. Alive.

Outside, the sun was finally rising and the people were gathering in front of the Marshal's office. And it didn't take long for the people of New Thompson to decide that it was time to celebrate. And as Jim looked around, he could see so many smiling faces. As a matter of fact, he hadn't seen so many smiling faces in a long time.

"I have no idea how you did it, Darlin'..." he whispered to Sarah. "...but you did it." And then he looked at the woman in his arms and wanted to tell her how proud he was of her.

But that's when he realized that Sarah had already fallen asleep while resting in his arms...

* * *

When Sarah woke up, she could feel every muscle in her body. Seriously, there was not a single cell inside her body that didn't feel sore. Even her eyelids felt like they were made out concrete, and it took her several attempts until she finally managed to open her eyes. When she looked up, she realized two things. The first one was that she was staring at the ceiling of their bedroom. And the second one was that it was already midday.

Sarah turned her head to the side and looked out of the window. The sky was blue and the weather was wonderful. Someone had opened the window and a warm breeze entered the room and brought the smell of fresh air with it.

And there was something else, something that smelled delicious.

Food. Someone had prepared something to eat. Well, there was only one person who could be responsible for that.

"Jim?" she mumbled and looked around, but he wasn't there. Instead...

"My Queen. You are awake." Sarah rolled her head to the side and could see the large figure of Izsha standing right next to the bed. Though there was something odd about her. For some odd reason, Izsha looked...different. As if she was a lot shinier than before...

"Not sure if I'm happy about that." Sarah mumbled. "I feel like a train hit me. How long was I out?"

"One day." When Sarah heard that, it took her a moment to process that.

"Say what? One day? Seriously?"

"Seriously." Izsha replied. "Now that you are awake; how do you feel, my Queen?"

"Sore. Very sore." Sarah groaned and tried to get out of bed. It took her several attempts until she managed to place her feet on the cold wooden floor. And when her feet touched the ground, she groaned even harder.

"Oh hell, my feet are killing me." Sarah sighed and thought if she should just go back sleeping. But then her belly started to rumble.

"Do you require sustenance, my Queen? I shall inform James Raynor immediately."

"Where is Jim anyway? Is he home?"

"Yes. He returned a few hours ago and brought the vehicle back you used to save the girl." Izsha informed her about what had happened so far. Sarah looked up at Izsha and frowned.

"The girl...Paula. How is she?"

"I do not know. I believe James Raynor knows more, but he has failed to inform me. If you want, I can bring him here so he can answer your questions and-"

"That..." Sarah interrupted her friend. "...won't be necessary. Better get up and get down there myself. If I remember correctly I wanted to talk to Jim anyway. Now's as good as any time." Sarah stood up and groaned. Every damn fiber of her body ached. She had been through worse, but now that there was no war going on, she felt the urge to just crawl back into the bed and call it a day. She walked towards the door, but on her way there she stumbled and almost fell flat on her face. Izsha was faster, though. She slithered forward and put her arms around Sarah, keeping her from falling down.

"Whew, that was close." Sarah sighed and looked up at Izsha. "Thanks. I guess I should ask for a wheelchair and...wait a sec...Izsha, why do you smell like soap?" For a long time, Izsha didn't say a word. When she finally answered, she didn't have much to say.

"I do not wish to talk about this, my Queen."

"Wait, what? You're having secrets from me?" Sarah wasn't scared or insulted, she was actually amused.

"No, your Majesty. I do not wish to have secrets from you." There was an awkward expression on Izsha's face. It was almost as if she felt highly uncomfortable right now. "It is just that...I do not wish to talk about it."

"Why you smell like soap?" Sarah chuckled.

"Yes."

"Now that I look at you...you do look kinda shiny. Shinier than usually anyway. Is that..." Sarah guessed and Izsha sighed.

"James Raynor forced me to...clean myself if I wanted to stay by your side." For a second Sarah didn't say anything. But then she started to snicker.

"He...he made you wash yourself?! Hahahaha!"

"I am glad that it amuses you. It was not my choice." Izsha explained.

"Then why did you do it?" Sarah wanted to know and Izsha tilted her head to the side.

"He told me that since your body is no longer as durable as it used to be, we should be more careful. That includes, and I shall quote James Raynor, "a higher hygienic standard"." When Sarah heard that, she couldn't help but ask the most important question.

"Did you wash behind your ears as well?"

"I beg your pardon?" Izsha asked and Sarah waved her hand.

"Nothing. Nothing. It's...you look good, Izsha. A lot shinier. Soap is good for your carapace, you should do it more often!" Izsha was about to reply something, but then she just sighed and lowered her gaze.

"As you wish, my Queen." That's when Sarah's stomach started to rumble again. She groaned and placed her hand on her belly.

"I guess I should eat something." she mumbled and then she walked out of the room and headed downstairs. Every step made her groan. Boy, she only wanted to eat something and then lay down again. Maybe she should take a bath? Oh, now that sounded like a good idea. When she reached the end of the staircase, she looked around.

"Jim?"

"Oh, look who's finally awake. Hey, how are you feeling?" Jim asked when he stepped out of the kitchen and walked up to her.

"Like shit." Sarah said, but there was a smile on her face. "Jim, listen, I-" But before she could finish that sentence and say that she wanted to talk, Jim reached her and put his arms around her.

"I'm sorry, Sarah. For all the things I said. I didn't want to argue with you, I was just...and idiot." Well, no argument here. Sarah put her arms around Jim's waist and just enjoyed the moment. After everything that had happened, this was just what she needed; someone to hold her.

"I'm damn proud of you, you know that?" Jim whispered. That statement caused Sarah to chuckle.

"Because I wrecked the car? Or ran off by myself?"

"Because you saved that girl, all by yourself. I couldn't have done that. No one could. It was beyond stupid, but you did it. Guess you don't need me watching over you after all." When Sarah heard that, she looked Jim into the eyes and a cocky smile appeared on her face.

"Maybe not. But you make one fine mother hen." she chuckled.

"Noted." Jim replied and then they shared a long kiss. Sarah didn't want this moment to end, but at one point she just had to sit down. So she stopped kissing Jim and slumped over to the couch. It was that moment Izsha slithered down from upstairs and placed herself right behind Sarah.

"I know another mother hen." Jim mumbled when he saw the snake lady, and Sarah had to chuckle when she heard that. She sat down and put her legs up.

"I heard you two were quite busy while I was out." she said and both Jim and Izsha exchanged annoyed looks.

"We managed...to find some common ground." Jim growled. "Had to work out a few things, though. And we're still working on some more."

"So it would seem. I heard you got the car back?" Sarah asked and Jim nodded. He walked over to the armchair and sat down as well.

"Well, what's left of it anyway. Some folks from town helped me to follow the tracks and haul it back home. Just what the hell did you do to the car?"

"Long story. And it involved a kriecher. A very big, very ugly, and very angry kriecher."

"A flourpion did this?" Jim asked and Sarah sighed.

"Trust me, their females don't look anything like a flourpion. More like a miniature hybrid."

"You killed it?" Jim wanted to know, but Sarah just shook her head.

"No. But I think I impressed it a bit. Or at least annoyed it. Anyway, I don't intend to do that again anytime soon."

"I am glad to hear that, my Queen." Izsha said and Sarah chuckled. She then looked back at Jim and frowned.

"What about Paula? Is she...?"

"She's fine." Jim said and then he pulled his shoulders up. "Well, not really fine, but she's alive. And she will recover. You should be careful though, I think Phil is going to build a shrine in your honors."

"Ha! Finally, someone recognizes my value. A shrine is a good start. More people should worship me. It would make things so much easier." Sarah declared and Jim couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, how I missed that humble woman." he told her and both of them laughed for a while. Sarah rolled her head back and stared at the ceiling for a while before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

 _Better now than never._ she thought to herself and knew that Jim could hear her thoughts. She knew because she made sure that he could hear them.

"Better what now than never, Darlin'?" Jim wanted to know and Sarah sighed again.

"Jim, we need to talk."

…

…

…

There was a strange moment of silence, and Sarah could feel how a clump of ice formed inside her stomach. Suddenly she was not so hungry anymore. What was most surprising though was the fact that she could feel that Jim was feeling the same way.

"Yeah..." he mumbled and then both stayed quiet for a while.

"This is ridiculous." Sarah said after a while. "We're both adults, this shouldn't be so hard."

"Trust me, that's normal. And the older you become, the harder it gets." Jim told her and Sarah groaned. Well, here goes nothing...

"Paula...I think she's psionically gifted." she said and Jim looked over at her.

"Wait, what?" Sarah rolled her head to the side and looked her lover straight into the eyes.

"That voice we heard? Remember, the one that kept pestering both of us? It guided me to her. I didn't really get it back then because...well, I haven't felt psionics for a while now. Guess I'm getting rusty. But there's no doubt about it, she is a psionic."

"Wait a second, we've been hearing that voice for months now, ever since you, well..."

"Ever since I returned from the Void, yeah." Sarah agreed. "But right now, I have no other explanation. Either it was Paula all along, or someone else is behind that voice."

"Sarah, I don't want to question your expertise on this one..." Jim wondered. "...but we heard her voice for so long, before we even met her. And I'm pretty sure she was never on Augustgrad, yet I heard her there as well. And on Sternenheim. Are you certain that Paula is the one talking to us?"

"I..." Sarah began, but then she realized that Jim had a good point. "...don't know. I can't say for certain. However, what I am absolutely certain of is the fact that she's psionically gifted."

"You mean she's a Ghost?!" Jim asked, and suddenly a million nightmarish thoughts entered his mind. Like what if someone had caught them?

"No, I don't think so." Sarah replied and looked back at the ceiling. "At first, I didn't get it because I haven't dealt with her kind in ages. She's psionically gifted but completely untrained. That's probably the reason why she acts so weird. She never learned to use her powers. Paula probably can't even tell the difference between her own thoughts and those of other people. I've seen that before, some Ghost-trainees were suffering from those conditions. Usually, they were never deployed as agents or field operatives but used for tests..." Sarah stopped when some unpleasant memories emerged. It took her a while before she said something else.

"I wonder how she managed to stay off the grid, though. The Confederacy was frighteningly effective when it came to tracking down gifted children."

"Yeah, I know..." Jim whispered when he remembered Johnny and how the Confederacy had found out about him. The answer to that question was both simple and horrible at the same time and could be explained in one single word.

Denunciation.

The Confederacy had paid a hefty sum for all kind of information from all kind of sources. So many friends and neighbors had sold each other out back then, and Jim was certain that someone he had known on Mar Sara had done the exact same thing. Only that's why people had asked to "test" Johnny.

"Phil worked as a legal advisor. Maybe he knows and had kept it a secret." Jim mused.

"Or he is more than he claims to be." Sarah said and Jim realized that she had a good point.

"So many years have passed, yet the cold grip of the Confederacy still lingers on. It's like a goddamn ghost that keeps haunting people from beyond the grave." he mumbled and shook his head. "Well, that complicates things. She said something about "Keeping our secrets hidden" when I talked to her. Do you think she...knows?"

"As in; can read minds? Knows who we really are?" Sarah asked and Jim nodded. "I can't say for certain. If she really is what I think she is, then there's no way to tell what's going on inside that head of hers. Though I imagine not much."

"Isn't that a bit rough?" Jim asked, but Sarah just shook her head.

"We called them empaths. They were a special kind of breed. Too weak to be of any use, yet too powerful to live a normal life." Sarah started to explain. "Only truly powerful psionics are able to read minds. You need to be a level seven or eight. Below that, all you can do is to feel emotions or whispers that don't make any sense. But every person is different. And some possessed very special abilities. Empaths were... _different_. The only thing they can do was to read minds, but at the same time, they lack any real control over their powers. They can't tell the difference between their own thoughts and of those from other people. Dealing with these people was always bothersome. They never know when to shut up."

"Sounds like Paula alright." Jim mumbled. "Well, let's put it on the list of things that we have to worry about. Right above Book annoying the crap out of me and below the Marshal wanting to shoot me for making him look bad in front of everyone else."

"Wait, what?" Sarah asked when she heard that.

"Ah, forget it. I don't want to talk about it, at least not right now. Let's just say that my relationship with the Marshal went from "doesn't like me one bit" to "gonna shoot me in the back when no one is watching". The kid got issues, tell you that." That's when Jim rolled his head back and stared at the ceiling. "Just why the hell do things always have to be so complicated? And just when I was done painting the house..."

"I believe it was me who did most of the work." Izsha said and Sarah blinked in surprise when she heard that.

"Huh? Seriously?" She could see the annoyed look on Jim's face.

"Yeah, I guess she did most of the work. Though it was still cheating because she grew herself some additional arms."

"She did?" Sarah asked and looked over at Izsha. "You did?"

"It was an ability that is still stored in my genetic makeup. I decided to use them in order to work more efficiently." Izsha explained.

"Then when where are your arms now?" Sarah wanted to know and Jim shook his head when he heard that question.

"Well, your girl over there decided that she didn't need those arms anymore when she was done. So she ripped them off and... well...ate them." When Sarah heard that, even she had to swallow hard.

"It was the easiest way to return the essence to my body. Zerg do not waste biomass." Izsha declared and Jim shook his head.

"Yeah, well...next time, don't rip your own arms off inside the damn living room!" he snarled and Sarah couldn't help but snicker.

"Oh, I would have paid real money to see that." she giggled and then she finally remembered something else. She closed her eyes and tried to calm down.

"Jim...there's something else I need to tell you. And... you might not like it."

"Uh..." was all he could say.

"I... I cut myself the other day. When I was coming home after Book dragged me out into the nowhere. At first, the bleeding didn't stop, but then...the cut was suddenly gone."

"Gone? Gone how?" Jim wanted to know and Sarah sighed.

"Like it had never been there. Like it had healed within seconds." She then rolled her head to the side and their eyes met. "Jim, I think my powers are returning." And again, for a long time, no one said a word.

"Well..." Jim said but didn't finish the sentence. It took him a long time until he finally managed to say something else. "...I guess it was just a matter of time."

"I know that you did this in order to help me, but...should my powers return to the way they were, then..."

"...then we shouldn't be here, I know." he finished that sentence and then both of them were silent once more.

"I'm sorry." was all Sarah could say, but that's when Jim started to smile.

"Hey, the show isn't over yet, right? Besides, Zeratul said something like that, that your powers would return one day. But he also said that it would happen slowly." Those words caused Sarah to chuckle.

"You just can't give it a rest, can you?"

"When did I ever do that, Darlin'?"

"Fair point. I guess I wouldn't be here if you weren't such a stubborn idiot." she replied.

"I take that as a compliment." Jim said. And that's when Sarah's stomach started to rumble again. "Well, let's get you something to eat. It's your favorite. Spam with spam!"

"Yummy." Sarah replied and then she yawned. Fortuneteller, spam was actually not that bad, even though it was just that; spam. After she was done, Sarah felt tired again. It had been a rough day and she could still use some rest. So Jim made the best suggestion in a long time; Sarah would have a long and hot bath and then go back to sleep. And her aching bones told her that this was a great idea.

When she slipped into the hot bath, she sighed in relief. Oh, that felt good! It was just like the other day when she had eaten something and then enjoyed a hot bath. And then Phil Carter had shown up, telling them that Paula was missing.

"Girl, if you can hear me..." Sarah whispered. "...just so you know; this time I won't come and save you." The minutes passed and Sarah could feel how all that tension started to fade away. Talking to Jim had felt good. It had released a lot of the pressure she had felt before. That's when someone knocked on the door to the bathroom.

"Sarah? You okay? You need anything?" Jim asked and a gentle smile appeared on her face. She licked the sweat from her lips and sighed.

"No... everything's fine." That's when an idea formed in her head and she looked over to the door. "Actually, yeah...there is something you could do for me. Can you come in?"

"Sure thing." Jim said and opened the door. When he stepped into the bathroom, he looked at Sarah and didn't even blush. Hey, now that was an improvement. "What's the matter, Darlin'?" he asked and Sarah turned around and showed her naked backside to him.

"I feel a bit stiff. And I could use someone who could wash my back." When Jim heard that, he chuckled and walked over to her. He sat down on the edge of the bathtub and did as she was told.

"Hmm...that feels good." Sarah moaned when she felt how his fingers started to knead her stiff back muscles. And Jim? He too enjoyed doing something so harmless.

"Reminds me of our time on Sternenheim. Remember?" Sarah whispered.

"You mean when we were having fun on the beach? Or when I was busy getting you back into one piece?"

"You just know how to ruin a moment, Mister." Sarah chuckled. "Anyway...we haven't done this in quite some time, have we?"

"Yeah, well...guess we were both too busy doing other stuff." Jim mused.

"Right. We were so busy doing things that weren't any fun that we decided to avoid doing all the fun stuff." Sarah chuckled.

"Well, I wouldn't mind doing this more often." he agreed and a smirk appeared on Sarah's face when a new idea formed inside her mind.

"Remember what else we did on that beach?" she asked, and Jim had a certain idea what she was referring to. But he tried not to push his luck.

"You want me to wash your hair again?" he asked and Sarah giggled.

"Yeah, why not. But that's not what I was talking about." she cooed and looked over her shoulder.

"And what woulWHOA!" Jim shouted in surprise when Sarah grabbed him by the arm and pulled in into the hot water. "EY! I'm still wearing clothes, Sarah! What is-" But then she turned around and pressed her lips on his own. His eyes widened in surprise, but only for a short moment. He then closed his eyes and decided to enjoy it. He could feel the hot water surrounding his body and Sarah's soft skin pressing against his own. They continued to kiss for what felt like an eternity and when they were finally done, he pulled his head back and looked at the woman he loved so much. As he looked at her naked body, he couldn't help but be speechless.

There was one thing that would never change, and that was the fact that she was a woman of exceptional beauty. And now, with that long red hair floating in the water of the bathtub, she looked like one of those legendary sirens.

"Hehehe..." Sarah chuckled when she sensed Jim's thoughts. "...so, you think I lured you into my trap?"

"Yeah..." Jim replied. "...but it's a trap that I'm more than glad to have fallen into." And then they kissed again. This time it was more feverish. They had loved each other many times and it always had been marvelous. But they had never done it in a bathtub, which was kinda, well, cramped.

Still, Sarah seemed to know what she was doing, and so was Jim. Training helps, and they had trained plenty of times so far. Soon his soaked clothes landed on the wet floor and there was nothing more holding them back.

Someone once said: "Everyone can have sex. But making love is something completely different." Well, in Jim's and Sarah's case that was definitely true. It wasn't just the physical contact that made it so special. By now their minds were so entangled that there was no way to ever separate them again. Sarah would never openly admit it, but that was actually something Zeratul had done right. In this moment, she didn't just feel Jim's body, she also felt his feelings, his emotions. And it was the same way for him.

It were moments like these that reminded both of the fact that they were truly made for each other. Not because of some divine intervention, but because of the paths they had walked down in their lives. So yeah, they were enjoying themselves to the fullest, and even Jim came to the conclusion that he could afford one day doing nothing...

Or doing something very productive, depending on how you look at it.

However, this time it felt different. Usually, Sarah allowed Jim to take the lead. Not because she felt submissive or anything like that, but simply because Jim knew pretty well what he was doing. And he had that special talent to make the woman in his arms feel like she was the center of the universe. And guess what? Sarah really liked to be the center of the universe.

This time, however, she took the lead. Their kisses become wilder and more daring. Everything they did was not just fueled by love, but also passion.

Was it because they wanted to make up for screaming at each other the other day? Or just because they felt like it?

Did it really matter?

Not to them, it didn't.

The only thing that mattered to them right now was to feel their lover's embrace. It was wilder than usual, and Sarah squealed with delight when she playfully bit Jim's skin, only for him to scream protest.

"Hey, no biting!" he whispered into her ear.

"I can't help it..." she panted back. "...guess that's the Zerg in me."

At one point, they got out of the bathtub and hurried over into the bedroom. They were giggling like little children doing something incredibly stupid, yet who had the right to judge them?

And so they decided to enjoy what was left of the day until the sun finally started to go down.

And what was there to say except that it was the best day either of them had experienced in quite some time until they finally fell asleep in each other's arms.


	94. Act IV - Chapter 10

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 10**

 **Helping Others means less Free Time for Yourself**

* * *

The next day, both Sarah and Jim sat at the table and enjoyed breakfast. After all the exhausting stuff that had happened the last days, they were just glad that there was no crisis trying to ruin their day. Then again, it was just morning. There was plenty of time for fate to _shit all over their breakfast_.

"Uhn..." Sarah groaned when she heard that thought from Jim while trying to eat a piece of toast. She looked up at him and frowned. "...could you please not think about feces while I'm eating?"

"Sorry." Jim mumbled and took another sip of his coffee.

"So, what have you planned for today?" Sarah asked after a while, but Jim just shrugged his shoulders.

"Dunno. Nothing?"

"Pfff, yeah right." Sarah teased him. "These last few weeks you were running around almost all the time doing all sorts of things, and now you're telling me that you're taking a day off? Why do I have a hard time believing that?"

"Now why would you say that?" he said with a hurt expression on his face, yet Sarah could tell that he was faking it.

"Because to you, work is fun. You just love to dig in the dirt and spout nonsense about plants all day long."

"It's called farming. And it's not just "digging in the dirt". It's the oldest profession there is." Jim tried to defend his farming-fetish.

"Really? I thought prostitution was the oldest profession in the world." Sarah replied and Jim almost choked on his coffee.

"Pfff...men." she mumbled. "Talking about shit all the day, but when someone mentions something about sex, you always blush and turn into little boys." she continued to tease him, but Jim wasn't willing to give up so easily.

"Oh yeah? If I remember correctly, then you did all the blushing last night."

"How would you know. You were too busy looking at my backside!"

Oh, now they were fighting dirty!

"That sounds like a complaint. I didn't hear you complaining back then." Jim shot back and a cocky grin appeared on Sarah's face.

"I didn't want to spoil your mood. You were so eager, I didn't want to make you feel bad."

"Oh. Oh! Now she's telling me that _I_ was so eager? Say, were you even in the same room as me last night? Because I could swear there was a completely different Sarah. And I have to admit; that Sarah was a lot kinkier than I remember." When Sarah heard that, she just pulled her shoulders up and gave Jim an innocent look.

"Maybe it was my Zerg-side that got the better of me? Dunno. We Zerg really like to _devour_ things. Isn't that right, Izsha?" she asked and turned her head to the side. Izsha, who was standing near the window and looking outside, turned around and lowered her head.

"Indeed, my Queen." Izsha said though she had no idea what those two were talking about.

"Pah!" Jim just barked and Sarah couldn't help but laugh out loud. Even then she could feel that Jim wasn't really angry. It was harmless squabbling, and he was enjoying it just as much as she did.

"What's the matter? Giving up already? So, you admit your defeat?" she wanted to know and a smirk appeared on her face.

"I wasn't aware that it was a competition. Next time I will try even harder." Jim mused and Sarah snickered when she heard that.

"Any harder and my legs will fly off." she giggled and suddenly Jim couldn't help but swallow hard. Izsha, however, frowned when she heard that.

"Did James Raynor hurt you, my Queen?"

"What? No. No, I didn't hurt your Queen." Jim protested and took another sip of his coffee. When Sarah heard that, she tilted her head to the side and give him a wicked grin.

"I don't know, Jim. You were pretty rough back then. You even made me cry out for mercy!"

"WHAT?!" Jim yelled and Izsha slithered up to him.

"What is it you did to her Majesty?" she asked with a surprisingly menacing tone in her voice.

"I what? Nothing! I did nothing!" he defended himself, yet Izsha didn't believe him a word.

"She was screaming your name last night." Izsha stated, and suddenly she looked very scary. All Jim could do was to swallow hard while Sarah had a gleeful expression on her face. Well, at least someone was having fun.

"That...I think I screamed her name too, you know." Jim tried to defend himself and looked over to Sarah. "Darlin', can you tell her that what happened last night was completely harmless and that I did _not_ do anything that's worth killing me?" However, those who knew Sarah knew that she had a certain bloodthirstiness to her. Or she was just enjoying seeing Jim sweat.

"I don't know, love..." she cooed and gasped. "...you were _really_ rough last night. Almost as if you wanted to, hmm, dominate me?" When Jim heard that, his eyes widened in shock. Izsha stopped in front of him and straightened herself.

"You tried to do _what_?!" she snarled and stared him dead into the eyes.

"Okay, that is not funny!" he said and was close to panicking. "Sarah, you tell your friend over here what I did!" Jim urged her and Sarah gave him a cruel grin.

"Relax, Izsha. He was the perfect gentleman. Most of the time."

"Oh, God!" Jim groaned. "I will never have sex with you again!" And Sarah? All she did was to snicker again.

"Your loss then." When Izsha heard that, she realized that there was no need to slaughter James Raynor. At least for now. She tilted her head to the side and looked at her Queen.

"Sex? What are you talking about, your Majesty?" she asked and Jim shook his head in disbelief.

"I don't believe we're having the talk with a Zerg right now. Didn't you teach your girl over there about the Birds and the Bees?" he wanted to know and Sarah just shrugged her shoulders.

"It was never necessary. Zerg don't really have two genders. So, no Birds and Bees talk necessary." she explained and Izsha decided to come to her Queen's aid.

"Of course I know that humans have two genders and that they use some sort of physical intercourse, but I am not familiar with the details." she said and all Jim could do was to shake his head in disbelief.

"This is a nightmare. This really is a nightmare." he mumbled while Sarah was having the time of her life.

"How does human sexual intercourse work, your Majesty?" Izsha then asked and turned her head over to Sarah. And that's when the grin on her face vanished.

"Uhm...well...you know...I don't think we should talk about that right now." she tried to avoid the topic.

"Why?" Izsha and Jim asked at the same time and looked at her. Oh, how fast the tables can be turned.

"Uhhh...that's...kinda hard to discuss right now." she said and suddenly Jim started to snicker.

"Hehehe...she said " _hard_ ", hehehe..." he mocked her and Sarah looked at him as if she was about to murder him.

"Maybe you want to take over, huh?" she asked. "I would love to hear how you explain to Izsha how a human's body works."

"Oh, I am aware of human anatomy." Izsha interrupted. "By injecting genetic material into a female's womb, the ovum will get fertilized and a new human will start to grow."

"Geez..." Jim mumbled before he took another sip of his coffee. "...now _that_ sounds really romantic. Glad that you know all the details, that saves us a lot of embarrassing moments." However, this wouldn't end well for both Sarah and Jim.

"I do possess theoretical knowledge about human mating habits, yet I was never able to witness it myself. Perhaps if you could demonstrate how it works, I would gain a greater understanding of this whole concept."

"This is getting out of hand..." Jim whispered and Sarah was inclined to agree.

"Well...it's not that spectacular." she tried to reason with her friend. "Really, it's pretty boring and you don't want to waste your time staring at our...well...nevermind. Anyway, it's kinda like infestation? Hehehe?" Sarah tried to talk her way out of this, but she only made it worse.

"Infestation? Did James Raynor try to infest you, my Queen?" Izsha asked with a serious tone in her voice. Yet all Jim could do was to press his hands against his face.

"Please, make her stop!" He didn't know wherever he should laugh or cry.

"How about this..." Sarah then suggested. "...we talk about this some other time, yes? Are there any other things you would like to know?" Izsha looked at her Queen and seemed to think about this question for a while.

"Yes, there is another question I would like to ask." When Sarah heard that, she sighed in relief.

"Okay, what is it?"

"Why were you calling James Raynor your God last night?" Izsha wanted to know, and Sarah frowned when she heard that. Jim, on the other hand, couldn't help but smash his head on the table.

"I don't think I can follow." Sarah mumbled and Izsha decided to elaborate.

"Last night you screamed "Jim, oh my God." several times. Why would you consider him your god?" That's when Jim stood up and just walked over to the door.

"Jim?" Sarah whined. "Where are you going?"

"She's your girl. I'm outta here. I'll be outside, doing...something." When he was gone, Sarah felt the urge to be anywhere else. Instead, Izsha slithered up to her and looked at her Queen with a curious look on her face.

"Did I say something wrong?" she wanted to know and Izsha sighed.

"No. No, it's just...a weird conversation, that's all."

"Weird? Weird in what way?" Seriously? Usually, Izsha possessed a very sharp mind, but right now her questions reminded Sarah of a five-year-old child. She looked around and hoped that Jim would help her with that, but she could only sense his amusement in the back of his mind. Suddenly his suggestion of never having sex again wasn't so terrible, especially if it meant that she could avoid this awkward situation...

* * *

Rescue for Sarah came in form of a vehicle. Though she couldn't see it at first. However, Jim could. When he stepped out of the house and on the veranda, he sighed and enjoyed the sun on his skin. Having a day off was actually a pretty good idea. Technically, they had enjoyed _only_ free days on Sternenheim, but you can only fully appreciate that when you were otherwise busy.

Jim took a deep breath and then he had to chuckle. That whole conversation had been weird but in a good way. Even though the thought of Izsha watching them as they did...no, let's not even think about that. It would only end in tragedy.

Karax had been bad with his "I could learn so much if you would only allow me to watch!"-attitude. He even had suggested to implant some sensors into both Sarah's and Jim's bodies that would record everything.

There was no need to say that Jim had been _delighted_ by that idea.

So the last thing Jim wanted to see was how a clingy Protoss was replaced by a clingy Zerg. Still, it hadn't all been bad. And the last night? Well, it was hard to find the right words to describe what had happened. But the word "WOW!" came to mind.

As Jim stood outside the house and looked up to the blue sky, he felt the urge to smoke a cigarette. He hadn't had a cigarette in months, and his body no longer craved the sweet taste of the nicotine, just like his brain no longer craved the sweet bliss alcohol had brought to him. Yet this moment just felt like the perfect opportunity to have a smoke.

He could even see the smoke in front of his eyes, all the way out in the distance and...

Wait, there was some dust out there. Jim blinked in surprise and squinted his eyes. That wasn't smoke, it was dust. It came from a car. A car that was heading right towards them. When Jim saw that, he sighed and shook his head.

"Couldn't they leave us alone for even one more day?" he groaned before he looked over his shoulder and back at the house.

"Sarah, can you hear me?" he whispered.

 _...and that's when the male uses his, well, thing and... wait, Jim? What's the matter?_ He didn't even want to know what she had just told Izsha.

"Someone's coming. Better tell your girl to hide." he mumbled.

 _Trouble?_ Sarah wanted to know.

"Could be. Dunno. Just tell Izsha to hide. But...not too far. If it's the Marshal and he's out for blood, I might need her help after all. Just don't tell her that I said that."

 _Too late. I just did. She wants to know, and I quote her: "Is there anything you are useful for, James Raynor?"_

"Splendid..." Jim growled before he crossed his arms in front of the chest and stared at the car that was coming closer. It didn't take long until Jim recognized the old pickup, and when he realized that Markson hadn't come to shoot him, he sighed in relief. At least someone friendly was about to visit them. Jim watched how the car reached their property and stopped only a few meters away from him. He was about to greet the man when suddenly...

"BWAHAHAHAHA! What the hell? You look ridiculous!" Jim burst out into laughter when he saw what Phil Carter was wearing. It was a suit. A reddish corduroy suit. A reddish corduroy suit that looked like it was way too thick to wear it when it was as warm as it was now. Phil's bald head glistened in sweat, and there was no doubt about it that he was about to melt.

"Do me a favor..." Phil mumbled. "...just don't say anything. It's the only suit I have left, you know." Jim wanted to ask him what this was all about when Phil got something from the car and pulled something out.

"Is that...a bouquet?" Jim asked and Phil looked at it.

"Please don't tell me she doesn't like tulips. It was the only flowers that I could get my hand on!"

"Aaaahhhs a matter of fact, I have no idea. Wait, are those for Sarah?" Jim wanted to know and now Phil looked really uncomfortable.

"Yes? Why not? I just wanted to come out here to thank her. For saving Paula. Of course, I'm also grateful for everything you did, Jim. But I know that you don't drink and don't smoke, so I didn't know what to get you. If there is anything, then just say the word and-"

"THAT..." Jim interrupted Phil and walked up to him. He put his hand on the other man's shoulder and gave him a warm smile. "...isn't necessary. I'm just glad that everything is over and that Paula is safe again. She is safe again, yes?" Jim wanted to know and Phil nodded.

"Yes. Book is looking after her. She's still weak, but she will recover. And I know who I have to thank for that. Say...is Sarah home?" When Jim heard that, he looked over his shoulder and hoped that this wouldn't end in tragedy. However, when the door was opened, it wasn't Izsha that came out.

"Someone called me?" Sarah mumbled. She still looked like hell but in an utterly beautiful way. Right now, her long red hair was loose and reached all the way to her backside. In the last few months, she had grown quite the mane. Jim would never dare to tell her how she should keep her hair, but he had to admit; he liked her with really long hair. It gave her something ethereal.

"Oh...hey. Hello, Sarah. I may call you Sarah, yes?" Phil stuttered before he walked up to her and looked her straight into the eyes. For a second Jim wondered if he would go on his knees and propose to her, yet all he did was to offer the bouquet to Sarah.

"I came here...I wanted to...uhm...say thanks. I don't know if you like tulips, but...well, I just wanted to thank you." When Sarah heard that, she pulled her brows up and looked over at Jim, who just shrugged his shoulders. She sighed, but then she took the flowers in her hand and gave Phil a warm smile.

"It's fine, Phil. And yes, you may call me SaAGH!" she screamed in surprise when Phil suddenly made a step forward and slung his arms around her slender frame.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" she managed to yell, but before either she or Jim could react, Phil started to sob.

"Thank you." he cried. "I... you don't have any idea how much it means what you did for me. For us. For Paula. If she had died, I don't think that...thank you, Sarah. You saved my girl, and I will never forget that."

"Uhh...like said, it's fine, Phil. Just do me one favor; make sure that it won't happen again." Sarah replied. You could actually see how uncomfortable Sarah felt right now. And Jim? He couldn't help but smile when he saw that.

"I... I will. I promise I will keep an eye on Paula from now on. Just...thank you."

"Now you sound like a broken record." Jim chuckled. "How about you let go of my girl and we go inside. Then we can sit down and talk a bit." Only then Phil seemed to realize that he was hugging Sarah like some kind of crazy guy. He let go of her and stepped backward.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't...I hope I didn't...I mean...uhm..." Oh boy, he had no idea what he was supposed to say right now. But if normal people deal with a crisis, they all react differently. And it was brutally obvious that Paula meant everything to Phil. It was the moment when Sarah felt how Jim's mind was filled with sadness. She looked over at him and frowned. Was something wrong?

 _Jim? What's the matter?_ Sarah wanted to know, but Jim just shook his head.

 _It's fine, Sarah. It's..._ he tried to say, yet she wouldn't let him.

 _You were the one that installed a "no secrets"-policy, Love. Why are you so sad all of the sudden?_ When he heard Sarah's question, he sighed.

 _I tell you later. I promise. Just...I need a moment._ Well, that sounded promising. And it totally helped Sarah to ease her mind because she knew that Jim wasn't hiding something from her at all. Phil, who realized that there was a strange moment of silence and that Jim and Sarah were just looking at each other, frowned and made another step backward.

"Uhm...I didn't come here at an inopportune time, did I? If I bother you, then-"

"Nonsense!" Jim barked and then he started to laugh, but Sarah could feel how he only acted especially friendly in order to distract himself from those sad feelings. "You came all the way out here, wearing this ridiculous suit and-"

"I actually like that suit..." Phil mumbled.

"-so, the least we can do is to offer you some coffee." Jim finished and reached out to Sarah once more.

 _Please tell me that Izsha is hiding._ And what did Sarah do? She only pulled her shoulders up and made a gesture that implied she had no idea. Oh yeah, she was getting better alright. If Sarah Kerrigan was teasing you, then she was doing just fine. And so, they walked back inside, and much to Jim's relief there was no Izsha waiting for them. So Jim and Phil sat down at the table while Sarah threw herself on the couch again.

"You don't mind if I crash the couch, boys. My feet are still hurting like crazy. And for some odd reason, my hips too." she then snickered and Jim bit his lip.

"Your hips?" Phil asked, not getting what she was talking about. "Maybe you should see a doctor. Really, I would hate if you would have injured yourself because you saved Paula." But Sarah just waved her hand and smiled.

"It's fine. As it seems I'm just a bit out of shape."

"You survived a kriecher-attack and you say you're just a bit out of shape? Phew." Phil marveled. "I can't tell if I want to know what you look like if you're fully trained!"

"You and the entire rest of the universe." Sarah mumbled.

"What?" Phil asked, but she just shook her head.

"Nothing...it's nothing. Say, how is Paula doing? She was in pretty bad shape when I found her."

"She's fine, considering everything that has happened. Her feet are in pretty bad shape though, and some scars will remain. When you brought her back, I took her to the hospital in Central City. They patched her up and wanted to keep her there over the night, but she didn't like that idea. And neither did I. She's back home now and resting. The painkillers they gave her have a pretty strong punch, so yeah...I'm just glad that she's back."

"You didn't want to leave her in the hospital?" Jim wondered and Phil sighed when he heard that question.

"I know, I know...it's not what a responsible adult should do." he replied. "But Paula...people are not good for her. Strange people. She gets scared easily and sudden changes in her environment cause her to freak out from time to time." He then shook his head. "Still, I have no idea why Paula did that. Usually, she does what I tell her to do and she would never even consider doing something so reckless. I just don't know...I don't know how this could have happened." Phil muttered and Jim and Sarah exchanged looks.

 _What do you think?_ Jim wanted to know.

 _Is he playing us? Somehow...I doubt it._ Sarah replied. She could sense Jim's doubts and thoughts and knew what he was thinking.

Jim Raynor, sorry, James Rennard was all heart. And if there was someone who was in pain or was afraid, then he would just help them. Even if it would bite him in the ass. Sarah knew that trait, and she knew that it was the trademark of a true idiot. Then again, he had believed in her when no one else had. Sarah was aware of what Jim wanted to do and sighed.

 _Let me think about this..._ Sarah told him and a warm smile appeared on Jim's face. Phil, who had no idea that they were talking to each other, looked at Jim and then at Sarah and frowned.

"Did I say something weird?" he asked and Jim blinked in surprised.

"What? No. No, everything's fine, Sarah and were just...uhm..."

"...we were remembering something. Something familiar." Sarah said and Jim blinked in surprise when he heard that.

 _Wait, now?_ he wanted to know. Sarah's lips formed a mischievous smile.

 _You always said that I come up with shitty cover-up stories and names. Let's see if I can come up with something better than "James Rennard and Sarah Kluivert"!_ she replied and all Jim could do was to swallow hard. He was already imagining how they were screaming for Izsha to get them back to Ulnar since their cover had been blown.

"Familiar? I don't think I can follow." Phil said.

"Your daughter, I mean your niece...Paula." Sarah continued. "I've seen people like her before."

"Wait, you're some kind of doctor?" Phil asked and Sarah frowned.

"What? No. Why?"

"Because you just say that you've seen people with her condition. And you're not exactly nurse material, so I just assumed that-"

"Why am I not nurse material?" Sarah mumbled.

"Well, nurses are usually very..." Phil probably wanted to say something like "kind, soft, emphatic", but then he noticed how Jim gestured him to shut up immediately and he got the message. "...nevermind. Anyway, how do you know about Paula's condition?"

"Like said, I've seen it before. And it's not a condition since it's not a disease." Sarah explained. Suddenly Phil frowned.

"I don't think I can follow..." he whispered and Sarah tilted her head to the side.

"Paula is a psionic."

There was a strange moment of silence and no one said a word. Jim could see how Phil's jaw started to move as if he was grinding his teeth. Then, after a while, he said only one sentence.

"I don't know what you're talking about." he growled, and that's when Sarah realized that he knew damn well what she was talking about.

"Somehow I have my doubts about that." Sarah shot back. There was no real hostility in her voice, yet Jim could sense that Sarah wasn't very fond of the fact that Phil was still trying to deny the truth. "Listen...I'm not gonna spill your beans or anything, I just know a thing or two about psionics." she continued to explain. It was probably the ultimate understatement, considering that Sarah was probably the most powerful psionic being in existence...once her powers would return.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Phil just repeated his statement. Suddenly his good mood was gone and Jim could see the anger on his face. But there was more. It wasn't just anger...it was fear.

"Phil, we don't want to cause any trouble for you or Paula. But you should know why Sarah was able to save her. She-"

"She called out to me." Sarah suddenly explained. "In my mind. I could hear her and-"

"That's it!" Phil suddenly barked and stood up. His whole body was shaking, and neither Sarah nor Jim dared to say anything. All his emotions were out in the open: Anger, frustration, and most importantly, fear.

"Phil, listen-" Jim tried to reason with the other man, but it was clear that Phil wasn't interested in that.

"I'm sorry for having bothered you." he explained and walked over to the door. "I just wanted to thank you for what you did for us, for Paula. Now excuse me, I have to go back home and look after Paula."

"Phil, PHIL!" Jim shouted and hurried after the man when Phil just walked out of the house. "Phil, wait! We didn't want to-" He was running after the other man while Sarah remained inside. Right now, she didn't feel any urge to run after anyone, even if it would be Zeratul claiming that he was about to return all of her powers to her in an instant.

Okay, maybe she would consider sending Izsha to the door and tell Zeratul to move his bony ass over to her.

And then she would actually stand up, only to strangle him with her own hands.

She still didn't like Zeratul.

Jim followed Phil to the car and reached him when the burly man started the engine.

"Phil, wait! We didn't want to scare you or anything, it's just-"

"Sorry to have bothered you." Phil just replied, and for a second Jim thought that his newfound friend was about to calm down. Phil looked at Jim and there was so much fear in the older man's eyes...it was as if he was afraid of losing something precious.

"Thanks for what you did, Jim. Goodbye." he then just said and turned the car around. Jim actually had to jump back so he wouldn't get hit by the car.

"WHAT THE...PHIL!" he screamed, but it was too late. All he could do was to watch how the pickup drove away. He looked over to their own car, but it was a wreck. Some people from the town had towed it back here and he couldn't just wiggle with his finger and make it whole again. So, they were stranded out here. Funny, Phil had told Jim that he would get them all the supplies they needed. Guess now they had to find a new way to get to town.

Jim stared into the distance until the car was finally gone from his sight. He couldn't shake the feeling that this would bite them in the ass later on.

 _You want me to pack?_ he could hear Sarah's voice in the back of his mind. It was the perfect moment to make fun of him, he knew that. However, her thoughts carried no glee, no schadenfreude. She was truly sorry for what had happened.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to tell Izsha that we might ditch this place." Jim whispered before he turned around and walked back into the house. He closed the door and then his feet guided him back to the armchair.

"I suppose he wasn't what he claimed to be after all." Jim mumbled and then he stared at the ceiling. "So much for being an expert in human nature."

"It's strange..." Sarah mumbled. She was still lying on the couch and staring at the ceiling. He looked over at her and frowned.

"What is strange?"

"What just happened. I look at a man and I feel nothing. In the past, that was never a problem. If I was dealing with people, I immediately knew if they tried to screw me over-"

"Except for Arcturus." he mumbled and Sarah grimaced.

"Don't you dare to ever mention that name again, Love." she hissed, and Jim had to swallow hard when he felt her anger. It wasn't directed at him but at the dead Arcturus Mengsk. Even after all those years, the name alone was enough to make her blood boil.

"Arcturus was different, though." she then sighed and closed her eyes. "He played me and he was a masterful liar. I never truly felt the urge to probe him. Yet when I did..." Sarah then stopped. She didn't have to finish that sentence, Jim knew what she was trying to tell him. She opened her eyes and stared back at the ceiling.

"Point is; I always knew what motivations my opposite had. But now? I look into Book's eyes, Phil's eyes, the Marshal's eyes, and I feel...nothing. I don't think I like it. It would be so much easier if I could just read his mind and find out what he's hiding."

"That's one way to look at it." Jim mumbled and Sarah rolled her head to the side. She looked at him and frowned.

"Then name me another way."

Jim stared out of the window for a while before he started to speak.

"I guess I understand what you're meaning. But not knowing your opposite's ambitions can lead to good things too."

"That...sounds stupid." Sarah mumbled and a smile appeared on Jim's face.

"That sounds like trust. And having someone's trust is wonderful." he explained to her, and Sarah felt a sting of guilt in her chest. She knew that he had trusted her many times, even though there had been no reason for him to do so. Yet what had she done? She hadn't trusted him until he had opened himself up to her.

"Well, I guess we will find out wherever we can trust Phil, hmm?" she whispered and started to wiggle her toes. "Just so you know; should we run, I expect you to carry me. My feet are still sore."

"Noted." Jim chuckled. "Still, having trust is better than knowing stuff, Darlin'."

"Until that trust bites you in the ass." Sarah replied and he sighed.

"You just can't admit that I have a point, can you?" he wanted to know and an innocent look appeared on Sarah's face.

"But Love, that would imply that I'm wrong. And since I'm perfect, I can't be wrong. Case closed." she explained and Jim groaned when he heard that.

"Oh, now you're just ignoring the facts." he protested.

"Don't think so. Izsha, you there?" Sarah yelled and a few moments later Izsha slithered down the staircase. Wait, had she been hiding in their bedroom?

"Yes, my Queen. Is there anything you require?"

"Yup. Explain to Jim why trust is overrated and control far better." He could sense her amusement and knew that Sarah was just trying to pull his chain. Still, he wouldn't lose this argument to her.

"Of course, my Queen." Izsha explained and turned towards Jim. "Control is preferable to trust because it ensures a system of perfect order. Every particle becomes part of something even greater. This can only be achieved by control. Not by trust."

"Maybe that's how the Zerg are doing it, Izsha..." Jim growled. "...but humans are different." When Izsha heard that, she tilted her head to the side.

"I was actually referring to human nature." When Jim heard that, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Ha! And what would you about human nature, huh?"

"A great deal." Izsha replied. "Humans prize themselves for what they call "individuality", yet at the same time, most of their actions are guided by opportunism. In fact, they are most bothersome when they refute their individualism. It is moments like these when humans can actually become a threat. If they, like every other species, decided to abandon their individualism."

"I think you don't know the value of individualism." Jim chuckled. "It's not just something you can switch off. It's part of who we are. And I like my individualism intact, so thank you very much."

"You claim that you like individualism, yet you share your existence with someone else." Izsha shot back and pointed her finger at Sarah.

"Uuuhh...I think she scored a hit, Love." Sarah teased him and Jim growled something that wasn't very nice.

"Pah, that hardly counts. I mean, what does Izsha know about humans, huh? The only human she ever dealt with is me. One human alone is hardly enough to judge a species' character."

"You are not the only human I have ever _dealt with_ , James Raynor." Izsha explained.

"Infested Terrans don't count, girl." Jim mumbled.

"I have dealt with humans that were not infested." Izsha replied. "I was even offered friendship by one human."

"Pfffffff..." Jim laughed when he heard that. "Yeah, right. Say Sarah, I thought that Izsha couldn't lie."

"It is not a lie!" Izsha insisted, yet Jim just shook his head.

"Sure, whatever. It would be more believable if you would say that you have a friend that is a Protoss...oh, wait...nevermind." Jim stopped when he realized that he was making a fool out of himself.

"You are incorrect, James Raynor. A human offered me his friendship." Izsha said again, but Jim just waved his hand in front of his face.

"Pah...I would pay real money to see that. Proof or it didn't happen." he told her, and Izsha looked over to Sarah.

"My Queen, could you tell James Raynor that-"

"Oh, leave me out of this!" Sarah groaned. "You two can work that out without me. Seriously, it was amusing at first. But now it's not fun anymore." When Izsha heard that, she lowered her head.

"As you wish, my Queen. I shall do as you suggest." Well, that sounded promising. For a while, no one said a word. When Jim finally stood up, Sarah looked over at him.

"Where are you going?" she wanted to know. He walked over to the door and looked over his shoulder.

"I'm going into the barn, gonna work on the tractor a bit." She could sense his dismay, but she didn't want to say anything right now. She just didn't know what to tell him in order to make Jim feel better. This had been his idea and both knew that she wasn't too fond of it. She had decided to tag along because...well, because they were goddamn lovers and she had nothing else to do. Duh!

When he stepped out of the house, Sarah raised her voice one more time.

"Jim?" He stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. I know that you did this for me." she mumbled and Jim gave her a warm smile.

"I did this for us." he just said and then walked out of the house. And then Sarah was alone. Well, not really. She looked over to Izsha and could see the serious expression on her friend's face.

"Izsha? Is something wrong?"

"No, my Queen. I am merely thinking about how to solve my dispute with James Raynor."

"Uuuuh...okay. Just don't kill anyone by accident." Sarah joked and Izsha lowered her head as a sign of respect once more.

"As you wish, my Queen. Please excuse me, I think I have an idea." she declared and then turned away. Izsha slithered out of the room and Sarah frowned. Just what the hell was she up to? Ah, whatever it was, it was probably not necessary to worry about it. Besides, Sarah still just wanted to relax and enjoy some peace and quiet. She could feel how her eyelids started to get heavy and then she drifted off into sleep...

* * *

Izsha slithered out of the house and looked around. This place was as good as any and it wasn't inside the building. While she didn't care for James Raynor's wellbeing, the same couldn't be said about her Majesty. And if that meant that they had to keep the house clean, then so be it. But now that she was outside, she didn't have to hold back anymore. She looked at the horizon...

...and then she started to gag.

Perhaps it was good that James Raynor was inside the barn and couldn't see her, he would just scream again. Izsha still didn't understand why humans were so squeamish when it came to blood and other bodily fluids. They treated these substances with utmost disgust, even though their bodies were filled with it. Yet at the same time, there were fluids that they liked to share with other people. It was confusing and Izsha knew that she had to ask her Queen why it was wrong to spill your own blood while sharing spit was absolutely normal.

It just didn't make any sense, especially since Zerg saliva usually was filled with venom and mutagen.

Izsha gagged again and could feel how something inside her belly started to shift. She possessed the ability to manipulate every single muscle in her body, like every Zerg. She leaned forward and opened her mouth. Like said, it was good that no one was watching. James Raynor would just scream like a little girl again. But to be fair; it wasn't a pretty sight. When Izsha was done, she leaned down and picked up the slime-covered object from the ground.

It was a mechanical device and looked like it was made out of Protoss and human technology. The thought of carrying a piece of machinery inside her own guts had been revolting at first, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. She started to press some buttons on the surface of the machine, just like Karax had told her. The small beacon came to life immediately and that's when she felt how some kind of electric current was flowing through her entire body.

There was a bright flash of light and for a second there was a sizzling sound. And then, when the light was gone...so was Izsha.

* * *

"As you wish, my Queen. Please excuse me, I think I have an idea." she said and then turned around. Izsha slithered out of the room and Sarah frowned. Just what the hell was she up to? Ah, whatever it was, it was probably not necessary to worry about it. Besides, Sarah still just wanted to relax and enjoy some peace and quiet. She could feel how her eyelids started to get heavy and then she drifted off into sleep...

Sleep...

Sweet sleep...

She could almost see Sternenheim again. It's white beaches...that blue ocean...just lying on the soft and warm sand...doing nothing at all and then...

"JAMES?! JAMES, ARE YOU THERE?!" someone screamed and Sarah jerked back up.

"I am the SwaWHAT?!" she yelled in surprise and looked around. She was still lying on the couch and it looked as if she had fallen asleep. But she had just closed her eyes for a few seconds, so how the hell...

"Book?" she asked when she looked over to the door. There was Shepherd Book, and he was looking at her with wide open eyes.

"Miss Kluivert? Sarah? Is Jim home? Please tell me he is home!"

"Uhm...I...yeah, I think so. He said he wanted to go to the barn. Why? Did something happen?" she asked.

"That's what I wanted to ask him. An hour ago, Phil came back to town and has started to pack everything. He said that he had to leave this place and that he had to take Paula as far away as possible." Book explained.

"Uh...and how exactly is that our problem?" Sarah wanted to know. When she saw Book's shocked expression, she couldn't help but groan on the inside. Hey, she had saved that girl's life. So why the hell did she have to worry about Paula again? Weren't there enough people around that could take care of this?

"I need to tell to James. Phil told me that he wanted to visit you and thank you for what you did. Yet when he came back, he looked like he had seen a ghost." When Sarah heard that, she couldn't help but grimace. Book was probably not aware of that, but that had been a bad choice of words. "He then just ran back into his house and started to pack. I tried to stop him, but he was like a man possessed. I need to know; what did you talk about?"

"This and that." Sarah mumbled. She saw no point in telling Book about what they had found out about Paula.

"This and that?" he asked again.

"This and that." she repeated her statement.

"Sarah, please...I need to know what-" But that's when Jim finally arrived.

"Phil? You came back to your senses and want to talk about what...Book?!" he shouted in surprise when he walked back into the house. "But...that car out there was Phil's, how in-"

"I took it. To get here." Book explained when he turned back towards Jim.

"You mean you stole it?" Sarah asked. "Isn't that, I don't know, against some rules you guys believe in?"

"I didn't steal it, I just lent it. And I only did so because it buys us some time. Without a car, Phil can't leave the town. And after everything that happened, I have my doubts that the Marshal will drive him to Central City. Besides, Paula should still be resting."

"Do they teach you that stuff in preacher-academy?" Sarah wanted to know.

"There is no such thing as a "preacher-academy", Sarah." Book replied before he turned his attention back to Jim. "Still, I need to know what you talked about. Jim, Phil looked like he was close to a breakdown!" When Sarah heard that, she closed her eyes and turned her back towards them. This wasn't her fight. However, at the same time, she could feel Jim's guilt. Great, he felt responsible for what happened. And when James Raynor feels responsible for something, there is only one solution to the problem.

"Maybe...maybe I should talk to him." Jim then said. "Maybe he misunderstood something and now he's afraid that someone will go after Paula."

"But why should he think something like that?" Book asked. Jim clenched his hands into fists. Just what the hell was he supposed to say?

"It's because...because..." he tried to come up with something.

"It's because Paula is psionically gifted." Sarah suddenly said and turned back towards them. Jim's eyes widened in shock when he heard that.

"What? Paula is a psionic?" Book wanted to know. "How do you know that?" Sarah sighed and was about to reply something when Jim shook his head like crazy.

"Sarah, no!" he tried to stop her, but it was pointless.

"It's over, Jim. We can't hide the fact anymore." she explained and then she looked Book straight into the eyes. "Book...what I'm going to tell you now will not leave this house. If you tell anyone, I will make sure that no one will ever find your body. Is that understood?" Suddenly Sarah was very scary.

"Uhm...yes?" Book stuttered. Jim was still trying to save the moment.

"Sarah, please! Don't-"

"I was an instructor in the Dominion's Ghost Academy on Korhal." she then said. There was an awkward moment of silence, and that's when Book's eyes widened.

"So... that's why you're-"

"Such a great sniper? No. I'm just damn good. That's all." Sarah explained in her typical humble nature. She could sense Jim's anxiety, but right now she didn't care for that.

"An instructor...that means that you know about the Ghost project." Book muttered.

"Yeah." Sarah said. "I worked for the Dominion. I left that life behind. And I would like it to stay that way. So, if you tell anyone, you will find out just from what distance I can shoot a man's nose off." Well, that sounded really peaceful. Jim looked over to Sarah and blinked in surprise. That was...actually a pretty good excuse. At least for now.

 _Thanks._ Sarah told him. _I couldn't leave the cover-up stories always to you._

"That...I see." Book said as if that explained anything. "I see..." He then turned away and walked over to the door. "Did you...threaten Phil?" he wanted to know and Sarah gave him an annoyed look.

"No. I only threaten people that are a threat to me and that annoy me. Like you." Sarah shot back.

"Phil just freaked out when we told him that we think Paula is a psionic. We tried to reason with him, but he was so scared all of a sudden. He got back into the car and then he was gone. I tried to stop him, but there was nothing I could have done."

"I see..." Book said again. "...so, he kept her condition a secret all those years."

"Having psionics is not a _condition_. It's not a goddamn disease!" Sarah snarled when she heard that and Book looked at her.

"You...you have experience when it comes to working with Ghosts?" the Shepherd wanted to know and Sarah pulled her shoulders up.

"You could say that. Why?"

"We have to stop Phil." Book explained.

"Book, I like Phil. I really do." Jim intervened. "But if he wants to leave, then we have no right to stop him."

"It's not just about him, James. Paula is in no shape to travel. Besides, running away from this won't solve a thing. This is a community and I'm its Shepherd. It's my duty to help those who need help, and right now these two need my help. And I think that you can help me with helping them."

"Those are a lot of helps you just used, Shepherd." Jim mumbled.

"I firmly believe that if you use a word repeatedly, people will notice that it's urgent." Book said.

"Really?" Sarah replied. "I think that it makes people believe that you're a retard with a limited vocabulary. I certainly do." Brutally honest like always.

"Well...I need your help." Book said once more.

"Noted." Sarah told him before she turned around and closed her eyes. "Have fun, boys."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Sarah sat behind Jim and Book in Phil's car and asked herself just how the hell they had managed to drag her along for the ride. She stared out of the window and sighed.

All she wanted was to take a goddamn day off. Was that too much to ask?

Apparently, yes. It was too much to ask.

 _Because it is the right thing to do, Darlin'._ Jim told her while sitting in the front passenger seat. Two seconds later, an empty paper cup hit the backside of his head and he knew that he should better be quiet.

* * *

When they reached New Thompson, they stopped the car right in front of Phil's house. The shop was open and people were carrying stuff out in large numbers. Both Jim and Book got out of the car and hurried over to the house.

"Hey. HEY! What the hell you think you're doing?" Jim wanted to know. The people looked at Jim like they had done nothing wrong.

"What? We have done nothing wrong!" someone said exactly what Jim had expected.

"You're looting Phil's shop, dammit!" Jim yelled and the people exchanged surprised looks.

"Uhm...no." another man said. "Phil told us to grab everything we need because he's going to close the shop."

"What?" Book muttered. "Where is Phil? We need to talk to him. Now!"

"He's back in the private area of the house. Said that he had to pack things. Why, what are you...hey!" But neither Jim nor Book cared for that. They fought their way through the crowd and that's when Book had an idea.

"You go to the backside, I try to get in through the shop." he suggested and Jim nodded. He ran to the backside of the house and entered it through the door that led to the kitchen.

"Phil? Are you there? It's Jim." But no one answered. Jim looked around and realized that everything looked absolutely normal, as if Phil hadn't planned for any of this. There was even some uncooked food standing around. He probably had planned to make something to eat once coming back from their home.

"Phil? It's me! Come on, where are you?" Since no one answered, Jim walked into the living room and then into the hallway. That's when he met Book, who came in from the other side of the building.

"Any luck?" Book asked, but Jim just shook his head. And that's when they heard something...

"Wait...you hear that?" Jim asked and both men fell silent. They could hear something. No, someone. It was a person, and that person was sobbing.

"Did you find him?" Sarah suddenly asked, and Jim realized that she was standing right behind him.

"GHA! Goddammit, stop sneaking up on me! Wait, why are you here?" Jim wanted to know.

"I'm not some kind of vegetable, Jim. First, you drag me all the way out here, then you tell me that I should stay in the car? I don't think so. Wait, is there someone crying?" Sarah replied and all three of them looked up the staircase. There was no doubt about it; someone was indeed crying. And it sounded like a man.

"I'm sorry...so sorry...Paula...so sorry...if only I had kept my mouth shut..." It was Phil. When Jim and Book heard that, their eyes widened in shock. That didn't sound good. That sounded as if something goddamn tragic had just happened. Both men stormed up the staircase and followed the sobbing. Inside their minds, they were already thinking of the worst possible scenario.

"Damn it, Phil... you stupid idiot. What did you do?!" Jim barked when they ran down the hallway and stormed into the room where the sobbing was coming from. He had seen his fair share of family tragedies and he had no doubts that so had Book. They entered the room that turned out to be Paula's and what they saw...

"Oh, God..." Book mumbled before he sighed in relief. "...thank you."

Phil was sitting on the edge of a bed and pressed the lithe figure of his niece against his body. His back was turned towards Jim and Book, yet both men could see that Paula's eyes were open and that she had put her arms around her uncle.

"It's okay. I understand." she whispered. "We have to move again." And then her eyes wandered over to the doorframe and widened in glee.

"Sarah!" When Phil heard that, he looked over his shoulder and Book and Jim could see thick tears streaming down the other man's face. Behind them was Sarah, who sighed.

"I'm not made for this kind of drama, people." she mumbled.

"You guys...what are you doing here?" Phil wanted to know and Book walked into the room.

"Phil... I understand that you are under a lot of pressure. But you don't have to do this. We can talk things through. Jim and Sarah are here to help. Isn't that right?" the Shepherd wanted to know and looked at the couple.

"Of course." Jim agreed, yet Sarah only pulled her shoulders up and waved her hand around.

"Meh."

"No. No, I can't. I'm sorry, but we have to leave. If people find out that Paula is a psionic, then this whole nightmare will start all over again. And I can't allow this." Phil explained. And then he added something that caused Jim to swallow hard. "Unless you came here to take her away from me."

"No one is going to take Paula away from you, Phil. We are here to help." Book tried to reason with the other man, but Phil just pressed his niece even harder against his chest and shook his head.

"No...no, you don't know what they would do to her if they would get their hands on Paula." he whimpered. And that's when Sarah looked him straight into the eyes.

"Oh, believe me..." she snarled. "...I know. I know all too well."

* * *

It took those three some considerable effort to calm Phil down and throw everyone out of the house. Well, the shop was pretty much empty now, so there was nothing else for them to grab. They sat down in the kitchen and when Book, Jim, and Sarah looked at Phil, they could see a man that had aged twenty years in less than two hours.

"My sister always lived a... well...easy life. So when she visited me with a little kid in her arms, I was mostly annoyed. She wasn't willing to tell me about the father." Phil explained when they sat around the kitchen's table and stared at their cups filled with coffee. "She would come and go, dragging her daughter along. I always told her that she was irresponsible and couldn't take care of a child. I just didn't know what I know now..."

"That Paula is a psionic?" Book asked and Phil nodded.

"My sister...she knew. That's why she moved from one place to the other. She had no one to turn to, yet she wasn't willing to hand her little girl over to the Confederacy. She was right. I was wrong. I was never able to tell her that." Phil swallowed hard when he said that.

"So you came out here...to keep Paula safe and out of the Dominion's reach?" Jim asked and Phil nodded.

"In the beginning, it was just about survival. I had to find a place where Paula would be safe. The Dominion looked for psionically gifted people, but they were doing the same shady stuff the Confederacy had done."

"The Dominion has shut down their Ghost program, you know that. Right?" Jim asked and Phil looked him straight into the eyes.

"And you believe them? I won't risk that. The Dominion isn't any better than the old Confederacy and I don't intend to risk Paula's future so they turn her into some kind of weapon!" When Jim heard that, he lowered his gaze. Sarah looked over at him and could sense his sadness. And at the same time, Jim felt nothing but respect for Phil.

This man had decided to abandon his old life in order to keep his niece safe. And Jim? He had allowed the Confederacy to just take his son away. Sarah placed her hand on Jim's and gave it a soft squeeze.

 _It wasn't your fault._ she told him. He looked over at her and gave him a sad smile.

 _Yes, it was. And I have to live with that._ Jim explained. Sarah wanted to reply something, yet sometimes it's better to just shut up and say nothing.

"So, what now?" Book asked. "You want to take Paula away and start over again somewhere else?"

"It has worked before." Phil mumbled, though it was clear that he didn't fully believe in it either.

"You don't have to do that anymore, Phil. We are not your enemy. We can help you." Book said, yet Phil just crossed his arms in front of his chest and shook his head.

"You don't have any idea what you're talking about." Phil took a deep breath. "I tried to find people that could help us, but it was pointless. In the end, there was no one to turn to, and since people assumed that-"

"If you're saying that it's a condition, I'm gonna smash you into the ground." Sarah growled and Phil blinked in surprise.

"What?"

"Forget it." Jim mumbled and sighed. "Phil, I understand why you did it, but please, let me tell you this; we didn't want to scare you or anything. We...we know a thing or two about psionics."

 _You mean "I know a thing or two about psionics"._ Sarah growled, yet Jim decided to ignore her comment.

"Phil, this is a community. And you're part of the community. Please, let us help you and Paula." Book tried to reason with him. The burly man frowned when he heard that.

"And how the hell do you want to help us, hmm?" And that's when both Book and Jim looked at Sarah. And when she realized what this was all about, her expression turned sour.

"Oh, hell no..."

* * *

Paula felt tired, yet at the same time, she couldn't stop thinking about what was going on down there. She could feel Sarah's presence. She was here! In their home! More than anything else Paula wanted to talk to the other woman. She wanted to know if everything she had seen in Sarah's mind was real; if all of that had truly happened.

"Sarah...she's finally here! I wanted to talk to her." she whispered and looked over at the other person in the room.

"I know you do." the young woman said and looked out of the window. As she looked over at Paula, a gentle and sad smile appeared on her face. "I'm sorry for what I did. I didn't want to hurt you."

"I know." Paula replied and smiled back at the young woman. "You did it because it had to be done. That kriecher was scary, though!" she added with wide open eyes. The young woman chuckled when she heard that.

"Yeah, I guess they are. I remember them differently. I miss my pet kriecher."

"But you will see her again. Soon." Paula told her, and the young woman nodded.

"Yes, soon." And then she walked over to Paula and knelt down right in front of her. "You take care of yourself, you hear me? And please, look after those two for me, can you do that?"

"I will look after Sarah, I promise." Paula told her, and the young woman chuckled.

"Thanks, but also keep an eye out for him. They are both equally important to me."

"Okay!"

"Good girl." the young woman explained, and then she stood back up. As she walked out of the door, she stopped, and for a moment it seemed as if she wanted to say something. But then she just shook her head and left. The moment the young woman was gone, Paula had already forgotten about her. Not because she wanted to, but there were so many things going on right now!

She knew that her uncle was scared, that he was afraid that she would hurt herself again. But she had never met someone like Sarah before!

Sarah's mind was like a beacon, like a star in utter darkness that Paula was drawn to. She wished she could explain it to her uncle, but she just didn't know how. Even now she could sense everything that was going on around her. Her uncle's fears for her, how Book was worried about him, and how he was worried that his own secrets would be revealed one day, Jim's sadness because he was certain that he and Sarah would have to leave soon so they wouldn't be exposed. And then, of course, there was Sarah, who seemed to be less than pleased with everything that was going on.

Paula could even feel the anger of Marshal Markson, who was in his office and thinking about how to kill Jim and make it look like an accident. But it was fine because, at the same time, Paula could tell that he wasn't serious about that. He only wanted to beat Jim to a bloody pulp and make a necklace out of the other man's teeth

There was one thing that puzzled her. She had felt Izsha's mind before, but now it was gone. She knew about Izsha, and even though she had never met her, she liked her. But now it was as if she had vanished into thin air. Paula had no idea how that was possible, but she had to ask Sarah about that

Speaking of Sarah...

"I want to talk to you..." Paula whispered and tried to get up.

"Yeah, I noticed." Sarah suddenly said and Paula looked over at the door. Her eyes widened in surprise when she realized that she was finally face to face with Sarah. The older woman walked over to Paula and stopped right in front of the bed. "I forgot how bothersome you empaths can be. Thanks for reminding me." she growled, but all Paula did was to smile at Sarah.

"You're welcome!" the younger woman said with nothing but glee in her voice before she pulled her brows up. "Can we...talk?"

"About what?" Sarah asked.

"About everything. About what you saw. I have so much question."

"Not now." Sarah mumbled and she could see the distress in Paula's eyes.

"But...but I want to talk to you and-" She tried to stand up, but failed miserably. Sarah leaned forward and pushed the girl back into the bed.

"You will stay here and relax. Besides, you're in bad shape and your body needs to rest. And trust me, you will need all of your strength." Sarah explained and now Paula looked like she was truly confused.

"But why?" When Sarah heard that question, she sighed and rubbed her eyes with her fingers.

"Because I won't train you if you're like this. So, get better fast and then we're gonna work on you." she growled. The moment Paula heard that a huge smile appeared on her face. And she wasn't the only one who seemed happy.

 _I'm proud of you, Darlin'._ Jim whispered in the back of her mind.

"Shut up, Jim."


	95. Act IV - Chapter 11

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 11**

 **Oh no, not that Guy!**

* * *

 **Two weeks later...**

* * *

A lot can happen within two weeks. A lot of good stuff, a lot of not so good stuff, and a lot of hilarious stuff.

Let's talk about the good stuff first.

Sarah and Jim got away with their not so elaborated cover-up story. It worked because everyone who knew about it had kept their mouth shut. That included Phil, Shepherd Book, and of course Paula. Speaking of Paula; the girl was truly something else. After Sarah had told her that she would train her, she became the best behaving niece in the entire universe. She even ate all of her vegetables without complaining...at least that's what Phil told Jim and Sarah. And he was telling them a lot of stuff.

Perhaps it was because he had kept this secret hidden from everyone for so long, but in Jim, Phil had found someone he could tell his sorrows. And Jim? He proved himself to be an excellent listener, something Sarah knew all too well. However, it went deeper than that. It was something that kept bothering Jim.

Which brought Sarah to the not so good stuff.

Jim had a lot of respect for Phil because he had done what Jim hadn't been able to. He had left his old life behind in order to save his niece. Sarah had tried to reason with Jim, but it had been pointless. They hadn't argued, not really. Yet at the same time, he had kept her at a distance. Just why couldn't it be easy for once? There always had to be something going on, right?

Even after all those years, Jim was still blaming himself for what had happened to his old family. It pained Sarah to see him like that. And it pained her to admit that she felt frustrated because Lydia and Johnny were dead while she wasn't. They tried to make the best out of the situation by pretending nothing was going on, but it only worked so-so.

It was the reason why Sarah had agreed to help Phil and Paula. Not because she thought that she could actually help the girl, but because she knew that Jim would like her doing this.

Why did love always have to be so damn complicated?

As for Jim, well, he was mostly busy avoiding the Marshal. Which led to the hilarious stuff.

After saving Paula, the reputation of the Marshal had taken a turn for the worse. Most of the time he was inside his office, waiting for something to happen. But nothing would happen and so he would close the office early and then go to the bar where he would drink himself into a stupor. Apparently, someone had heard how Markson had ranted about that "damn outsider" and that he "would snuff him soon". What was life without enemies, huh?

So yeah, it was hilarious. At least for Sarah. For Jim? Not so much.

Book had promised to keep an eye on Markson, but that probably wouldn't help one bit. Besides, the problem went far deeper than a hurt ego. Markson had never been that popular, even though he was a local. However, now? Now people considered him a joke. "Loss of authority" was inadequate to describe what had happened. So yeah, Markson wasn't suffering from a hurt ego anymore, but a hurt ego and anger issues. And he had decided to put the whole blame on Jim.

As for Jim; people were still talking about him. When he was in town, they would greet him. Men would invite him over to a beer, women would offer him some cupcakes, children would actually say that they weren't allowed to talk to strangers except for James Rennard. Sarah knew that Jim was truly embarrassed about all of that. But the people of New Thompson reacted well to his natural leadership skills. It was simply something the current Marshal lacked.

There were even rumors going on that the people wanted Jim to replace Markson.

Jim had commented on that by saying that he probably had to challenge the Marshal to a duel at high noon and that he wasn't interested in that job anymore.

Well, at least it offered tons of amusement to Sarah. Seeing Jim in distress always brought joy to her heart. Though he wasn't the only feeling distressed right now.

When Sarah came back from her round, she stopped in front of their home and put her hands on the old pickup. She took a few deep breaths and felt how the sweat was running down her skin. Her muscles were burning and so were her lungs. She forced herself to take deep breaths while her heart beat like crazy inside her chest. The last sprint to the house had been rough, yet when Sarah straightened herself, she sighed in relief.

She had just run roughly ten kilometers through rough terrain and boy, it felt both horrible and great at the same time. Horrible because she was so out of shape that she was afraid that she would have turned into a blob. Shortly after returning home from a trip to New Thompson the other day, Sarah had discovered something she had never seen before.

Fat.

She remembered when she had stood in front of the mirror and poked the skin on her belly with a finger.

"What the hell is that?" she had asked herself. That's when Jim had put his arms around her and kissed her on the neck.

"You look beautiful, you know that?" he had answered. Jim could be stupid at times, but he wouldn't tell his lover that "she had gained a few additional pounds". Now, perhaps that sounds utterly stupid and somewhat sexist, but Sarah had never been fat. The training regime of the Ghost Academy had been brutal and they had made sure that the food the trainees had received wouldn't turn them into meatballs.

And Zerg don't have fat cells. So the Queen of Blades hadn't been fat either.

So yeah, the fact that Sarah's belly started to feel like a marshmallow, combined with her non-existent stamina, had made her realize that she had to start working out.

The first day she had puked her guts out after she had managed to run half the round. And then she had crawled back home on all fours. The next day hadn't been much better. And the day after that. And after that. But she hadn't given up. And even though she was still slower than an overlord that had been deflated, she now managed to finish the round without puking even once.

That was progress!

Sarah turned away from the pickup and walked over to the veranda. She looked at the house and an exhausted smile appeared on her face. The house looked actually really nice now that it was finished. The lilac color gave it a unique look, and the white window frames offered a nice contrast. It looked nowhere near as run down as it had been when they had first stepped foot onto that veranda.

Jim and Izsha had truly outdone themselves.

Oh, yeah...Izsha was gone.

Sarah had no idea where she was, but at the same time, she wasn't worried. Izsha would show up again sooner or later. She was probably on Ulnar and checking on Karax and Niadra. Izsha was the last person in the universe Sarah had to worry about. Right now, the only thing she had to worry about were her lungs.

When Sarah got back inside, Jim wasn't there. He was probably in the barn working on the tractor or something like that. Suddenly all people were so damn helpful and had provided Jim with the spare parts needed to fix the machine. He was trying to stay away from New Thompson as much as possible, mostly because he didn't want the people of the town to believe that he actually wanted to become the goddamn Marshal.

"Jim? You there?" Sarah asked both with her voice and inside the mind.

 _In the barn._ Jim answered and Sarah chuckled.

"Knew it."

 _You back?_

"Yes. I'm gonna take a shower now. What are you doing?"

 _Trying to ruin my own back. By the way, Phil is coming over later today. You better get ready. Today's the day._ When Sarah heard that, she groaned and pressed her hands on her face.

"Just why the hell did I agree to this..." she said to herself.

 _Because it is the right thing to do, Darlin'._

"You owe me a chocolate cake for that." she replied before she went upstairs and into the bathroom. The hot shower felt good and she sighed when the water washed away all the sweat and dust. Sarah closed her eyes and allowed the water to fall on her face. However, even then she couldn't help but think about the waterfalls they had found on Sternenheim. She missed those waterfalls, just like she missed the whole planet. She felt a certain kind of freedom and inner peace on this strange yet beautiful world. And now that her long and red hair reached all the way down to her rear, she had to remember that Jim had called her his "Siren".

She liked that.

When Sarah stepped out of the shower, she toweled herself off and then she walked into their bedroom. She sat down on the edge of her bed and started to work on her hair.

Sarah was no conceited person. Arrogant, bloodthirsty, cruel at times, yes. But not conceited. So she had never bothered styling her own hair. Her ponytail had been easy to maintain. And later her nerve cords...well, let's just say that Zerg have even less use for hair styling products than humans. So the only thing she did was to plait her hair into a long braid. She then got up and dressed before she walked back down and threw herself on the couch. Perhaps it would be the best to take a short nap until Phil and Paula would arrive.

She closed her eyes and enjoyed that burning numbness in her legs. Geez, that workout actually started to make fun. There was a content smile on her face when she drifted off...

* * *

The spaceport of Ramelow was a joke when compared to the ones on Korhal. Then again, you could hardly compare those with each other. The first one was a small place where even smaller spaceships could land, the latter were huge installations that saw hundreds of thousands of people coming and leaving every day.

Some things, however, were always the same.

Immigration formalities, for example.

Seriously, if you guys think that revenue officers are bad, then you have never met a border official that was having a bad day. And they always were having bad days. In their line of duty, it was mandatory.

Unfortunately for them, the man that was next in line didn't give a shit.

"Passport please." the man behind the desk said and the lean redhead did as he was told. He was pale and didn't look so good. His dark eyes were sunken in and he had certain skull-like features that gave him a sinister appearance. He was still young, but you couldn't see that. The man looked like he was at least fifteen years older than he actually was.

Aside from the fact that this man looked like he was a goddamn ghost (and not the psionically gifted kind, but the "Oh my God, you look like you're dead"-kind of ghost), he wore the most tasteless Hawaiian shirt in the history of mankind.

"Reason for your stay?" the civil servant asked.

"Masochism." When the man behind the counter heard that, he looked up and frowned.

"Say what?"

"Nothin'." the sickly-looking man replied. "I'm here to visit someone."

"Family or friends?"

"God, I sure hope not." the man muttered and the civil servant blinked in confusion.

"Uhm...okay. Do you have any goods you would like to declare? Please note that you're not allowed to bring any drugs or otherwise illegal goods to the Dominion world of Ramelow. That includes-" That's when the "tourist" grabbed into his bag and pulled a gun out. He put it on the desk in front of the civil servant and pointed with his finger on it.

"...firearms." the man behind the desk muttered and looked the other man straight into the eyes.

"Don't worry. I got a license for that." the traveler then said and pulled his other id out.

"Oh...I see. Well...uhm...welcome to Ramelow, Major. Have a nice stay."

* * *

Ulnar's halls were empty and cold. She didn't like it here. The whole place felt wrong and all those years hadn't changed that one bit. She had thought about handing it over to the Protoss, but only for two seconds. Even after all that time she still didn't like them, with Karax being the only exception. Well, and that other guy. At least the Protoss hadn't tried to gain access to Ulnar in all those years. Niadra remained vigilant as ever, yet this wasn't a permanent solution.

Maybe they could find a way to take Ulnar somewhere else? Somewhere where no one would find it? Hmm...maybe that would work. She had to talk about this with Jim. And the others. And...

"...has tried to communicate with us again. Lady Kerrigan? Are you alright?" When Sarah heard Karax's question, she turned around to him and frowned.

 **I'm sorry, Karax. I was lost in thoughts. What did you just say?** She floated next to him. Her body, made out of pure energy, looked like a star that had taken on a human shape.

"Ulnar, my Lady." the Phase-smith said again. "It has tried to communicate with us again."

 **How do you know?** she wanted to know, and Karax pointed with his finger on one wall that was covered with symbols and signs. Even after all those years, she still couldn't figure out what this place was trying to tell her. She only could figure out the stuff that was brutally obvious. Her eyes wandered to the spot Karax was pointing his finger on, and suddenly the light faded from her body. Her limbs became normal again and the flames that floated around her head turned red and solid. After a few seconds, Sarah looked like her human self again. She walked up to the wall and placed her hand on the surface.

The metal felt like stone. Or was it stone that felt like metal? The moment she touched it, Sarah could hear the whispers of all the voices that rested inside this place. To some, they were the spirits of the Xel'Naga. To others, they were sophisticated AI's running this place.

"Ulnar needs its masters, Lady Kerrigan." Karax explained. "And since you have decided to not uplift anyone else, this place has come up with a new...suggestion." At first, Sarah didn't really get what Karax was trying to tell her. She could see herself on those walls, but it took her a moment until she realized that this wasn't just the Queen of Blades she had seen several times.

It was her uplifted self. And it was standing next to her human self. And the Queen of Blades. There was something different about those pictures, though. At first, she thought that Ulnar wanted her to tell that she was getting fat, but then she realized what this was all about. While her one hand remained on her wall, she placed her other hand on her belly.

"That's..."

* * *

"Sarah? Jim? Are you home? It's me, Phil. And I brought Paula along!" When Sarah suddenly heard how someone was knocking on the door, she was brought back into the here and now in an instant.

"What...how...where...the hell?!" she yelled and looked around. Had she just dreamed of...what? Sarah blinked in confusion. That...wait, she had been on Ulnar. And she had talked to Karax. But that conversation had never happened. Just like that other dream a few days ago...

"Hello? Anyone home?" Phil knocked on the door and Sarah groaned.

"It's open, come in." she barked, and Phil opened the door. He stepped inside and waved his hand at Sarah.

"Hello! How are you, Sarah?" he asked with an awkward tone in his voice as if he wasn't sure how to approach Sarah. It probably made sense, since he now knew that she had at least been affiliated with the Ghost Academy. Though "former instructor" was not as scary as "former top agent and most powerful Ghost in the history of mankind". This whole thing only worked because Phil had no idea how the Ghost Academy truly had been like. Major Rumm had been an instructor. And he had been one of the most horrible human beings of all times. To think that Sarah would use her experience to train someone...

...well, she wouldn't do the same things they had done to her.

Besides, she was pretty certain that Paula wouldn't even survive five percent of what they had put Sarah through.

"Sarah, what was that place you saw inside your dream?" Paula asked without missing a heartbeat. The older woman sighed when she heard that and then she shook her head.

"The place is called "None of your business", girl." she mumbled and looked over to Phil.

"Well, let's get the show on the road, shall we?" When Phil heard that, he started to nod, even though he had no idea what Sarah was talking about or what she had planned. She had been able to think about this for two weeks, so she had come up with a few ideas. She had no idea if they would work, but she knew more about psionics than anyone else on this world. Hell, she probably knew more about psionics than anyone else in this goddamn galaxy.

"Let's go outside." Sarah muttered and stood up. She stretched herself and then she started to curse. Oh hell, her thighs, they were killing her!

"Are you okay?" Phil wanted to know.

"Yeah, everything's peachy. Just a bit rusty, that's all." she replied and stumbled over to the door. "Come on, I don't want to be inside in case Paula's head explodes. That usually ruins the floor. And we just put some new wallpapers on the walls."

"Okay, that sounds...wait what?!" Phil yelled, but Sarah snickered on the inside. Paula looked over to her uncle and tilted her head to the side.

"Sarah is just making a joke. My head will not explode." she explained and Phil sighed in relief.

"Oh, thank God."

"However, there is a slight chance that I might die because of a brain hemorrhage." Paula told him and Sarah looked over her shoulder.

"Did anyone tell you that you're great when it comes to ruining a joke?" she wanted to know.

"Yes. Many times, actually." Paula replied. "Though I don't know why."

"Oh, I think I know why." Sarah growled. "Now I remember why you empaths can be so damn annoying. Let's go, before I change my mind."

"You won't change your mind." Paula just replied with a warm smile on her face. "Because you don't want to disappoint Jim." Sarah then looked over at Phil and frowned.

"Yep, not annoying at all." And then she walked out and gestured Phil and Paula to follow her. When they were roughly one hundred meters away from the house, Sarah turned around to Phil and gestured him to stop.

"You stay here."

"Why?" he wanted to know.

"Because I said so. That's why." Sarah barked and winked Paula over to her. "Come, let's get this thing started." Paula followed Sarah on the foot and when they were roughly five hundred meters away from the house, Sarah turned around and looked up to the sky.

"Too bad it isn't raining, then I could have blown this thing off." she mumbled. Paula could hear her, but she didn't seem to mind that comment one bit.

"You're saying this because you do not wish to be bothered with other people's problems. You have enough problems of your own and don't understand why you of all people should deal with other people's issues." Paula explained and Sarah frowned.

"Yeah. That's the reason. You truly have no control over your abilities, right?" Sarah asked and Paula nodded frantically. Sarah sighed and pressed her hand against her eyes. "Great. This will be so much fun."

"You're saying fun, yet you mean that it will be most annoying and that you have no idea what you should actually do to help me." Paula said again and Sarah gritted her teeth. It was like having a parrot on your shoulder that was speaking out loud every damn thought you had.

"Okay. Let's do this. But before we start...I got a few questions. And you're going to answer those questions. Because if you don't..." Sarah suggested and Paula tilted her head to the side.

"...then you will apply so much pressure to my neck that I will fall unconscious and stay like this for several hours. When I will wake up, you will just tell my uncle that we had a productive day and then you will repeat this all over again." Paula said with a cheerful expression on her face when she sensed what Sarah was thinking about.

"Good. Just wanted to make sure that we're on the same page here and..."

"Oh, look, this one looks like a giant butterfly!" Paula interrupted and pointed with her finger at a cloud in the distance.

"...or not. Great." Sarah growled. "Okay, head in the game. Paula. PAULA!" she yelled and snapped with her fingers until the young woman looked back at her.

"Yes?"

"Okay, now I want you to answer something for me. You know who I am, yes?"

"Sarah Louise Kerrigan. Former Confederate Ghost, former Queen of Blades of the Zerg. You ruled the stars and you conquered the Void. You have danced with the stars and you like chocolate cake very much." Paula said.

"Well, at least we can agree on the last part." Sarah muttered. "Next question; if you know who I am, then why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Because then you would have left. And I don't want you to leave." Paula explained.

"Huh...strange. Usually, people always promise to keep quiet about me as long as I leave. I think you're the first person I met who thinks the other way 'round." the older woman mumbled. She then looked around and picked up a few stones from the ground.

"Since you already know who I am, you also know what training in the Ghost Academy looks like. You probably saw it in my mind, yes?"

"Yes." Paula said.

"Then you know that it's no fun and games. Girl, I want you to understand one thing; you will never be what the others consider normal. And you will never be like me either...or any other Ghost. And you want to know why?"

"Because they didn't train you, they broke you. And you won't do that to me." Paula said.

"Exactly. It would be pointless anyway. I was trained from young age. You will never be able to do anything I did, even if you were on my level. Which you aren't. If I had to make an educated guess, I would say that you're just a level three or four. Five at max. Too weak to do any real harm, too powerful to go unnoticed." Sarah then looked back to the house. She could see Phil in the distance. And there was someone else. It had to be Jim.

"So rejoice, Paula, because I will spare you the physical training. Instead, we're going to focus on your mind." She then looked the younger woman into the eyes again and put her hands behind her back.

"How many stones do I have in my hands?" she asked and Paula tilted her head to the side.

"Why? Do you not know it yourself?"

"That's not the point. Answer my question; how many stones do I have in my hands? Look into my mind and tell me the answer." For a moment it seemed as if Paula had no idea what to do.

"My mind. Look into my mind and tell me the answer." Sarah repeated her order and an innocent smile appeared on Paula's face.

"Your middle name is Louise!"

"Yeah, I know." Sarah growled. "How many stones, Paula."

"Your favorite color is purple."

"So they say. How many stones?"

"You have visited so many worlds, yet Char was the closest thing you had to a home. You sometimes miss your old primary hive. And you wonder what happened to the Zergling with only one tusk. You wish that Arcturus would have suffered even more, yet you're happy that he's finally gone. And you like it when Jim does that thing with his tongue and your-"

"HOW MANY STONES!" Sarah yelled and made sure that Paula wouldn't finish that sentence. Yet even then she could hear Jim laughing in the distance.

* * *

"HOW MANY STONES!" Sarah yelled in the distance and Jim couldn't help but laugh out loud. He was leaning against the remnants of a ruined fence. It was one of the many things that he still had to fix.

"That doesn't sound too good." Phil mumbled and looked over at Jim. "Maybe we should stop here?" However, Jim just shook his head.

"Naaaa, it's fine. Don't worry, Sarah has a plan. Or so she told me."

"But what is she doing?" Phil asked again. He was too worried in order to just calm down and relax.

"She told me that she's trying to teach Paula to focus her mind. Don't ask me any details, I don't know much either. Maybe Sarah can tell you more, but-"

"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS! AND YOU ARE FAR TOO YOUNG FOR THAT KIND OF ACTIVITY!" Sarah screamed in the distance. "HOW MANY STONES?!"

"That doesn't sound like whatever she's doing is working." Phil muttered and Jim chuckled again.

"Ah, don't sweat it. Sarah might be a bit rough around the edges, but she is better suited to help Paula than anyone else I know of. Just give those two time to. Rome wasn't built in one day either." For a while, neither Jim nor Phil said anything. All they did was to watch Sarah and Paula.

"I don't think I have ever met a woman like Sarah before." Phil then said and Jim chuckled again.

"I take that as a compliment." he said and Phil pulled his shoulders up.

"She doesn't take shit from anyone, does she?"

"Nope. And trust me, you haven't seen anything yet. She has been holding back until now. But don't worry, she won't go all crazy on Paula. Besides, I think it is also a good thing for Sarah to do this. She went through some pretty rough times too."

"Is that why you came here?" Phil asked and suddenly Jim realized that they had never talked about that.

"Yeah...I suppose so. We just wanted to get away from all the madness around us." And the best thing about this statement; it wasn't even a lie.

"Hmm...I see." Phil mumbled. "I guess it's never that simple, huh? No matter who you are, living a good and normal life is just never easy. There's always something that will ruin your plans."

"Yeah..." Jim agreed and both men continued to stare at the two women they cared so much about. After a while, he lowered his gaze and stared at the dusty ground in front of them. "Say, Phil... there's something I wanted to ask you." The burly man looked over at Jim and frowned.

"What is it?"

"It's kinda...personal. And it might sound weird. I don't want to insult you or anything, it just kept bothering me."

"Well, that sounds reassuring." Phil said with a grin on his face. "How about you ask me and then I decide if I run off again like last time?" But this time Jim didn't chuckle or smile. Instead, he looked at his own hands and frowned.

"When you took Paula...when you turned your back on everyone else...did you leave someone behind?"

"Someone? Like...a family?"

"Yeah. And a life." Jim then shook his head and was about to turn away and walk back to the barn. "Forget that I asked. I guess I should go back fixin' that damn tractor." He was about to leave when Phil started to nod.

"I guess you could say that." the burly man mumbled and then he sighed. "I left a fiancée. She survived Tarsonis, just like me. But when I found Paula, she wasn't too happy about it. Told me that I had to make a decision; she or my niece. I left her in the middle of the night. Probably says something about my character." When Jim heard that, he stopped and turned back towards Phil.

"So you left her for your niece?"

"It wasn't really a decision. I just did it." Phil defended himself. "She was my niece and a small girl. Who else should take care of her? I was the only thing that she had left."

"Do you...regret it?" Jim asked and that's when Phil frowned.

"Say what?"

"It's...I'm sorry, I said something stupid." Jim sighed. "I didn't want to question your decision, it's just..." He then took a deep breath and brushed with his hand over his head. "...I met this guy once. He was like you. Had a family and then the Confederacy came for his child. And he let them take the boy away." Jim, of course, didn't tell Phil that he had been this man. Maybe Phil still realized that Jim was playing the old "I have a friend who's..."-game, but right now Jim didn't care about that.

"What happened?" Phil asked with a quiet voice.

"The usual." Jim replied and closed his eyes. Suddenly he had to remember how he had met Johnny on Sternenheim again. How he had held his little son in his arms one final time. How he had said goodbye to his little man.

In the distance, Sarah could sense Jim's feelings and stopped asking Paula how many stones she had in her hands. She looked over to Jim and Phil, and suddenly she felt the urge to tell him that it was over and that he had to move on. But at the same time, she knew that his old family would always be a sore spot for him.

"So, what happened to that guy?" Phil asked and Jim pulled his shoulders up.

"He...I don't know. I don't think that this guy is around anymore." Well, from a certain point of view that could even be considered somewhat true. "But he always said that the one thing he regretted most in his life was letting his son go. But leaving his whole life behind, being on the run, that thought had never occurred to him. So I can't help but wonder if, well..." That's when Jim's voice failed him. Phil didn't look into his eyes, but Jim was pretty sure that Phil knew that he wasn't talking about "a good friend", but himself.

"There were times..." Phil then said. "...times when I thought that I was in over my head. I'm no soldier or hero, Jim. I'm just a legal advisor. And there were moments when I just wanted to be back home, be with Dana, that's my former fiancée's name, and be done with it."

"But you didn't leave Paula behind. You kept her safe all those years." Jim mumbled. "I don't think I have ever met someone as brave as you are, Phil."

"Hmm...doesn't look like that from where I'm standing."

"You give yourself not enough credit, man." Jim explained.

"Hmmm..." Phil mumbled again and then both men fell silent.

* * *

"How many stones, Paula?"

"You once killed three soldiers with only one bullet."

"It were four, and stop evading my questions. How many stones, Paula?" But before they could continue their game, Sarah could feel Jim. Or, to be more precise, she could sense his distress. She looked over at him and frowned.

"Oh, Jim...why can't you give it a rest?" she whispered to herself when she realized what he and Phil were talking about. Paula turned her head over to the two men too.

"He can't stop blaming himself for what happened. He's afraid that if he forgets, he will repeat the same mistake all over again. He also continues to blame himself in order to not forget that he knows that he doesn't deserve you and that he doesn't want to lose you again." Yep, like said; empaths just don't know when to shut up.

"Three..." Sarah then said and Paula gave her a confused look.

"Three?"

"Three stones. I have three stones in my hands." Sarah sighed and turned around. "Enough for one day."

"But...but we have just started! There are so many things that..."

"We've been at it for almost three hours, Paula." Sarah told her and the younger woman blinked in surprise.

"We...did?"

"No, but it certainly feels like that. Enough for today, I need to think about how to train you. And since you can't even tell me how many stones I have in my hands, I have to come up with something else."

"But...I want to stay! Do it again! I will tell you how many stones you have in your hands!" Paula pleaded and Sarah pulled a brow up.

"Oh, now you're suddenly motivated. Okay...let's do this one more time. If you don't figure it out, you will go back home and we will try this some other time." Sarah picked up a few more stones and put them behind her back.

"How many stones."

"You...your father's name was Patrick."

"Yeah, but my father was not a stone. Last try." Sarah said and she could see the despair on Paula's face. It was as if she was desperately trying to figure out the right answer.

"Uhm...Zagara has six legs."

"She certainly has. Sorry, kiddo. That was your last chance for today."

"But...but..." Paula stuttered and Sarah sighed. She walked up to Paula and placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Paula, you know what your problem is? You can't tell the difference between your thoughts and of the ones around you. And you can't concentrate on a single thought either. That's nothing unusual. No one ever trained you. So that's where we are going to start." Suddenly Paula's expression turned hopeful again.

"Does that mean..."

"Yeah, it means we're going to work on that. But not today. Got that?" Sarah asked and Paula started to nod like crazy. "Good. Now come on, I need to tell Jim that he's an idiot and should stop thinking about the past." And then they walked back towards the two men. When they reached Jim and Phil, Sarah could see how Jim gave her a warm smile, yet at the same time, she could feel how he tried to hide his real feelings from her. And how he failed to do so.

Still, this was something they had to talk about, even Sarah knew that. She wasn't looking forward to it, but for some odd reason, Sarah had less reservation when it came to talking about other people's problems. Perhaps she usually didn't care about other people's problems one bit. The only exception was Jim, mostly because she didn't like to see him being in distress.

After Sarah's little, well, breakdown, they had mostly talked about her problems. And she had lacked the courage to talk with Jim about what he had dealt with. She still knew that it was an open wound, it would always be an open wound to him.

He had refused to sacrifice Sarah in order to be with his family. Even now there were moments when Sarah wished that he had allowed nature to take its course. That meant that Jim would be with his family again and she, well...

"He's glad that he has chosen you." Paula suddenly said and Sarah stopped.

"What?" she asked.

"Jim. He's glad that everything worked out the way it did, even though he is still not too fond of those memories. He also feels bad for still doubting his decision from time to time. Yet he doesn't want to share this fact with you because he doesn't want to make you feel bad either." Paula explained and Sarah stared at her for a long time.

"I don't know wherever I should be impressed or annoyed by what you can do with that trick of yours." she growled. "But I now know why people like to go with pitchforks after you."

"No one has ever done that." Paula replied.

"Eh, give it time." Sarah mumbled and then she looked at the two men in the distance. "Paula, listen; I want you to keep that to yourself, yes? I know it's hard, I know that you can't tell the difference between your own thoughts and the other ones, but-"

"You will strap me to a spaceship and send me into space without a space suit."

"I see you and I understand each other. Now come on, let's not keep those two waiting any longer." And so, they walked back to Jim and Phil. When they reached them, they could see the worried expression on Phil's face.

"You're already done? But I thought..."

"...that I would turn your niece into a Ghost within one day of hard working? No. This was just the prelude. I need to come up with a training exercise. And I'm hungry. I can't think when I'm hungry."

"But I thought you were an instructor. Can't you, I don't know, instruct her?"

"Sure." Sarah replied. "What is it we should do first? Advanced sniper training? Or unarmed combat? Maybe we should start with a nice twenty kilometers march with fifty kilograms of equipment. Oh, and then we can try to master the technique where we blow someone else's head up just by thinking about it."

"Sarah wants to tell you that she doesn't need anyone telling her how to do her job. Especially since you don't have any idea how psionics work, Uncle." Paula said with a slightly deranges smile on her face.

"Noted." Phil mumbled. "So, uhm...what next?"

"Next I'm going to think about how to train Paula. So that's all for today, kids. Don't worry, I will come back to you. But unless you want me to turn her into a goddamn sniper, I need some time to think of something. Besides, I still need to figure out how much money I will take for this. I thought about 500 bucks per hour and-"

"Sarah." Jim intervened.

"...since I'm such a _generous_ person, I won't charge you anything." she finished her sentence.

"She would if she could, but Sarah doesn't want to disappoint Jim." Paula explained to Phil. "She only does that because he asked her to do this. She doesn't really care about you and me." There was an awkward moment of silence and Sarah started to chew on her lip. She then looked over at Phil and frowned.

"Is it always like this?" she wanted to know and Phil pulled his shoulders up.

"Let's just say there's a reason why I don't have many friends. Don't sweat it, though. Most people don't like it when their secrets and innermost thoughts are spilled out in front of everyone. And I heard much worse from others, so yeah..." Phil explained. "...sometimes it's not important what you think, but what you do. Being with Paula taught me that you shouldn't judge people by what they say or think, but their actions." He then looked over at Jim. "And you two are good people."

Both Jim and Sarah wanted to reply something, but they just stood there with their mouths slightly opened and said nothing.

They were...good people?

Well, of course you could say that Jim was a good man. But right now, he was still dealing with his decision to save Sarah at the cost of losing his old family all over again. And even though he had done a lot of good deeds, he had also done some very questionable things.

And Sarah?

Let's just say that she couldn't even remember when someone had called her a "good person". Phil sensed that he had said something that did bother them.

"Both Sarah and Jim think that-" Paula started to speak again, but then her uncle shook his head.

"No, it's fine Paula. Sometimes things are better not said out loud." Phil gave both Sarah and Jim a warm smile and then he nodded. "Don't worry, no matter what Paula is going to tell me, I won't tell anyone. You're the first that ever truly tried to help, and I won't forget that."

"Yeah, well...Book may have been the driving force behind all of this. So, don't forget about him." Jim said and Phil sighed.

"I guess so. Anyway, I think we should get going. I still need to restock my store after, well, giving away everything for free."

"Yeah, about that...won't that bite you in the ass?" Jim asked and the burly man just shrugged his shoulders.

"Meh, I'm going to find a way. Maybe say that someone shoplifted my entire inventory. Perhaps I can convince the people in town to vouch for me."

"Right, because the Marshal will totally let that happen." Jim chuckled.

"Heh, maybe I say that I suspect you to be the culprit. I think the Marshal would love to hear something like that." Phil replied and then he shook his head. "Such an asshole. I wish he would just drop dead." When Jim heard that, he pulled his shoulders up.

"Well, I wonder why the people of the town tolerated him all those years. I mean, he's not really what I would call a helpful person, right?" Jim replied and Sarah groaned.

"Plus, he's still staring at my ass every time I turn around." she sighed. "I really wish he would stop doing that. It's creepy as hell. I wonder what went wrong in this boy's life." All three of them chuckled. That's when Paula lowered her gaze.

"He's full of anger and has never learned how to control it. The old Marshal was like a father figure to him. He tried to make his mother proud and hates his father because he left them when Trevor was still a baby." she explained and Phil, Sarah, and Jim didn't dare to say a word. "More than anything he wishes to be respected, but at the same time, he hates the people because they didn't help his mother when she got sick. And when she died, no one came to the funeral."

…

…

…

"Damn..." Jim mumbled. "...girl, you certainly know how to take apart the first impression." he said after a long moment of awkward silence.

"Yes, my little girl is great at doing that." Phil agreed. "Then again, it saved my butt several times. Like when I wanted to pay a smuggler to get us to another world. Paula knew that he just wanted to take our money and then throw us out of the airlock. So yeah, I have come to the conclusion not to question her on that. Though Markson is still a son of a bitch." When Paula heard that, she looked her uncle straight into the eyes.

"It is not nice to say that." she explained and Phil sighed.

"Yes, I know. But sometimes it's just necessary to tell people that they are idiots." he tried to defend himself, but Paula just shook her head.

"No, that's not it. He doesn't care about being insulted, but he breaks someone's nose if they call him "Son of a Bitch". He is especially sensitive when it comes to this insult." she explained.

"Why's that?" Jim asked, but he immediately regretted the question because he knew what Paula was about to reply. There was only one answer that came to his mind. "Oh, hell..."

"In order to make some money, his mother had to work as a prostitute." Paula said with an empty look on her face. It was as if she was just repeating something someone else had told her without really knowing what she was saying. "She tried to keep it a secret from her son, but even the kids in school teased him about it." And then there was another awkward moment of silence.

"I think we should stop now before we hear any more things that we don't want to know anything about." Jim mumbled and Paula looked over at him.

"You say that because you don't want to know what kind of person the Marshal really is. Knowing that he has suffered like this makes you realize that you can't really hate him. Yet at the same time, you don't want to accept that you might have misjudged him because you pride yourself on your knowledge of human nature." Paula explained. That's when Jim, Phil, and Sarah exchanged looks and all three of them knew that they were thinking the same thing.

"That is amazing!" Paula marveled when she looked at them. "You are all thinking the exact same thing at the same time!"

"Well..." Phil mumbled. "...in that case, we don't have to argue. Come on, Paula. Let's go home." The young woman looked over to Sarah and you could see the pleading expression on her face. When Sarah saw that, she sighed and looked up to the sky.

"I will come back to you, Paula. Just give me a few days to figure something out." And that was when a smile returned to Paula's face.

* * *

"You did good." Jim said when they walked back into the house. Sarah, who didn't really care about that, threw herself on the couch and closed her eyes.

"That girl...her mind is like a scrambled egg. It's all over the place." she sighed. "And now I have a headache. Great."

"Still, you did good."

"You already said that, Love."

"Well, I just think it's worth mentioning. Because you did good." Jim told her and walked into the kitchen. "Time to eat. Any wishes?"

"Zergling, roasted." Sarah replied, which caused Jim to chuckle.

"I see what I can find." he said and Sarah decided to close her eyes and relax a bit. Her mind started to calm down and she started to think about the day and what to do with Paula. Sarah knew what the girl's problem was; she had never learned to focus her abilities. She was very much indeed "all over the place". Or at least her mind was.

It reminded Sarah how lucky she had been.

Well, lucky was a relative term. But at least she had possessed a personality. One that had been broken by the Confederacy five minutes after they had "recruited" her. Sarah knew a whole bunch of ways on how to train a psionically gifted mind, yet none of them were very nice. She remembered her own training and regretted it instantly.

Like when Rumm had forced her to use her powers or he would kill her father...

Well, the Confederacy hadn't tried to help her to deal with her powers, they had looked for the ultimate killing machine. And that brought her back to Rumm...

"Great, now I have to think about that asshole." she whispered. Rumm, the man that had shaped Sarah Kerrigan into Ghost Nr. 24. Ruthless, heartless, cruel, and without any mercy. And he had possessed a twisted sense of pride for his work. And that work, that piece of art... had been Sarah. Killing Rumm had been a favor to the rest of humanity, and Sarah didn't feel any remorse when she thought about him. But even then, thinking about Rumm confronted her with a certain problem.

How should she train Paula?

The thing is; if you want to train someone to become a Ghost, you can't be gentle. Sarah had heard that now that the Ghost program of the Dominion had been shut down, psionically gifted people were allowed to have normal lives. They were given drugs that could help to suppress their abilities. The only drugs they had given Sarah were meant to _improve_ her abilities.

The old Confederacy had used children and applied so much pressure that most of had been reduced to burned-out wrecks. But those who hadn't...

It was like a piece of coal that was turned into a diamond. The end product was beautiful, but the path to there was long and hard. Sarah knew what she was talking about, she was such a diamond. Perhaps even _the_ diamond, the crown jewel.

The question was; was she willing to apply the same pressure to Paula in order help her?

The answer was; no. No, she wouldn't.

She hadn't endured all that crap so she could do it to someone else. Besides, Sarah had always been tough as a doornail. And even though this wasn't meant as an insult, Paula was just not Ghost-material. Sarah was deeply lost in thoughts when Jim walked back into the living room and sank down into his armchair.

"Smells good." Sarah mumbled.

"Just threw it into the oven. Thirty minutes and we can eat."

"Sounds good. And then I'm probably going to run another round." she said.

"Another one? Don't you think you're overdoing it?" Jim wanted to know. "Besides, didn't you want to come up with a plan to train Paula?"

"Meh, I'm just gonna make it up on the go, like I usually do. Jim, listen...there's something else I wanted to talk about. Something you probably don't want to talk about though."

"Well, if you start like that, I sure as hell don't want to talk about it." he replied. "What is it?"

"I sensed your feelings when you talked with Phil. And..." she tried to say, but then Jim shook his head.

"It's fine, Sarah."

"No, it's not. You've been carrying this with you ever since Sternenheim. Yet we never talked about it. You helped me with my problems. And you always say that we should talk about issues. Well...how about we...talk?"

"There is nothing to talk about, Sarah. It's over. Some things will never change. I have accepted that. It's just..." he tried to say.

"Just what?"

"Sometimes you just need to confirm to yourself that you did the right thing. That's all." Jim explained. It was the worst kind of answer he could have given because Sarah wasn't satisfied one bit.

"Why do men always want to help others, yet when they need help they keep refusing it?" she growled. "Is it genetic?"

"It's a family trait." Jim chuckled and was about to say something else when they suddenly heard how a car was approaching. Sarah groaned and rolled around so her back was pointed at the door.

"What now? Did Paula convince Phil to go for another round? Oh, hell no..." she moaned and slung her arms around her body. The car stopped in front of the house and neither Jim nor Sarah decided to get up. Phil and Paula knew the way. They could hear how someone opened the car's door and stepped outside, but it was just one person. Still, nothing unusual.

"Perhaps Phil has forgotten something." Jim mused.

"Whatever it is, I'm done for today." Sarah growled. The footsteps came closer and then they heard how someone stepped on the veranda. A few seconds later Phil knocked on the door and Jim just turned his head around.

"Door's open!" But Phil wouldn't enter. Instead, he knocked again.

"I said; door's open!"

And again, someone knocked.

"Must be Paula then. Great...here we go again." Sarah moaned. When Phil or Paula knocked again, Jim got up and walked over to the door.

"I swear, this girl is starting to annoy me." Jim opened the door and looked Paula straight into the eyes. "Hey Paula, when I say you can come in, then you can come in. Is that..." Only then he realized that he wasn't looking at Paula or Phil, but someone completely different. It took him a few moments before he finally recognized the man that stood in front of him.

"Brent?!"


	96. Act IV - Chapter 12

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 12**

 **So not Happy to see You**

* * *

"Brent?!"

The baffled expression on Jim's face was truly priceless and almost worth the entire trip to this world.

Almost.

"Well, if it isn't James Raynor. You look good. A lot younger. Something you ate?" Joseph Brent asked and pulled his straw hat off his head. There was no doubt about it; this was Joseph Brent. He looked different, though. He was a lot skinnier than Jim remembered and it appeared as if he had lost not just weight, but also grown old.

"Brent? But...how? Where...I... uhm..." Jim stuttered and Brent pulled his brows up.

"The Admiral always said that your speeches were able to inspire everyone. Now I wonder how you pulled that one off." the young officer said. "May I?" he then asked and just stepped into the house. He looked around and sighed. "Nice place. Though I thought you were living in a palace or something like that. Then again, it fits your style. And... oh..." Brent suddenly fell silent when he saw the redhead lying on the couch. Sarah had opened her eyes and stared right back at Brent.

"So, you must be Sarah Kerrigan."

"Nooooo..." Sarah replied. "...don't know what you're talking about. My name is Sarah Kluivert." she said like she didn't even try to pretend that she wasn't Sarah Kerrigan.

"Yeah, heard that. Sarah Kluivert and James Reindeer." Brent mumbled.

"Rennard. James Rennard." Jim corrected him and Brent shrugged his shoulders.

"Still a stupid name."

"I know, right!" Sarah shouted. "I tried to tell him, but he didn't want to listen!" This whole scene was absolutely surreal and Jim just shook his head in order to clear his mind. Brent, however, didn't seem to be amazed or impressed or even scared. He turned his attention back towards Sarah and frowned.

"I heard a lot of things about you." he mumbled.

"I'm sure you have." Sarah replied.

"Guess I should thank you."

"Most should. Almost none do. Don't sweat it." she told him in her very own way.

"Yeah, well...thanks for saving my life back during the party. Or something like that." Brent growled.

"Ha, now that sounds really convincing." Sarah chuckled.

"Yeah, well...sometimes I wish you hadn't done that. The last year hasn't really been that great."

"Sorry to hear that. Want me to put you out of your misery? I got a rifle, you know. Just say the word and we go behind the house and solve that problem." Sarah suggested, and that's when Brent started to laugh.

"Ha! I like the sound of that." That's when Jim finally managed to gather his thoughts and ask the most important question.

"How the hell did you find us?" he wanted to know. Brent looked him straight into the eyes and said just one word that explained it all.

"Izsha."

* * *

 **Two weeks earlier.**

 **The City of Augustgrad.**

* * *

"...yet the Imperial Palace has declined to comment on those rumors. This comes at an inopportune time for the government, giving the fact that the popularity ratings of His Imperial Majesty have reached an all-time low. In yesterday's released poll numbers, we have seen another drop. Now, what is truly interesting is that the independent polling agencies generally offer more favorable numbers when it comes how satisfied the people are with the government's overall work. The numbers released by the government-funded institutes, however, show a lot lower rate of approval. After asking several high-ranking officials, they just said that "the government is aware of the fact that a lot of trust was lost and is working hard to regain that trust". It remains to be seen if the ratings of His Imperial Majesty will continue to decline, or if he will indeed manage to turn the wheel around. For UNN, this is Carsten Baker. Back to you, Kate." The reporter that had been on the TV vanished and was replaced by none other than Kate Lockwell.

"Thank you, Carsten. To end this topic and move on to the next, we want to show you our results from our Question of the Day. Like always, we asked all our viewers about what they think about the most discussed topic on social media. Donny? What do you have for us?" Kate was replaced by Donny Vermillion, who looked a lot older and thinner than before.

"Hey, Kate. Our Question of the Day was; do you think that the Emperor can choose whoever he wants to as a partner?"

Oh, the quality of investigative journalism had seen better days, that much was for certain. But if there was one man who didn't care about something like that, it was Donny Vermillion.

"You could choose between several answers. The full breakdown of the poll can be found on our website. Let me, however, show you the most interesting things. The vast majority, namely 67 percent, picked the answer "The Emperor may decide whoever he wants to be with, regardless of social standing and/or heritage." Interestingly enough, over 21 percent said that the Emperor should choose a partner that would suit the interests of the state first and foremost." Donny explained while next to him a computer-generated chart appeared.

"That's a pretty clear answer." Kate said and Donny nodded.

"Indeed. However, we asked some additional questions and got some interesting answers as well. When asking about the nationality of a potential partner, fifty percent said that the nationality shouldn't be of any importance. 23 percent said that they don't care, the rest believes that the nationality is indeed important." Donny went on.

"Again, that is pretty clear." Kate explained.

"Yes. However, we asked another question. "What if the partner of the Emperor would be from the Combine?" Now, this is where things get interesting. In this case, only 32 percent say that it is not important while 29 percent said that this is a no-go for the Emperor of the Dominion. Now I think that is a very interesting number, Kate. It shows what people are generally open to the fact that His Imperial Majesty has a relationship with someone who's not from the Dominion...unless it's the Combine."

"Thank you, Donny. Those numbers are indeed interesting." The camera switched back to Kate, who smiled into the camera. "Now, we will, of course, continue to stay on this topic. Tomorrow, we will have none other than Ambassador Leila Curtland herself in our show. I am sure that she will be able to give us a lot of insight and tell us how much truth there is in those rumors about her and the Emperor being _more_ than just friends..." The way Kate smiled into the camera reminded you of a shark.

"Now, let's move over to the next topic. Admiral Horner and the Ministry of Defense have released a statement regarding the lost battlecruiser "Hyperion". In it, the Admiral claims that-" That's when Brent switched the TV off and walked into the kitchen of his apartment. If there was one thing that he didn't want see, it was the Admiral's face.

He walked over to the refrigerator, opened it, and grabbed a bottle filled with some strange liquid. Brent opened it and took a sniff, which caused him to shudder.

"God, it smells worse when it's cold. How is that even possible?" he mumbled, took a deep breath and braced himself for the inevitable. "Well...here we go again. Cheers to myself!" Brent said and put the bottle to his lips. The moment the liquid entered his mouth, he wanted to spit it out again. It was both bitter and sour at the same time. Geez, why the hell couldn't they add some flavor to it? Why had medicine to taste like ass?

This was the future, goddammit! They could travel between worlds, yet medicine still tasted like shit?

"Ghaaa..." Joseph Brent gurgled when he lowered the bottle and fought the urge to puke all over the floor. It had happened before, like when he had tried to improve the taste of that stuff by mixing it with other liquids. The doctors had been very clear about that; only drink it pure and undiluted. But only losers listen to what the doctors tell them to do. Mixing it with coffee had led to some interesting results.

Brent had never spent an entire day sitting on the toilet. That experience had been...unique.

Mixing it with orange juice had led to the worst case of explosive decompression known to man.

Mixing it with green tea, well, there were things that you just don't talk about.

Brent was still busy fighting the god-awful taste in his mouth when the stuff started to do its work.

"Oh, hell..." Brent groaned and pressed his hand against his stomach. He could feel how the stuff was working its way through his innards, and he had to lean against the wall so he wouldn't fall down and roll on the floor while screaming in pain. It had happened before, back when he hadn't been used to this stuff. By now his inner organs had adapted to it and he knew what he was in for, but he still hated this whole thing.

Brent took a few deep breaths and did his best to keep the liquid inside his body. Effin' doctors and their stupid medicine. They should try this stuff from time to time, then they wouldn't tell him that "you will get used to it over time!". Pah! It was like eating gunpowder. It tasted horrible and what came out the other end was highly explosive.

When his innards had finally calmed down, he sighed and brushed the sweat from his forehead. Damn, what had he done to deserve this?

Oh yeah, he had taken a bullet to the guts.

Brent stumbled out of the kitchen and wobbled over to his bedroom. He felt tired and sick and usually, he went to bed after drinking this stuff so his insides could calm down. Plus, it was only a few steps from his bedroom to the bathroom. He threw himself on his bed and rolled onto his back. It wasn't even past eight, yet he thought about staying here and go to sleep early. What else could he do anyway? Watch TV? Or a movie? No, he wasn't in the mood for either.

He had read all the books that interested him. He had tried to learn how to cook and failed spectacularly.

"Oh hell, I could really use a pizza right now." Brent mumbled and closed his eyes. "With double cheese...salami...uh, and some pepperoni. Extra spicy." He tried to remember how a pizza tasted. He hadn't eaten any in over a year now. Not because he was on a no-pizza-diet. But because he was on a no-tasty-food-diet. Permanently.

His stomach gurgled one more time and he grunted in discomfort. As long as the medicine worked its way through his body, there wasn't much he could do. He really hated this, but there was no other choice. He had to drink this stuff two times a day, otherwise...

...otherwise, he would need a set of new internal organs.

The last year had been rough for Brent. He hadn't been able to enjoy his promotion to Major. He had survived the Christmas Party, but just barely. And in order to save him, the people at the hospital had turned him into goddamn Frankenstein's monster. He was the proud owner of a cloned liver, a cloned kidney, a cloned pancreas and a partially cloned small bowel. Out with the old, in with the new.

In theory, something like that worked great. The doctors had done a good job, but sometimes good isn't enough.

There had been...complications.

And now Brent had to live with those complications.

One of those complications was that he could no longer enjoy things like pizza, meat, or milk products. Do you have _any_ idea how many products contain milk? No cheese, no chocolate, no nothing. All his cloned organs were working, but they were working just barely. It was the reason why he hadn't returned to active duty yet. The doctors didn't really know why he was suffering from this condition, but they assumed it had something to do with the Zerg-viruses inside his system. While they hadn't caused him to mutate, they had intervened with the healing progress. Now they were all gone, however, the damage had already been done. If things would go south, he would need a new set of cloned organs, but that would be risky as hell. The chance that his body would reject those new organs was pretty high.

So yeah, Brent was having the time of his life right now.

He had spent more than nine months in the hospital and there was no way that he would be able to return to active duty anytime soon. Besides, what should he do anyway? His old job was gone, some weird young woman had replaced him. He had received a message that he was to be transferred to the Naval Intelligence Office, the fleet's intelligence service. Apparently, someone thought that he could be a good intelligence officer one day. There was only one small problem with that; he didn't want to become an intelligence officer.

Brent had never planned for any of this. How could he? He hadn't asked for it either. Ever since that Christmas Party, things had gone south for him.

But you know what the worst thing was?

It was the fact that they had thrown him out, left him here, and told him that he wasn't allowed to talk to anyone about what happened. Admiral Horner hadn't even deemed it necessary to visit Brent once since done that trip to Mar Sara to him. The only thing he knew was that he was in possession of classified information, and should he ever tell people about what had happened during the Christmas Party, they would look him up.

Now that's how you make your employees happy.

Right now, Brent didn't want to think about any of that. Right now, he only wanted to think about pizza. Delicious pizza.

"Maybe with anchovies? Or just a margarita. Hmm...it would be totally worth it." he groaned and reached out to his phone that was lying on the table next to his bed. The doctors would be mad at him, so what? This couldn't be called a life right now. He looked at the display of his phone and frowned. Just one call. One damn call. Ten minutes of joy and a lifetime of exploding guts afterward. He found the number and made a call.

"Big Herc's Pizza Delivery, what can I do for you?" someone asked and Brent sighed.

"I'm so gonna regret this." he growled and hang up. He stared at the ceiling and could feel how the discomfort inside his guts started to fade away. He stared at his phone for a while. What else was there to do? So, he called the delivery service again.

"Big Herc's Pizza Delivery, what can I do for you?"

"Hey, I would like...no, wait...nevermind." Brent said and hang up again on the other guy.

"Maybe a Pizza Hawaii? Uh, that would be nice. Or...a goddamn calzone. Hmmm..." He tried to remember the taste, but it had been so long ago. He stared at his phone and thought about it some more. And then he called the delivery service one more time.

"Big Herc's Pizza Delivery, what can I do for you?" Brent could swear that the man on the other side of the line sounded really annoyed.

"Yeah, I would like to order something. Do you have...what's the biggest size you have?"

"Protoss Mothership. That's one meter in diameter. Or you can order a Zerg Hive."

"Zerg Hive?" Brent asked.

"Yeah, that's our product for families or parties. They're two by two meters and you can order one hundred and ninety-five different toppings."

"Uhm...I think I'll pass on that. Just make it a normal one."

"Very well. But if you order a Mutalisk barbecue, you get a twenty percent discount on both!"

"I think I'll pass." Brent mumbled. "Just one normal pizza with salami, pepperoni, and anchovies please."

"Sure, that would be...wait, what are anchovies?" the man asked.

"Anchovies. The small salty things, you don't know them? They're...ah, never mind. Salami, pepperoni, and some onions. Hey, if it blows away my innards, let's make it worth it!"

"Say what?"

"Nothin'!" Brent growled. "How long will it take?"

"Where do you live?"

"South Gate, Lower Imperial District." When the man heard that, he whistled in surprise.

"Whew. That's a nice place. Uhm...thirty minutes?"

"Sounds good." Brent then gave the man his exact address and hang up on him before he resumed to stare at the ceiling and sighed once more. His innards had finally managed to calm down, so he wouldn't spend the rest of the day sitting on the toilet. Hooray for that. Brent closed his eyes and tried to relax a bit. There wasn't much that he could do nowadays anyway.

Time passed and Joseph groaned. Ever since that damn Christmas Party, nothing was still the same. He had never made any big plans for his future, but his life right now was certainly not how he had envisioned things.

"Nobody knows...the trouble I've seen..." he started to sing after a while. "Nobody knows...but the Treasury Department." Or something like that.

"Nobody knows...the trouble I've seen...nobody knows...where my liver went." He opened his eyes and turned his head to the side. Next to his bed and on the table was a piece of paper.

His letter of resignation.

Brent could already see himself turning into a homeless, scavenging for food and crawling through the sewers. And you know what was funny? It would be more interesting than continuing with this shit right now. He hadn't become an officer because he had believed in it, he had done it because everyone needs a job. So yeah, he wasn't really looking forward to joining the Naval Intelligence Office. Or wearing a uniform anymore. He was in his early twenties, yet he felt like he was close to retirement.

Maybe he could use his-

All thoughts were cut short when suddenly the doorbell rang. He blinked in surprise and looked at his watch.

"Well, someone wants a tip." Brent growled and got back on his feet. He groaned in discomfort when his innards screamed in protest, but he ignored it as much as possible. He walked over to the door and when he opened it, the smell of hot pizza surrounded him.

"Oh, that's the good stuff." he moaned and looked at the pizza delivery guy who handed him over a pizza.

"One pizza, normal size with salami, pepperoni and onions." the man said and Brent could feel how his mouth started to water. He paid the delivery guy and then he closed the door and walked back into the kitchen. When Brent opened the box, his eyes widened in glee.

"Oh hello, beautiful! How I have missed you!" Right now, Brent was in love. All that cheese! He grabbed a piece of the hot pizza and inhaled its scent. Oh, he should have done that a long time ago. If he would go out, he would go out with bowel movements that people would talk about for ages! He opened his mouth and shoved a piece of hot and delicious pizza in his mouth. Brent was about to bite a piece off and doom himself...

...when the doorbell rang again.

"Hmmm..." he growled and chose to ignore it. He wanted to savor this goddamn moment. Unfortunately, the doorbell rang one more time. Brent pulled the piece of pizza out of his mouth and yelled over to the door.

"You got your tip! Ain't getting any more!"

So the doorbell rang once more.

"For effin's sake!" Brent growled and threw the piece of heaven back into the box. He stomped over to the door and opened it.

"Dude, what is it now? If you want...something...you...can...bite...my..." he said and then stopped when he saw _who_ was standing in front of his apartment.

"Captain Brent. It has been a while. How have you been?" Izsha asked.

* * *

"You're making that up." Jim said as they sat at the table.

"Nope. There she was. All big, dark, and acted like it was the most normal thing in the world." Brent replied and stared at his cup of coffee. He hadn't touched that thing at all. "After I finally stopped panicking, she told me what had happened. You guys have been through some weird shit from what I heard."

"That's one way to describe it." Sarah mumbled and Brent looked over at her.

"Heh...the infamous Sarah Kerrigan. I've heard so many stupid stories about you. And now I'm actually face to face with you. Well, now I _know_ that I'm face to face with you."

"And? Do I live up to your expectations?" Sarah wanted to know. Brent raised his hand and waved it around.

"Meh. So-so I would say. I was expecting a bit more godlike superpowers."

"Well, I'm currently out of juice. Come back at a later time, maybe then I can do a trick for you."

Jim watched how those two here squabbling with each other like they were some kind of old friends. This whole scene was utterly surreal.

"Sorry for being such a spoilsport, but why the hell are you here, Joe?" Jim wanted to know and Brent looked him into the eyes.

"It's Joseph, not Joe. Thank you very much."

"Whatever. Why are you here?" When Brent...when Joseph heard that question, he sighed and leaned back. He truly looked like a changed man. And not for the better.

"I'm here to relay a message to you." Joseph said. "It's from Izsha. She wanted me to tell you that..." He tilted his head to the side and perfectly mimicked Izsha's strange way of talking "...I was right. You were wrong. Suck on that, Raynor." When Sarah heard that, she couldn't help it and started to snicker. "The "Suck on that" part might be a product of my imagination, though." Joseph added.

"Then where is Izsha right now?" Sarah wanted to know.

"Told me that she had to go to Ulnar to check on Karax and... Nidra?"

"Niadra." Sarah corrected him. "Any word when she will be back?" Joseph shook his head.

"Nope. She just said that she would come here eventually." There were so many things that Jim wanted to know. That he _had_ to know.

"So you're just here in order to tell me that Izsha doesn't like me?" he asked.

"Of course not." Joseph growled. "I came here because I wanted to. There's not much for me to do right now, and when Izsha told me about your little adventures, I thought: "What the hell, that sounds like fun!"."

"You have a weird definition of the word _fun_." Sarah mumbled.

"Well, you are weird people. So, I guess that makes sense. Or not. It's not like I care about that anymore." Joseph explained and both Sarah and Jim exchanged surprised looks. That kid, sorry, that man, he looked like he didn't really care about anything anymore.

"So, how's Matt?" Jim wanted to know.

"Who?"

"Matt. Admiral Horner. You know, the man you work for."

"Don't work for that guy anymore." Joseph said, and the tone of his voice suggested that he was glad about that.

"What happened?"

"Let's just say that I don't care about what the _Admiral_ does these days. And he has probably forgotten about me anyway. If you want to know how's the Admiral is doing, then you can go and see him yourself. Just be warned though; he doesn't really care about us "normal folks" anymore. Though it's always good fun to see how Kate Lockwell slams him on her show. Man, she really hates him. I wonder why's that." Joseph mused.

"That sounds a bit hard. The Matt that I knew-" Jim tried to defend his old friend.

"...is no one I care about. Listen, you love Horner so much? Then why don't you marry him?" Joseph shot back.

"Heh, finally someone says what everyone was thinking all along." Sarah chuckled.

"You know what..." Jim growled. "...screw you two. Maybe I'm gonna visit Matt. I miss that guy. He's one of my best friends. No, he _is_ my best friend. So yeah, I'm pretty sure that he will be happy to see me again." Jim announced. Both Joseph and Sarah looked at him as if they were expecting something.

"Well, you can go now. I can take care of the house while you're gone." Sarah suggested.

"What...now? No... I mean...just no. There are too many things that need to be done. But maybe some other time." Jim mused. He liked that idea. Only then he realized that he truly wanted to see Matt again. However, there were so many things that he still had to take care of. Besides, right now Sarah needed him more.

"So, what are you doing here for a living anyway?" Joseph wanted to know after a while.

"Stuff, mostly." Sarah replied. "Jim will probably tell you that he has a grand plan or anything like that, but right now we're pretty much drifting around."

"Sounds like you're living the life out here." Joseph chuckled. "Should have come out here a long time ago. Good thing that I'm here now." When Jim heard that, he had to frown.

"What does that mean?"

"Means that I'm going to stick around. So, which room will be mine?" For a long time, neither Jim nor Sarah said anything. Only after a while, Jim shook his head.

"You're shitting me. You're not staying here."

"Oh yes, I will."

"No, you won't."

"Yes, I will."

"Why the hell should I allow that?" Jim asked and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Because if you throw me out, I'm gonna tell people who you really are." Joseph replied. "And as Izsha told me, neither she nor...uhm...Miss Kerrigan? Sarah?" he asked, wanting to know how he should address her.

"Sarah is fine." she told him.

"...right. So since neither Izsha nor Sarah would be terribly sorry about that, the only one who would be sad is _you_." Joseph explained and pointed his finger at Jim.

"You're the devil." Jim hissed and Joseph shrugged his shoulders.

"I had time to practice. Anyway, I don't intend to crash your place and I'm going to carry my own weight. All I need is a place to stay until I find something of my own." When Jim heard that, he couldn't help but lean forward and stare straight into Brent's eyes.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" When Joseph heard that question, he started to laugh. But it was a bitter laugh.

"Right now, my life is a bucket full of shit, James." he then explained. "I died. And while I'm grateful that you saved me..." he said and pointed his finger at Sarah. "...there are times when I wish you hadn't. Every day I wake up in pain. Half my organs are cloned and don't work properly. The doctors say that I lost like thirty years of life expectancy, and my only perspective is to do jobs that I couldn't care even less about. So yeah, it's a good life."

"So, you came out here why, exactly?" Jim mumbled.

"Because it was something different. I'm not afraid of biting the bullet anymore, James. But if I'm on my way out, then I want to see or do something really crazy, something that no one has ever done before."

"I think he called you crazy, Love." Sarah mumbled and Jim realized that by now his original plan had been sabotaged by pretty much everyone he could think of.

"Maybe it was just a shitty plan?" his lover suggested when she heard his thoughts, and all Jim could do was to groan in dismay.

"Just what did I do wrong to deserve this?" he asked himself. Unfortunately, Joseph Brent was back. And if there was one thing Joseph Brent was good it, then it was making useless remarks.

"You want me to write a list?"

* * *

"I think your husband isn't happy having me around." Brent said the next day when he and Sarah were on their way to New Thompson.

"We're not married." Sarah replied. "Why does everyone assume that we're married?"

"Dunno. Just would make sense, I guess." Joseph mused.

"We share our thoughts. I think that goes a bit deeper than being married." she replied and then both of them stayed silent for a while. When Sarah had told Jim that she wanted to visit Phil and Paula, Joseph had declared that he would join her. Apparently, he was too "cloned" to spend another night on their couch.

Whatever that's supposed to mean.

They remained quiet and Joseph stared at the landscape as it passed by.

"So, why here?" Joseph asked after a while and Sarah sighed.

"Ask Jim. He came up with this brilliant plan."

"You don't sound very happy about being here." Joseph mumbled and looked over at Sarah. When she felt his eyes mustering her, she shook her head.

"Did Izsha tell you about..."

"...your fall from grace and power? Yeah. Still, why this of all places?" Joseph wanted to know.

"You can ask..."

"...Jim, I know. But I would like to talk to someone who makes sense." he replied and a smirk appeared on Sarah's face.

"I like the sound of that." She then frowned and stared at the landscape in front of them. "Jim and I once visited this world, back when we both worked for the Sons of Korhal."

"That must have been ages ago." Joseph mumbled and Sarah looked over at him.

"Did you just call me old?"

"Maybe." he shot back. "Hey, is that a gray hair?" he asked and pointed at her braid.

"You have no problems with escalation, do you?"

"Meh. So, you've been on this world before?" he asked again and Sarah sighed once more.

"It was an infiltration mission. Easy money, but it was just after I had met Jim for the first time. I didn't really like him back then. To me, he was just another caveman who thought that he was funny. And I wasn't really happy with being forced to work with him."

"Wait, you two hated each other?" Brent asked and appeared mildly surprised.

"Something like that. Ever heard how he and I met?"

"Can't say I have. Just assumed that you, I don't know, shared the same foxhole." Brent suggested.

"Ha...would have been more romantic. We first met on Antiga Prime, back when I was Mengsk's, Arcturus Mengsk that is, well, I was his second-in-command. I only knew that I was to work with a former Confederate, supposed to be some kind of war veteran. And when we met for the first time..."

"You met the future father of your unborn children?" Joseph teased her and Sarah opened her mouth, ready to give him a reply that he would never forget.

However, that's when she suddenly remembered that strange dream from yesterday. The one where she had been inside Ulnar and had placed her hand on her own stomach.

"I can't have any children." she then just said and Joseph looked away.

"Sorry. Didn't know that."

"Don't sweat it. It's not like I would be a very good mother. I think it's safe to assume that I would be the worst mother of all times." Sarah explained. "Anyway, the first time I met Jim, he looked at me and had, well, naughty thoughts. Very _explicit_ thoughts. I called him a pig and he realized that I was a Ghost, and that's when we realized that after this mission was over, we would never work with each other again."

"Funny how that worked out." Joseph said and Sarah couldn't help it and started to chuckle.

"Oh hell...it happened so many years ago, yet I can still see the embarrassed look on his face when he realized that I knew exactly what he had thought. Priceless." Sarah shook her head and looked back at the street in front of them. "Anyway, one of our missions after that took us here. There once was a Confederate military base out here. We infiltrated it and stole some codes we needed for another mission. The house you slept in tonight? We used it as a hideout. I had totally forgotten about this house, the mission, and the whole planet, but one day Jim just told me: "Hey, I have an idea!", and here we are."

"Didn't you miss a few details? Like when you were Zerg and all?"

"Naaa, no one cares about those things anymore." Sarah said and waved her hand in front of her face.

"Right. No one cares about Sarah Kerrigan. Or the Queen of Blades." Joseph mumbled.

"The Queen of Blades is no more." Sarah explained with a cold tone in her voice. "As for Sarah Kerrigan...well, she's currently on vacation. The name is Kluivert." When Joseph heard that, he shuddered.

"That's a horrible name." he declared and Sarah looked over to him.

"That's what I told Jim!"

"So, he came up with that name?"

"Yeah..." Sarah sighed.

"I bet he's really proud of that." Joseph mused.

"You could say that." Before they could continue with their pointless conversation, New Thompson appeared in the distance.

"This is it?" Joseph wanted to know.

"Yep."

"Doesn't look like much."

"It isn't. Boring as hell and most of the inhabitants are both partners and siblings at the same time." Sarah muttered and Joseph couldn't help it and started to chuckle. When they reached the town, Sarah parked in front of Phil's house and got out of the car. Before she could do or say anything, a window on the first floor was opened and Paula pushed her head out.

"Sarah! I knew you were coming!" she yelled and waved her hand like crazy at the other woman. Sarah looked around and realized that pretty much everyone was looking in her direction.

"Oh, that's just great..." she growled.

"I think she wants something from you." Joseph chuckled and Sarah looked over her shoulder.

"Really? Ya' think? Did they teach you that at the academy?"

"Among other things. They also taught me how to flush a toilet. There's a fine technique to that." Brent explained and Sarah frowned when she heard that.

"I'm so going to regret asking...but what does that mean?"

"You _never_ use the officers' toilets, but the ones for the NCOs and lower ranks and never flush. And then you scream at them because they don't even know how to keep the toilets clean."

"That..." Sarah started and wanted to say something like _is disgusting_ , but then she thought about it for a while. "...actually makes a lot of sense." She then shook her head in order to get that image out of her head. "Anyway, I'm going to see Paula now. You...do whatever you want. Have fun."

"Hey, is there a pizzeria in this town?" Joseph asked, but then Sarah had already vanished inside the shop that belonged to Phil Carter.

"Guess not..." he mumbled and turned away. He walked through the town and took a deep breath. He was born on Korhal and had grown up in Augustgrad. He had been outside and even off-world plenty of times, but being here still was somewhat surreal. Well, there was no way he would turn back now. No matter what would happen, returning to his apartment on Augustgrad was a no-go. There was nothing that could change his mind.

He greeted the people as they were passing by, yet they seemed to be very cautious. It looked like they didn't get many visitors out here. It took Brent roughly fifteen minutes and then he had seen almost everything this town had to offer. Joseph stopped in front of the church and stared at the board with announcements.

"Quite the cultural hot spot." he said to himself. That's when suddenly a new voice reached his ears.

"You don't like it? Then you can always leave." Joseph looked over his shoulder and when he saw that man, he frowned.

"'Scuse me?"

"I said; if you don't like it here, then you can leave."

"Oh really? And who would you be?" he asked and the blonde man crossed his arms in front of his chest. He carried a gun, so he was either some sort of law enforcement officer, or Brent was about to be the first victim of a killing frenzy.

"The name's Marshal Markson. And this is my home. I like it nice and quiet here and don't like it if people cause trouble. Is that clear?"

"Do you tell this all the newcomers? Or only the ones you don't like?" Brent wanted to know, showing that he wasn't even scared one bit.

"I let you pick. I'm feeling generous." Markson replied. "What's your business here?"

"Masochism." Brent replied. By now he considered this answer to be both funny and adequate.

"Oh, you're a funny guy!" the Marshal growled. "Do you know what we do with funny guys?"

"Give them a badge and call them Marshal?" Joseph offered and he could see how Markson's hands started to twitch.

"You're coming with me!" the Marshal hissed.

"Yay! I just made my first friend!"

* * *

"So, how's Jim?" Phil wanted to know. He and Sarah sat at the table in the kitchen and were both enjoying a cup of coffee.

"The usual...I think. It's not like I hover over him all the time. Why're you asking?" she wanted to know and suddenly Phil seemed to feel rather uncomfortable. He looked away and stared out of the window. It was so brutally obvious that something was wrong that Sarah wasn't even bothering to hide her dismay.

"Out with it." she just growled and Phil sighed.

"There has been some talk among the town's people..." he then began.

"Talk? Talk as in _talk_ or talk as in _"Ready your pitchforks"_?" Sarah wanted to know.

"Nothing as gruesome as that. After everything that happened in the last few weeks, people are still wondering what exactly happened. But you can still see how it changed something."

"Changed something? What the hell are you talking about?" Sarah asked.

"There aren't many things going around in this town. And when something happens, it's usually nothing good. Pretty much everyone expected Paula to be dead, but then you guys showed up. At first, the people didn't know what to say or think about what had happened, but now they can't shut up. You gave them something they hadn't tasted in a long while."

"And what would that be? Clean water?" Sarah suggested, but Phil didn't even chuckle when he heard that.

"Hope. And a cause. That night when Paula went missing, Jim got everyone together and made them work for to achieve the same goal, the people appreciated that. And now they want more."

"More?" Sarah laughed. "What, should Paula get lost again so we can start another rescue operation? If that's the case, count me out." When Phil heard that, he appeared to be somewhat shocked. But that's when Paula walked in.

"She would help again, she just likes to act as if she doesn't like us. Sarah thinks that this way people won't bother her that much. Hello, Sarah!" For a long while, Sarah did nothing but to stare at Phil like she was about to murder him.

"If you tell Jim about this, I'm going to murder you." she then said and Phil had to swallow hard.

"She's not going to murder you. She knows that she can be really menacing and that people will usually do as they are told when she tells them to." Paula explained. You could actually see how Phil relaxed. That's when Paula added: "She will punch you in the face, though. Really hard."

"This isn't annoying at all." Sarah growled.

"Like I said, you get used to it." Phil mumbled. "Anyway, a few people approached me and asked how Jim knows so much about what he did. You know, how he managed to coordinate the search and all. And there was a lot of talk..." Well, that sounded promising.

"Get to the point, Phil. I got important things to do." Sarah said.

"She has nothing planned for the rest of the day." Paula explained and Sarah started to grind her teeth. The younger woman tilted her head to the side and frowned when she sensed Sarah's thoughts. "My head wouldn't fit in there. I'm not flexible enough."

"Anyway, people asked me if Jim would be willing to help them with their problems. You know, the usual stuff. Sometimes people argue, sometimes things go missing. Back then they saw how a complete stranger showed more compassion than we're used to. And well, what can I say? People liked that."

"Yeah, well...Jim is all heart. Still, what are you trying to say?"

"Ever since the people saw how Jim managed the situation, they realized what this town had been missing all those years."

"A sewer system?"

"What? No, we have that. Why would you...ah, never mind. Point is; a lot of people have approached me and asked me if Jim would, well, be willing to take more responsibility." Phil explained. And Sarah? She said nothing. There was an awkward (and eerie) moment of silence and after a while, Phil started to worry.

"Sarah? Is something wrong?" And again, it was Paula who explained that which should never be explained in the first place.

"Although Sarah knows that Jim did a good job, she's not very happy right now because people seem to have forgotten that it was her that saved me. Also, she is currently rethinking her "no murder"-policy." When Phil heard that, he raised his hands and gestured Sarah that he was on her side.

"What? No! That's not how I meant it! You saved my little girl, and I will always be grateful for that. It's just that..."

"I get it. When you need help, ask Jim." Sarah growled. "Because he is always so damn helpful, unlike me." It didn't take a genius to realize that Sarah wasn't exactly in a good mood.

"That's not what I wanted to say, I just...listen, could you relay a message to Jim? The people of the town would like to talk to him. They realize that we need to change something, and he's the kind of guy who just inspires confidence." Phil explained and Sarah sighed.

"Yes, he tends to do that. I will tell him that you want to talk to him. But that's none of my business." Sarah said and then she looked over to Paula. "I came here because I wanted to tell you how we're going to proceed with _her_."

"Okay...what is it you need?" Phil asked.

"You bring her out to our home two days a week. Then I will work my magic." Sarah said and Phil blinked in surprise.

"Uhm...and then?"

"Then I'm going to train her."

"That...that isn't telling me much."

"Good." Sarah shot back and looked up to Paula. "If you tell him anything that I have planned, then you can train yourself. So zip it." And all Paula did was to nod like crazy. Hey, that could already be considered some kind of progress, right?

"I'm not sure I like that idea." Phil muttered and Sarah gave him an annoyed look.

"You don't have to like it. You just have to do as you're told. You can look for someone else who helps Paula. By all means, I'm not inclined to help her." But that's when Paula's eyes widened in fear and she knelt down next to her uncle.

"Please! I want to learn!" she pleaded. "Sarah won't hurt me...much." Now that was reassuring. Sarah said nothing, but she could see the worried expression on Phil's face. It was strange though...Phil was Paula's uncle, yet their relationship was that of a father and his child. It was brutally obvious that, as far as Phil was concerned, Paula was his child. Suddenly Sarah remembered something, something that she hadn't remembered in a long time.

" _A father will always be scared for his child."_

Those had been Jim's words all those years ago. Back when that boy had led them into the house. A father, huh? A part of Sarah wondered how "Daddy Jim" had been like and would pay real money to see that. But then she shook her head and decided to ignore that thought as much as possible. Still, why did she remember this now? Was it because she had talked with Joseph about how they had visited this world the first time?

And then she had to think about those dreams once more. The one with the young woman...

" _We want to name her Louise."_

And the other one where she was inside Ulnar and staring at an inscription that showed her, only that there was something different about her...

"Sarah? Are you okay?" Phil asked and Sarah closed her eyes.

"Yeah. I was just...thinking. Never mind. Anyway, I should be on my way then. So, this is how it's going to be. You bring me Paula every Tuesday and Thursday in the morning and pick her up again in the evening. Any questions?" she asked and Phil opened his mouth, but then she cut him short and said: "Wonderful. Now excuse me, I need to find out where Joseph went."

"Joseph?" Phil asked and Paula tilted her head to the side.

"His mind is fun. And dark. He's a good man, but he feels like everyone has forgotten about him. The only one who seems to care about him is Izsha, and he's really grateful for that." she explained and Sarah's eyes widened in shock.

"Who's Izsha?" Phil asked and Sarah jumped up.

"No one! She's...it's not important." She gave Paula a stern look and the young woman suddenly realized that she had said something wrong.

"I'm sorry...I just...I didn't know that..." But that's when Sarah shook her head.

"Of course, you didn't know. That's why we have to work on that." She then turned back to Phil. "Tuesday. Don't be late. Now excuse me, I need to find Joseph." She said goodbye to them and when she stepped out of Phil's home, she could see that Joseph was not inside the car anymore...or anywhere in the vicinity.

"Oh joy, that's the last thing I need, looking for this guy." she growled and looked around.

"Hello, Miss Kluivert." a woman said as she walked past Sarah. Sarah frowned and hesitated for a second, but then she just gave the woman a quick nod.

"Hi." she said and then walked towards the church. Maybe Joseph was somewhere close by, she sure as hell didn't want to search for him.

"Oh, Miss Kluivert! How are you?" a man asked when he saw her. Sarah gave him a quick nod before she continued to look for Joseph.

"Sarah."

"Miss Kluivert! How nice to see you again! How are you?"

"Mighty fine day, wouldn't you agree, Sarah?"

"You look good, Miss Kluivert. How's Jim doing?"

"Uhm...fine. Thanks." Sarah muttered while more and more people greeted her as if she was an old friend. At first, she didn't really give it another thought, but after pretty much everyone had greeted her, she couldn't help wondering if something was wrong. They were so... _friendly_. When Sarah reached the church, she looked around and frowned.

"Just what the hell happened to them?" she mumbled. Much to her own dismay, someone decided to answer her question.

"They are just happy to see you, Sarah." She rolled her eyes when she heard that voice and then she turned around.

"Shepherd." she growled his title as if it was a curse. Book, who walked down the stairs that lead to his workplace, chuckled and stepped towards Sarah.

"Haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"

"So-so. Say, have you seen a guy? Pretty tall and thin, has red hair and looks like he's about to die any second?" Well, at least she wouldn't have to look for Brent because Book nodded.

"Yes, I saw him. Tasteless Hawaiian shirt too?" he asked and Sarah nodded. "The Marshal took him to his office."

"Wait, what?" Sarah barked. "Why the hell...ugh, I so don't want to deal with that right now." Unfortunately, she knew that she couldn't leave Joseph behind. She really wanted to do that though.

"Is that man a friend of yours? Maybe family?" Book chuckled.

"I don't have friends." she growled and Book pulled his brows up.

"It seems that Paula would disagree with that statement."

"Yes, Book. Remind me of the girl that's giving me a migraine. Smooth move. Now excuse me, I need to get Joseph back and then I'm going home." she said, but then Book harrumphed and Sarah realized that he wanted to talk to her. "What?"

"Actually..." Book began. "...I wanted to talk to you."

"I'm not going to do you any more favors, Book. So, no more entertaining the hillbillies. Unless you want me to use _you_ for target practice. In that case, I'm more than willing to help you with that."

"Has anyone ever told you that you seem rather bloodthirsty from time to time?" Book wanted to know.

"No. No one has ever done that. Why would you say that?" Sarah said. Somewhere in the afterlife, Old Man Arcturus was probably choking right now, but she didn't care about that. "What do you want?"

"Well, this is kinda weird, and I don't think that I should talk about this in the open." Book said and Sarah pulled her brows up.

"Book, I swear; if you don't spit it out immediately, I will do something that _you_ will regret. So, spit it out." she growled and Book sighed.

"There is a small problem. And it's a rather _delicate_ one. I thought that maybe Jim could help us-"

"You want to talk to Jim? Then talk to Jim." Sarah just cut him short.

"But Sarah, I just wanted to ask if you could-"

"Do it yourself, Book. I got more important things to worry about." Really, when would the people realize that she didn't care about their problems? Unfortunately, she was no longer a godlike entity and therefore didn't possess the ability to vaporize annoying people with a mere thought.

"Please, I wouldn't approach you if it would be a waste of your time. All I wanted to ask if Jim would consider taking more responsibility and-"

"You want to ask him if he wants to replace the Marshal." Sarah concluded and Book blinked in surprise.

"Uhm...yes. How do you know that?"

"Phil hinted something like that." Sarah sighed and then a smile appeared on her face. The thought...was actually pretty damn funny. Sarah had never witnessed the great Marshal Raynor, she had met him after he had defected from the Confederacy. But in a way, he had always been the Marshal, even to the point where people would just refer to him as Marshal years after the fall of the Confederacy.

"I just think that Marshal Markson is not really suited for this job. He...isn't exactly the kind of person we need around here." Book mumbled.

"And since when do you know what a good Marshal is made of?" Sarah wanted to know.

"I wasn't always a Shepherd. I know that there are certain qualities you should have if you want to-"

"Then tell that to Jim. I bet he will be _delighted_ to hear that. Now excuse me, I probably have to seduce someone in order to get Joseph out of jail." Sarah growled and left Book behind.

"Please, promise me that you will at least tell him!" Book yelled at her.

"I promise that I will snap your neck one day if you continue to annoy me." she whispered and stomped towards the Marshal's office while feeling how her left eyelid started to twitch. Even though she was pretty sure that she looked scary as hell, the people continued to greet her as if she was an old friend. As if she belonged to their little community. As if they truly cared about her.

Well, she just wanted to be left alone, goddammit!

She reached the Marshal's office and stopped in front of the door. Oh joy, just what the hell had Joseph done now? If he had caught another bullet, she wouldn't patch him together. Well, she couldn't do that anymore, but even if she could, she wouldn't. At one point, people had to learn that all of their actions had consequences.

Or something like that.

Maybe she could try to seduce Markson. Give him pretty eyes, woo him, make him drool all over his desk.

Or she could punch him so hard that he wouldn't remember anything.

Punching. Yeah, that was a good idea. She was horrible when it came to seducing people, but she knew how to knock someone's lights out. Sarah took a deep breath and then she opened the door and stepped inside.

"...and then she turned around and said: _"Yes, he left his invitation in my apartment. Like the rest of his clothes!"_ It was hilarious!" Brent said and Markson shook his head in disbelief.

"Oh no, she didn't!"

"Oh yes, she did!" Joseph chuckled.

"What happened then?" the Marshal wanted to know. Sarah, who froze immediately, needed a moment to understand what was going on. Joseph was here, but he wasn't in a cell. He was sitting in front of Markson's desk and the two men were... _having a normal conversation_?

"Well, everyone was staring at them and there were like one hundred cameras that had caught everything on tape. The whole damn planet saw his expression. Oh, it was _glorious_." Joseph marveled when he remembered that day. Markson couldn't help it and started to laugh like crazy.

"And what did you do?" he wanted to know and Joseph shrugged his shoulders.

"I pretended that I hadn't heard him. I was already inside and only thought: "To hell with it. You drag me everywhere, make me drink poison and then I'm supposed to save your sorry butt? Screw you, Sir!" So yeah, that was awesome." Both Joseph and Trevor Markson laughed some more before the Marshal looked over at the door and frowned.

"Oh...Miss Kluivert." he said and stood up. "Is there anything I can do for you, Miss?" Sarah, who looked at the Marshal, noticed the change in his behavior immediately. He was no longer drooling when he looked at her. He did stare at her breasts though, but hey: Little steps.

"I'm here to pick something up." she said and pointed her finger at Joseph. Markson saw that and his eyes widened in surprise.

"So, you are really with her? Sorry, Major. I did not want to believe it."

"Ah, don't sweat it. Most people don't believe it. Most people don't even believe that I'm a Major, so who gives a shit, right?" Joseph chuckled before he looked over at Sarah.

"You're done?"

"Yeah. I'm heading home now. You want to stay here or...?" Sarah really hoped that Joseph would say yes, but then the pale man groaned and stood up.

"Nope, let's go back home. I need to drive James mad." Joseph declared and Markson giggled when he heard that.

"Have a nice day, Major."

"You too, Marshal!" Joseph said and followed Sarah outside. When they walked towards the car, Sarah crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked over at the skinny man with the smug grin on his face.

"What was that?"

"What was what?" Joseph asked.

"You and the Marshal, acting like you're best buddies. No one likes that asshole." Sarah explained. When Joseph heard that the smug grin on his face became even wider.

"At first, he wanted to lock me up, but when we talked a bit, we figured out that we share something that goes really deep."

"Oh yeah, and what's that?" Sarah growled as they reached the car and she opened the door. Joseph's grin became absurdly wide.

"I'm a high-ranking officer and he's an ass-kisser. It's a match made in heaven."

"You're a weird one." Sarah explained.

"I take that as a compliment. Now drive me home, slave!" he replied and sat down next to Sarah. She decided to not slaughter him right here and now. Instead, she turned the car around and then they were on their way back home. But before they reached the outskirts of the town, they came past a few people. One of them, a dark-skinned man, waved his hand and gestured Sarah to slow down. For a second, she thought if she should either ignore him or run him over, but then she decided to slow down and pulled her window down.

"What?" she barked and Shepherd Book stepped closer.

"Sarah, please...can you tell Jim about what I told you?" he asked and Sarah sighed.

"No promises. Now excuse me, I want to go home." she said and accelerated the car. A cocky smile was on her face when she watched how Book became smaller in the mirror.

"Who was that?" Joseph asked and she looked over at him.

"What? That was Book. He's the local priest and currently the bane of my existence. Why?" she wanted to know. Only then she saw that cold expression on Joseph's face.

"Book, eh? Now that's an interesting name." he mumbled and stared into the side mirror. "Guess it's true what they say; it's a small galaxy, isn't it, Major?" Joseph mumbled to himself.

"Are you talking to yourself?" Sarah asked, but Joseph decided to remain quiet. Perhaps staying here would be more fun than he had initially thought.


	97. Act IV - Chapter 13

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 13**

 **If it's stupid and works, it ain't stupid**

* * *

When Jim woke up, he yawned and turned his body around. Or at least he tried to do that. He felt something heavy on his body and when he looked down, all he could see was red. He blinked a few times until he finally realized that there was nothing to be worried about. He took his hand and brushed through the soft red hair of Sarah and smiled.

"Another day in paradise." he whispered mostly to himself.

"You have a weird definition of "paradise", Love." Sarah mumbled and his smile turned into a grin.

"Paradise is where you are, Darlin'."

"Tsk...charmer." Sarah said and Jim brushed her long hair out of her face. Their eyes met and suddenly Jim felt a deep sense of fulfillment inside his chest. Sarah sensed his thoughts and chuckled.

"It doesn't take much to make you happy, does it?"

"Why would you say that?" Jim wanted to know and Sarah pulled a brow up.

"All you need is a naked woman lying on you when you wake up and suddenly it's paradise." Sarah mumbled and his grin became even wider.

"I got high standards, Sarah. There's not just any random naked woman lying on me, but the most beautiful women there is." When Sarah heard that, she too had to smile.

"I can live with that." she whispered before she pushed herself forward and pressed her lips on Jim's. Her hand came up and Jim felt how her fingers started to wander over the skin of his arms. He slung his arms around her waist and they shared a peaceful moment filled with serenity. Feeling the warmth of Sarah's skin in the morning was probably the single greatest thing Jim could think of. They continued to kiss for what felt like hours and soon their hands became more daring. Sarah broke the kiss and leaned backward.

"Sarah? What's the ma-"

"Shhh..." she hushed him and placed a finger on his lips. He looked up at Sarah and suddenly he had to swallow hard. As he looked at Sarah's naked form, he was again reminded how beautiful she was. By now her long red hair gave her something truly majestic. That red hair had always been beautiful, but now she truly reminded him of one of those legendary sirens.

His very own siren...

Her skin was just as flawless as always, but by now she had gained a nice tan. Her full lips, her green eyes...those high cheekbones.

"Hmm...so early in the morning and already having dirty thoughts." she cooed. "Just what am I supposed to do with you, Mister?" Jim swallowed hard and then made a suggestion.

"Oh, there's something that I could think of."

"Really?" Sarah chuckled. "I wonder what that could be?" Every shape of her body was tantalizing and the way she moved inspired awe. The curves of her breasts, the shape of her shoulders and her waist...it was like he was looking at the perfect woman.

"Hmm...I like the sound of that." Sarah whispered and leaned back down. They continued to kiss and soon it turned into even more. Their arousal grew and then they moved on to the next stage. The good thing about sharing thoughts is that no one does something the other one doesn't like. And both of them knew what they were doing.

Besides, was there a better way to start the day?

If there was, then they hadn't discovered it yet.

Soon the sounds of panting and moaning echoed through their bedroom. The sheets fell on the floor, yet they didn't care about that at all. This felt too good to stop and after a while, both could feel how they were close to-

"Hey, people! I think you got rodents below the roof, they scream anWHOA!" Joseph yelled in surprise when he opened the door and stepped into their bedroom.

"MOTHER OF-" both Sarah and Jim screamed at the same time. Their instincts kicked in and Sarah, who was still on top of Jim, tried to get into cover. She rolled to the side of the bed. Unfortunately, she and Jim were still, well, _connected_. It was as embarrassing as it was amusing and when they crashed on the ground, all the magic was gone.

"Whoa...sorry, didn't know that you were busy." Joseph then said. "You really should put a sign on the door. You know, something like; warning, breeding in process." It was Jim who managed to look over the bed and at Joseph.

"This is our house! And we don't put "Do not disturb"-signs on the door to our bedroom!"

"Well, that's your decision. Anyway, you probably should cover your genitals and head downstairs. There are some people that want to talk to you."

"People? What people?" Sarah asked after she had grabbed the sheet and put it around her shoulders.

"Dunno. Said that they work for Admiral Horner. And they said that it's urgent. Apparently, the Protoss have declared war against the Dominion and they need you to save us all." Joseph explained and both Jim's and Sarah's eyes widened in shock.

"WHAT?! Are you serious?" Jim yelled and Joseph started to snicker.

"Of course not. Downstairs are some folks from that town of yours. One called Phil Carter, that priest, and some other town folks. They want to talk to you, Jim."

"What? Now? Are you kidding me?" Jim growled and all Brent did was to shrug his shoulders.

"Unfortunately, they seem to be dead serious. From what I can tell they want to offer you a job or something like that." the younger man explained and that's when Sarah went pale.

"Oh, you gotta be shitting me." she whispered and Jim looked over at her.

"Is there something you would like to tell me?"

"Not really." Sarah replied. "Yesterday both Phil and Book spouted some nonsense if you could imagine replacing Markson as the Marshal of New Thompson."

"Seriously?" Jim asked and Sarah nodded.

"Seriously. I didn't tell you because...well, I guess I forgot about it. Hope you aren't angry." she said and Jim sighed.

"So what? Do they expect me to meet with Markson at high noon and settle this the old-fashioned way?" he growled. And then he said something that Sarah had hoped to hear, but she hadn't dared to think about it. "I don't want to be Marshal anymore." That caused Sarah to smile. Not because she wanted Jim all to herself but...well, yeah, maybe she wanted Jim all to herself. Yet the more they got involved in the affairs of these people, the higher was the chance that one day Jim would ask her if they would stay here for good.

But no matter how she looked at it, this place didn't feel like home.

"Well, you better tell them then. They're downstairs and emptying your coffee-reserves. So, you better get down there." Joseph just said before he turned around and left their bedroom. But not before he would give them one more for the road.

"By the way; nice ass!" they could hear him yell.

"That's sexist!" Sarah shouted back.

"I wasn't talking about your ass!" And when Jim and Sarah heard that, they looked at each other and thought the very same thing.

"They will never find his body." both growled. But that's when Sarah sighed and shook her head.

"Ugh, let Izsha deal with him once she's back. She brought him along after all."

"You know..." Jim mused. "...I never thought I would say this...but I would prefer it if she had brought a Zergling along. At least those things don't make any stupid comments while they're trying to eat you. It's like having a big son whose only goal in life is to drive his parents insane." When Sarah heard that, she closed her eyes and felt something strange. Suddenly she remembered those dreams again. And what Jim had said all those years ago.

"A father will always be worried about his child." she whispered and Jim looked over at her.

"Say what?" he asked, but she just shook her head.

"Nothing. It's...nothing. I was just...thinking about something." she replied.

"Something that's so unimportant that you decided to not share it with me?" he mused and Sarah's eyes widened.

"Please, Jim...it's nothing. It's just...old memories that I would like to keep to myself. At least for now."

"You do know that this usually leads to drama and nuclear-sized psionic explosions, yes?" Jim teased her and Sarah gave him a weak smile.

"Tell you what; once I can go nuclear again, I will tell you about what's on my mind, yes?"

"Only if you promise me that I won't have to put all those pieces back together afterward." Jim whispered and leaned forward. They shared another kiss, and much to Sarah's relief Jim decided to not pursue this. Besides, there were more than enough other things that he had to worry about. When they broke the kiss, Sarah looked into Jim's eyes and frowned.

"What are you going to tell them?" she wanted to know.

"That they can shove the badge up their butts." Jim replied. "I left that life behind the day the Zerg attacked Mar Sara. And I don't intend to do a revival because we all know that the revival tour will be not nearly as epic as the farewell tour."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sarah said and he chuckled.

"Well, let's not make them wait. Every minute they spend with Joe in one room, the chance for a catastrophic event becomes more likely." Jim yawned.

"And we wouldn't want that." Sarah muttered. Jim stood up and helped his lover back on her feet. He put on some clothes and was about to walk out of the room when he looked over his shoulder.

"Are you coming?" he asked and Sarah stretched herself until her joints started to pop. That alone wasn't anything spectacular. Except for the fact that she was still naked and Jim had to force himself not to drool.

"Nope. They want to talk to you, not me. I think I'm going to have a long and hot bath." she cooed and Jim chuckled again.

"Watch it, if you take any more baths, you will grow gills one day!" he joked but Sarah just pulled her shoulders up.

"Meh, wouldn't be the first time. I kinda miss my gills." Jim laughed when he heard that, but when he saw the cocky grin on Sarah's face, he stopped immediately.

"Wait, what?" he asked. "I was just joking."

"Well, I had gills. Back when I was Zerg. They were actually pretty useful." Sarah explained and Jim shuddered when he heard that. "Hey, they were great! I really wish I could have shown you what I could do with them."

"I think I'll pass, thank you very much." Jim mumbled. That's when they heard Joseph screaming from downstairs.

"You're coming or what?" When Jim heard that, he sighed and shook his head.

"We need to get rid of this guy."

"You know my policy." Sarah mused. "No one will find the body."

"Yeah, well...keep that though. I'm gonna see what this is all about. And have fun taking a bath. Don't drown." Jim mumbled and then he walked out of the bedroom and downstairs. He yawned and mumbled something about "...gonna strangle him in his sleep..." when he walked into the living room and...

"What the hell is going on here?!" he barked. He had expected two or three people. But now it looked as if half of the damn village was inside his home.

"Jim, hey." Phil said as he turned around. So did all the other people. There was Book and some other folks Jim had met.

"If this is some kind of intervention, then I want you to go to hell." Jim growled and Phil shook his head.

"Well, it is some kind of intervention. But don't worry, it's not you we want to show the door."

"Show the door? What?" Jim asked and it was Book who then asked something.

"This is about the Marshal. Did...Sarah tell you about it?"

"She mentioned something. Something that I'm not very fond of." Jim replied and both Book and Phil exchanged looks. The other people seemed to notice Jim's hesitation and one woman stepped forward.

"Mister Rennard. I am Lucile Altmeier. Me and the others here, we have come here in order to ask you if you would be willing to replace Trevor Markson as Marshal and-"

"No." Jim cut the woman short.

"Jim, at least hear us out!" Phil pleaded and Jim looked at him.

"No. I don't want to be the Marshal. Besides..." he then said, sticking to his background story. "...I never worked in law enforcement." Of course, it was a lie, but the people here had no idea about that.

"Neither has Markson." Lucile Altmeier replied and Jim frowned when he heard that.

"Then who made him Marshal?" He did remember what Paula had told them the other day, but he was still suspicious if all of that was true.

"The old Marshal." Altmeier explained. "We were supposed to get a real Marshal when Old Man Baker was about to retire, but with the war going on, all able hands were needed elsewhere. Markson was the Marshal's deputy back then and when Baker's health started to fail, he decided to make Markson his successor and-" Before the woman could finish, Joseph had to laugh out loud. He was lying on the couch and threw his arms in the air.

"HA! Hooray for field commissions!" he laughed and Jim frowned when he heard that.

"Wait, what? Markson was field commissioned? Like...seriously?"

"It was during the war, Mister Rennard." Altmeier told him. "The men either had to work in the mines or join the military. Only the old and the young were spared. And Trevor? Well, he was _very_ young. Perhaps too young."

"So? No one bothered to do something about that?" Jim asked and the people from New Thompson exchanged embarrassed looks.

"We just...Marshal Baker was a good man and there was nothing going on. We were never truly in need of a Marshal. Of a Marshal that's worth his money. So, we thought-"

"No." Jim refused again.

"But James, why don't you even consider it and-" Book tried to reason with Jim, but that's when a new voice reached them and everyone turned their heads towards the staircase.

"Give it a rest, Book. Jim said no." Sarah said and walked down the staircase. Pretty much everyone's eyes widened in surprise when she saw her. Mostly because she had just a sheet wrapped around her body. Her hair was a shriveling mess, yet even then she seemed to radiate an aura of inner strength and beauty that none of them had seen before. No one except for Jim and Joseph.

"Good morning, Sarah..." Phil said and had to gulp hard.

"Is there a reason why half the town has decided to crash our place?" Sarah asked and walked through the people like she was not even human, but something different. It was as if her presence had changed a bit, only that Jim hadn't noticed it. How could he? During their time on Sternenheim, he had gotten used to all that raw power.

It was nothing when compared to the presence she had emitted during that Christmas Party or on Sternenheim, but there was no doubt about it.

More of her powers had returned.

It was like a drop, a tiny drop in a vast ocean. But this drop alone was enough to make Sarah shine from the inside.

"Sarah...we were just-"

"Trying to convince Jim of doing something that he doesn't want to do." she declared, and suddenly the people weren't so eager to tell Jim what he should do. Sarah turned around and gave Jim a warm smile.

"I'm going to take a bath now." she cooed and gave Jim a quick kiss on the cheek before she walked up the stairs. Everyone in the room stared at Sarah, and when she was certain that they couldn't see her face, she allowed herself a cocky smirk. "Once you're done here, you can join me!" she said and you could hear how several people muttered something like "that guy is a lucky bastard".

"Seems like I can tease after all." she whispered to herself and then vanished out of sight.

There was an awkward moment of silence when no one else dared to say a word. It was like that moment during the Christmas Party, back when Sarah had walked over the red carpet. Back then she had possessed the ability to influence everyone that had stood in front of the Imperial Palace and beyond. It was as if her old powers had reemerged, but only for a second and only with a fraction of what she once had been capable. Well, she had been able to make everyone in the room feel the urge to go down on their knees and worship her. Everyone except for two guys.

"Well, that was interesting." Joseph said after a while and yawned. The entire time he looked at Book and studied the older man's features. It was as if he was especially interested in Book.

"Uhm...well..." Phil muttered before he shook his head and felt how his thoughts started to clear up again. It was as if a pressure was lifted from his mind and he could finally breathe again. "...Jim, listen...I understand that this is all very sudden, yet we really thought things through."

"I seriously doubt that." Jim growled. "You would replace one man who wasn't trained in law enforcement with another one." Again, that was a lie, but no one knew the truth. No one except Joseph. However, the younger man didn't look like he was about to tell the other people anything.

"We know that, James." Book tried to reason with him. "It is just that this community could really benefit from both you and your wife's expertise and-"

"WE'RE NOT MARRIED, DAMMIT!" Sarah's screams suddenly echoed through the house, and all the magic these people had felt moments ago was gone.

"-we would be very grateful if you would help us with that."

"Markson's the Marshal. I doubt that he will be very happy about you telling him to just screw himself and get lost. Besides, isn't this place his home?" Jim asked and he could see the embarrassed looks on the other people's faces.

"It's not like we want to get rid of Trevor, it's just..." one man said.

"...he was never one of us." someone else finished that sentence.

"He was always bad news."

"Yeah, and a huge asshole. He never did anything for us."

"Yet he always made us greet him."

"That guy was bad news from the start."

"No one likes him."

"And his mother was just a who-"

"DON'T YOU DARE TO FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" Jim barked and everyone shut up immediately. He remembered what Paula had told them about Markson the other day. It was easy to judge someone if you don't know the details. Sometimes you meet someone who's a complete asshole. First impression and stuff like that. It's not easy to look beyond that, but usually the people weren't assholes because they simply loved to make others feel miserable. There were notable exceptions of course. People like Arcturus Mengsk, Edmund Duke, or Major Rumm.

But then there were people like Tychus Findlay. People who were assholes because life had never truly given them a chance.

If what Paula had told them was true, then these people had no right to judge an angry young man.

"Look at you. Look at all of you! I don't care if the Marshal is the biggest asshole in the history of chocolate flavored starfishes-" Jim started.

"THAT'S DISGUSTING!" Sarah yelled from above, yet no one really cared about her.

"-but that doesn't mean that you have the right to just judge others because they act in a way you don't like it."

"Jim, please...all we wanted to do is-" Phil tried to reason with Jim, but suddenly the man of the house was furious. It didn't matter that he too didn't really like Markson. If you have a problem with someone, then solve it yourself. The people of New Thompson were looking for the easy way out. They probably expected Jim to tell Markson that he was no longer needed.

"Have you even thought this thing through?" Jim barked and looked Phil straight into the eyes. "I get that you don't like Markson. If Paula had been my child, I would have probably reacted the same way you did. But there is a line. And you guys are about to cross it. Besides, how the hell did you imagine this would work? I just go to the police headquarter in Central City and say: "Hello! I want to be the new Marshall!" Huh?!"

"We...we wanted to think about that after you had agreed to-" Phil stuttered.

"Well, I ain't gonna agree to that! I'm many things, but not a backstabbing bastard! Has any of you actually tried to talk to him? Or approached his superiors in Central City?" The people remained silent. Apparently, they hadn't expected this answer from Jim.

"Jim, please...all we wanted to do is-" Book tried to reason with Jim, but he didn't want to listen to them.

"Out. OUT!" he screamed and hushed the people out of his home. At first, they thought that he was making fun, but when they saw the furious look on Jim's face, they realized that he wasn't joking around. He managed to throw the people out within seconds and slammed the door shut behind them. Even Book and Phil hadn't escaped Jim's wrath.

"The nerve these people have!" he yelled. "Think that just because I help people I like to spend my time running after them!" Joseph, who had listened to all of that, sat up and stretched his arms.

"Man, is it always this exciting around here?" he asked and looked up at Jim.

"You shut up. I'm not in the mood for your stupid jokes."

"It's only stupid if it's not working." Joseph replied and Jim frowned when he heard that.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Means that I actually got a plan. Seriously, do you guys never make any plans?" Joseph asked and Jim crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Oh really? And what have you planned?" But all Joseph did was to smile and scratch his belly.

"I could use some coffee. Oh, and can I have your car?"

"Why?"

"Because I have a plan!"

* * *

When Book returned home, he and Phil knew that they had to come up with a way to apologize to Jim. They hadn't expected him to react so violently, and much to Book's dismay it had really shaken Phil to the core. The burly man liked Jim, and the thought that he might have pissed him off so hard that Paula would suffer from those consequences was unbearable. Book didn't know about that, but he could see the distress in Phil's eyes.

This whole day had started really well, he actually had not imagined that it could have turned out like this. After returning to the town, Book had decided to take a break and eat something. So, he had sat down in McReedy's and eaten something warm. And he had even enjoyed a beer, something that he hadn't done in a while.

Luckily, his order did not forbid drinking yourself in a stupor after a shitty day. Unfortunately, one beer was enough to remind him that his tolerance for alcohol was practically non-existent. And so, he had decided to call it a day. His flat was in the back of the church and when he walked towards the building, he thought about what to do next. Maybe he should do what Jim had suggested, maybe he should approach the police headquarter in Central City.

Yes, the plan had been horrible. He knew that because _he_ had come up with it. Still, the reaction of Jim had been a bit more extreme than he had anticipated. Book walked up to the church and then he realized that there was a car standing right in front of it. He recognized it immediately. It was the car the townspeople had given to Jim and Sarah as a replacement for the one that got wrecked by the kriecher.

So Jim had changed his mind?

Book sighed in relief and walked over to the church. He could see that the door was open, so someone was inside. The Shepherd walked up the stairs and entered the church. He looked around and could see a figure sitting in the front row and right before lectern that could be considered Book's altar.

"James. Thank you for coming here. Listen, I-"

"James isn't here, but you may leave a message after the beep tone!" the skinny man said when he looked over his shoulder.

"You...you were there...Phil told me about you. Brent, right?"

"Please, let's not be so formal! You can call me Major!" Joseph said and looked like a complete retard.

"I'm sorry, I was...I had hoped James would have come to his senses and rethink our offer."

"Oh, only a fool would reject such a great offer." Joseph chuckled. "Anyway, we didn't have much time to talk. The name is Joseph Brent. And you're Shepherd Book, right?"

"That's right." Book confirmed. "So, you said you are a Major? Dominion military?"

"On paper anyway." Joseph mumbled and looked around. "Now this is a nice church. Reminds me of all those horror movies I saw as a boy. You know, those movies where the priest is actually the leader of a cult that east people?"

"No..." Book mumbled. "...no, I don't know those movies."

"Ah, that's too bad. I always liked those movies. My favorite part is when the main character realizes that the one that seems the most trustworthy is actually the bad guy. Well, before he summons a demon that bites his own head off. You know, the usual teen-love-movie."

"Are you...drunk?" Book asked and Joseph grinned at him.

"I can't get drunk, I got a cloned liver that's not really working. Anyway, you're a priest, right?"

"I think we established that, yes. Is there something I can do for you? If there's not, then please excuse me...but I would like to close the church now. It wasn't a very good day so far and-

"Uuuuh! Now I know! I want to confess something! All my sins! Isn't that what you guys do? To hear people's confessions?" Brent asked and Book frowned.

"That's...a different order. I can't shrive you and absolve you of your sins, if that's what you're looking for." he explained.

"Huh, what a shitty order is that? You can't even do something like that? Then why the hell did I come all the way out here? There's a burning sensation in my chest. I need to get it out or I will choke on it. Or maybe it's just from the pepperoni I had the other day."

"You are a very weird man." Book said and Joseph's smile turned into an absurdly wide grin.

"Good. I like it that way. So, can you listen to my confession? There's something that I really have to get off my chest."

Book wanted to say no. Really, he did. But being the Shepherd meant that he had a duty that he couldn't just ignore. So, he sighed and walked up to the first row and sat down next to Joseph.

"Isn't there some kind of confessional box? You know, where there's a wall between us and I can't see your face, only hear your voice? So I can't see how you turn into a face-eating monster that wants to bite my head off?" Joseph asked.

"Just what went wrong in your life, Son?" Book wanted to know, and for a second the smile disappeared from Joseph's face.

"Trust me..." he growled. "...you don't want to know."

There was an awkward moment of silence and Book was about to tell Joseph that they should probably stop right here and now. But then...

"Well, when I was eight, I accidentally crashed a cart into a really expensive hover car. I ran away and never told anyone about it." Joseph said and Book frowned when he heard that.

"Uhm...that sounds unfortunate. Did you promise yourself that you would never do it again?"

"Only if the car wasn't in my way. Oh, and I once booked a bunch of strippers for the back-to-school-night at my old school. And I sent the bill to the parents of my girlfriend." Joseph continued.

"Why would someone do that?" Book asked and a mad grin appeared on Joseph's face.

"My girlfriend slept with the whole sports team. It was elected to be the "most hilarious thing" that happened at prom night. Was fun. The strippers, not the "getting cheated" thing."

Damn, this guy had issues.

"I think I'm sexually attracted to a Zerg." Joseph then said.

…

…

…

…

"Okay, listen!" Book hissed. His job was to take care of the people, not listen to this bullshit. "I don't know who you think I am, but-"

"I keep secrets from Jim and Sarah." Joseph suddenly declared, and the tone in his voice had changed drastically. Suddenly he didn't sound so amused anymore, and Book realized that this wasn't a joke.

"Secrets? What kind of secrets? Is it something dangerous?"

"I don't know..." Joseph whispered. "...could be. Could be nothing. But I don't want people to worry. So, I kept my mouth shut."

"Well, having secrets usually means that there's a problem you're worried about. Sometimes it is best not to say anything until you're certain."

"I don't know, Shepherd. It's just...you know, I came all the way out here from Augustgrad. I knew that I would visit Jim and Sarah. What I didn't know was that I would meet that other guy..."

"Other guy?" Book asked.

"Yeah...this guy. See, all that talk about Markson made me thinking. Field commissions weren't unusual during the war, but nowadays no one does that anymore. I graduated from the Academy. I was trained as an officer. And you know what? It was the worst time of my life." Just what the hell was this guy trying to tell Book?

"It's funny...I wonder what you guys tried to achieve. Throw the Marshal out of town? That would have been the worst plan of all times, right? Who came up with that plan?"

"It was me." Book mumbled.

"Well, it was a shitty plan. Perhaps you should have asked that guy I saw the other day."

"Guy? Which guy?" Book wanted to know.

"Oh, you didn't seem him? He's kinda your height. Black skin, long gray hair...he is actually someone I know from Korhal." Joseph said and that's when Book's eyes widened.

"That's...interesting." he mumbled.

"Yeah, isn't it? To find him out here? Makes me wonder what he's doing in this place." Brent mused.

"How...how can you be sure that it's _him_?" Book wanted to know.

"Oh, I know him. We never met, but I read his file. Funny thing; he was supposed to do my job but then he rejected the offer. So I was the lucky dog who instead got his guts blown out..." Brent growled before he found his cheerful attitude again. "...anyway, I truly wonder why he's here and why he's so interested in Jim and Sah-"

"What would you do if he would truly be here?" Book cut him short. Suddenly the Shepherd was not the calm and friendly man everyone knew. He stared at Joseph with cold eyes.

"Well...if that guy would really be the guy I think he is...then he would know that you can actually do something about the situation with the Marshal." Brent explained. "Field commissions are a funny thing. During peace times, those who received the commission usually have to obtain the necessary qualification at a later date." He then leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "All you need are two senior officers who sign the application for the Academy. I'm a Major..." he then trailed off before he rolled his head to the side and looked Book straight into the eyes.

"Now...if we could tell that other guy that he too could sign that application..." Brent suggested and looked over to Book.

"Sounds like a solid plan." Book growled. "Perhaps you should ask that man yourself."

"Naaa...he's part of your community. _You_ should talk to him. But I can point you in his direction if you want..." Brent suggested and started to point his finger around like crazy.

"THAT..." Book yelled a bit louder than he had wanted to. "...is not necessary. I can...talk to this man."

"Glad to hear that!" Joseph replied and then he leaned back. "Still, it is kinda strange. This guy is a Major. Or at least he was. He should have thought of something like that. I wonder why he decided to do nothing. Then again, I can't help to wonder if he maybe wants to keep a low profile. But why would he do that? It is really strange, especially since he seems to be very interested in Jim and Sarah."

"Well, they are very interesting people. So, I wouldn't say that this is something unusual. Besides, they are newcomers. And we don't get any newcomers out here." Book mumbled, but Joseph just shook his head.

"No. No, that goes deeper. It's like this guy has an agenda...like he knows more than anyone else."

"Those are very dark thoughts, Joe." Book mumbled.

"Joseph. My name is Joseph. I don't like it when people call me Joe. I'm not just any random trucker." He looked Book once more straight into the eye. "Do you know that feeling? When people call you and use a name that you don't want to hear?" Book, whose good mood was gone for good, nodded.

"Yes. I know that feeling. So... what are you going to do about this...man?" the Shepherd wanted to know and Joseph started to grin again.

"Nothing. I will keep my eye on him, though. Make sure that he won't try anything stupid. You know, just to be on the safe side." Joseph declared.

"You are a very devoted man, Mister Brent. Jim and Sarah should be grateful to have such a friend."

"I'm not their friend." the younger man explained. "I'm just a random guy who ended up here by accident. Sounds plausible, right?" he asked Book and the Shepherd nodded after a while.

"Very plausible indeed."

"Good!" Joseph said and then he stood up. "Glad we could talk about it. Tell you what, Book...you're a great listener! We really should do this more often." And then he walked back to the door. He stepped out of the church while whistling a song and when he was finally gone, Book was all by himself.

"What an interesting turn of events..." he growled, knowing that no one could hear him.

* * *

 **Five days later...**

* * *

"When I said that I wanted you to find your own place I didn't think you would come up with something like this!" Jim said and looked around. The office of the Marshal looked still the same, except for the guy that was sitting behind the desk.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Joseph said with a huge grin on his face. He still wore that godawful Hawaiian shirt. By now they had found out that he owned several dozens of these things. And every single one was more hideous than the one before that. Aside from that, he didn't really look like a Marshal. Normal jeans, normal shoes. The only thing that gave away his new position was the badge that he had attached to his belt. And, of course, the pistol that he carried.

"I still don't know how you pulled that one off." Jim mumbled, to which Joseph just shrugged his shoulders.

"It pays to come up with a plan from time to time."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jim wanted to know but Joseph just shook his head.

"Nothin'." the new Marshal said before he scratched his cheek. "Hey, do you think I should grow myself a beard? I'm thinking of a mustache."

"A cop with a mustache and a Hawaiian shirt. They should make a show out of it." Jim mumbled and shook his head. Joseph, on the other hand, looked at his shirt and tilted his head to the side.

"I always wondered why they call these things Hawaiian shirts, though. Just what exactly is a Hawaiian?"

"It's a group of islands on Old Earth." Jim explained and Joseph appeared to be somewhat impressed.

"Really? And they wear these things there?"

"Beats me." Jim replied. "I've never been to Earth."

"Hmm...damn shame if you ask me." Joseph mused and put his arms behind his head. He almost seemed _too_ comfortable. "That's something I always wanted to do. Who knows, maybe now I will be able to...one fine day that is."

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask this; why the hell did you end up as the new Marshal?" Jim wanted to know and Joseph pulled his shoulders up.

"Seemed like the most reasonable thing to do. I do need a job, right? They won't pay me forever if I won't do something. And an officer's commission can do miracles, let me tell you that."

"Hmm, if you say so. Still, just how did pull that off? I mean, did you bribe someone or...?" When Joseph heard that, he burst out in laughter and put his feet on the desk.

"Pah! You can only bribe people when you have money. Besides, I don't have to bribe anyone. All I had to do was to sign a recommendation that will allow Markson apply for the Augustgrad Police Academy."

"Wait, don't you need two officers to sign that recommendation?" Jim asked and Joseph pulled his brows up.

"Oh, you heard about that one? Yeah, I guess I found someone who put his signature on the document."

"Who?" Jim wanted to know.

"Ah, no one you know. Someone I know from Augustgrad. You will most likely never meet that guy anyway. Besides, I like to keep a few secrets to myself. Adds some mystery to the whole thing." Joseph said and started to chuckle.

"That doesn't sound very reassuring." Jim growled. "Anyway, how did you manage to convince Markson to accept that recommendation? He was so big on "this is my home, dudes"-show."

"Uhm, what do you mean by "convince"?" Joseph asked. "I didn't convince him." When Jim heard that, he pulled his brows up.

"Then how did you manage to get him off this world?" And that's when a cruel smile appeared on Joseph's face...

* * *

 **Two days earlier...**

* * *

Just another boring day in the office. Trevor was sitting behind his desk and reading the newspaper. But since there was nothing going on out here, the local paper didn't contain anything worth mentioning. When suddenly someone walked up to his office, he looked up and braced himself. He could see through the window how three people approached his office. He waited a few moments. Was someone finally coming over in order to ask Trevor for something?

He hadn't talked with anyone during the last two and a half weeks. Ever since the day Paula had run off on her own.

To say that Trevor's mood was okay would have been the biggest lie of the century. He was in a foul mood. And he knew who he had to blame for that.

Jim Rennard...

Just thinking the man's name was more than enough to make Trevor's blood boil in rage. Everything had been fine until Rennard and his spouse had shown up here. People had respected Trevor! He had kept them safe! And now? Now they wouldn't even greet him when he walked past them.

The fact that he usually acted like an asshole wasn't really helping either, especially since he wasn't even aware of his own deficiencies.

Of course, he was glad that Paula was back home. But hey, that wasn't something you could plan for. She had been lucky, that's all. It wouldn't have made a difference if he had thrown everyone out of their beds and done what Jim had done. The fact that the people of the town, _his_ people, didn't see that made him furious. He had been their Marshal for years and he had done a good job. And all that asshole Rennard had to do was to punch him in the face and now everyone loved the new guy.

Trevor felt angry. And, more importantly, he felt betrayed.

Jim, Sarah, Phil, and Paula...they were just outsiders. They weren't even from Ramelow! Yet they were the local heroes all of the sudden.

It was brutally obvious to anyone that Trevor Markson had issues. To anyone but himself, of course. And men like him usually would come up with the worst possible solution for a problem. As he watched how the people that approached his office turned away and walked in another direction, he could feel how cold anger started to fill his chest. He pulled his gun out and looked at it. He had cleaned his pistol so many times that the grip was kinda slippery.

The thing with this whole "tough guy"-attitude is that there are only two ways for it to end. You could either end up like Jim, which was the good way, or like Tychus, which was the not-so-good way. As Trevor stared at his pistol, he wondered what would happen if the good Mister Rennard would experience an unfortunate accident...

Trevor wasn't truly considering doing something to Jim. But give hate and anger time. It will continue to eat its way through any man's soul until the only logical solution to his problem would have the shape of a gun's trigger.

Trevor was too busy brooding to notice how another person approached the office. Meh, who cared about that. This guy would just ignore him too like all the others did.

No, it was better to...

"Knock, knock! Rise and shine!" Major Joseph Brent said the moment he ripped the door open and stepped into the office. "Marshal! How's life? Hope you're having a nice day so far!" Trevor, who was too surprised to scream at Brent that he should get lost, jumped to his feet and straightened himself.

"Major, Sir! I wasn't...uhm...good day to you too." Ah, opportunism! Such a wonderful concept! Brent carried a folder and wore the most tasteless Hawaiian shirt in the history of mankind.

"At ease, Marshal!" Brent chuckled. "Besides, a Marshal isn't supposed to salute in front of a Major. I'm military, you're police."

"I know, Sir. It's just, well, we don't get many persons of authority to visit us out here." Trevor explained and suddenly Joseph started to laugh. It caused Trevor to frown.

"Did I say something funny?" he wanted to know, but Joseph just shook his head.

"No, everything's fine. I just wish my old boss could hear that. He would probably throw himself out of the window if he knew that someone would call me a "person of authority". Hehe, suck on that, Admiral." Joseph then looked around and seemed to scan the room for... _something_.

"Sir, is there anything I can do for you?" Trevor asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes! Yes, you can. There's something you can sign for me."

"Sign for you?" Trevor wanted to know. Joseph grabbed a chair and sat down in front of the desk. He put the folder on the table and yawned.

"All in good time. Say, do you have any coffee? I really could use one right now. It was one rough night." Joseph mumbled.

"Now that you mentioned it...you do sound pretty tired, Sir."

"Hahaha!" the Major chuckled when he heard that. "Oh, that?" he asked and pointed at his own face. "No, that's not because I'm tired. I look so shitty all the time because half of my organs are cloned when some asshole decided to blow them to mush. Ah, good times. No, I always look like death incarnated these days. I'm tired as hell because of Jim and Sarah."

"Oh...they. They're your friends, right?" Trever growled and Joseph laughed again.

"What? Oh, hell no! We just worked for the same guy, that's all." Technically, that wasn't even a lie. For a short time, Jim had worked for Matt and not the other way 'round.

"Then why did they keep you up all night?"

"They scream. Like, a lot." Joseph explained.

"Scream? Like in... arguing?" Trevor wanted to know.

"Scream like in sex." When Trevor heard that, she almost choked, yet Joseph didn't seem to care about the other man's shocked expression one bit. "I swear, I have never heard anything like that. It's like they're glued together at the hips. And they do it everywhere. Everywhere! Seriously, it isn't fun anymore!" All Trevor could do was to swallow hard when he heard that.

"They...have sex everywhere?" It didn't take a genius to know that the Marshal was imagining how Sarah would look naked. And how he would be there instead of Jim...

"Everywhere. Bedroom, bathroom, barn. Seriously. But you know what's the worst thing?" Joseph asked with an annoyed tone in his voice.

"N-no... what is it?" Trevor stuttered.

"That they don't stop asking me if I want to join them. I mean, I left Korhal because I wanted to leave all that sex-without-love thing behind!" Joseph explained with a straight face.

Oh yeah, Joseph Brent was a very, very, _very_ bad man.

"Sex...without love?" Trevor mumbled and Joseph frowned.

"You haven't heard about it? That Augustgrad is a place where people have no morals?"

"Uhm..."

"Well, it's true. You can't walk two meters without meeting someone who wants to bang you. And trust me, these people don't have any morals! They will do _everything_ you ask them to do. It's really annoying." Brent explained and Trevor gulped hard. "And Jim and Sarah? Well, they clearly spent too much time on Korhal. They simply don't know when to stop. So should they ever offer you to join them, don't."

"Uhm...okay?" Trevor said and that's when Joseph leaned forward.

"Keep this to yourself, but you don't want to bang them. Especially Sarah."

"Why?" Trevor asked, instantly regretting the question. Joseph leaned forward and whispered just one word.

"Chlamydia."

* * *

"You're a dead man, Joseph." Jim whispered as he stared at the new Marshal. "Sarah is gonna kill you, and I will root for her. Oh, and no one will find your body."

"Shut up and listen to the rest of the story, will ya'?" Brent chuckled. "I haven't told you about the best part yet!"

* * *

"Anyway, where's my coffee? Can I have one now?" Joseph asked and Trevor was too shocked (and disgusted) to do anything but nodding. He stood up and walked up the stairs.

"I will need a few minutes..." Trevor mumbled. He looked as if he had just realized that the perfect girl was not as perfect as he had initially thought. The Marshal walked up the stairs and into his apartment. It took him a few minutes and Joseph used the time to look around.

"Hmm...could use a fresh coat of paint. And a couch. Like, a really comfortable couch. Yep, I'm gonna like it here." Joseph chuckled. He then grabbed into his pocket and pulled something out. Since half of his internal organs were cloned, he had to throw pills in like they were skittles. But it wasn't all bad. Since he was an officer, they gave him the good stuff. And some of that stuff had some serious punch to it. Like the little box with pills in his hands.

He was only allowed to take one of them if he couldn't sleep at all. Think of morphine and Valium mixed together and then add some Meth to it. Oh yeah, it was the good stuff!

When Trevor finally returned, he carried a cup of coffee with him and handed it over to Joseph.

"Here, I didn't know if you want some sugar and milk and..." Trevor said and Joseph just grinned at him.

"Yes, please!" the Major replied and Trevor blinked in surprise. He then turned around, growled something very unfriendly and walked back up the stairs again. Joseph waited until the Marshal was out of sight and then he threw one pill into the cup. And then another one, just to be on the safe side. And another one. And another one. And then he just emptied the entire box into the cup. They dissolved quickly and when Trevor returned, he put some sugar and a box of milk on his desk.

"Here you go!" he mumbled and sat down again.

"Thanks!" Joseph replied and put at least eight spoons of sugar into his coffee before he drowned it in even more milk.

"I'm not certain...but isn't that unhealthy?" Trevor asked.

"Son, if half of your organs are cloned, you don't care about healthy anymore." Joseph chuckled. "Besides, this isn't a coffee anymore. It's a fully-fledged meal! Here, you should try it!" he said with a mad grin on his face.

"No thanks, I think I'll pass." Trevor mumbled, but Joseph wouldn't allow that.

"Come on...do me the favor. It tastes a lot better that way! Everyone claims that it's disgusting, but no one has ever actually tried it! Officer's orders! Also, that is what people drink in Augustgrad." the Major chuckled and Trevor was too much of an opportunist to just tell Joseph to screw himself. He took the cup out of Joseph's hand and took a sniff.

"It doesn't smell good...smells like drugs."

"Now, why would you say that?" Joseph chuckled and nodded like crazy. "Just do it! Trust me, that's what everyone drinks on Korhal right now!" Trevor looked at the coffee and knew that it was a bad idea. But then he closed his eyes and took a small sip.

"OH GOD! This is disgusting!" he groaned and put the cup down.

"Yeah, it is. But the ladies really dig it. Sarah is drinking this stuff all the time."

"She...is?"

* * *

"You're just asking for punishment, do you?" Jim asked and Joseph just shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, the expression on his face was totally worth it. Anyway..." the Major then continued with his story.

* * *

"Well, I guess I shouldn't waste your time any longer. There's actually something I need you to do." Joseph said and pulled a sheet out of the folder he had brought with him. "I need your signature on this."

"Why?" Trevor asked.

"Oh, it's just a small thing I need to do. I need you to sign this so I can send this stuff back to Augustgrad."

"Augustgrad? Wait, what is this?" Only then the Marshall looked at the sheet of paper and frowned. "A letter...of application?" he asked and his voice became slurred. He blinked in confusion and it seemed that he was having a hard time to concentrate.

"Just sign it, Marshal. Doctor's orders." Joseph cooed and he watched how Trevor pressed his pen against the paper and was about to sign it when...

"I don't...feel so..." And then Trevor's head just smashed on the desk as his lights went out. The only thing he managed to do was to draw one big line from one end of the dotted line to the other.

"Huh..." Joseph said as he stared at the unconscious Marshal. "In hindsight, I probably should have come up with a better plan." He then leaned forward and pulled the sheet of paper back and took a good look at it. The Marshal's "signature" was anything but a signature. It was just a line.

"Meh, you can just claim that you wanted to study art." Joseph then said to the sleeping Marshal before he stood up and walked over to Trevor. "Now, let's get you out of here. I need to renovate this place!"

"So... let me get this straight..." Jim mumbled. "...you drugged the Marshal, drove him all the way to Central City, placed him on a ship that was heading to Korhal, and now you're the new Marshal? How does that even work?!"

"Pfff, please. I used to work as Horner's adjutant, remember? I know how every official document looks like. All I had to do was to write some letters and make some adjustments to them."

"Make some...wait, you faked signatures?" Jim asked in disbelief.

"Faking signatures? That sounds so mean. Let's call it... _alternative_ signatures! Yeah, that sounds better. I like the sound of that!"

"You are either the biggest idiot of all times or the worst officer I have ever met." Jim muttered.

"I take that as a compliment." Joseph chuckled and showed Jim a wide, toothy grin. "Can I offer you some coffee?"

"No, thanks." Jim just growled. "Besides, what makes you think that this will work? Once Markson gets to Korhal, he will just board a ship and return to Ramelow."

"No, he won't. I made sure of that."

"Joe...what did you do?" Jim asked with a worried tone in his voice.

"Nothing serious. Markson will just have someone that will...look after him. Whip him into shape, you know. And I think I already told you this; my name isn't Joe, it's Joseph."

* * *

 **Korhal**

 **City of Augustgrad**

* * *

When Trevor stepped into the arrival hall, he looked around and couldn't help but be impressed. He had never seen anything like it. Well, he had seen architecture like this before, but only on television. This place, however? It was the real deal. He was truly here, on Korhal.

Perhaps for a lot of people that was nothing special, but Trevor didn't care about those. He was just a young man from a fringe world. Korhal was one of the central worlds! This was the place where _everything_ happened. During the landing, he had stared out the window and the only thing he had seen was the city of Augustgrad. It reached all the way to the horizon!

Trevor didn't know wherever he should be impressed or mortified.

How could people live in this place?

Well, he would probably never find out. After Trevor had regained consciousness, he had realized that someone had put him on a one-way trip to Korhal. Major Brent's doing, without a doubt. He had even prepared a bag with some clothes for Trevor. And there had been something else inside the bag.

The first thing had been an application for the Police Academy of Augustgrad. And the next thing had been a recommendation, signed by Major Joseph Brent and some other Major (retired). Even though Trevor had no idea who that guy was, the name sounded vaguely familiar, as if he had heard it before somewhere...

As tempting as this whole thing was, there was only one thing on Trevor's mind; return to Ramelow, find Major Brent, ask him what this was all about, and then put a bullet through that guy's head.

In Trevor's defense; a lot of people wanted to put a bullet through Joseph's head, so he was in good company.

Still, this place was so damn big! He wondered how many people were working on this spaceport alone. Tens of thousands maybe? Hell, Capital City on Ramelow had roughly a population of one hundred thousand, yet here on Augustgrad, a spaceport was almost as big as the entire city back home! So Markson needed a moment before he found what he was looking for. He walked over to a counter and gave the woman on the other side a quick nod.

"Hello, I would like to book a flight to Ramelow." The woman gave him a friendly and professional smile.

"Ramelow. Yes, Sir, please wait a second. Ah yes...Ramelow. The next flight to Ramelow will is in two weeks."

"Two weeks?!" Trevor barked. "Are you kidding me?"

"I'm sorry, Sir, but we don't have that many connections to worlds that are this far out. However, you could take a flight to Antiga Prime, and from there you should be able to get another flight to Ruppeldoo."

"Ramelow." Trevor corrected her and could feel how his frustration started to grow. "The name of the world is Ramelow. How much does a ticket to Antiga Prime cost?"

"That would be 1200 credits, Sir. Economy class." When Trevor heard that, he swore to himself that he would get that money back from Brent before shooting him.

"When's the next flight to Antiga Prime?" he then asked and the woman looked at her monitor.

"Tomorrow morning."

"Okay, let's do this." the Marshal (or former Marshal) sighed. "I want a seat on that ship." Trevor didn't realize when someone approached him from behind. It was a tall, lean man and he wore a black suit. His eyes were covered behind sunglasses, even though he was inside a building.

"Very well, Sir. I need your name for the ticket."

"Markson. Trevor Markson." Trevor said. The woman did her thing and when she was done, she nodded.

"There it is, all done. All I need is one final confirmation and-"

"That won't be necessary." a cold voice suddenly said and Markson looked over his shoulder.

"Who the hell are you?" he wanted to know. The man in the suit didn't even flinch when he looked at Trevor. Though it was hard to say if he was truly looking at the Marshal because of those sunglasses.

"I'm here to pick you up, Mister Markson. I was asked to help you acclimate to Augustgrad and the life here. You may call me _Smith_."


	98. Act IV - Chapter 14

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 14**

 **Ghost of the Past**

* * *

''Sarah...please...Sarah, wait..." Paula panted while trying to keep up with the other woman. The weather was good, it was dry and not too warm. The air smelled nice, though a bit too salty for Sarah's taste. Summer had ended a few weeks ago and they were experiencing a very mild autumn. The best in ages, if you believed the people of New Thompson. It had rained more than during the last few years and as a result, the once dry landscape was now still covered with green dots of grass.

Close to Jim's and Sarah's home, there was a riverbed. When they had first arrived on Ramelow, it had been completely dried up. But now? Now you could still cross it, but the water reached all the way up to the knees.

Sarah and Paula had crossed the river two hours ago. They hadn't made a break since. At first, Paula had tried to keep up with Sarah, but that had only worked for like 500 meters. By now Sarah's body was back the way she liked it most; in good shape. Perhaps she wasn't as powerful as the Queen of Blades when it came to physical prowess, but she was pretty damn close to her old Ghost-self.

Right now, they were moving at the speed of a goddamn snail. And we're not talking about some crazy Zerg-version but a regular one.

Normally Sarah was doing this round once a day and she wouldn't need more than one hour for those ten kilometers. Now, ten kilometers in one hour was one thing, and most people would puke their guts out only thinking about it. But running ten kilometers through rough terrain? That was a whole different story. Jim had accompanied her in the beginning, back when she had been out of shape. But after a few weeks, the only thing that he had seen of her was her backside.

And after a few months, she had been nothing but a small dot in the distance.

Running felt good. Who would have thought that something as mundane as running could be such much fun? Especially since Sarah had marched so many kilometers in her life...

However, this time it was different. This time it wasn't a forced march. It wasn't about death and destruction either. All she did...was to run. Feeling the sweat on her skin, the wind on her face...it felt good. She especially liked it when it was raining. Not because she liked the rain, but coming back home and sliding into a bathtub filled with hot water was just wonderful. So yeah, running had turned into a new hobby of hers. She had even managed to run all the way to New Thompson and back.

Oh, the look on the guys' faces had been priceless!

Once every month, Jim and the boys (Phil, Book, Joseph, and whoever else they could find) would spend an evening together and play poker. On one of those days Jim had left his wallet back home, so Sarah had just grabbed it and decided to go for a long run. When she had knocked on the door and handed the wallet over to Jim, she had just kissed him on the cheek and then she had been on her way again.

As for Jim? Well, things were finally going his way. At least partially.

Winter was coming and there was no use in trying to sow the fields. He still hadn't given up on that dream of his. But hey, at least he was busy. And so was Sarah.

She slowed down, just a bit. Then again, she was already moving with the speed of a rock. She looked at the pale woman next to her and sighed. Being out here with Paula actually served a purpose. There was no other human soul nearby, so all she could hear were Sarah's thoughts.

"Can't we...we take a... a break?" Paula whined and Sarah demonstratively made another step forward.

"What's the magic word?" Sarah cooed and Paula winced when she heard that. She looked Sarah straight into the eyes and it seemed as if she was thinking about something really hard.

"Please?" she suggested and Sarah shook her head.

"Nope. Come on. You know the drill. You tell me the magic word, I let you off the hook."

So yeah, the magic word wasn't "please". It was a word Sarah had thought of before they had started. The idea was simple; in order to train Paula, they had to train her mind. Now, since Sarah wasn't willing to use the same methods the Confederacy had used on her, she had to come up with something different.

Making a young woman walk through rough terrain might seem cruel at first, but hey, remember what they did to Sarah. Now _that_ had been cruel. Besides, some blisters hadn't killed anyone...recently. What Paula had to learn was to focus her mind. And that was a typical case of: "Easier said than done". A psionic mind could reach out, sense things that lay beyond the person's own skull. However, the nature of this "reaching out" could take on many shapes or forms. Some could use their psionics like scalpels. They were too weak to cast a psionic bolt of lightning, but they could invade another mind, plant a memory...or turn it into sliced liver. Others could use their powers like a hammer, smashing stones with a mere thought.

And Sarah?

Well, she had used her powers like a goddamn nuke.

Her powers hadn't returned yet. But there were moments when she felt strange...as if something was changing inside her. Training Paula's mind was an interesting challenge. It was like teaching a blind man how to see. At times, it felt as if Paula's perception of the world around her was vastly different from Sarah's. Or anyone else's. So, Sarah was acting as the young woman's anchor. Given the fact that Paula already knew most of Sarah's secrets, there was no point in holding back. And unlike pretty much everyone else around here, Sarah didn't care if someone read her thoughts.

Psionically gifted were used to that. She knew that Jim still didn't like the idea of someone reading his thoughts. She was the only exception to that rule.

As they continued to walk through the rough terrain, Paula started to whine again.

"Pretty please?"

"Nope. It's just one word." Sarah replied. "Come on, you can do it. You have to concentrate." It was one word. One word she kept repeating inside her mind over and over again. All Paula had to do was to find it. But in order to do that, she had to figure out which thoughts were useless and which weren't.

"I don't...think I can...go on anymore..."

"Oh no, we're not going to give up now. Come on, girl. Let's go. Or do you want me to carry you again?" When Paula heard that, she shuddered and shook her head.

"No...no, that...I don't..."

"Good!" Sarah chuckled. "Then move it. We still got a few kilometers ahead of us." Sarah wasn't really trying to push Paula to her limits, but a bit physical exercise would be good for the girl.

"Jim!" Paula suggested, but it was not the right word either. And so, they moved onward. It was a miracle that they actually made any progress, but it was okay. Sarah was in no rush. And looking at the landscape sure felt nice.

"No."

They came past a group of dead trees. Or at least Sarah had thought they were dead. But a few days ago, they had started to bloom again. Well, at least these plants weren't screaming and trying to beat people up.

"Captain Palmer!"

"No! But nice try. Also, those are two words." She could see the despair on Paula's face, yet the girl had to learn to focus. And Sarah's mind was the most focused one out here. Yes, that sounded like a contradiction, considering that her mind had been all over the place not so very long ago. However, Sarah actually knew how a mind that wasn't your own felt like. They reached a small plateau and Sarah looked up. She especially enjoyed this part. Running up was really hard and once she reached the top, the muscles in her thighs burned as if they were on fire. But it was a good kind of fire.

"Zeratul is an ass." Paula whined.

"I said; one word. And watch your language, young one. Though you're right about him." Sarah replied and stopped at the base of the plateau. "Come on, let's go climbing."

"I can't...I can't...I need...I..." Paula panted and Sarah turned back to the young woman.

"Oh, brother..." she sighed and pulled her backpack off her shoulders. "...come on, let's take a break." The moment Sarah said that Paula just collapsed on the ground. Sarah chuckled and pulled a water bottle out of the backpack. She handed it over to Paula, who pressed it against her lips and started to greedily gulp down the water inside.

"Slower. Hey, slower! If you're drinking too fast then-"

"Gha!" Paula gagged when she almost choked herself.

"...this will happen." Sarah sighed before she looked around. "Well, at least we came further than last time. So that has to count for something." She sat down on a dusty rock and waited until Paula had calmed down somewhat.

"How...how did you...manage to do that?"

"The trick is to know how to breathe." Sarah explained. "Breathing is the key if you have to do something like that. If you don't, you only end up with a side stitch."

"No... that's...not what I meant..."

"Huh? Then what were you talking about?"

"Commanding...the Zerg...how did you...do that?"

Well, that was random.

"I don't think I will ever get used to that, girl." Sarah mumbled. No matter how much time she spent with Paula, something like that would always happen. The girl couldn't differentiate between the thoughts she sensed. They were all the same to her and she just jumped from one memory to the other.

"So how...how was it like...?" Paula panted once more.

"Being Zerg?" Sarah asked and the younger woman nodded. The former Ghost and self-proclaimed Queen of the Universe sighed and looked out into the distance. While you couldn't see their home from here, you could see the river that was close to it.

"I guess it was both the worst and the best time of my life." Sarah mumbled.

"Because of all the pain? And the power?" Paula asked and Sarah took a deep breath. The thing with Paula was that she would pick a random thought from your mind and talk about it. Most people would be so confused that they would just mix up the answers. So instead, Sarah tried to give Paula those answers mentally. She went through her memories and tried to remember her feelings as good as possible.

"It wasn't everything bad. The Zerg...they were just a tool when they took me. But so was I. They were the tool of a creature's ambitions that had lasted millennia. And I? I had been the tool for a man's ambition who thought that he was destined to rule all. I guess the Zerg and I had a lot in common."

"But the pain was...horrible." Paula whispered when she saw the memory of Sarah's transformation.

"It's not something that I would do to others, sure." Sarah explained. "But then again, pain is just nerves firing off signals to your brain. The Confederacy used pain many times on me. They used it to break me, to bend my will, to take me apart. The Zerg? They used pain to reshape me. To make me whole again." And that's when a sad smile appeared on Sarah's face.

"But they failed." Paula suddenly said when she saw that one thought inside Sarah's mind. The redhead looked over at the younger woman and a gentle smile appeared on her face.

"Yeah..." she whispered and then Paula continued.

"They put you back together, but all wrong. They nurtured your anger and neglected your fears and hopes. That's why you became..."

"...the Queen of Blades." Sarah whispered. "Yes." She then took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. "It was Jim. He's the one who managed to make me whole again."

"Because he believed in you. Because even though he couldn't read minds, he somehow could sense your sadness." Paula explained and Sarah nodded.

"He healed me. And in a way, no one else could have done it. The Zerg tried to...in their way at least." Sarah whispered.

"And for a time, you thought that this made you happy. You mistook what the Zerg did to you as an act of kindness, of them freeing you. And then you went mad...with power."

"Yeah, not my brightest hour, that much is for certain." Sarah sighed and thought about those days. So much death, so much destruction. Well, it wouldn't happen again. Zeratul had made sure of that. She would never dare to disappoint Jim again, especially now that he was part of her. And she was part of him. Sarah's thoughts wandered from the dark memories of the past to Jim and everything he had done to her.

The Confederacy had broken her and then had reshaped her into a tool of destruction. The Zerg had done the same thing, only far more extreme. They too had reshaped her into something that she had never wanted to be.

"But Jim?" Paula whispered. "He didn't break you. He just picked up the pieces and put them back together."

"Yeah..." Sarah mumbled and a warm smile appeared on her face.

"Chocolate cake." Paula suddenly said and Sarah blinked in surprise. She looked Paula straight into the eyes when the younger woman explained what she just had said. "That's what you were thinking about. The word you wanted me to say was...chocolate cake."

And that's when Sarah's smile turned into that of a proud teacher.

"I guess that's a start. Come on, let's go home."

"But...chocolate cake are two words." Paula mumbled.

"Don't ruin the moment, girl."

* * *

"Thanksgiving is coming up." Phil said before he took another sip from his cup.

"Uh huh. So?" Jim asked.

"Well, usually there was always a big party until a few years ago. Some people in town thought that it would be a good idea to bring that custom back."

"Makes me wonder why they stopped doing that in the first place." Jim mumbled. They were sitting in the living room and enjoying some coffee. Sarah and Paula were still out there, and although Phil knew that it was pointless, he had arrived here hours ago in order to wait for his niece to return. And Jim? Well, he had finished marking the fields a few days ago and now he was busy prepping them for the next season.

A field isn't just a piece of land that you use in order to grow crop. No, it is a bit more complicated than that. If you abandon a field for a few years, it will turn into a normal patch of earth. And you will lose at least one season in order to get everything working again. The most annoying thing was to get all those rocks out of the soil. Some of them were so big that Jim would risk ruining the plow. He hadn't found a real solution to that problem yet. It was a stupid task and one that was really exhausting, mostly because you couldn't use any tech to do it.

Heh, they were living in the 26th century, yet people still had to use their bare hands for this kind of work.

Jim had asked a few people for help. He even had offered them some money, but even Phil had declined that offer. Maybe he should ask those two hillbillies. What were their names again? Jenner and Archer?

 _Trust me, you don't want their help._ Jim could hear Sarah's voice in the back of his mind. A smile appeared on her face.

 _You're done?_ he wanted to know.

 _Yes. We're on our way back. Should be there in a few minutes._ Still, something seemed strange. It was as if Sarah's mood was better than usual. Well, that didn't sound right. Sarah's mood these days was usually pretty good. But now she seemed truly happy about something. _Anything good happened to you?_ Jim wanted to do.

 _Let's just say that we made some progress today. Guess it's only normal, considering that Paula has such an awesome teacher like me!_ Sarah's not so humble nature emerged for a moment and it caused Jim to chuckle.

"You think it's a stupid idea?" Phil asked, and only then Jim realized that the burly man was still talking to him.

"Huh? What? Sorry, I was...lost in thoughts." That wasn't even a lie. Though technically not all of those thoughts were his own.

"I wanted to know if you would help us with that party. Of course, only if you would, well, be willing to do that. I'm just asking, no one has made a plan yet or anything and..." Phil tried to say and Jim had to chuckle when he heard the uneasiness in his friend's voice.

Yes, his friend.

"Hehehe...someone's still cautious from last time you tried to give me a job I didn't want." Jim laughed when he remembered the day they had asked him to become Marshal. Oh, Phil had been utterly devastated by Jim's reaction and had avoided him for days, mostly because he had been scared that Jim would be no longer his friend.

However, sometimes you just have to yell real loud in order to prove a point. And after that, people were no longer bothering him with these kinds of questions. As for the rest of the story...

...well, the people of New Thompson didn't really have a reason to complain about their new Marshal., even though Brent was probably the weirdest Marshal this galaxy had ever seen. But guess what, even though Brent had turned into the godfather of all cynics, he was actually a helpful man. You only had to ignore pretty much everything he said. Like, all the time.

"It's just...people would like to do something, anything. And I could use a helping hand. Someone that can motivate them. And you? They respect you. So, if you could help us with that, only this once, then we could get this show on the road!"

"Hmmm..." Jim mumbled. "...I don't know. Sounds like an awful lot of work. And I already have tons of that waiting for me. Besides, isn't there someone else who can do that?"

"Oh, I'm already doing most of the work. I spoke with some people, with the owner of McReedy's and a few others. We would be able to use the old town hall for the party. Thing is; I could use someone who's good with people, someone who knows how to talk to them."

"Now you sound like Book." Jim muttered. "What's next, you want me to tell them "how to get closer to God?" Sorry, but that sounds a bit too creepy to me."

"Oh no, nothing like that. We're having a town meeting in a few days and I just wanted to ask if you could tell them how great it would be if everyone would join us for the party. There will even be warm food!" Phil explained.

"Whoa. Warm food. That changes everything!" Jim chuckled and then he shook his head. "Sorry, Phil. But I'm just not-"

"He's doing it, Phil!" Sarah suddenly interrupted her lover when she opened the door and stepped inside. Both men looked up in surprise and you could actually see the relief on Phil's face when Paula entered the house. She was covered in sweat and looked like she was about to fall apart, yet there was a content smile on her face.

"Paula! You look... _terrible_." Phil mumbled. He stood up and walked up to his niece. "Whoa...Sarah, what did you do to my Paula?"

"We went for a short walk. Don't worry, she's fine." Sarah explained and Paula nodded.

"I think there's blood in my shoes." the younger woman said with a goofy smile on her face. Yeah, that was exactly what Phil wanted to hear. He looked over to Sarah, who recognized the look.

"Listen!" she told him. "I promised you not to break her. That walk was good for her health. Don't get this the wrong way, but your girl is a little bit too soft for my taste. Don't sweat it, she just needs to get used to it. Oh, and you should get her a better pair of boots. Those things she's using? They're worthless." You could still see the doubts on Phil's face, but it was Paula who told him what really mattered.

"Don't worry. It is fun. In a weird way. Today I made progress!" In the end, that was all Phil had to hear. He put his hand on Paula's shoulder and nodded.

"If it makes you happy...then that's all I need to know." He looked back at Sarah and nodded. "Thank you. For all your effort." And Sarah? She was actually speechless for a second or two. Even now Sarah wasn't really used to the fact that people were actually thanking her for what she was doing. Jim could see the helpless look on Sarah's face and couldn't help it. He snickered and shook his head.

 _You're welcome._ he suggested and Sarah used that immediately.

"You're welcome."

There was an awkward moment of silence and it was Paula who broke the silence first.

"Sarah wants us to leave now because she wants to take a bath, but she doesn't know how to tell us that we should get lost because she's still somewhat baffled that people thank her and mean it." Instead of being angry, Phil started to laugh when he heard that. He truly had gotten used to Paula's brutal honesty.

"Yeah, I get it. I just wanted to ask Jim if he-"

"I told you, he's gonna do it." Sarah then explained and Jim frowned when he heard that.

"Hey, don't I get to have anything to say in this?" he protested and Sarah just shrugged her shoulders.

"Nope. Jim here should really do something else. Right now, the only thing he does is staring at the fields and thinking what to do next. He's starting to get on my nerves. So please, take him. You can have him!" Sarah chuckled and so did Phil.

"Well, if you put it like that..."

"That's not funny, people!" Jim mumbled, but he already knew that he had lost this argument. Mostly because there simply wasn't anything for him to do right now.

"If you want..." Sarah then suggested. "...you can have him right now! Just make sure that he's back before bedtime. Oh, and no sweets for him."

"Hilarious. Simply hilarious." Jim growled.

"He doesn't think it's hilarious but highly annoying." Paula explained, and Sarah and Phil had to laugh even harder.

"I think I'll pass." Phil then said. "Besides, there's poker night coming up. We can use that to talk things through."

"Oh, joy." Jim growled, but he was just making a show out of it. He knew that he had lost this battle and there was no reason to go down fighting. Sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in...and sometimes you just have to roll on your back and admit defeat.

Phil and Paula said goodbye and when they were finally gone, Jim returned to the table and sat down again. Only then Sarah realized that he was reading something. She walked behind him and looked at the sheets of paper.

"Korhal?" she whispered and could feel Jim's embarrassment.

"Eh...yeah, it's nothing, really. When I was in New Thompson the other day, I saw these travel brochures on Joseph's desk. He brought them with him from Central City."

"You're leaving? Without telling me?" Sarah chuckled and Jim shook his head.

"Of course not. I was just...thinking about something and, well, forget it." Jim replied, but Sarah could be just as relentless as him.

"Out with it. What do you want on Korhal? Visiting Matt?" she chuckled and Jim sighed.

"Yeah..."

"Wait, what?" Sarah asked and Jim leaned back.

"I thought about it for a while. I would like to see him again. I tried to talk to Joseph about how Matt is doing, but he truly seems to hate him. Beats me why, though. I don't know, but...I guess I kinda miss the boy scout. Bet he's worried about us too." When Sarah heard that, she managed to not make a stupid remark, even though she was pretty certain that Matt didn't care how she was doing.

And that feeling was mutual.

"You could ask Izsha if she would take you to Korhal. You could be there in an instant, you know."

"No, thanks. I would rather do it the old-fashioned way. Besides, I'm not sure Izsha would accidentally lose me or something like that."

"Then why are you not going?" Sarah asked. There was no anger or annoyance in her voice. It was just curiosity.

"I don't know...I guess there's just too much that I need to do right now."

"Like digging out stones?"

"Like digging out stones." Jim confirmed. He tipped with his knuckles on the travel brochure and then he sighed. "I guess it can wait. It's not like Matt is going anywhere. We got time." He then grabbed Sarah's hand and pressed his lips on her soft skin. Visiting Matt could wait. Maybe next year. Yeah, that was a good idea. Next year everything should work more smoothly.

"So, you and Paula made progress?" Jim then asked and looked up at Sarah.

"Hmm, something like that. Her head is still a bag of full of cats, but at least now I know that they're mostly kittens. And you? Any plans for today?" she wanted to know and Jim just pulled his shoulders up.

"Not really. I guess I'm going to stare at the fields until the rocks grow legs and run away on their own."

"That sounds like fun."

"I actually asked Izsha if she could help me with that, but she wasn't very pleased with that idea." Jim mused.

"I wonder why's that." Sarah muttered. "Though I wish I could have seen her expression when you asked her to dig up stones."

"It was the same way as always." Jim growled. Izsha had returned to them a few weeks ago, but she hadn't stayed for long. Apparently, everything was A-okay on Ulnar. Oh, and Karax had been able to make some real progress. He was close to a breakthrough, he was certain of that! And he would only need roughly 100 years to finish it!

"Well, I'm glad to hear that you will stay here." Sarah cooed, sat down on his lap and slung her arms around his neck. "Without you, I would be all alone out here. And it does get so very lonely during those long and cold nights!" she moaned and licked her lips. Jim stared into her eyes...and then he started to chuckle.

"Tsk...now you're overdoing it with the teasing. Like seriously!"

"I am awesome when it comes to teasing!" Sarah replied. She seemed a bit undignified, but then she just said "Pah!" and threw her long red queue around like it was a whip.

"You just don't know how lucky you are to have me as your girlfriend." she said and a warm smile appeared on Jim's face.

"Let me guess? Very lucky."

"You're damn right, Mister! And you're damn lucky thatUNFFF!" Sarah was cut short when Jim pressed his lips on hers. They shared a long kiss and when they broke it, Jim could see the tender look on her face.

"...you're such a good kisser." she finished the sentence.

"Well, I have a good training partner. Very eager too." Jim replied and now it was Sarah who chuckled.

"Sounds like someone I know. So, what do you say? Care to practice so more?" she wanted to know.

"Why do you even ask?" And so, they just enjoyed sitting there and continued to practice. Because, as we all know, practice makes perfect...

* * *

...the light felt good as it warmed her skin. And so felt the soft sand beneath her feet. Sarah stared out into the distance and looked at the endless blue ocean. Above it, you could see the fiery red and orange of the nebula that surrounded most of Sternenheim. Under normal circumstances, this sight alone was enough to make her feel good.

But not today.

She had to tell him.

She didn't want to, though. This moment? She had hoped that it would be a pleasant one. She was still somewhat scared how he would react, even though she knew that those were just pointless fears. She placed her hands on her own belly and sighed.

"Why now of all times?" she whispered. She did her best to shield her emotions from Jim. Sarah felt guilty doing that, but right now she was fighting her own battle.

"You should tell him. Now." Sarah sighed when she heard the man behind her. She looked over her shoulder and frowned.

"I think I would rather wait." she replied and the man just shook his head.

"Tell him. You know he deserves to know. This is nothing you can sit out." She knew that the man was right. He was always right, it was one of the most annoying things about him. Under all those layers of cynicism lay a sharp mind...and a keen observer of human nature.

"I just..." she whispered. "...I wanted this moment to be special. And now? Now...this." she muttered while brushing over her belly. She looked over at the man and a single golden tear streamed down her cheek. "Now it's all wrong. I don't want Jim to leave." The man walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey...it's okay. Everything will be okay, yes? You're not alone in this. But if you want...I can tell him."

"No!" Sarah refused immediately and took a deep breath. "I should be the one to tell him."

"I got your back." the man declared and Sarah actually felt grateful for that. They didn't have to walk far though. The house was just behind a group of palm trees, the kind of trees that could scream, but they rarely did these days. They had gotten used to Sarah and the others...most of the time.

Jim was sitting on the veranda, working on a new fishnet. As Sarah stepped out into the open, she looked at Jim and a sad smile appeared on her face. He was whistling a song, one that she hadn't heard in quite some time.

"Leaving...on a jet plane...I don't know when I'll be back again..." he mumbled and Sarah felt a warm feeling in her chest.

"Jim?" Sarah asked and her lover looked up at her and the other man.

"Oh, hey guys. What's up?" But when neither she nor the man behind her said anything, Jim started to chuckle.

"Are you okay?" he wanted to know and Sarah felt how a clump of ice formed inside her stomach. One of her hands remained on her belly while she pressed the other one against her chest.

"Jim..." she mumbled, and only then Jim realized that something had happened.

"What's the matter, guys? You look like someone died!" he chuckled again and Sarah pressed her hand against her belly even harder. The man behind her made a step forward and took a deep breath.

"James, we have to talk." Joseph Brent explained.

"What? What's the matter?" Sarah's lover asked and she lowered her gaze.

"I'm so sorry, Jim..." she whispered. "...something happened."

* * *

"...something...happened..." Sarah whispered and then she woke up. "What? Where...huh?" She was confused, at least for the moment. She looked around and realized that she wasn't on Sternenheim, but lying in their bed. And Jim wasn't working on a fishnet either, he was sleeping right next to her. It was still dark, but Sarah could see that daybreak was close.

These dreams...they were starting to get bothersome.

They didn't make any sense to Sarah. She would see places and people that she knew, but those weren't memories either. She had told Jim about those dreams, yet he had told her to not think about it too much.

"They're just dreams. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. I had the same dream for years over and over again. If you want to talk about them, just give the word." he had told her. And well, she had decided to not talk with him about those dreams. Mostly because they didn't make any sense to her. And so she had decided to ignore those dreams. Besides, one strange dream each month wasn't that bad.

But still...some things just kept bothering her. Her hands wandered down her own body and when she placed them on her belly, she could feel her soft skin and the muscles beneath it. In her dreams, it had felt like there had been something special, something that had pleased and scared her the same time.

And now? Now everything felt normal.

Sarah tried to go back to sleep but gave up after a while. Instead, she rolled out of the bed and walked into the bathroom. She flicked the lights on and closed the door behind her. Only then Jim was ripped from his slumber.

"Sa...rah?" he mumbled, still drunken on sleep.

Sarah stepped in front of the mirror and looked at her own reflection. So far, they had spent more than half a year on this world, and she could actually see how it had affected her. Her tan, her long hair...she looked as if she was on permanent vacation. Sarah let some water into the sink and threw it in her face. The cold liquid felt nice and she sighed in relief. She closed her eyes and enjoyed that moment for a while.

Her skin felt weird though...it prickled in a way she hadn't felt in a long time. Well, looks like she could take a bath again. She opened her eyes again and looked at her own reflection.

And the Queen of Blades stared right back at her.

"AAAAAAAHHHEEEELLL!" she screamed and stumbled backward. She lost balance and fell on her butt with a soft _THUD_.

"Sarah? Sarah!" she could hear Jim yell and a few seconds later he was hammering against the door of the bathroom. "Sarah, what's the matter? What's going on?" Sarah got back on her feet and approached the mirror carefully. Just...just no... this couldn't be. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then she looked at her reflection once more.

And the Queen of Blades...was gone.

She was staring at her own reflection once more.

But...she could have sworn that she had just seen her old self again.

"Sarah, hold on!" Jim shouted and then he used all of his strength to break the door open. Sarah turned around and both of them looked at each other with baffled expressions.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Jim yelled.

"It's...yeah, I was just having...it's nothing, I just thought I saw something, but it was just my imagination." she panted and started to calm down.

"Didn't sound like just your imagination right now, Darlin'." Jim mumbled and walked up to her before he slung his arms around her trembling body, and only then Sarah realized that she was shaking like crazy.

"Another dream?" he whispered into her ear and Sarah closed her eyes before she just allowed him to hold her. She didn't need to be protected or anything, but she liked it when Jim went all soft on her.

"Yeah, but that wasn't what scared me."

"Hmm...still, maybe we should do something about that. Think we should at least talk about what you saw."

"I'm not sure I can, Jim." Sarah whispered. "It just...it doesn't make any sense."

"Dreams rarely do. Then maybe you can let me in? That way I could see it for myself?" Jim suggested.

"I would if I could. But this option is currently locked. Please come back at a later date." she said with a mocking tone in her voice. She sounded almost exactly like a mechanical adjutant right now.

"If it's not the dream that scared you, then what did?" Jim asked and pulled her into an even tighter embrace.

"I just saw something that I haven't seen in a long time. Don't worry, my mind was just playing tricks on me." she tried to ease his mind, but Jim just chuckled when he heard that.

"He, if your mind is playing tricks, that's usually a bad sign." He then put his hand under her chin and made her look into his eyes. "So how about it? Let's calm down and talk about what's bothering you?"

"Okay..." Sarah whispered. And that's how their day started. A weird way, but one that would help Sarah in all those years to come. But like always, progress comes at a cost. And before things get better, they have to get worse.

Something was bothering Sarah, that much was obvious. It didn't take a genius to realize that, yet Jim didn't want to force his opinion down her throat. All things considered, Sarah was doing fine and he didn't want to play the overprotective mother hen. Still, it seemed that Sarah didn't like what she had seen. Maybe taking a day off would be a good idea. He could take Sarah to Central City and then-

"I don't want to go to the city." Sarah mumbled when she sensed Jim's idea. "I'm fine, I just need to think about some things. Clear my head."

"Want to go running again? Helps you to clear your mind." Jim suggested and Sarah considered it for a moment.

"No... but you know what always calms my mind?"

"What?" Jim wanted to know. And that's when a creepy smile appeared on Sarah's face.

* * *

It almost felt like old times. Sarah couldn't remember how many times she had done this. She had performed over 200 missions for the Confederacy. Not all of them had included actually killing someone. But most had included marching. As she crossed through the rough terrain, she felt the heavy weight of the sniper rifle slung over her shoulder. There was something truly nostalgic about it, but only a little bit. Back when she had been a Ghost, moments like these had been her only moments of peace.

During those times her superiors hadn't controlled her. Only then her thoughts had been her own.

Unfortunately, she had been nothing but a tool, so she hadn't been able to appreciate those moments. And now? Now she was thinking all sorts of useless thoughts. Like how to train Paula. Or what the meaning behind those dreams was.

The rifle on her back was heavy, but she was used to the weight. Even her body seemed to remember exactly how it was to do this, and her body had been ripped apart and put back together so many times that it wasn't even funny anymore.

So yeah, if there was one thing that would help her to calm her mind, then it was shooting at things.

Her first thought had been about Book, but Jim had urged her not to do that. Especially since Book hadn't bothered them for some time now. Neither Jim nor Sarah had any idea why, but Joseph had mentioned something about "this guy he knows", as if that explained anything at all.

Since hunting season for priests was currently called off, Sarah could only think of the next best thing.

Kriechers.

People still complained about them, and the whole reason why Sarah had this rifle in the first place was because she was supposed to hunt them. Well, better late than never. And who would be better suited than a former Ghost and the former Queen of the Zerg? She knew how to hunt, read tracks, and she knew how a beast's mind was working.

Perhaps she could have brought Paula along. Then again, it probably would have ended in a disaster. Still, Sarah firmly believed that every girl should know how to handle a sniper rifle. Would come in handy in case of a domestic quarrel.

At first, all Sarah did was to walk in a straight line. She observed her environment and looked for all things that seemed to be of any interest. It took her several hours before she finally found what she had been looking for.

"Hmm..." Sarah mumbled and knelt down next to a few tracks. The shape of the feet suggested long claws and that the owner of those claws was walking on all fours. While she hadn't really been able to study the kriecher's feet very carefully, she was pretty certain that these tracks belonged to said creature.

The tracks were at least one or two days old, so the chance of finding this creature soon was rather slim. But it was the perfect opportunity to find out more about these critters. Following the tracks was easy and Sarah didn't need to pay full attention to it. It gave her time to think, however. And that meant that she had to think about those dreams again. And that reflection in the mirror...

"Maybe I'm losing my touch." she whispered to herself. She wasn't one to get easily scared, yet at the same time, she could have sworn that the creature that had looked back at her had been the Queen of Blades...

After roughly three more kilometers, Sarah decided to take a break. She climbed up a small hill and looked at the surrounding terrain. Its rough nature meant that it was the perfect hiding spot for all kind of creatures. You could probably hide thousands of Zerg in plain sight without anyone noticing it. Searching for a kriecher would be futile, so Sarah had to use her brain in order to solve this. And what do you do when you can't track a target down?

You bait it.

It doesn't matter if it's an animal or a person, all you have to find is something that the target wants. Though to be perfectly honest; luring animals out was far trickier than luring people. People, they are...well, usually they think that they're too smart. And then they get outsmarted. Plus, most people are just careless. They think instead of trusting their instincts. Animals don't do that mistake. So Sarah had to know more about the kriechers. What they ate, where they have their lairs...only if they had something like that.

Sure, Sarah could ask the people in New Thompson. But somehow, she had her doubts that they would be able to tell her something truly important. Aside from "likes to eat people". The details she needed to know were nothing normal people would even consider important. Like if these creatures ate where they slew their prey or carried their victim back to their lair. In the latter case, all Sarah had to do was to find the lair and wait for the critter to do its thing. Predators usually were less focused on their surroundings when they were dragging their kill back home. They would only react to things that were really close to them and a threat.

And a woman with a sniper rifle was the last thing they would be worried about.

Besides, to Sarah hunting was equally craftsmanship and art. After a while, she sighed and pulled the gun from her back, checked it and made sure that everything was okay. The last thing she wanted to experience was a weapon failure. Those things really could ruin your day.

Still, something felt strange. The rifle lay in her lap and she placed her hand on the cold metal. It felt different, yet she couldn't really say why. She had used that gun before. She had fired more than one round and she was still a great sniper. However, now that she had time to think, now that she was all by herself...she couldn't help to notice that this weapon looked...ugly.

That revelation itself didn't seem to be that groundbreaking. Many weapons were ugly. As a matter of fact, some were specially designed to be both intimidating and ugly. If it helped people to think twice before engaging a marine or a tank, then ugly was good.

Besides, the Zerg were masters when it came to "ugly and scary", so Sarah knew that something ugly could be useful.

However, now it felt different. The weapon in her lap felt...wrong. She just couldn't say why. It was a strange new sensation, one that she had never felt before. She had never really bothered thinking about the nature of this weapon. It was a tool. A tool made to kill. There was no other reason for this sniper rifle to exist other than wiping out life. Sarah didn't need a gun to kill, she could use everything, including a toothpick.

She had left a trail of blood. There had been times when she had bathed in it...when a part of her had enjoyed it.

"And now I'm gonna do it again?" she whispered to herself.

Only then realization finally hit her; she was about to kill again.

And that's when...

* * *

Smoke. It burned in her eyes, yet she refused to blink. The stench of burned steel, plastic and flesh filled her senses, and she could feel how a part of her mind enjoyed it. The destruction, the carnage...she had done it. She had taught these humans that this was _her_ world once more.

However, there was another part of her, one that felt simply empty. One that knew that her actions here would deem her nonredeemable. She was now what people had always seen in her: A pariah.

Her Zergling stopped, but just for a second. She could hear a man's voice just ahead of her.

"...I'll get out another way." Her Zergling snarled and moved in closer, ready to kill the survivor. Everyone else inside the base was dead. There were others that wanted to escape. She could sense them, their fears and their hopes. One half didn't want to die. The other half hoped to live. They would all perish.

Her Zergling was about to strike, but this wasn't his kill. She reached out with her mind and told the creature to back down. The marine that lay on the ground in front of her stared at the Zergling. He, unlike his men, wasn't afraid. However, he was in no shape to fight either. The Zergling stepped aside and when she emerged from the smoke, she could see the surprised look on his face. But it only lasted for a second. Then it was replaced with contempt.

"Kerrigan..." he snarled her name as if it was some sort of curse. All she did was to stare at him while he talked. He was a dead man anyway. That steel beam in his chest would kill him sooner or later. But he still had some life left.

"...you listen to me. I have three shuttles packed with men too injured to ever be a threat to you." General Warfield explained before he had to cough. "Husbands, fathers...you let those shuttles go, you hear me?"

All the Queen of Blades did was to stare at the man. Her face was a mask and didn't show her feelings. Not that anyone cared about those, she was the Queen of the Zerg again. Warfield...he was a fool. And now he would die, slain by a monster and sacrificed by the ambitions of another monster.

"General!" someone spoke over the radio. You could hear the screams of Zerg in the background. "We're surrounded! There's no way out!" And that's when he realized that there was no hope. However, instead of giving up, instead of just dying...he used his last breath to set the records straight.

"You bitch." he growled. "You're not even human anymore. You betrayed us all!" Warfield hissed and then he tried to get back on his feet, but it was useless. So instead, he tried to lift his prosthetic arm up. He would go down fighting.

"For what?" he barked and managed to point the gun in his arm at the Queen of Blades. And Sarah? She didn't even flinch. "Petty revenge?"

There was nothing petty about her thirst for vengeance. It was righteous. Warfield pointed his weapon at Sarah, yet it was too damaged. Electrical discharges wandered over the metal and the servos were unable to load a round into the chamber. He was helpless.

"How many innocents have you killed?" he wanted to know. She couldn't answer that question. All she knew was that she hadn't killed nearly enough guilty ones yet. "How many more have to die?"

It would be all over if the ones that hid and abused their powers would just surrender themselves to her. His words bothered her, but not enough to make her angry. He was dying anyway, and it would be a slow and painful death that...

"What if Raynor could see you right now?"

Sarah didn't even think. All she could feel was that hot rage inside her chest. Her eyes widened and started to glow purple as she reached out and decided to teach this pathetic old man a lesson. His body was lifted up and there was a short, pained gasp escaping his throat. With a flick of her powers, she just rammed the steel beam all the way through the General's chest. His prosthetic arm fell on the ground and then he was finally silent.

"General! We're surrounded. We're not gonna make it..." that soldier screamed over the radio and you could hear his despair. He knew that he was going to die. For a second, Sarah thought about doing nothing, but then Warfield's words echoed through her mind once more.

 _What if Raynor could see you right now?_

And so, she did something the Queen of Blades had never done before. She closed her eyes and gave her minions only one simple order.

"General! The Zerg pulled back! It's a miracle!" the man on the radio said. "We're gonna make it! General? General..."

* * *

"No!" Sarah gasped and shook her head from one side to the other. No dream this time, but a memory. One that she had almost forgotten about. One of her many sins...one of the many souls she had killed herself. She gritted her teeth and tried to calm down. Jim was too far away to notice her distress. She took a few deep breaths and then she pressed her hands against her face.

Only then she realized that her hands were shaking. She pulled them back and stared at her own fingers.

Shaking hands? She had never had wavering hands...her hands were steady and calm. But now they were shaking uncontrollably. She had to clench them into fists and force herself to calm down. It were those dreams. And that damn reflection of the Queen of Blades! Maybe she should take a break.

"No...no, I'm not some kind of weak little damsel." Sarah growled. She was made out of sturdier stuff. Sarah shook her head a few times in order to clear it. Damn, right now she really could use Izsha's company. She stood up and checked the rifle in her hands once more. It was ready to kill, ready to take another life.

It was something Sarah had done so many times that she had lost count ages ago. Suddenly she remembered something that Jim had told her many times; that she was about to cross a line. Again. A line that she had crossed so many times that it shouldn't bother her anymore.

But it did bother her _now_. She stared at the rifle and knew that something had changed. She had changed.

She just didn't know if for the better...or the worse.


	99. Act IV - Chapter 15

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 15**

 **Coming to Terms**

* * *

"Just why the hell did I agree to this?" Jim mumbled to himself when he entered the big room. It looked like half of the town was present and he could see a lot of familiar and not-so-familiar faces. He tried to reach out to Sarah, but she was too far away. However, he wasn't worried since Sarah could look after herself. He wasn't too happy about the fact that she was somewhere out there hunting critters, but it was better than shooting unarmed Shepherds.

Speaking of Shepherds...

"Hey, Book. Long time no seen. How's life?" he asked. Book, who stood next to a table with food, turned around and looked Jim straight into the eyes.

"James." Something was wrong, Jim could tell that in an instance. It almost looked like Book was angry. Or at least not in a good mood.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. For a moment, it seemed as if Book was about to turn away and leave, but then he just shook his head.

"No. No, it's nothing. I just had a few shitty weeks, that's all."

"Shitty weeks?" Jim chuckled. "That's not a very nice thing to say for a preacher. Isn't it against your people's rules to curse?"

"Different order." Book mumbled, and Jim made a mental note that he would have to ask for a book of rules one day.

"So, what ruined your day? Or weeks?"

"Nothing in particular. Sometimes things are just the way they are and you can't do anything about it."

"Whoa, Book. That's not something a preacher should say." Jim mumbled. "Aren't you supposed to cheer people up? Make them believe in themselves?" However, Book didn't even try to hide his foul mood. He turned away and Jim could hear him throwing a "Whatever" at him. Book then simply walked away.

"Who shitted in his breakfast?" he asked himself.

"Dunno, but he has been like this for weeks. Ever since Markson left I think." Jim turned around when he heard the familiar voice and smiled.

"Hey, Phil."

"Hey." the burly man replied.

"When you told me that people were planning to bring the Thanksgiving party back, I didn't think that you were talking about half the town." Jim growled, yet Phil realized that he wasn't really angry.

"Well, I was kinda surprised myself. But people really seem to like the idea. Ever since I suggested it and-"

"Wait a sec, _you_ suggested it?" Jim asked and Phil nodded.

"Yeah. People always used to tell me how great everything was back in the day. You know, when everyone was still young and had full hair and no fat bellies." the burly man laughed and brushed over his bald head.

"So, you did all of this? Finding a room, getting a catering service out here?" Jim asked and couldn't help to feel impressed. "Damn, you truly seem to like these people. And to think that you wanted to just run away."

"Yeah, yeah. Put some more salt into the wound." Phil jeered. "What can I say? I was an idiot. Ever since that...thing with Paula, people have been really helpful."

"You told them that she's...?" Jim asked, but didn't finish the sentence. There were still a lot of people close by, and Jim didn't want to give away any secrets. It was a good idea because Phil shook his head when he heard that question.

"Nope. They think that she's just a very strange girl. Maybe one day we can tell them. If everything works out. And that's a planetary-sized if. Anyway, food's free, so is the coffee. Dig in. Oh, where's Sarah by the way?"

"Out huntin'."

"Hunting?"

"Yeah, she's trying to find some kriechers."

"I see..." Phil mumbled, but it was obvious that he had no idea what he was supposed to say. "And you're fine with that?" Jim, who grabbed a cracker and a piece of cheese, frowned when heard that.

"Why shouldn't I be?" he asked and shoved the cracker into his mouth.

"Well, it's kind of dangerous out there and Sarah...you know, she's a woman and-"

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Jim started to laugh when he heard that. For a moment Phil seemed confused.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, it's nothing...it's just..." Jim said while still laughing. "Trust me, Sarah is more than capable of staying safe. Besides, in our relationship? Let's just say that she's the big spoon." That sounded so wrong on so many levels, yet at the same time, it was the truth and _nothing but the truth_.

"And... you're okay with that?" Phil asked. Jim looked him into the eyes and chuckled again.

"My God, Phil! I didn't know you were a little chauvinist! You think that a woman should stay at home, cook and be a faithful wife?"

"Yes...no... I mean...nevermind. Sorry, I didn't want to insult you or Sarah. I was just-"

"Surprised that I don't care that my lover is pretty much better in almost everything and that it doesn't wound my manliness?"

"Well...I wouldn't exactly use those words to describe it...but maybe?" Phil mumbled. Perhaps Jim should feel offended...but he just didn't. He shrugged his shoulders and swallowed that cracker down.

"Dunno. I guess that once was true. But not anymore. Sarah and I... we've been through some rough times. Seems like it simply doesn't bother us anymore what others think."

"Remarkable." was the only thing Phil could answer.

"Yeah, well...took us a while to get there, I tell you that. Anyway, how's the plan for today?"

"Once everyone is here, we're going to discuss what to do for the party. And other things too." Phil explained.

"Other things? Define _"other things"_." Jim wanted to know and the other man immediately raised his hands in order to calm Jim down.

"Don't worry, I don't intend to force anything down your throat. I just wanted to have you here as, well, moral support I suppose. I had planned to thank the people for what they did and-"

"Wait a sec, you _suggested_ these people to bring the party back?" Jim interrupted him and Phil sighed.

"I guess. It just feels right. After what the people of the town did to help us finding Paula."

"You do know that technically it was Sarah who found her, right? Maybe you should throw a party in her honor." Though Jim was pretty certain that she would love-hate it. Sarah loved it if people worshiped her. However, she hated it if they used that as an excuse to have fun themselves.

"I would, but Sarah doesn't strike me as the woman who would appreciate it." Phil replied and Jim knew that he had a point.

"So what, I'm just supposed to wave with my hand and say "Awesome idea, Phil"?" Jim asked and the burly man pulled his shoulders up.

"That sums it up pretty well, yeah." he admitted and a grin appeared on Jim's face. He then started to wave with the hand and acted like he was some sort of stiff robot.

"Vote for Phil Carter, people. Phil Carter for Mayor!" When Phil heard that, his eyes widened in shock.

"Wait, what? No! I don't want to be mayor!"

"Dunno...that actually sounds like a good idea." Joseph Brent suddenly said as he suddenly appeared next to them. "I can't be the only person of authority out here, right?"

"Hey, Joe." Jim said and the Marshal gave him a cold look.

"For the last time, it's Joseph. Not Joe. I'm not a goddamn trucker!"

"I try to keep that in mind." Jim chuckled. "Anyway, that's not such a bad idea. The town has no real mayor, right? At least I never met anyone with that title."

"Guys, let's not talk about that, yes? I don't want to become the Mayor." Phil refused.

"Nope, it's payback time. This is for trying to make me Marshal. Now you will see how I felt back then." Jim chuckled. He then grabbed a chair and pulled it into the center of the room.

"Jim, don't! No!" Phil barked, but it was pointless. Jim climbed on the chair and the first heads started to turn towards him.

"May I have your attention, please!" he said. More looked at him, but still not everyone. "Hey, people! Heads up!" Only then he finally had their undivided attention. "Hey, how're you doing?" It was good that Sarah wasn't here, otherwise, she would have witnessed how Jim would talk to the people like only a redneck would.

"Yo, people. There's something I wanna like to talk with ya'." he said and then looked over to Phil, who seemed utterly mortified. Next to Phil Joseph raised his hand and gave Jim a thumbs-up. And that was all the encouragement he needed.

"Payback is a bitch, buddy." Jim said and even though Phil was too far away to hear him, Jim knew that the other man was aware what he just had said. Besides, Jim was certain that they wouldn't make Phil the Mayor. You would need an official election for this to work, right?

Right...

Time to have some fun!

* * *

 **15 minutes and a lot of** **hand shakings** **later...**

* * *

"I didn't think that they would actually make you Mayor." Jim said while sitting on a bench in front of McReedy's.

"This is a goddamn nightmare." Phil whined. He sat next to Jim and stared into the night. "How...I have no idea how to be a goddamn mayor!"

"Can't be that hard." Joseph mumbled. He was the third guy on the bench and looked over to Phil. "Look who they made Marshal. This town has no standards at all, you will blend in just fine. Just don't try to act like you're actually competent. People don't like that out here."

"Does he ever shut up?" Phil asked Jim, who could only sigh.

"Yes, but the price for that is just too high."

"Wakka Wakka Wakka." Joseph gargled before he got back on his feet and stretched his limbs. "Well, it was one crazy day. Think I'm gonna head home now and cry myself to sleep. Maybe I'm gonna do a drug bust tonight. Heard that Old Frazer's wife has a secret stash of stimpacks in one of her porcelain dolls. If you hear explosions and gunfire, don't be alarmed. It will just be me fighting a ninety-year-old lady." Neither Jim nor Phil said anything. They just wanted him to leave.

When Joseph was finally gone, Phil shook his head.

"Just where the hell did you find this guy?"

"It's a long story." Jim sighed. "And I'm not very keen to share it with anyone." They remained silent for a while before Phil sighed once more.

"Mayor Carter. Sounds like a goddamn joke..."

"Dunno. I like it." Jim said. "Has a nice ring to it. Certainly sounds better than Marshal Rennard."

"You will pay for this one day, I promise you that." Phil whispered. It wasn't clear wherever he was truly angry or not. Perhaps he would need some time to let it all sink in.

"You will retaliate for my retaliation? Phil, at one point someone has to break the cycle of hatred or we all will pay the price!" Jim tried to reason with him.

"You mean I should be the one to just let you off the hook so you can have this moral victory?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Jim mused. "Also; with that sharp mind of yours, you're the perfect choice for mayor. You saw through me in an instant."

"I hate you."

"Hehehe...yeah, I get that a lot. Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Now excuse me, I'm heading home now. If there's nothing else..." Jim said and stood up.

"Actually...now that I think about it..." Phil mumbled and suddenly Jim realized that he was in deep shit. "...since I'm the Mayor now, I think I should order someone to take full responsibility for the Thanksgiving party."

 _Well...shit._

"Well...shit." Jim spoke out his own thoughts.

"Payback is a bitch, ain't it?" Phil added with a cocky smile on his face.

"It sure is. I guess there's no way for me to get out of this, huh?"

"Not a chance in hell. You just volunteered, Mister."

* * *

It was late at night when Jim finally came back home. He tried to be as quiet as possible since he didn't want to wake up Sarah. It was actually quite amusing, it reminded Jim of all those times when he had come home late and tried not to wake up Lydia.

Needlessly to say; it had never worked. Not even once.

He could tell that Sarah was home, he could feel her presence in the back of his mind. That meant that she was close. But her conscious felt like it was just a whisper. That could mean two things; she was either asleep or she kept him out of her own thoughts.

"Let's give her the benefit of the doubt." Jim mumbled to himself when he stepped inside. He was as quiet as possible and made it into their bedroom without causing a goddamn earthquake. He slipped out of his clothes and then into the bed. Sarah wasn't moving at all, he could only hear her breathe. It was a very even breath, one that people had when they were sleeping.

And so, Jim decided to just lay down and keep his mouth shut. He didn't want to wake her up and-

"Jim?"

Well, so much for that.

"Hey...sorry, I didn't want to wake you up." he whispered. She had turned her back to him, yet something felt strange.

"I wasn't sleeping." she said with a quiet voice. When Jim heard that, he had to frown. Something was wrong, it didn't take a genius to figure that out.

"Sarah? Is everything-"

"How was your day?" she interrupted him and he fell silent for a moment.

"Interesting. And weird." Well, that was actually true. "We got a new mayor."

"Did Joseph decide that being Marshal isn't enough for his ambitions and has usurped power?" Sarah whispered and Jim had to chuckle.

"No, it's nothing that horrible. Phil is the new Mayor...and I'm to blame for that."

"Blame? Why are you to blame for that?"

"Heh, that's a long story. Tell you what, I can tell you about it tomorrow. How about-"

"Jim?" Sarah interrupted again him and he frowned. Her voice sounded strange...as of she was frightened?

"Yeah? Sarah, what's the matter? Are you-"

"Am I a good person?"

There was a long moment of silence. Jim needed a while to process that question. It was a fairly simple question, but it caught him by surprise.

"What? What are you talking about?" Even though Sarah had turned her back towards him, he could see how Sarah had slung her arms around her chest and pulled her knees up to her chin.

"Am I a good person?" she repeated her question. Jim didn't answer immediately, he was still busy trying to figure out why she would come up with something like that all of the sudden. Sarah interpreted his silence in her very own way.

"Guess that's one way to answer the question." she mumbled.

"Why would you say something like that, Sarah?" he wanted to know.

"Can you answer my question? Am I a good person?" Jim thought about it for a while. Not because he wanted to make he angry, but because he had no idea why Sarah was acting like this all of the sudden.

"It's not that easy, Darlin'." he said and that's when a bitter laugh left Sarah's throat.

"Your answer is pretty obvious, wouldn't you say?" she snarled.

"No. No, it isn't." he replied and that's when Sarah rolled around. He looked into her eyes and even though it was dark, he could still see those wet spots on her cheeks. Had she been...crying?

"If not even you think that I'm not a good person, then I guess there's no point pretending to be one, right?" she asked with a bitter tone in her voice.

"It's not that easy, Sarah. There is no simple answer to that question." Jim tried to explain to her.

"That answer you're giving me is pretty clear. Don't worry, I'm a big girl. I can take it." she hissed, yet Jim could say that right now she was hurt and that she could not take it.

"I'm not qualified to answer that question, Sarah." Jim whispered.

"Yeah, right." Sarah sneered. "You're the noblest man I've ever met."

"No. No, Sarah, I'm not. I'm a crook and a liar. I did so many stupid things...I let down people and I cheated my way out of so many bad situations. You're asking a liar to tell the truth. No matter what I say, it won't matter."

"You're judging yourself too hard." Sarah replied. "You always did the right thing. Unlike me."

"If I would have done the right thing, then we would have never met, Sarah." Jim explained. "I wouldn't have left my homeworld and joined the military. I wouldn't have traveled to other worlds. I wouldn't have gone to Mar Sara and... well...met Lydia. My life is full of bad decisions. But they led to good things." He then placed his hand on her cheek and brushed over her soft skin.

"That totally doesn't answer my question." Sarah mumbled. "You're just using fancy words to make me feel better."

"Sarah, I've seen good men doing horrible things. And I have seen villains dying like heroes. Truth to be told, I don't even know if there's such a thing as a "good person" anymore. In the end, life is just one huge compromise. And we can only hope that once we reach the end, we can look back and say that we made the right choices."

"I didn't make the right choices." Sarah whispered.

"You made the right choices when it mattered, Darlin'."

"Oh yeah?" she hissed. "And when did I do that?"

"When you decided to save us all."

Critical hit detected.

Sarah didn't say something. She couldn't. But Jim could see how her eyes started to water again. She started to sob and within a few moments she was crying and screaming in pain. It was no physical pain, no. It went deeper than that. In a way, Jim had always expected that something like this would happen sooner or later.

They had talked about their issues, of course they had. But that didn't mean that they had dealt with it.

To Jim, everything was clear as day; Sarah was not a bad person. But would she believe him if he would tell her that? Probably not. Because the guilt that weighed on her soul was so massive. She had experienced a mental breakdown because of not being able to deal with that guilt anymore on Sternenheim, and we all know how that had ended. When Jim had managed to put those pieces back together (with a lot of help from Zeratul, the friendly Ghost-Prelate), he hadn't been able to cure the pain, the guilt...

...the shame.

It wasn't something that you could just blow away with a kiss. Or a chocolate cake. It was a process, one that would take many years. And there would be setbacks. Jim did the only thing he could; he reached out with his arms and pulled Sarah into a tight embrace.

It felt wrong to see her like this. Sarah was not a weak woman. And she certainly didn't need a strong man at her side who would protect her. But even she had her moments of fear and doubts, and the only thing he could do when that happened was to take her in his arms and comfort her.

Jim didn't know when he finally fell asleep. All he knew was that at one point, her cries turned into a whimper. And then into pained moans when she finally fell asleep. Jim tried to stay awake as long as possible. He tried to come up with a solution, an idea, anything that could help her. But no matter how hard he thought about it, he didn't come up with any solution. And that was a truly horrible feeling.

At one point, sleep and exhaustion finally caught up with him and he too fell into an unpleasant sleep, one that wouldn't bring any rest. Jim's sleep was short and dreamless, and when he woke up in the morning, the first thing on his mind were Sarah's tears. He turned his head to the side and wanted to see if she was still asleep.

But that's when he realized that Sarah was gone.

"Sarah?" he asked and rolled out of the bed, but he could tell that she wasn't there anymore. Her presence was gone and that meant that she was too far away. He walked downstairs and realized that someone had made some coffee. It was still warm and there was a note lying on the table in the living room.

 _Jim._

 _I'm sorry for what happened yesterday._

 _I just had a bad day. Still, don't give it too much thought._

 _We all have bad days from time to time, right?_

 _Anyway, I'm out and trying to put that damn rifle to some use. Who knows, maybe you can make some cooked kriecher for dinner today once I'm back._

 _I love you._

"This woman...will be the death of me one day." Jim whispered when he stared at the note. But hey, she had left a note! That was a first. "Little steps, I guess." he sighed and then put the note away. "You could have at least waited for me to wake up, Darlin'." Because Jim too had a job to do. One that he didn't look forward to one bit. But the orders of the Mayor were the orders of the Mayor.

* * *

By the time Jim finally woke up, Sarah was already several kilometers away. Her sleep, much like Jim's, had been a short and unpleasant one. She hadn't dreamt something crazy again. At least she couldn't remember having dreamed something crazy again.

She regretted what had happened yesterday. Asking Jim that question had been one big mistake. Now he would only be worried again and that was something she had tried to avoid from happening. Even though she trusted Jim more than anyone else, she didn't like it when he saw that side of her, so weak and pathetic.

Sarah knew what she had to do. She had to face her fears and just plunge in head first. Yeah, that would help. Those doubts were nothing but distractions and she couldn't use them right now. So instead she would focus on the job she had agreed to do. Sarah made good speed and after less than two hours she reached the place where she had found the tracks of the kriecher the day before.

There were barely any tracks visible anymore. The wind had blown them away and it was only thanks to Sarah's keen eye that she knew where she had to go.

Doing something was always helpful if you want to focus your mind on something else, but much to Sarah's dismay that didn't really seem to work this time. No matter what she did, her thoughts would always return to what happened the day before. She still remembered the look on Warfield's face when he had seen the reborn Queen of Blades...and then that hateful expression when she had driven that steel beam through his chest.

Warfield had been dead; his brain just hadn't caught up with that fact. The wounds had been too severe and no doctor in this universe could have saved him. Not even infestation could have done that. But Warfield had been a soldier to the very end and had used his last breath to fight the enemy.

Why had she done that? Why had she killed him like that?

The truth is; his life had meant nothing to her. And only when he had managed to piss her off she had decided to end him. So what did that say about Sarah's character? Even now she didn't really feel guilty when thinking about Warfield. But if she didn't feel guilty, then why couldn't she stop thinking about it?

So yeah, Sarah had a hard time concentrating on anything else right now. In fact, she so busy thinking about those things that she almost missed those fresh tracks.

Almost.

The tracks looked like they were just a few hours old. And they looked different. It was as if the creature had dragged something heavy along. Prey maybe? What else. So Sarah followed the tracks until they led her to an area filled with numerous ditches. She climbed up a nearby hill and looked at the place.

"Looks like a tunnel network." she whispered. "Or a maze." It was the perfect place to hide, and that's when Sarah realized that she had just found the kriecher's nest...if those things actually used nests. She pulled her rifle off her back and sat down before she took a closer look through the scope. But even then, she couldn't help it and felt a strange sense of dread in her chest.

"Get it together, girl." she scolded herself and then she took a deep breath. Observing the landscape was key to every assassination. And there was no difference this time

No difference...

Sarah took a good look at the area. There were many entrances and she could see several tracks. It seemed that this creature used more than one entrance. Good to know. Maybe she could lure it out and make it come to her? She had to find out how smart these critters were. So far, kriechers seemed to be very careful creatures.

From what she had heard they weren't really nocturnal, which should prove helpful. Unless you were a tasty young woman lost in the wilderness. In that case, they were willing to make an exception and go after you even in the middle of the night.

Sarah had also heard that these things were twice as clever as a Hydralisk and three times as mean. Though she had her doubts about that. There was nothing more vicious than a Hydralisk. Her little dance with the kriecher had been too short to really learn something other than those teeth were truly scary. Seriously, Zerg had enough teeth for ages, but those needle-like ones inside a kriecher's maw?

They would have made a fine addition to the Swarm.

"Maybe I should send Zagara a postcard. _"Hey, the weather's nice and there's some interesting biomass down here. Maybe you should check it out yourself. Love, your former Queen of Blades. Peace out."_ I bet that would be hilarious."

Sometimes she thought about the Swarm and her former student. Nowadays the only thing she heard when it came to the Swarm was what you could see on the news. And that wasn't much. It seemed as if the Swarm was content with keeping its territory together. Izsha tried to keep her ear on the ground, but she too hadn't heard much. The only thing Zerg-related that was part of Sarah's life right now as Niadra, and she was fine with being Ulnar's housekeeper. Which was odd in its own regard.

As Sarah stared through the scope of her rifle, she could feel how the sense of dread turned into a clump of ice. It was frustrating because she had no idea why she was feeling this way. Something was wrong, she just didn't know how to articulate it, how to put it in words.

The closest thing for her to describe it would be that she felt sick. But not normal sick. Only when she would take the gun in her hand things would change. The metal grip felt strange in her hand, yet she couldn't say why. It was as if all of her senses were off, but only from the moment she took things seriously.

Maybe some part of her subconscious wanted to tell her something.

Something that she hadn't considered at all...

Sarah lowered her rifle and took a deep breath. This was getting bothersome. And pathetic. She was just trying to hunt a goddamn animal, then why was she starting to doubt herself like that? She raised her gun once more, but then she realized that her hands were incredibly sweaty. She brushed the sweat off her palms and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. She looked at her hand and...

* * *

Rage. Righteous fury. Vengeance. It all came down to those feelings. All those years filled with pain, death, and destruction had finally led her to this place.

Full circle.

Death lay behind her.

Death lay in front of her.

And right now...death was in her hand.

The pain was hot and sharp and her muscles were still twitching. That cursed keystone Mengsk had used on her had done so much damage. Perhaps it even would have killed the old Queen of Blades. But that person was no more. Now, she was even more.

Jim stood behind her, his gun pointing right at Mengsk. However, as he saw how the Queen of Blades got back on her feet, he hesitated. There were one million reasons for him to kill Arcturus right here and now, yet even then he realized that Sarah was first in line. All of her muscles hurt, her brain pulsed, and she felt the urge to puke. But it didn't matter. Her target was right in front of her. Purely driven by rage and determination, she gathered her strength...

...and then catapulted herself forward.

The attack was swift and flawless. Arcturus was too stunned to even scream, all he could do was to groan when the tips of her blade wings went straight through his shoulders and pinned him to the wall.

He was at her mercy.

Only that Sarah didn't know what that word meant.

"You can never suffer enough for all the lives you ruined, Arcturus..." she growled as she walked towards the doomed man. Arcturus put one of his hands on her blade wings, but it was a pointless gesture. Even uninjured he wouldn't be able to hurt her. No, he could only hurt her by using cheap tricks. Well, there wouldn't be any more tricks. He hissed in pain and threw his head around as if he was looking for someone, _anyone_ to help him.

Oh, it was so delicious! His reign of terror was finally about to end and there was nothing that he could do about it! Sarah could feel how all her three hearts started to beat faster. She wanted to rip him apart, wanted to use her razor-sharp nails to peel the skin off his flesh. She wanted to throw him into a spawning pool and watch how he would be turned into the ultimate mutated abomination of all times.

But more than anything else...

...she wanted to see the fear in his eyes.

Arcturus raised his head and fought the pain back as good as possible. He looked her straight into the eyes.

"I made you...into a monster...Kerrigan." he spat out. There was no fear. Sarah was taken aback for the fraction of a second when she finally realized the truth. He would never change. He would never admit that he had done something horrible. He would never feel sorry for what he had done to the people, what he had done to her. Torturing him wouldn't achieve anything. It would only remind her that he would never truly regret what he had done.

Arcturus Mengsk was a man who was _incapable_ of feeling guilt.

The Queen of Blades' eyes started to glow as she channeled her powers. She could let him go. His Dominion was broken, his reign was over. She had achieved her goal. The people would judge him. If anything, they would blame him for everything that had happened. And then there was still Valerian. He wouldn't allow his father to return to power.

Sarah could just turn around and leave this place.

She could leave behind a broken man.

No.

No, she couldn't.

Because she was a killer. And that meant that she had to kill him. It was in her blood. All those years, all that pain. _He_ had made it personal.

"You made us all into monsters." she whispered and put her hand on Arcturus' face, but only for a second. He tried to evade her touch, but it was pointless. The moment her psionic energies jumped over to his body, he was doomed. And as Arcturus Mengsk screamed during his last moment on this world, Sarah looked at her hand and felt something she hadn't felt in a while.

She felt empty.

There was a short moment of silence and she could study her own hand some more, her claws and that carapace. It was the hand of a killer.

It was her hand.

And that...

* * *

"No, stop!" Sarah hissed and let go of the rifle. It fell to the ground and Sarah gasped in distress. Another flashback? Why now? And why exactly _this_ memory? She wasn't proud of what she had done to Warfield, but Mengsk?

Killing him was one of the few things she was proud of. She had done the whole sector a favor by ending him. She closed her eyes, slung her arms around her chest and gritted her teeth. Her breath became ragged and it felt as if she was about to puke, as if she was getting sick. Maybe she should get back home. Maybe she should talk to Jim about this.

Or maybe she should just ignore it and pretend it had never happened.

Sarah felt sick, sick to the _bone_. All she wanted to do was to hunt some damn critter, not contemplate on the nature of all the lives she had taken. It took her quite some time until she had managed to calm down. And even then, she felt shaken, as if whatever was going on was touching her very core.

After a while, she grabbed the rifle again. At least she tried. But when she was about to touch the cold metal of the gun, she hesitated.

"Again?" Sarah whispered and looked at her hands.

They were shaking again. _Why were they shaking again?_ By now Sarah was afraid that something was happening to her. Why now all of the sudden? What had she done to deserve this?

Oh...wait...

Nevermind that.

Sarah closed her eyes and could feel how a new feeling started to work its way through her body and mind. Something that she hadn't felt in a long time. Even when the Swarm had taken her she hadn't felt like this, this desperate and weak and helpless.

It was panic. She was panicking. Why? She couldn't tell. But she recognized the feeling. The last time she had experienced panic like this had been when Major Rumm had threatened to kill her father if she wouldn't do as he told her to. For years, panic hasn't affected her judgment. Anger, yes. Fury, yes. But panic? No. Even during her transformation into the Queen of Blades, she hadn't felt panic. Anguish, fear, and dread had been on her mind, but no panic. Because she had accepted the fact that she was about to die.

She was so busy fighting her own panic that she almost missed that something was happening in the distance. At first, she only thought that it was a tree moving in the wind, but then she realized that there weren't any trees around. And no wind. Sarah raised her head and looked into the distance where something gray moved towards the ditches.

Sarah squinted her eyes and brushed a tear from her face. Pathetic. It was a good thing that neither Jim nor Izsha were around. Sarah didn't like it if someone saw her like this. Weak. Broken.

 _Human..._

The creature in the distance wasn't human. It took Sarah a while before she could make out any details. She longed for the rifle on the ground, but then she hesitated when she saw her shaking hand. Why wouldn't it stop? She flexed her fingers until she couldn't feel them anymore.

"Damn!" Sarah cursed. And only then she realized that cursing out loud was probably not the smartest thing to do while there was a damn monster nearby. The kriecher was roughly one hundred meters away. Sarah reacted immediately. She threw herself on the ground and robbed through the dirt in order to hide. The kriecher raised its head and dropped the small object in its maw. While Sarah couldn't make out any details, she was pretty certain that it was some kind of prey.

"Tsssssssskkkk..." the kriecher hissed and checked its surroundings. It looked even uglier in broad daylight. Its whole body was covered with gray skin, and that flat head that resembled a hammerhead shark...they would truly have made a fine addition to the Swarm. If a Zergling was scary, then these things were easily ten times scarier.

The kriecher was facing a monumental dilemma; leave its prey behind and run for cover, or ignore the danger and get its food back to safety. Sarah watched how the creature sniffed the air while its tail swished from one side to the other. However, it seemed as if she was lucky since after a while the kriecher just snarled and picked its prey up again. Sarah thought about her options. She could grab her gun and line up the perfect shot. She knew she could do that, she had proven that a while ago. The look on Book's face had been priceless.

And let's not forget that she had almost killed that other kriecher that had tried to devour Paula.

She had fired that rifle before...then why the hell did her hands shake just when she was thinking about using it? What had changed?

She couldn't do it. The very thought of grabbing the gun, of taking it in her hand caused her to groan in discomfort. But why? There was a reason, she knew that. But she couldn't really figure out what it was. And so, she pulled her hand back and continued to observe the creature with weary eyes. She watched how it pulled its prey towards the ditched. It looked one more time around, making sure that no one had spotted it.

In the end, it was just an animal. And it didn't notice Sarah, even though she had done her very best to be as unstealthy as possible.

She didn't stand up again right away. Instead, she buried her head between her arms and started to whimper. What was that aching feeling in her chest? Why wouldn't it stop? She stayed like this for what felt like hours, though it probably were only minutes. After a while, Sarah got back on her knees and sighed again. She stared at the rifle next to her and squinted her eyes. For a moment she thought about leave this thing out here and go back home. She did get back to her feet and decided to walk back home, but then she decided to take the rifle with her. Her hands had stopped shaking and the rifle on her back didn't feel nearly as unpleasant as it did in her hands.

Still...she had to deal with this. One way or another.

* * *

When Jim came back home, he stopped the car in front of the house and stepped out of the vehicle.

"Sarah? You home?" he yelled when he walked up to the house. He had spent the entire day in the town, planning for the big party. He actually had some experience when it came to these kinds of things. No hands-on experience, but he had seen how the folks on Mar Sara had planned these events. It was surprisingly complex, especially if square dance was involved.

Luckily, no one knew how to square dance out here. The town even had its own band. Well, "band" was probably a bit much. One guy had a guitar, another one a keyboard, and a third one a banjo. Oh, and someone knew how to play the triangle, though Jim had his doubts about that.

And spending the entire day with Joseph breathing down your neck was truly exhausting. That guy simply didn't know when to shut up. The only good thing was that Book seemed to stay away from Jim whenever Brent was around. He had asked Joseph if he and the Shepherd had argued about anything, but the Marshal had just smiled and told him that "everything was under control".

"Sarah, I'm back." he said, opened the door and stepped inside. He looked around and noticed that someone had been here. There was still an empty glass and a plate on the table.

"Sarah? Are you taking a bath? Are you-"

 _ **BLAM!**_

A gunshot was fired and Jim reacted immediately. He threw himself on the ground and crawled under the table, just like he had done so many times. When someone fires at you, you head for cover. This wasn't about being a coward, this was common sense.

"Shitshitshit!" Jim yelled and looked around. The shot had been fired from some distance and it sounded like a...

"Wait a second." Jim whispered when he heard how another shot was fired. And then another one. Someone was firing a rifle, that much was obvious. But the time between those shots was always the same. That wasn't a firefight. It sounded like someone was...training? Jim hesitated a few moments before he finally crawled up from beneath the table and sneaked over to the window. He was extra cautious, just to be on the safe side. Yet when he looked out of the window, he spotted a figure in the distance. Even from his position, he could see her red hair.

"Just what the hell is she up to?" Jim whispered to himself before he tried to reach out to her.

"Sarah? You okay?" he asked, but the voice in the back of his mind remained silent. However, he could feel Sarah's emotions. And they were a mess. Anger, frustration, fear and... guilt? Now, there were a few things you should never do. Things like driving to a bar in order to get drunk. Or putting a lasagna in the oven when you knew that you were on a tight schedule.

Or firing weapons when you're angry.

When Jim was certain that there wasn't an invasion going on, he walked over to the door and left the house. Sarah was using the ruins of the old settlement as a shooting range. The same settlement that had probably been burned down by the Confederates when they had abandoned this world. So far neither Jim nor Sarah had bothered to check this place out, mostly because the few houses that had been part of this place were nothing but ruins that had withered away a long time ago.

"Sarah?" Jim asked, but he was only rewarded with another ear-shattering shot fired. Sarah lay on a blanket and raised her head. Not in order to greet Jim, but checking if she had managed to hit the target. The target had been a can, and yes, she had hit it. Repeatedly.

"Darlin'? What's the matter?" he asked when he finally reached her. Sarah didn't even look up.

"Hey Jim." she said with a quiet voice before she loaded another round into the chamber.

"Sarah, would you mind explaining what's going-"

 _ **BLAM!**_

"...on." he mumbled with his hand still pressed on his ears. It was another perfect shot, and one more can fell victim to Sarah's superior sniper skills.

"Training, can't you see?"

"Since when do you need training?" Jim asked and Sarah reloaded her rifle.

"Everyone needs training once in a while. Just because I make it look easy doesn't mean that it _is_ easy." Sarah explained.

"Sarah, what's the matter?" Jim asked and knelt down right next to her. He placed his hand on her back and offered her a warm smile. She looked up at him and for a moment it seemed as if she was about to let him in on her little secret. But then he felt how she pulled her mind back into her shell and shut him out.

"It's nothing." she said and got back to her feet. She grabbed her rifle and simply walked back home.

"Sarah? Darlin', what is going on?"

"It's nothing, Jim. Don't worry, I just had a bad day, that's all." Why was it that when Sarah said that "everything was fine" he was especially worried? He knew that he should talk to her about it, but at the same time, he knew that right now wasn't the best moment to do that.

Never talk with a woman about her feelings when she just fired a sniper rifle.

Sarah walked back into the house and sat down at the table. Jim was about to ask her what she was trying to do, but then she put her rifle on the table and started to disassemble it.

"Is that really necessary?" Jim asked. "That thing is kinda dirty and..." But Sarah just gave him an annoyed look, and that was enough to make him shut up. "Uhm...I guess I'm gonna prepare dinner then." The rest of the day was pretty awkward. Jim watched how Sarah cleaned every part of the weapon. It was as if she was looking for something, as if there was something wrong with the rifle. Had she trained because the rifle needed some recalibration? Was Sarah in a foul mood because the sniper rifle was useless?

From what he had seen, it worked just fine. But that didn't have to mean much.

She took the grip in her hand and stared at it. After a while, Jim realized that she wasn't looking at the grip itself, but her own hand holding it. It was as if she was...worried? Her hand was as calm and steady as always. She put the grip down and studied her own fingers.

"Something wrong with your hand, Darlin'?" Jim asked, but she wouldn't even answer. He put a plate with something to eat on the table, so she could just dig in wherever she wanted to. Sarah looked at the plate and frowned.

"What?" Jim asked. "It's good. Come on, dig in. You need to eat." Sarah sighed and grabbed the knife that was next to the plate. She balanced the knife between her fingers and Jim frowned.

"Hey, no playing with food when WHOA!" he screamed in surprise when Sarah suddenly threw the knife away. The blade smashed into the door and stayed there. "Sarah, what the hell is wrong with you?" Jim yelled. She didn't really pay attention to him though. All Sarah did was to look at her own hand.

"Darlin'? You're starting to freak me out. What is this all about?"

"Nothing." she just said and started to reassemble the gun again. When she was done, she just grabbed her plate and started to eat. After that, she looked up at Jim and frowned.

"So, how was your day?" she whispered. Jim blinked in surprise when he heard that question. And instead of continuing to ask Sarah what this was all about, he decided to tell her about his day.

"Well, Phil asked me to help him to plan the Thanksgiving party. It's weird, but everyone seems so damn helpful. It's really scary if you ask me."

"Thanksgiving party?" Sarah mumbled.

"Yeah, it's in a few weeks. Oh, and you are of course invited." Jim chuckled, yet Sarah didn't seem to be very fond of that idea.

"Hm-mmm..." she just mumbled and continued to poke with her fork through the meal. She ate a bit, but not much. "...sounds like fun. Anything else?"

"Well, Izsha is back and she was elected to be the new queen of New Thompson. The people really like here, they even decided to create a new holiday, the "St. Izsha Day". Everyone wears gray, and we all don't use our facial muscles. Sounds like fun!" he joked, but Sarah didn't even listen.

"Good to know."

"Sarah, what's the ma-" he tried to ask her. That's when Sarah just stood up and turned away.

"I'm going to bed now. Good night. And the food was really tasty." she said. She was on her way upstairs when she stopped and took a good look at the rifle and then her hand once more. Then she shook her head and resumed to walk up the stairs.

Jim was worried. And he actually wished that Izsha would be here right now. At least then there would be someone around who would keep an eye out for Sarah. Tomorrow they would talk, even though Sarah wouldn't be happy about it. Yet it had to be.

"It just never ends, does it." he whispered to himself. Jim threw the rest of the dinner away and cleaned the dishes. When everything was done, he stared at the rifle for a few more moments before he too went to bed. This time Sarah was really sleeping. The last thing in Jim's mind before his lights went out was that they would have to talk, first thing in the morning.

Unfortunately, his plan had one fatal flaw. And that flaw was called Sarah.

She was a sneaky one and when Jim woke up in the morning, she was gone yet again. He had no idea how she managed to do that.

She did leave another note, though. He found it on the table in the living room. Hopefully, that wouldn't be the way they would communicate from now on.

 _Jim._

 _I want to tell you that you don't have to worry about me, but we both_ _k_ _now that you will do that anyway. And I know that you want to talk. We can do that, but first I have to deal with this thing myself. Sorry, Love...but this is something I have to sort out myself._

 _I still love you._

 _Sarah_

 _On a side note: Dinner was delicious._

Jim put the note down and looked out of the window. Right now, he was wondering how long he could go on like this. Even he had a breaking point. And then he realized that not only Sarah was gone, but so was the rifle.

"Just what the hell are you up to, Sarah?"


	100. Act IV - Chapter 16

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 16**

 **Acceptance**

* * *

Sarah knew that Jim wouldn't approve of what she was trying to do, yet was he really one to judge her? James "I'll do it my way" Raynor was certainly not the man who had the right to scold her when it came to doing stupid stuff. However, he had the right to be worried about the woman he loved and she wasn't a thick piece of wood, she knew that she was probably testing his patience to the limit.

And she knew she had to make it up to him somehow.

Maybe she could cook something for him? Hmm...better not. She wanted to thank him, not poison him.

Sarah couldn't really say how she felt. _Exhausted and determined at the same time_ would probably a good way to describe it. The last few days had been rough. Not just mentally, but physically too. She hadn't eaten much and slept even less, and it was taking a toll on her. But she took it as a sign of good fortune because that meant that she had to finish this today. Either that or she would collapse and sleep for three days straight.

How exactly that line of thoughts could be considered "good fortune" was Sarah's secret.

Today Sarah was supposed to train Paula. Well, Jim would probably tell the young woman that Sarah had more important things to do. Besides, this _was_ more important. The weight of the rifle on her back felt good. She had cleaned every damn part of the weapon and when she had felt the grip in her hand, her fingers had been as steady as always. Throwing the knife had scared the living crap out of Jim, but Sarah had just wanted to check her reflexes. And her reflexes were as sharp as ever.

A bit extreme?

Maybe. But many things Sarah did were extreme. Okay, she should have warned Jim that she would throw a blade through the entire room. But hey, her title had been the "Queen of Blades" for a reason! So yeah, throwing knives was actually pretty fun. Besides, she hadn't even tried to hit anyone. Just like yesterday, when she had fired a few rounds at those cans. Back then her hand had been steady and her aim true, just like she was used to it.

Every hit had been perfect. She was the ultimate can-killer. So why had she freaked out earlier? What had changed? Maybe she was overthinking things. Oh, she was _definitely_ overthinking things. But what else could she do right now? She had tried to focus her mind on something different. What had Jim told her yesterday? People were planning a party and Izsha had done something? Sarah hadn't even listened to what he had tried to tell her.

Once this was over, she would talk to Jim. She would explain it to him and tell him that she was sorry for keeping it to herself. But first, she had to figure out what it was that kept bothering her. One crazy thought had entered her mind; maybe Zeratul was to blame for this. Maybe he had done something to her mind, something that caused her to feel the way she did. Yet no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't sense such a blockade inside her mind. So either Zeratul had been very careful, or the problem lay inside Sarah.

Both possibilities weren't very appealing to her. It either meant that this damn undead (and hopefully now permanently dead) Protoss had done something to her mind. Well, aside from linking hers to Jim's. Or there was something going inside her head that she couldn't really figure out. And that scared her.

A lot of things scared her these days, even though she would never admit that to anyone. The thing that scared her the most was the future. While she did love Jim, it just felt as if she didn't belong here. She wasn't made for this kind of life, and no matter how hard Jim would try, this place would never be her home. Because it wouldn't allow her to be the person she truly was on the inside.

"And who would that be, huh?" she whispered to herself. She wouldn't receive an answer. This was something she had to figure out herself, yet at the same time, she truly wished that some remnant of her mind would come to life and explain to her what was going on.

"Yo!" Sarah suddenly stopped and yelled really loud. "Unhelpful voice! Are you out there? If so; you don't happen to know what this is all about, huh?"

However, the unhelpful voice remained silent.

Well, perhaps it was better this way. She didn't really want to meet any part of her fractured mind again. And we're not just talking about the old Queen of Blades. And not the little girl that had killed her own parents. And not that empty shell of a Ghost called Nr. 24. Talking to herself from the time when she had worked for Mengsk wouldn't be that pleasant either. And she could go without the primal Queen of Blades too.

And... come to think of it, there weren't many parts of her own self she wanted to talk to. Actually, there was no version of herself she could think of that would be a nice partner for a conversation. That probably said something about her person, something that wasn't very flattering.

But, then again, was there even one flattering thing you could say about Sarah Kerrigan's character?

Ugh, better not think about that. She didn't even want to imagine all the possible answers to that. And so she continued to march forward. However, it didn't feel as good as the last times. Her body was doing okay, even though she started to feel the exhaustion due to the fact that she had skipped breakfast and that she hadn't slept that well for days now. Sarah felt as if she was in dire need of some vacation. She yearned for the soft beaches of Sternenheim. She craved some roasted squidfishes. And she smiled when she imagined how Jim and Izsha would argue about what was best for Sarah.

Thinking about Sternenheim actually helped to ease her mind. It was the closest thing to home she could think of. It was a place where she could truly be herself, where she didn't have to pretend to be anyone else.

Like Sarah Kluivert...

Yet at the same time, she knew that it was a pointless existence. Sarah needed a purpose, she knew that. However, no matter where she turned, all she saw were things that she didn't want to do. Training Paula was interesting, but that didn't mean that she had turned into a philanthropist all of the sudden. The only two people she truly cared about were Jim and Izsha...and maybe Karax.

Niadra wasn't so bad either.

As for Joseph...ugh, better not think about that guy.

And then there was this _other guy_ , the one that didn't make any sense at all.

The rest? So far, she hadn't met anyone that truly meant anything to her. On the contrary, people like Book reminded her why she hated most people. Or at least didn't like them very much. She made good speed and after a few hours, she finally reached the spot where she had seen that kriecher the day before. She climbed up the hill again and got into position. The rifle was ready and so was she. Her hand wrapped around the grip and then she put her finger on the trigger. All her muscles were doing as they were told and she was in control again. Her body wasn't shaking and Sarah could feel how confidence started to fill her chest once more.

Yeah, she could do this. She would prove to herself that she still had some use after all. Sarah looked through the scope and then she started to wait.

As she stared at the landscape through the scope of the rifle, Sarah started to wonder what Jim was doing. And what the hell had he meant when he had mentioned that Thanksgiving party?

* * *

"You've been awfully quiet today." Phil said as he and Jim walked down the street. The new Mayor of New Thompson looked over at his friend and frowned. "Is there anything wrong?" But when Jim heard that question, he only managed to sigh.

"That bad, huh?" Phil whispered and then he shook his head. "Listen, I know I told you to help me with this. But if this is a bad time, then just tell me and I will do the rest alo-"

"No, it's fine." Jim interrupted him. "It's nothing you should be worried about. It's just..."

"You and Sarah had an argument?" Phil asked and Jim shook his head.

"Not really. Why would you ask?"

"Because I know that look on your face. Like you regret saying things. Things that you didn't want to say out loud."

"I guess you could say that. Only that I think that it's not because I said something, but because I didn't say anything." Jim mumbled.

"You wanna talk about it?" Phil offered and a tired smile appeared on Jim's face.

"I appreciate that offer. Really, I do. But...I'd rather not want to talk about it."

"Your call. But remember, if you need someone to talk to, I can listen. Maybe I'm not as good when it comes to listening to others as Book, but I do know a thing or two about women." Phil said and Jim had to chuckle when he heard that.

"Heh, would you suggest me to tell Sarah to stay at home and become a housewife? Because let me tell you; even _if_ she would agree to that, which she won't, I would never do something like that."

"You know, I didn't want to insult every woman in the galaxy when I mentioned that." Phil mumbled. "I do realize that not every woman is a born housewife. But sometimes it's-" That's when Jim suddenly stopped and looked Phil straight into the eyes.

"Wait, sorry if this sounds rude but...where the hell did you get that image of women from?"

"Home?" Phil offered and Jim shook his head when he heard that.

"Am I glad that I didn't grow up where you did." he mumbled and shook his head.

"Hey, come on!" Phil said. He was the kind of man who wouldn't take things personally. At least not like this. "I know that Sarah is a very impressive woman, but there are just things that women will never be able to do. You know, there are things only men can do."

Wow. Just...wow.

"Oh, really? And what would that be?" Jim asked. He wasn't angry or anything. He wasn't even hurt. He had met more than enough people to know that a lot of them had questionable beliefs. And who was he to judge them? Not everyone could be such a noble spirit like Matt Horner or Valerian Mengsk. Jim was the best worst example for that. People would probably call him a good guy, but his best buddy Tychus hadn't been exactly what you would consider a "decent human being". And his image of the perfect woman had been...

...well, let's not talk about Tychus Findlay's image of a perfect woman. It would only end in tragedy and hatred. And for a good reason.

"Well, women are just naturally better with children and-"

"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Jim started to laugh, yet he realized immediately that laughing about Sarah being good with children was actually quite the dick move.

"What's so funny?" Phil wanted to know and Jim sighed before he stopped and turned towards the older man.

"Listen, I don't want to tell you that you're wrong or anything...but you're wrong. Like, dead wrong." Jim just replied. "Sarah isn't just like _any_ woman. And even if she would be, I think that your image of women is a bit, how shall I put it?"

"Outdated? Antiquated? Oldschool?" Phil offered.

"Assholish." Jim explained and Phil chuckled when he heard that.

"Is that even a word?"

"It is now." Jim shot back and then he shook his head. "I'm sorry if this offends you in any way but I can't understand why someone would think something like that. Someone like you."

"Like me?" Phil asked and looked down at him. "What, you're trying to tell me that I'm fat?"

"A father!" Jim barked and Phil blinked in surprise when he heard that.

"A father? Me? But I'm-"

"I don't care if you continue to say that Paula is just your niece. If there's something like "just your niece" to begin with. You raised her. You keep her protected. You look after her. And I recognize fatherly feelings when I see them."

"I guess so..." Phil whispered and looked aside.

"So tell me this; would you like Paula to live such a life? Find a man, become a housewife, and that's all? Don't get me wrong, maybe that's what she wants. But what if she wants something different? What if she wants to explore her abilities?"

"No." Phil replied truthfully and Jim was taken aback for a second.

"Say what?"

"You heard me, Jim." Phil growled. He seemed annoyed, but it wasn't Jim that seemed to be the cause of that. The burly man then dropped his shoulders down. "Trust me, there's not a single day where I wish that Paula wouldn't need me. But the truth is; she can't live on her own. Don't get me wrong, I'm so grateful for what Sarah is trying to do...but let's be real about this. Paula will never have a normal life. And I won't be around forever either. So, if someone would one day ask for Paula's hand, and I could be certain that he would treat her well, then-"

"Phil, please. She's a human being. This is wrong on so many levels!" Jim urged him to reconsider, but that's when Phil just shook his head.

"Sorry, Jim. But I don't want to talk about this. You don't want to talk about Sarah's issues? Fine. And I don't want to talk about this topic. Trust me, I thought about this many times and if there was a better solution, I would take it. But there isn't. I have to think about Paula's future as well." With that, the conversation was over and Jim knew that trying to talk about it right now would be pointless. Still, he knew that he had to talk with Sarah about this.

Once he and Sarah had worked out a solution to her problems.

Ah, it just never ended, did it? It just went on and on and on.

Jim had always known that this whole "fixin' Sarah"-thing would take a long time. However, at times like these, he wondered if he possessed the willpower to pull through. But Jim was no quitter and he would see this through to the end. One way or the other.

Speaking of the end...

"How many more houses?" he asked when he and Phil stepped on the veranda of a house they hadn't visited yet.

"Twenty or so. Why?" Phil said and knocked on the door.

"Because my feet are starting to hurt." Jim growled. That's when the door was opened and a resident of New Thompson stepped outside.

"Yes, what is...oh, Mayor. What can I do for you?" the man asked and Phil grinned before he looked over at Jim, who sighed and took another deep breath.

"Hey there! We're going from door to door and ask people if they're willing to donate something for the big Thanksgiving party, or if they want to help us with the planning."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that. My wife told me. So, you really want to bring the Thanksgiving party back?"

"That's the idea." Jim replied. "But we could use some help with that. So, we're asking everyone in town if they want to help."

"Depends. What do you want?" the man asked.

"Well, we're open for anything. We do accept monetary donations, but if someone wants to bring some food or help with decorating the hall we're more than happy to accept that too. We even got a band. Well, sort of."

"Hmm..." the man thought out loud. "...maybe I could spare a few tables. And chairs. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great!" Jim said with a big smile on his face. "We could really use those."

"Well, you can have them. But you have to get them yourself. And after the party, I want them back."

"Sounds reasonable!" Jim agreed and looked over to Phil. "Looks like we can remove that from the list. Thanks, that should really help us!"

"Oh...okay. Well, glad to hear that. I got four large tables in the garage. Only five benches though, some got lost over the years. So, if anyone offers you three benches for the party, you tell me. Because those are mine."

"Noted." Jim chuckled. "Well, that's all. Thanks again. And be sure to come to the party!" Jim and Phil then turned around and walked away.

"Well, we got plenty of tables now." Jim mumbled when both men were certain that the man wasn't able to hear them anymore. "Makes me wonder why everyone has so many tables lying around. Was there once a factory here that produced those things?"

"Dunno. Still, by now we have enough chairs and tables and benches. What we could use would be some money." Phil growled. "When I came up with this idea, I knew that I probably had to invest some of my own cash. But I can't shoulder everything on my own!"

"Not even now that you're Mayor? Come on, aren't people paying you anything for this honor?"

"Ugh, don't start that with me now. I talked with someone from Central City. Apparently, they won't accept me until there we held a real election. There doesn't have to be another candidate, but it has to be official. Until that's not done, I'm just Mayor with benefits."

"Tsk...bureaucrats." Jim sneered.

"Hey, I am a trained bureaucrat! Fully certified legal advisor!"

"That doesn't inspire confidence, you know." Jim chuckled. "Anyway, maybe we can make a lottery or anything like that if we don't get enough money." They were about to walk up to the next house when suddenly someone else stepped out of the building.

"...oh no, thank _you_ for listening! And have a nice day!" Joseph said and walked straight up to Jim and Phil. Under his arm, he carried a bag. A big bag. A big bag that looked like it was filled with something really heavy. The mad smile on Joseph's face caused Jim to shiver in fear. Just what had that guy done now?

"Yo, guys! How's life?" the Marshal asked and Jim and Phil exchanged annoyed looks. By now both men knew that Joseph was a master when it came to driving people mad.

"What's with that stupid grin on your face?" Jim asked when the Marshal stopped right in front of them.

"Grin? What grin?"

"Joe, why were you in that house? You were supposed to ask the people for help, not invade their homes!" Phil growled.

"It's Joseph, not Joe. I'm not a goddamn trucker. And don't worry, I was the perfect gentleman. I even allowed the husband to watch while me and his lady di-"

"What is that thing under your arm." Jim interrupted him, knowing that everything that Joseph was telling them was nothing but utter horseshit. The Marshal grabbed the bag and looked at it.

"Oh, that? That's money."

…

…

…

"Joseph, where do you got that money from?" Jim asked.

"From the people? Wasn't that the whole point of this show? To get some money and stuff for the party?"

"Yeah, but pretty much no one offered us any money!" Jim shot back. "Only tables and chairs! So how the hell did you get money? And so much?! Brent, what did you do?"

"What?" Joseph defended himself. "Don't worry, I didn't point a loaded gun at them and told them that I would like to have a nice and juicy donation."

"Oh, thank God." Phil mumbled and sighed in relief.

"The gun wasn't even loaded."

"Motherf-" Jim hissed and thought about strangling the Marshal to death right here and now. And he was pretty certain that no one would blame him if they would find Joseph's mutilated corpse the next day. They would just blame the kriechers...

"May I?" Phil asked and pointed with his finger at the bag in Joseph's hands. The Marshall just threw the bag over to Phil, who caught it just in time. His eyes widened in surprise though.

"Holy hell! This thing is heavy! You got bricks inside that thing?" he asked and looked into the bag. And that's when his face lost all color. "Oh God..."

"What? Is there a head inside that bag?" Jim mumbled and looked over Phil's shoulder. And when he saw what was inside, he too didn't believe it at first.

"Whoa...wait, how...I don't believe it. Joe, where did you get all that money from?"

"I asked." Brent replied. "And for the last time; it's Joseph, not Joe." But neither Jim nor Phil listened to that.

"That...is like more than we need. How?" Phil wanted to know and Joseph pulled his shoulders up.

"Just said that I want a donation. And then I started to talk. You know, about the weather, about that new movie, about morning toilet, about how that new movie reminds me of my morning toilet...and after a while, people usually asked me what they had to do for me to shut up and go."

"So, you told them that you would shut up for money." Jim growled and a stupid grin appeared on Joseph's face.

"What can I say? _It's a gift._ " What's worse than an idiot who can't shut up and continues to annoy everyone with nonsense? An idiot who can't shut up and continues to annoy everyone with nonsense and who is fully aware of how annoying he is. Jim thought for a second of giving the money back to the people, but before he could come up with a solution someone else appeared.

"Gentlemen!" Book said with a faint smile on his face. "I thought we agreed that I would talk to the people in this part of the town."

"Wasn't aware that we had such an elaborated plan, Shepherd." Jim mumbled. "Wait...that bag...don't tell me that you got some money in there too."

"Why, yes!" Book replied. "The people were actually very eager to donate to our cause. And they wished us a lot of luck. I think this should be enough to help us covering most expenses."

"Yeah, well..." Joseph said with a grin on his face. "...mine's bigger than yours!" Jim noticed how Book gritted his teeth when he heard that. While he knew that Brent could have that effect on other people, he was surprised to see that annoyed expression on Book's face. It almost looked as if those two didn't like each other one bit. Or at least Book didn't like Joseph one bit.

Then again, that wasn't truly a shocking revelation.

"Wait a second, how can it be that everyone gets money but us?" Jim asked and looked over at Phil. "They should throw money at us!" But all Phil could do was to shrug his shoulders.

"Now, now. This is not a competition." Book explained. "I used the opportunity to talk with the people. Ask them how they're doing and if they want to speak to me about anything. And then we talked about God and faith and that's usually when I received a donation and-"

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" Joseph interrupted Book as he started to laugh his own ass off. "Wait a sec... they paid you money so you would shut up talking to them? BWHAHAHAHA!" Both Jim and Phil frowned when they heard that.

"I fail to see what's so funny, Marshal." Book growled.

"Oh, I bet you don't!" Joseph chuckled. "Don't you see it? The people gave me money to shut up. And they gave you money to shut up. The difference is that, hahaha, I told them utter bullshit while you probably told them about God and stuff. And look who made more money! I guess praying bullshit really, wait for it, wait for it!" he said as if he was preparing for the biggest joke of all times.

"Oh please no..." Jim sighed.

"...pays off! BWAHAHAHA!" No one except Joseph laughed.

"Hey, Shepherd! Maybe I should do the next sermon! I have even a topic; _why it's totally fine to laugh at people's faith!_ " All Book did was to grind his teeth in frustration. And Jim could relate to that.

"Perhaps we should...uhm...take the money somewhere safe?" Phil suggested as he tried to defuse the situation.

"Uh...where? You want to keep it in your home?" Jim asked and Phil shook his head immediately.

"Oh, hell no. All that money in my place? No. Definitely not. Uhm, Marshal? Couldn't we store it in your safe for the time being?" the burly man asked and Joseph stopped laughing.

"Wait, I got a safe? Oh yeah, that thing! Sure. Just drop the money in front of my office, I will put it in the safe tomorrow. First thing in the morning!" But no one laughed. Not even a little. "You're such elitists. Man, this place is like Augustgrad, only without traffic jams."

"Marshal, how about we put the money in the safe now?" Phil tried to reason with Joseph, which was truly an epic challenge. "It would put my mind at ease, you know."

"Ugh, fine." Joseph mumbled and gestured them to follow him. "Let's go. Oh, and by the way, my fee is 40 percent on anyth-"

"Just go!" Jim barked and Joseph chuckled. He took the bag from Book and frowned.

"Man, this thing is much lighter than mine. Sure they didn't pay you with marshmallows?"

"JOSEPH!" Jim screamed and the Marshal just shook his head.

"Yeah, yeah. You used to be such a funny guy. Come on, Mayor. Let's go. Say, is there a casino nearby? I feel lucky today!" No one laughed. And when both Phil and Joseph were finally gone, Jim sighed in relief. He walked over to a nearby bench and sat down. This was the perfect moment to take a breather. It was already past midday and Jim wondered if Sarah was doing okay.

Book seemed to be very happy when Joseph was finally gone, yet when he looked over to Jim, he couldn't help but to notice the exhausted look on the other man's face. He walked over to him and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"You don't look so good, James."

"Ah, don't mind me. There's just a lot on my mind right now." Jim mumbled.

"Must be something truly important, because you look like you haven't slept in ages."

"Not true." Jim replied. "I did sleep. Not very good though."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Well, I'm not letting you off the hook that easily." Book explained and sat down right next to Jim. "Considering the fact that you brought the menace called Brent upon me. Besides, I haven't been able to do my job for a while."

"Annoy people?" Jim asked and Book nodded.

"Annoy people."

"Wait, if I pay you, will you shut up?"

"No. That only worked once. Now, what is bothering you?" The only thing that this statement lacked was the "my Son"-part, but Jim was glad that Book spared him that that. "If I were to make an educated guess, I would say that it has something to do with Sarah."

"You are a _genius_ , Book." Jim mumbled. "Just how the hell did you figure that out? Did someone draw you a map?"

"Touchy subject I see." Book replied. "Listen, I understand that you believe that those things are private and probably no one's business except yours and that of Sarah...but sometimes it's good to talk to someone who isn't involved. You know, in order to get a fresh perspective."

"This isn't about perspective, Book. It's about...ah, nevermind."

"No, please. Tell me. Maybe I can help. I won't stop bothering you until you tell me." Now that was a threat that made Jim shiver in fear. He leaned back and looked up at the blue sky.

"...I just don't know if I have the strength to go on like this." Well, that wasn't ominous at all.

"I guess you're referring to you and Sarah, yes?" Book asked, yet Jim didn't answer that question. He didn't want to talk to Book about Sarah and he didn't want to give away any secrets.

"James, I know that you don't want to talk about your past. Or hers. But I'm no fool either. I know that both of you used to be soldiers." Book then explained.

"And what makes you say that?" Jim growled.

"The way you two walk, the way you talk, how you carry yourselves through the day. I have seen that before." When Jim heard that, he could feel how an icy chill ran down his spine.

"Oh really? And where would that have been?"

"I've seen many veterans. People that suffer from post-traumatic stress. And while you carry yourself better than most others, I can see that Sarah has a much harder time doing so. You probably think that you have to ignore your own feelings and desires in order to help Sarah, to support her. But let me tell you this; you too have a right to feel frustrated or angry at times."

"It's not that easy, Book." Jim growled.

"Of course it isn't. It never is. Everyone is different. At least that's what they claim. And because we're all so different, we all share the same problems in the end. The first thing you have to understand is that people aren't that much different. For many of us, it is hard to accept because we believe that it questions our integrity as individuals."

"Something like that." the younger man replied and then he shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, Book...but I seriously doubt that you can help me with my problems." For a moment Jim imagined how it would be if he would truly open his heart to Book.

 _Well, you see...there's this girl. A girl I like a lot. She's beautiful and from time to time she turns into either an alien or a goddess. But that's okay because that's part of her charm!_

"Maybe I should talk to her then?" Book suggested and Jim had to chuckle when he heard that. "What's so funny?" the Shepherd wanted to know and Jim sighed.

"Book, by now you should have realized that we, well...uhm..."

"Think that I'm a gullible idiot. Yes, I noticed. And a fool for believing in something like an omnipotent god that watches over us, especially when there are so many evil things happening in the world right as we speak." There was an awkward moment of silence, and after a while, Jim looked over to Book.

"That sums it up pretty well. Though you should add _"glutton for punishment"_ to the list." Jim mumbled, not even bothering to pretend otherwise. "Still, if you know how we feel, why won't you just leave us alone?"

"Because my faith tells me that it is my duty to help those who are in need of help. Now, maybe you don't believe in God, but that doesn't mean that you can live without faith."

"Oh please, no sermon. Not right now." Jim groaned and closed his eyes. "Book, listen...I'm so not into this "you should believe in God and he will listen to you"-thing. I never was and I certainly won't start now."

"You fail to see my point, James." Book spoke with a soft voice. "I'm not so presumptuous to assume that the world would be a better place if everyone would believe in a divine being. A god isn't necessary to live a good life. But do you know what is necessary?"

"Good bowel movements?" Jim suggested.

"Now you sound like the Marshal." Book growled.

"I take that as a compliment."

"Trust me, it isn't." the older man sighed and shook his head. "I think I know what your problem is. Yours and Sarah's."

"Oh really? And what would that be?"

"Faith." Book said as if that one word explained everything.

"I told you, Book..." Jim growled. "...I don't believe in God."

"And you still don't want to understand what I'm trying to tell you. Faith, my young friend, isn't about God! It's about believing in someone. Or something. I look at you, I look at Sarah, and you know what I see?"

"Enlighten me."

"Two people who have no faith." Book explained and Jim opened his eyes. He stared at the blue sky and took a moment before he found the right answer.

"That's a bold statement."

"Don't get me wrong, James. When I look at you, at both of you, I see two people who care deeply about each other, even though you two act very awkward from time to time. Still, all I see are a man and a woman who stand aside from everyone else." Book said.

"I'm sitting right next to you, am I not?" Jim growled.

"Yes. And no. I didn't really give it a thought, not until you rejected that offer of becoming Marshal."

"I had my reasons." Jim mumbled and Book nodded.

"I'm sure you had. But you don't want to share those reasons with anyone. You and Sarah, you stand apart from everyone else. And the reason for that is because you don't have faith in the people around you."

"That's not true." Jim shot back.

"Yes, it is. James, it's not meant as an insult!"

"Certainly sounds like one."

"Then let me try to make myself clear: What is it you believe in?" Book asked and Jim opened his mouth, ready to tell Book what he truly believed in.

"It's...hnnn!" he suddenly hissed and gritted his teeth. He could feel something in the back of his mind. An overpowering sense of fear and dread, unlike anything he had ever felt before. Book looked over at him and frowned.

"James? Are you okay?"

"I don't...know..." he mumbled and then another sharp pain shot through his mind. And that's when he could sense a voice in the back of his mind.

 _Jim...I can't...I can't do this anymore..._

It was Sarah. And it felt like she was...crying? Sobbing even. Just what was going on?

"Sarah?" Jim whispered and he could sense so much pain and despair. Something was wrong. Jim jumped back to his feet and gritted his teeth.

"James? What's wrong?"

"I need to go. Now!" Jim just said and then he ran back towards the car. Something had happened. Something had happened _to Sarah_. Jim didn't care about anything else right now. He got into the car, started the engine and then he was on his way back home. He drove like a maniac and almost crashed several times. He also tried to reach out to Sarah, tried to get her to answer his pleas. But all he could sense was fear, shame, and dread.

On his way back, Jim could hear that all-too-familiar voice again.

" _Please hurry. She needs you!"_

"I know, I know!" he barked and drove even more reckless. And he continued to reach out to her.

But no matter how hard he tried to, Sarah wouldn't answer. When he finally got back home, he stormed out of the car and ran into the house immediately. He could sense that Sarah was alive, but she was in pain. _So much pain._ He ran into their home and looked around.

"SARAH?! WHERE ARE YOU?!" And that's when he saw it...

The whole living room looked like there had been a bomb explosion. The furniture was a mess, there was broken glass everywhere. And not only that...

Jim knelt down next to a broken object. He recognized it immediately. It was Sarah's rifle. Or what was left of it. Now it looked like a piece of modern art. The barrel was bent so far that you couldn't fire even one round anymore. The upper receiver was just as broken and the buttstock had been ripped off. The rifle looked like it had been used as a club over and over again. The scope was trash too. Jim took a closer look and then he saw that there was something red on the rifle.

Blood.

"Oh my God..." Jim whispered. Funny, considering that he had just told Book that he didn't believe in the old man from above.

"Sarah, just what happened here?" One million horrible thoughts entered his mind and he wondered if someone had figured out who they were. A killer commando that had come here to end Sarah Kerrigan once and for all? Jim cursed himself for not being more careful. Right now, he wished that he had never told Sarah to come here. So what if Sternenheim was the most boring place of all times? At least they had been safe there!

"Just...what happened here?" he whispered. And that's when he heard something. It was a person. Someone was crying. Not just someone.

"Sarah!" he shouted and stormed up the stairs. He followed the cries and ran as fast as he could. It was her, there was no doubt about it. He followed her cries and when he entered the bathroom, he sighed in relief.

"Sarah..." he whispered her name again.

She was safe.

"Jim?" Sarah whined when she looked up at him. She sat in the corner of the bathroom while thick tears streamed down her face. She had pulled her knees up to her chin and she looked like a picture of misery. Jim didn't know wherever he should be relieved or worried, but when he knelt down in front of Sarah and put his hand on her cheek, he could sense all that pain inside her heart.

"Darlin'...what's going on?"

"I don't...I don't want to do this anymore..." she sobbed and Jim frowned.

"Do what anymore?" he whispered

"...I don't...want to kill anymore, Jim."

* * *

 **A few hour** **s** **earlier...**

* * *

Being a sniper could be the most boring thing in the world. It required patience. However, patience and being able to wait for a long time weren't the same thing. Patience meant that you could calm your mind and kept it focused for a long period. Waiting...was just being bored while hoping that something would happen.

The Ghost program had trained Sarah to be patient, to focus her mind on one target, and wait for hours, days, even weeks in order to line up the perfect shot. Her mind had been a well-trained machine, one that knew exactly what to do and when to do it. She could even remember all those workouts exercises you could do while lying on the ground and wait for the target to appear. Moving your legs so they wouldn't cramp, keep your muscles relaxed and make sure that your bowels wouldn't run havoc after lying on the cold ground for hours, maybe even days.

Ah, the good old days.

Sarah remembered all of that.

But it didn't change the fact that right now she felt so very bored.

Just what the hell was she trying to do here anyway? Was she trying to prove anything to Jim? Or worse, to herself? That she still got the touch?

Like said; the difference between being bored and being patient is that someone who is patient knows how to focus their minds. But if you're just plain bored...your thoughts start to wander. And that was something Sarah really bugged her to no end. Because no matter how much she tried to focus her mind on the task at hand, she just couldn't. The doubts continued to nag at her. She checked her own hand so many times that she was starting to wonder if she was getting paranoid.

Though that had probably happened a long time ago.

So, she tried to focus her mind on other things. Like how she would train Paula. Or when Izsha would be back. Or if Jim could bake another chocolate cake.

However, it was all pointless because she knew that she was just trying to ignore the giant clump of ice inside her chest. And the fact that her hand wasn't steady. Because right now it was shaking like hell. Sarah gritted her teeth and tried to calm her mind, but it was pointless.

"Come on, girl. You can do it." she whispered to herself. She had to. Whatever was going on, it was causing her not just dread, but almost physical pain. Her chest hurt so much! Sarah felt the urge to go back home, crawl back into bed and pull the blanket over her head. But that wasn't what Sarah Kerrigan was about. She was a fighter. She had always been a fighter. And she would not yield. She had survived worse, all she had to do was to prove to herself that she was still the same on the inside.

And then the moment finally came.

The kriecher appeared. It looked as if it had returned from a hunt empty-handed. Or, well, empty-clawed. A hideous creature, but at the same time, Sarah had to admit that there was a strange and feral beauty to it. It was perfectly adapted to its environment. And as Sarah watched how the creature came closer, she sighed.

"At least you know where you belong, don't you?" she mumbled. Oh, how nice such a life had to be. A beast didn't have to think about fate, about guilt. It was either to kill or be killed, eat or be eaten. There was no room for guilt and despair. It was a simple existence, one without any doubts. If Sarah only knew how to make those voices inside her mind shut up. Those that were telling her that she didn't deserve any happiness. The kriecher didn't notice Sarah, she had chosen her location well. The wind was coming from the right direction, making it impossible for the creature to smell her.

"Guess it's go-time. Come on, girl. You can do this." Sarah mumbled and pressed the rifle harder against her shoulder. She looked through the scope and took a deep breath while she tried to ignore her shaking hand as much as possible. Why did it only happen now? Why not earlier? Why only when she was trying to line up a shot?

Too many thoughts. They were clouding her minds. She had to stop doubting herself and did what she had done so many times before. This was what she had been trained for. It was in her blood. Firing a rifle was as normal to her as breathing or eating or sleeping. She had done that so many times, it shouldn't bother her anymore.

But it did bother her. And that was the problem.

"Stop thinking and just do it. You know you can. So stop being so useless." Yes, useless. That's how she felt right now. Without her powers, what was she? A woman, sure. But aside from that? She had been trained to be the perfect killer, and while she didn't feel like going on a killing spree, those were the only skills she possessed. So what was there left if she couldn't even do something like killing a goddamn critter?

For Sarah, this went deeper. The fear of being useless was weighing heavily on her. She had to prove it to everyone, prove that she was not useless. The kriecher was getting closer. It was time to take aim. Sarah took a deep breath and licked her lips. It was an easy shot. Far easier than those shots she had fired on those cans.

"This time you're not getting away." she whispered, referring to the other kriecher that had nearly killed her. Back then she had been able to fight back without a problem. So what was different now? It had to be just inside her imagination. Her breath became ragged and she closed her eyes when she felt how the clump of ice inside her chest became even bigger.

"Come on. You can do this. Like you have done so many times before. It's just an easy kill." Sarah whined and put her finger on the trigger. But her finger was not moving, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't fire the rifle.

"Damn it...I can do this!" she hissed and tried to remember how she had done it before. How she had...

* * *

The hot, scorching sun burned down on them. The Zerg were used to these temperatures. Compared to Char, this place was nothing. The Protoss didn't seem to mind either. Not that Sarah truly cared, yet she wondered if the heat was actually bothering these pathetic creatures. She could ask them. But then again...what was the point of that? Their short-lived alliance had finally come to an end. There was just one last thing that she had to do. That she had to _set right_.

"This is a betrayal, most foul, Kerrigan!" the golden Dragoon declared. The hot air that surrounded the metal shell flickered and made you believe that it would cloak itself any moment. However, this warrior wouldn't do something like that. She had come here to see his end with her own eyes. "We were fools to have gone along with this charade!" Fenix barked. Sarah, or rather the Queen of Blades, stood in the distance and chuckled as her minions surrounded the oh-so-mighty warrior and his last men. They had nowhere else to go and they knew that.

Unfortunately, they didn't give in to despair. They were Protoss after all. It made things a lot more boring, but it couldn't be helped. A cruel grin appeared on Sarah's face as her voice reached out to Fenix. And everyone else. Her powers entered the minds of all the people she knew. They all should see this. They should know what would happen next because they would be next.

"You're right, Fenix." Sarah moaned as a twisted sense of delight filled her chest. "I used you to get the job done, and you played along just like I knew you would. You Protoss are all so headstrong and predictable, you are your own worst enemy." Yes, she wanted his last moment to be as miserable as possible. He deserved that much.

But Protoss were made out of sturdier stuff.

"That's ironic." Fenix shot back. More and more numbers of the Swarm approached. They were covering the sky and the ground and were far too many for even Fenix to handle. Too many for _anyone_ to handle. "I can remember Tassadar teaching you a very similar lesson on Char." When Fenix mentioned that name and that moment, Sarah felt how cold anger started to flow through her veins. Getting lectured by a Protoss? Never!

The Queen of Blades made a step forward, yet there were still hundreds of meters between them. Besides, she didn't have to kill him with her own hands. Her giving the order would be enough. And her minions would carry them out.

"I took that lesson to heart, Praetor." Sarah hissed. "Now, are you ready to die a second time?"

"The Khala awaits me, Kerrigan. And although I am prepared to face my destiny, you'll not find me easy prey!"

Defiant to the last breath.

"Then that shall be your epitaph." Sarah hissed again, and with a mere thought, she unleashed her troops upon the doomed Praetor and his remaining troops. It was a short-lived battle, but still incredibly brutal. Fenix stemmed the tide, his artificial body killing dozens of Zergs before the first even touched him. For a moment Sarah wondered if she should join the party. Her claws itched for blood, her tongue thirsted for it.

Carnage. Sweet and wonderful carnage.

Instead, she just watched how Fenix fought a hopeless battle. The Swarm was like a rifle. All she had to do was to point in a direction and unleash it. She watched both with glee and joy as her minions overwhelmed the dragoon, how they started to pull its legs off and ripped the damn thing apart. She could even see how they pulled that gray object inside out and then apart. She watched it all and felt nothing but glee.

And she wasn't the only one watching...

 _Fenix! No!_ she could sense Jim's thoughts as she sent what she saw straight into her old lover's mind. Sarah laughed when she felt the empty feeling inside Jim's mind.

"What are you worried about, Jim?" she cooed. "He died the way Protoss hope to. In combat." Really, she did him a huge favor with that!

 _He died because you betrayed him._ Jim spat at her. She could feel his anger and rage and it was so delicious. _How many noble souls do you need to consume before you are satisfied? How many more people need to die before you realize what you've become?_

What she had...become?

* * *

"How many innocents have you killed?" Warfield wanted to know. Sarah couldn't answer that question. But she knew that she had killed so many...and not all of them had been guilty. "How many more have to die?"

* * *

Arcturus raised his head and fought the pain back as much as possible. He looked her straight into the eyes.

"I made you...into a monster...Kerrigan." he spat out. There was no fear. There was only hatred. A monster. Yes, that's what she had become. No, what she always had been. What she would always be.

Until the end of time...

* * *

"You don't even know what you're talking about, Jim!" Sarah hissed at him. Even with all the distance between them, she still felt angry for him to refuse to yield. To just admit defeat and fall into despair.

 _Don't I?_ Jim shot back. _I'll see you dead for this, Kerrigan. Fenix and all the others who got caught_ _between you and your mad quest for power!_

Pah! What did he know? Besides...

"Tough talk, Jimmy. But I don't think you have what it takes...to be a killer."

Unlike her.

* * *

"No!" Sarah screamed and let go of the trigger. "No!" She grabbed her head and rolled on her back. She could see it. All the people she had killed. She could see them right in front of her inner eye. There were so many! Not just Warfield, Arcturus, and Fenix. But all the others too! Lives that she had wiped out. And for what? WHAT?!

Because someone had told her to do.

Because she had felt like it.

Because it had been necessary.

However, in the end it had always been the same; she had killed someone.

She was a killer. The only thing she knew was how to take a life. That's what she was best at. She was a master of death, a bringer of destruction. She could see it inside her mind. All that death, all that destruction. It was too much. Hot tears started to stream down her face. So many lives wiped out because of her. Her parents. She had killed her own mother! And all the others. It all came back to her and she screamed in despair and agony. In the distance, the kriecher could hear her screams and decided to return to its hideout. And Sarah?

It was just like on Sternenheim, back when she had gone nuclear. Back then all the guilt had returned to her in an instant. And then she had lost the control over her powers. But now there were no powers that could go out of control.

Now the only thing that Sarah could do...

...was to scream her pain out to the world.

It was like Sternenheim all over again. She couldn't shut it out. The faces of all of her victims appeared in front of her inner eye. Famous ones as well people no one would ever remember. It was pathetic. _She_ was pathetic. A lifetime full of killing and now she suddenly couldn't do it anymore? What had changed? What else was there to Sarah than the raw skills she had learned throughout the years? Throughout her life?

What had the last few months on Ramelow taught her? That she couldn't cook, that she had horrible people skills? That she didn't even know what to do with her life anymore?

Jim knew what he wanted to do. If they had to stay in this place, he would continue with his pointless quest to become a farmer. As for her?

And that's when she finally realized it.

Sometimes you need a subtle push in the right direction. And sometimes you needed someone with a goddamn club beating the obvious truth into your thick skull. Sarah belonged to the latter kind of people.

When Sarah understood what was tormenting her, she got back on her feet and did the only thing she could think of; she ran back home. She was like a woman possessed and didn't pay attention to her surroundings. Her own memories kept tormenting her and something was pulling her down. She stumbled several times, only to get back up again.

It felt as if there was so much weight on her shoulders. She didn't realize that there was actually some real weight pulling her down. The gun belt was still slung over her shoulder, yet she was too busy freaking out to care. It was like flying on autopilot. Through a thunderstorm. With nukes going off all around her. One flashback after the other entered her mind.

 _Sarah Louise Kerrigan! Look at you!_ she remembered the last words of her mother. _All dirty again! Why do I have to put up with this! Why did we have to get a little mudlark instead of a well behaving little daughter, huh?_

"I'm sorry..." Sarah sobbed while she grabbed her own head. "I didn't mean to do that!"

But it wasn't just her mother's voice...

 _You're not even human anymore._ Warfield spat out. _How many innocents have you killed? How many more have to die?_

"No...no, I don't want to...to do that anymore..." Every step felt like one thousand, yet her body knew the way back. She stumbled over the dusty ground while pulling the rifle with her like some dead weight.

Dead...

 _You know about ambitions. About Anger. About control. About domination._ Artanis had told her that, back when she had met him on Saalok. _But do you know anything about hope? About friendship? About fighting for a better future?_

He had called her _The Great Devourer, the Bringer of Death._

This would be her legacy? To be remembered as a monster? As a creature that had brought death and destruction? But what else was there she could do?

 _I made you a monster, Kerrigan!_ Arcturus had told her during his last moment.

"No... I never...I never wanted to be a monster!" she hissed while more tears of pain streamed down her face. It all came back to her. All the traumas, all the pain, all the despair. It was as if it had just waited to erupt from all those years of ignoring. All it had needed was a trigger. Ironically, it had been the trigger of a gun...

A small part of her mind lamented why it was happening now. Why not when she had fought that kriecher that had tried to kill Paula? But that had been a life-and-death situation. She had just reacted. Now it was different. It was the decision to take another life that had caused all of that.

It didn't matter that it was just an animal. It wasn't about her potential victim. It was about _her_. About the fact that she was about to take another life. Others had turned her into a weapon. A living, breathing weapon. One that hadn't been allowed to think for herself. But now she was no longer that person. She couldn't go back to the time when she was nothing but Ghost Nr. 24. Or the agent of the Swarm. She didn't _want_ to be those persons anymore.

No one had any reign over her anymore. She could choose her own fate, at least that was what she was telling herself. But what was there left if you would take all her skills away?

Everything became a blur, and even though Sarah tried to fight it, she could feel how her mind started to panic. It was truly like Sternenheim all over again and she wished that her mind would just fall apart once more. Unfortunately, that wouldn't happen because right now her powers were gone. So she was left with no other choice than to endure it. She was just moving forward, trying to get back home. On her way there she stumbled and fell, only to get back up again. Soon her hands and her legs were covered with cuts, but she didn't care.

"I... I don't..." she managed to whisper.

 _You're not even human anymore._ Warfield had said that.

 _The Bringer of Death._ Artanis had called her.

 _I made you a monster, Kerrigan!_ Arcturus' words.

 _Why did we have to get a little mudlark instead of a well behaving little daughter, huh?_ Her mother's last words. Yes...why couldn't they had a well behaving little daughter? Then they would be still alive. The despair became unbearable. Only when Sarah slammed against something solid, she looked up and realized that it was the place that she had tried to reach.

Home.

Or at least something she called like that. She had somehow managed to get back home. She must have marched for hours, but it was all a blur. Sarah opened the door and stumbled inside.

"Jim!" she sobbed. "I... I need you..." But Jim wasn't home. She looked around and could feel how everything started to spin around her head. It was too much. She made a step backward and tripped over something. Sarah tried to stay on her feet, but it was pointless. There was a soft _THUD!_ when she landed on her butt and she winced in pain. She looked down and then she saw what had caused her to stumble.

It was the rifle.

She had pulled that damn thing all the way back home without even realizing it. The weapon was covered in dust and dirt and looked like it had seen better days. Sarah stared at the rifle for what felt like hours and that's when her mind finally started to focus on that object.

The rifle.

They had trained her to be just that; an extension of her rifle. An assassin. A killer. A tool of destruction. Just like that rifle that was lying right in front of her.

It was that moment when something inside Sarah finally snapped. The expression of pain and despair was replaced with one of fury and rage. She pushed herself back to her feet and grabbed the gun. It felt cold and disgusting in her hands. Like a tool that was meant to kill.

Like her...

"No... no..." she whispered. "No more...NO MORE!" Sarah screamed like she had finally lost it. She tightened her grip on the barrel of the rifle and then...

...she smashed it on the floor with all of her strength. The first hit was already enough to make sure that you wouldn't line up a decent shot with this weapon anymore, but it didn't stop there. Sarah smashed the rifle on the floor one more time. And then again. And again. She opened her mouth and a long scream left her throat. It was full of pain and contained all the rage and despair that had been dwelling inside her for all those years.

At one point, she wasn't even aware of what she was doing anymore. All she wanted to do was to destroy this thing. A tool of destruction, that was it was.

And a tool of destruction, that's what she was.

But she didn't want to be a tool of destruction anymore. She put all of her anger, frustration, and fear in those strikes. Sarah lost control in a way she had never done before. Her red hair was thrown around like a whip while she continued to smash the rifle into pieces.

"A monster? A bringer of death?" she screamed. "You did this to me! I never asked for this!" she was screaming at no one and everyone at the same time. The scope of the rifle exploded and sharp splinter of glass flew everywhere. Sarah felt how some of them ripped through the skin of her hands, but she didn't care. She smashed the rifle against the table and against every other piece of furniture that was within her reach. Sarah wasn't driven by reason anymore, all she did was to unleash her feelings. And since she couldn't go nuclear anymore, she did the next best thing.

Her moment of rage felt like it went on four hours, but it probably only lasted a few minutes. She threw the rifle against the wall and collapsed on the floor. Hot tears streamed down her face and she felt both so empty and weak right now. She reached out with her senses and looked up at the ceiling.

"Jim...I can't...I can't do this anymore..." she whispered. However, she knew that he was too far away to sense her. So, this is what her existence would look like from now on? Being a weak and pathetic person that only knew how to kill, yet lacked the will to do so? She stared at her hands and could see all that blood. There were still splinters of glass stuck in her skin. She was barely feeling any pain, but that would change soon enough, once all that adrenaline was gone.

Her hands were shaking again. Though this time for a good reason. Sarah felt sick, down to the very bone. And she felt empty. She got back on her feet again and stumbled over to the staircase. Now her hands were starting to hurt. She got upstairs and into the bathroom, where she stopped in front of the sink and turned on the faucet before she started to pull those shards out of her flesh. Sarah winced once or twice, but aside from that, she didn't really feel that much. Her hands felt numb and so did the rest of her body.

This had been by far the worst day in a _long_ time.

At least it was finally over. Sarah sighed and looked up and into the mirror. And what she saw...

"NOOO!" she screamed in shock when she stared into the face of the Queen of Blades once more. Sarah stumbled backward and fell on her butt again. By now it was really getting old. She pressed her fingers against her face, yet it felt normal. There was no carapace anywhere. Had she just...imagined things?

It was too much. Sarah had no idea what was going on anymore. All she knew was that she felt empty and scared on the inside. She huddled in the corner of the bath and pulled her legs up to her chin before she slung her arms around her leg. And then...

...she started to cry.

* * *

The on the other side of the wall, inside their bedroom, the young woman sat on the edge of Jim's and Sarah's bed and listened to the sobbing of the woman next door.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..." she whispered. She knew that all if this was necessary, but that didn't make it any easier. And as she heard the cries of guilt and shame of Sarah, tears started to stream her face down as well.

Golden tears...

"Please, hurry." the young woman gasped. "She needs you."

Sarah now understood what was bothering her. She knew that she couldn't go on like this anymore. However, at the same time, she didn't know what else she could do. She didn't know how much time had passed, but eventually, she heard how someone else entered the house. All she could do was to whimper. She knew who it was, she could sense the presence in the back of her mind.

It was Jim.

"I don't...want to go on...like this..." she whimpered and burrowed her head between her knees.

"Sarah!" she could hear him shout, and then how he stormed up the stair. He entered the bathroom and said her name once more.

"Sarah..." She raised her head and looked up to him.

"Jim?" she asked, even though she knew it was him. Jim walked up to her, knelt down and placed his hand on her cheek.

"Darlin'...what's going on?" he wanted to know and she swallowed hard.

"I don't...I don't want to do this anymore..." she said to him and could see the confusion on his face.

"Do what anymore?" he asked.

"...I don't...want to kill anymore, Jim."

That's when Sarah made a decision. This day, amidst all the pain and fears, she promised herself that it had to end. And unbeknownst to her, it was the moment when she would finally prove Artanis wrong. Because in all the centuries yet to come...

...Sarah Kerrigan would never again take a life.

On this day, the "Bringer of Death" finally ceased to exist. And this would allow a new Sarah to emerge. And so, the Bringer of Death was about to become the Bringer of Life.


	101. Act IV - Chapter 17

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **What it means to be Human**

 **Chapter 17**

 **The True Nature of Redemption**

* * *

The market was a good place to spread the word that they would bring back the Thanksgiving party. That's why Jim had decided to head over to New Thompson and talk with Phil about it, even though he didn't really want to leave home. Not as long as Sarah was still dealing with what had happened to her.

A few days had passed, and while things had calmed down considerably, there were still a lot of things on Jim's mind. Sarah was quiet. _Very_ quiet. Right now, the only thing she did was to eat, sleep, and stare out of the window. It was as if she was thinking about something over and over again. Jim had tried to talk to her about it, yet at the same time he had decided to give her some room. By now he knew when it was time to intervene and when it was time to just leave it be. So he had decided to leave it be.

For now...

It was as if Sarah was battling some old demons, and while Jim would love to help her with that, he didn't. Besides, what she had told him the other day still kept bothering him.

 _I don't want to kill anymore._ Those had been her words. And Jim? He didn't really know what to make of it. He was glad that Sarah would say something like that, even though he knew that this went deeper. Sarah was battling her own inner demons. And maybe for the first time ever she was willing to face them.

There were things that you could solve on your own, and there were things that you couldn't solve on your own. And sometimes you had to try to solve things on your own until you figure out that you can't do it by yourself. Jim knew what he was talking about. His demons had driven him into the arms of alcohol. And he had tried to free himself many times, only to fail just as many times. Back then, Matt had been the friend in need, the one that had tried to help Jim.

It hadn't really worked out so well, even though Matt had tried his best to help Jim. In the end, he hadn't been the one that had managed to heal Jim wounds. Only one person had been able to do that. The same person that was struggling with her own inner demons right now.

"So, how's Sarah doing?" Phil asked as he and Jim walked through the crowded marketplace.

"Better." Jim lied. He had just told everyone that Sarah was sick and needed a few days of rest. It was true...from a certain point of view.

"Any idea when she will be able to, you know, train Paula again?" the Mayor wanted to know and Jim sighed.

"No, not yet. I'm gonna tell you, I promise. But right now, she needs to rest."

"Maybe you should take her to Central City and find a doctor. Or go to the hospital." When Jim heard that, he shook his head.

"That wouldn't help. She's suffering...from an old war wound." Again, that wasn't even a lie. "She just needs time." And Jim added a _hopefully_ in his mind.

"Well, should you ever need some help..." Phil offered.

"...then I will ask. Thanks, I will keep it in mind. Oh, hey! Have you heard?" Jim suddenly asked someone who walked past them. "Thanksgiving is coming, and we got a party planned. You should come too!"

"Yeah, I heard! I'll be there!" the man replied and Jim gave him a thumbs-up. That was pretty much everything they were doing right now; talking to the people and telling them that everyone was invited. Everyone except Brent. They hadn't told him if he was invited yet. Mostly because both Phil and Jim were scared what would happen if Joseph would get on the stage and "try to tell some jokes". The word "riot" came to Jim's mind when he thought about that scenario.

"Hello! Have you heard?" Phil said to a woman that was looking for some fresh vegetables. "Thanksgiving is coming up and we have something planned-"

"Oh, hello Mayor! Yes, I heard! My husband told me. Now that is a lovely idea. Say, some friends of mine and I wondered if we could..." That's when Jim turned away and left Phil to his duties. There were still some other things he had to do. Maybe he would find something that would cheer Sarah up?

Maybe he could cook something, something with vegetables. Or fish. She really liked squidfishes. Yes, there were no squidfishes on Ramelow, but maybe he could find something similar. Unfortunately, there was not a single merchant on the market that sold any fish. Meat, yes. Vegetables, sure. Even buttloads of fruits. But fish?

"She doesn't like fish. She likes the squidfishes because you make them." someone said behind Jim's back. He smiled when he turned around and looked at the young woman.

"Hey, Paula. Shouldn't you be home? Is it safe for you to be out here?" he asked. However, unlike Phil, he wasn't worried something could go wrong. The people of the town seemed to consider Paula one of their own now. And that meant that people were actually looking after her.

"It is fine. Someone is looking after me. When can I see Sarah again?"

"Straight to the point, I see." Jim sighed. "Listen, I know that you want to see Sarah, but right now she needs some time to sort things out. Don't worry, once she's back on her feet you can annoy the crap out of her again." He then looked around and frowned. "Say, who's looking after you anyway?"

He shouldn't have asked.

"Can I see your certificate?" Joseph asked a nearby merchant who was selling meat. "I'm not certain that this is cow. It kinda looks like...it's still alive." Jim shuddered when he imagined all the things Joseph was probably about to do. Was it too late to run for cover? Probably yes. Jim shook his head and turned his attention back towards Paula.

"So, how're you holding up? You seem to be a lot more lucid than before. Did the training pay off so far?" he asked and Paula nodded.

"It's getting better. But I can't do this for long. I can already sense everyone's thoughts and it makes me feel...dizzy." she explained and Jim put his hand on her shoulder.

"Well, Rome wasn't built in one day either. But hey, we are making progress, right? I'm sure that your uncle is happy about that."

"My uncle is worried that I may think that one day I can live on my own. He believes that I might believe that I will be just a normal person one day, like everyone else."

"And there goes the lucid moment. It was nice knowing you." Jim mumbled.

"Yo, how's life?" Joseph Brent asked when he finally decided to let the merchant off the hook and joined both Jim and Paula.

"The usual." Jim mumbled and the Marshal chuckled.

"That shitty? Oh, ha!" Joseph said and suddenly Paula shuddered as if she had sensed something truly disturbing.

"Paula? Are you okay?" Jim asked and the young woman shook her head.

"Those thoughts...so evil and disturbing. Like staring into an endless abyss, filled with madness and cruelty." she whispered and slung her arms around her chest. "So dark. So twisted. And empty space where a heart should be. Colder than the Void. Death. Death. Death." she repeated over and over again.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. Who's she talking about anyway?" Joseph asked and both Paula and Jim stared at each other for a while.

"No one." both said at the same time and Brent shrugged his shoulders.

"If you say so. Hey, since you're here, can you look after Misses Sunshine over here? There's something I need to do." Joseph declared and then he pulled his gun out of his holster. "I think the guy who claims that he sells chicken actually sells turkey. This I cannot allow to go on. Not on my market!" And then Joseph was gone.

"Just what is going on in that head?" Jim mumbled and Paula shuddered again when she heard that question.

"Darkness. Endless darkness. The horror. The horror. The horror. And how does one dance without feet?"

"I should keep my mouth shut." Jim growled before he sighed and looked around. Phil was still talking to a few people. Maybe Jim was just imagining things, but the burly man seemed to really enjoy his new job...even though they still had to find a way to make it official. Jim looked back at Paula and offered his arm to her.

"Care to go for a walk? Maybe you can help me." She looked at him and a smile appeared on her face.

"You want to find something that will cheer Sarah up!"

"Yep, that's the idea." Jim told her. "So, care to join me?" Paula nodded like crazy and grabbed Jim's arm. The two of them then walked over the market and looked at what the merchants had to offer.

"Sarah likes purple." Paula explained when they stopped in front of a market stall that offered some clothes.

"She sure does. But a dress? I don't think so. She's not the type who likes to wear dresses."

"She liked the dress she wore during the Christmas Party." Paula told him, and Jim looked over at her, both surprised and somewhat annoyed.

"You picked that up from my brain? Or Sarah's?" he growled.

"Both. She did like her dress. It made her feel _pretty_." Paula continued and Jim smiled when he remembered it.

"Yeah...it was damn pretty." he whispered and then they continued to walk down the market. Paula noticed how his feelings changed.

"Now you're sad...because everyone just saw Jane Shepard. You wish they had seen Sarah Kerrigan. But the Sarah Kerrigan _you_ love so much, not the one _they_ fear."

"Yeah..." Jim agreed. "...it would be nice if they could see her like that."

"But you don't think that this will ever happen."

"No, I don't."

"And that makes you sad." That comment caused Jim to smile.

"You know..." he mumbled. "...maybe you should become a psychologist. You got a talent for telling people what they don't want to hear."

"And you had dirty thoughts when you saw Sarah for the first time." Paula suddenly declared so loud that pretty much everyone around them could hear her. Some people snickered and Jim sighed.

"Yep, like a typical psychologist." And so, they continued to look for something that would help to cheer Sarah up. But no matter where they went, Jim didn't find anything.

"Another chocolate cake maybe? No, by now she's starting to look like a chocolate cake. Maybe something else? I could try to make some pancakes. Maybe Sarah would like some pancakes." Right now he was just thinking out loud. They walked past another market stall and suddenly Paula stopped and pulled him back.

"Paula, what's the ma-"

"Here! This is something Sarah would like!" she said and pointed at the red fruits. The fruit dealer looked at both Jim and Paula and presented his merchandise to them.

"Hello! Such a nice young couple! Maybe you would like to buy your lovely girlfriend some of these?" Jim sighed when he heard that.

"She's not my...ah, nevermind." He then looked over at Paula and frowned. "And you think that Sarah would like to have a few of these?" Paula nodded like crazy and Jim pulled his shoulders up.

"Well, if that's all I need to make her happy. Let's do this. How much for a kilo?" Jim asked and the man gave him a cruel grin.

"Sixty."

"SIXTY?!" Jim yelled. "That's not expensive, that's a goddamn crime!" he hissed, and the merchant shrugged his shoulders.

"You don't have to buy, you know. And just so you know; mine are the best." the other man replied and Jim gritted his teeth.

"Fine. Make it half a kilo. I sure hope that their seeds are made out of gold, considering the price!"

"Well, if you don't like it, you can try to plant the seeds behind your house and grow a tree yourself. Maybe it will grow so big that you can climb up to the clouds and get some magical apples from the giants!" the dealer chuckled.

"Those were beans, you moron." Jim growled. "Now give me those apples, you damn cutthroat."

* * *

Tired. Sarah felt tired. It was as if her body and her mind were running on empty. She probably should do something. Something useful, like training Paula. Or get up, get dressed. Or take a bath. Because she was starting to smell.

Yet she didn't do any of this. It was as if she lacked any strength at all. She knew what exhaustion felt like, both mentally and physically. But never like this, and never combined. She couldn't really put it into words, the best way to describe it was to run on empty. Well, there was at least one good thing about this whole situation. She hadn't gone nuclear and there weren't several versions of Sarah running around that were trying to conquer the universe or drive Jim mad.

Though the thought of several different Sarah's was somewhat amusing.

At one point, Sarah rolled out of the bed and slumped into the bathroom with nothing but the blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She remembered when all those people had visited their house in order to convince Jim to become the new Marshal. Back then she had looked like a divine being, descending from above. Now she looked like a corpse with red hair, a red nose, and red eyes.

Yes, she had cried. A lot. It felt as if her body was trying to get rid of all that pain and fears stored inside her chest by crying like a little child. At first, she had felt pathetic, yet after a while, she had stopped caring. It reminded her of those days they had spent on Sternenheim. She had cried there as well. But this time it went deeper. Back then she had managed to pull herself together. Jim had helped her with that, of course he had. He was always so damn helpful.

But now it felt as if it went even deeper than before. And Sarah knew that this time, no one could help her with that. It was something that she had to face on her own.

"Jim?" she asked when she entered the living room. "Are you there?" But Jim wasn't home. She sniffed a few times before she walked to the door and stepped on the veranda. The car was gone, so he wasn't in the barn either. She slumped back inside and sat down on the couch. Perhaps under normal circumstances she would be bored out of her mind. However, right now she didn't mind thinking about...nothing.

Seriously, right now there wasn't much going on inside her head. And that was a nice change. There were a lot of things Sarah could do. However, she just didn't feel like doing anything in particular. So after a while of doing nothing, she stood up again and went back upstairs. Sarah felt tired, so very tired. It was as if both her body and mind craved for rest. What she didn't know was that it was actually a good thing.

Back on Sternenheim, she had felt horrible too, just before she had gone nuclear. And as a result, Jim (and much to her own dismay Zeratul too) had done the impossible and put her back together. However, the cracks were still there. She only lacked the powers to fall apart again. That also meant that she was finally able to deal with this, one way or the other.

Instead of going straight back to bed, she went into the bathroom in order to do what all people had to do from time to time. It was one of the things that Zerg did better. Sarah hadn't used a bathroom for over four years during her time with the Zerg. Did people even realize how much time they wasted doing, well, _that_?

Oh God, better not go into any details here...

Anyway, after she was done, she walked to the sink and stared at the mirror. The person that was looking back wasn't the Queen of Blades, but a very tired and exhausted woman.

Sarah looked like hell. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were swollen and red. Her skin was pale and she looked sickly. Her cheeks were sunken in and she was nowhere near that woman Jim loved so much. She reached out with her hand and touched her own reflection.

"You don't look like you know what to do next either, huh girl?" And her reflection indeed didn't have any suggestions. Shocking. Without nothing else left to do, Sarah decided to go back to bed. She just lacked the will to do anything but to sleep and enjoy the fact that there was truly nothing going on inside her head right now. And for all she cared, this feeling should never stop.

She slipped back under the blanket and pulled it over her head. Whatever was going on outside the bedroom could wait. If Amon himself would suddenly drop from the sky and start his rampage and quest for galactic conquest all over again, Sarah would just roll around and tell him to screw himself.

She was still awake when Jim finally came back.

"I'm home!" he yelled when he stepped into the house, yet she didn't even bother saying anything. She was simply too tired. A few moments later she could hear him walking up the stairs. He entered the bedroom and sighed when he saw that Sarah hadn't even moved an inch since he had left.

"That's not true." she mumbled from under the blanket when she sensed his thoughts. "I was outside...for two minutes or so."

"Maybe you should take a bath?" Jim chuckled.

"Why? Am I starting to smell?"

"You want the truth? Yeah."

"Don't want to take a bath." she just mumbled and then she felt how Jim sat down on the edge of the bed. He put his hand on her head and smiled.

"That's not my head." Sarah growled and Jim realized that the soft thing beneath the sheet was indeed not Sarah's head, but her butt. He pulled his hand back and pulled his brows up.

"How're you doing?" he then asked.

"Wanna sleep..." Sarah just replied.

"I know. Still, how about you take a bath? And get something to eat? I'm gonna change the sheets and you can sleep again?"

"No... just wanna lie here."

"You have to eat at one point. Here, I brought you something." he said and put the bag that he had brought with him on his lap.

"What is it? Chocolate cake?" Sarah asked without pulling the sheet away.

"Any more chocolate cake and you will look like one yourself. No, it's actually something healthy. Trust me, you're gonna love it. Was expensive as hell!" Instead of pulling the sheet back, Sarah's arm just emerged from under it and she opened her hand. Jim pulled one apple out of the bag and placed it in her hand before Sarah retracted her arm back under the sheet.

"That's..." she whispered and then there was a gagging sound. For a second Jim thought that he had done something wrong. But then he could hear how she started to dig her teeth into the fruit and chew on it. Well, as long as she was eating, everything was fine. A warm smile appeared on Jim's face as he watched (or rather listened) how Sarah was devouring the apple. After a few minutes, her arm appeared again. In her hand was what was left of the apple. He grabbed it and put it on the table next to the bed. And that's when Sarah's fingers twitched.

"More." she just said and Jim did as he was told. She devoured the second apple and then asked for a third. There wasn't room for a fourth one though, and when she handed what was left of the third apple to Jim, she just rolled to the other side and did what she had done before; nothing.

"Maybe you should go outside and get some fresh air?"

"I'm smelly, I get it. Leave the room if you don't like it." he could hear Sarah growling.

"Yeah, well...this is my bed as well. And you, Lady, need a bath."

"Get lost." Sarah replied and she felt how he stood up. She sighed in relief when she realized that he was about to leave her finally al-

That's when Jim grabbed the blanket and yanked it away.

"Ugh, someone destroy that star, it blinds me!" Sarah whined and rolled around. She grabbed a pillow and pressed it on her head in order to shut the light out. Only then Jim realized that Sarah was completely naked, but there was nothing arousing about this whole scene. All Jim saw was an exhausted and depleted woman.

"Come on, you love to take a bath."

"I love to sleep even more. Just put the blanket back when you leave the room. Thank you very muuUUAAACH! JIM, LET GO OF ME!" Sarah yelled when he grabbed her and threw her on his shoulder.

"Nope!" he said with a grin on his face before he turned around and walked over to the bathroom. "You're gonna take a bath now. It will make you feel better." The naked Sarah thought about making a scene for a second, but then she just came to the epic conclusion that she was simply too tired to care.

"Very well...carry on!" she mumbled and snickered when she realized that she had just described her own situation perfectly. Jim was as gentle as possible when he placed her in the bathtub, yet Sarah made no effort to help him. He even had to turn the faucet on, which caused Sarah to yell "Too cold!"

Jim sighed and was rewarded with a "Too hot!". And so he did some more tweaking until he had figured out the perfect temperature.

"That's perfect. You may leave now, Servant." Sarah mumbled before she closed her eyes and sighed in relief.

"Yes, oh my Queen!" Jim chuckled and did as he was told. And Sarah? She just enjoyed how the warm water was caressing her skin as it washed all that sweat away. She hated to admit it, but yeah, she really had been in dire need of a bath. Soon her whole body was surrounded by warm water and when the bathtub was filled, she thought for a second if she should yell for Jim to come and close the faucet like a good servant should.

She decided to better not push her luck and did that herself.

Her minds began to wander and she remembered the time she and Jim had spent on Sternenheim. The good days, not the bad ones. Good as in; lying on the beach and getting her back soaped and massaged by Jim.

"Damn..." she whispered. "...should have ordered him to rub my feet." She closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like to just swim in that ocean again, with nothing else to worry about. No obligations, no doubts, no questions. How long did she stay in the tub? She had no idea. When she started to resemble a sponge, Sarah decided that it was time to crawl out of the bathtub and...

...go back to sleep.

She toweled herself dry but didn't bother with putting on any clothes. She just wanted to go back to bed after all. However, when she stood in front of the bed, she realized that her plan had one fatal flaw; the blanket and the pillows were gone.

"Jim..." she mumbled and then she could sense his amusement.

 _The blanket could use some fresh air. So do you._

"Ugh..." was all Sarah could reply. The only thing that was lying around was a thin sheet, so she grabbed that and wrapped it around her shoulders before she slumped downstairs and into the living room. On the table was the bag filled with apples. She just grabbed it and walked out of the door before she sat down on the bench standing on the veranda, and then she did...

...nothing.

All Sarah did was to stare at the horizon and eat another apple. It was truly a sight to behold. Here she was; Sarah Louise Kerrigan, once the most powerful, feared, and loathed creature in the entire sector, the Bringer of Death and Destruction, the Queen of Blades and the deadliest Ghost in the history of mankind. And what did she do? She sat on the bench in front of a lilac-colored house and ate one apple after the other while wearing nothing but a sheet wrapped around her body.

"You shouldn't eat that many apples at once." Jim said when he joined her and sat down right next to her.

"Hnnn..." was everything Sarah said before she started to eat yet another apple.

"How are you feeling."

"Hnn hmmm."

"I take that as a "better". How are you holding up?"

"Hmmm." Well, she was in a talkative mood. Sarah finished the apple and then she just threw it as far away as she could. She was about to grab another apple when something in the corner of her eye caught her interest. She turned her head to the side and then she saw...

"Oh...that's where you put it." she whispered and Jim looked at the destroyed object.

"Yeah. Forgot to put it in the barn. Sorry."

"No, it's fine. It's not like this thing will be of any use anymore anyway." Sarah said. The sniper rifle, or what was left of it, lay on the veranda next to the bench they were sitting on. Sarah stared at it for a long time.

"Funny, isn't it?" she then mumbled after a while.

"What?"

"How useless it now is. Now that it's broken." Sarah explained to Jim. "You take a tool and you break it. And then what? What purpose does a tool have that can't be used anymore?"

"Is this about the rifle? Or is it about you?" Jim asked her directly and he could see how Sarah shuddered. She knew that she had told herself to talk to Jim about this. This moment was as good as any. Besides, there was one good thing about feeling empty; there was no shame or guilt getting in her way. It was a strange and lucid moment, one where she didn't really care what others would think of her.

"When I was out there..." she then started. "...I couldn't stop thinking about the past. About what I have done. That rifle and I, we used to be the same; a tool. A rifle is just as good as the marksman who's using it. And a marksman as just as good as her rifle." Sarah took a deep breath and had to swallow hard. "Just look at it. How harmless it now looks. Funny, isn't it? No one is scared of a broken gun. And why should they? A broken gun can't hurt anyone anymore." Well, that was true. Yet Jim wasn't really sure what his lover was trying to tell him with that. "But what about a tool that has no use anymore? You throw it away, right?"

"You are no tool, Sarah. You're a person. With hopes and fears and dreams." A sad smile appeared on her face when she heard that.

"I hate what I was, Jim. But at the same time, I never learned anything else. It is what I am. What I was. I never questioned it. All the killing, all the things I did. So many died by my hands, yet I never questioned it. But when I was out there the other day, when I tried to kill that critter..." she whispered. "...I couldn't do it." There was a moment of silence, and Jim could sense how much Sarah was struggling. He put his arms around her and could feel how her whole body was shaking beneath the sheet.

"It's okay, Sarah. You don't have to-"

"No, Jim. I have to. Or it will just consume me again." she told him and then she took another deep breath. Even though she still felt empty on the insides, tears started to stream down her face.

"I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. It was just a damn animal, but every time I tried to pull the trigger, I could see everyone I killed right in front of me again. It didn't matter if they deserved it or not. The guilty and the innocent alike, it was all the same. At first, I thought that Zeratul had left something inside my mind. A command that makes it impossible for me to kill someone. But...I don't think that anymore. I just..." And then she was silent again. She looked over at the rifle and clenched her hands into fists.

"...I don't want to kill anymore, Jim."

Under normal circumstances, Jim would have been happy to hear that, but he couldn't help to notice that Sarah was not happy.

"I would lie if I'd tell you that I'm not happy to hear that, Sarah. But it doesn't take a genius to notice that you don't seem to be happy about it."

"That's not it." Sarah replied. "It's just..." She took a deep breath and pointed her finger at the rifle. "Look at it. It's broken and therefore utterly useless. What use does a weapon have that doesn't work? I never learned anything else but to kill, Jim. I'm not like you, I don't know how to farm or do something useful. Even that idiot Brent is more useful to the people of New Thompson than I am. So if I don't want to be a killer anymore...what else is there that I can do?"

"There are so many things one can do, Sarah. Only the sky is your limit." Well, that sounded really poetic.

"Only if you can fly, Love." she whispered. "And broken tools cannot fly."

"Everyone can fly, Darlin'." Jim replied and pulled her into a tight embrace. "I'm proud of you." Strangely enough, those words actually felt good.

"For not pulling the trigger?"

"For admitting to yourself that there's something you don't want to do."

"Didn't make me any wiser, now did it?" Sarah mumbled and Jim shook his head.

"On the contrary. Knowing what you don't want to do is just as important as knowing what you want to do, Darlin'." he explained and Sarah turned her head towards him. The look on her face was priceless. He didn't even have to sense her thoughts to know that she was just thinking one word.

 _Bullshit._

Jim chuckled and looked up at the sky.

"If I had known what I didn't want, I wouldn't have done so many bad decisions. I joined the military because I thought that it's what I wanted to do. I thought it was a good idea and that it would make me happy, that I would become a great hero...or at least do something meaningful." Jim then took a deep breath. "It didn't make me happy. I alienated my own family...I made terrible mistakes...and even now I don't want to think about it." Sarah decided to just listen to what Jim wanted to tell her.

"It's one of the many things that will never change; regret. If I had been smarter back then, I wouldn't have caused all that pain to my parents. It was one thing I wasn't aware of back then, that I didn't want my parents to be in pain because of me."

"You can hardly compare that to my situation, Jim." Sarah replied. "You had a purpose. You were a person. You had a family that formed you into a man. I look at that rifle, and I see myself. A tool of death, nothing more. Not even a person. And all I know is that I don't want to kill anymore. But I don't know what else to do with this life." She stared at the rifle and Jim realized that to her it wasn't just a ruined weapon...but an object that symbolized the way she saw herself.

"Maybe you just have to find something that makes you happy. Don't worry, it will come to you in time." he said and then he kissed her on the forehead. "Just take your time. And remember; I'm here for you." he whispered into her ear before he stood up. "Enjoy the fresh air. And don't eat all those apples. Maybe I can make an apple cake later on, but only if there are some left."

"No promises." Sarah said with an exhausted smile.

"I need to do some things. And later on, I'm going to town. Is there anything you want me to get you? Or do you want to come along?"

"No, thanks. I think I just sit here and do nothing." she replied, and Jim nodded when he heard that. He left her alone and so Sarah could finally do what she had done the entire day; nothing.

Or at least she tried to do that. However, at the same time, she couldn't stop staring at the rifle that was still lying on the veranda.

It's funny, now that it was destroyed, this former tool of destruction was nothing more than scrap metal. Expensive scrap metal.

"Maybe I can sell you to a scrap dealer and get some bucks out of it." she whispered. The rifle kept bothering her. She wanted to get rid of it. It was nothing but a memento of old times. And not the "good old times", but the really ugly ones. Maybe bury it? Like she wanted to bury her past?

No, that would be pointless. Her past would always be part of who she was, she knew that. She pulled another apple out of the bag and ate it. And that's when she suddenly got an idea. The way Sarah looked at it, there were three ways how she could deal with this particular problem. She could either try to work things out herself, try to ignore it until it would just solve itself (which never worked) ...

...or find someone and turn it into their problem.

Well, maybe it wasn't time to give up all her bad habits. There was a difference between killing someone...

...and ruining their day.

Sarah stood up and walked back inside.

"Jim?" she asked and her lover, who was inside the living room, turned around to her.

"Yeah?"

"I'm coming with you. There's something I want to do."

"Sure. But you might want to put some clothes on first."

* * *

Roughly half an hour later, they were on their way. And yes, Sarah had put on some clothes. However, she didn't say a word during the entire trip. At one point she looked over her shoulder and at the object that lay in the backseat. It was wrapped in a sheet, yet even then it was obvious what it was.

While they were gone, something was happening back home. Something that seemed small and insignificant at first, yet in reality, it was groundbreaking and wondrous. From the remnants of those two apples, small seedlings started to sprout. They were tiny and helpless, yet they withstood the harsh nature without any problems.

It was because something was nurturing them.

No, not something...someone.

* * *

It was getting late and another calm day was about to end. However, Book didn't mind about that. Right now, he had plenty of things to do. Besides, he still had to prepare for the sermon. And he still hadn't decided what to preach. Marshal Brent had suggested that he should tell people "why it's totally alright to sell others out for a good laugh". Somehow, Book had his doubts that this would be a good topic. He was still a person of authority, even though pretty much everyone tried to ignore that.

Well, the life of a shepherd wasn't meant to be glorious. It was meant to be helpful and fulfilling or something like that. However, he was pleased with how everything was developing. Sure, there was always room for improvement. But the decision to make Phil Carter the Mayor of the town had turned out to be a good one. It was as if someone had kissed this place from sleep and now the people were finally starting to realize that they could do something about their situation.

It had led to an interesting situation for Book, one that he hadn't foreseen; his services weren't required, at least not right now. It was a nice change, even though Book felt somewhat useless right now. But that was to be expected if people were doing better. Still, when he had come to this place, he had known that it would be a tough job. His order had offered him other positions, other places where he could be of use. The order even had offered him the leadership of a church on Tyrador VII, a respectable position.

The thing about religion is; they claim that they're not interested in politics. However, in truth they're all about politics. And Book? Given his, well, _former life_ , the big shots in his order had tried to convince him to take a more active role within the organization

He hadn't left his old life behind just to become a pawn again. His name, his _old_ name, had opened him some doors. It had also closed some doors. More than anything, however, it had been a burden. And he hadn't become a Shepherd so people would call him the "son of _that guy_ ". He had come here because he believed in the righteousness of what he was trying to achieve. And yes, he did believe in God.

However, Book was no fool. He knew that science was still better to save a sick child than prayers. And he was aware that almost no one in New Thompson truly shared his beliefs. They came to his sermons because of tradition, not because they wanted to be closer to God. It was fine by him. Book was a realist and he hadn't come here in order to convert people. Or to "make them see the truth!".

And truth to be told, he wouldn't want it any other way.

Besides, coming here had resulted in something very interesting...

Book grabbed a cup of coffee and walked out of his kitchen before he sat down on his couch. His small flat was located behind the church and wasn't very big. But he didn't need any kind of luxury. He took a sip from his cup, put it on the table and then he grabbed a pen and a notebook and started to write down his thoughts.

Just what should he tell the people? Well, the order had a lot of sermons he could use, but he didn't like them. They were so generic. He could just read the bible and achieve the same effect. While people were always people and all the same under the skin, you had to speak their language if you wanted to reach them.

"Maybe I should talk about the dangers of unsafe sex." he whispered to himself. It was certainly not what you would hear in a church on Korhal, but he had to tell these people about things that were actually useful. He wrote down a few lines, but it was all generic bullshit. After ten minutes or so he threw the notebook back on the table and stared up at the ceiling.

"You have any ideas?" he asked his boss, but like always he received no answer. His boss was not very talkative. He was a great listener, though.

"Hmm...you're right, maybe I should tell them why speech is silver, silence is golden. Though Brent will probably claim that spouting nonsense is platinum." Book shuddered when he thought about Marshal. He had never met such a disturbed man. And he had met a lot of ruined guys!

His thoughts started to wander and he thought about all the people he had met so far, and how he could put what he had experienced into words. Yet words wouldn't come to him. Maybe he could tell them about the upcoming Thanksgiving party and how important it was to celebrate life from time to time. It was beyond stupid, but what else was there he could talk about?

Book was deeply lost in thoughts when someone knocked on the door. He sighed and thought for a moment if he should just ignore it. But a Shepherd is never off-duty, so he got up and walked over to the door. He opened it, and the moment he saw the person that was standing in front of him, he regretted what he had just done.

"Hey, Book. How's life?" Marshal Brent asked while having a big grin on his face.

"Marshal. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Book asked.

"Ah, I just wanted to say hi and tell you that tomorrow I will head over to Central City."

"Oh? Are you leaving the planet?" Book asked with a hopeful tone in his voice.

"What? No. No, me and Carter have an appointment in the city hall. It's about his future position as real Mayor, not a fake one. And they want me to vouch for him or something like that. Or I'm supposed to organize the elections. Or I don't know, I wasn't really listening." Brent explained.

"Why am I not surprised by that?" Book growled.

"Ah, good old Book. Trying to act all grumpy and stuff. Hey, does your order actually forbid violence?"

"How about we find out together? What do you want, Brent?"

"Well, given the fact that me and Phil are gonna head to the big city and enjoy some blackjack and hookers, we thought that you could look after Paula?"

"Phil could have asked me himself." Book snarled. By now pretty much everyone in New Thompson knew that Book despised Brent. Fortunately, they all just assumed it was because of Brent's sparkling personality, and not because of the things he knew.

"Wakka wakka wakka. Can you look after Paula or not?"

"Is this how you ask people for help?"

"No, usually I point my gun at them and make them do what I want. What kind of question is that?"

"Can't be careful enough with you." Book muttered before he sighed. "Tell Phil that I will look after Paula. But I don't want this to become a habit." Well, it had started to become a habit a long time ago, but details, details.

"I told him the same thing, but he didn't want to listen. However, we should be careful." Brent suddenly said. "I mean, an old priest, a young girl...I don't want to support any prejudices, Shepherd, but-"

And that's when Book just slammed the door shut.

"Okay! Seven in the morning! Phil is gonna bring Paula over!" he could hear Brent from the other side of the door and gritted his teeth. Book waited a few minutes and then looked up at the ceiling again.

"What have I done to deserve this, my Lord?" he asked, but his boss wouldn't give him an answer. Go figure. When he was certain that Brent wouldn't bother him anymore, he turned around and walked back to the couch. The moment he sat down there was another knock on the door.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Book hissed and stormed over to the door. He ripped it open and raised his finger.

"Okay, listen! I am so tired of your-" That's when he froze and realized that the person in front of him wasn't Brent, but someone very different.

"Sarah?"

"Hey, Book." Sarah said. It came as a surprise to Book to see her standing right in front of him. In fact, he was so surprised that he didn't notice the object she was holding in her arms. There was an awkward moment of silence, and after a while, Sarah tilted her head to the side.

"Uhm...may I come in?" she asked and only then Book realized that he was staring at her like some sort of idiot.

"What? Oh, of course! Yes, please!" the Shepherd said and made way for Sarah. She stepped inside and looked around.

"Nice place you have here. I think I never saw your flat before." she mumbled and Book frowned. Something was strange. Sarah looked different. Her voice was quiet and her movements slow. It appeared as if she was truly exhausted. At the same time, her eyes looked different. They looked...calm.

"We haven't seen each other for some time." Book said. "How are you, Sarah?"

"I've been better. But I've been worse too. I would give it a solid "Meh" right now."

"I... see." Book mumbled and then he shook his head. "Forgive my manners. I wasn't expecting any guests. Is there something that I can do for you? Offer you something to drink? A coffee maybe?"

"No, thanks." Sarah replied and shook her head. "I'm not here to waste your time. I just wanted...I wanted to give you something."

"Give me something?" Book asked in surprise and looked at the thing that Sarah carried in her arms. It was wrapped in a sheet, so there was no way to tell what it was, at least not right away.

"Yes..." Sarah whispered and lowered her gaze. "...I thought about it for a while. Maybe you can give it back to those hillbillies or anything like that. I just...I don't want this anymore. I'm sorry." Only then Book realized what it was. Sarah offered the rifle to him and he took it in his hands. When the weapon changed the hands, Book realized that something was wrong. You could even hear the broken glass of the scope.

"Is this...what happened?" Book asked and he could see the tired expression on Sarah's face.

"It's...a long story. I don't really want to talk about it. Let's just say that I've come to a realization. This...this is not what I want anymore. I'm done. I'm sorry for having wasted your time. Maybe you can sell it for scraps and give Archer and his brother some coins for it."

"That's...very kind of you, Sarah. But why would you-"

"I don't want to talk about it, Shepherd. I have my reasons. Maybe some other time. I just...I am done with this part of my life." Sarah then made a step backward and looked at her own hands for a while. A sad smile appeared on her face.

"Anyway, I just wanted to give you this thing back. I have no longer any use for it. Sorry for bothering you this late."

"No." Book replied. "It's fine. You didn't bother me, I was just, well, I will think of something."

"Good." Sarah said. "I just wanted to give you that thing back. I'll be off then." She then turned around and just walked back to the door.

"Sarah, wait!" Book whispered and she did indeed stop.

"Yes?" Sarah asked and looked over her shoulder.

"What made you change your mind?" For a long time, Sarah didn't say a word. After a while Book wondered if she hadn't heard his question. However, she had heard him. She just needed a moment to find the right words.

"I... I don't want to make the same mistakes all over again." she explained and then she just walked away. Book wanted to ask her something else, but before he could do that, Sarah was gone. He stood there for a long time and wondered just what the hell had just happened. However, after a while he walked over to the table and placed the rifle on it. He pulled the sheet away and when he saw what had happened to the weapon, his eyes widened in surprise.

It looked like someone had used that rifle like a club. It was utterly broken and there was no way that it would ever be used as a weapon again. He put his hand on the rifle and didn't say anything for a long time. But then a soft smile appeared on his face.

"Seems like you do talk to us from time to time." he said to his boss. "You could have warned me, though." And that's when he finally had an idea for a sermon. He grabbed his notebook and started to write his ideas down. All of the sudden he knew exactly what he wanted to tell the people. Suddenly the words were pouring out of him and when he was finally done, he looked at his script and put the pen down. It would still need some work and it was pretty rough around the edges. But he really liked it, especially the first line.

 _The true nature of Redemption..._

* * *

This night Jim did notice something strange. As Sarah lay in his arms and was sleeping, he could sense how something had changed. Her breath was calm and relaxed, unlike so many times before where it had been ragged and pained. Something definitely had changed, yet Jim couldn't really say what it was. The pale moon was illuminating their bedroom and he was looking at the sleeping woman. Sarah seemed so small while resting in his arms. Small and vulnerable, yet at peace.

He put his one hand on Sarah's head and felt that soft hair between his fingers.

"...les...re...sty..." Sarah mumbled and Jim frowned. Her lips moved from time to time and he moved closer in order to hear what she was trying to say. Another nightmare? A groundbreaking secret? Something that would help him understand the woman he loved so much?

"...les...were...sty..."

"Yes, Sarah?" Jim whispered. "What is it you want to say?" And even though he was certain that she was asleep, a goofy smile appeared on her face.

"Apples...were...tasty...want...more..."

Well, so much for groundbreaking secrets. Perhaps Sarah's mind was a lot simpler than he had thought.

"Guess we should find you some more apples then." Jim told her before he pulled her closer to his chest. What he did not know was the fact that their shortage of apples was about to come to an end. Because while both Jim and Sarah were sleeping, something was happening outside. Something that would change the future not only of Jim and Sarah, but everyone on this planet as well...


	102. Act IV - Chapter 18

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 18**

 **The Birds and the Bees**

* * *

If there was one thing Jim could get used to, then it was to sleep in late. Everything seemed fine, which was a nice change for once. Inside his mind, he hoped that at least this day (or week) would stay nice and quiet and that no weird things would happen.

"Dream on." he could hear Sarah whisper right next to him and he chuckled when he heard that.

"You just have to ruin it, don't you?" Jim asked and opened his eyes. He lay on his side and was looking right into Sarah's face. Her eyes were closed, yet he knew that she wasn't asleep. It wasn't just the fact that she had talked to him a second ago. He could also feel her consciousness in the back of his mind. It seemed to have changed as well. For Jim, it was incredibly hard to describe the feeling of having someone else in his head.

There were moments when it felt strange. There were moments when it felt downright wrong, like when Sarah had been confused and in pain.

However, when everything was fine, it was the most wondrous experience he could think of.

Jim placed his hand on Sarah's head and brushed through her long red hair. It was so soft and felt like silk running through his fingers. By now her hair was so long that it was reaching all the way down to her knees. It was highly impractical, but Sarah didn't seem to mind one bit. It was beyond Jim how she managed to keep it clean and managed to put it in a queue every morning within five minutes or less.

There's a joke that women need forever when they prepare for the day. Well, in Sarah's case it was rather funny. It usually took her one hour to get ready. She would need five minutes to make her hair, brush her teeth, apply makeup, which she didn't since Sarah didn't use makeup...

...and then she would spend the next 55 minutes taking a hot bath.

"So, any plans for today?" Sarah whispered and Jim sighed.

"I'm gonna head to town in the afternoon. There are still a few things I have to take care of. But aside from that? Nope. Why, do you have any plans?"

"Not really. Lying in bed all day long sounds good. And eating some apples."

"You ate all the apples."

"Bummer. They were good." she sighed.

"And expensive as hell." Jim muttered. That's when Sarah finally opened her eyes and looked at him. Those eyes. Those beautiful green eyes. Perhaps Jim was imagining things, but they seemed different. It felt as if he was staring into two emeralds. But it wasn't just their green color that amazed Jim. It was as if there was something behind those eyes. The longer he stared into Sarah's eyes, the more he felt as if he was staring at a sky filled with endless numbers of stars.

"I think you're giving me too much credit, my love." Sarah chuckled when she listened to his thoughts.

"Sorry." Jim whispered and a cocky smile appeared on her face.

"Oh no, by all means, go on! I like where this is going." she teased him and he realized that she was indeed doing better.

"Heh, sorry. Can't do that, it will only get to your head."

"Agh, spoilsport." Sarah groaned and turned around. "You just don't recognize quality when you see it."

"Oh, trust me, I do. And I do appreciate a fine piece of art when I see it." he said and suddenly Sarah started to chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"Tsk...you wanted to say "fine piece of ass", didn't you?" she snickered and Jim blushed.

"No. No, that's not what I wanted to say." That was actually the truth, yet Sarah didn't believe a single word he was saying.

"Hehehe...you totally wanted to say "fine piece of ass". It's okay, I don't judge you. I do have a fine piece of ass after all. Still, even now you can only think about one thing. You, Mister, have a smutty mind." she said. Jim couldn't see her face and therefore not the big grin on it.

"I would never do that, you know me. I really just wanted to say "fine piece of art". Seriously!" But Sarah didn't buy it. Instead, she turned back to him and grinned from one end of her face to the other.

"Oh, always the boy scout. How cute. I think I trained you too well."

"Trained me too well? What am I? A pet?" Jim protested.

"Hmm...no. I once had a pet. A Zergling with only one tusk. He was the cutest thing ever. Don't know what happened to him. You're more like a _hobby_." Sarah explained.

"A hobby? What kind of hobby?" Jim said with a shocked expression on his face. That's when Sarah silenced him by pressing her lips on his. They shared a tender kiss and suddenly the idea of spending the entire day in bed wasn't so bad after all. When Sarah broke the kiss, she licked her lips and a mischievous smile appeared on her face.

"It's strictly educational. Because I too appreciate a fine piece of ass." she teased him and Jim pulled his brows up.

"Don't you mean a fine piece of art?"

"You heard what I said." she whispered and kissed him again. This time both of them closed their eyes and enjoyed the kiss to the fullest. Jim came to the epic conclusion that this was the perfect opportunity for some quality time, and so his hands reached out and were about to grab Sarah's shoulders when suddenly...

"Whoa!" he yelled in surprise. Sarah broke the kiss and slung her legs around him. She rolled him onto his back and when he looked up, he could see her naked form sitting right on his lap.

"Wow..." was all he could whisper, and the smile on Sarah's face became even kinkier.

"You should be glad that Izsha isn't around. She wouldn't like what I'm about to scream."

Oh boy.

"Maybe we can tone it down a bit this time? We don't have to-"

"Shhhh..." Sarah hushed and placed her finger on his lips. "Now where's the fun in that?" Well, this wasn't the right moment to protest how unfair the world was. Sarah placed her hands on his naked chest and her smile became warm and gentle.

"Did I tell you that I love you?" she wanted to know.

"One or two times, yeah. Why?" Jim asked and Sarah grabbed his hands. Her fingers intertwined with his and she pulled his hands to her chest, where she placed them right between her breasts.

"Because I do. There are a lot of things I regret, Jim..." she told him. "...but I want you to know that you are not among those things. I don't regret being here with you." Those words...there had been moments when Jim had dreamed about them. Hearing them from Sarah's mouth was simply a dream coming true.

"It doesn't take much to make you happy, does it?" Sarah teased him, but before he could give her an answer, Sarah leaned down and kissed him again. Well, that was definitely the best way to start a day. The light of the sun fell through the window and there was a nice warm breeze entering their bedroom. Sarah's soft skin felt so good on his own and it just couldn't get any better. From the corner of his eye, Jim could see the blue sky and the leaves rustling in the wind. It was nice to see something green out there.

He and Sarah continued to enjoy this moment. Perhaps it was truly for the better that Izsha wasn't around. Who knew what kind of "art appreciation" they would come up with and-

"Wait!" Jim suddenly yelled and Sarah screamed right back at him. He turned around and stared out of the window. Unfortunately, Sarah was still sitting on him, yet that was about to change.

"WHOA!" Sarah yelled and lost her balance. She tried to stay inside the bed but failed miserably. "Ouch, my ass! This is NOT what I meant when I told you that you could be rough, Love!" she protested when she landed on her butt. "That's not what I had in mind, Jim!" But Jim wasn't even listening. All he could do was to stare out of the window, where a tree was blocking half of the view.

"You..." he whispered.

* * *

„...gotta be kidding me!" Jim mumbled as he stared at the object that stood right next to their house. Well, actually it was two objects, and both were intertwined. "How is that even possible?" However, instead of receiving an answer, all he heard was...silence. After a while, he looked over at Sarah and frowned.

"Anything?" he asked, and his lover looked right back at him.

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because..." he said and pointed with his hand on the object, well, objects that were now standing right in front of their home. "...those two apple trees weren't here yesterday!"

"So?" Sarah replied and pulled her brows up. "You think that I'm responsible for that?" Jim grabbed his head and was about to pull his own hair out.

"Who else could have done that?!" he yelled. "Those are trees! Real trees! Real apple trees with real apples on them!"

"What else should apple trees have on them, Jim?" Sarah asked. She was far too calm for Jim's taste.

"You know what I mean, Sarah. What did you do?"

"Nothing." she replied and he knew that she was telling him the truth. Still, that was something that you couldn't just ignore. He pointed with his finger at the two trees and Sarah could see how his left eyelid started to twitch.

"Just how the hell are we supposed to explain that to the others?" he wanted to know and Sarah shrugged her shoulders.

"We can tell them that we just grew two trees in front of our home."

"Trees don't grow over the course of one night!"

"These did."

"You're missing the point! If people find out about this, then-"

"They will ask if they can have some of our apples?" Sarah suggested.

"What? No! They will assume that we...well..."

"Can grow apple trees over night?"

"Well..." Jim mumbled. "...yes! More importantly; how the hell did you do that?" That's when Sarah frowned. She walked up to one of the two trees and placed her hand on the trunk.

"I don't know. The last thing I remember before falling asleep was that those apples had been tasty. That's all."

"That hardly qualifies as; _that's all_. What the hell?" Jim said. "Oh, this is bad. This is so bad. People will draw suspicions! I mean, you can't hide that!" He turned away and pressed his hands against his face.

"Then don't." Sarah replied. "Besides, fruit trees are a lot better than growing crop." Sarah appeared surprising calm, almost detached even. It was as if she wasn't really caring about what was happening here.

"Have your powers finally returned?" Jim whispered and Sarah closed her eyes. Her hand was still resting on the trunk and she tilted her head to the side.

"I think I can feel... _something_. I don't know, I can't really put it into words." She frowned and Jim could see that she was trying really hard to find the right words to describe what she was feeling. But then she just shook her head and stepped back.

"Sorry, Love. I have no idea what could have caused this. Maybe we should, I don't know, just ignore it?"

"How can anyone ignore that? We can't hide it!" Jim mumbled and looked around as if he was thinking about how to solve this mess. "Wait here, I got this." he then said and walked away. Sarah was about to ask him what he was up to, yet he was gone too fast. She waited until he was out of sight and looked back at the tree. There was a warm and gentle smile on her face.

And that's when she freaked out.

"Hoooooly shit!" she hissed and grabbed her own head. "Just how the hell did that even happen?!" She ran over to the other tree and gave it a hard kick. So hard in fact that her foot started to hurt immediately.

"Ouch! Dammit, dammit, dammit!" she cursed and jumped around on her other feet. "Okay, this thing is real, definitely real! Gosh!" Sarah looked back at the trees and started to pull at her hair and her cheeks. "This is...I don't...how...I..." And then she just dropped on her butt and stared at the trees. They didn't look like they were just one day old. There was something strangely romantic about those trees, though. They stood only a few meters away from each other, yet their branches were intertwined.

Two lifeforms, both of them connected in a way no others were.

"Okay, now I'm just overthinking things." Sarah whispered and stared at the branches. There were so many apples! And they all looked so juicy and delicious. "Well, at least I won't have to go without apples no more." She sat right beneath the branches that connected both trees with each other, and for some odd reason, she felt so different right now. "Well...this is something you don't see every day."

"Out of the way!" Jim yelled when he came back. Sarah looked over her shoulder and her smile vanished in an instant.

"Jim...what do you want to do with that ax?" she asked and Jim stepped in front of the first tree.

"It's kinda obvious, don't you think? First, I'm gonna chop them down and then I'm gonna turn them into firewood. Hey, at least we will have enough of that stuff for the next few months. I'm just gonna put wood stuff in the barn." he explained. Sarah got back on her feet and walked up to Jim, who prepared to chop the tree down. He was taking aim and...

...that's when Sarah stepped right into his path.

"Sarah!" he yelled in surprise. "Watch it, it's dangerous! Please, get out of the way so I can-"

"No." she said with a resolute tone in her voice.

"Come again?"

"I said; no!" Sarah told him. "You will not chop these trees down."

"What? Sarah, I know you like apples, but we cannot allow anyone to see these trees. The people will just-"

"I don't care!" Sarah shouted and Jim made a step backward. He lowered his ax and frowned.

"Sarah, please. Be reasonable. We can get you more apples and-"

"This isn't about the apples, Jim! I will not allow you to chop these trees down! Not until I know how they grew in the first place."

"But Sarah! This is not the time to-"

"I said no!" she shouted and Jim could see the desperate look on her face. "You will not destroy these trees, Jim. I won't let you." He had seen Sarah threatening people before. She could be really scary if she wanted to, even without being covered in carapace. But right now she wasn't so much scary as...resolute. It was as if Jim was staring at a wall. A wall made out of pure will and conviction.

"I don't care if people will talk. I don't care if they will be suspicious. These trees...are special. I don't know how I did it, but somehow, I managed to make them grow. Do you understand what that means?" she asked him and he could see how her eyes started to water.

"Sarah, I-"

"I created something, Jim!" she whispered and then she shook her head so hard that her red hair flew from one side to the other. "I don't know how, but I _created_ something! How many things did I destroy? How many people did I kill? But this?" Sarah pointed with her fingers at the trees behind her. "This isn't death. Perhaps I'm the least qualified person to say something like this, but this is life! And I won't allow you to chop it down."

For a long time, Jim didn't say a word. He had no idea what to do next. The most reasonable thing would be to push Sarah aside and just be done with it. A few hard strikes and the trees would fall. He would probably need a whole day to chop both of them into small pieces, but he could do it.

The question was: should he do it?

Perhaps he was making a mistake. Maybe he shouldn't ask himself what he should do, but what he wanted to do. And if there was one thing that he knew, then it was that he wanted to make Sarah happy. And so, he lowered the ax before he rammed it into the ground.

"Fine..." Jim sighed. "...but this time you will come up with an explanation. A good one." Sarah smiled when she heard that. It was neither cocky nor arrogant, but gentle and caring. She stepped towards him and slung her arms around his neck. And then they kissed. Again. Which happened a lot these days.

Still, it felt different. Sarah felt different, calmer and more at peace than ever. And what was there to say except that Jim liked that new side to her. They broke the kiss and Sarah gave him a warm smile.

"Good. I don't like it if I have to beat you up in order to convince that I'm right about something."

"And there goes that moment. Awesome." Jim sighed. "Seriously, I have no idea how we can explain this one to the people." Sarah turned back towards the tree and pushed herself up on her toes. She grabbed an apple and yanked it off the branch.

"You sure this is safe?" Jim asked. "For all we know these things could, I don't know..."

"What's the worst that can happen? Turn me into a Zerg?"

Oh, haha. Good one.

Jim watched with mixed feelings how Sarah sank her teeth into the fruit and took a big bite out of it. She started to chew it and Jim looked at her, waiting for something to happen. But he was lucky, Sarah did not turn into the Queen of Blades again. That didn't mean that everything was fine, though. Sarah suddenly stopped chewing and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Sarah? Is everything...okay?" But she didn't react. Not immediately at least. She swallowed it down and then she looked at the apple in her hands.

"It can't be..." she whispered and Jim frowned.

"Sarah? What's the matter?" he asked and watched how a single tear streamed down her cheek. "What's wrong? Does it taste bad?"

"No..." she mumbled. "...it's delicious."

"Then why are you crying?"

"I just...remembered something." Sarah told him. "It tastes like...like home."

"Home?" Jim asked. "What are you talking about?" But Sarah wouldn't answer that question because right now she was somewhere else...

* * *

It was the smell. That special smell that only exists in one place. The smell of home. It wasn't just one scent, it was a mixture of many different ones. The scent of sunflowers, of clean air after a rainfall. Old wood from the floor that creaked every time you walked over it. And the smell of stones, the same stones their house was made of.

And then there were the people.

They say that a child would never forget the scent of its parents. All these things mixed together...

...it smelled like home.

But there was another scent, one that had triggered this memory.

A small girl with flaming red hair sat on the lap of her father, squealing with joy as he tickled her. But there was more.

"Patrick, don't feed her apple pie, she will only get a belly ache from that!" a warm and worried voice said and the man looked over at his wife.

"There are apples in it, right? Apples are good, that's what Doc Brown said!"

"I'm pretty sure he wasn't talking about apple pie!" the woman replied. Yet Patrick didn't seem to mind. He grabbed a small piece of pie and offered it to the little redhead sitting on his lap.

"Ah, don't listen to her, what does she know?" he chuckled as he spoke to the child. "No one has ever died from a small piece of apple pie, right?" The moment the girl tasted it for the first time, her eyes widened in surprise and joy. All she could do was throw her arms high up in the air and wave with her small fists around.

"More! Want more!" little Sarah screamed and her mother groaned.

"Oh, that's just great. Look at what you've done, Patrick! You created a monster!" Yet all Patrick did was to grab his daughter, turn her around and look straight into her eyes. There was a gentle smile on his face.

"Guess that's true. She's my cute little monster. And I wouldn't want it any other way..."

* * *

"Sarah? Sarah! Darlin', are you okay?" Jim asked and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"My mother...she used to make apple pie." Sarah suddenly remembered. "Every Sunday. She would make apple pie, and I would eat all the apples that were left over." And then she bit her lips and whimpered. A memory. A long-lost memory, triggered by something. "...they taste exactly the same. This apple...it tastes like home."

And as Jim looked at Sarah, he realized that he couldn't cut those trees down. Not if they meant so much to Sarah.

"Well, guess it's another case of spontaneous tree-growth. Crazy, but I heard that those things happen from time to time. I bet Brent has heard of that too, so he can vouch for that. Not that anyone will care for what he thinks. We should...Sarah? Is something the matter?" Jim asked when his lover just turned around and walked over to the other tree. She placed her hand on the trunk and Jim could see how tears were running down her cheeks.

"Like home." Sarah whispered and then she turned around. She sat down, leaned with her back against the tree and pulled her legs up to her head before she buried her face between her knees.

"Sarah?" Jim said and watched how she started to cry again. He walked over to her and wanted to take her in his arms, but that's when he realized that she just wanted to be left alone. Not because she wanted to shut Jim out, but because she wanted to deal with this herself. What she needed now was time. And so, Jim decided to give her some space. He picked the ax up from the ground and looked at it for a while before he turned away and walked back towards the barn.

"Guess I won't be needing this anymore." he whispered and returned to the barn. He put the ax to the other tools and then he leaned against the tractor and took a deep breath. "How the hell am I supposed to explain this to the others?"

No matter how you look at it, there was no way to come up with a somewhat decent story. Maybe they could dig the trees out and pull them on the other side of the house? Or maybe they could disassemble the house and put it in front of the trees? Those ideas were, of course, ridiculous, but what else was he supposed to do?

"Maybe I could just make sure that no one visits us for one year and then claim that it's a very fast-growing type of tree..." But that idea was just as bad as the others. Jim took a deep breath and decided to think about it some other time. Better check on Sarah. However, when he got back, he realized that it wasn't necessary. Sarah was still leaning against the tree. She just sat there and stared at the apple in her hand while there were still tears streaming down her face. But aside from that? She appeared to be deeply lost in thoughts, and Jim didn't want to bother her.

Besides, Jim still had some other things to do.

He took care of the usual stuff and then prepared lunch. Sarah stayed outside the entire time and when the meal was ready, he looked out of the window and could see that she had fallen asleep. He thought about waking her up, but then he decided not to do that.

"It just never gets boring with you around, does it, Darlin'?"

* * *

"No. No! The tables go over there! We need this place for the dance floor!" Phil shouted and gestured the men carrying the heavy tables to put them on the other side of the room.

"Got it!" one of them yelled, and so they carried the tables to where they were supposed to be. Phil sighed and shook his head. Seriously, you had to tell them everything. He turned around and looked over at the stage.

"Uhm...we don't need chairs up there! That's where the band will be." he said and the guys on the stage looked around.

"Then where else should we put them? There are far too many chairs! Seriously, we have more chairs than people!"

"Then take the superfluous ones and just put them outside. Behind the building, so no one can see them." A few moments later some more folks arrived, carrying plates with what looked like food.

"What? No! The party is tomorrow, not today! We can't keep that stuff out in the open!" Phil groaned, and the people looked at him with empty faces.

"Then where are we supposed to take this?"

"Ugh...ask Dan if you can use his fridges. Just make sure that everything stays cold until tomorrow!"

"What about the coffee, that too?"

"Of course not! Dear Lord, just leave the coffee here, we can use it right now. As for the food; there are more than enough fridges in McReedy's. Seriously, people! That is a no-brainer!" Phil barked. Some of the men muttered something very unflattering, and when they walked past Jim, he could hear someone say "We make him Mayor, and he turns into a goddamn fascist!".

"I heard that! You don't like it, you can stay home!" Phil yelled and when they were finally gone, he sighed and shook his head.

"Geez, for once I would love to work with real professionals. What do you say, Jim?" he asked the other man, who was leaning against a heavy table. Jim's arms were crossed in front of his chest and he looked like he was deeply lost in thoughts.

"Yo, Jim. You listening?" Phil asked again and only then Jim finally realized that someone was talking to him.

"What? Oh, sorry, I was just...thinking." Jim mumbled and Phil chuckled when he heard that.

"I can see that! What's on your mind, buddy?" When Jim heard that question, he frowned and took a deep breath. He was about to answer that question, but then he just shook his head.

"It's nothing."

"Doesn't look like nothing. Hey, listen...I'm probably the last one to say something like that, but if you ever need someone to talk then...don't hesitate to ask, yeah?"

"I will." Jim mumbled, but both men realized that he wouldn't do that. Ever since Jim had arrived, he had been awfully quiet, saying only the bare minimum. Whatever was bothering him, Phil was pretty certain that it had something to do with Sarah. He hadn't seen Jim's lover in some time, and Paula was starting to get on his nerves. She really wanted to resume training with Sarah. But if Jim's better half needed some time, then she needed some time. Phil wouldn't ask Jim when Sarah would resume the training. It would happen or it wouldn't.

Jim looked somewhat unhappy when someone else entered the big room.

"Uh oh, potential threat detected." Phil mumbled and boxed Jim in the sides.

"What? What are you...oh." Jim mumbled and then he realized what Phil was talking about.

"Hello, Mayor. James. How are you?" Shepherd Book asked and both Jim and Phil pulled their shoulders up.

"Busy." Phil chuckled.

"Meh." Jim muttered. That statement caused Book to blink in surprise.

"Well, that sounds...like something. What's the matter, James? Why in such a foul mood?"

"It's not foul mood, Book. I'm just thinking. That's all." Jim replied.

"Hmm...that doesn't sound ominous at all." Book chuckled and looked over at Phil. "You know what ruined his day?" But Phil just shrugged his shoulders.

"Beats me, he was like this when he came here. But you can take him off my back, his sour mood is starting to brush off on me." Phil mumbled before he turned away and yelled at some people that water and electricity don't mix well. And so, Jim was left alone with Book, even though he didn't really care about that right now.

"You seem to be lost in thoughts, James. Is there anything you would like to talk about?"

"Not really." Why was Book still trying? By now he should know that Jim wasn't interested in listening to what the Sheperd had to say.

"I take it it's about Sarah?" the older man asked and Jim froze, yet only for a second.

"Doesn't take a genius to figure that out." he growled and a gentle smile appeared on Book's face.

"Well, I know that look. There are only two things that can make a man act like this. And those things are either women or children. And since you don't have any children..." Book explained. The moment he said "don't have any children", Jim closed his eyes and suddenly he had to think about Johnny. "...it can only be about Sarah. James? James, are you alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I was just thinking about something. Nevermind." Damn, he hadn't thought about Johnny for a while now. There had been a time when he had thought about his family every day. Seems like something had changed. He couldn't even say when that had happened.

"Well, since we're already trying to avoid the pink elephant in the room...how's Sarah doing?"

Smooth, Book. Real smooth.

"Good." Jim lied. But then he stared straight ahead and corrected his statement. "Better." Yeah, that was actually the truth. She wasn't good...but she was doing better. And that had to be enough for now. And Jim was still not sure what he should tell the people once they would see those damn trees.

"Well, if you say so..." Book mumbled. It was clear that he didn't believe Jim, but right now the younger man couldn't care less about what Book was thinking. "...still, speaking of Sarah..."

"Great, here we go again." Jim whispered to himself and rolled his eyes.

"...I had hoped that I could talk to her."

"Why?" Jim asked with a suspicious tone in his voice and Book chuckled.

"Don't worry, I don't have any naughty thoughts. I just wanted to talk to her about, well, some things. I must say that I was genuinely surprised when she returned the rifle to me. Or what was left of it. I just wanted to know why she suddenly changed her mind. You know, considering that pastoral care is what I'm all about."

"I'll make sure to tell her once I'm back home." Jim replied.

"Actually...I had hoped that she would be joining us tomorrow. You know, since it's the biggest party of the year."

"It's the only party of the year."

"You know what I mean."

"Sarah...won't join us." Jim then whispered. While he hadn't really asked her if she wanted to come to the party, he was pretty certain that her answer would be no. "She's not exactly a party animal."

"Ah, I see. Too bad. I'm sure a lot of people would have enjoyed her company."

"I'll tell her." Jim repeated his initial statement.

"I'm sure you do. Say, there's something else I wanted to ask you. It's about-"

"Look who we have here! If it isn't Harry and Sally!" a new voice suddenly reached their ears, and both Jim and Book groaned when they realized what that meant. They looked over at the man that had just entered the room, and especially Book appeared to be less than pleased to see that guy.

"Hey, Joe." Jim mumbled and Brent frowned when he heard that.

"For the last effin' time; it's not Joe, it's Joseph! I'm not a goddamn trucker!"

"Dunno about that, you sure have the attitude." Jim replied and Book smiled when he heard that. "What can I do to get rid of you?"

"I need to know where I can put the ladies." the Marshal said and Jim and Book looked at each in confusion.

"Ladies? What are you talking about?" Jim then asked.

"Well, duh! The strippers of course! It ain't Thanksgiving without strippers! Don't worry, Book, we got a few male strippers for you too!"

However, no one laughed at Brent's jokes anymore. Mostly because they never knew if he was actually serious.

But when in doubt, just assume that Joseph Brent is dead serious.

"They don't pay me enough for this shit." Book whispered and Jim was inclined to agree.

* * *

It was the middle of the night when Jim finally got back home. Sarah had left some lights on, yet she was nowhere to be found. And he could sense that she wasn't awake. He stepped out of the car and stopped a second in order to look at the trees.

"Manure made out of Zerg-poop." Jim mumbled. "Crazy stuff, but highly potent. Can make a tree grow to full size within weeks." It was a stupid idea, but the best one he had come up with so far. He then sighed and shook his head. It was a horrible cover-up story. Unfortunately, he was running out of good ideas.

Was this what he had to do from now on? Figure out how to not blow their cover? Well, he was probably just whining on a high level. Maybe he could indeed ask Brent to vouch for them? Make him tell the people that those trees were part of a classified project, meant to grow new super-plants?

Yeah, that plan sounded horrible.

He was really running out of ideas over here.

Jim stepped into their home and was about to go straight upstairs, but then he saw something. By now it was normal that he would prepare something to eat for Sarah. And he really liked that. He liked the idea to be there for Sarah, even if it was just something so mundane as making her something to eat.

However, this time things were different.

He walked up to the table and looked at the plate that stood there. Sarah had even put a knife and a fork next to it, even though those weren't needed. Because on that plate...

...was an apple.

For a second Jim was confused, but then he saw the note next to it. He grabbed it and then a warm smile appeared on his face.

 _Hey, Jim._

 _I prepared lunch for you._

 _Maybe I'm not a great cook, but it comes from heart._

 _I love you._

Jim looked at the apple and couldn't help but to chuckle. He took the apple in his hands and looked at it. He had to admit, it really looked delicious. And even though he had eaten something before leaving New Thompson, he decided there was still some room left for one small apple. He sank his teeth into it and bit off a big chunk. And what was there to say? It really tasted wonderful.

Jim had a habit, one that Lydia had hated. And one that most people couldn't really understand. He liked to eat apples completely. That included the stalk and the seeds. He was about to do that when he realized that two apple stalks had grown into fully fledged trees just one day ago. The thought of having an apple tree exploding from his guts wasn't really something he was looking forward to. So better not take any chances. He walked into the kitchen and was about to throw the stalk into the trash bin. That's when he looked out of the window and saw the two trees out there in the darkness.

"Well, might as well go all the way." he then mumbled and opened the window. He threw the apple stalk out and watched for a few moments if anything would happen.

"Guess they only grow when no one's looking. Oh well..." Jim mumbled and decided to finally go to bed. He walked upstairs and only then he realized that the stairs were covered in dust.

"What the hell? Ah, nope...not now. That can wait till tomorrow." he mumbled. Tomorrow. Agh, he wasn't really looking forward to that. He would head to New Thompson around midday and then stay there in order to oversee everything. Maybe he would stay at Phil's place over night, depending on how long the party would last. He walked into the bathroom and prepared himself for the night. Once he was done, he switched all the lights off and sneaked into the bedroom. The pale moonlight illuminated their bed and Jim could see Sarah's lithe body resting beneath the blanket. Her breath was calm and even and there was no indication that she was in pain or distress.

When Jim crawled into the bed, he noticed that the floor was covered in sand. It ruined his mood a little bit. But hey, he was too tired to care. He slipped under the blanket and was about to just close his eyes when suddenly...

"You're back." Sarah whispered and Jim sighed.

"Sorry, didn't want to wake you up."

"It's okay. I wasn't really sleeping." she said and placed her hand on his cheek. Now that his sight had adapted to the darkness, he could see all the details of her face. She almost looked like a ghost, yet her red hair and her green eyes appeared as if they were glowing with energy. Perhaps Jim was just imagining things, or perhaps it was truly a sign that her powers had returned. And there was more.

"Why are you smiling? Did something good happen?" Jim asked and Sarah pressed her warm body against his own. Only then he realized that she was completely naked under that blanket.

"You could say that." Sarah whispered and then she pressed her lips on Jim's. He was a bit surprised but knew better than to question his own luck. So what does one usually do if a beautiful lady kisses you? Right, you let it happen. Jim was too focused on Sarah's lips to notice how something behind him started to move in the shadows. Something large. When Sarah finally broke the kiss, she seemed to be happy. Too happy for Jim's taste.

Sarah sensed his doubts and placed her hand on his cheek.

"I had a good talk. It helped a lot."

And Jim? He thought that she was referring to their talk from earlier.

"Well, I'm glad that you feel this way. I want you to know that if you want to talk, I'm always here for you and-"

Suddenly two small yellow lights appeared right next to their bed. They were eyes. And they were staring right at Jim.

"I believe her Majesty was referring to-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHIZSHA!" Jim screamed in terror and rolled out of the bed. He crushed on the floor face first and finally realized why the floor was covered with so much dirt. From the darkness, Izsha slithered closer and stopped right in front of Jim. He rolled on his back and looked up. He stared right into the faces of Izsha and Sarah, who was looking over the edge of the bed.

"Oh, yeah! Guess what, Izsha is back!"

"How _awesome_..." Jim growled.

As if he hadn't enough things to worry about...

* * *

"So, how are Karax and Niadra doing?" Sarah asked the next morning while sitting at the breakfast table. She was holding a hot cup of coffee in her hands, and Izsha was resting on her tail right next to her beloved Queen.

"They are doing fine, my Queen. Karax believes that he has reached a breakthrough and will be able to solve some of Ulnar's secrets in maybe two hundred years." Izsha explained.

"Is it just me, or does he add more and more time to his estimations?" Jim mumbled, yet neither Izsha nor Sarah bothered to comment on that.

"Anything else?" Sarah wanted to know and Izsha placed her hand on her chest.

"No, my Queen. Overall progress has been slow. Karax is doing his best, however, the complexity of the task is tremendous. If you wish, I can try to motivate him to work even faster." Well, that sounded promising.

"Na, just let him be. I'm sure Karax is doing his best." Sarah just replied. "How are you doing?" she then asked and Izsha frowned when she heard that question.

"My Queen?"

"How are you doing, Izsha? Are you feeling okay?" Sarah wanted to know and Izsha looked over to Jim, who just pulled his shoulders up.

"I am... fine, my Queen. There is nothing that is currently on my mind. Nothing you should be worried about."

"Oh, how I envy ye." Jim mumbled and Sarah chuckled when she heard that.

"Well, if there's anything you want to talk about, don't hesitate." Sarah explained. She seemed to be in a very good mood today.

"There is nothing that I can report to you right now." Izsha replied and Sarah showed her friend and trusted servant a warm smile.

"Well, it's good to have you back. Was kinda lonely without you."

"Hey, what am I? Chopped liver?" Jim growled and Sarah shook her head.

"No. You're my love-slave. And Izsha's my best buddy from work." When Jim heard that, he took another sip from his coffee and then shrugged his shoulders.

"Meh, I can live with "love-slave". So, Izsha, when will you leave?"

"There is no reason for me to leave her Majesty. Ulnar is currently safe, and neither Niadra nor Karax require any additional supervision. I will stay here for as long as her Majesty demands it."

"Wait, you're moving in?!" Jim yelled. "That's-"

"-a great idea!" Sarah cut him short and he bit his lip. She looked over at Jim and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Oh great..." Jim groaned. "...explaining fast-growing trees is one thing. Explaining a huge Zerg snake-lady to the people is a whole different story."

"Fast-growing trees?" Izsha asked and tilted her head to the side. "Have you encountered any problem with the local wildlife? If I remember correctly, then the plant life on Sternenheim proved to be a formidable match to James Raynor's fighting skills."

"Yeah, yeah. Rub it in." Jim growled. "Nope, there aren't any trees around that want to beat me up. Only trees that grow within a day." he said and pointed with his finger out of the window behind him.

"I do not think I can follow." Izsha said. "These trees are special? They were not there the last time I was here."

"Sarah grew them. Well, at least we think she did." Jim explained. "Seems like her powers are coming back." The moment Izsha heard that her eyes widened in surprise and she looked Sarah straight into the eyes.

"My Queen, is that true?" However, Sarah just pulled her shoulders up.

"I'm not sure. Right now, it's the only logical explanation. Though I have no idea how I did that."

"I see..." Izsha replied. "In that case, it is good that I am here."

"I fail to see how the one thing has anything to do with the other." Jim mumbled and Izsha looked back at him.

"Considering the fact that I know a great deal more about psionic powers and her Majesty's abilities than you do, then yes; it is good that I am here."

"Oh, this can only end in tragedy." Jim whispered and Sarah chuckled again.

"Admit it; you two just love to argue. Anyway, I think that is a good reason to celebrate, right? Hey Jim, how about it? Wouldn't it be time for another chocolate cake?" she asked.

"I can't. Today's the Thanksgiving party. And I have to be there, promised it to Phil. Joseph is going to pick me up later on and-"

"Joseph? I take it you are talking about Major Brent." Izsha interrupted Jim. "Where is he? Has he already sworn allegiance to his Majesty?"

"Say _what_?" both Sarah and Jim asked at the same time and Izsha blinked in surprise.

"Did he not tell you about this?" However, she only saw the perplexed expression on Jim's and Sarah's face.

"Told us what?"

"Major Brent asked if he could join me. I told him that I am still in service to her Majesty, and so is everyone else that is involved with her."

"Hey, I'm not her servant!" Jim growled, which caused Izsha to frown.

"We are all in service to her Majesty. Me, Karax, Niadra. And you too. I am not certain of the one that dwells on Sternenheim, but he too shall bow his head in respect."

"Don't worry, Jim." Sarah then said. "You're a servant with benefits!"

"Oh, you two can be so annoying. Wait, does that mean that Joseph is now part of the gang? Oh please, tell me that this a mistake. I don't think I can take this guy 24/7..." Jim groaned.

"Where is the Major anyway?" Izsha asked. "He was supposed to offer his services directly to you, your Majesty."

"He's...close." Sarah said. "He's the Marshal of the town nearby."

"Ah, he assumed the position of law enforcement. A sound move."

"Oh God..." Jim groaned. "This _will_ end in tragedy. Can't you take him with you? He's annoying as hell."

"He is a highly competent officer with a keen intellect. I decided to recruit him to our cause because of his abilities."

"Oh, good." Jim sighed in relief. "And here I thought that he was actually trying to hit on you."

"Major Brent has never shown any signs of aggression towards me." Izsha said, not getting what Jim was implying.

"No, that's not what I... ah, nevermind. I just had this crazy thought that he was actually, you know, interested in you." he mumbled and took another sip from his coffee.

"Ah, I see. As a matter of fact, he has told me that he feels sexually aroused when he sees me."

"PFFFFFFFFFF!" The coffee exploded from Jim's mouth with the speed of light, and Sarah pulled her brows up.

"Whoa, I just had a déjá-vu." she mumbled.

"Ack... gha...ghaaaa...what is wrong with that guy?!" Jim coughed and shook his head.

"I don't know...I think it's kinda cute. You know, a boy and a girl, the girl being a Zerg. Love conquers all. Especially if Zerg are involved." Sarah mused.

"You are shitting me!" Jim hissed. "This is wrong on so many levels! I don't even want to think about it! Oh God, now I see it in front of my inner eye! Oh hell, I can't stop it! Please, tell me that it's a joke!" he whined and Sarah was laughing her ass off before she wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Oh, this is too good to be true." she chuckled. Jim looked over at Izsha and shuddered.

"Please tell me that you didn't, well, do _it_."

"It?"

"You know...doing...well..."

"Sexual intercourse? No. I do not possess the necessary orifices." Oh, this was wrong on so many levels. "I told Major Brent that any sexual intercourse would be therefore pointless." While Jim was trying to fight the urge to vomit, Sarah couldn't stop laughing. It was just too priceless.

"BWAHAHAHAHA! Oh, you should see the look on your face! You look like you're about to faint!" she screamed out with laughter.

"However, I have been thinking about the concept of sexual relationship over the last few weeks." Izsha then explained. "It is a strange concept, one that humans seem to be very fond of. Especially considering that you and her Majesty seem to pursue it with vigorous zeal."

"Oh please, make her stop!" Jim whined, yet Sarah was enjoying herself far too much.

"No way, this is pure gold!" his lover giggled. "Go on Izsha! This is getting better and better."

"I have come to the conclusion that I would like to understand more about this concept. It should help me to better understand her Majesty's needs."

"Maybe we should allow her to watch. Hey, Jim, what do you say?!" Sarah roared in laughter. There was nothing more amusing than watching a man squirm when it came to sex. It was both adorable and hilarious.

"I'd say; hell no!" he growled.

"I do not think that this would be necessary, your Majesty. However, there is something I would like to ask you. And you are the only one that can help me with that." Izsha said and Sarah needed a few moments to calm down. She was still laughing when she looked over to Izsha and wiped a tear of joy from the corner of her eye.

"Yeah, and what would that be?"

"How does a human female's vagina work?"

…

…

…

You could actually see how Sarah's face lost all color in an instant. To say that there was an awkward moment of silence would have been the understatement of the century. Suddenly she wasn't laughing anymore. And neither was Jim.

He just stood up, his cup still in the hand, and walked over to the door.

"Jim?" Sarah mumbled.

"Sorry, she's your girl. You tell her about the birds and bees. Now excuse me, I need to gauge my eyes out." And then he left the house in order to hang himself in the barn.

"Hehehe...hey, Jim, that's not funny! Come on, you can't leave me alone with this!" Sarah laughed again, but it was not a funny laugh. She turned her head back to Izsha, who appeared to be utterly innocent.

"I believe it would help me if you could show me yours." she just said, and that's when Sarah knew that she had indeed created a monster.


	103. Act IV - Chapter 19

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 19**

 **Lov** **e** **conquers all**

* * *

''Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. Kittens, bunnies, kittens that cuddle with bunnies. And puppies. Lots of puppies." Jim mumbled while trying to get those images out of his head. He could sense that Sarah was dying one million deaths, but this time he would not come to her aid.

Oh no, that's something she could solve on her own. Because he would totally _not_ help her with that problem!

"Okay, now where did I put the bleach?" Jim mumbled, not sure wherever he should use it on his eyes, or just drink it and be done with it.

However, after some time he came to the conclusion that this wasn't the right time to end his life. So instead he decided to clean up the barn in order to distract his mind. And to be as far away from the conversation that was happening in the house at the same time.

Well...at least Jim hoped that it was still a conversation and hadn't escalated into a "You show me yours, and I show you mine"-contest.

"Happy thoughts! Happy thoughts, dammit!" Jim hissed. From now on, the cold shower would be his best friend.

He would never have sex again.

Never.

That's when suddenly someone ripped the door of the barn open and Sarah stumbled inside. She slammed the door shut behind her and pressed her own body against it.

"I will never have sex again!" Sarah hissed, her eyes wide open in shock.

"What happened?" Jim wanted to know. "Where's Izsha." He could see how Sarah closed her eyes and shuddered.

"Back inside, I just...I... I don't...I don't think...I..." It was clear that Sarah couldn't explain the horrors that she had just witnessed.

"Yeah, I think I know what you're talking about." he mumbled and took a deep breath. "Let's just agree that we never talk about it again."

"Agreed." Sarah took a deep breath before she finally managed to calm down. "I can't believe this is really happening! Ugh..." She then walked over to a crate and sat down on it. "I think I could use some apples right now. Or a chocolate cake. Or a bullet to the head." And then Sarah looked up to Jim. "How about it?"

"Sorry." he chuckled. "I'm all out of bullets."

"How about a cake then? Something that will help my nerves to calm down."

"I would love to, Sarah, but I don't have time to do that. Today's the Thanksgiving party, and I promised Phil that I would help him." When Sarah heard that, she noticed that Jim wasn't very happy about that.

"Isn't a party something you should look forward to?"

"Only if you're a guest and not responsible for it." Jim sighed. "Besides, watching other people having fun is usually boring as hell."

"Still..." Sarah mumbled. "...I can't help but wonder why you didn't ask me to join you. Afraid that I might embarrass you?" Jim, who was sorting some tools, shook his head and chuckled.

"As long as you don't explain how a vagina works to others? Nope." he giggled and Sarah shuddered again. "I didn't ask you because I know that you're not into parties and people. The others wanted to know if you would be there, but I told them that you're not a party person. Or am I wrong about that?" he asked. Suddenly he realized that what he had just said sounded pretty insensitive, yet he knew that Sarah wasn't exactly a people-person.

"No, you're right. The last party I went to kinda...ended with a terrorist attack. I think I'm not cut out for parties."

"That's what I thought, so I didn't ask you."

"How _considerate_ of you." Sarah mumbled, yet suddenly Jim had the feeling that he had said something wrong.

"So, you're leaving soon?" she asked and Jim nodded.

"Yeah, someone's gonna pick me up. I will probably stay in town overnight and then...oh, hell no." Jim suddenly groaned.

"What? What's the matter?" Sarah asked and Jim gave her a pained look.

"Brent is supposed to pick me up."

"Oh..." Sarah mumbled. "Oh, no... oh shit! I don't think I could handle that right now." she whined and Jim agreed from the bottom of his heart.

"Let's agree that we keep them separated. At least for the next ten thousand years." Jim suggested and Sarah nodded like crazy. Allowing Izsha and Brent to meet right now would be just too much. After Sarah and Jim had managed to banish those images from their minds, they remained quiet for a while.

"So, the party...everyone's gonna be there?" Sarah asked and Jim nodded.

"Everyone I can think of. But don't ask me for a list. We even managed to get a band. Nothing spectacular, but it should give the people something to enjoy. You know, offer some distraction from the normal routine."

"Huh...sounds like that Christmas party on Korhal." Sarah mused and shuddered when she thought about it.

"Hehe, well, a reliable source told me that this party won't be as exciting. Especially since Jane Shepard won't be around."

"Oh, is that so?" Sarah asked and gave him a surprised look. "And what little bird told you that?"

"Someone very special. I was told that Jane Shephard...is actually not a real person!" Jim whispered and Sarah's eyes widened in surprise and acted as if this was a truly shocking revelation.

"No! You're making this up!"

"I'm telling you the truth!" Jim replied. "There was actually another person at that party! Someone that _pretended_ to be Jane Shepard."

"And who would that be, hmm?" Sarah chuckled. That's when Jim walked up to her, grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet.

"The girl of my dreams." he said and kissed her. It came as a surprise to Sarah. Not an unpleasant surprise, yet she hadn't seen this coming. Not that she wanted to complain. When they broke the kiss, she looked into Jim's eyes.

"What was that for?"

"Because I wanted to do that." he replied. "Also, it helps me to get those images out of my head."

"Ah, yes..." Sarah mumbled. "...I know what you're talking about." She saw the warm smile on Jim's face, yet at the same time, she could feel a sense of remorse. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"What? Oh, nothing." Jim answered. "Nothing."

"Jim, I know something is bothering you. I can sense it. You're always the one that says we shouldn't have any secrets, right?"

"It's nothing, Sarah. Really." he tried to ease her mind. Sarah squinted her eyes and stared him straight into the eyes.

"It's about the party, isn't it? You wanted to ask me if I would come along." When Jim heard that, he sighed and scratched himself behind his head.

"Ach, that. Nevermind. I know that you're not a people-person, Sarah. And I didn't want to bother you with that. Besides, now that Izsha is back, I'm sure there are a lot of things you two can-"

"Don't finish that sentence!" Sarah moaned and shuddered. "Right now, I'm not sure if I want to be alone with her."

"Well, anyway...I didn't ask you because I know that you're not really into parties and all of that." But just to be on the safe side... "You...are not into parties, right?"

"Not really. Besides, I don't have a dress."

"Ah, it's not that kind of party. People can wear whatever they want."

"Oh, that's too bad. A real fancy party like the one on Korhal would have been nice." Sarah mused.

"Oh God, no." Jim groaned. "All those tuxedos! No, thank you very much. That was no party, it was a social event. And a horrible one! Even without the terrorists."

"I don't know, there was _one guy_..." Sarah mused. "...kinda dense and a bit stupid. But he had a heart of gold. Wonder where he is now?"

"Valerian? Probably still in his palace, why?"

"Ah, you're no fun." Sarah groaned. "What happened to the dashing commander that tried to hit on me during that party?"

"Brent did _what_?" Jim replied and Sarah sighed.

"I just won't get any straight answer from you today, am I?"

"I am sorry, do I know you?" Jim teased her. "You look kinda familiar..."

"Pfff...idiot." she chuckled and was about to tell him something. That's when suddenly the door to the barn was opened and Izsha slithered into the barn.

"My Queen. A military vehicle is approaching. And with an alarming speed. It would seem that someone is about to attack."

"Naaa, that's just Brent. He's using a hellion and drives like a madman." Jim mumbled. And that's when his eyes widened in shock.

"Oh shit, it's him!" he hissed to Sarah and could see how his lover shuddered.

 _I don't think that I can handle those two right now._ she told him through their shared link, and Jim was inclined to agree.

 _Yeah, let's deal with this some other time._ Jim mumbled.

"Major Brent is on his way here? Excellent. There is something that I need to tell him and-"

"NO!" both Sarah and Jim yelled at the same time. Izsha tilted her head to the side and seemed to be confused.

"My Queen? Is something wrong?"

"Brent...he is...just here to pick Jim up. Those two have something important to do and there isn't _any_ time to talk. So... hey, Izsha, how about you tell me, uhm, how's the weather on Ulnar?"

"The weather, my Queen? There is no weather on Ulnar." she explained and Sarah nodded like crazy.

"Right. Right! I totally forgot. Haha, I haven't been to Ulnar for quite some time. Say, are the wall still covered with those weird markings?"

"Yes, they are. My Queen, is there something wrong? You seem to be-"

"I'm fine!" Sarah yelled and looked over at Jim. She gave him a quick nod and he knew what she was trying to tell him.

 _Get the hell outta here, I'm gonna buy you some time!_

"Say, Izsha...why don't you come over here. There's something I want to check for myself."

"As you wish, my Queen. James Raynor, where are you going?" Izsha asked as Jim slipped past her.

"Uhm, just going to get some fresh...air?" he mumbled and then he stepped out of the barn and closed the door behind him. And not one second too soon. He could see how Brent's hellion stopped right in front of their house. Joseph got out and walked over to the trees.

"Oh, shit..." Jim hissed and hurried over to the Marshal.

"Joe! You're early. Good, let's go!" he said and just got into the hellion.

"It's Joseph. Not Joe. I am not a goddamn trucker!" Joseph hissed and then he pointed with his finger at the trees.

"Why are there two apple trees in front of your house?"

"Because that's where we planted them?" Jim chuckled.

"Okay, then let me rephrase my question; why are there two big trees suddenly in front of your house, trees that haven't been here the last time I visited you out here?"

"Well, you've been gone for quite some time! Trees grow fast out here! Come on, get in the car. I need to talk to Phil about something. Get a move on, Marshal!" Jim ordered and Joseph looked like if he was thinking if he should shoot Jim in the leg. You know, just to prove a point.

"You think I'm an idiot, don't you?" Joseph mumbled.

"I tell you once we're on the way. Now come on!"

"Wait, won't Sarah be joining us?" the Marshal wanted to know and Jim shook his head.

"No, she's...not really into parties."

"Hmm, a damn shame if you ask me. Well, I guess that means that you and I be partners when the dancing starts. But let me tell you this; I won't be the lady!"

"Shut up and get in the car, Brent!"

"Okay, okay. Biggest party of the year, here we come!" Joseph cheered and then they were on their way. Sarah waited five minutes before she finally stepped out of the barn and looked after the hellion that was about to vanish in the distance.

"Oh, they are gone." Izsha said behind her. "How unfortunate, I wanted to talk to Major Brent." When Sarah heard that, she couldn't help it and shuddered.

"Yeah, well, the boys are pretty busy right now. That has to wait...until kingdom come." Izsha didn't understand what Sarah was trying to tell her, yet she wasn't worried.

"If I understand correctly then the humans in the town nearby are having another...party? Like the one we visited before?" Izsha asked and Sarah sighed in relief. Talking about something harmless was a nice change.

"Well, not quite as big. It's just...well, it's none of our business. People sometimes just want to celebrate. It makes them feel better. Or something like that."

"So the reason behind having a party is to entertain yourself?" Izsha asked. "The people on Korhal didn't seem to be very entertained."

"Ha!" Sarah laughed out loud. "Yeah, you got that right." She saw the confusion on her friend's face and sighed. "Hopefully this party will be a bit more peaceful."

"Yet you do not intend to visit it."

"No. No, I don't think so." That's when she suddenly remembered Jim's feelings. He was a hopeless romantic. And he would always think of Sarah as a normal woman. And going to a party with the woman you love was just something that was completely normal to him. There was just one small problem with that; Sarah wasn't a normal woman.

She stared at the horizon for a while and that's when Sarah started to think about Jim.

"My Queen, may I be so bold and make a statement?" Izsha asked and Sarah wasn't sure if she wanted to hear it. Not because she wanted Izsha to shut up, but because she was afraid _what_ this statement could be about.

"Ugh...depends. Is it about some part of my anatomy?" she mumbled.

"Partially, yes. Though I was actually referring to your entire appearance."

"Uhm...okay? Well, shoot."

"You look a lot better than the last time we saw each other. More lively and healthier. It pains me to admit, but it would seem that whatever James Raynor did, it helped you."

"Well..." Sarah whispered. "...I guess he did. So, I look better, huh? Thanks."

"Is this a result of the sexual intercourse you and James Raynor have?" Izsha asked and Sarah froze immediately.

"Please...let's not talk about this, Izsha. I'm not ready for this talk yet." And she had her doubts that she would ever be able to have this talk. "They grow up so fast, don't they, Jim?" she whispered.

"I must say that it appears not right that James Raynor will amuse himself while you will stay here." Izsha then declared and Sarah pulled her shoulders up.

"Na, it's fine. They're right, I'm not a party person. And somehow, I think that Jim won't enjoy himself either. He didn't say it, but he wanted me to be there too."

"I do not understand. Why would he do that if it does not make him happy?" Izsha asked.

"It's...complicated. People are complicated. He wants to help people. And the party is one way to help others."

"But there is no benefit in doing something like that." Izsha replied and Sarah groaned. What's with all those questions?

"Sometimes we just do things because they make the people we care about happy." Sarah said and the moment those words left her mouth, she realized something. Her eyes widened in surprise and she lowered her gaze.

"My Queen? Are you alright?" her friend asked and Sarah nodded.

"Yeah...I just had a thought." She then looked back up to Izsha. "You know, I just realized something. I never truly repaid Jim for all what he did for me. Kinda selfish if you think about it."

"You are the Queen. It is your right to be selfish." Izsha explained. That's when a plan formed inside Sarah's mind.

"Well..." she whispered and a warm smile appeared on her face. "...not today." Perhaps Sarah wasn't a people-person, but that didn't mean that she couldn't do something for Jim for a change. And it would be a good way to avoid Izsha as much as possible, at least until she had found something more interesting to think about than Sarah's genitals.

"Izsha? I need to go somewhere. I take it you can entertain yourself?"

"As you wish, my Queen. But where are you heading?" And that's when a grin appeared on Sarah's face.

"It's time to do something that I have never done or understood. It's time to go shopping."

* * *

"Whoa, who shitted in your breakfast?" Phil asked when he saw Jim standing near a table and looking like he was about to murder someone. All Jim did was to point his finger at Brent, who was standing near the entrance and looked like he wanted to frisk everyone that wanted to enter the party room. Unfortunately, the Marshal was only doing a selective inspection.

Meaning that he was only looking for women ranging from 18 to 40 and that looked "too delicious to ignore".

His exact words.

Strangely enough, Joseph was actually just making fun of everyone. Which didn't make it any more bearable.

"I see." Phil mumbled when he looked over at Brent. "Yes, the Marshal certainly knows how to...drive people mad. I wonder what went wrong in his life that caused him to turn out like this?"

"That's a long story." Jim growled. "And I'm not nearly drunk enough to tell you about it."

"But didn't you say that you don't drink any alcohol?" Phil asked.

"Yep. That's why you will never hear that story from me. But believe me when I tell you; it's for the better this way."

"I take your word for it." Phil whispered before he shook his head and turned back towards the stage. The band was already busy tuning their instruments. Well, "band" was probably a bit much. Let's just call them four guys who didn't even know that there had been someone else in the town who could play an instrument. It was certainly nothing spectacular, and perhaps Jim's old jukebox would have done a better job. But this wasn't about perfection, it was about having fun. And even if those three guys and one girl on the stage weren't professional, they truly enjoyed the fact that they could show the rest of the town what they could do.

It had a certain hillbilly-charm to it, even Jim had to admit that. But this wasn't about impressing others, it was about having fun. And the people of New Thompson? Well, as it seemed they had been in dire need of some fun. Phil had asked Jim to be here if things would go south or if the people would bore themselves to death. However, his skills weren't required at all. The people were actually having a good time without anyone having to force the fun down their throats.

"What's with the sad face? You look like someone has died." Phil asked again and Jim just pulled his shoulders up.

"Naaa, it's just...ah, nevermind. I'm just thinking about something." Like how to come up with a good explanation for why there are two apple trees in front of their home. Jim just couldn't stop to worry about this tiny fact. Or a huge fact, depending on how you look at it.

"Call me crazy, but shouldn't people enjoy parties? Come on, you can't just say stand here with a sour expression on your face. You will scare off the people!"

"Ah, don't sweat it." Jim mumbled. "Joe will do that before I do."

"Gosh, I sure hope not. Say, where's Sarah?" And that's when Jim sighed yet again.

"She...won't be joining us." he explained and Phil pulled a brow up.

"Why? Is she still sick?"

"No, it's just...it's complicated. Let's just say that she's not exactly what you would call a "people-person". Parties aren't her style."

"Even though she's pretty much the reason why we're celebrating? I don't think I can follow." Phil mused and Jim shook his head.

"Don't worry, everything's fine. It's just...complicated. Now stop worrying about me and enjoy the damn party. Maybe Sarah is the reason why we have something to celebrate, but you're the one who made it all possible. You should be the one who's owning the dance floor."

"Oh, please no!" Phil chuckled. "I can't dance for shit!"

"Heh, you want to know the secret? You just have to dance with a beautiful lady. That way everyone will just look at her and not notice that you have two left feet. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about."

"Great!" Phil laughed out loud. "Now I only have to find me a beautiful lady. I guess I can't borrow yours for the night? Wait, no... that sounded wrong. I didn't mean to, I mean...uhm...nevermind." When Jim heard that, he couldn't help it and started to chuckle.

"I will keep that in mind. Now go, shake hands, show presence! This is your party too, Mayor Carter! And don't worry, I will keep an eye out for Joe." Jim said and Phil sighed.

"Really, you don't have to do this, I am the Mayor, I should be-"

"Just go and have some fun, for crying out loud!" Jim cut him short. "Do that or I will tell Joe that you said you like him! Then he will bug you the whole night and believe that you actually think he's an ok-guy."

"Okay, okay! I get it! Have fun, enjoy the party, stop talking to Jim. You don't have to get out the nukes right away. Geez..." Phil chuckled before he turned around and decided to do what a mayor was supposed to do; show presence. Jim, on the other hand, sighed in relief when Phil was finally gone. It was nothing personal, he just wasn't in the mood to talk right now. So he walked over to the sidelines, leaned against the wall, crossed his arms in front of his chest and observed.

There was nothing else to do, and Jim just knew the entire party would be like this.

* * *

Good thing that Brent had picked up Jim. That way Sarah still had a car she could use. She arrived in Central City just in time. In one hour or so most shops would close. Sarah hadn't been to the "big city" for quite some time now. And as she walked through the main market street, she felt somewhat misplaced.

This was a stupid idea. A stupid idea born of the idiotic wish to give something back to Jim.

He knew that she loved him. Of course he did, they shared their dreams and thoughts!

Still, the fact that he hadn't even tried to ask her if she wanted to go to the party did bother her. Was it because he had been wrong about Sarah not wanting to have a party?

No, that wasn't it. Sarah knew that Jim was right. People weren't exactly her cup of tea. So under normal circumstances, she would have enjoyed the fact that Jim had decided to not bother her with that request.

Then why did it bother her now?

Was it because that deep down in her heart, Sarah yearned for other humans to accept her? That she craved to be part of a community?

 _Pfff, yeah, right._

Nope, Sarah wasn't really interested in that party. Or the people of New Thompson. But she recognized a chance when she saw one, and this was a chance to show Jim that she appreciated what he was doing for her. As in; being there for her. It didn't make what she wanted to do any easier because she had no idea what she was supposed to look for. Oh, back on Korhal things had been easy. She just had formed a dress with her mind, had imagined being a woman that was both beautiful and mysterious.

But now?

Now she had to work with what she got.

Sarah stopped in front of a... uhm...how do you call these things again? They sell dresses. For women mostly. Starts with a b. Bete...baba...bidibi...

"Boutique." Sarah whispered when she read the sign above. "I knew it started with b." She walked over to the display and just, well, took a look. It was truly an awkward situation because Sarah had no idea how to shop. Especially shop for clothes. To her, all these dresses looked the same. They looked uncomfortable and impractical. And most of them looked downright insulting! She grabbed one dress and studied it. It was black and seemed okayish, but then she saw that there was nothing around the midriff.

"Is this a dress? Or lingerie?" she mumbled to herself. There was another woman next to her and she too was browsing for dresses. She looked over at Sarah and mustered the redhead. The woman was at least one head shorter than Sarah. She noticed the dress and then pulled her nose up.

"I wouldn't do that. You're too skinny and bony for these kinds of dresses anyway." the woman said and Sarah pulled a brow up.

Wait, was that lady trying to diss her?

Sarah put the dress away and looked for other things, but there was nothing that seemed okay. So she sighed and walked into the shop. And what could she say? It was like venturing into the Void; nothing made sense to her. If there's one thing that Sarah had never been, then it was a fashionista. All these handbags...why were there so many? And why did they come in all those shapes and sizes? What was the point of that anyway? Wouldn't one type of handbag be enough? Besides, there was hardly any space in those things anyway. A backpack was so much more practical!

As she browsed through the products, Sarah realized that she probably looked pretty helpless because at one point a saleslady approached her.

"You look like you could use some help! Are you looking for something special?" the woman asked and Sarah felt the urge to tell her to grab a handbag and shove it up her, well, nevermind. She sighed and scratched her chin.

"Yeah, well...I'm looking for a dress."

"Of course. For what occasion?"

"Uhm...a party?"

"Yes, but what kind of party?"

"There are different kinds of parties?" Sarah mumbled and the woman blinked in surprise. However, instead of being rude, she just offered Sarah a warm smile and tilted her head to the side.

"Well, it depends on what you're celebrating. We have dresses for all kind of occasions. Except for marriages, bridal fashion is rather complicated. Or are you looking for a wedding dress?"

"Oh, hell no!" Sarah replied and her eyes widened in shock. "I, uhm...it's a party. Where people, I don't know, sink and drink?"

"A cocktail party? Or a celebration? Someone's birthday? Official or unofficial? An anniversary?" the saleslady asked and Sarah pulled her shoulders up.

"Uhm...yeah?"

"Okay. Then let's try something else. Marvin!" the woman barked and a few seconds later a short man with blond hair and a neatly trimmed beard arrived.

"What? I'm busy, Dolores! I still need to...oh my." he said when he saw Sarah. "Who's that?"

"A customer. She's looking for a dress. What would you suggest?" She then looked over at Sarah and smiled again. "This is Marvin, our tailor. He has an eye for these things."

"These things?" Sarah asked, yet she wasn't certain if she truly wanted to know what this woman was talking about. Instead, Marvin just started to walk around Sarah and studied her body. Why did she feel so exposed all of the sudden?

"Hmm...I see, I see." the tailor muttered. "A tough one. With those hips and legs..."

"Wait, is there something wrong with my hips?" Sarah asked.

"Silence, I need to think!" Marvin cut her short. "Nothing too loose, we don't want to hide your body. But not too form-fitting either. You are a bit too muscular to wear something truly revealing. But maybe something strapless? When will this party take place?"

"Uhm, two hours ago?" Sarah said, and that's when both Dolores and Marvin exchanged a surprised look.

"Aren't you a bit late for that?" the saleslady asked and Sarah sighed.

"It's...complicated. I just want to give someone something back. The man I love did a lot for me and I wanted to make him smile."

"That..." Marvin gasped. "...is so romantic. Okay, I'm in. Challenge accepted."

"Wait, what?" Sarah asked. But before she could do anything, the tailor grabbed her and pulled her with him.

"Let's go into my shop. I got a few ideas and... wait a second." Marvin said and grabbed Sarah's long hair. "Lady, what's with your hair?"

"Why? Is something the matter?" Sarah asked.

"Just _what_ did you use to wash it?"

"Uhm, soap?" she asked and could see how Marvin's face lost all color.

"Soap? Oh, what madness! Dolores, call Zayne. And Elsa. And the whole gang. Tell them that this is an emergency!"

* * *

The party went on and the people were having fun. Except for two guys that were sitting in the corner and drowning their sorrows with...coffee.

"So why aren't you drinking any alcohol?" Joseph asked. "I mean, I know why I don't drink. Because half of my internal organs are cloned. But weren't you, like, a heavy drinker yourself?"

"Has anyone ever told you that you are insensitive as hell?" Jim replied and Joseph pulled his shoulders up.

"Plenty of times. But I don't give a damn about that anymore. Why did you stop drinking?"

"Why do you want to know that?"

"Because I'm bored and I can't think of anything other insensitive that I can ask you." Well, that was straightforward. The band was still playing and the people of the town were having a great time. Jim watched how some couples were dancing on the dance floor. Some slow, some faster, some without any talent whatsoever. But they all had one thing in common, they were enjoying themselves. And that was the only thing that mattered.

"Hmm...look at them." Joseph muttered after a while. "All so happy and relaxed. It's a bit different from the last party I was on."

"Yeah, well...the food was better back then, but the entertainment program sucked."

"Amen to that!" Joseph chuckled. Jim looked over at the younger man and frowned.

"Well, since we're already talking about insensitive topics...there's one thing I would like to ask you."

"You want to know why I act like an utter asshole, something that I didn't do when I worked for the Admiral." Well, maybe Izsha was right about one thing. Maybe Joseph did possess a sharp intellect.

"I would have used different words, but yeah. That's the general question I've been asking myself." When Joseph heard that, he sighed and leaned backward. He stared at the crowd on the dance floor and suddenly he appeared a lot calmer than before.

"The last year was the worst of my life. I'm in pain, Jim. Every damn second my guts feel as if they're about to explode. I take meds that are supposed to help. At least that's what the doctors claim. But when I take them, I am so damn tired that I can't do anything but stare at the ceiling of my own flat."

"But...aren't there ways to help you?"

"It's complicated."

"Meaning?"

"Agh..." Joseph sighed. "...I'm suffering from a rare condition. My body rejects the cloned tissue. Even though it's supposed to be just like my own, I will need a bunch of new cloned organs soon."

"How soon?" Jim wanted to know and Joseph shrugged his shoulders.

"One year? Two years? Dunno. Don't really care."

"But...what if you don't get a replacement?" Jim asked.

"I die." Joseph's voice was calm and he sounded like a man who didn't really care about that.

"Then why did you come out here? Why would you-"

"Do you have any idea what I did the last year?" Joseph interrupted him and looked him straight into the eyes. "Nothing. I was put on hold. The people told me that my services were no longer required and that I should take some time off. And you know what your buddy the Admiral did?"

"What?"

"Nothing. He never visited me even once. When I was discharged from the hospital, I was informed that I could just go home. End of story. So what did I do? I went home. And I stayed there and waited for something to happen. And guess what? Nothing happened. And that gave me time to think." Joseph explained. Suddenly he was no longer the annoying prick. Suddenly he was a man who was in constant pain, yet refused to lie down and just die.

And that was something Jim could respect.

"So you came out here to...?"

"I'm not gonna beg for my life, Jim." Joseph chuckled. "And I won't spend the next years in a hospital, waiting for my next cloned organ to fail and be replaced. So yeah, when Izsha suddenly stood in front of my door, I thought: "What the hell? This could be fun!" At the very least I will see some interesting things before I bite the dust."

"How old are you, Joseph?"

"Depends on which part you're talking about."

"The one that counts." Jim mumbled.

"Twenty-three. Why?" That was far too young to be a cynic.

"Well, it would be a shame for you to go out before you get a real chance at living." Jim mused.

"How poetic. Next time someone shoots me in the guts, I make sure to remember those words."

"And there goes that moment. It was nice knowing you." Jim mumbled and shook his head. Before those two could continue with their little talk, Phil approached them. He had a huge grin on his face and the way he moved showed that he was already pretty drunk.

"Hey ho, sailors! How's everyone doing?" the burly man asked and both Jim and Joseph exchanged neutral looks.

"Good, I guess. How are you doing?" Jim wanted to know and Phil gave him a thumbs-up.

"As... asweo...awesme..." Phil tried to say.

"I think the word you're looking for is "Awesome"." Joseph offered and Phil gave him a thumbs-up too.

"Yeah...anyway, I wanted to thank you guys for...for everything you did. Oh, and Jim." Phil said and then he slung his arms around the sitting man.

"Uhm...Phil?"

"I just...I wanted you to know...I love you, man. I love you." Oh gosh, he was not just drunk, he was utterly wasted.

"That's so cute." Joseph mumbled. "And I forgot my camera. Dang." Jim sighed and patted his hand on Phil's shoulder.

"It's okay, Phil. I like you too."

"I... I mean it. You're my friend, Jim. My bestest...friend."

"Whoa, you hear that? You are his bestest friend." Joseph chuckled. "I wonder if he has a worstest enemy."

"Oh, I think I know a potential candidate." Jim replied and looked back at Joseph, who acted like he had no idea who Jim was referring to.

"Hey, it's not nice to talk about Book that way when he's not around."

"Speaking of Book, just where is he? Shouldn't the Shepherd be here and show some presence as well?" Jim asked and suddenly the smile on Joseph's face turned into a mad grin.

"Funny that you mention that now. Since it should happen any second now." the Marshal replied.

"Say what? Is there something you want to tell me?"

"BRENT!" The music stopped for a second and everyone looked over to the door. Jim could see Book...and even from all that distance, he could see that the Shepherd was furious.

"Whoa, now that's what I call timing!" the Marshal chuckled and Jim groaned.

"Just what did you do this time?"

"Why, I was having fun. Since when is that a crime?" Joseph asked while Book stomped over to them. He stopped in front of the three men and was boiling with rage.

"You insufferable little piece of sh-" Book hissed.

"Whoa, watch it Book!" Joseph interrupted him. "It's not nice to call Jim like that!"

"I was talking about _you_!"

"Me? But Shepherd, I don't know what you're talking about." Joseph cooed like he was innocence incarnated. Which, of course, was impossible.

"Oh God, what did you do now?" Jim asked again, even though he didn't really want to know any details. It was like that talk with Izsha a few hours back. When Jim remembered that, he suddenly had to imagine Brent and Izsha doing-

"Happy thoughts, happy thoughts." Jim chastised himself, and both Joseph and Book seemed to be confused for a second.

"What's with you? You just look like you saw a car crash that involves a bus full of orphans." Joseph asked and Jim shuddered again.

"Trust me, it's way worse than that..." Jim whispered. The horror, oh the horror.

"So you heard what he did!" Book hissed and Jim looked back up to the Shephard.

"What? No, I was just imagining...well, forget it. Just what did he do to you?"

"This guy!" Book hissed and pointed his finger at Brent. "He sent five male strippers into the church, telling them that, and I quote: "The Shepherd is finally able to tell the people of his community how he truly feels." And then they started to dance and yel all the time."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jim asked.

"I don't know. And I don't want to know. All I know is that it took me half an hour before I finally managed to throw these strippers out of my church!"

"You know..." Jim mumbled and looked over at Joseph. "...that is a bit extreme, even for you."

"What? I thought I should help Book to come clean!"

"And what makes you think I need male strippers to come clean? Besides, what do you even take me for? A pervert?" Book barked. Jim had never seen him this angry before.

"Now, now. It's all good and fine." Brent tried to reason with the Shepherd. "I just thought you needed a push in the right direction. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Sure, this isn't Korhal and the people aren't as open-minded here as they are there, but you shouldn't hide your true feelings. It's no shame to be, you know, from the other side."

"And what in _tarnation_ would make you think that I'm "from the other side", huh?"

"Well, you don't even look at women, so I just assumed that-"

"It's called a celibacy, you insufferable piece of sh-"

"Whoa, Book. Are you telling me you don't like gay people? That's pretty low. Haven't you religious people learned your lessons? Love isn't something that is bound to genders, Shepherd."

"What? This is...you are...I swear to my boss that I will-"

"Uhm, ugh...I don't feel so good." Phil muttered. He was still hugging Jim and looked like he was to puke.

"Yeah, you look like you could use some fresh air. Here, let's go outside." Jim said and wanted to stand up. But that's when Book grabbed the Mayor's arm and pulled him with it.

"Don't bother, I will do that. And after that _we_..." he hissed and pointed his finger right at Joseph. "...will have a nice long talk!"

"Sorry, Book. You're too old for me. And you're not my type!"

"Why, you little..." Jim didn't understand the rest of what Book was saying, but he was pretty certain that it wasn't very flattering. When the Shepherd and the Mayor were gone, he looked over to Joseph.

"Just why the hell would you do something like that?"

"What? Sending strippers to the church?"

"Among other things, yeah."

"Ah, it's fine. I know that Book isn't from the other side. I just wanted to make fun of him."

"You have a strange idea about what's funny. What if he had been gay?"

"Nothing?" Joseph offered and saw the puzzled expression on Jim's face. "Oh, I see. You think that I wanted to make fun of gay people. No, I wanted to make fun of Book. Those two things are completely different."

"Looks the same to me." Jim mumbled.

"Only because you're looking at it from the wrong direction." Joseph explained. "This was actually an elaborate plan."

"I seriously doubt that. What was the point of this plan?"

"To keep the Shepherd occupied of course. And to amuse me."

"Why would you want to keep Book occupied? What did that guy ever do to you?" Jim wanted to know and Joseph chuckled when he heard that.

"Oh, you don't have to know about that just yet. Maybe one other day I'm gonna tell you. Until then, you just have to know one thing; it's in your best interest that I annoy the crap out of Book."

"Book's right. You are insufferable. And insensitive."

"Yeah, well...I realized that people leave me alone when I act like an asshole. All you have to do is to act as culturally insensitive and make fun of every minority you can think of."

"That's one way to make friends." Jim mumbled and promised himself that he would urge Sarah to find a way to get rid of him as soon as possible.

Unbeknownst to Jim, Joseph Brent would never ever leave their side again.

The party went on, yet Jim didn't feel like joining the crowd. He saw all these couples and a warm smile appeared on his face. Most folks from New Thompson had never left Ramelow. This world was both their birthplace and would be the place where they would be put to rest. Everything that was happening on other worlds didn't bother them. The Zerg, the Protoss, the big war...the fat cats that ruled Augustgrad and considered themselves so damn important...none of that mattered here.

This was the simple life. And Jim enjoyed it. No obligations, no galaxy that needed to be saved. In a way, this is what Jim had always dreamed of. It wasn't perfect and there were still plenty of things that he had to do and worry about. But this moment? It was peaceful and he was grateful for that.

There was only one thing that would have made this moment even better, but he knew that this wouldn't happen. Sarah wouldn't join him. He wasn't sad about that, it was just the way things were and...

Well, okay, a part of him was sad about that. But he wouldn't force Sarah to do something that she just felt uncomfortable with. Only if it was truly necessary. And against contrary belief, parties are not an essential part of life.

And so the party went on. Phil didn't return, neither did Book. Who knew what those two were up to. And Joseph? Well, he too had to leave at one point. Apparently, some minors had managed to sneak in and drink an ungodly amount of beer in a rather short amount of time. The result was spectacular and called for local law enforcement to intervene. So Joseph had grabbed the three boys and was now making sure that they wouldn't choke on their own vomit.

Sitting here all by himself wasn't all that bad. It gave Jim time to think. And yes, there were actually things on his mind that weren't centered around Sarah. He was thinking about all different kind of things. Like for example how nice it would be to see Matt again.

Heh, his old friend would probably not believe one word of what Jim would tell him. Right now, there was no way for Jim to leave this place. Well, he could do that. It wasn't like he was bound to this place. But there were still so many things to do and to worry about. And he didn't want to drag Sarah with him. He knew that she didn't like going to Central City. And Augustgrad was a bit bigger than Ramelow's capital.

Maybe Jim could visit Matt next year. And see the old gang again. Like Valerian and Swann. Ah, right now he missed them. It hadn't all been bad. Some of his best memories were about these guys, and he still considered them his best friends.

And so all Jim did was to sit in the corner and look at the people having fun. The hours went by and the party became calmer. Perhaps it was the alcohol, perhaps it was the tiredness. Yet as the middle of the night approached, more and more people decided to leave. Some sat at tables and were joking and laughing like they hadn't done in years. Jim could see the smile on their faces and knew that they had done the right thing. These people, they were good people. And good people deserved a treat from time to time.

The band played some of the cheesiest love songs you could imagine and Jim chuckled when he saw how an old couple hobbled to the dance floor and started to dance. It was cute to see them like this.

"Well..." Jim whispered to himself and sighed. "...happy Thanksgiving, everyone."

* * *

"That's right. Out with the old, in with the new. Let it all out, buddy." Joseph said while patting his hand on the boy's shoulder. It was a local, one of the kids that had managed to sneak inside and drink an ungodly amount of alcohol within less than a minute. He wasn't looking too good and was still vomiting long after his two buddies were done. Joseph had dragged the three little pukers behind the building, which was the perfect spot to empty their stomachs. After the first two buys were done with their "Augustgradian mating-call", Brent had sent them straight back home, so they could crawl back into their beds and forget about this whole experience.

As for the third one...

"HUAAAAAAGHHH!"

"Pro-tip, Junior; if you decide to get wasted, you should eat something first. Otherwise, the alcohol will just go straight to your head. Oh, and never mix different sorts of alcohol." Joseph explained.

"Wh-why? Wh-HUAAAGH!" the boy tried to ask, only to puke some more.

"Good question. Never really thought of it myself. It's just one of those random things people tell you. Like to wash your hands after using the bathroom. Or never to put your genitals where they don't belong. You know, the usual stuff." Perhaps the boy would be lucky and wouldn't remember anything that Joseph was telling him right now.

Then again, there was no such thing as "getting corrupted at an age too young", at least not when Joseph Brent was involved.

"HUAAAAGH!"

"That's it. Let it all out. Don't worry, once you puke blood, it'll be over soon." So this was how Joseph would spend the rest of the night, watching how underage teenager would have their first enemy encounter with alcohol. Oh, joy. Then again, it was better than lying in his bed while staring at the ceiling, like he had done on Korhal.

"Goodness, it's amazing how much vomit can one produce even though there's nothing inside the stomach. You, my dear boy, are a medical sensation."

"I don't feel so good. I think I'm sick." the boy whined and Joseph offered him a warm smile.

"If you think you feel like crap now, wait till you wake up tomorrow. That's when things will get nasty. Oh, and one more thing. There is something you should know about. It's an ancient tradition that marks your entry into adulthood."

"And what...what would that be?"

"Beer shit."

Hey, someone had to warn that kid, right? If you tell a soldier to storm a Zerg hive, you better tell him what he's in for!

Brent was about to tell the boy what would happen tomorrow and he didn't have to hold back either since there was no other person behind the building. He could go crazy. And so, Joseph slung his arm around the boy's shoulders and smiled in the worst possible way.

"Let me tell you something..."

* * *

The party was coming to an end. It was already late and most people had left. Some had been drunk, others were just tired. A few die-hard people remained on the dance floor, but they too would be gone soon. Besides, the band was getting tired as well. And so Jim started to clean up. He grabbed chairs that weren't needed anymore and put them in a corner, he brought some of the trash out and threw it into the dumpster, all the stuff you had to do. He tried his best not to bother the remaining couples and once that was done, he got back inside and closed the door behind him.

He didn't want to throw people out, but it was already the middle of the night and he would send anyone away who wanted to have some late-night fun. Jim felt like a cheap bouncer and leaned against the wall right next to the door.

He thought about what to do next. Unfortunately, he still hadn't come up with an explanation for those two apple trees. And how to deal with Sarah's powers. Oh, and how to keep Izsha hidden from the others.

Especially Brent. Oh yeah, he didn't want to imagine what would happen if those two would meet.

Brrrrrr...

"Well, lovebirds...how about it. One final song and then we're done?" the bandleader asked and received exhausted nods.

"Okay, you asked for it. Now, this one is an old song. Maybe even older than a few of you. Let's see if you recognize it." the singer said and took a deep breath before he started to sing.

" _All my bags are packed. I'm ready to go."_

" _I'm standin' here outside your door."_

" _I hate to wake you up to say goodbye."_

Jim's eyes widened in surprise when he recognized those lines, but soon his expression was replaced by a gentle smile and he sighed.

"Too bad that you're not here, Darlin'. They even play our song." he whispered to himself.

" _But the dawn is breakin'."_

" _It's early morn."_

" _The taxi's waitin'."_

" _He's blowing his horn."_

"Already I'm so lonesome I could die." Jim whispered. That's when the door behind him was opened. He sighed and turned around in order to face the newcomer.

"Sorry, but we're closed. Party's already over and-" But when he saw the person standing in the doorframe, he fell silent immediately.

"Is there no way you could make an exception for me, Sir? I heard my boyfriend was here and I wanted to surprise him." the woman said. There was an embarrassed smile on her face.

"Sarah?" Jim asked. He didn't know what surprised him more; the fact that Sarah had decided to show up...or the fact that she looked absolutely stunning.

Well, Sarah always looked stunning, but this...

"Is there something wrong?" she asked and looked down at herself. "Is this too much?" Well...yeah. It was too much. Sarah wore a dress. Not just any dress, but a beautiful strapless green dress. That alone would have been worth mentioning. But it didn't end there. Where should we start? The fact that she had a new hairstyle? Or the fact that she looked like someone had performed a complete makeover on her.

"Uhm...I screwed up, didn't I? Oh, this was a stupid idea, I should have never-"

"No!" Jim interrupted her. "It's just...unexpected. Sarah, what did you do?" Suddenly his lover looked really small. She lowered her head and sighed.

"I went to Central City and just wanted to get a dress. You know, nothing fancy. But then, well, things escalated. They wouldn't let me go!" she whined. It was absolutely adorable.

"You..." Jim mumbled and walked up to Sarah. And then a grin appeared on his face. "...look absolutely amazing. But why would you do such a thing?" he asked and Sarah averted her gaze. She started to tug at her dress and bit her lip.

"I just...I guess I wanted to surprise you. Seems like I blew it. Party's over and I look like a goddamn parrot. They even put chopsticks in my hair. Chopsticks! I have no idea how I'm gonna get those out again! Besides, my hair now looks like a bird-nest!" Which was greatly exaggerated.

"Your hair looks great." Jim chuckled and Sarah grabbed one flock of her hair.

"You think so? It smells weird. They told me that I shouldn't use soap to wash my hair. It was really weird. And scary. And weird. And really scary. And then they put something on my face and now my skin feels so _soft_!" Only then Sarah looked over Jim's shoulder and went pale.

"What? Where is everyone? Oh no... don't tell me the party is already over? Wait, I did this all for nothing?!" Sarah whined and Jim couldn't help but laugh.

"You wanted...to surprise me?" Jim asked and Sarah pulled her shoulders up.

"Yeah, I guess so...well...surprise!"

Jim didn't know what to say. Here she was, all dressed up and pretty. And Jim knew how much Sarah hated it. Yet she still had decided to do this?

"You did this for me?" he whispered and Sarah looked away.

"I... I guess I wanted to give you something back. I just wanted to surprise you, didn't think it would escalate like..." she said and pointed at herself. "...this! Now I feel like a goddamn idiot. Who am I kidding, I'm not made for this." But Jim didn't care. He walked up to Sarah and put his arms around her.

"Jim?" she asked and he could sense her surprise.

"This..." he whispered in her ear. "...is the greatest gift of all times. Thank you, Sarah."

It wasn't the fact that she had decided to get herself a makeover. No, that wasn't it. He didn't care how Sarah looked like, she was beautiful either way. It was the thought that mattered. Sarah had done something that she truly despised just to make Jim happy. She looked over Jim's shoulder once more and could see the last few couples on the dance floor.

"Oh, hell...they all wear normal things! Wait, does that mean that I'm overdressed? I look ridiculous!" she whined and Jim looked her into the eyes.

"You look beautiful." he said and then he kissed her. Behind them, the song finally ended.

" _...but I'm leavin' on a jet plane."_

" _Don't know when I'll be back again."_

" _Oh babe, I hate to go..._ thank you, and good night people!" the singer said and then it was over.

"Sorry, Jim. I guess I ruined it." Sarah mumbled while the last people left the dance floor. Jim chuckled again when he heard that.

"No, Sarah. You didn't ruin anything. You just saved my day." And then he made a step backward and took her hand into his own. "Well, since you're already here...care to dance?" he asked and Sarah looked at the band who was already starting to pack their things.

"The party's over. Maybe we should just leave..." Sarah mumbled.

"Sorry, Darlin'. You're telling me to just waste the opportunity to dance with the most beautiful woman of all times." When Sarah heard that, she couldn't help it and started to blush. This was ridiculous, but when Jim hurried over to the band, she could only sigh. He reached the stage and looked up to the members of the band.

"Hey, could you do me a favor? Could you go for one more round?"

"Uh, I don't know, buddy." the lead singer moaned. "It's late and we're all tired."

"Hey, I know you're tired. And you did a great job. It's just..." Jim said and pointed over his shoulder. "...my girl just arrived. One final encore?" The singer looked over to the other members of his band, who all seemed like they were not too fond of the idea. "Come on, just one song. You would do both of us a huge favor."

"What do you say, guys?" the singer said and looked over to the rest of his band.

"Well...okay." the bassist then said and the others sighed. "One more for the road. But only one song, after that we're gone!"

"You're the best, people!" Jim replied and walked back to Sarah.

"Hey, yo!" the singer yelled and Jim looked over his shoulder. "Which song do you want to hear?"

"The last one!" And then he grabbed Sarah and pulled her on the dance floor.

"Jim, I'm not sure that this is such a good idea. Maybe we should just-"

"Shhh...just relax." Jim told her and she decided to just let it happen. He put his arms around her waist and then they looked into each other's eyes. And behind them, the band started to play again.

" _All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go."_

" _I'm standin' here outside your door."_

" _I hate to wake you up to say goodbye."_

At first, Sarah resisted the idea of having the dance floor all to themselves. By now only she and Jim remained, excluding the band.

"I still don't believe you did that." Jim said with a warm smile on his face.

"Yeah, well...don't get used to it. These shoes are a goddamn nightmare." Sarah mumbled and looked at her own feet. They started to move while the band continued to play their song.

" _But the dawn is breakin', it's early morn."_

" _The taxi's waitin', he's blowin' his horn."_

" _Already I'm so lonesome I could die."_

"You know, even though you hate those shoes, you sure know how to move while wearing them." Jim teased her.

"Tsk, I wore high-heels for over four years, Love." Sarah shot back. "Though those things were a lot more comfortable than these damn shoes! I will never understand why women wear something like that!"

"And yet you do."

"Don't push your luck, Mister."

" _So kiss me and smile for me."_

" _Tell me that you'll wait for me."_

" _Hold me like you'll never let me go."_

Their dance wasn't following any rule. They just did what felt was right. Sarah decided to let go of her doubts and embrace the moment. She slung her arms around Jim's neck and pressed her lips against his. The kiss they shared reminded both of them of that moment on the Hyperion. Things had been different back then...but not necessarily easier. Because even with all that had happened, now their problems seemed to be manageable.

" _Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane."_

" _Don't know when I'll be back again."_

" _Oh babe, I hate to go."_

"Just so you know; you look beautiful." Jim whispered after breaking the kiss.

"Well, don't get used to it. I feel so soft and squishy, like a newly hatched Zergling." Sarah replied.

" _There's so many times I've let you down."_

" _So many times I've played around."_

 _"I tell you now, they don't mean a thing."_

" _Every place I go, I'll think of you."_

" _Every song I sing, I'll sing for you."_

" _When I come back, I'll bring your wedding ring."_

"We've come a long way, haven't we, Darlin'?" Jim whispered.

"We don't do things half-baked." Sarah replied and they looked into each other's eyes. It was just like that moment on the Hyperion, it was as if the whole universe had decided to give them a break, and now even time had come to a halt. Jim looked into those beautiful green eyes and knew that no matter what the universe had in store for them, they would endure it.

And so, they decided to enjoy this moment to the fullest. They kissed again and listened to the song while moving over the dance floor like only lovers could.

" _So kiss me and smile for me."_

" _Tell me that you'll wait for me."_

" _Hold me like you never let me go."_

Right now all the things Jim and Sarah were worried about seemed to be so trivial. They had dealt with worse. So whatever the future would bring for them, they knew that they could take it. It just shouldn't involve dark alien gods trying to destroy all life.

" _Now the time has come to leave you."_

" _One more time let me kiss you."_

" _Then close your eyes and I'll be on my way."_

" _Dream about the days to come."_

" _When I won't have to leave alone."_

" _About the times when I won't have to say..."_

And this time Sarah and Jim decided to sing along.

"Oh, kiss me and smile for me."

"Tell me that you'll wait for me."

"Hold me like you'll never let me go." Both of them sang and Sarah slung her arms around Jim's neck, pressing her body against his.

"Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane."

"Don't know when I'll be back again."

"Oh babe, I hate to go..." The music started to fade away, yet neither Jim nor Sarah seemed to care. This was their moment.

"Jim?" Sarah asked.

"Yes?"

"I love you."

And it was this moment that Jim realized that everything he had done so far, all the defeats and all that pain that had led him to this point...

...had been worth it.

* * *

Paula was looking out of the window and looking at all the people coming home. She wanted to have fun, too! However, her uncle had not allowed it. He was still afraid that she would say something stupid, and then ruin everyone's fun. Paula was not sad or angry because of that, she knew that her uncle wanted to keep her safe.

Besides, right now she was far too excited to be sad!

As she looked out of the window, she could sense all those thoughts! And they all felt the same way.

"They are so happy! The whole town is happy!" she marveled.

"Are you sad that you can't have some fun too?" a gentle voice asked, and Paula looked over her shoulder. The young woman hadn't been there mere seconds ago, but Paula wasn't scared.

"It's okay. So many thoughts still confuse me. But I made progress! And maybe next year I can join them!" she said with that weird childlike glee only she possessed.

"I'm sure you will." the young woman said. And Paula knew that she wasn't lying or making fun of her. There was a moment of silence, and neither one of them said anything. Until...

"Paula?" the young woman asked, and Paula tilted her head to the side.

"You have to leave?" she wanted to know, already knowing what the young woman wanted to say. She nodded and showed Paula that gentle smile again, the one that caused your heart to weep with joy.

"I have to. My time here is coming to an end. And there is still something else I have to do, someone I have to talk to."

"You want to say goodbye to them?" Paula wanted to know, and now the smile on the young woman's face became sad.

"I want...but I can't. Not yet, anyway. But Paula, could you do me a favor?"

"Okay!" Paula said, not even asking what this favor was about. It caused the young woman to chuckle, and then she stood up from the bed and walked over to Phil's niece. She grabbed Paula's hands and gave them a soft squeeze.

"I want you to know...that I'm so happy to have met you. I always wanted to know who Paula was, and I am glad that I got the chance to meet you in person." And Paula? She just smiled and hugged the young woman, as if they were old friends.

"I will miss you." Paula just said. The young woman put her arms around the lithe frame of the girl and closed her eyes. A single tear rolled down her cheek. A tear that was made out of gold.

"I will look after them." Paula said. "And you will say hi from me to your family, yes?"

"Yes, I will. Goodbye, Paula. And thank you for being yourself."

And with that, the young woman was gone.

* * *

It was late in the night when Joseph walked into his office. He had just checked the entire town for any drunkards that might otherwise have ended up missing the next day. And what did you know, he actually found at least three guys who thought that sleeping outside was a great idea. So when he finally got back home, he threw his gun on his desk, only to stop, walk back, pick up the gun, and put it in the weapons locker. Joseph then walked up the stairs and into his apartment.

"Another day in paradise." he growled and closed the door behind him. When everything was finally quiet, he sighed and placed his hand on his stomach. God, his innards burned so much! It was getting worse. He probably should go see a doctor, but he was done with wasting his time in hospitals.

All he wanted to do was to get to bed. He was already inside his bedroom when suddenly someone knocked at his door.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" he snarled and turned around. He just wanted to ignore whoever that was, yet he couldn't. Even though he was probably the worst Marshal of all times, he was still a Marshal. And therefore, he had to look whoever it was that wanted to talk to him. He walked to the door of his apartment, wondering how anyone got upstairs in the first place, and opened it.

"Yes, what is it. It's late, goddammit and... uhm...hello?" he asked when he realized that there was no one. He just stared down the dark staircase and frowned.

"Maybe Book's still pissed and did a knock-a-door-run." Joseph mumbled and slammed the door shut. He walked back into his bedroom and threw himself on the bed when suddenly.

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

"Oh, to hell with you, Book!" Joseph hissed and got back up. He would set that church on fire and dance around it while laughing like a madman. He was about to walk back to the door when he heard that knocking once more. Only then he realized that it was not coming from the door...

...but from the window behind him.

Joseph froze for a second and wondered if he was just so tired that he was imagining things.

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

Nope, definitely not a dream. Someone was knocking against... _his window_?

Joseph turned around and walked over to it. It was dark outside, so he couldn't really make out any details. Though whoever it was, that person had to be suicidal, considering that his bedroom was on the first floor. He opened the window and then...

"Hello, Major Brent. Joseph. May I come inside?" Izsha asked. At first, Joseph didn't say anything. He looked down and could see that she was using her huge tail to push herself all the way up to the first floor. Joseph didn't say anything, and after a while, Izsha frowned and tilted her head to the side.

"I have seen this reaction before. James Raynor sometimes looks at her Majesty like this. She then usually says: "My eyes are up here." Would this be an appropriate moment to tell you that my eyes are up here?" Izsha wanted to know and that's when a goofy smile appeared on Joseph's face.

"Yeah, I think that's the perfect moment."

"Very well. My eyes are up here. May I come inside?" Izsha asked again and Joseph made a step backward.

"By all means! Welcome to my humble home!"

Well...maybe this place wasn't so bad after all. Even for weirdos like Joseph Brent.


	104. Act IV - Chapter 20

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 20**

 **Time sure flies if you're having fun**

* * *

 **Seven years later...**

* * *

Phil was sitting inside his office and going through some papers. Harvest season was approaching, and that meant that he had to coordinate certain things. Like every year, newcomers wanted a piece of the cake. Or should he say; a piece of the apple pie? It was bothersome, and so far, he still hadn't come up with something that would help. And the fact that the guys from Central City were breathing down his neck wasn't helping either. They wanted to raise the export numbers by almost all means possible. The reason for that was simple; money.

So far Phil had managed keep the ambitions of all those wannabe farmers and big-shots from the big city in check. It was a tiresome task, but that was his job was all about.

A warm gust entered his office and brought the smell of fresh air with it. He grabbed the cup of coffee standing on his desk and took a small sip, only to realize that it was already too cold for him to enjoy it.

"Ugh...need some fresh coffee." he mumbled, put the cup away and he continued to work his way through all those numbers. And boy, it became more complicated with each passing year. Unfortunately, he was the only qualified person in all of New Thompson to deal with this. Having been a legal advisor had paid off, even though it meant that Phil now had a full-time job. Full time as in; 48 hours a day.

Jim was always talking about going on vacation, traveling to Korhal to see some old friends. Maybe that wasn't such a bad idea? There was only one small problem; as Mayor of the town, Phil couldn't just leave and go on vacation. Besides, where the hell should he go anyway, huh? He was from Tarsonis, a place where you don't want to spend your free time on. Nope, this was his home now. And even though it could become hectic from time to time, being Mayor of this community was the best job of all times.

Well, maybe not the best job of _all times_. But it certainly was better than his old job. Who would have thought that being a legal advisor would one day come in handy again? The best thing was that in the last seven years, no one had managed to outsmart him when it came to legal questions. Seriously, by now every lawyer in Central City knew that they shouldn't screw with the Mayor of New Thompson.

It sounded strange that lawyers would try to screw with him, but there's one thing you have to keep in mind; if you're successful, people will notice. And they will try to get a piece of the cake. Or spit in your breakfast. And the last couple of years? They had been good to this place. New Thompson was no longer a dying town at the ass-end of this world. Now people actually recognized that name when they heard it.

Suddenly the door to his office was opened and a woman entered. She didn't say anything, all she did was to walk up to his desk and replace the cold cup with a fresh one filled with steaming hot coffee. Phil, who was still busy studying those legal documents, blinked in surprise when he smelled the scent of fresh coffee. He turned his head to the side and pulled his brows up.

"Paula? What's..." he asked. His niece gave him a warm smile and pointed with her finger at the fresh cup of coffee.

"Here. You wanted some fresh coffee?"

"Oh, seriously, that wouldn't have been necessary!" he replied.

"You wanted a coffee, here it is. Now don't pretend that you didn't mean that because I know that you're lying." she chuckled and Phil sighed.

"You know me too well." he said, grabbed the cup and took a sip. "Hmm...well, I'm glad that you heard my whining because this coffee is _delicious_." He leaned back and enjoyed the smell and the taste of the hot brew. Paula looked at the document and frowned.

"Is this a list of people that want to lease some land?"

"Yep, just came in this morning."

"It's...long." Paula mumbled and then she took a closer look. "I don't remember a lot of names on that list. And neither do you."

"Well, that's because we got a surprisingly big amount of off-worlders in the mix. If this thing goes on like this, then we have to decide by drawing lots." Phil mumbled and Paula tilted her head to the side.

"You don't like having so many off-worlders here. You think that they will only complicate things because they don't know anything about our community. And you're not too fond of people who just come here to make money."

"Hmm, thanks for telling me what's on my mind." Phil mumbled and Paula pulled her shoulders up.

"Sorry. It was a long night. Me and-" she was about to say, but that's when Phil raised his hands.

"I don't want to hear any details! Not like last time! Thank you very much!" he cut her short and earned a strange look from his niece.

"You are unhappy because I was enjoying myself. However, at the same time, you're happy that I'm happy. You're just not happy _how_ I gained that happiness."

"Ah, there's the old Paula again. We haven't seen each other in some time. How have you been?" Phil sighed and he could see how his niece blushed.

"Sorry. I got carried away." she mumbled and brushed a strand of hair back behind her ear. "Anyway, I wanted to tell you something."

"Oh really? It's not about your hubby, is it?" Phil asked and his niece shook her head.

"No, it's about the negotiators. They are about to return in order to make a new offer." When Phil heard that, he sighed again.

"Okay, and when will they arrive?"

"In about ten seconds." Paula explained and Phil was groaning on the inside when he heard that. That was hardly enough time to prepare himself for another round of negotiation. His niece could see the pained expression on his face and pulled her shoulders up. "Sorry. I was thinking about something else and-"

That's when someone knocked at the door and stepped into the lobby of the Mayor's office. Under normal circumstances, you would say that a mayor runs his business from inside a townhall, but New Thompson was still too small for that. Besides, the money the town earned was needed elsewhere. So now Phil's house was also his office. The good thing about this was that his daily way to work was exactly twenty steps. The not-so-good thing was that now pretty much the entire town used his home as townhall.

Two men entered the lobby and when they didn't see anyone, they walked over to the door leading to Phil's office and knocked on the doorframe.

"Hello? Mayor Carter? Fillis and Meyer, we would like to know if you could spare some time for us. We would like to talk about some minor details regarding the contract's details." _Minor details_ usually meant that he would sit here for at least four hours and listen to another round of _"How can we screw this guy over without him noticing it?_ ". Unfortunately, he was the Mayor, and that meant that he had to do this.

"Maybe you want to leave now." Phil whispered to Paula, who just shook her head.

"No, we're in this together. I am your secretary after all." When he heard that, a warm smile appeared on his face and he gestured the two men to enter.

"Come in, please." He stood up and shook their hands before he looked over to his niece. "In case you haven't met her yet; this is my secretary, Miss Carter." The two men shook Paula's hand and she could sense their confusion.

"In case you're wondering; yes, we are related. I am his niece." Paula explained and then she turned back towards her uncle and put her hand on his shoulder. "I will wait outside and make sure that no one will bother you." Paula walked out of her uncle's office and closed the door behind her.

"Well, have a seat then!" Phil said and prepared for another round of negotiating madness.

"Mayor Carter, we wanted to talk with you about the latest details regarding the issue we discussed the other day."

"You mean the money." Phil chuckled.

"Yes, the money..." the first negotiator said and leaned forward. "Mister Carter, we talked with the management, and they had a few ideas regarding the financial aspect of the contract's outlines. Now, the numbers you gave us, let's say that the management on Korhal wasn't very happy with them. You see, we do understand that doing business with a company as big as ours can create all sorts of wrong impressions. And while we are one of the largest conglomerates when it comes to food products, we too have to look at the numbers. Mayor, we would love to pay you what you told us, but we simply can't."

"Well, that's too bad." Phil replied. "I understand that you're looking for a good deal. But I tell now what I told you the other day; we will not accept the numbers you are offering."

"Mayor, please, try to be reasonable. We are all interested in finding a good solution."

"You're looking for a good solution for _your_ company." Phil replied. "That's something that I can respect. However, that is none of my concern. I was elected to represent the interests of this community. And selling our products below market value is simply not in our interest. I am sorry, but we can't accept your offer. We are proud of our product, and the fact that people from Korhal come all the way out here to Ramelow tells us that we're doing a good job. And I think it's reasonable to expect money for doing a good job." Phil explained. The two negotiators exchanged neutral looks before the leader sighed.

"Mayor..." he began and Phil knew that this would end in tragedy. "...you are truly a tough negotiation partner." Which was a nice way for them to say that he was a pain in the ass. "But we cannot offer you that much money. We really would like you to reconsider our offer. However, if you don't, we might have to look for a different solution. If we cannot reach an agreement with _you_ , then perhaps the fruit farmers will be more open to-" When Phil heard that, he laughed out loud and shook his head.

"Pardon me, but what's so funny?" the lead-negotiator asked.

"Ah, it's always the same. Listen, I understand that you try to get the best possible deal out of this. But there is no shortcut. I speak for the _entire_ community of New Thompson. And that includes everyone. So you can, of course, try to talk to the farmers, but I can already tell you that you won't have any success. Because the farmers have all agreed to leave the negotiations to me. And let me tell you something; this community still sticks together. In good times and in bad times. But please, feel free to try. However, you should do yourself a favor and go see James Rennard first. He owns the biggest plantation and last year his trees produced 60 percent of our entire harvest. Oh, and so you know; he's also a close friend of mine. You want me to call him and ask if he has time for you?" There was a huge grin on Phil's face, and the two men realized that they probably had to think about this some more.

"Uhm...well, we probably should talk with the management about this." the lead-negotiator mumbled and Phil nodded like crazy.

"Yes, perhaps you should do that."

After that, the two men decided to take their leave and when they were gone, Paula walked back into his office with a big smile on her face.

"You think I overdid it?" Phil asked and she shook her head.

"No. They were trying to impress you, thinking that you are just a redneck because Ramelow is a backwater planet. They do not know that you used to be a legal advisor on Tarsonis and probably have forgotten more about laws than those two will ever know. They are ill-prepared and think that they don't have to put a lot of effort into these negotiations." Paula explained and Phil made sure to write some of that down.

"Anything else?"

"Yes. They were lying about the numbers. The management gave them a lot more room to negotiate a trade deal. They simply want to impress their superiors by making you sign a contract that is too good to be true."

"Hmm, guess that means that we just have to play it cool and wait for them to blink first. Should be easy enough. Besides, they aren't the only ones that want our wares. The guys from the Combine offered a far better deal anyway." Suddenly Phil had to chuckle. "I wonder if they will start telling us that we should do something for the Dominion's economy instead of doing business with the Combine. Ha, now that will be fun." He then looked up at his niece and pulled his brows up.

"Anything else I should know?"

"The one with glasses probably has an STD. Going to the bathroom in the morning hurts, yet he is too scared to go to the doctor because then he would have to explain to his wife where he got it from." Paula said.

There was an awkward moment of silence and then Phil took a deep breath.

"Okay, I get it. Enough work for you for one day. How about you take the rest of the day off? See your, uhm, _hubby_?" he suggested, and Paula tilted her head to the side when she sensed her uncle's thoughts.

"Oh. Okay. But first..." she replied and put a few files on Phil's desk. "...you have an appointment with Director Fletcher in one hour. He wants to hire at least three more pre-school teachers."

"Ugh, of course she does." Phil moaned. Fletcher was the director of the local elementary school and the kindergarten. And since the town had grown considerably over the last few years, they needed additional teachers, child care workers, and so on. "Anything else?"

"Well, later on you're supposed to visit the new health center. Some members of the press will be there as well. It's not an official event, yet you might want to act like it's one."

"Noted. And then?"

"Last thing will be some people from Central City. They want to talk about the new highway. They want to urge you to reconsider the route, saying that a direct connection to Central City would be far better than what we suggested."

"Ah, I can't do that, you know that." Phil mumbled. "That road would lead directly through the kriechers' breeding grounds. And you know how _she_ would react if we would do something like that."

" _She_ wouldn't be happy about that." Paula agreed. "Anyway, that's all for today. Tomorrow you will have to get up early. You're supposed to-"

"Okay, I get it. Work's never done. Now you call it a day and do something fun. I need you on your feet when the next guys want to negotiate, yeah?"

"Okay." Paula said with a gentle smile on her face. "I think I will see my hubby. We still need to talk about-"

"Yeah!" Phil interrupted her. "I get it! You do that, tell me when I actually want to hear about it and we're super cool." he growled. He still hadn't been able to digest it, even though he was doing his best. Paula leaned forward and kissed her uncle on the cheek.

"Thank you. And don't worry, you are of course invited!"

"Just get out." Phil chuckled and then Paula was on her way.

* * *

The moment Paula stepped out of the Mayor's office (which was also her home), it took only a few seconds before someone greeted her.

"Paula! How nice to see you. Wonderful day, isn't it?" an elderly lady said as she walked by.

"Thank you, Misses Garter. And yes, it is a nice day. Let's hope it will stay this way. Oh, and no, Ernest doesn't know that you cheated on him. However, he thinks that the son of Misses Lane is actually his child." The old woman looked at Paula and seemed to be dumbfounded for a second. Then she turned away and threw her fists around in anger.

"That bastard! I will so not make him his favorite food for the next three days!" the old woman mumbled before she walked away. Paula shrugged her shoulders and then she decided to take care of her own business.

A lot of people greeted her as she walked down the street. However, not even one person thought something like "Look at that Weirdo!" when she heard their thoughts. A lot of things had changed during the last seven years. And New Thompson was a testimony to that. As she walked past McReedy's, she looked over to where the building had been and sighed. The bistro was no more, in its place was now a small supermarket. While Paula missed the old tavern, the supermarket was a huge improvement for most people. It wasn't the only improvement; the new sidewalks were a great addition as well. Repairing the streets had been necessary, especially since the population of the Town had almost doubled within the last few years.

Oh, Paula remembered how hard her uncle had fought to get some money from Central City, yet in the end, the investment had paid off.

A lot of buildings looked a lot better than they had done seven years ago. Some, however, were completely new. Like the building that she was heading for right now. The old Marshal's office had been a run-down frame house. It had served its purpose...barely.

Paula remembered the day when they had inaugurated the new police station. The whole town had been there to celebrate it. For the first time in years, a new building had been built inside the town. And it had been the first of many to follow. The red brick walls looked nice and it still had this new look to it. Everything looked so shiny, including the two brand new police jeeps standing in front of the building. One for the Marshal, and one for his Deputy.

Only that right now there was only one jeep standing in front of the building.

Paula stopped in front of the office and realized that _he_ wasn't inside there right now. Well, he was a busy man after all. Too bad, she really had to talk to him.

And that's when she felt the presence of the other one.

 _Cold. Dead inside. Madness and megalomania. One day they would recognize his greatness. One day he would rule them all._

Paula shuddered in fear. It was like staring into an endless abyss. And the abyss was staring right back at her. Still, she had to do this. She had to be brave, even though she was so scared. The young woman stepped into the police station and walked over to the counter. And the dark, dreadful creature that was sitting behind his desk looked up and yawned.

"Hey, Paula. What's up?" Senior Marshal Joseph Brent asked and looked over the edge of his newspaper.

"Uhm, I had hoped that my fiancé would be here."

"Well, he left an hour ago. Rennard called, there were some issues with explosions and dead people and a burning baby or something, didn't really listen." Joseph mumbled and then he returned his attention to the newspaper.

"Four letters, another word for "caring"." he said out loud and Paula could sense his thoughts.

"Stalking has eight letters." she commented on his idea.

"Right. "Madness" it is." Joseph replied and actually squeezed that word into those four boxes.

"Uhm, do you know when he will be back?" Paula asked and Joseph shook his head.

"Nope. Why? Is there something you need? Someone you need to be arrested? Did your uncle run off with all the money? Don't worry, I will try to aim for his leg."

Well, not everything had changed during the last seven years.

"No, it was just...I wanted to talk to my fiancè. It's about the marriage. And I, uhm..."

"Agh, okay, I'm gonna drive you out there." Joseph groaned and threw his newspaper on his desk.

"No, that's not necessary! I can just wait for him to return and-"

"Nonsense!" Joseph groaned and stood up. He stretched himself and there was a weird grin on his face when he placed his hands on his stomach. "Ah, that cheese pizza was awesome." he moaned and then he grabbed his gun and his jacket and looked over to Paula. "Come on, I need to talk to Jim anyway."

"You're lying. You just want to get out of the office so you don't have to deal with the paperwork and you hope that my fiancé comes back first and does your job." Paula mumbled.

"Sounds about right. Come on, let's ruin someone's day!" the Marshal announced and walked around the counter. Paula wasn't really looking forward to sitting next to Joseph Brent while being inside a car. Unfortunately, she really had to talk to her fiancé.

"Uhm, maybe I can take the bus that's taking the workers to the plantation? I don't want to be a burden and-"

"Shut up and follow me. Don't worry, I won't make any appropriate jokes and comments."

"I can read your minds, so I will know them anyway."

"Well, sucks to be you I guess. Come on, let's do this before _I_ think something that _you_ will regret." Joseph said when he stepped outside. Paula sighed and followed him, yet a few seconds later her face turned into a grimace.

"Too late. I never wanted to know that you can do _that_ with cheese."

They got into the car and then they were on their way.

* * *

As they drove towards the plantation, Paula winded down the window and enjoyed the cool breeze on her skin. Seven years ago, this place had been mostly a wasteland. But now? The lush green fields were covered with high grass that moved from one side to the other as the wind caressed it like a lover would. The rivers carried water the entire year now, and thanks to the mild winters this part of Ramelow saw a lot of tourists from all over the world. There were a few white clouds passing by, but nothing too serious. Rain season had just ended, which meant that they would only get normal rain for the next few months. It also meant that in roughly eight months the number of births would climb drastically. The same had happened the last few years.

As Paula looked out of the window, a gentle smile appeared on her face. The day was simply too nice to let it be ruined by Brent's, well, everything. It didn't take long for the landscape to change. It started with single trees, but after a while, the lush fields were replaced by huge numbers of them.

"Oh hell, why don't you guys use the entire street for yourself!" Brent yelled when a group of tractors approached them. They all pulled huge open trailers filled with the most important export article found on Ramelow. Paula could sense Joseph's thoughts and grabbed her seatbelt as hard as she could.

"You don't want to crash into one of them just to prove a point!" she whined, yet Joseph just steered the car into the middle of the streets and switched the blue light on.

"Marshal, please! Think of your garden!"

"Meh, the roses will understand. I did it for shits and giggles." Joseph replied and accelerated the car.

"THINK OF YOUR GARDEN!"

"THE ROSES WILL UNDERSTAND!" And when they finally reached the tractor, the huge machines just pulled over to the side and made room for the crazy guy inside a police car.

"Ha! Knew it!" Joseph yelled when they drove past those tractors. The drivers in those machines looked out of their windows, and Paula could see more than one finger pointed at Joseph. And she wasn't talking about the index-finger...

"Never play chicken if you can't back it up!" Joseph mumbled to himself. "Oh, and funny thing; I hate roses. Got rid of them as soon as I realized that."

"Really?" Paula asked with a shaky voice. "Too thorny?"

"Naaa, thorny is great. They're just boring. I might as well plant some cacti, at least they're green all the time. And you don't have to cut them back."

"But they smell nice!" Paula said.

"They need too much water. Besides, if you don't keep an eye out for them, they will get everywhere. Roses are probably the most useless plants of all times."

"That's not very romantic." Paula whispered and Joseph looked over at her.

"Her words, not mine." was all he said.

It didn't take long for the landscape to change again. What had been a group of trees standing in the landscape turned into a lush forest. From time to time they came past some more tractors whose trailers were filled to the brim with their tasty load.

"Hmm...looks like this year's harvest will break another record." Joseph mused. "Guess only the sky is the limit."

"We got another offer from a big company. This time it's from Korhal."

"And, is it good?" Joseph asked, yet Paula just shook her head.

"No, it's nowhere near the offer the company from the Combine made." she mumbled.

"Ha, I'm not surprised. People from Korhal think they only have to tell others that they're from Augustgrad and everyone will freeze in awe and shock and soil their pants immediately." Joseph explained and looked over to Paula. "Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. I am from Korhal after all."

"My fiancé asked me if we should travel to Korhal for our honeymoon. Now I don't want to go there anymore." Paula explained.

"Good girl." Joseph replied and thought something that caused Paula to shudder. Since there were so many trees, they didn't see the house until they finally reached it. They came past a big industrial hall were countless of trailers were loaded with the product that everyone wanted.

"Ah, looks we've come to the right place." Joseph said and brought the jeep to a halt, right next to the other police car that belonged to his station. "And seems as if your fiancé is still here." Both of them got out of the car and walked over to the lilac colored house.

"No one's home." Paula said and Joseph just shrugged his shoulders.

"Let's see about that!" Joseph replied and stepped on the veranda. The same veranda that squeaked like it always did. He knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds. When nothing happened, he pulled his gun out and looked over his shoulder.

"There's a shotgun in my car, I take point, you cover me!" he whispered and Paula groaned.

"Is this really necessary? Can't you be weird somewhere else?"

"Ah, you're no fun." Joseph mumbled and put his gun back. "Well, guess we should look for them-"

"WE'RE IN THE BARN!" someone yelled and Joseph pulled his shoulders up.

"Another mystery solved. Go me. I so deserve a promotion."

"Grand Master of Awesomeness isn't a rank within the police force." Paula mumbled when she sensed his thoughts.

"Too bad, I was made for that rank. Come on." Joseph said and both of them walked over to the barn. It was a new building, the old one had been replaced four years ago to make room for a big tractor and two trailers. One trailer was standing in front of the barn, and next to it were none other than Jim and Paula's fiancé.

* * *

"So this is the trailer that was damaged?" the Deputy asked and Jim nodded.

"Another one was slightly damaged, but it's nothing serious. This thing, however? I need to get it fixed. The hydraulic took a beating and I won't risk anyone's safety until it's fixed." Jim explained and the Deputy frowned.

"Aside from that?"

"Well, the trailer was filled to the brim with apples and we had to throw them away."

"Oh, no. How much apples are we talking about here?" the Deputy asked.

"Roughly 1500 kilos. We kept them in the barn because there was no room in the large hall. Thought they would be safe here. Didn't think that we would need a goddamn lock on the door of the barn all the way out here." Jim mumbled.

"Damn." the Deputy hissed. "Treating food like this is just messed up. Whoever did that has no respect for other people's property. You said the trailer was inside the barn when you heard the explosion?"

"Yes, I hurried out immediately, but there was no one to be found. I heard a car driving off, yet I couldn't see what type it was."

"Hmm, better take a look at the tracks." the Deputy mumbled to himself. He then pulled a small object out of his pocket and pointed his finger at the trailer. "Would you mind if I could take some pictures? For the files. And it could help me to find whoever did this."

"By all means." Jim chuckled. "Take as many pictures as you like."

"Thanks." the Deputy said and then he walked up to the trailer and climbed inside. "Agh, there's still mush everywhere."

"Yeah, we haven't been able to clean it yet. Maybe you want to wait until we did that?" Jim offered, but the blonde man just shook his head.

"No, it's fine. A bit of apple mush hasn't hurt anyone...recently." the Deputy replied and took a few photos with his camera. That's when they heard how another car arrived and stopped on the other side of the house.

"Uh, we have guests." Jim mumbled, yet before he could leave the Deputy behind, the blonde man cursed like a sailor.

"What's the matter? Did you find something?"

"You could say that." the Deputy replied. "Say, the hydraulic fluid, is it inflammable?"

"No, why?"

"Because I smell a combustive agent. And there's a piece of a firecracker down here."

"That doesn't sound good." Jim mumbled. "Someone wanted to burn our barn down?"

"No." the Deputy replied. "We saw this before. Someone is using firecrackers to blow things up. But this? This is a new level. Seems like we're dealing with a few kids who don't know that what they're doing isn't fun and games." Jim frowned when he heard that and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He could hear how someone knocked on the door of their home in the distance. He sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"I so don't have time for this right now. We are busy harvesting, I can't even spare one trailer right now." he groaned and then turned the head to the side.

"WE'RE IN THE BARN!" he yelled. Whoever it was, they had to come over to Jim and the Deputy.

"I understand." the Deputy mumbled. "This is getting out of hand. Before today, the worst thing we saw were blown up compost piles or garbage bins. But this? Someone came all the way out here to do this. If I had to take a guess, then we're dealing with an arsonist-in-training. And that's bad."

"You sound like you know more about this. Any problems I should know about?" Jim asked and the Deputy shook his head.

"No. I just need to look into this. There are a few kids who think that they don't have to give a shit about anything. So far, they were just annoying, but if they are responsible for this, then I have to do something. Since no one else is doing anything..."

"Heh, sounds like the Marshal isn't really paying attention to this problem." Jim chuckled and the Deputy groaned.

"No. No, he isn't. Says something that "kids will be kids" and then just tells me to ignore it. Then again, he says that about pretty much everything that's happening these days. Seriously, he's even less motivated than he used to be. And he can't stop talking about his damn garden!"

"Yeah, he sure loves his garden." Jim moaned.

"Have you actually seen it?" the Deputy asked and Jim shook his head. "Nope, he keeps that a secret from pretty much everyone."

"Well, he should focus more on his job and less on his garden."

"Then why don't you file a complaint?" Jim chuckled.

"He might be a lousy boss, but he's still my boss. And it's not my place to question his authority, only how professional he does is his job. And even though I have no idea how he does it, he manages to do his paperwork on time. Seriously, I have never seen so well filled out files before. It's like his handwriting is perfect, yet only when he's gone. Maybe he has someone who does the paperwork for him?"

"Would that be an issue or a reason to get him fired?" Jim chuckled.

"No, there's actually a law that allows that. You can let someone else fill out your files, you only get in trouble when someone's faking your signature and if it's incorrect. And the person who does that job has to be qualified."

"Oh, trust me. _She's_ more than qualified." Jim whispered and the Deputy frowned.

"What did you say?"

"Nothin'!" Jim yelled and that's when they heard a new voice.

"Someone talking about my garden?" Joseph asked when he entered the barn.

"Speaking of the devil..." the Deputy whispered and Jim had to chuckle when he heard that.

"Joe, how's life?" Jim asked and the Marshal stopped immediately.

"In seven years, how many times did we have this conversation?"

"Dunno. Seven times a day?" Jim wondered.

"Sounds about right. I'm not a goddamn trucker!"

"How's your garden?" Jim asked and tried to change the topic.

"Good. Had to nuke the roses, though. They were getting bothersome. So, what's up?"

"Property damage, someone used firecrackers to damage the trailer while it was in the barn. It also smells like a combustive agent was used, so I'm worried that whoever is responsible for this, thinks that normal pranks are no longer funny enough and... wait a sec, if you're here, then who's manning the station?"

"I guess no one." Joseph replied and pulled his shoulders up.

"Marshal!" the Deputy whined. "You could have at least waited until I would have returned! What if there's an emergency?"

"They call 911? Come on, when was the last emergency? Anyway, I didn't come here to lecture you on police procedure..." Joseph said, grotesquely mixing things up. "...but to throw this one out. Oh, and I need to talk to Jim. About something. Private. Which is none of your business. Deputy. GET IN HERE, GIRL!" the Marshal yelled and that's when Paula entered the barn.

"Hey!" she said and waved her hand.

"Paula?!" the Deputy yelled in surprise. "What are you doing out here? I was about to pick you later, once I dealt with this." She walked up to her fiancé and gave him a warm smile.

"I know, but there's something important I need to tell you!" Paula said and the Deputy sighed.

"And what would that be? That your uncle hates me?"

"No, not that. Though he still doesn't like you." Paula replied and walked up to the Deputy. "I wanted to tell you that I love you, Trevor." And then she kissed him. Lieutenant Trevor Markson's eyes widened in surprise and you could see that he was really uncomfortable with the fact that there were two other men around. But then he just let it happen.

"If you need some private time..." Jim chuckled and Trevor broke the kiss.

"No, it's fine. I just need some time to take some pictures. And then I'm going to take Paula and drive back to the town. This will only take a few moments and... wait, where's did she go?" Deputy Markson asked and looked around.

"Slippery little thing, isn't she?" Jim chuckled. "Don't worry, she's probably looking for Sarah."

"She's back?" Trevor asked.

"Yep. Came back this morning. She's somewhere behind the house, so Paula should be fine."

"I suppose so." Trevor mumbled. "Still, now I have to wonder if Paula came here to see me...or Sarah."

"Ah, don't worry. I'm pretty certain that Paula came here for you." Jim chuckled and watched how Trevor dropped his shoulders.

"If you say so." the Deputy mumbled and Jim could see the doubts on the younger man's face.

"Hey, don't make such a face. Especially since the big day is coming up."

"Agh, don't remind me." Trevor moaned and shook his head.

"Uhhh, someone's getting cold feet." Joseph teased him. "Maybe you want to bug out?"

"And miss the best thing that has ever happened to me? I may be an idiot, but I'm no fool." Trevor replied and Joseph frowned when he heard that.

"That statement makes no sense." the Marshal said.

"Then you should like it because nothing you say or do makes any sense...ever." Jim came to Trevor's aid.

"Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there!" Joseph shot back, and both Trevor and Jim exchanged looks before they shook their heads.

"Nope, we're pretty sure that you're just crazy. Simple as that."

"Bah, what do you know. I'm going to look after my garden. See you tomorrow, Trevor." Joseph mumbled and turned around in order to get back to his car.

"Wait, what about the arsonist?"

"I leave that to you. Anyway, I'm done here. Trevor, I might come in late tomorrow." the Marshal then said.

"So same procedure as always." Trevor mumbled.

"I heard that! And once you're Marshal, you can do the same to your Deputy!" Joseph yelled as he walked out of the barn. And then he was gone.

"That guy..." Trevor sighed when Joseph was finally gone.

"Is he giving you a hard time? Well, a harder time than usual I mean." Jim wanted to know.

"No, he's actually giving me a lot of freedom as of late. He's barely in office anyway. And he's only talking about his goddamn garden! The same garden no one has ever seen. I swear, one day I'm gonna drive to his hut and find out just what's so special about that damn garden. Have you ever seen it?" Trevor wanted to know and Jim shook his head.

"Nope. Ever since he moved into that house out there, he's been talking about this thing, yet when I was there once, I saw nothing special. And I'm not too fond of visiting Joseph in his home."

"I never understood why he moved out there. It's like he's having a weird secret that no one wants to know about." Trevor mumbled and Jim pulled his brows up.

"Or he's just weird. You know how he is. If he would have stayed in New Thompson, people would have probably killed him with pitchforks by now." Also, Joseph Brent was in a very, very, _very_ weird relationship. One that, even after seven years, Jim wasn't willing to think about. They could hear how the Marshal's car drove off, and both men sighed in relief.

"Well, I better get to work. And then I grab Paula and we had back home." Trevor mumbled and started to take some pictures.

"You want a coffee?" Jim asked and the blonde man looked over his shoulder.

"Sure. But please, no more apple pie."

"Hey, we grow apples!" Jim laughed. "Get used to it!"

* * *

As Paula walked through the wide forest that surrounded Jim's and Sarah's residence, she enjoyed the shade the trees were providing. Ramelow had changed a great deal in the last seven years, and this place was especially beautiful. The air just seemed to be fresher, the sky bluer, and the leaves on the trees greener. And then there was this smell of apples.

She hadn't been here for some weeks now. Ever since Sarah had left Ramlow for...business. She did that from time to time, and everyone knew better than to ask Jim where Sarah was. But now she was back, and Paula couldn't wait to see her again. There were so many things that they had to talk about!

Paula took her shoes off and enjoyed the soft grass beneath her feet. This place had truly changed so much in the last few years, and she loved the place behind Jim's and Sarah's house. She had spent so many hours here when Sarah had trained her mind. It had been rough, at least in the beginning when Sarah had been a very strict teacher.

She could sense the familiar presence close by and decided to follow the voice inside the back of her mind. Paula walked past several trees until...

"Sssssssssaaaaaaaaaaa..." Paula could hear an annoyed hiss behind her. She froze and turned around. And what she saw...

"Hey there." she whispered. "Good kriecher. Nice kriecher." It was not just a kriecher. It was the biggest and meanest looking kriecher she had ever seen. It was easily two-and-a-half meters long and looked like as if was double the size of an ordinary kriecher. It's sharp, needle-like teeth looked like something straight from a nightmare, and saliva was dripping from its maw. It was just a few meters away from her and even if she would try to run away, it would be pointless. Perhaps the most striking feature, however, was the creature's almost white skin.

"Ssssssaaaaa..." the kriecher hissed again and then...

"Moby!" someone yelled, and what did the kriecher do?

It turned away.

Instead of running away, Paula decided to follow the kriecher. The predator didn't really seem to mind her. And it didn't seem like it wanted to devour the woman, which was a good sign. The kriecher called "Moby" just trotted off and into the direction from where the voice had come from. The critter led Paula to a small clearing.

And that's where she found _her_.

"Hey, girl. Where did you go?" Sarah asked and the huge kriecher hissed at her, yet this time the hiss sounded less annoyed and more...friendly? Sarah herself had sat down and leaned with her back against a tree. Next to her was a pile of books and she was holding one of them in her hands right now. As Paula came closer, she could read the title of the book.

"Hey, Sarah!" Paula said when she stopped in front of the redhead and pointed with her finger at the book. "Reading the latest on Zerg?"

Sarah looked up and blinked in surprise. It appeared as if she really hadn't noticed Paula approaching. However, after a second the surprised look on her face was replaced by a gentle smile.

"Paula! I wondered when you would show up!" she chuckled and got to her feet. She walked over to the younger woman and put her arms around her while keeping the book in her hand. "How are you, little one?"

"A lot better." Paula replied and enjoyed the hug. Sarah was more than just a friend. Paula couldn't remember much about her mother, yet in a way, Sarah had become a motherly figure to her.

"You look better." Sarah agreed. "I was kinda worried when I left and you had this flu. I'm glad that you're back on your feet." When Paula heard that, she blushed and put her hands on her stomach.

"It just wasn't the flu..." she whispered, but Sarah couldn't see the younger woman's expression since they were still hugging. After a while, Sarah released Paula and made a step back. And that's when Paula pointed her finger at the book in the other woman's hand.

"So, you are reading about Zerg? Is there actually anything those books can teach you? You could probably write a book about them that would be far more interesting." Paula said and Sarah blinked in confusion. She looked at the book in her hand and after a few seconds, she began to chuckle.

"Oh, I see...no, this isn't about Zerg Leviathans." Sarah explained and showed the title of the book to Paula, who had to squint her eyes in order to read the whole title.

"Leviathan or the Matter, Forme and Power of a Commonweath Ecclesiaticall and Civil." she read out loud. "What does Ecclisiasticall mean, and why is Forme written with an E at the end? And who is Thomas Hobbes?"

"Someone who had too much time to think and decided to write his thoughts down ages ago. It's a bit dry...okay, it's dry as hell. But there are some interesting thoughts in it. Anyway, I'm sure you don't want to talk about pre-spaceflight philosophers from Earth. How have you been?"

"Busy." Paula replied. "We got more offers from other companies that want to buy apples. Including a huge conglomerate from Korhal. But their offer was the weakest of them all." And then a goofy smile appeared on Paula's face. "And I helped!" Seeing the happy expression on Paula's face was always a reason for Sarah to smile as well. Behind them, "Moby" walked around one tree before it lay down, yawned and then rolled on its side.

"Someone looks tired." Paula said and pointed at the huge kriecher.

"Ah, don't mind her. She's starting to get lazy. Guess I have to go running again and take her with me." When Moby heard that, she rolled to the other side and put her tail in front of her face. "Oh, don't you try to hide from me, Lady!" Sarah said and pointed her finger at the critter. "Just because Jim treats you like a princess, doesn't mean that I have to do the same thing!"

"Ssssssaaaaaa..."

"Don't you sssssaaaa me, girl! All that apple pie he's giving you is making you lazy!"

"Sssaa sssaaa ssaaaa..." the kriecher hissed again, this time it sounded like it was actually chuckling.

"That's it! No goodies for you anymore, you're getting too fat anyway!" Sarah growled and the kriecher snarled again before it just rolled around and showed its backside to the two women.

"Someone's in a bad mood." Paula whispered and Sarah just shrugged her shoulders.

"Ah, ignore her. She's just in a foul mood because I didn't take her with me and now I'm not treating her like the princess she is. Anyway, has anything else happened while I was gone?" Gone as in; been to Ulnar in order to study things. Aside from Jim and Joseph, no one knew where Sarah truly had been. Well, except for the girl who could read everybody's minds. The same girl that had learned to keep her mouth shut and secrets to herself.

"Well...one or two things might have happened. But don't worry, I wanted to tell you about it as soon as possible."

"Oh, really?" Sarah asked. "And what would that be, hmm?"

"It's a secret. And I wanted you to be one of the first people to hear it!" Paula explained while staring at Sarah with wide open eyes. Gosh, some things just would never change, right?

"A secret, huh? Oh Paula, I don't know if I can stomach another secret. The last _secret_ you told us was the fact that you and Trevor would get married. The only problem with that was that you hadn't told him that when you revealed the happy news to everyone. I do remember that Jim had to stop Trevor from hyperventilating because _you_ proposed to _him_."

"Ahhh, good times." Paula sighed and Sarah frowned when she heard that.

"You spent time with Joseph again, haven't you?"

"He drove me out here."

"That explains a lot." Sarah whispered. "Nevermind. So, let's hear that super secret of yours." Sarah wanted to know. That's when Paula grabbed her hand and pulled her with her.

"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" Sarah asked and allowed the younger woman to drag her along. Moby raised her head and hissed at both of them, but then the white-skinned kriecher just rolled around and decided that it was time for another nap.

"Ssssaaaaaa..."

"Not in this tone, young lady!" Sarah shot back. "You're getting too fat anyway!"

"Sssaaa sssaaa sssaaaa..."

* * *

"Hey, Darlin'. Where's Moby?" Jim asked when Sarah and Paula reached the barn.

"Sleeping and slacking off, like she always does. Seriously, I'm gone for a short while and you managed to spoil her so hard that she thinks that we only exist to serve her." Sarah explained.

"Well, in that case, it's good that you're back." Jim chuckled and Trevor pulled his brows up.

"Moby? Are you talking about your, uhm, pet? That huge, white kriecher?" he asked and Jim nodded. "It's a strange name though. It's a bit cute for something so, well, ugly."

"Hey, she's a beautiful little butterfly." Jim said. "Also, the name was Sarah's idea."

"Yeah, but why Moby?" Trevor asked.

"It's from an old story about a white whale I once read." Sarah explained.

"And the name of the whale is Moby? I guess that makes sense. Or not."

"Well, the full name of the whale is Moby Dick, but that would have been strange." Sarah continued. "It's a great book. It's about how a group of men hunting a whale, though it's actually about how revenge can consume and destroy you. It's one of my favorites."

"Noted. But I have to ask; what's a whale?" Trevor asked and Sarah sighed.

"Nevermind. Hey, your fiancé over here wanted to tell us a secret. Care to let us in?" she asked and Trevor looked over to Paula.

"Secret? What secret? I don't know about any secret." he said and Paula hurried to his side. She grabbed his hand and put it into her own.

"There was something that I wanted to ask you." Paula said and looked at Sarah.

"Uhm, I don't think I'm gonna like that." Jim's lover whispered.

"So, the wedding will be in a few weeks and there was something that has been on my mind for a while now. It would really mean a lot to me. You have helped me so much, and none of that would have been possible without either one of you."

"I like where this is going." Jim mused and Trevor sighed.

"Sarah, would you be my maid of honor?" Paula asked and there was a short moment of silence.

"Oh..." Sarah whispered. "Oh! Oh, I... uhm...oh...well, uhm..." It wasn't so much that she didn't want to do it, it was more that it had caught Sarah completely off guard. She looked over at Jim and reached out with her senses.

 _What am I supposed to say?_

Jim chuckled when he heard that.

 _How about yes?_

"Yes!" Sarah yelled and all three of them blinked at her sudden outburst. "Uhm...yeah, sure. I can do that."

"THANK YOU! Thank you so much, Sarah! It means a lot to me!" Paula screamed and threw herself at Sarah, who was too baffled to do anything about it. She then wrapped her arms around the younger woman and closed her eyes.

"It's okay, little one. I would love to be your maiden of honor. And then...hey, are you crying?" Sarah asked, and suddenly she was worried. Paula made a step backward and brushed a tear from her cheek.

"Don't worry, it's just such a nice day. And it's because of the circumstances I'm in."

"Circumstances?" Jim mumbled and suddenly his eyes widened in surprise. "Don't tell me..." But before he could say anything else, Paula turned over to him and looked him straight into the eyes.

"And you could be Trevor's best man!" she said and both Jim and Trevor exchanged surprised looks.

"Uhm...I don't think that's necessary." Trevor mumbled, but Jim shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, I would do it. If you want me to." the older man offered, and Trevor's eyes widened in surprise when he heard that.

"I... uhm...well, I don't know...what..." Now it was the Deputy's turn to stutter like an idiot. Paula looked over at her fiancé and gave him a warm smile.

"It's either Jim or Joseph. And I'm pretty certain that you don't want the Marshal to be your best man." Paula explained, and Trevor shuddered when he thought about that.

"I don't even want him to be part of our wedding. No offense, but I'm just scared that he will be, well..."

"Himself?" Jim offered and Trevor nodded. All four of them started to laugh and after a while, Paula's fiancé looked Jim straight into the eyes.

"Jim, I would never dare to ask that of you. Especially considering how our relationship started. But Paula has a point here and I, well, I would be honored if you could-" That's when Jim placed his hand on Trevor's shoulder and offered him a warm and gentle smile.

"Trevor, no matter how bumpy our start has been, I'm glad to call you my friend. And it would an honor to be your best man." You could actually see how Trevor had to fight back his tears. He had changed so much from the angry young man all those years ago. The time on Korhal had taught him many lessons, and when he had returned to Ramelow, he had been a changed man. Quiet, humble and always helpful. And hurt. Deeply hurt.

Sometimes Jim wondered if it had been the right choice to kick Trevor Markson out of his comfort zone. It sounded alright on paper, but not if you throw someone right into a pool filled with Zerglings. Well, Trevor had endured it, and even though he rarely spoke about his time as a cop on Korhal, Jim could tell that it had been a rough time for Trevor.

"Whew...I want to be honest..." Trevor mumbled. "...I'm very close to crying. I suppose this is one of the happiest days I had in a long time. Now we only have to find a reason how we can tell the Marshal that he's not invited."

"Oh, don't worry. I know someone who can deal with Joseph." Sarah said with a grin on her face. Izsha could do that job.

"Oh, and there's one more thing I wanted to ask you, Sarah." Paula asked and returned to her fiancé. She grabbed his hand again and suddenly she looked really excited.

"I won't hold a speech, Paula. I'm horrible when it comes to speeches. Jim can do that."

"Eeeeeehhhh..." Jim groaned.

"It's either you or Joseph." Sarah told him, and Jim realized that he had to take one for the team.

"Okay." he sighed and then looked at Paula. "Anything else?" he asked and Paula nodded like crazy.

"Yes! Would you two be our child's godparents?" she asked and placed her hand on her abdomen. There was an awkward moment of silence and Trevor blinked one time, two times, three times...until suddenly he burst out in sweat and his face lost all color. He turned his head over to Paula, who seemed to be absolutely oblivious to the fact that her fiancé was dying one thousand deaths.

"She didn't tell him." Sarah mumbled.

"A classic Paula-move." Jim agreed and then looked at Trevor. "Phil's gonna kill you." Trevor swallowed hard when he heard that. He looked at Jim, who gave him a thumbs-up, then to Sarah, who pulled shoulders up, and then to Paula, who tilted her head to the side and gave him a warm smile.

"Congratulations, Daddy!"


	105. Act IV - Chapter 21

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 21**

 **The more Things change...**

* * *

"Wake up, Sarah."

"Hnnnn... "

"Sarah, it's already mid-day. Wake up. "

"...nnnnnhhh... "

"Sarah, come on! Didn't you say that Moby's getting too lazy and that you wanted to go running with her?"

"... can't remember making such a statement..." she mumbled into the pillow and rolled into a fetal position. Something tugged on her backside and she flexed muscles that she hadn't felt in quite some time.

"Sarah!" Jim moaned and wanted to pull the blanket away, but then a screeching hiss made him reconsider that. "Okay, someone's in a bad mood."

"...lemme sleeeepp..." Sarah slurred and Jim sighed.

"I told you that you should go to bed early after coming home from Ulnar. It's always the same. First, you say you feel fine and then the next day you suffer the consequences." he chastised her like he had done so many times before.

"...you sound as if I drank too much..." he could hear her mumbling. Her voice sounded strange, though. It was as if she was underwater. So he hadn't imagined the last night, and her skin had felt different. Jim sat down on the edge of the bed and decided to spend a little time with his lover. Besides, most of his workers were already busy to bring in the harvest.

Yes, you heard right; Jim had people that were working for him. An apple plantation of this size was too big for just one man alone. Right now, Jim employed twenty men, most of them full-time, and from the looks of it, he would have to hire at least five more the next year. Their plantation was by far the biggest out here, and even though there were plenty of plantation owners, Jim's voice was still by far the most important one. And being the Mayor's best friend sure as hell wasn't so bad either.

He had also been one of the primary advocates for letting Phil handle all negotiations with companies or conglomerates from other worlds. Firstly, it meant that everyone would get the same share, and secondly, that way Jim didn't have to deal with those guys himself. And by now pretty much everyone knew that James Rennard and Sarah Kluivert enjoyed their privacy.

"So, how was it?"

"...how was what?"

"Ulnar. Did you learn anything new?" Jim asked, even though he knew that Sarah knew what he was talking about. "Did the place react to your powers?"

"Yes...no... maybe...I don't know." Well, that was a great answer. Over the last seven years, fractions of Sarah's powers had returned, but only in small doses. Oh, the apple trees in front of their home had just been the beginning. The good thing was that coming up with a cover-up story hadn't been necessary. Because soon trees and plants had started to grow pretty much everywhere around New Thompson. By now the whole planet was affected by it. It was as if the world itself had started to regenerate itself. By now scientists from around the Koprulu Sector had heard about this "miracle" and were studying whatever was going on here. So far, they had just managed to find out that "something" was affecting the entire eco-system.

If the scientist would know _what_ was truly responsible for that, they would probably not believe it anyway.

"What did Karax say?" Jim wanted to know.

"The usual."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that you can ask him yourself. I don't want to talk, I just want to sleep. All that studying makes my head hurt. And his happy attitude doesn't help much either." she growled beneath the sheet. "Oh, this is so fascinating. Oh, that is so fascinating. Oh, do you want to see something fascinating?" she mocked the Phase-smith, and Jim could hear that her voice really had changed.

"Sounds like your trip was one huge success then." Jim mumbled and placed his hand on Sarah's shoulder. Even her skin felt different.

"Mmm...next time you can study that stuff..." Sarah groaned.

"I would if I could. But it's not me Ulnar is talking to." he told her with a soft voice. She had tried to explain it to Jim many times, but it was just so hard to describe something that eluded even her own senses. Every time she walked through the halls of Ulnar, it was as if legions of eyes watched her from every corner while ten thousand of voices whispered to her from the Void.

And yes, it was highly unnerving. Staying in Ulnar for a prolonged time was always a very unpleasant thing, and Sarah usually felt highly paranoid after spending more than a few days in that place.

"Maybe you should get up and eat something. I can brew you some fresh coffee. Helps to get back on the track." he suggested.

"...wanna coffee..."

"Then you have to get up. Come on, you act like a three-year-old child."

"...no child, just tired..."

"Well, lying in bed won't help." Jim explained to her.

"...listening to Ulnar always gives me a migraine. Just let me compost here." Sarah then said and Jim sighed.

"Fine, but remember; you said that you wanted to go to New Thompson today."

"Was that before or after Trevor fainted?" Sarah asked.

"After. Well, I'm gonna head downstairs now. It would be nice if you would get your butt out of bed anytime soon." he told her and then he was gone.

"Damn slave-driver..." Sarah mumbled and snuggled herself deeper into the bed. However, after a while, she realized that she had rested enough. She wanted to spend the rest of the day in bed, but she simply wasn't tired anymore. Besides, she still wanted to go to New Thompson today. And so, Sarah groaned and rolled to the side until she simply dropped out of the bed and landed on all fours.

Huh...somehow her body felt strange. She flexed her muscles and got back on her feet. Well, whatever it was, a hot cup of coffee would most likely solve that problem. And so, Sarah turned around and slumped out of the bedroom. There was a strange grinding sound right behind her, and it felt like she was dragging something with her...something light and flexible yet at the same time incredibly durable.

Well, whatever. She was probably just overthinking things.

Sarah thought about taking a shower first, but then the smell of freshly brewed coffee changed her mind. She stumbled down the stairs and when she entered the living room, she wobbled directly into the kitchen. Huh...something was indeed strange. It was as if...

...had she slept with her shoes on?

No, that couldn't be right. She knew that she had worn absolutely nothing when she had gone to bed. Why did she know that? Because she usually slept naked.

Then why the hell did it feel like she was walking on high heels?

"Ugh...coffee..." she mumbled and walked into the kitchen. There was already a cup waiting for her. She grabbed it, guided it to her lips, and enjoyed the feeling of that how liquid pouring down her throat. She could hear how Jim entered the kitchen behind her and then how he groaned.

"I knew it..." he mumbled and she could sense his annoyance. "...Darlin', I was wrong. You should have stayed in bed." Sarah could sense that it was about her appearance and a cocky smile appeared on her face.

"You know, other guys would enjoy the fact that their girlfriends run around naked. You, dear Sir, are a prude."

"Uh huh..." Jim just replied while standing right behind her.

"By the way, I still want to head to town later on. Is there something you want me to get you?"

"Uhm...maybe you shouldn't go to town today. Just saying..." he mumbled and Sarah chuckled.

"What's the matter? Scared that I feel still sore from last night? Don't worry, I feel pretty good. Now that I think about it, I feel great! Maybe I should go running first. I feel like I could run to the horizon and back. Weird."

"Uh, yeah...Sarah? Have you looked in the mirror today?" he asked and Sarah turned around.

"Oh? Is there something you would like to tell me, hmm, Mister? If I remember correctly, then you didn't mind how I looked like last night."

"Yeah, about that..." Jim groaned and pointed at Sarah's body. "...like I said, you really should think about staying home today."

"Oh, don't be such a baby. Don't worry, I will put on some clothes. Besides, what's the point in having a remote home when you can't run around naked all the time? And you're a guy. Shouldn't you be happy about this?" Oh, she just loved to tease Jim. Mostly because she enjoyed seeing him sweat.

"I don't think that putting on clothes will change much right now." he told her and suddenly Sarah's grin disappeared from her face.

"Wait, are you telling me that I'm getting fat?"

"No... just very scaly." Jim replied.

"You mean "scary", right?"

"Nope, scaly." And then he pointed at Sarah's midriff. That's when she looked down and finally realized what he was talking about.

"Oh...that's explains a lot." Right now, the woman standing in front of Jim wasn't Sarah Kluivert. It wasn't even Sarah Kerrigan. Or Jane Shepard.

Who stood in front of Jim was none other than the Queen of Blades herself.

"Huh...and now I know why it felt like I had slept in high heels." she mused and grabbed her hair. But instead of soft flocks of red hair, she felt warm and soft nerve cords. And only then she looked over her shoulder and realized that the thing she had been dragging along were her blade-wings.

Perhaps the most interesting fact about this whole moment was that Jim just stood there and seemed to be absolutely unfazed by it. Perhaps it was because this wasn't the first time it had happened.

"You know, I agree with you." the Queen of Blades explained. "Clothes wouldn't really help much right now."

There was an awkward moment of silence when neither one of them would say anything. After a while, Sarah shrugged her shoulders and walked back into the living room.

"Hey, Darlin'! Could you at least lift those things off the ground? You're scratching the floor!"

"Everyone's a critic these days." the Queen of Blades mumbled but did as she was told. What was happening right now could be called absurd. However, it wasn't the first time that this had occurred. She just walked over to the couch and threw herself on it while juggling with her hot cup of coffee.

"Hey, is that really necessary?" Jim whined. "You're ruining the cushioning!"

"Oh, quit being a baby." she replied. "I promise to be careful. Besides, you didn't seem to mind this look last night."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Jim growled.

"Oh, I'm sure you don't." Sarah teased him. She stared at her own, carapace-covered hand and pulled her eyebrows up. "Man, that totally ruins my plan for the day. Hey, are there any workers around that could see me? I don't want to have to deal with "Saw a scary monster lady!" again."

"Then you should stay inside." Jim replied and sat down at the table. "Guess you won't be heading to New Thompson today, eh? Wanna go see Izsha? Or train Moby?"

"Where is the little rascal right now?" Sarah asked and Jim gave her a confused look and she could sense his question in the back of her mind. "I'm talking about Moby. Izsha hardly qualifies as "little rascal". Also; I'm not gonna train Moby so you can spoil her when I'm not around."

"I'm not spoiling her."

"You are spoiling her so hard that I'm getting jealous. The only thing you haven't done so far is to allow her to sleep in our bed. And I'm pretty sure you only did that because she's too big for that." Sarah explained and continued to stare at her hand. And then she had to chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Jim wanted to know and the (former) Queen of Blades flexed her blade wings.

"I just remembered the first time I changed into this form...I think it was...five years ago?"

"Four." Jim corrected her and Sarah sighed when she heard that.

"Four years, eh? Damn, time sure flies..."

* * *

 **Four years ago.**

* * *

The house was empty and dark. A single light was still switched on, not enough to pretend that anyone was home, but more than enough to light people the way. Since Jim's and Sarah's home was in the middle of nowhere, they didn't have to worry about burglars. Besides, it wasn't like they had anything valuable at home.

For a long time, you could hear nothing but the leaves rustling in the wind. By now the house was surrounded by apple trees, and it the smell of fruits was everywhere. It was the middle of the night when a car approached the house. It stopped right in front of it and you could hear how a person got out. That person then walked around the car, opened the other door, grabbed something and carried it back into the house.

The door was opened and Jim stepped inside, on his shoulder none other than Sarah.

"...and we all sing in a yellow...*hick*...yellow submarine...yellow submarine...yellow submaaa...wait, what's a submarine anyway?" she slurred, and it was clear that she wasn't just intoxicated, but totally wasted. The expression on Jim's face was a mixture of annoyance, amusement, and exhaustion and when he entered the living room, he simply dropped Sarah on the couch and walked into the kitchen. He grabbed some ingredients and threw them into a glass before he filled it with cold water and returned to the living room, where Sarah tried to get back on her feet, only to fail miserably.

"Sarah, stay down. You're too drunk and-"

"I'M NOT DRUNK!" his lover yelled and got back on her feet. For about three seconds. Then she just stumbled forward and landed flat on her face.

"Ouch. That looked like it hurt." Jim commented on that, however, Sarah just rolled on her back and stared up.

"Whoa, our ceiling is moving. Since when do we have a moving ceiling?"

"We don't, you're just drunk."

"I'm not drunk!" Sarah wailed but didn't put up any resistance when Jim grabbed her and lifted her off the ground before he placed her on the couch again. "Whoa...I feel like I'm flying!"

"You are drunk, Lady. And not just a bit."

"Nu-uh! I can handle alcohol! In fact, I'm sure that I'm not drunk! Hey, what's that?" she said and pointed with her finger at the glass in Jim's hand. "Wohooo! More drinks! Gimme, gimme, gimme!"

"It's no drink." Jim said and shook his head. "Seriously, what made you think that you could handle that stuff? Even during my worst moments, I knew that moonshine is a way to ruin your day. And you had way too many drinks, my dear."

"They were tashhhty..." Sarah slurred. "And healthy! Besides, the moonshine was made out of apples. And who made those apples? I did...so I can drink as much moonshine as I want!" This year's Thanksgiving party had been a blast. Ever since Phil had revived the event, people had started to love it. Last year's party had been especially important because several dozen people from Central City had visited the party too. And they had enjoyed some of New Thompson's apple pie. Some of those people had been journalists and as a result, this year's party had seen more than two hundred people from Central City coming all the way out here to have some pie.

Phil was already planning for the party next year. Apparently, he wanted to turn the party into a Thanksgiving market where people could buy fresh apples and of course the already famous "New Thompson's Apple Pie"! Knowing Phil, he would probably turn that idea into a huge success as well. Two guys named Jenner and Archer had found another use for the apples. They had bought a huge amount of rotten apples and, well, used them to produce moonshine. One thing had led to the other, and now Sarah was so drunk that she couldn't even walk anymore.

"Here, drink this." Jim said and handed a glass over to Sarah, who opened her mouth and emptied the glass in one go. She closed her mouth and after a few seconds she started to shudder and her face turned into a grimace.

"Oh hell, what is that? It tastes like puke!"

"It's meant to prevent just that, girl. A little something someone once taught me. With this your headache should be manageable." he told her.

"I don't have a headache!" Sarah told him while trying to skin her own tongue.

"Oh, trust me; you will. Now come on, let's get you into bed." he said and grabbed Sarah's hands.

"Don't wanna sleep, wanna party!" she cheered and then jumped right at Jim. It surprised him since he had been certain that she was too drunk to even stand on her own two feet. Instead, she slung her arms and legs around his body and started to sing.

"...leaving, on a jet...plane...I don't know when...I'll be back...AGAAAAAIN!" Right now, it was a good thing that they had no neighbors.

"You. Bed. Now." Jim told her. He stood in the middle of the living room while Sarah hung onto him like he was some sort of tree.

"I could outdrink you." she mumbled.

"I don't have any doubts about that. Sadly, we shall never find out." he replied and then he wrapped his arms around Sarah's lithe body.

"Awww, now you _do_ want to dance." his lover cooed.

"No, I just don't want to drop you by accident. Come on, let's get you upstairs." And so Jim started to carry her up. She was like a monkey holding on to, well, a bigger monkey. Getting Sarah upstairs was actually hard work and he groaned with each step.

"Are you implying that I'm getting fat?" Sarah mumbled when she sensed his frustration.

"No, but right now you're as helpful as a wet bag of concrete." Jim growled and when he finally reached the first floor, he sighed in relief.

"Can you carry me into the bathroom? And brush my teeth?" she asked him, yet he just walked into their bedroom and pulled Sarah off his chest. He then grabbed her and threw her on the bed. She rolled on her chest and looked up at Jim.

"Hey, Jim...wanna' make out?" And then she giggled like a little girl.

"Oh, boy." he whispered. "You're so gonna regret what you did tomorrow."

"You saw all those couples? They looked cute! But we...*hick*...we looked cuter! Should have...should have participated in that "cutest couple"-competition. Bet we would have blown them all away!"

"You tried, but you couldn't even make it on stage, Darlin'." Jim told her. "Also, you wanted Joseph to get Izsha, so they could compete as well. That's when I decided to pull the plug."

"But whyyyyyyy?" the redhead whined. "We totally would have owned them!"

"You know why, Sarah." Jim said patiently while taking off his clothes. "The people would try to kill Izsha with pitchforks, and then Joseph would shoot every single one of them."

"Bah, people are racists!" Sarah replied. "They discriminate Izsha because she used to be Zerg? Hey, I used to be Zerg! And a damn sexy one too!" When Jim heard that, he couldn't help it and shuddered. He tried to keep his thoughts to himself, but that's when Sarah's drunken eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait a sec... are you telling me that...you think I'm repulsive?" she slurred.

"No, you are beautiful. Why would you say something like that?" he asked and climbed into bed right next to her.

"But...but you wouldn't bang me if I were still Zerg!" she suddenly said and Jim groaned on the inside. Seriously, this was almost as awkward as when Izsha had asked them how human female reproductive organs work.

"Isn't that a strictly theoretical question anyway?" Jim said and hoped that it would shut her up. "As Zerg, you didn't have a, well, you know...uhm..."

"Oh, you think I wasn't a woman down there?"

Oh God, what had he done to deserve this?

"Well, not my choice of words, but yeah."

"Oh, is that so? Well, Mister, let me tell you a secret!" drunken Sarah told him and wiggled with her finger in front of his face. "I was...*hick*...always a woman down there!"

"No, you weren't."

"Yes, I was!"

"No, you weren't." Jim growled. "Sarah, you were naked all the time. I saw you doing backflips. Seriously, if you had, well, been a woman down there, then people would have noticed that."

"I think I told you that before. Two words! Retractable bone plates!"

"Those are three words. And I'm sorry if this offends you, but I'm glad that you're no longer Zerg." he mumbled and Sarah pushed herself up. She pressed her chest on his own and tried to act like a seductress, but right now Jim was more concerned that she might throw up. Also, with her red nose and red cheeks, she didn't look very seductive right now. Adorable, yes. Seductive, no.

"I was a sexy Zerg and you would have enjoyed making love to the Queen of Blades!" she slurred and Jim pulled his brows up.

"Well, sadly we shall never find out about that." he told her and Sarah threw her head from one side to the other.

"But I was so sexy! And you wouldn't believe the things I could do with my tongue! Like-"

"Please, for the love of God, stop it!" Jim whined. "You're perfect the way you are. Okay?" he told her and gave her a warm smile. Sarah blinked a few times, but it looked truly awkward because she only blinked with one eye and a second later with the other. Then a goofy smile appeared on her face.

"That's so cute of you to say! Hey, wanna' make out? I still feel like I could go for a round or two." she suggested and Jim sighed.

"I don't know, Sarah. Maybe you should just sleep. You're so drunk that-"

"Aw, you're no fun!" she cut him short and leaned forward. Their lips met and they shared a deep kiss. After a while, Sarah broke the kiss and looked with lustful eyes at Jim.

"Hey, lover...there's an itch I can't scratch on my own..." And they say only men know cheap lines when it comes to sex. Sarah's hand brushed over Jim's chest and he had to admit that her slender fingers felt nice on his skin. Still, she was drunk and so it would be the best to get this over with so they could sleep.

"Maybe you should take a nice and cold shower and then try to sleep?" he suggested. "That could help getting rid of the itch."

"Uh uh, you know what else can help me?" she whispered into his ears and then she kissed him on the cheek. Her lips wandered down his neck and over his collarbone before Jim felt how she started to kiss his chest.

"Sarah, I'm not sure if that's a good idea. Maybe we should just sleep." However, he didn't get an answer. Instead, he could feel how something wet touched his chest.

"Sarah?"

No answer. He looked down and then he saw that...

...Sarah was already sleeping. And drooling all over his chest. He sighed and placed his hand on her hair.

"Have a nice sleep, Darlin'." he whispered. "And even though I don't like Zerg, I have to admit; you were the cutest Zerg I've ever met." He could see how a stupid smile appeared on Sarah's face while more drool dripped out of the corner of her mouth.

"...was such...a cute...Zerg..."

"Yeah, I guess so." he chuckled and switched off the lamp standing right next to the bed. Jim put his hands around Sarah's slender figure and sighed. What a day. Soon he felt how his own mind started to slip away and just when he was about to fall asleep...

"CHHHHRRRRRRRR..."

Jim's eyes shot open in an instant when he felt something vibrating on his chest.

"CHHHHRRRRRRRR..."

He switched the lamp on and looked at the redhead drooling on his chest.

"CHHHHRRRRRRRR..."

"Oh, you gotta be kiddin' me!" Jim whined.

"CHHHHHRRRRRRR..."

Unfortunately, no one wanted to make fun of him. Sarah was just snoring so loud that he couldn't even hear his own thoughts.

"CHHHHHHRRRRRRR..."

He tried. He really tried to ignore it. But it was just impossible. It was like sharing your bed with a jackhammer. So after a while, he pushed his lover off his (drool-covered) chest and slipped out of the bed.

"CHHHHHHHRRRRRR..." Sarah continued to snore. She rolled on her back and lay there like a dead sloth.

"Guess it's time to crash the couch, old boy." Jim said to himself before grabbing a pillow and heading downstairs. He closed the door behind him and then Sarah was finally alone and could snore as loud as she wanted to.

"Hmm...was a... sexy Zerg..." she continued to mumble. A long time after she had fallen asleep, her limbs started to twitch and her skin to change. Only this time, it didn't hurt at all.

* * *

"Uuuuuuhhhh..." Sarah groaned when consciousness returned to her.

It was too bright. Even though her head was buried under a pillow, the damn sun was just too bright. Someone should blow the star up.

"Uuuuuuuhhhhh..."

And the noise! Oh God, the noise! Why were those leaves so loud? Seriously, it didn't sound like leaves rustling in the wind, but if she was sleeping right next to a goddamn highway!

"Uuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh..."

Why the hell did her tongue feel like it was covered with fur? And why did everything taste like apple? She groaned and tried to roll on her back, but for some odd reason, she had problems with coordinating her limbs. It almost felt as if she didn't have four limbs right now, but six.

"Uuuuuuuhhhh...never gonna drink again..."

Sarah had been drunken before. But as a Ghost, her greatest weapon had been her brain, and godless amounts of alcohol usually, well, killed brain cells. This, however, had been the first time for Sarah to consume ungodly amounts of moonshine made out of apples. It took her several attempts until she finally managed to roll on her back. It was as if something was attached to her lower backside, just above her butt. Well, she probably had gone to bed with her clothes still on. At least that's how it felt like.

Speaking of feeling, her skin felt strange too.

Oh hell, she felt like crap.

"Uuuuuuhhhh..." she groaned again, and with one final push, she managed to get out of the bed. Unfortunately, she only managed to _roll_ out of their bed. Gravity did the rest and she just fell on the cold floor.

"Unf...uhhhh..." The whole world was spinning and she needed a moment to regain her senses. When above and below had finally settled their dispute, Sarah tried to stand up, yet she failed miserably. So instead, she rolled on all fours and crawled towards the door. She needed a shower, badly! The moment she got up, something hit the lamp on the table next to their bed and knocked it down.

"Not so loud!" Sarah hissed and wondered how she had managed to even touch that thing. Her hands and feet were firmly attached to the ground. Well, whatever it was, it had to wait. She probably looked pretty pathetic right now, but she was too hung over to care. A part of her just wanted to lie down and sleep some more. Hmm, that cold floor sure felt nice and soft right now.

Maybe...

...she should...

...just lie...

...down a bit...

"Uuuuuuhhhh...need coffee..."

Coffee. The substance that could heal every disease and cure all the wrongs in the universe. At least as far as Sarah was concerned. She took a few deep breaths and then she got back on her feet.

"Whoa..." she groaned and waved her arms, trying not to fall over. In the end, she succeeded and then she made one step after the other. Slowly. Carefully. And as quiet as possible. Still, something felt strange. Her feet...had she been sleeping with her shoes on? If so, why did it feel like she was wearing high-heels?

Sarah usually never wore high-heels. Anyway, it could wait. Besides, her feet didn't feel like she was still wearing shoes. Everything was still messed up and her whole body felt strange. Well, first she should take a shower and then...

...she slammed her head against the closed door.

"Ouuuuuch!" she groaned and grabbed her own nose. "Who closed that door?" she hissed. Usually, the door to their bedroom was always open. She had no idea that Jim had closed it so her snoring wouldn't reach him downstairs. Of course, she would later deny the fact that she could even snore. It was physically impossible for women to snore. Only men snored. And if women would snore (which was impossible), it would totally not sound like a goddamn Zerg invasion. No way, Sir!

Sarah opened the door and stumbled out of the bedroom and straight into the bathroom. Her skin still felt strange, it was as if it had become thicker. Oh God, just how much moonshine had she consumed last night? Hopefully, she hadn't done anything embarrassing.

Naaa, that was impossible. It was physically impossible for a woman to embarrass herself while being drunk. Everyone knew that.

Right...

Sarah had no idea how she had managed to reach the bathroom, but when she did, she opened the faucet and cupped some of the cold waters in her hands before she threw it in her face.

"Uhhhhh..." Sarah groaned and tried to remember what had happened last night, but it was pointless. Her whole skin started to itch again and she felt the sudden urge to take a long and hot shower. Sarah looked into the mirror, yet her eyes still had a hard time focusing and all she could make out was a brownish blur...

"Uhhhhhh..." She turned around and slumped over to the tub, before stepping inside, but it took her several attempts until she finally achieved success. Why did it feel as if something was hanging from her lower backside? Whatever it was, a hot shower should help to clear her mind. She turned the water on and enjoyed how the hot water ran over her scaly and thick carapace and...

Wait a sec.

Sarah froze and blinked a few times. No. No, she was probably just imagining things. She shook her head, however, her hair felt strange too. Mostly because it didn't feel like hair at all. Her hands wandered up to her head and when she grabbed her hair, she realized that it was no longer there. It felt like...nerve cords.

And when she finally looked down, her eyes widened in shock.

* * *

Jim was downstairs. It was already midday, but he had decided to let Sarah sleep. Even with Swann's "anti-hangover-drink" he had given her, Jim had little doubt that she would feel like crap. Drinking moonshine was generally a bad idea, and the stuff Archer and Jenner had produced? Hell, it was almost as bad as what Swann had dared to call "drinkable". Maybe even worse.

It was moments like these when Jim remembered why he had stopped drinking all those years ago.

Jim was busy browsing through some catalogs. He hadn't decided what to do with that tractor yet. It was still working, but grossly underpowered. And now that he had several employees, he had to make sure that they had the right equipment for the job.

Still, do you have any idea how _much_ a goddamn tractor costs? He could buy half a battle-cruiser with that much money! Then again, what else should he do with all the money they got from selling last year's harvest? Huh, maybe he should invest in Jenner and Archer, so those two yokels could get themselves a real distillery. One that would produce real cider and not that deadly cider-diesel mixture they were calling "moonshine".

He took another sip of his coffee and sighed. It had been a short night and he really could use a nap. But there was still a lot to do, and as a farmer, you just can't go back to bed whenever you feel like it. And it didn't help that Sarah had snored like a goddamn gutted hyperdrive engine until early in the morning. Seriously, he had heard her through the ceiling! He had even _felt_ the vibrations!

In a way, it had reminded him of the vibrations shortly before a Nydus-worm would burst out of the ground.

Well, Sarah wasn't snoring anymore. And he could hear something rumbling, so that probably meant that she was finally awake. Instead of going upstairs and check for her, Jim decided to let the coffee do the work.

However, before he could do anything else he heard how a car approached. They weren't expecting anyone, and since there had been a huge party just the day before, he had told his employees to stay at home and sober up. There was an old saying; if you can drink like a pro, you can work like a pro. Or something like that.

Jim had always hated this saying. Have you ever worked while suffering from a real hangover? One that not all the aspirins in the galaxy could cure? Well, it isn't fun. And so, he had decided to spare that cruel fate from his men. However, before he could contemplate on the nature of hangovers any further, the car reached their home and he listened how somebody got out of the vehicle and walked towards the door. By now the creaking of the veranda didn't bother Jim anymore. On the contrary, in all those years Jim had never thought about installing a door-bell.

So whoever was paying them a visit, when that person knocked Jim was already prepared for it. However, there was something strange because at the same time he could hear how the car drove away.

"Come in!" he barked and then the door was opened from the outside. He looked up and couldn't help but look surprised when he saw who had decided to visit them.

"Shepherd? What the hell are you doing out here?" When Shepherd Book heard that, he grimaced.

"Nice to see you too, James. And thanks for thinking about the one place I try to keep people away from when you see me." Book replied and Jim pulled his shoulders up.

"What can I say? Whenever you show up, bad things are about to happen."

"Oh, now you sound like the Marshal. Who, as a matter of fact, drove me out here and kept asking me weird stuff."

"So? Joe's always pestering people with weird stuff." Jim replied.

"That's true, but now it became even weirder."

"I doubt that that's even physically possible." Jim mumbled.

"He wanted to know if it is a sin to have a sexual relationship with someone who isn't, and I shall quote him, "not really human anymore, but still in all the right places"." Book explained, and Jim shuddered when he heard that. "Oh, and one more thing; wakka wakka wakka."

"Yeah, that sounds like Joe. What did you tell him?"

"That bestiality is a sin." Book growled. "And that God frowns upon those who do things that involve such acts. Please tell me he's just trying to drive me mad. You know him better than anyone else!"

"I don't know him that well. He's just like herpes. One day I met him and now he's not going away."

"Oh Lord, that sounds like something he would say." Book groaned. Jim gave him a sympathetic smile and raised his cup of coffee into the air.

"Want a cup? Maybe it'll help to wash away those thoughts."

"Oh yes, please!" Book moaned and Jim pointed with his hand over to the kitchen.

"You can get one yourself? You know where we keep the cups?"

"I sure do. Thank you." Book said and walked into the kitchen. He had visited them a few times over the last few years and was generally a very humble guest. He returned a few minutes later with a cup of coffee in his hand and sat down at the table. "So, how are you? You look pretty tired. Did you...drink too much?"

"Naaa!" Jim replied. "I left the drinking to Sarah. Let's just say that I had not much sleep this night."

"I see. So Sarah is...?" Book asked.

"No longer in a coma, I think. Can't really say, she was so drunk...seriously, I'm glad that no one took a picture."

"Well, in that case, she will probably appreciate this coffee. It's strong enough to melt steel." Book complimented him and took a sip. "Speaking of Sarah...do you think there's a chance that I could talk to her?"

"Whyyyyyyy?" Jim asked and gave Book a suspicious look.

"Well, it's kinda complicated. And somewhat private. I wanted to talk with Sarah about it...if that's possible."

"Uh huh, that doesn't sound ominous at all." Jim growled. "Well, I'm sure Sarah will be _delighted_ to discuss whatever you want to talk about. Especially since she's probably suffering from the worst hangover of all time."

"Well, if you think that this is an inopportune timing, then I can come back another time-"

"Wait, didn't Joe just throw you out and then drove back? So I have to drive you back anyway, right?" Jim changed the topic and Book pulled his shoulders up.

"I am truly sorry about that. But the Marshal just said that he had to get back to his hut and "water the roses". I believe it is a euphemism for something involving sodomy, yet I'm not willing to ask him any details. I'm too afraid of the answer."

"Amen to that." Jim agreed and sighed. "Well, I won't wake Sarah up. I value my life too much. But if you want to wait, then-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" A high-pitched scream echoed through the entire house and both Jim and Book jumped up.

"Sarah?!" Jim yelled and stormed up the stairs. Book followed him and when both of them barreled into the bedroom, they saw...

...nothing.

"Sarah, what's the matter?" Jim yelled and turned around. He could feel her, she was close by. And _very_ agitated. She was thinking the same thing over and over again.

 _ThisIsBadThisIsBadThisIsBadThisIS SO BAAAD!_ When Jim heard that, he ran over to the bathroom and pushed the door open.

"Sarah, are you okay?" The door was only a small gap wide open when Sarah slammed it shut from the other side.

"Whoa! No! Don't come in!" she yelled and he could sense her panic.

"Like hell I will! Sarah, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Jim asked and tried to open the door again, but that's when she simply locked it and made sure that neither Jim nor Book could enter the bathroom.

"You...I... uhm...just..." Sarah stuttered. There was something weird going on. Her voice sounded strange, as if it was distorted.

"Sarah? Can you open the door? Darlin', what's the matter? Are you hurt?"

"No, not really. It's just...oh hell, you won't believe it anyway!" he could hear her whine. Jim placed his hand on the door and tried to reason with her.

"Sarah, whatever it is..." he said with a soft tone in his voice. "...we can handle it. So please, let me in." There was a long moment of silence and then he could hear how she sighed.

"Okay...but please, don't freak out."

"Sarah, it's fine. I won't freak out." Jim said.

"Oh yes, you will." she mumbled and unlocked the door. She opened it from the inside and Jim could almost see her. That's when...

"Oh, by the way; Book's here. He wants to talk to you." Jim said.

"Say _WHAT?!_ " Sarah screamed and slammed the door shut again.

"Sarah, what's the-"

"Get him out! GET HIM OUT!" she yelled and sounded as if she was close to panicking. That's when Book stepped next to Jim and frowned.

"Sarah, I'm sorry, but I just came here because I wanted to talk to you. It's about something-"

"Now's a lousy time, Shepherd!" Sarah screamed back.

"So I noticed. Still, if you are in pain, then maybe we should-"

"I'm not in pain! Ouch...oh, my head..." Sarah groaned, turning her initial statement upside down. And while Jim could sense that Sarah was in no physical pain (well, aside from a throbbing headache), he could feel that she was in a great deal of stress.

"Sarah, please. I am not going to tell anyone what happened. But I too want to help." Book tried to reason with her, but it was pointless. Maybe Jim was just imagining things, but it sounded as if Sarah was grinding her teeth.

"Just go home, Shepherd. You can't help _us_ with this." Sarah snarled, and Jim noticed that she had said "us" instead of "me". He just had no idea if that was a good sign or a bad sign.

Knowing his luck, it was probably a bad sign. And so, he tried to use their connection to get to the bottom of this.

 _Sarah..._ he whispered through their shared link. _...what's wrong?_

 _Send Book away. Seriously, I mean it. Otherwise, it will end in tragedy!_ she urged him.

 _Uhm, Joe dropped him off here, I need to get him back home._ Jim replied.

 _Then do that! Please! I'm begging you, just get him as far away as possible!_ Okay, now she was starting to freak him out. Maybe she was still suffering from the aftereffects of that moonshine. Jim had seen it before, some guys had suffered from severe cases of paranoia. Perhaps Sarah was one of those unlucky few?

"Sarah, please. We wish to help you. If you would just let us in, then-" Book tried to reason with her again.

"I can't! Can't do that! Oh, no! No, Sir! Trust me, you don't want to be close to me right now!" she yelled back.

"If you would only tell us what-" the Shepherd asked again, and Jim could sense how Sarah's frustration was getting out of hand.

 _Okay, he asked for it!_ Jim could hear Sarah's thought. Just what the-

"I'm having a severe case of "youknowwhat"!" she suddenly said and both men looked at each other and frowned.

"Youknowwhat? Do you know what she's talking about?" Book asked Jim, yet he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Beats me. Sarah, just open the door and-"

"Oh, no! Nononono! Trust me, you wouldn't like that. Whoa, the smell in here so, so, so very bad right now. Seriously, you should take a few steps backward! I got tears in my eyes!" For a short moment, neither Jim nor Book seemed to realize what she was talking about and then their eyes widened when they finally realized what Sarah was trying to tell them.

"Oh!" Jim said.

"Oh, indeed!" Book agreed.

"Well...that's...I guess...uhm..." they tried to say.

"Would you two idiots just leave me alone?! I'm busy over here, and the last thing I need is you standing in front of the door and wait for anything magical to happen! Because the magic is happening right now and it's _not pretty!_ " she yelled. Jim knew that she was lying, however, this conversation was too awkward and he just decided to give it a rest.

"Maybe we should just leave her alone." he said to Book.

"Maybe we should get her to a doctor." the Shepherd instead suggested. "Just to be on the safe side."

"Naaa, she's fine. Sarah's a tough girl."

"That scream didn't sound like she was fine. I understand that many people feel embarrassed, but it's nothing that you should be ashamed of. Sometimes the body simply does things that make us feel really uncomfortable. But we are still on a fringe world, and out here even a normal flu can turn into something serious. And from what I heard, you had quite a lot of alcohol yesterday. An alcohol poisoning can also be very dangerous. So how about we get you to a doctor. Just to be on the safe side." Book tried to reason with Sarah.

"Nope! Sorry, that won't happen. Just leave me alone and I will, well, do my thing!" Sarah replied and groaned. "Oh, my poor belly. It hurts so much. I think I will stay here for the next six or seven hours. Jim, could you take Book back to New Thompson? And bring back an air refresher? Or three dozen?"

"Sarah, usually I don't like it when Book has a point..." Jim mumbled.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" the Shepherd interjected, yet Jim ignored him.

"...but I think he's right on this one. Just open the door, we can deal with it." He could sense her thoughts and they basically told him that he could shove his head up his, well, into a very dark place.

"You two are impossible. Get lost!" Sarah screamed, and Jim realized that she really wanted them to leave.

 _Please, Jim...just this once, don't play the hero. Just grab Book and get him out of here!_ He could sense her desperation and that's when Jim decided (against better judgment) to do as Sarah urged him to do.

"Sorry, Book. But maybe you and Sarah should have that conversation some other time. Come on, let's get you back to New Thompson."

"I don't think that this is such a good idea. Perhaps we should get Sarah to the hospital and-"

"GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE, OR YOU WILL NEED A HOSPITAL!" Sarah screamed and Book swallowed hard when he heard that.

"On second thought, maybe you're right. Very well, I guess this can wait. Oh, but Sarah..." Book then said and put his hand against the bathroom's door. "...I understand that this is highly embarrassing, but suffering from diarrhea after consuming large amounts of alcohol is-"

"GET! OUT! NAAAAAAOW!" For some odd reason, it didn't even sound like Sarah that was yelling at them, but a goddamn nuclear warhead that was about to go critical. And so, Jim grabbed Book and pulled him away. Jim was worried, but if Sarah said that she wanted to be left alone, then it was better to leave her alone.

* * *

Sarah waited until she heard how their car was finally driving away. And after that, she waited some more. And then some more. And some more. When she was certain that she was alone, she unlocked the door and opened it a bit.

"Hello? Anyone there?" But no one answered her call. She could tell because she couldn't sense Jim nearby. And she was pretty certain that Jim wouldn't have left Book behind, so she was safe.

For now.

Sarah opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom. The only problem was that it wasn't Sarah Kluviert that was standing there. It wasn't even Sarah Kerrigan. Or Jane Shepard.

It was none other than the goddamn Queen of Blades.

"I'm never gonna drink again." Sarah groaned and pressed one of her hands against her face. "This is a goddamn nightmare." She lowered her hands and stared at her own hands, well, claws, well, whatever. Now, this was a development she had not seen coming! Just what the hell was she supposed to do? Maybe she should hurry over to Joseph's hut. Not because she wanted to talk to the Marshal (Oh God, please no!), but there was a good chance that Izsha would be there...

...for obvious reasons Sarah didn't want to think about any details though.

And even if Izsha wouldn't be there, the chances were good that Joseph knew where to find her. However, there was another problem. Sarah could feel that something was wrong. She looked like the Queen of Blades, but she didn't _feel_ like her old self. She felt weak when compared to the past. Weak and... human. It was as if she wasn't truly Zerg, just on the outside. She placed her hand on her sternum and tried to feel her heartbeat. It wasn't easy, given the carapace between her breasts, but she was pretty certain that she felt only one heartbeat, and not three.

Yep, Zerg on the outside, but human on the inside.

"So, I guess tunneling my way out of this is out of the question." Sarah mumbled and started to pull her nerve cords. "Oh, I'm so screwed." She had to leave the planet, there was no other way. She had to find Izsha, use Karax's portable warp gate, and then return to Ulnar. Or Sternenheim. Anywhere but here.

But first, she had to tell Jim about it. Oh, he wouldn't be happy about this. She had to be smart about this. She had to prepare him, had to make sure that he wouldn't freak out. The Queen of Blades was still a touchy subject for Jim. If she could only think about something that would help her explain what had happened...

* * *

When Jim finally returned home, he felt tired and exhausted. Seriously, he just had wanted to throw Book out of the car and return home in order to see how Sarah was doing. But you know how these things work; once in New Thompson, everyone and everything had tried to annoy the crap out of him. And, well, they had succeeded with that. First one to bother him had been Phil.

"Hey, Jim! How are you? And how's Sarah? I can't tell because I don't remember a single thing that happened yesterday!" So instead of wasting ten minutes of his time, like Phil had promised to him, they had spent almost one hour talking about this and that.

Next one in line had been Joseph. Who else.

"I drove Book all the way out there so he would stay there. And what do you do? You bring him back! You ruined my plan, man! Also, it's Joseph, not Joe! I'm not a damn trucker!" Listening to Joe, well, Joseph's mantra for one hour felt like three days of hard labor. It hadn't helped that Book had been present during the entire conversation. By now the Shepherd didn't even care about Joseph's comments anymore.

Well, most of them.

And then of course...

"Jim, Sarah wants you to know that she loves you. And that she knows that you do so too." the young woman told her when he got back in the car.

"Uuuh...thanks, Paula. I make sure to keep that in mind. Anything you people want to tell me?" Seriously, he just wanted to get back home. That's when Paula placed her hand on his shoulder and looked him straight into the eyes.

"Remember this; beneath that shell is still the same Sarah you fell in love with."

"Uuuuhhh, okay. Like said, I keep that in mind." And then he was on his way back home. Well, at least this day couldn't get any weirder, right? When he was closing in on their home, he could sense Sarah's presence. She was home and she was worried.

Well, whatever it was, now that everyone was gone, they could talk about what Sarah was bothering like civilized people would. They had solved all their little problems like that. Like when Sarah had decided that she would no longer kill. Or when those apple trees had appeared right in front of their house.

In the last few years, small portions of Sarah's powers had returned, there was no doubt about it. Sarah was the reason why the nature of the planet was starting to change. Neither she nor Jim had any idea _how_ she was doing that, yet it was only logical to assume that Sarah was responsible.

"Guess who's back." he mumbled and could feel that Sarah had noticed him.

 _Jim..._

"Are you feeling better?" he chuckled.

 _Jim, we have to talk. And you won't like it._

"Uhh...why is it that if someone says "you won't like what I have to say" I don't want to hear it?"

 _It's not about hearing, Jim. You won' t like what you're about to see. Meet me in the barn._

"The barn? Sarah, just what the hell are you talking about? What's the matter, Darlin'?"

 _The barn, Jim. Please._

Well, that didn't sound good. And Jim started to feel truly worried. He should never have allowed this to happen. Drinking moonshine was always a bad idea. But there was "bad, but in an ultimately funny"-way and "bad, and you're gonna regret it for the rest of your life"-way. Jim parked the car in front of their home, got out and walked over to the barn.

"So, Darlin', what's going on? You're starting to make me nervous." he said as he stepped into the barn. "Sarah? Sarah, are you there?" It was dark, but he could sense Sarah's presence.

"I'm here..." she said. Her voice was but a whisper and Jim had a real hard time understanding her.

"Hey, what's the matter?" he chuckled, still trying to ease the mood.

"Something happened, Jim. A part of my powers has returned."

"That's..." Jim said. "...a good thing, right? Are you in pain? Why are you so worried?"

"Because it's a part you never liked about me."

"Sarah, I love you. So whatever it is, I can take it. Where are you? I can't see you. So how about this; you come out and I won't freak out. How does that sound?" he suggested and could hear how Sarah sighed.

"Very well. But before I do that, there's something I want you to know. Whatever you see, it is still me. Okay? I would never do anything to harm you. So please, don't freak out." Only now Jim could hear that the whispering was coming from above him.

"Darlin', just what are you talking about? You talk like you've turned into the...Queen...of..." That's when he saw the creature that was hiding in the shadows above him.

And when he saw the Queen of Blades...

...Jim decided to freak out.


	106. Act IV - Chapter 22

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 22**

 **...the more They stay the Same**

* * *

Sarah could see how Jim's eyes widened in shock. His reaction was not as bad as she had feared it would be...but it was still pretty bad. She noticed how his face lost all color almost instantaneously. He pointed his finger at her, and Sarah could see how his limbs started to shake like crazy.

"You...You...You..." he stuttered over and over again and Sarah sighed. She was right above Jim and was just glad that he was at least not trying to get a pitchfork.

"Sarah?"

"Yeah, it's me. Guess you could say that nerve cords are the latest fashion. Do you like it? Hehehehe...eeeeehhh..."

"What are you doing up there?" Jim said after a while.

"Hiding? Waiting for a miracle to happen? Hoping that I will wake up and this is just a bad dream?"

"You...you are...you aren't..." Jim stuttered and she could see the panic in his eyes. A part of her couldn't blame him for that. The Queen of Blades had always been a symbol of destruction and carnage, and she had haunted Jim even in her dreams. And even the short-lived Primal Queen of Blades hadn't changed that. However, another part of Sarah felt hurt. Hurt because right now the only thing he saw was not the woman he loved, but the monster that had slaughtered billions.

Huh, funny...a few good years had made them almost forget entirely about what had happened. But now it was all back. Like a big, huge, effin' pink elephant. An infested elephant.

Sarah hated that saying, mostly because she had no idea what an elephant was.

"I'm still me, Jim. I'm not the Queen of Blades. I'm not even Zerg right now." Sarah whispered and Jim frowned.

"You sure look Zerg to me right now, Darlin'." he replied and swallowed hard. Jim was still thinking that this could end in tragedy. Sarah raised her hand and looked at her own claws.

"Only on the outside, Jim. I... it's just superficial. And my psionics haven't returned either. I just...look like her." Her. The Queen of Blades. Huh, now that she had said that out loud, she felt like she wasn't even talking about herself, but a whole different person. Years had passed since she had left that part of her life behind, but right now it had all returned to her. It felt like a curse, one that she couldn't escape from.

"How do you know that?" Jim wanted to know. He was panting hard and sweating like crazy. Well, someone had been triggered.

"Well, for starters; I tried to burrow, but it didn't work. Oh, and it feels like I only have one heart. The Queen of Blades had three hearts. You can never have enough hearts."

"How do I know that it's really you?" Jim whispered, and that's when he could feel how Sarah winced on the inside.

"It is me, Jim. You have to believe me that much."

"That's a tall order, Darlin'." Jim whispered. Suddenly all those bad memories returned to him, and a handful of decent ones. Of course, he remembered the Primal Queen of Blades that had helped him on Sternenheim, the one that had sacrificed herself in order to buy both Jim and Zeratul some time. Jim swallowed hard and looked up.

"Sarah...look at me." he then said.

"Why?" she whispered.

"Just do it, will you?" He could hear how she sighed and then saw how she turned her head down to him and looked him straight into the eyes. There was an easy way to find out if he was neck deep in shit...or just regular deep shit. He held his breath for a second and watched how Sarah opened her eyes and looked straight at him. He could see eyes that glowed in the darkness. And they glowed...

...purple.

"Well, at least your eyes have the right color." he whispered and Sarah frowned when she heard that.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Purple...is good. If they had been yellow, then I would have run away. You know, old habits die hard."

"If you say so..." Sarah mumbled and he could sense that she still felt hurt.

"How...how about you come down here and we, well, talk?" Jim asked and swallowed hard.

"I'm not sure that this is such a good idea. Maybe I just should stay here, out of sight." she replied, and Jim could feel just how much Sarah was hurt right now.

"If you say so..." Jim whispered. He wanted to say something else, but that's when both of them heard how a car arrived. "Oh, for the love of...not now!" he shouted. Whoever that was, they had the worst timing of, well, all times! This was bad, really bad. Maybe it was one of his workers? He had to make sure that no one would find Sarah like this. His mind was racing and everything was happening too goddamn fast!

And that's when something happened that hadn't happened to Jim in a very, very, very long time.

Jim was panicking.

"Sarah, stay here! I will, well, deal with whoever this is. Just promise me to not leave and stay hidden! We can't allow anyone to see you like this." Jim hissed and turned away. He hurried out of the barn and didn't even realize that Sarah snarled in pain when she heard that. When she was finally alone, Sarah sat down on a roof beam, pulled her knees up to her chin, slung her arms around her legs, and tried to fight back the tears.

She didn't know what hurt more; the fact that Jim was scared of her, or the fact that right now he was _appalled_ by her.

...or perhaps it was because that, even with their shared connection, he still wasn't sure if he could trust her anymore. Everything had changed just because of how she looked right now. She couldn't really blame him for that…

But still, it hurt.

* * *

"This is a nightmare. A goddamn nightmare. Oh boy, oh damn it!" Jim mumbled as he hurried towards the house. Whoever had just arrived, he had to make sure that he, she or they wouldn't see Sarah. No, not Sarah, the Queen of Blades. No, Sarah who looked like the Queen of Blades and...

...ah, dammit.

Three years had passed since Sarah's last, well, outburst. And quite frankly, Jim had hoped that it would have been the last one. It had mostly been wishful thinking, but still...

Seeing Sarah like this was a goddamn nightmare. It reminded Jim of a time he had banished into deepest depths of his memory. And now all those old fears were suddenly back again. What if Sarah would have another mental breakdown? What if her mind was about to fracture again? And what if the old Queen of Blades-persona was still inside Sarah's mind?

What if Sarah had just lied to him, telling him that her appearance was just superficial?

Could he...really trust her?

Perhaps this sounded like a real dick-move, but we are still talking about the Queen of Blades here. The only reason why Jim hadn't run away while screaming like crazy was because of Sarah's eyes.

They had been purple, not yellow.

Purple was good, yellow was bad.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Everything was okay. Everything would be fine.

And having the Queen of Blades inside your own barn was something that was completely normal...

Jim could feel how his mind was racing. He hadn't felt like this since, well, he couldn't even remember the last time he had felt like this. This was just too much to handle, even for him. And much to his own surprise, Jim really wished that Izsha would be here right now. Maybe she would be able to reason with the Queen of Blades? If things would go south?

Just what the hell was he supposed to do now?

This whole thing had just caught him with his pants down. A few years ago, he probably would have shrugged it off and asked for even more. But these years on Ramelow, they had changed not only Sarah, but also him. The thought of jumping into action didn't even occur to him. His days of fighting were over and he didn't want to return to them. The Queen of Blades reminded him of a time he didn't want to be reminded of.

Why now? Why did it have to happen now of all times? Things were normal, things were boring, things weren't exploding, and things were looking great!

And now _this_?

Jim could feel how panic started to cloud his senses. Like said; five years ago, Jim would probably have known what to do. But in the last three years, he had worried not about warfare and how to deal with alien onslaughts, but how to improve his harvest and find additional purchasers for those apples. Seeing the Queen of Blades had indeed shocked Jim to the core, even though he tried to ignore it.

"Pull yourself together, man." he mumbled to himself. His heart was beating like crazy when he approached the house. One thousand horrible scenarios shot through his mind. He had to fix this. He had to make sure that no one would see Sarah. Otherwise...otherwise...

"There he is. Yo, Jim. How's...holy shit, what happened to you?" When Jim walked around the corner, he could see the brand-new police jeep and those two figures standing on the veranda.

"Joe?" Jim whispered. "Paula? What are you doing here?"

"It's Joseph, not Joe!" the Marshal snarled. "I'm not a goddamn trucker!" Well, whatever. Jim stopped in front of both of them and looked them straight into the eyes. Only then he realized that he was sweating like crazy.

"Uhm, you okay?" Joseph asked. "You looked like you're about to collapse. Are you sick or something?"

"He's worried." Paula then said. "Worried about Sarah. Worried about us. Worried about what's about to happen next. And he's scared." When Joseph heard that, he looked over to Paula and pulled a brow up.

"You know, girl, next time you want me to drive you somewhere, you tell me what I have to expect first. Yes?" But Paula didn't even listen to Joseph. She made a step towards Jim and put her hand on her chest.

"I sensed Sarah. She's in pain. I want to talk to her."

"You...did what?" Jim whispered and his eyes widened in shock.

"Yup, like she said. When you were gone, she suddenly freaked out and urged me to bring her out here. Seriously, what's wrong? Has something happened to Sarah?" Jim didn't care that these two knew more about Sarah than anyone else from New Thompson. Jim and Sarah had kept their true identities a well-guarded secret so far.

"It's nothing." he pressed out. "You need to go now. Both of you."

"Like hell, we just got here and-" Joseph tried to say.

"Go! NOW!" Jim barked and the Marshal blinked in surprise when he saw how Jim's whole body started to shake both in anger and fear.

"I want to talk to Sarah!" Paula refused, but Jim wasn't in the mood for that. He walked up to the young woman, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her towards the jeep.

"Not today. You have to go. Now." he growled. However, Joseph didn't move an inch. Instead, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and frowned.

"What's going on." he demanded to know.

"Nothing, just go." Jim barked. He opened the door of the jeep and pushed Paula inside. Then he turned around and hurried back to Joseph. He grabbed his arm as well and pulled him to the side.

"Joe, please tell me that Izsha's around." The moment Joseph heard that he looked at Jim in surprise.

"Izsha? Why would you...no. No, she's on Ulnar right now. Why? What's the matter?"

"Damn..." Jim hissed. This was bad. If things would take a turn for the worse, then Izsha was probably the only person who could stop Sarah. And that wasn't even guaranteed.

"Jim? Normally I don't mind crazy talk, usually because I'm the one doing it. But you are starting to freak me out." Joseph said. "What's the matter? Is something wrong with Sarah?"

"No. You just have to leave now. I'm gonna tell you about it some other time. If there's another time. Listen, I need you to get back to the town and tell people to pack things. If you don't hear anything from me in a few hours, you have to get them together and take them to Central City." For a long time, Joseph didn't say anything. He saw the desperate look on Jim's face and frowned.

"I'm sorry..." the Marshal then said. "...but are you on drugs? Just what the hell are you talking about?" Jim grabbed Joseph by the shoulders and almost yelled at him.

"There's no time! If things go south, then you have to get everyone to safety!" By now Jim wasn't thinking rationally anymore. Inside his mind, he was remembering all those worlds that had fallen victim to the Zerg. What if the Queen of Blades had returned? Maybe she would find a way to get Niadra from Ulnar. And then? It would be like Mar Sara all over again.

"This is ridiculous." Joseph said after a while. "I'm not gonna do anything like that. Where's Sarah? Is she alright?"

"She's alright!" Jim barked.

"Good. In that case, I don't have to worry about Paula running over to the barn, right?" Joseph mumbled and Jim turned around. His eyes widened in shock when he realized that Paula had gotten out of the car and was now running right towards the other building.

"Paula, no!" Jim yelled and ran right after her.

"He's on drugs, most definitely." Joseph mumbled and decided to follow those two. However, unlike them, he decided to take his sweet time.

"Paula, don't! She's not in there! Sarah's fine, just go back home!" Jim yelled. Paula was surprisingly fast and before Jim could reach her, she slipped into the barn. "NO!" Jim followed her and when Joseph finally entered the barn, he could see how the both of them looked up.

"Hey, what's so interesting that makes you...look...up..." Joseph mumbled when he saw the figure sitting on a roof beam.

"Sarah?" Paula whispered. The Queen of Blades raised her head and looked down at them and then at Jim.

"Guess the secret is out." she whispered unfolded her blade wings. Jim gestured Joseph and Paula to back off, but the both of them didn't even move an inch.

"Watch it! Those things are sharp!" Jim barked. He didn't notice the pained expression on Sarah's face. She stood up and used her blade wings to lower herself to the ground. It was a strange sight. The way she moved was just frightening. There was a strange sensuality to it, one that Jim had seen many times. The Queen of Blades had been a creature of unmatched cruelty. However, at the same time she had been a temptress. Her body, although hideous, had promised unspeakable delights, only to rip you into pieces. She had teased the people with her every move. Strong, confident and beautiful in a horrific way.

Sarah, his Sarah, had never been a temptress. But as Jim watched how the Queen of Blades lowered herself to the ground, he could see the same sensual movement like all those years ago. Perhaps the look on the other two faces showed Jim's dilemma better than anything else. Paula didn't even seem to notice the fact that Sarah was covered with carapace. Besides, Paula didn't care about outer appearance. And Joseph? Well...

"Oh, that's sexy as hell!" Jim could hear the Marshal whisper and then he realized that he shouldn't expect any help from that guy.

However, neither Paula nor Joseph seemed like they were truly freaked out. Probably because they didn't know what Jim did. They had never seen the Queen of Blades in action...or the Zerg. They didn't know what Sarah was capable of. The carnage and destruction caused by her, suddenly it all came back to Jim. He could see it in front of his inner eye; Ramelow, ravaged by the Zerg. His friends infested and turned into abominations. It had happened so many times before.

Sarah looked to the side. The expression on her face was a mixture of hurt and shame. Joseph studied her face, and then Jim's, who looked as if he was about to panic.

"Please, you have to go! We have to keep this a secret! If anyone finds out about this, then there will be panic!" Jim pleaded with Paula and Joseph. The latter just turned his head over to the other man and frowned.

"Right now, I only see one person panicking. And it ain't Paula. Or, well, me. What's going on here?" Joseph wanted to know.

"I think it's pretty obvious, don't you think?" Jim hissed and pointed with his hand at Sarah. Paula stepped towards Sarah and tilted her head to the side.

"Sarah? Does it hurt? You are in pain, I can sense that." the younger woman mumbled, but Sarah just shook her head.

"It's fine, Paula. I just...never mind me." But Paula had never been a very good listener. She reached out with her hand and wanted to grab Sarah's. That's when...

"Paula, don't touch her!" Jim barked. Joseph stared at the other man, watched his reaction and the fear displayed on Jim's face. And it wasn't just the face that was giving away Jim's emotions. His whole body was shaking.

"It's like it's straight from the textbook." Joseph mumbled. In the meantime, Paula approached Sarah and grabbed the Queen of Blade's hand as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Paula, be careful! You don't know if she's gonna hurt you!" Jim yelled, yet when Paula felt the warm carapace that covered Sarah's hand, she gave it a soft squeeze and giggled.

"It feels funny!" she said and Sarah smiled when she heard that, even though it was a sad smile.

"Perhaps you should leave now, Paula. You heard Jim, it's not safe having me around right now." You could actually hear the hurt and bitterness in her voice.

"I am safe." Paula replied and returned Sarah's smile with nothing but optimism and glee. "You would never hurt me!" While Sarah had to swallow hard when she heard that, Jim didn't even seem to register what Paula had said.

"Guess it's time for an intervention." Joseph mumbled and pulled his gun out of the holster. He walked up behind Jim and that's when Paula turned around and looked him straight into the eyes. But when she sensed his true intentions, she only nodded.

"People, you don't seem to understand what's going on here!" Jim said with a desperate tone in his voice.

"As a matter of fact; I think I do. It's sleepy time!" Joseph said. He grabbed his pistol by the barrel and hit the grip on the back of Jim's head.

"OUCH! Why did you do that for?!" Jim yelled and turned around.

"Huh, in movies that usually works." Joseph mumbled. "Guess I should hit harder next time."

"What...what are you...?" Jim mumbled and you could see how his pupils dilated.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm trying to knock you out." Joseph explained as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Why...why would you...do that...?" Jim tried to say and stumbled to the side. It looked like Joseph had scored a critical hit after all.

"Because I always wanted to do that?" Joseph offered and that's when Jim dropped to his knees. Suddenly the whole world was spinning around him, and when he fell on the side, Sarah stormed towards him and knelt down right next to his body.

"Jim! Jim! I'm so sorry! I didn't want this to happen, I just..." But Jim didn't hear what she was saying. His eyelids started to flutter and then he was out cold.

"Hmm, guess movies are inaccurate when it comes to knocking out people." Joseph mused when he looked down at Jim. "Hey, is it normal for him to twitch like that? And why's there foam coming out of his mouth? Uhm, does anyone know what the signs of cerebral bleeding are?"

And then blackness claimed Jim. The last thing he saw was the face of the Queen of Blades, hovering right above him.

* * *

"Hnnn..." Jim groaned when he finally regained consciousness. His head hurt so much and he recognized the kind of pain. It was unlike the kind of headache you would feel from a hang-over. It remembered Jim of all the times he had lost a brawl in a bar. And he had plenty of experience when it came to losing brawls in a bar. Far more experience than _winning_ a brawl in a bar.

"Oh, look who's finally awake. You know, knocking people out in real life is nothing like they make you believe it in movies. It's way less funny. Hey, how many fingers am I holding up?" someone said. Jim tried to open his eyes, but then he gritted his teeth when a sharp pain shot through his head.

"Oh hell...what happened?"

"I knocked you out. And boy, let me tell you; that was so much fun!" That voice...he recognized that voice.

"Joseph? Is that...you?" he groaned and was rewarded with a chuckle.

"Well, what do you know. All I had to use was physical force and you would finally use my real name. I sure have to keep that in mind. You know, for future reference."

"What...what's going on?" Jim asked again and tried to get back up, but failed miserably when his aching head forced him back down. He reached out with his hand and winced when he felt what was quite the bump on the backside of his skull.

Oh, he would feel that in the morning!

"Are you feeling better?" Joseph asked and Jim forced his eyes opened. He looked over at the Marshal and frowned.

"Do I look like I feel better?" he snarled, pressed his one hand against his eyes in order to shield them from the light, and placed his other hand on the impressive bump on the back of his head. "Oh, hell..."

"Well, at least you seem more lucid. And all I had to do was to smash your head in. Sounds like a good deal to me." Joseph mused.

"What are you talking about, just what the hell is..." And then everything came back to Jim. He jumped to his feet and looked around in shock. Well, that's what he wanted to do. He only managed to lift his upper body off the couch before his head told him to stay put.

"Sarah! She's...she's..." he gurgled while holding his head.

"She's fine. Well, as fine as one can be considering what has happened to her." Joseph mumbled.

"She...she has changed, she is-"

"I know." the Marshal interrupted Jim. "I was there, remember? Well, in case you don't; I knocked your lights out because you were kinda acting like an asshole."

"I... what?" Jim gargled and tried to remember what had happened. "Where is she? Where's Sarah?"

"Still in the barn. With Paula. They're talking, I guess."

"You...guess?" Jim whispered.

"Yeah, guessing. You know, the stuff you do when you don't know something for certain. Also, I'm pretty sure that it's not Sarah who's the problem here."

"In case you haven't noticed it..." Jim snarled. "...there's the Queen of Blades in my barn!"

"So?" Joseph replied.

"That's a bad thing!" Jim shot back and groaned when another surge of hot pain shot through his head.

"Yeah, you deserve that. You went totally overboard just now. Did you even realize what you did?" Joseph asked.

"I tried to save the situation?"

"Oh, that's how you call it? Now I know why Admiral Horner was such a shitty superior officer, considering that he learned everything from you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jim snarled.

"It means, my dear stupid friend, that you experienced a panic attack. And Sarah took the brunt of it. Good thing that Paula made me come out here. Who knows what would have happened otherwise." Joseph growled.

"Panic...attack?" Jim mumbled and then he shook his head, something that he regretted immediately. "Bullshit."

"Really? Why? Because the great James Raynor can't get a panic attack? That's a lame explanation."

"And what would you know about panic attacks, huh?" Jim shot back.

"A great deal more than you, obviously." Joseph explained. "Considering that I got a bachelor degree in psychology." That caused Jim to chuckle.

"Oh yeah, right. You totally have one of those." he snarled and Joseph, who sat in Jim's armchair, leaned back and pressed his hands against each other.

"As a matter of fact, I do. I know, most people don't believe that since I'm so handsome and good looking that I could work as a model for underwear. But unlike you, I actually graduated from the Military Academy on Korhal. You know, I was actually _trained_ to become an officer, unlike others who were just field-commissioned. Oh, and in order to graduate, you need to get at least one bachelor degree. So yeah, I chose psychology."

"Why did you never say that?"

"Because it's none of your business?" Joseph replied. "Unlike most others, I don't give a crap what people think of me. Besides, I think it's better for people not knowing everything about you. But enough of me, I'm here to analyze you."

"Spare me your smack-talk, Joe..." Jim began.

"Here we go again." Joseph sighed. "Guess I have to hit you harder next time, so you will keep calling me Joseph."

"...there are more important things that I have to worry about."

"Right. You're so worried about everything that you have no time to be worried about yourself. Were you always like this, or is it because you're actually an old fart?"

"You are the worst psychologist of all times." Jim snarled.

"Good. And you, Mister, are the worst liar of all times. You just freaked out and you don't even realize it. And worse, you hurt Sarah. Considering that you always brag about this "special connection" between you and her, I'd say that's an effin' achievement!"

"You have no idea what you're talking about..." Jim growled.

"Oh, really? Okay, Mister Tough guy, let me tell you this; you just panicked. And you panicked so hard that you were unable to listen to reason and-"

"This is not true, it is-" Jim tried to say, but that's when Joseph got angry.

"It's the goddamn truth, you stubborn piece of work!" he barked and Jim winced when Joseph's loud voice caused his head to almost explode. Joseph leaned forward and squinted his eyes. "Now I watched you and Sarah for the last couple of years, and I knew that this day would come eventually. You were so worried about "fixin' Sarah" that you never considered the fact that you are just as broken as she is. Or was. In all honesty, I think you are in a way worse shape than she is. At least she is making progress."

"Say what? Are you trying to analyze me?" Jim snarled.

"Nope, you're not that interesting anyway. You, dear Jim, are not nearly as complex as Sarah...no offense."

"None taken." Jim growled. "So enlighten me. How exactly did I screw up?"

"You think that you don't have any problems, but you're just like Sarah. You both are fundamentally broken. However, in Sarah's case, it was obvious. You just managed to hide your own pain and fears so far. But what just happened in the barn? That was a glimpse of the real Jim Raynor. And that's something you should be worried about."

"Oh, really? And why should I be worried about that, huh?"

"That you don't love Sarah."

…

…

…

"You little piece of shit!" Jim hissed and rolled off the couch. He landed on all fours and winced in pain, but he just ignored his discomfort and was about to throw himself at Joseph and beat the living crap out of the younger man.

"Uuuh, scary. How about you calm down and don't act like a little boy. One of the first things you learn in psychology; if someone yells at you that got it all wrong, then you probably got it right." Joseph replied.

"You know nothing about me or Sarah!"

"Oh, really? How long do we know each other now? A bit over three years? You're not that complicated, Jim. You even pride yourself that you like the simple life. But it would seem that the _simple life_ has dulled your senses. You even told Sarah that you think she's disgusting." Joseph explained with a calm voice, and Jim finally managed to get back on his feet. His head felt like it was about to explode, but he was too angry to care about that.

"I'm gonna beat you up so hard-" Jim snarled. However, Joseph was not impressed.

"What would you do if Sarah stays like that?" he suddenly asked and Jim froze.

"What?"

"You only love Sarah the way she is now, right? You only love her for her body. At least that's how it looks like."

"That..." Jim hissed. "...is absolute bullshit!"

"Yeah? Then why did you react like this when you saw her with all that carapace on her?" Joseph wanted to know. So, the little punk wanted to play a mind-game, huh?

"You wouldn't understand, Joseph. You weren't there. You haven't seen what I have seen."

"Ah, yes. The old "you wouldn't understand"-story. Now you just sound like an old fart lecturing kids. I take it you're referring to the original Queen of Blades? The one Izsha told me about? Yeah, I never met her. And because of that, I don't have any bias. Unlike you. You hate everything Zerg-related. You only tolerate Izsha because you can't get rid of her. Same goes for Niadra. But the very thought about the Queen of Blades makes you wanna throw grenades at her."

"You've never fought the Zerg. You don't know what it's like. And you can't judge me for the fact that I'm merely cautious on this."

"No. No, this isn't the reason for you freaking out. I heard about your little adventure on Sternenheim. How that other Queen of Blades helped Izsha to save Sarah while you were doing nothing."

"It was actually a bit different." Jim growled. "Is there anything Izsha didn't tell you?"

"Nope. But her story sounds pretty believable. Anyway..." Joseph continued. "...the real reason for you freaking out is because you don't care about Sarah, but just yourself."

"Book was right about you. You are an insufferable little-"

"Would you bang her?" Joseph suddenly asked and Jim frowned when he heard that.

"What? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" he yelled, ignoring his pulsing headache for a moment.

"Would you bang the Queen of Blades? I think it's a very simple question, one that-"

"Why should I do that? I'm not like you!" Jim shot back.

"And now you imply that I'm perverse because I feel sexually attracted to someone who doesn't fit into your conundrum of beauty. You are straight from the textbook. Anyway, answer my question; would you have sex with the Queen of Blades?"

"This is ridiculous!" Jim hissed.

"I take that as a no. So, there you have it! You don't love Sarah, you only love her body. And only if the body has human skin and red hair."

"That is not true! I love her with all of my heart!"

"Yeah? And what if she won't turn back, huh? What if she would stay like this? Or, to make things worse, what would you have done if Sarah had never ascended in the first place? Here's a little mind-game for you; if Sarah had stayed the Primal Queen of Blades, would you still have tried to have a relationship with her?"

"What kind of question is that? That's not what happened!" Jim snarled.

"No. But it could have. And you, Mister, would probably have stayed away from her. So much for "grand and eternal love". Let me tell you, I'm not impressed." Joseph mumbled.

"I don't care what _you_ think!"

"Good. But from the look of it, you don't care about what Sarah thinks either." the Marshal explained. "You didn't even notice the hurt look on Sarah's face when you told us to stay away from her, like she's some kind of monstrosity. You didn't even want to be close to her. So, tell me; what are you gonna do if she stays like this? Hmm?"

"She won't!" Jim replied.

"What a great answer! Only it isn't. What will you do if she stays like this?" Joseph asked again. Jim opened his mouth and wanted to reply something, but then he just...hesitated. The younger man stared at him for a while before he sighed.

"You know...I get it. I get why people think I'm crazy or mentally deranged because my girlfriend is 23 three meters long and weighs roughly eight hundred kilograms. And has pointy teeth. And is covered with carapace. And has no visible nose. Not everyone digs that. But you know what? I don't give a damn. Because I have more fun when she's around than with anyone else I know. Maybe it is because I'm a weird guy, maybe it is because I never fought against the Zerg and never saw them in action. But let me tell you something; I don't care if she would morph into a Protoss tomorrow. Or look human. Or Zerg again." Suddenly Joseph's features softened and so did his voice.

"You love Sarah, I believe that. But you don't love every aspect of her. And for the last three years, you only saw those parts you liked. You got used to what you called _"your Sarah"_. And this house, these apple trees, Phil, Paula, even Book...they have become _your home_. _Your_ happy place. And then something happened. Something that could threaten all of that. You want to stay here, you want that this is your future. It's what you call "the good life". But you forgot something. You forgot that it's only temporary."

"That's not true." Jim whispered.

"Oh, but it is. You panicked because you weren't even thinking about Sarah when you saw her. You were thinking that your precious life out here was in danger. And then you freaked out. It triggered something inside your mind. Maybe the last three years have made you soft. Something happened that you didn't expect, and it pushed all your red buttons at once. As a result, you went nuclear. And you took it out on her."

"I didn't-"

"Yes, you did. Like I said; straight from the textbook. It's funny, just because you're married to a goddess-in-training doesn't mean that you don't act like any other frustrated man out there." Joseph explained.

"We are not married."

"I'm not here to argue with you about semantics. You acted like a complete asshole. And why? Because your vision of a happy future was in danger. What would you do if Sarah won't change back? Tell her to hide in the barn for the next twenty or so years? Izsha told me that you liked the Queen of Blades on Sternenheim, at least the one that helped you. So, what has changed, huh? Not her. _You_ have." Joseph continued and he could see how Jim's angry expression was replaced by a pained one.

"So, I ask you again; what would you do if Sarah stays like this? Are you just going to tell her that you're only interested in a long-distance relationship? That you can't allow her to stick around because it would ruin your day if Book or Phil would see her like that? You don't have a plan B. This is your plan E, for everything. And when you realized that something could ruin it, you freaked out and panicked."

"Did you really study psychology?" Jim whispered.

"I actually graduated with honors. Now, you don't have to believe any word of what I just said. In fact, I'm pretty sure that you just think that I have no idea what I'm talking about since you and Sarah are _oh-so-different_ from everyone else. But that's what we learned in the first semester; everyone claims to be different. Sarah's abilities might be unique, but there's still a woman beneath that carapace. The same woman that _you_ claim you love. The same woman that _you_ hurt because you basically told her that you only love her if she looks the right way." This time Jim didn't say anything. His head was still hurting like crazy and he felt as if he was suffering from a mild concussion. However, that didn't change the fact why he was starting to feel guilty.

"Now, I could just pretend that this is none of my problems. But I like Sarah. She deserves better. And aside from the fact that Izsha would probably rip me a new one if I wouldn't intervene, there's another reason for me telling you this." Joseph said.

"And what would that be?" Jim asked with a quiet voice.

"I don't like bullies. And what you did was being a bully. So, here's my professional advice to you, free of charge; get your shit together. Because Sarah looking like the Queen of Blades is the least of your problems right now." That's when Jim suddenly remembered something, something that he had almost forgotten.

"She never asked for any of this..." Jim whispered to himself. Joseph didn't hear him, but he didn't have to. He had said what he had wanted to say.

"Well, looks like I gave you something to think about. And I was serious about that question earlier; would you stay with Sarah if she would stay like this?"

And that was a damn good question. Because Jim was not able to answer it.

"You should get your shit together. Or I will just tell Izsha what happened. And in that case, you will be royally screwed. You once said to me you came out here so Sarah could experience what a normal human life feels like. Well, right now she probably feels like shit. So, you succeeded with that part of human existence. Not sure if you should be proud of it, though." Joseph explained. He stood up and stretched his limbs.

"Also; knocking you out was fun. We have to do that again one day. Now excuse me, I have other things to do. I'm gonna pick up Paula and leave the rest to you. And do us all a favor, don't screw this up. I like Sarah, and so do a lot of other people. Till later!" Joseph was already at the door when Jim suddenly found the strength to say something.

"Joe?"

"For the love of God, and here I thought we had finally moved on!" Joseph groaned. "It's not Joe, it's Joseph! I'm not a goddamn-"

"Thanks." Jim mumbled and the Marshal fell silent. He had turned his back to Jim and didn't look him into the eyes.

"Don't thank me. Make sure that this never happens again." And then he was gone. Jim could hear how the Marshal walked over to the barn, and shortly after that, he could hear how two people got into the police jeep and drove away.

And then he was finally alone.

For a long time, Jim didn't dare to say anything. He didn't want to reach out to Sarah and didn't want to check on her. Not because he was angry, but because he felt ashamed. And the longer he thought about it, the more he had to admit...

...that Joseph had a point.

Jim sat down on the couch and suddenly he felt like shit. Not only did his head hurt like hell, inside his mind he was reeling as well. He took a deep breath and decided to reach out to Sarah.

 _Darlin', are you there?_

He could sense her, but just for the fraction of a second. Then he could feel how she pulled away from him. And that's when he realized that Joseph had been right.

He had indeed royally screwed this one up.

The thought that he had experienced a panic attack was utterly ridiculous, but sometimes we just don't want to believe in something because it would mean that we have to admit a weakness. Jim could sense that Sarah wanted to be left alone, and it dawned Jim that he had indeed hurt her. He stared at his own hands and could feel how his headache started to get worse.

Just how the hell was he supposed to solve this mess?

The hit to the head was taking its toll, and even though Jim didn't want to do that, he fell asleep eventually. It was not a deep sleep and not the kind that would recharge your batteries. It felt like it only lasted for a few seconds, but when Jim opened his eyes, he realized that it was already dark outside.

"Sarah?" he asked and looked around, but he was still alone. And Sarah? He could still sense her nearby. Was she still in the barn? Jim got back up, even though he felt like shit. But he deserved that much. He walked over to the front door, opened it and stepped on the veranda. He gasped when he realized how cold it had gotten.

Cold?

Oh no...

* * *

Sarah was indeed still in the barn. She had huddled herself into a corner. Her arms and her blade wings were wrapped around her body, yet they offered no protection from the cold. Since she only looked like the Queen of Blades on the outside, she lacked that creature's resistance against low temperatures. Good thing that this wasn't Kaldir, otherwise she would have turned into a clump of ice right by now.

She still shivered and pulled her legs closer to her body.

This day was just a goddamn nightmare. She buried her head between her knees and sighed. There were no tears, she had already shed all of them before. Right now, she just felt empty.

She had never asked for any of this, and he didn't know which was worse; the fact that Jim hadn't even tried to listen to her, or that right now she was just a nuisance to his own happiness.

There was a lot of bitterness on her mind right now. She had thought that by now Jim would stay by her side, no matter what. But apparently, that had been a misjudgment on her part. It was dark and it was cold, but after Paula had left her no one had come for her.

Go figure.

Right now, Sarah only wanted crawl back into their bed and pull the blanket over her head. She wanted the world to leave her alone. But most importantly, she wished that this day had never happened.

And that's when the door of the barn was opened from the outside.

"Sarah?" Jim whispered and she pulled her legs closer to her body. "Sarah, are you there?" His voice sounded worried. And pained. However, right now Sarah didn't care about that. She just wanted to be left alone.

"Sarah, listen..." Jim began. "...I'm...I'm sorry."

There was a long moment of silence and she could hear how he took a few deep breaths.

"Sarah, I'm sorry for what I said. I just...I guess I panicked. I know there's no excuse for how I treated you, but I just want you to know...that I'm truly sorry." Right now, those words felt dull and empty.

"Where are you?" Jim asked again. Sarah just wanted him to leave. She wanted to stay here until she wouldn't feel the cold anymore.

Yet...

"I'm here..." she whispered. Sarah didn't even know why she answered him, but she did. She could hear how Jim stumbled through the darkness until he finally reached her.

"Sarah..."

There was a long moment of silence, and after a while, she looked up at the dark figure standing in front of him. You could still see the dried purple tears on her cheek.

"What do you want?" she asked. There was pain in her voice, and exhaustion.

"I wanted to apologize." Jim replied.

"Noted. Anything else?"

"It's cold. Please, let's go inside."

"I want to stay here...if you don't mind." Sarah told him.

"You said that you just look like the Queen of Blades. That means...that you're not as tough as her. Right?"

"So now you believe me? How nice." she whispered with a bitter tone in her voice.

"I should have believed you immediately, I know that now."

"Yet you didn't." Sarah mumbled. "Even though we share a connection...you didn't."

"No... I didn't..." Jim whispered. "I didn't when I should have. I... I'm sorry." he repeated his initial statement. And then they were silent again. It was Sarah who decided to say speak again.

"Am I really...that appalling to you when I look like this?" she whispered, and Jim could feel how a clump of ice formed inside his chest.

"That's not it." he replied.

"Then what is it?" Sarah asked.

"I... I'm not sure how to explain it without turning me into a complete idiot."

"It's too late for that." she told him.

"Yeah, I know." he sighed. "Maybe...maybe we could talk about it? Inside? Where it's warm?"

"You can go back inside. I will stay out here. Please, Jim...just leave me be." Sarah urged him and he was about to say something, but then he nodded and walked away. A part of Sarah wanted him to stay, but right now that would probably be unwise.

And it was so goddamn cold!

However, she didn't stay alone for long. A few minutes later, Jim returned and had something in his hands. She looked up at him but couldn't make out any details.

"What now?" she whined. And that's when he took the blanket and put it on Sarah's lithe body.

"Here, that should help." he told her, and for a second, she thought about shredding the blanket into pieces. But she was too tired for that. Besides, she was freezing right now and the blanket was just what she needed. However, it didn't end there. Instead of leaving her alone, Jim sat down right next to her.

"What are you doing?" she wanted to know.

"Isn't it obvious? If you stay out here, then so am I." he told her.

"Please, just go inside. You will just catch a cold."

"I deserve much worse." Jim muttered. His head still hurt like crazy and he grabbed another blanket he had brought along. He slipped under it and then they were silent for a long time. Jim tried to stay awake, but the hit to the head had taken its toll and after a while, he fell asleep. When he was no longer awake, Sarah looked over at him and reached out with her hand. She wanted to grab his fingers, but that's when she hesitated. And at one point, she too fell asleep.

* * *

When Sarah woke up the next morning, she felt like a goddamn ice-cube. There was something touching her nerve cords. It felt strange, but not unpleasant. It felt like...warm fingers brushing through her tendrils. She opened her eyes, but just a bit. She was still inside the barn, yet she was no longer leaning against the wall.

Her head was resting on something warm and soft. It felt nice. And her body was covered not only by one but two blankets. It was hardly enough to keep her body warm, but it helped. At least a bit. She could still feel her blade wings, so that hadn't changed.

After a while, she realized that her head was resting on Jim's lap and that he was brushing with his fingers through her nerve cords while his other hand held her own, with their fingers intertwined. She decided to reach out to him and when she sensed his thoughts, she could hear the same thing over and over again.

 _I'm so sorry..._

When Sarah heard that, she closed her eyes and decided to rest some more. Maybe, just maybe...

...he had learned his lesson.

* * *

 **Four years later...**

* * *

"Man, that sure as hell wasn't my finest hour." Jim mumbled when he thought about those days. He walked over to Sarah and sat down next to her on the couch. "I really almost blew it back then, didn't I?"

"Well, you know what you say; if enough time passes, you can laugh about it. You were so submissive and scared after that. It was really cute. I could ask everything from you, and you would do it immediately!" she chuckled and put her carapace-covered legs on the table.

"Well, I guess good can come from bad things too. Though I still don't like to think about it." Jim mumbled.

"Because it portrays you in an unflattering light, my love?" the Queen of Blades cooed.

"Naaa, I don't care about that. It's more, well, I guess I still feel ashamed for how I treated you back then."

"Yeah, you were quite the asshole." Sarah mused. "But like said; it was cute how hard you tried to make up for it. And let's not forget all those chocolate cakes you baked for me! Whoa, at times I felt as if I was about to turn into a chocolate cake myself!"

"I take it you don't want me to make a new one?" Jim wanted to know.

"Oh no, by all means! Keep 'em coming!" Sarah chuckled. She leaned to the side and put her head on Jim's shoulder, who didn't even flinch. Changing into the Queen of Blades had happened plenty of times by now, enough for Jim to get used to it. And he had learned not just to accept it, but to appreciate it...within limits.

He grabbed her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. The long and sharp claws did no longer bother him, neither did the hard carapace. Besides, it wasn't that hard to begin with. It was covered by a thin and soft layer of tissue. So even though Sarah's carapace was hard, it wasn't like a piece of metal. And it was warm, which was nice.

It wasn't just Sarah who had come a long way. Jim pulled her hand up and placed his lips on its back, and then he enjoyed the moment of peace and quiet while Sarah stared at her clawed feet.

"You know what? I still do wonder why I ended up with high heels in this form. I never managed to ask Abathur what made him think that I need those things."

"Because they're pointy and you can stab people with it?" Jim offered.

"Don't you think I carry enough sharp edges and claws on this body?" Sarah mumbled and Jim chuckled. He put his arm around the Queen of Blade's shoulder and pulled her closer to his chest.

"Naa, you get used to it once you know how to avoid the spiky parts." he told her and she snickered. Both of them enjoyed this rather awkward moment.

"I'm proud of you, you know that?" Sarah said after a while and Jim frowned when he heard that.

"What? Why? What did I do to deserve that compliment?"

"Well, think about it. Here we are, sitting and doing nothing. And now remember how you would have reacted thirteen years ago."

"Yeah, I guess so and... hey, wait, what? Thirteen years ago?" Jim suddenly asked and turned his head over to Sarah.

"Thirteen years ago. You know, when the Great War started. When...Tarsonis happened."

"Thirteen years..." Jim whispered. "Huh, now that you mention that...it sounds strange. It feels like all of that happened in another lifetime."

"Time sure flies, doesn't it? Sometimes it's even hard to remember those old days. Which is probably for the better. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I'm proud of you. Not many men are willing to admit that they are wrong, and even less are willing to change. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about."

"You know what it's like to be a man?" Jim asked and chuckled.

"Yeah, that too." Sarah replied and Jim laughed again until he suddenly stopped.

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, come on!" Sarah mumbled. "Don't tell me you didn't know that."

"Didn't know what?" he asked again.

"That I'm both male and female. That I have both genders ever since, you know, I got zerged."

"Oh, haha. Very funny." Jim mumbled and Sarah turned her head over to him in order to look him straight into the eyes.

"What? I'm not kidding! I do have a, well, you know."

"Then why did I never notice it, huh?" Jim shot back.

"It's retractable. I didn't want to scare you. Most men are intimidated by women who have male genitalia. I wanted to tell you about it once you were ready. Well, I guess now's a good time for that."

"How funny. I guess I should laugh now, huh?" Jim mumbled.

"Jim, I'm not joking. Zerg are both male and female. How do you think they can reproduce that fast?" she told him. At first, Jim thought that it was just Sarah's attempt to make fun of him, but then he saw the serious expression on her face. "Jim, I'm serious. I wanted to tell you about this for a long time, but I just didn't know how. Ever since I was zerged, I was both a woman and a man."

"That's not funny, Sarah." Jim groaned.

"I am serious, Love." Okay, this was getting out of hand. Jim looked her into the eyes and could feel how his eyelid started to twitch. "I kept it hidden from you, I knew you wouldn't be happy about it. But since you learned to accept me when I look like this, I thought this would be a good moment to tell you the truth." she continued.

"I think I would have noticed that." Jim growled.

"Like said; mine's retractable. And besides, mine's a lot smaller than yours." Oh God, this was wrong on so many levels...

"Please, just stop." he groaned.

"You know I'm right. Sometimes it just, well, slipped out. Happened to me last week actually, remember?" And when Jim heard that, his eyes widened in shock.

"You said that the thing in your hand was a flashlight!" he whined.

"Oh Jim, I know this is _hard_ for you...but there never was a flashlight." Sarah told him with a comforting look on her face. "But, wait...Jim, are you telling me that you can't live with the fact that I'm half a man? I thought you love me for who I am, not what gender I have!" She looked at him with big purple glowing eyes and blinked a few times. "I still love you, Jim. I just had hoped that you could love all of me." She watched how Jim's face lost all color, and a few seconds later she burst out into laughter.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" she howled and slipped off the couch. Sarah fell on her back and rolled from one side to the other. "Oh! You should see the look on your face! For a second, you totally bought it! You actually believed it! Bwhahahahaha!" And Jim? He sighed both in relief and annoyance.

But mostly in relief.

"I'm glad this amuses you, oh my Queen." he growled.

"Oh, it amuses me a great deal! Aaaahhh...oh, that was fun." Sarah said while just lying on the floor and wiping a tear of joy from her cheek.

"You're scratching the floor." he just mumbled and Sarah chuckled again.

"Like I care. This is too much fun. Ah, guess I won't be heading to town today. You know what? I think I'm gonna be lazy today. I will just go back to bed and sleep some more. That sounds like a brilliant idea." she said to herself and got back up. "Tehehehe...totally worth it." she snickered and left Jim alone.

"Care to join me, Love?" she teased him. It was a strange sight to behold as the Queen of Blades walked upstairs.

"Uhm...I think I'll pass. Besides, I still got stuff to do." he muttered and Sarah snickered once more before she vanished upstairs.

"Oh boy..." Jim moaned when she was finally gone.

When Sarah reached the bedroom, she just crawled back into bed and threw the blanket over her body. Lying in bed, doing nothing, and being lazy was one of the few luxuries she truly enjoyed. As Ghost and as the Queen of Blades she had always been either on the run or busy. But slacking off? It was one of the things Sarah enjoyed more than she probably should.

To her, it was freedom. Freedom to do nothing.

She sighed and looked at her own hand. It took Sarah some effort. She concentrated and focused her entire mind on her appendage. And after a while, the carapace started to shift and change. She bit her lip and watched how the zerg-like arm turned into a normal human one, all the way up to the tips of her fingers. Her control over her body was getting better with each passing day. Perhaps she could even force herself to turn into her other human self again.

But why should she do that? This was the perfect opportunity to just enjoy some peace and quiet. And besides, Jim didn't seem to mind.

Speaking of Jim...

She could hear how he walked up the staircase and chuckled when she could sense his thoughts. He was still not amused. However, she was surprised when Jim walked into the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"What are you doing?" she asked and looked over at him.

"Well, since you decided it's a good day to just slack off and do nothing, I figured I might join you."

"Pah, yeah...right. You're only taking time off when you break your neck. So never." she chuckled, but much to her own surprise Jim just kicked his shoes off and slipped under the blanket.

"Meh, the boys don't need me every day. Besides, sometimes I do enjoy doing nothing." he told her, and a few seconds later Sarah snickered.

"That doesn't feel like nothing. Your fingers are wandering, Mister!"

"Just checking for, uhm..." he mumbled and she snickered again.

"...there are no flashlights down there, don't worry." she told him and could actually hear how he sighed in relief. "You are hopeless, you know that?"

"Since there's no way for me to get out of this with my dignity intact, I might as well just shut up and enjoy the moment." he replied and Sarah rolled around so they were face to face.

"Oh, now you're finally making sense." she cooed. They smiled at each other and Sarah pressed herself against Jim's chest, who wrapped his arms around her scaly body and sighed. Perhaps taking a day off was not such a bad idea after all. Sarah smiled when she sensed Jim's thoughts and slung her blade wings around his body, pulling him even tighter against her.

And Jim?

He didn't even flinch.

After all those years, he had finally managed to overcome his own fears and bad memories, and had learned to accept Sarah the way she was.

"Musssst...infeeesssst...huuumannssssss..." Sarah suddenly gargled and then Jim sighed again.

"Not funny, Darlin'."

"Hehehehehe..."


	107. Act IV - Chapter 23

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 23**

 **Here comes the Bride**

* * *

 **A few weeks later...**

* * *

"I look ridiculous!" Sarah groaned while she looked at her own reflection in the mirror. "I don't believe that I agreed to this."

"You look lovely." Jim told her from the bathroom.

"Pah! I look like a cupcake with arms and legs!" she replied and tugged at her dress. The dress itself was nice, she got it from her favorite boutique back in Central City, the same boutique where she bought her dresses every year for the Thanksgiving party. She trusted those guys, and so far, they had always managed to get her the one dress that suited her best.

...though she still didn't understand why she was supposed to buy a new dress every year. The other ones were still fine, yet apparently, there was something called "so last season". Duh. Anyway, the dress she wore right now was actually not that bad. But it was blue. She didn't like blue. And she could have done better. However, Jim had been right about one thing; this day wasn't about her, it was about Paula. And apparently, it was rude to go to a wedding and be prettier than the bride.

Yep, the big day had finally arrived.

Sarah had never been to a wedding, she had only seen about it in bad movies. All those tears, all that crying, all those emotions...

She seriously had her doubts that real weddings were anything like what she had seen in those movies. There were so many things that seemed so utterly ridiculous, like throwing the bridal bouquet. But, just to be on the safe side, she had told Jim that she wouldn't catch that bouquet. No way.

"Why did I agree to this again?" she mumbled, and that's when Jim walked back into their bedroom.

"Because..." he said before he pressed a quick kiss on her cheek. "...it means a lot to Paula. And you would do pretty much anything to make her smile."

"Huh..." Sarah grunted in a very unladylike manner. "...if you say so. I still look like a humanoid cupcake."

"That's because you don't wear a dress like that. See those ribbons?" Jim said and pointed with his fingers at two ribbons on each side of Sarah's dress.

"Yeah?"

"Pull at them."

Sarah did as she was told and the lower part of her dress fell down. Suddenly she didn't look like a human cupcake anymore but like a beautiful woman wearing a lovely dress.

"Huh, makes me wonder how _you_ know how these ribbons work."

"Let's just say that I know one or two things about dresses...and how to get people out of them."

"Oh, haha. I shouldn't have asked." Sarah chuckled and Jim turned away so she could see him grimacing. This was getting out of hand.

"I still think that I look stupid." Sarah moaned while looking at her own reflection.

"Nonsense, you look beautiful." Jim reassured her and approached her from behind. He placed his hands on her hips and kissed her on the neck. "And I'm pretty sure that some people will be mad at you because you look even more beautiful than the bride."

"Bride, eh?" Sarah whispered when she heard that. She looked at her own reflection and sighed. "Hard to believe that little Paula is going to get married. It's like...I can still see her right before me, that young girl that was utterly lost. And now? Now she's getting married. Just where did all those years go? It's as if we arrived here just yesterday..."

"They say that time moves faster if you're enjoying yourself." Jim mused. "Also; you look just as beautiful as you did back then."

"I would like to return that compliment, but unfortunately I can't." Sarah muttered and Jim chuckled.

"It's fine. I know that you love me not because of my beauty but because of my inner values." he said.

"Nope. I actually just love you because of how you look, Mister. And right now, you look you're dressed to kill. Way better than when we arrived here." Sarah said and turned herself around in his arms. Jim was wearing a black suit and had shaved. And just like Sarah, he didn't look one day older since the day they had gotten here.

"I'm not sure if that's a compliment." Jim muttered, but then Sarah just gave him a quick kiss and slipped out of his embrace.

"I leave that to you. Now come on, I don't want to be late." she told him and walked out of the bedroom and downstairs. She wanted to have at least one more coffee before they would head out. That's when she saw those travel brochures on the table in the living room. At first, she smiled when she saw all those tropical places. Most of these brochures showed places on Tyrador VII, which was known for its warm climate and very popular among couples and families.

It was Jim's and Sarah's gift for Paula and Trevor; a whole month in a really expensive hotel where they would spend their honeymoon. Only Phil knew about this, and at first, he hadn't been happy. He felt bad that Jim and Sarah were willing to spend so much money on a gift, yet it had been Sarah who had told him that they would give those two that present no matter what.

However, Jim was pretty certain that Phil was just worried about his little girl. The thought of letting her go was still hard for him. But she was no longer his little girl. Besides, he wouldn't be alone for long. In roughly five months he would be a grandpa. Well, technically he would only be a great uncle, but no one cared about that. Paula was _his_ child, that much was brutally obvious.

Oh, the day Paula and Trevor had told Phil that she was pregnant had been glorious. Except for Trevor, who had feared for his dear life until Phil had promised to Paula that he wouldn't massacre his soon-to-be son-in-law. Like said; it had been highly amusing, except for Trevor.

Sarah actually had no idea if sending them to Tyrador VII was a good present or not, she just trusted Jim with this one. However, those were not the only brochures he had looked through. When Jim came down from upstairs, she grabbed one brochure and took a closer look at it.

"Are you planning to go on a trip I should know of?" she said and showed the brochure to Jim. He saw it and then he sighed.

"Yeah, well, I had hoped that I could travel to Korhal this year. The plantation is doing fine, and I could take a few weeks off. Would be nice to see Matt again." he told her and Sarah chuckled.

"Every year the same story. I wonder what excuse you find this time to not go." she said and Jim frowned.

"I don't find excuses, I always had more important things to do. The first year was simply too crazy. The second year I had to work hard and tried to sell enough apples, and the third year, well, it was pretty much like the second. And then-"

"Yeah, I know. I was there." Sarah cut him short. "And you know that my offer still stands; Izsha can take you to Augustgrad. You could be there within hours."

"Naaa, it's fine. Besides, if I go there, I want to do it the old-fashioned way." he explained and when he saw the cocky grin on Sarah's face, he groaned. "I mean it! This year I'm gonna visit Matt! He probably thinks that I'm dead by now. Or lost in the Void."

"Or that you spent eternity with your lover on a remote world that qualifies as paradise. Oh, wait...never mind." Sarah chuckled and threw the brochure on the table. "Don't worry, you can still try next year. There are plenty of chances in the future. It's not like Matt's gonna go away anytime soon. Besides, did you watch the news? Augustgrad is a bag full of fun, and whenever you watch "Lockwell Inside", she sucker punches Matt constantly. I have no idea why, but that woman truly seems to hate him." she mused.

"I guess you're right. Can't leave Phil alone as long as Paula and Trevor are gone. Besides, if Trevor isn't around, then who's gonna look after Joseph?"

 _Looking after Joseph_ was actually a code-word for; making sure that he wouldn't start a riot.

"I don't see any problems with that. Especially since Joseph is barely doing his job these days. He's too busy with his garden."

"Oh God, his garden. Have you actually seen it?" Jim asked and Sarah pulled her shoulders up.

"No. That would require me going to his place." The very thought about that was enough to make Sarah shudder. Ever since Joseph had moved out in the wilderness, no one had visited him out there. Well, no one except Izsha. And Karax from time to time.

No one had ever seen his garden, something that Joseph was very proud of. Sometimes Jim even had his doubts that this garden truly existed. Or "garden" was a code word for something he didn't even want to know about.

Probably the latter...

"Yeah, well, let's not think about Joseph, shall we? I'm still worried that he might try to do something stupid during the ceremony." Jim sighed.

"I thought he isn't allowed to enter the church. Didn't Book ban him from the entire property?"

"Several times over actually, but since when does Joseph care about what Book tells him?"

"Fair point." Sarah mumbled. "Well, I don't think he will do anything stupid. He knows that this isn't about ruining Book's day, but Paula's special day. Even he has so much common sense to realize that...I hope."

"Amen to that." Jim agreed before he grabbed one of the brochures from Korhal and shook his head.

"You know, when I read those things I couldn't help noticing that they're either painting Augustgrad in a very flattering light...or they're talking about a completely different world. Nice beaches? Warm climate? Friendly locals? If that would be true, then you could say the same about Char."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Sarah protested. "Char has a warm climate!"

"Well, whatever. I still got time, it's not like I wanted to travel to Korhal tomorrow. Come on, Darlin'. We don't want to be late, right?" He then threw the brochure on the table, and he and Sarah left their home. The moment they stepped on the veranda, the huge white creature lying next to the door raised its head and hissed at them.

"Ssssssaaaaa..."

"We're off now, Moby. Take care of the house while we're gone!" Jim told the kriecher. Moby yawned and presented her numerous, needle-like teeth to them and then just rolled to the other side.

"You're doing it again, Jim." Sarah growled as they walked up to the car.

"Doing what?"

"You're talking in full sentences with Moby. Short commands, remember?"

"Hey, Moby is a lot smarter than you think! I bet she understands what I'm telling her."

"She understands that all she has to do is to wiggle with her tail and you will throw treats in her mouth." Sarah growled.

"And how is that exactly a bad thing?" Jim wanted to know when he got in the car and started the engine.

"You don't train her, you spoil her. She already thinks that she's a human!" Sarah complained.

"Again, why is that a bad thing? I throw chocolate cakes at you every time you wiggle with your-"

"You don't want to finish that sentence, Love." Sarah told him, and Jim realized that he should indeed shut up. It was a beautiful day and as they drove towards New Thompson, Jim couldn't help but wondering if Sarah had been responsible for that.

"Did you make sure that there wouldn't be any clouds out there today?" he asked and Sarah pulled her shoulders up.

"Maybe."

"You're getting better and better at this, Darlin'."

"It's not that hard, actually. Took me a while to learn how to make subtle changes. It's just so damn complex, you know. If you push one button, ten thousand things change. Sometimes it's maddening."

"Well, you're doing an awesome job." Jim chuckled.

"Don't get your hopes up just yet. I tried my best to keep this day nice, but it's supposed to be much colder this time of the year. In order to keep the climate well balanced, I will have to make sure that this rain season will be, well, a bit longer."

"How much longer?" Jim asked.

"One month." Sarah told him, and Jim groaned when he heard that.

"A month? Are you serious?" he whined.

"Weather is a delicate thing, Jim. If you change the balance even just a little bit, it will have consequences. And the atmosphere has just started to adapt to all the water in it. So yeah, making sure that Paula will have a nice day will result in one month of bad weather. Besides, those two will have one month worth of sunshine on Tyrador. And I like to dance in the rain." Sarah had tried to explain how she managed to change the weather to Jim, but he just wouldn't get it. All she could say was that her powers felt different from before.

Perhaps the best way to describe it was to use an analogy. Before her, well, breakdown, she had used her powers like a tool. Either like a scalpel or like a hammer, depending on the situation. But now? Now she just allowed them to run around freely. It was like floating on water. Sometimes she would stroke with her arms and legs, and the ripples would do the rest. And over the course of the last few years, that amount of water had grown continuously.

At first, it had been a puddle. Then it had grown into a pond. And then a lake. And now? Now there were times when it felt like she was floating on the surface of an ocean. All those years had allowed Sarah to learn how to use her powers in a completely different way. It was no longer about control, but about letting go. And not only that; back then her body and her mind hadn't been able to handle all that raw power. But now?

Well, all this time being out of juice had helped both her body and mind to recover. You could either fill something as fast as possible and risk that it would break. That's basically what happened to Sarah after her, well, ascension. She had managed to stay in one piece for a bit more than two years until it had ripped her apart. Back then she had been a ticking time bomb. Or, to come back to the whole vessel-analogy, you could fill it slowly and give it the chance to adapt to all that water. Or raw power.

Sarah had no real control over what she was doing. And she didn't try to force it. All she knew was that when she thought about something and went to bed, her powers would do the rest. It felt much more natural than before when she had used her psionics like a weapon. There was no force involved anymore.

All she did was to go with the flow.

"You think they will like our present?" Sarah suddenly asked and Jim smiled.

"Honestly? I think Paula won't like it. She doesn't want to leave Ramelow. But let's see how she feels once they're back. As for Trevor, well, he will probably say that it's too expensive and too luxurious for him. I think he will love it. Once he gets there."

"I sure hope you're right." Sarah mumbled. Since Jim had actually experienced one honeymoon, Sarah had decided to let him take care of their gift.

When they reached New Thompson, Jim parked the car right in front of Phil's home, which was also the Mayor's office. There were already plenty of guests present, and when Jim and Sarah got out of the car, it didn't even take two seconds until Phil walked towards them.

"Jim! Sarah! You're here! Oh, I'm so happy to see you!" the burly man said. He looked good, even though he had aged considerably in the last seven years. He was still bald and he still had a beard, but the beard was now white. And he had gained a lot of wrinkles over the last few years. The good thing, however, was that most of them were indeed laughing lines.

"Hey, Phil. How's...wait, have you been crying?" Jim asked when he hugged his friend. "Is something wrong?"

"What? Oh, no! No, it's just...hey, my little girl is getting married today, yes? Give me a break!"

"Awww, our Mayor, the big softy." Sarah cooed and patted Phil on the shoulder. "You know, women love men who aren't ashamed of their feelings."

"I will try to keep that in mind." Phil chuckled. His eyes were still red and it looked like he had been crying for a long time. He sniffed and looked over to Sarah.

"Paula asked for you. She's upstairs. Maybe you could...?"

"I'm on it." Sarah sighed. "Hope you boys can do without me, I'm going to check on her." Sarah left those two behind and walked into the house. She went upstairs and when she knocked on the door to Paula's old room, the younger woman opened the door and pulled the baffled Sarah inside.

"Sarah! You've come!" Paula squealed and threw herself at Sarah, who was a bit surprised. But only for a short moment. She had learned to expect this kind of behavior from Paula. And so, she put her arms around the bride and gave her a hug.

"Wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world, little one."

* * *

"So, where's the lucky guy?" Jim asked and that's when Phil's expression turned sour.

"You mean Trevor? I think I saw him in the church. He didn't look so good, as if he wanted to puke. I swear, if he screws this up, then I'm gonna put him six feet under and-"

"Whoa, relax!" Jim told Phil. "Today is a happy day, remember?"

"If you say so..." Phil growled, and Jim frowned when he heard that.

"Is there something going on that I should know of?" he asked, but then Phil just shook his head.

"No, it's just...I'm still not sure if this is a good idea."

"What?"

"Paula marrying _this guy._ " the older man growled and Jim chuckled when he heard that. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, you're still mad at him for what he did all those years ago? Come on, that's ancient history!" Jim said and Phil frowned.

"He wanted to abandon Paula! If Sarah hadn't-"

"Oh God, please..." Jim moaned. "...not this story again." Phil wasn't really mad and he would never try to sabotage his niece's wedding. But at the same time, he was the kind of man who only wanted the best for his little girl. And Trevor? Well, he wasn't good enough. Then again, even Valerian Mengsk wouldn't be good enough for Paula. The perfect husband for her didn't even exist. And besides...

"All I'm saying is-" Phil tried to defend himself.

"All you're saying is ancient history. Besides, if I remember correctly, then it was Paula who proposed to Trevor, not the other way 'round."

"Thanks for reminding me." Phil growled.

"And it was Paula who made the first step."

"Yeah, I know."

"And let's not forget that she was the only one that-"

"I know, thank you very much!" Phil barked and several people looked over to them. The Mayor saw that and sighed.

"Hey..." Jim said and placed his hand on Phil's shoulder. "...you know that he will treat her like a princess. The Trevor we're talking about has nothing to do with the Trevor from seven years ago. You said that yourself!"

"I was drunk when I said that."

"Pffff, yeah, right." Jim chuckled. "It's a bit late for second thoughts, especially since the wedding is in less than two hours. And remember, it was Paula who chose Trevor, not the other way 'round!"

"From all the men that exist in the universe, why did she have to fall in love with _him_?" Phil mumbled.

"Because she saw something in him. Something none of us could see. And guess what? She was right. Also; it could be worse."

"Oh, really? And how could it be worse?" Phil wanted to know.

"She could marry Joseph."

"Someone calling my name?" a new voice suddenly reached them and both men turned around.

"Speaking of the devil. Hey, Joe, how are...dear Lord! What's with that outfit?!" Jim yelled when he lay gaze upon Joseph Brent. The Marshal looked...

...oh God.

"Brent, seriously." Phil whined. "This is a wedding, not a goddamn drug trip!" Joseph looked down and pulled his brows up.

"What? It's a clean shirt!"

"You are wearing a Hawaiian shirt and short pants! It's a wedding, goddammit!" Jim snarled and Joseph pulled his shoulders up.

"Yeah? So what? I'm not allowed to enter the church anyway. So, I will just stand in front of the building and sing "All by myself" while you have fun." the Marshal replied.

"You...wait, Book didn't lift the ban?" Jim asked.

"Oh, he did. Two weeks ago."

"Then why are you still banned?"

"Not still, yet again." Joseph explained with a big smile on his face.

"Oh, what did you do this time?" Jim groaned. "No, never mind that. I don't want to know. Just...just try not to ruin this day, can you do that? This isn't about your private feud with Book, this is about Paula and Trevor. Try to remember that."

"Oh, don't worry. I promise to not ruin their wedding. Besides, the leaflets should arrive in roughly five hours. So there's nothing to be afraid of." Joseph explained.

"Leaf...lets?" Phil asked.

"Yeah, it was actually kinda hard to get a pilot fly all the way out here to drop them, but it will be totally worth it."

This was bound to end in tragedy.

"I guess I better check on Trevor." Jim mumbled, not wanting to hear any details.

"Do that." Phil growled. "And tell him that I expect him to not screw this up."

"Phil, relax. He's not going to ruin this. Why are you so angry all of the sudden? Smile, it's a wedding!"

"Ah, Phil is just pissed because he realized that for Paula to become pregnant, she had to have sex with Trevor." Joseph said and the other both men sighed.

"Ugh. Don't worry, I will make sure that Trevor won't run away." Jim mumbled and turned away.

"Break his legs if you have to!" Phil yelled behind him, and Jim wondered if these people had seen too many bad movies. Having doubts just before a wedding was mostly a myth anyway...

* * *

"Jim, I have doubts." Trevor mumbled. "Maybe...maybe we should call the wedding off?" Jim, who had found the younger man inside the church, asked himself if Joseph was responsible for that.

"Bad timing, Junior." Jim chuckled and sat down right next to Trevor. They were sitting on a bench in the second row and looking at the small altar. Everything was ready. The only thing that was missing were the guests, and of course the bride. "Why would you say something like that anyway? Wait, Phil didn't tell you to rethink this whole thing, did he?" But then Trevor shook his head.

"No. No, he didn't. It's just...when I woke up this morning and got up, I couldn't help but wonder..."

"Yeah?" Jim urged him to go on and Trevor took a deep breath.

"I don't know if I deserve this. I stood in front of the bed and looked at Paula and... goddammit, I will be a father in a few months! But I don't know how I'm supposed to do that. I never...never had a father. No one ever taught me how to be a parent. And Paula? She's...wonderful. I'm just scared that I'm going to screw this up!"

"First thing you should do is to calm down." Jim told him. "No one knows if they will be bad parents. Or good parents. It's not set in stone. But I can tell you this; bad parents usually don't ask themselves if they're good at raising children. You've come a long way, and I have no doubt that you will be a great father. And a great husband. Also, if you screw up, Phil's gonna kill you."

"Uh huh..."

"Hey, that was a joke!" Jim laughed and punched his elbow into Trevor's side. "Come on, this is supposed to be a happy day! Yet everyone I met so far is either in a bad mood...or Joseph."

"I asked if he was allowed to be part of the ceremony." Trevor mumbled. "But Book didn't allow it. Said that, and I quote: "I will rather start worshiping Satan himself than letting this guy inside." A bummer, really."

"Heh, you're probably the only one who's sad that Joseph won't be there to do his thing." Jim laughed.

"Well, he's still my boss. And even though he's the laziest boss of all times and lets me do all the work, he also gave me so much freedom. When Paula and I became a couple, he just gave us his apartment and moved into the wilderness."

"Yes, he's a real angel." Jim groaned. Good thing that Trevor didn't know the real reason why Joseph had decided to move out into the wilderness and live in a small hut.

"He's family. Well, at least that's how I see it. I don't know, I never had a real family, except for my Mum of course." Trevor whispered and then he swallowed hard. "I wish she could have met Paula. I wish that she could see that I'm doing okay."

Jim didn't know all the details about Trevor's time on Korhal. He had spent five years on the Dominion's central world. It had been a rough ride, and Jim knew that in the beginning, Trevor had failed spectacularly. After the first year of the police academy, he had decided to ditch it and became a regular street cop. His evaluations had been a nightmare. Arrogant, impolite, and during his time at the academy half of his grades had been so bad that people had urged him to pursue a different career.

Trevor had been lost. Lost on a foreign world and without any friends. Well, he had never had any friends to begin with.

But one man had changed that. One man had decided to take Trevor under his wing and kick him in the ass from time to time. Literally. And that man had been Smith. Like said; Jim didn't know all the details. Trevor didn't like to tell about his time on Korhal. What Jim did know was that after two years as a street cop, Trevor had applied once more for the academy. And this time he had graduated with honors. Whatever had happened during those two years, it had changed Trevor. Two years later, he had worked his way up to Lieutenant and had become a member of the anti-drug-unit.

They even had offered him a position as a Captain, but he had refused. Instead, he had decided to return to Ramelow, his home. After a short stint with the homicide squad in Central City, he had applied for the position as the Marshal's deputy in New Thompson. As a Lieutenant, he had been grossly overqualified and was getting only a fraction of his former salary. But Trevor hadn't cared about that. This was his home and working here was more important to him than money or prestige.

Trevor had come a long way, and Jim was glad to call him his friend. In a way, Trevor reminded Jim of Tychus. Well, of what Tychus could have been. If he had gone legit. When Jim looked at Trevor, he saw a man who had managed to turn his life around. And that was something worthy of praise.

However, it hadn't been a smooth ride since then. The people of New Thompson had given the new Deputy more than one reason to go nuclear. But Trevor had kept his cool. He had worked hard to regain their trust. And now the people actually asked for the Deputy if they needed help...and not the Marshal.

"I'm pretty sure that your mother is watching, Son." a new voice suddenly reached them, and both Jim and Trevor looked over their shoulders.

"Hey, Book. How's life?" Jim asked and the Shepherd chuckled.

"Boring as always. What did you expect? How's everything on your end?"

"Pretty solid. However, I should warn you. Joseph is planning something. And it-"

"Involves leaflets. I know. I kept my eye on him for the last couple of months. He wanted to drop a bunch of leaflets over the town after the ceremony was over. I managed to convince the pilot not to do that."

"How?" Trevor wanted to know.

"Money. A lot of money. Anyway, I hope that we will be spared of any "Joseph goodness" for rest of the day." Book growled and then he shook his head. "So, are you two gentlemen ready?" Jim looked over to Trevor, who seemed as if he was about to pass out. But then the younger man nodded and Jim returned the nod.

"Yeah. Yeah, let's do this." Trevor said with a shaky voice.

"Hey, don't worry!" Jim teased him. "This is only for the rest of your life!"

* * *

A lot of people had come. It looked as if half the town had squeezed itself into the church. Jim stood next to Trevor, who was waiting in front of the altar. The younger man looked better after he had hyperventilated into a paper bag. Jim had a warm smile on his face as he watched the whole scenery. It reminded him of his own wedding, all those years ago.

For a second, the smile vanished from his face when he remembered his old life and his old family. What would Liddy think if she could see him right now? Would she be proud of Jim? Would she be happy that he had found another reason to live, a new family?

Perhaps it was pointless to think about something like that, but his old family and his old life would always be a part of him. Forgetting about Lydia or Johnny was out of the question. It would have meant to betray them and their memento.

So yeah, he wondered what Lydia would think. And he hoped that she would be happy for him.

Jim couldn't change the past. However, fate had offered him a second chance when Sarah's powers had restored his family on Sternenheim. Jim had refused to grab it. The price would have been too high. It wouldn't just have been Sarah that he would have sacrificed, but his own soul as well.

Though this distinction was probably silly anyway since Sarah was part of his soul now.

 _How cute._ Jim could hear Sarah thinking and turned his head to the other side of the altar, where his lover was standing.

 _What?_ Jim asked and he could see the smirk on Sarah's face.

 _You called me your soulmate. I think that's cute._ Well, it was the truth, wasn't it? A few moments later the door was opened and someone entered the church.

"She's coming!" a woman hissed. She was a local and a friend of Phil. All the eyes inside the church turned around and looked over to the main door, and a few seconds later it was opened again. This time two people entered it. The first one was, of course, the bride. Jim could hear how Trevor took a deep breath and he understood why. Paula looked breathtaking.

Like always, she didn't care about any rules and regulations, and so her wedding dress wasn't white but light blue. And it was no coincidence that Sarah's dress was blue as well. They even had the same haircut. It was Paula's way to tell Sarah that she thought of her as a big sister. And Sarah? There was a warm smile on her face when she watched how Paula walked towards the altar. It was only natural that Phil was leading her there, he was her father after all. The fact that he was technically her uncle didn't count.

He had saved her.

He had raised her.

He had done everything to keep her safe.

And now?

Now he was both the happiest and unhappiest man in this universe at the same time. The happiest because his little girl had finally found her place. And the unhappiest because he finally realized that it was time to let her go.

And even now you could see those thick tears streaming down his cheeks. The burly Mayor cried like a little boy and he wasn't ashamed of it.

 _Little Paula..._ Sarah thought. _All grown up. Look at her now. She looks so pretty._

 _Yeah..._ Jim agreed. _And you helped her with that._ Jim replied. They watched how Paula and Phil walked up the altar and Sarah took a deep breath.

 _You never asked me if I want to marry you._ she suddenly said. It was a rather awkward question and Jim pulled his brows up.

 _You told me that you don't want this. That we don't need it since we are already bound to each other._

 _Yeah, I guess so..._ Sarah mumbled. _Besides, it wouldn't be a wedding without my best girl. And I doubt that Book would accept Izsha as bridesmaid. Here they come!_ Phil let go of Paula's hand and looked over to Trevor, who swallowed hard when he saw the stern look on the Mayor's face.

"Treat her well, you hear me? She's something special." Phil mumbled and Trevor only managed to nod. Paula turned around and put her hand on her uncle's face.

"Thank you. For everything...Daddy." she said and Phil whimpered like a little child when he heard that. More tears streamed down his cheeks and he just grabbed his little girl and gave her a hug.

"Your mother would have been proud of you." he whispered into her ear. He wished that his sister could have been here right now, but Paula was happy with what she got.

"You are here. That's all I need." Paula told him and kissed her uncle on the cheek. Phil let go of his girl and made a few steps backward. It was truly heartbreaking, albeit in a cute way. Suddenly Jim felt a small sting in his chest. Letting a child go, seeing how it will have a family of its own...

...Jim had to think about Johnny. Just what if he had survived? Would he have found someone special and had a family of his own? Jim would never find out and he took a deep breath. Not now. This wasn't about the past.

 _Jim..._ he could sense Sarah's thoughts in the back of his mind and looked over at her.

 _Don't worry. I'm fine._ It was a lie, but Sarah decided to accept it...for now.

Paula turned away from her uncle and then she stepped towards the altar. She looked at Sarah and a warm smile appeared on her face.

"Thank you. None of this would have been possible without you." she whispered and Sarah chuckled.

"Eh, you could have done it without me. Just with a lot less style." She was surprised when Paula suddenly leaped forward and slung her arms around Sarah.

"Looks like it's the international day of hugging." Jim said to Trevor, who nodded.

"Thank you, Sarah. And don't worry. I will never forget you." Paula whispered into Sarah's ear, who frowned when she heard that. But there was no time to ask the bride what she was talking about. It was time...

Paula turned away from Sarah and then she walked over to Trevor's side. The blonde man still looked like he was about to pass out, but he did his best to not embarrass Paula...or anyone else. Book, who had said nothing, harrumphed and everyone finally started to focus on him.

"Shall we begin?" he said with a warm smile on his face, and you could hear how Trevor swallowed hard when he heard that question. He looked over to Paula, who grabbed his hand and gave it a soft squeeze. And that's when Trevor knew that there was no turning back. However, that was not a bad thing. Because he wanted this. He wanted this more than anything else.

"Yeah..." he whispered and then both he and Paula looked back at Book. "...we're ready."

"Good. I think you're ready for this." the Shepherd declared and then he looked at the crowd that had gathered inside the church.

"Today we have gathered here to witness how these two people will enter into matrimony. And I think that I speak for everyone that it's especially good to see two people that are so close to our hearts have decided to walk down this path together. We have seen you two stumble, we have seen you two fall from time to time. But now that you stand here, we can see that both of you have prevailed. Not only that, but you have become important members of this community. For that we all owe you. So let me tell you on behalf of the entire community that we are delighted to witness this moment."

 _Boy, he sure loves those speeches, doesn't he?_ Sarah thought and a grin appeared on Jim's face.

 _Let him have it. He waited a long time for something like this._

And so, Sarah witnessed her very first wedding. During the entire ceremony, she couldn't help but feel sentimental. Paula, the young woman that hadn't been able to do anything on her own, was about to get married. And not just that, in a few months she would be a mother.

 _Just where did those years go, Jim? I remember her being a helpless young girl who couldn't think in a straight line. And now?_

 _It's normal._ Jim said to her. _It's called growing up._

 _Ha..._ Sarah gasped. _I wish I could turn back time and do so many things with her. I miss those days._

 _Maybe they will return one day._ he told her.

"...looking forward to. But now let's get down to business." Book finished his speech and then he looked over to Trevor. "Trevor Roland Markson, do you want to marry Paula Abigail Carter?"

 _Wait, Abigail?_ Jim thought.

 _Shhh, shut up!_ Sarah hissed at him.

"I do." Trevor said and a warm smile appeared on Paula's face when she heard that. Book looked over at her and asked the same question again.

"And you, Paula Abigail Carter, do you want to marry Trevor Roland Markson?"

"Hell yeah!" she declared, and the whole church burst out into laughter. Book, who was usually not very happy when people did something like that, chuckled and took a deep breath.

"Then, by the powers granted to me, I hereby declare you husband and wife. You may kiss now." And when they did, the people inside the church started to applaud. Except for Phil, who was crying like a little boy.

"My girl! My little girl!" he whimpered and someone handed him a tissue. Even Jim had to wipe away a tear. As for Sarah? The look on her face was one of pride. She was proud of her little girl. Almost like a mother...

The moment Paula and Trevor kissed, all the guests started to cheer and Jim and Sarah had to admit that this was the best day since a long time, maybe ever. And they weren't even the center of attention.

* * *

The wedding party took place at Phil's home, and pretty much everyone had come. Both Trevor and Paula had to shake so many hands that at one point they tried to hide in Paula's old room. This way they would at least get a few moments of rest. It had been a long day and it wasn't over yet.

Jim was downstairs and talked to Phil. This was supposed to be a party, but the two of them were still talking about business.

"So, how did the negotiations go?" he asked the older man.

"So-so I would say. We got a few interesting offers, yet I've decided to wait some more."

"Well, don't wait too long. We need to haul in the harvest soon and it would be nice to know if I can pay my people a nice and hefty bonus this season." Jim chuckled.

"Noted." Phil replied. "And-" he wanted to add when suddenly an older lady approached them.

"Oh, Mayor! Where's Paula? We were looking for her!" the woman asked, and Jim and Phil exchanged annoyed looks.

"She's upstairs, I think." Phil then said. "Had to change into something more comfortable. Why, is there anything you want from her?" More women approached, and suddenly both Jim and Phil were surrounded by them.

"Why do I feel like a piece of pork surrounded by Zerglings all of the sudden?" Jim whispered when he noticed the madness in those women's eyes.

"We still wait to catch the bride's flowers!" another woman said.

"Yeah, the flowers!" another woman said. "We waited the entire day just for that!" And before either Jim or Phil could say something, they heard another high-pitched voice. Only that it didn't sound like a woman...it sounded like a man who was doing a piss-poor job sounding like a woman...

"We want to catch the flowers! Give us the flowers! Flowers, flowers, flowers!" the man with the high-pitched voice yelled and soon the other women did the same thing. Phil groaned and Jim pressed his hands against his face.

"...why, oh why?" he mumbled, but both men knew that this would end in tragedy.

"Marshal!" Phil barked, and that's when the women fell silent. "Brent, I know that you're there!"

"There is no good-looking Marshal Brent here!" the high-pitched voice squealed. He was hiding behind the women. Jim and Phil couldn't see him, but it was definitely Brent.

"Of course you aren't." Phil growled. "What's this all about?"

"The bride still has to throw her bouquet!" the high-pitched voice replied. "We want to catch them! Flowers! Flowers! Flowers!" Joseph squealed again, and soon the women started to yell the same thing over and over again.

"Oh boy...just when I thought he couldn't get any weirder." Jim muttered. It was part of a plan, it had to. Joseph never did things "just for shits and giggles", by now Jim knew that. But he had no idea what the Marshal was up to.

Knowing that guy? Probably nothing good.

"Joseph, please, just once in your life; don't do this!" Jim pleaded. "This is a special day for those two, so for the love of God, just don't do whatever you have planned!" There was actually a moment of silence. And it lasted for exactly five seconds.

"Flowers! Flowers! Flowers! Flowers!" Joseph squealed again. Jim was about to use the ultimate argument. And that argument was: "Or I'm gonna tell Sarah." But that's when they heard Trevor's voice.

"What's going on here?" the freshly wed husband said as he walked down the stairs. Paula was right behind him and looked at all the women.

"They want to catch the bouquet. Joseph told them that Book would consider dating one of them because he thinks that celibacy is boring. And they're all between forty and sixty, and consider Book to be extremely attractive. They are also somewhat desperate and are afraid that they will have to spend the rest of their lives alone." Paula explained and then there was a long and awkward moment of silence. The women looked at each other and you could see that Paula had once again scored a critical hit.

"Uhhh...flowers! Flowers! Flowers!" Joseph started to squeal like a girl again. "Throw the damn flowers!" Trevor's eyelid started to twitch, a very common thing to happen when you were dealing with Joseph Brent.

"Sir, please, is this really necessary?" he asked. Brent was still his boss. The worst boss of all times, but his boss nonetheless.

"Marshal Brent, isn't that this good-looking hunk of a guy?" Joseph squealed again. "I think he left town a few hours ago! Also; Flowers! Flowers! Flowers!"

"This guy..." Phil growled and Jim was inclined to agree. But instead of telling the people to get lost, Paula smiled and walked back upstairs. She returned with the bouquet in her hands a few moments later and looked at the people that had gathered in front of her.

"Let's go outside and do this, yes? And Not-Brent?"

"Yes?" Joseph squealed.

"No violence, yes?"

…

…

…

"Okay!"

"What does that mean?" Trevor asked with a worried expression on his face. His wife looked over at him and gave him a warm smile.

"Don't worry. You will like this. You deserve it. And I'm proud of you." Oh great, now she was starting to say weird things again. She knew something that no one else did. "Now, let's do this outside." she then declared and everyone walked out of the house in an almost orderly fashion. Jim tried to find Joseph and strangle him to death, but he didn't find the Marshal among all those middle-aged women. The only thing he saw was something bulky.

"Are you ready?" Paula asked and turned her back towards the group of women. Jim, Trevor, and Phil stood next to her. That's when Sarah approached them.

"What's going on here?" she chuckled.

"Paula's going to throw the bouquet. You want to catch it?" Trevor asked.

"What? Oh, hell no! I don't think so." Sarah laughed and when she reached Jim, she slung her arms around his hips and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I don't need a wedding ring to know that this guy belongs to me."

"Are you ready?" Paula yelled.

"Stop stalling and throw those damn flowers!" Joseph squealed like a little girl. Paula laughed and did as she was told. She threw it over her head and all the women raised their hands high up into the air, ready to grab the bouquet...

...and that's when Joseph did his thing.

"HUT HUT HUT!" he barked, and suddenly a guy in full football get-up stormed forward. He jumped up in the air, caught the bouquet like it was, well, a football, and threw himself towards Paula and Trevor. He didn't tackle anyone. Instead, he smashed the bouquet on the ground and performed the most ridiculous victory dance of all times.

"That's right, Tiffany! Who's a pro-player now, huh? WHO IS?! THAT'S FOR CHEATING ON ME! Joke's on you because I'm doing awesome right now! And my new girl is so much more awesome than you ever were!" he yelled, and Jim closed his eyes so he didn't have to see any of this.

"Was that really necessary?" Trevor asked. Pretty much everyone was staring at the bouquet lying on the ground. It was ruined. Joseph pulled the helmet off his head and grinned like a huge idiot.

Oh, wait...he _was_ a huge idiot.

"Oh, hell yeah. That felt good. Wanted to do this for a long time. I even wanted to invite Tiffany, but she didn't even remember me. Guess I have to visit Augustgrad again." he said with a mad expression on his face.

"The flowers!" a woman whined. "Now Book will never date me..." Before things could become even more awkward, Joseph turned around and looked at the crowd.

"Gentlemen and desperate Ladies! May I have your attention, please!" the Marshal suddenly announced.

"Oh God, this will end in tragedy." Jim moaned. That's when Book finally showed up. He joined Jim, Phil, and Sarah, and frowned when Joseph started to talk to the people.

"My friends...what is this all about?" the Shepherd asked, just when Joseph was about to explain everything.

"Today is a very special day. Today is the day where I finally managed to overcome the trauma of having a girlfriend that cheated on me. With the entire football team of New Fletcher's High School on Augustgrad. Suck on that, Tiffany!" Joseph declared and then he slipped out of his jersey. Wait, was he about to strip?

"Wait, is he about to strip?" Sarah whispered and spoke out what Jim was thinking.

"But this day shouldn't be about me. In fact, it should be about those two!" Joseph said and pointed with his finger at Paula and Trevor. "Now, I think we all agree that these two are the cutest couple of all times. A bit weird, but cute nonetheless." Joseph then removed the shoulder pads and threw them on the ground. "Still, their cuteness is starting to annoy me. And I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one. You two..." the Marshal growled and looked over to the newlyweds. "...have to grow up!"

"Joseph!" Book intervened. "That is enough!" But the big smile on Paula's face showed that Joseph wasn't about to ruin their day. She grabbed Trevor's hand and gave it a soft squeeze. And the Marshal? He pulled his pants down and you could hear how Phil, Jim, Book, and Trevor sighed in relief when they saw that he was wearing boxer shorts.

You could also hear how the middle-aged women moaned in disappointment.

"I thought about a present for you two. But I couldn't think of anything. So, I decided to do the next best thing; I'm going to make _you_ work your ass off!" Joseph said and pointed his finger at Trevor.

"I'm not gonna like that, am I?" Trevor mumbled and then Joseph pulled something out of his underpants. This was wrong on so many levels.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! I hereby declare my resignation as Marshal of New Thompson!" Suddenly everyone fell silent. Jim and Sarah exchanged surprised looks. What did that mean? "I thought about this for quite some time and I think now is the perfect opportunity. But of course, the town can't go without a Marshal. Luckily, there's this guy who knows this town better than anyone else. Kinda stupid, but he still got potential." And then Joseph walked up to Trevor and handed him over a badge.

"Here. It's yours. Congratulations, Marshal Markson." Joseph said and Trevor's eyes widened in surprise.

"But...what? What about you?"

"Meh." Joseph said. "I want to spend more time in my garden. So, don't worry." Trevor didn't know what to do or to say, not until Paula squeezed his hand once more.

"Take it!" she whispered and Trevor did as he was told. He stared at the badge and had to swallow hard.

"Thanks..." he mumbled and you could see the shock on his face.

"No need to thank me, kid." Joseph replied. "You earned it."

"My God..." Book whispered. "...I think that's the first time Joseph acts like an adult."

"Oh, and sorry if this thing smells weird. I kept it in my buttcrack the entire day." Joseph then said and Trevor dropped the badge like a hot potato.

"So much for that..." Book growled.

"So, come on, people!" Joseph yelled and started to applaud. "To our newlyweds, and our new Marshal! Marshal Trevor Markson!" And this time everyone started to applaud. You could see how Trevor tried to fight the tears, but in the end, he failed. This was the best day of his entire life and right now he felt nothing but gratitude. When the applause finally started to stop, Joseph turned back towards the desperate middle-aged women and pointed with his finger high up into the sky.

"And now for the big finale!" he yelled. Suddenly you could hear how something was approaching. It took Jim a few seconds to recognize the sound. It was a... dropship? Or at least some kind of flying machine. Oh no...

"As said; since Book has decided to no longer practice celibacy-"

"Say WHAT?!" Book yelled.

"-he will now date every single one of you. However, since you are so many and he's just one man, we have to come up with a solution!"

"Brent! This is NOT funny!" Book hissed.

"Actually...it is kinda funny." Sarah whispered. The sound of the dropship's engines was pretty loud now, and a lot of people turned their heads up to the sky. And that's when...

"Oh no..." Book whispered. Hundreds, if not thousands of leaflets fell from the sky and Joseph looked over to Book.

"You didn't think that I would pay only one pilot, right?" the Ex-Marshal said. You could actually see how Book's face lost all color. "Now, since there is no easy way to figure out who should go on a date with Book first, we have come up with this!" Joseph grabbed a leaflet out of the air and showed it to the women.

"There are two sides. On the first one is a number. Now that's simple; if you have the number one, then you're first in line! Don't worry, you will all get a chance! There are 5000 leaflets in total."

"FIVE THOUSAND?!" Book yelled.

"Now, the other side of the leaflet is far more interesting. It has sone information about Book and what he likes to do. This leaflet, for example, tells us that he enjoys making pottery while being naked."

"Pfffffff..." Sarah sneered when she heard that, but that's when...

"Oh, Shepherd!" a woman yelled. "That's what I love to do too!"

"Well, in that case..." Joseph said, walked up to her and handed her the leaflet. "...congratulations, Number 37!" The other women started to grab the leaflets lying on the ground and started to read them out loud.

"He likes to take long walks and talk about his feelings! Oh, that is so romantic!"

"Book, you like silk paintings? Why didn't you tell so! I'm number 223!"

"He always wanted to ride on a horse while being naked? Oh, so do I!"

"A lot of these things involve being nude. Oh, Shepherd, I would have never guessed that you are into _these_ kinds of things! How kinky!" another woman giggled, and you could see how foam started to drip from Book's chin.

" _Brrreeeeeennnnntttttt_..." he hissed and sounded more like a Hydralisk than a human. Joseph looked over at the Shepherd and gave him a goofy smile.

"Since I also have decided to move away, I thought I go out with a bang. And what would be better than to give you a chance to bang, huh?"

"Oh! I'm number one!" a woman suddenly yelled. "And it says...Book likes to sit down and talk about his feelings while enjoying sunsets! Oh, how romantic!"

"But...I want to do that!" another woman screeched. "Gimme that!"

And thus, the cat-fights started.

"Ladies! Ladies, please!" Phil tried to reason with them, but they hissed at him, and the Mayor realized that it was better not get any closer. At least as long he valued all of his limbs attached to his body.

"Well, my job is done here. Now excuse me, people, I neglected my garden for far too long. So..." Joseph explained and did the one thing no one had wanted to see. He grabbed his underpants and two seconds later he stood there completely exposed.

"Oh, hell." Trevor mumbled.

"Oh, dear Lord." Book growled.

"Oh _my_..." several women moaned and Joseph grinned at the newlyweds.

"Well, I wish you all the best for the future, you two. Remember, don't do anything I wouldn't do! Oh, and don't do anything that I would do either. Just to be on the safe side!" And then Joseph Brent just decided to walk down the road. By now pretty much the whole town was staring at him, yet he didn't seem to care about that one bit.

"That's it..." Book hissed and stomped over to Brent. "...I'm gonna teach this guy some manners!" That's when Joseph turned around and looked at Book.

"Oh, Shepherd!" he cooed and it was a rather creepy sight. "You wouldn't beat up a naked man on the streets, now would you? What would your boss say about that?"

"You little sh-" Book started, but then Joseph just grabbed him, held him like only a lover could.

And then?

Then he kissed Book.

All.

The.

Way.

Book was too shocked to do anything, at least for two seconds. After that, he tried to fight back, yet Joseph had already proven his point. He just let go of Book, who fell on the ground and looked up to Brent.

"Why?" was all he could say.

"Because I always wanted to go out with a bang. This way, people will remember me for ages! Now excuse me, my garden is waiting! Farewell, people! It has been _no_ fun at all!" And so, the inhabitants of New Thompson watched how a naked Joseph Brent walked towards the horizon.

"Shouldn't someone say something like "We are going to miss him"?" Trevor mumbled, but pretty much everyone just shook their heads.

"Well, he always said that he wanted to go out with a bang." Phil mumbled. "I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad that he won't be around." And that's when pretty much everyone said the same thing.

"Happy!"

Sarah sighed when she heard that and shook her head.

"They got lucky..." she whispered to Jim. "...we're stuck with that guy."

* * *

After everything had calmed down, the people finally started to enjoy themselves. This was still supposed to be a party and people were having a great time.

Well, except for Book, who was in deep shit. The party lasted till late in the night and once Joseph was forgotten, they all enjoyed themselves to the fullest. Since the weather was so nice, they even decided to celebrate outside. And at one point it felt as if the entire town was celebrating.

Sarah leaned against a wooden fence and enjoyed the sight. She chuckled when she saw how Paula was dancing with her uncle, who looked like he was in some serious pain. It was not very surprising, given the fact that Paula had been at it for hours. At first, she had danced with Trevor for more than an hour, until he had finally succumbed to fatigue (and blisters on the feet). After that, she had danced with her uncle until Phil had decided that he too needed a break. So the next in line had been Jim.

As Jim walked towards Sarah, she couldn't help but laugh when she saw the pained expression on his face.

"You look like you just ran a marathon!" she told him and Jim groaned when he finally reached her.

"Well, I certainly feel that way. Paula is relentless!" he said and leaned against the fence right next to Sarah. "Phew, my feet feel like they're about to fall off. Where does she take all the strength from?"

"Yeah, Paula has a lot more stamina than you would think. I learned that the hard way." Sarah laughed, remembering all those days when they had gone wandering. And then...

"Are weddings usually like this?" Sarah suddenly asked and Jim looked over at her.

"Well, they usually have less, well, Joseph. That never happens. What he did is something I've only seen in movies. Bad movies. But that's probably where he got his ideas from. Still, did you know that he was planning to quit his job?" he wanted to know and Sarah shook her head.

"Nope. I guess I should ask Izsha if he has finally lost his mind."

"That would mean that he had a sane mind in the first place." he said and Sarah had to agree with that.

"They look so happy." she then whispered as she watched Paula from the distance. Her former apprentice had managed to get Trevor back on his feet and onto the dance floor, which was the street in front of the Marshal's office.

"Well, Paula looks happy." Jim laughed. "Trevor looks like he's in serious pain." Both of them watched from the distance and Jim noticed how Sarah moved closer to him. She leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed.

And then...

"Jim?"

"Yeah?"

"Was your...was it like that when you married Liddy?" Sarah's voice was but a whisper and when Jim looked over at her, he could see the sad expression on her face.

"Yes and no..." Jim mumbled and Sarah looked at him in surprise.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I didn't have many friends back on Mar Sara. And Liddy's family was...no longer around. It was just the two of us, and when we got married there were only some people around. Colleagues from work and some of her friends. But...there was no family. Anyway, what's with that question all of the sudden?"

"Nothing..." Sarah whispered and Jim frowned when he heard that. He was pretty certain that Sarah wasn't trying to tell him that she wanted to get married. Mostly because she didn't care about wearing a ring that acted as a symbol for anything.

"Just look at her." she then said and looked over to Paula. "She looks so happy."

"Yeah...she sure does. And she has to thank you for that."

"It's weird..." Sarah then mumbled. "...I still remember how I met that helpless girl that couldn't keep her thoughts to herself for even five seconds. And now look at her. She's all grown up and doesn't need me anymore." She took a deep breath and Jim put his arm around her shoulder.

"That's the thing about having kids." he told her. "At one point they're all grown up."

"She's not my kid, Jim." she told him.

"No, but you might as well be her aunt. And you did raise her, just like Phil did. And quite frankly, I think Paula would agree. You're at least a big sister to her."

"Huh, I never thought about it like this. It just...felt nice having her around. And annoying. But mostly nice. Later on."

"Yeah, that sounds like an older sister alright." Jim chuckled.

"And soon little Paula will be a mommy. Who would have guessed?" Sarah continued. "It is so strange...back in the war, people had been busy staying alive. And now? Now they're spawning little larvae."

"They're having kids, you mean." Jim corrected her.

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"Uhm..."

"I wonder if she's gonna be okay...if she's gonna be a great mother." Sarah whispered.

"Oh, I bet she will." Jim chuckled. "She's surrounded by people that care for her and she has a good heart. Besides, I just know that she's gonna do fine. Some things just come to you the moment you face them. Like being a parent. And she has that certain glow, the one that only some people have."

"Certain glow? That sounds like she's suffering from radiation sickness." Sarah mumbled and Jim snickered.

"Naaa...it's hard to explain. Sometimes you just look at someone and know that they will be great parents because you know that they will do everything for their children. Lydia was such a person." he said and Sarah felt a sting in her chest when she heard that. Even after all those years, she didn't like it when she heard what Lydia had been capable of. "I guess Matt would be a great dad too. Pah, he could even be a father already for all I know!" Jim chuckled. "And Valerian too. I wonder if he and Curtland actually decided to go for it."

"Sounds like pretty much everyone you know would be a good parent." she whispered.

"Ha! Oh no! The thought of Swann having children is kinda scary. And let's not talk about Joseph. He's basically a huge kid himself."

"Well..." Sarah muttered. "...I guess then I'm at least in good company."

"I think you would be a wonderful mom." Jim then told her and she wanted to reply something, but all she felt was how serious he was. After a few moments, Jim noticed how Sarah started to sniff and he looked over at her, even though she had turned her head away.

"Hey, did I say something wrong?" he wanted to know, but Sarah just shook her head.

"No, it's just...I'm happy for Paula. To have a family of your own must be nice. I wonder how that would be like." she whispered and Jim knew what she was talking about. He pulled her into a tighter embrace and she leaned her head against his chest.

"You got a family. You got me, you got a weird best friend and she has an even weirder...I don't even know what Joseph is, but nevermind him. And then there's the weird uncle living on the other side of the town..."

"Which would be Karax?" Sarah mused.

"Which would be Karax." Jim confirmed. "And let's not forget the crazy cat lady living in the basement."

"Crazy cat lady? How does Niadra qualify as a crazy cat lady?"

"Just roll with it, okay? It's an image, you have to work with me here, Darlin'! And then there's the weird hobo living down the street, searching the dumpsters for food."

"Right, I wonder what happened to that one. Tesson was his name, hmm?" Sarah mused, but then she sniffled again.

"Hey, now you're getting all emotional? You should have cried during the ceremony, just like everyone else!" Jim chuckled.

"I'm not crying. There's...there's just something in my eye, that's all."

"Of course, it is." he replied and Sarah sniffed again.

"It's just...I just realized that after today things will be different. Paula doesn't need me anymore. But I liked teaching her things. So, what am I gonna do now, Jim?"

"You will find something, Sarah. And Paula will always be thankful for what you did for her. You see that smile on her face? You see how she makes the people around her happy? That's because you helped her. You did the one thing no one else could have done."

"I guess so..." she whispered and Jim leaned down. He closed his eyes and pressed his lips on Sarah's. They shared a long kiss and when they finally broke it, they both looked into each other's eyes.

"I'm proud of you, Sarah." Jim told her. "So very proud. And I want you to know that..." And that's when he suddenly fell silent. Sarah could see how the expression on Jim's face changed from gentle and caring to worried and... accepting?

"Is something wrong? Is there something on my face?" Sarah asked and Jim sighed.

"Sarah...your tears."

"I told you, I got dust in my eyes!" she told him, but Jim just shook his head.

"No... that's not it." he whispered and Sarah frowned. She brushed a tear from her cheek and looked at her fingers. And that's when she finally realized what Jim was talking about. Her tears...

...were glowing again.


	108. Act IV - Chapter 24

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 24**

 **Farewell Blues**

* * *

Sarah was no person who made big plans. Or, to be more precise, she was no longer interested in planning for the future. Well, that sounded a bit odd. Let's just say that she wasn't making plans for galactic conquest anymore. And she would only deal with problems once they would pop up in her face. Or pour out of her face, depending on the situation.

Jim, however? He was all about plans. But he had learned to accept that plans would only get you so far, and once things were about to go south, you would just accept it and come up with another plan.

Nevertheless, making plans had become one of Jim's favorite hobbies. It had been his idea that Phil would negotiate on behalf of all the farmers with companies from other worlds. He had urged his own workers to form a union and told them everything about it. And he had even helped Phil and the people of New Thompson to come up with a business plan for the future.

Yes, Jim loved to make plans.

It helped him to deal with situations and it gave him a sense of stability. And it kept him on his toes because Sarah usually ignored all the plans he came up with, and so he was forced to come up with something else.

However, she was surprised to realize that he had even come up with a plan for this kind of situation they were experiencing right now.

They were back home and sitting at the table. Sarah was holding a cup of hot coffee in her hands. She looked tired...and sad. It a special kind of sadness, the one that you feel when you realize that something good has come to an end.

"To think that you had planned for this occasion too..." she whispered. Jim, who was looking at a datapad, sighed and pulled his shoulders up.

"I started to think about this after, well, after you changed into the Queen of Blades for the first time. Back then Joseph said something surprisingly wise to me. He told me that I was just thinking about how I wanted life to be, not how it really was. So yeah, it made me think; what if this would be over one day? Just vanish into thin air or pretend nothing had happened?"

"Pretend nothing has happened?" Sarah whispered. "You think that this could work?"

"No." Jim replied truthfully.

"I see..." she replied. "...but you would like to stay."

"I don't think this is about what I want, but about what's best for all. And if we stay here things will just get complicated. This place was a good home for Sarah Kluivert and James Rennard. But I doubt that it could handle Sarah Kerrigan and Jim Raynor." he mumbled and Sarah nodded. She knew what he was referring to. Even now the name "Kerrigan" was known throughout the Koprulu Sector as the name of the Queen of the Blades. And Raynor was still a name that made people scream, either in joy or rage.

"Yeah...I doubt that we could just keep this a secret forever." Sarah agreed. Ramelow was doing fine, and New Thompson was now a town that people had heard of. More and more families moved out here, and that would attract the attention of even more humans. Sooner or later this would lead to the point where Jim and Sarah wouldn't be able to keep a low profile anymore. At least not without resorting to more extreme measures.

And neither one of them wanted that. New Thompson and its inhabitants meant too much to the two of them to risk that. Sometimes you just had to let go.

 _Seven years ago..._

...Jim had come up with a plan. A ridiculous plan, stupid even. The plan had been to show Sarah what a normal human life could be like. And guess what? After some trial and error, the plan had actually worked. But it hadn't changed one basic fact.

And that fact was that Sarah was no longer human.

She had become much more a long time ago. And now it was time to face the music.

"Huh, it's funny..." Sarah whispered. "...when we first got here, I just wanted to get off this world as fast as possible. And now? Now I wish I could just turn back the time and live those seven years all over again."

"You want to stay?" Jim asked and Sarah closed her eyes.

"Yeah...but I know that it's not possible. Staying here would only cause problems for the others. And they deserve to live a normal life." And then she chuckled. "Is this what you meant? About letting go? If so; it sucks."

"Yeah, it does." Jim agreed. He turned his attention back towards the datapad and sighed.

"So, what's the plan?" Sarah asked and watched how he frowned.

"Well, I thought about handing over the plantation to Trevor, but now that he's Marshal, I doubt that he wants to take it."

"Not everyone dreams of being a farmer, Jim." Sarah chuckled.

"It's a good and honest job. People always say "you're such a farmer!" if they want to tell you that you're stupid, but you know what? Without farmers, you wouldn't have anything to eat. We praise soldiers, doctors, firefighters, and law enforcement, but farmers? It's as if people think that food comes from the local supermarket and appears out of thin air. But without farmers, no society would work." Jim muttered.

"Was that the reason why you wanted to come out here? To have a farm of your own?" Sarah wanted to know and Jim shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe. I never really gave it much of a thought. But yeah, I guess so. I saw my dad working harder than anyone else, yet did anyone ever thank him for all the hard work he did? Naaaa. Do something really bad, and they will hate you. Do something for others without asking for anything in return, and they will call you an idiot."

"Don't forget the third option." Sarah mumbled.

"And what would that be?"

"Do something really selfish that serves only your own interests, and they will make you Emperor."

"Ah, yeah. That. Let's just hope that the current Emperor does a better job." Jim agreed.

"Yep. Since I sure as hell won't clean up that mess again." Sarah mused.

"Because you're all out of Zerg?"

"That, and because I'm done killing." she told her lover. And that much was true. Ever since that moment seven years ago, when she had tried to hunt kriechers, she had never again taken another life. Even when Jim had found that small and lost kriecher-youngling inside the barn, she had decided to spare the creature's life. Jim had wanted to kill it with a shovel, but Sarah had just taken that little slimy thing covered with claws and teeth in her arms and decided to keep it.

Needlessly to say that this little slimy thing with claws and teeth had turned into a huge thing with claws and teeth, and was currently lying on the veranda.

"What about Moby?" Jim wanted to know.

"What about her? She's coming with us!" Sarah said. "I need someone who I can talk to when Izsha isn't around."

"Oh, haha. Good one."

"Sssssaaaaaa..." you could hear Moby from outside and Jim turned his head around.

"You be quiet out there!" he barked.

"Sssaaa ssaaa ssaaaaa..."

Perhaps it was for the best to take Moby with them. Kriechers were roughly the size of Zerglings. Moby was double that size. And Jim and Sarah both thought the same thing, that somehow Sarah's powers had changed Moby too.

"What should we tell the others?" Sarah suddenly whispered, and that's when Jim sighed and put the datapad away.

"I don't know..." he muttered and Sarah knew how he felt. Saying goodbye to their friends was something neither one of them wanted to do. Phil, Paula, Trevor...hell, even Book. In the last seven years, they had shared so many good memories. Running away sounded like a coward's move, but what else should they tell them? Jim took a deep breath and then he looked at Sarah.

"How do you feel?" he changed the topic and Sarah took another sip from her cup.

"Weird...but good. It doesn't hurt if that's what you mean. It feels different, though."

"Different how?" Jim asked and Sarah groaned when she heard that question. Explaining psionics to people without psionics was always such a drag.

"It's like my powers have changed. Back then, they had been a part of my body, of my mind. When you used that shitty keystone on me-"

"In self-defense; it was necessary back then." Jim interjected.

"...it felt as if my body was ripped apart. As if someone cracked my skull open and tore pieces of my brain out before stomping on it over and over again until nothing but red mush was left."

"That's...very graphic." Jim gulped.

"You asked for it. Anyway, my psionics were always a part of my body, as if they were a muscle I could use whenever I wanted to. Now? Now they feel more like a warm breeze surrounding me." she tried to tell him.

"Well, that's ambiguous." Jim mumbled and Sarah pulled her shoulders up.

"You asked me to describe something that you can't put into words. All I know is that it feels so much better than it used to. My mind is my own. I can't even read someone else's thoughts unless I focus really hard on it. And then it feels wrong." She then looked Jim into the eyes and a warm smile appeared on her face. "The only thoughts I can hear are yours...and my own. You have no idea how wonderful that is. My mind is my own. I walk through New Thompson and don't have to be afraid to hear things that I don't want to hear. I was always afraid that should my powers return one day, I would have to deal with that crap again."

"I wonder if Zeratul had planned for this." Jim mused. "Or if this is just a huge coincidence."

"Who knows. Maybe this is how the Xel'Naga used their psionics. Maybe the answer to that question is somewhere inside Ulnar. Guess I should go there and talk with Karax." Sarah said and then she looked out of the window. It was still nice outside, yet she could feel how the weather was about to change. Perhaps it was beyond selfish to let everyone suffer from one month of rain so Paula could have had a nice wedding, but Sarah would do it again if she was asked to.

"I'm gonna miss this place." she whispered and Jim could sense her sadness. He wanted to tell her that they could always come back, but both knew that this would have been a lie. And so...

"Hehehehe..." Jim suddenly chuckled and Sarah looked over at him.

"What's so funny?"

"I just remembered something...remember how we first got here? And how this place looked like?"

"Oh, of course. I still remember that fat broker and how he stared at my ass." Sarah chuckled. And so, they started to reminisce about those days. Those good old days. Like when Phil had met Jim for the first time, and when Paula had done everything in order to talk to Sarah. And of course, angry young Trevor. How Izsha had knocked him out. How Joseph had arrived out of nowhere. How Joseph had started to haunt Book. How Joseph had started to stalk Book. How Joseph had started to drive Book mad. How Joseph...

...well, thinking about it, a lot of their memories were about Joseph trying to ruin Book's life.

"You know, living a normal life isn't so bad." Sarah whispered after a while. "When we got here, I thought that this was a stupid idea. But now I'm grateful that you dragged me out here. It was...wonderful." Jim looked around and a sad smile appeared on his face. In the last seven years, this house had become home. And now it was time to say goodbye.

"But we don't have to say goodbye just yet." Sarah said after sensing Jim's thoughts. "I don't want to turn my back on them and vanish into thin air. If we have to leave, then I want to do it the right way."

"What are we going to tell them? We can't tell them the truth." Jim said and Sarah nodded.

"I know..." The truth would only complicate things. If people would find out that Sarah Kerrigan and Jim Raynor had been here, they would come here. They would either start asking questions or try to find out what the both of them had done in this place. And no one would believe the truth, that these two had come here in order to find peace.

Scientists would realize that Ramelow's reawakening had been Sarah's doing, or at least the doing of something that wasn't natural, and then they would probably place the whole world under quarantine. They would assume that Kerrigan had returned in order to do something horrible. They didn't know that Sarah was no longer the same woman she once had been...

And, in the end, the people they cared most about would be the ones suffering from the consequences. What if people would find out that Sarah Kerrigan had trained a young woman? The Ghost-project had been suspended, but could they really count on that? A psionically gifted woman that the former Queen of Blades had shown interest in? There were still people out there who would love to get their hands on someone like Paula.

And Sarah was no fool. Back in the old days, the Confederacy would have abducted Paula, turned her into a weapon, and killed her family so no one could have told the public about her. And her unborn child? If it would have been psionically gifted, the Confederacy would have raised it and then turned it into a Ghost. If not, they would have put it into an orphanage...or they would have just killed it.

Either way, Paula would have never gotten the chance to hold her baby in her own arms even once.

To hell with Valerian's fancy words regarding a better future, neither Sarah nor Jim were willing to take such a risk.

"I guess I will need some time to sort all things out." Jim mumbled. "Figure out what to do with the plantation. And this place." he said and pointed at the ceiling. It was clear that he was talking about the house.

"Too bad we can't take it with us." Sarah whispered.

"Hmm, maybe I can build us a house." Jim suddenly suggested. "One just like this. No, even better than this." That idea made Sarah smile.

"That would be nice. On Sternenheim?"

"Where else? Or do you want a house in Ulnar?"

"Ha! Now that's a funny thought." Sarah laughed and then she shook her head. "I guess I could try to take this place with us, but...hey, Jim. How about we give this house to Paula and Trevor?"

"As a gift?"

"Yes. As a home. I like the idea that this place will be the home of someone we care for. That we will leave it in good hands. What do you say?" she asked and Jim nodded.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. You know, this place should be awesome to raise a kid. The little brat could run around outside, play among the trees..."

"Get devoured by a kriecher." Sarah suggested and Jim sighed.

"Yeah, maybe not that. Anyway, when I was a kid I loved playing outside. I don't know about you, but to me, kids should play outside." he said and Sarah frowned when she heard that.

"Kids, huh? I guess so." Sarah still couldn't remember much of her own childhood. Even now there were things that were too painful for her to face them. She did remember running through fields of corn, with the wind brushing through her red hair. But that's not what caused her to frown right now.

 _I think that you would be a wonderful mom._

That's what Jim had told her the other day. Would be. Not would have been. Under normal circumstances, she would never have wasted a second thought on this. The thought of having a family had never occurred to Sarah. The Confederacy had sterilized her when she had hit puberty. She had been a tool and a weapon, and getting pregnant hadn't been part of the plan. The Ghost-project had kept some of her ova though, probably in order to start a breeding project at a later date.

Only the devil himself knew what had happened to those ova. But somehow Sarah had her doubts that they were still around.

So why was she thinking about this now? Was it because Paula was about to become a mother herself? What did it mean to be a mother? From time to time, she had asked Jim what it was like to be a parent, but she still couldn't wrap her head around it. Sarah loved Jim with every fiber of her body. But every time she heard that the love a parent felt towards its child was different, she just had a hard time understanding it. To bring life into the world, to watch it grow, to feel attached to it...to love it more than your own life?

Sarah had brought life into the world. But ordering a larva to morph into a Zerg was probably not the same thing as giving birth to a child. Or something like that.

She should better stop now before things would get even weirder.

It was a theoretical question anyway since she was still sterile.

"Earth to Sarah, are you there?" Jim asked and that's when Sarah's head jerked up.

"What?" she asked with a baffled expression on her face.

"Are you okay? Do you have a bellyache?" he wanted to know and Sarah blinked in surprise.

"What? No, why should I have a bellyache?"

"I was just wondering because you're holding your belly like that." he said and pointed with his finger at Sarah's belly. She looked down and then she realized that her hands were indeed resting on her lower abdomen. She pulled her hands back and shook her head.

"It's nothing, I just...never mind. I guess we should come up with a good story why we have to leave."

"Coming up with a story is my specialty. I got us here, didn't I, Misses Kluivert?"

"You sure as hell did." Sarah chuckled. There was a moment of silence and then...

"Jim?"

"Yeah?"

"Once this is over...let's take some time off, yes? I want to go back to Sternenheim and just do nothing for a while. Just you and me and... time. Lots of time."

"Of course. Sounds nice." he agreed and leaned forward. He placed his hand on hers and gave it a soft squeeze.

"Well..." Sarah then whispered. "...I guess it's time to pack." She got up and walked up the stairs. Much to his own surprise, Jim could see how much it pained Sarah to say that. He could feel that Sarah wasn't happy. This place meant something to her. For the first time in her life, she had experienced something akin to a normal life. And now she had to leave it all behind. She wouldn't waver, Jim knew that. But as he watched how she walked upstairs, he could see the look of defeat on her face.

Sarah walked straight into their bedroom and crawled back into the bed. Packing could wait, right now she just wanted to enjoy lying in her own bed. Because soon that feeling would be gone.

And Jim?

He felt guilty. He had succeeded with his plan to show Sarah what a normal human life could be like. Well, as normal as it would get when Sarah Kerrigan and Jim Raynor were involved. And now they had to leave it all behind.

He had to do something about it. If their time on Ramelow was coming to an end, then it was his goddamn duty to make sure that Sarah would leave this place with a smile on her face. So, Jim knew that he had to do something to ensure that Sarah's last days on this world would be wonderful.

Yet he had no idea what to do.

Fortunately, someone was already working on that...

* * *

Book was tired. And his head hurt like hell. He hadn't slept very well, mostly due to the fact that all those desperate middle-aged ladies had knocked on his door until late in the night.

"Oh, Shepherd! I'm Number 7! I'm ready for my sensual massage!"

"Oh, Shepherd! I'm Number 12! I brought my favorite bubble bath with me!"

"Oh, Shepherd! I'm Number 17! I brought my flute so we can have a duet with your cello."

"Oh, Shepherd! I'm Number 24! And I want my rifle back!"

Oh God, their voices were haunting him! He still felt the urge to kill Brent. His boss would understand. Killing Brent wasn't a sin. It meant doing humanity a favor. And Book was pretty certain that his boss would not be angry at him for doing something like that. He could still feel Joseph's tongue inside his mouth. That guy had kissed in a way he had _never_ been kissed before. And the image of Brent's naked ass had burned itself into Book's mind. Perhaps Joseph had scored the ultimate victory; even if he would never return, he had left something of himself in Book's mind. That white ass would haunt him in his dreams, he just knew it.

And he still wasn't certain that this wasn't just another one of Brent's elaborate plans to drive him mad. Like that one time when Brent had told the people that they could confess their STD's to Book and he would give them some penicillin in return. Book still didn't know which was worse; the fact that Joseph had done that, or that over two hundred men had confessed to him.

Oh, and at least forty women.

And a lot of them were now trying to date him.

Or that one time when Brent had replaced the hymnals with slightly satanic songs. Much to Book's dismay, the people of New Thompson had liked those songs more than what they were supposed to sing.

And let's not forget when Book had been sick and Brent had held the sermon. The topic had been: "Why it's completely acceptable to feel sexually attracted to Zerg."

Right now, Book was lying on his couch and enjoyed some peace and quiet. It had been a short night and he still felt tired. Perhaps he should get himself something to eat, but he was too lazy to get up. Good thing that he had decided to take a day off. The wedding had been exhausting and he wasn't that young anymore. His father had stayed fit till his seventies. However, Book had his doubts that he would be so lucky.

Then again, his fitness hadn't helped his father in the end.

Weird...he hadn't thought about his old man in ages. So why now?

Ah, whatever. All he wanted to do was to take a nap and then-

"Book? Book, are you there?" Someone knocked on the door. It was the voice of a woman, and for a second Book feared that it was another woman that wanted to go on a date with him. But then he recognized the voice. He walked over to the door and when he opened it, he looked straight into Paula's eyes.

"Paula? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be, I don't know, pack for your trip to Tyrador?"

"Tyrador has to wait, Book." Paula replied with a sad look on her face.

"Is everything alright?" the Shepherd asked and Paula shook her head.

"It's complicated. I need to talk to you."

"Is something wrong with Trevor?" Book asked and felt how an icy chill ran down his spine. He hoped that those two hadn't argued. Not one day after their wedding. But that's when Paula shook her head again.

"No, Trevor is fine. It's not about him. It's about Sarah."

"Sarah? Is something wrong with her?"

"Yes. And no. Can I come in?" she asked again and Book sighed.

"Paula, can't this wait? Maybe we can talk about it tomorrow? How does that-"

"Please, I need to talk to you now!" Paula interrupted him and made a step forward. She placed her hand on his shoulder and looked him straight into the eyes. "Please, Cecil."

And when she used his old name, Book knew that this was important.

He looked around and made sure that no one was seeing them.

"Come in. Let's talk." he said and Paula slipped into his flat so they could talk about whatever was going on.

* * *

Sarah was sitting under her favorite tree. She had tried to distract her mind by reading some books, but she had read most of them already, and right now she wasn't in the mood for something demanding like Hobbes' _Leviathan_ , Kant's _Critique of Pure Reason_ (though she preferred Leibniz over Kant on any given day) or even something simple as Hemingway's _The Old Man and the Sea_.

Reading had become one of her most favorite hobbies. And the literature of pre-space-age Earth was especially fascinating. Jim had introduced her to that when he had told her about all those great books from Earth. Though he had been talking about six-hundred-year-old comic books with a weird mouse and an even weirder duck in it.

According to Jim, those two characters were "iconic symbols of the 20th century on Earth and represented an age where _righteous freedom battled evil communism_ ".

Somehow Sarah had her doubts about that.

By now she had acquired a very nice collection of antique books and was always looking for more. Maybe one day she could travel to Earth and see all those places she had read about in those books.

The book she was reading right now wasn't exactly highly complex. She had bought this book years ago, but she had never bothered to finish it.

Truth to be told, there had been a good reason why she had never finished it. Michael Liberty was a good man and firmly believed that people could do good things. But boy, the way he wrote about things was so boring and self-righteous that Sarah wanted to burn that book. The book's name was "Lurking in the Shadows – The Truth behind the Ghost Project", and reading about it now was a strange experience for Sarah.

She had stopped being a Ghost over thirteen years ago. All Sarah read in were things that she had experienced. And she had to admit; Michael had done his homework with this. Most of the things in this book were pretty accurate. However, the truly fascinating thing was that Sarah had a hard time remembering that time. Oh, she still knew what they had done to her. And she could still remember what she had done to others. But it was as if those memories had started to fade, like a really old photo.

If anything, then reading this book strengthened Sarah's resolve to leave. The thought that people would do something to Paula like they did to her was unbearable. What was the alternative? Take Paula and her family with them? Keep them save? No, of course not. Sarah had no right to make that decision for Paula. Because in the end, Paula was still a human. And she deserved to live among humans.

What was somewhat amusing about Liberty's book was the self-righteousness he had put into it. And it was also pretty annoying. Michael Liberty had always been driven by his dreams of a better future. But back then Sarah had never been able to appreciate that. And now? Now she could read his fears and hopes between the lines. The things she had learned in the last few years had given her a greater understanding of the world around her. And all these books of all these long-dead authors had helped Sarah to understand that the question she asked herself from time to time had kept them awake at night too.

Sometimes she felt lost.

But now she knew that she wasn't the only one who felt that way, and that was a comfort.

Liberty's book was nowhere near as deep as Friedrich Schiller's _On the Aesthetic Education of Man_ or Adam Smith's _The Theory of Moral Sentiments_ , but it was still better than Machiavelli's _The Prince_ or...

...you guys have no idea what Sarah was talking about.

Anyway, her point was that Sarah could appreciate what Michael had tried to achieve with this book. But only time would tell if people would actually take notice. It was actually a damn good question; would the people one day acknowledge that the Ghosts had been victims too? Victims of an oppressive regime that had used them as tools and then discarded them when they had lost their usefulness.

It was a fate no one deserved.

It was a fate that Paula would never have to experience.

"Sssssaaaaaa..." Moby hissed next to Sarah and rolled herself on the back. She enjoyed the sun on her belly and looked happy as one could be. Sarah smiled when she looked at the huge kriecher. She placed her hand on Moby's soft belly and started to scratch her leathery skin.

"Yeah, you like that, don't you, girl?" Sarah said and the white kriecher hissed again.

"Sssaaa ssaaaa ssssaaaaa..."

"You know, your family would have made a fine addition to the Swarm." Sarah mused.

"Sssssaaaaa..."

"You could have replaced Zerglings. You are not nearly as fast, but your dreadful cuddle-attack would have overwhelmed any line of defense. But then again, I don't think that storm troops that can be bribed with treats are such a good idea."

"Ssssssaaaa..."

"You know, you're not the first pet I ever had." Sarah suddenly said.

"Ssssaaaa..."

"Yes, there was this one Zergling, with only one tusk. Weird little guy. I wonder what happened to it though. It probably ended up as one of Abathur's experiments. But don't worry, I would never let Abathur get his stupid hands on you. Right?"

"Ssssssaaaaaa..."

"Right...good girl." Sarah cooed and scratched the leathery skin of Moby's chest even harder. The huge kriecher hissed again and one of her hind legs started to twitch like crazy.

"Just what should I do, Moby?" Sarah whispered. "Should we try to stay here? Let just see how things will play out?"

"Sssssa..."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Staying here would be a bad idea. But hey, you will like your new home. You will be the biggest and meanest predator around. And... the only one I guess. Oh, and you can learn how to swim! Doesn't that sound nice?"

"Ssssaaaa..."

"Or do you want to stay here, Moby?" Sarah asked. She knew that it was pointless, but hey...there were weirder things that talking to your pet.

"Sssssaaaa..."

"This is your home, right? No other kriechers around that you could play with." That, of course, was a strictly academical statement because Moby didn't care about other members of her species. And so far, she had just decided to eat all the small males she had found, so she didn't seem to be very keen on starting a family on her own.

"That's right, we girls have to stick together." Sarah said and scratched Moby even harder. "No one tells us how we live our lives, right?"

"Ssssaaaaa..."

"Still, I wish I could have seen it. Paula as a mom...I bet she will be a great mother. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Ssssaaaaa..."

"Yeah, I think so too. I just...I wonder what Jim meant if he said that I could be a great mother. Can you imagine that?" she chuckled and looked over to Moby. "Me, as a mother?"

"Sssssaaaa..."

"Uh huh, me neither. I mean, what should I teach a child? How to kill a man with a knife? How to infiltrate a base? Or how to lead the Swarm? I doubt that those skills would come in handy." Seriously, the very thought that Sarah could bring a child into this world was absolutely ridiculous. It was a good thing that she didn't have to worry about that problem anymore, right?

As her one hand continued to scratch Moby's chest, she placed her other hand on her lower abdomen. There was no need to be sad or anything. It just hadn't meant to be. Besides, every time Jim thought about his old family, Sarah could sense his pain. The thought of loving someone so much and then the fear of losing them...

The thing that Sarah loved the most in this universe was Jim. The thought of losing him was unbearable, yet he had told her that losing a lover and losing a child were two different things. That losing a child left a wound that would never truly heal.

If that was true, then that was one more reason to never have children.

But why the hell was everyone so damn happy about the fact that Paula was about to become a mother? Did Sarah miss something?

Well, whatever it was, she was probably just overthinking things.

Oh, she was definitely overthinking things.

She grabbed the book and started to read some more. It helped her to distract her mind. Besides, she had almost finished that book anyway. The only thing that she hadn't read was the final chapter and a personal afterword. The last chapter itself wasn't very interesting. It was mostly about the rumors that Liberty had heard about over the course of his investigations.

And that his next book would deal with the question if the Specters truly existed and if yes, what their true purpose was.

As for the afterword...

"Even today, now that the Dominion has released many classified files, there are still a lot of questions regarding the true nature of the Ghost-project, and the brave souls who were abused by this program. Yes, I call them victims. I was able to talk to several Ghosts over the course of my investigations, and except for a minority, they all shared the same background; they were abducted and torn away from their families and turned into a weapon against their will. And then they were forced to not just fight our wars, but they were forced to carry our fate on their shoulders. I do not exaggerate if I say that without a few chosen Ghosts we wouldn't be alive today." she whispered.

Well, not many would see it like that.

"But perhaps the worst thing is that people will never know about the sacrifices these people had to make in order to keep us safe. And I too will never know what happened to them, and that is something that keeps me up at night. Some of these individuals were the finest people I have ever met, even though they probably never realized that. And among all those brave souls was one woman that stood out like a bright beacon in the darkness." Sarah stopped for a second and frowned.

No... he wasn't talking about her, was he?

"She was unlike any person I had ever met before, and she could never accept that she too had been a victim. Yet she continued to fight on, no matter the odds. And even though I'm certain that she will never read these lines, I do hope that she will do it one day. So that she knows that there are people out there that know what she did for us and we're proud to call her a friend." And then she had to swallow hard.

"Thank you, Sarah. For all you did for us." she mumbled, closed the book and brushed a golden tear from her cheek. She really had to stop crying all the time! This was getting embarrassing. Maybe she should stop reading and get back to Jim. He probably was already thinking about a story they could present to the others.

It would probably an absolutely reasonable explanation that the others would buy immediately.

* * *

Jim had no idea what they should tell the others. There were so many things he had to worry about. The easiest way to solve this would be to vanish into thin air, but Jim didn't want to do that. Their friends deserved something better. However, coming up with a somewhat believable reason why Sarah and Jim suddenly had to leave all behind was...

...impossible.

He was inside the barn and tinkering with the old tractor, the one that he had inherited from the former owner of this house that had become his and Sarah's home. He remembered how he had renovated the entire house. Jim's motivation had been simple; ever since he had thought about this idea, he had wanted to get his hands on a house and repair it. Maybe it was a man-thing, the urge to take something that was completely broken and repair it with your own hands. And as a result, turn this thing into something that truly belongs to you, because you put sweat, blood, and tears into it.

This house...it meant a lot to him. A house can be a home, and it can be so much more than that. It can be just four walls that protect you from the weather, or it can be a place where everything you love is. Like your family.

After Liddy's and Johnny's deaths, he had believed himself to have lost that feeling. That feeling of stepping into a house and knowing that he was home.

Home...

In a way, this was the life he had always dreamed of. Well, not as a young man, but he had been stupid back then. Perhaps it was another man-thing, that you had to prove to everyone just how awesome you were. Being a farmer wasn't bad. It was a simple life, yes. But an honest one. And you don't have to worry about keeping your men alive. If there was anything Jim didn't miss about his old life, then it was...pretty much everything.

In the last seven years, he hadn't really thought about the Great War. The nightmares were no longer haunting him. Funny thing; many former soldiers think back and say that "not all had been bad". Things like comradeship, old friends, crazy war-stories, and ungodly amounts of alcohol were the things many liked to remember. To Jim, the reason for that was simple; people always tried to look for something good, even if that time had been utter shit. Because no one wanted to say that "all these years had been for nothing". People needed to believe in something, something that helped them to ignore all the pain and hopelessness.

But if Jim was brutally honest with himself, then there had been nothing good about those years. So much death, so much destruction. So many friends dead. Up to the Great War, humans had never encountered an intelligent species. And Jim and his generation had been so lucky to not just encounter one, but two intelligent species at the same time!

Oh, _joy_!

Even though he had a lot of respect for the Protoss (well, most of them anyway), he wasn't certain if being Artanis' buddy made up for all the people that had been slaughtered by the Zerg. Or _cleansed_ by the Protoss. What if he could choose? Never have heard about the Protoss, never met Tassadar, Fenix or Artanis, and at the same time never met the Zerg? How many billions would still be alive? Those were pointless thoughts, he knew that. And what about his pals? What about Matt? They probably would have never met, but Matt had always been a clever kid. He would have found his own way, Jim was certain of that.

The Raiders, _his_ Raiders, they would have led normal lives. They wouldn't have lost their families.

There was only one thing that had made all these years bearable. And that reason was Sarah.

He had dragged her out here so she could experience what a normal life could be like. Well, he had succeeded with that. And now they had to go. First, he had managed to show her the beauty of a normal life...and now he had to take it away from her.

He was such a hero...

Maybe Jim could tell their friends that he and Sarah wanted to return to Mar Sarah, from where they had fled? Even though he and Sarah had managed to build themselves a new life out here, they still wanted to go back to Mar Sara?

No, that was a stupid idea.

He didn't want to lie to them. In the last seven years he hadn't been James Raynor, but Jim Rennard. How the hell was he supposed to tell Phil or the others that he was indeed someone else? How would they react if they would hear that Sarah was none other than Sarah Kerrigan _? The_ Kerrigan. The former Queen of Blades...

They would probably declare Jim and Sarah legally insane. Which was funny, since the truth sounded way more ridiculous than any lie they could come up with.

"Maybe we could tell them that we want to travel to Korhal and have an "accident" on our way there?" Jim whispered to himself. Extreme, maybe. And a real dick-move. Their friends would mourn them, but that way no one would draw any suspicion.

"Or maybe you could tell us the truth?" a woman's voice suddenly said.

"AAAAAAAHHHhhhhoooPaula...dear Lord, don't do that! You scared the living crap out of me!" Jim groaned when he turned around. He hadn't noticed her approach at all, he had been too deeply lost in thoughts.

"Sorry. I didn't want to scare you. I just got here. Is... Sarah around?"

"She's back in the woods. Said that she wanted to read and enjoy some peace and quiet. I don't know when she will be back, though. If you want you can wait here and-"

"No, that won't be necessary. I wanted to talk to you, Jim."

"To me?" he asked and pulled his brows up. "Uhm...I feel flattered, but why? I don't know if I can-"

"You two will leave." Paula suddenly said and pressed her hands against her chest. Jim's eyes widened in surprise and for a second, he thought about denying it. But then he remembered who he was talking to and a sad smile appeared on his face.

"Heh...there's simply no way to keep secrets from you, is there?" he mumbled.

"I'm sorry. But I didn't want you to just leave like that." Paula replied, and that's when Jim sighed.

"I guess that would be pretty unfair to you and the others, wouldn't it? I'm the one who should apologize. It's just...I don't have any idea how to tell the others." he said and Paula made a step forward.

"You don't want to tell them who you two really are. You want us to remember you the way you were, not those names that everyone has heard of. You want that Sarah's legacy is a good one. And you're afraid of what would happen to us once people would find out about your true identity." Paula explained and Jim chuckled when he heard that.

"Oh, how I missed that. You haven't analyzed me in quite some time, girl. But yeah, that's the general idea. I just...I just don't know how to come up with a good story."

"What if you don't have to?" Paula suggested and Jim frowned when he heard that.

"Whadda'ya mean?" he asked. Paula walked up to him and placed her hand on his cheek.

"You and Sarah, you did so much for us. For me. All I want to do is to give something back. I have an idea, but I will need your help. Would you allow me to do that?" If anyone else had asked Jim, he would have refused at once. But as he looked into Paula's eyes, he knew that this meant as much to her as to both Sarah and Jim.

"That sounds like you got an idea, girl. Care to share it with me?" he chuckled and Paula pulled her hand back before she smiled.

"Actually, I'm not the one with the idea." Paula explained and she looked over her shoulder. "He's the one with the idea. And I think you will like it." And that's when Jim saw how someone else entered the barn.

"Hello, Mister Raynor. It is a pleasure to finally meet you." the man said, and when Jim realized who it was, he was too baffled to say anything.

* * *

When Sarah finally returned home, it was already getting dark. She walked into their home and sighed when she looked around. It was hard to believe, but the thought of never going through this door again filled her heart with sadness. Moby was just behind her and threw herself into her favorite corner before she "Ssssaaaa..."ed once more and then fell asleep immediately.

Well, at least one of them was calm and controlled.

Or Moby just didn't care about any of this.

The moment Sarah stepped inside, the smell of hot chocolate cake greeted her, and a warm smile appeared on her face.

"Hey, look who's finally back home!" Jim chuckled when he walked out of the kitchen. "Your timing is impressive! And it seems like you gained a new power! To sense when chocolate cake is still warm! I didn't remember you having this skill when we first met."

"It's the Zerg in me." Sarah just mumbled and walked over to Jim. She kissed him on the cheek and then threw herself on the couch before she closed her eyes. "So, did anything happen while I was gone?"

"Nothing special." Jim said and Sarah noticed that something was wrong.

"What's the matter?" she asked. She could sense that he was hiding something from her and Jim sighed.

"It's...I guess I have an idea. For what we can tell the others. But I need some more time to figure out all the details. Let me tell you about it tomorrow." he replied and Sarah didn't continue to bother him with questions. She didn't want to think about this whole mess. Whatever story Jim would come up with, she would just go with it. After a while, Sarah inhaled the scent of burning wood and she opened her eyes again. She could see that Jim had fired up the oven and a smile appeared on her face.

"I'm gonna miss that thing." she whispered and then she rolled off the couch. She crawled over to the oven and sat down right in front of it. As she stared into the flickering flames, she recalled all those memories related to this thing.

"Heh, remember when we first got here?" Sarah suddenly asked and Jim, who was doing something behind her, chuckled.

"Yeah...you wanted to rip that fat broker's head off because he continued to stare at your butt."

"No, not that...the _first_ time we got here. You know, shortly after we met on Antiga Prime."

"Oh, right...that first time...you mean the _good old_ time." Jim groaned. To him, that time had been anything _but_ good.

"I remember how you kept asking me all sorts of things. Like what my favorite food was. And then-"

"...then you said that you don't have a favorite food." Jim said and suddenly Sarah felt something soft on her shoulders. She looked up and realized that it was a blanket.

"Now I remember." Jim mumbled and sat down right next to her. He was holding something in his hand and Sarah didn't even have to look down in order to know what it was. It smelled really delicious.

"Cake?" Jim said and offered her a piece of chocolate cake. She took it and put it into her mouth. It tasted so good that a joyous sigh left her lips and then she closed her eyes.

"You know..." she said after a while. "...I still don't have a favorite food."

"I thought you like the cake." Jim mumbled.

"Oh, I do. But I also love apple pie. I can't say which one I like better."

"Well, it's a tough choice. The one is deliciously simple and the other is simply delicious." Jim agreed.

"But you know what I would like to try again?" Sarah then asked.

"What?"

"Roasted squidfish. Haven't had one in ages. Roasted over a fire while sitting on the beach." she whispered and leaned against Jim's shoulder.

"So, back to Sternenheim?" he wanted to know and she nodded.

"At least for a while. I think I will need some time to get everything sorted out. But if you want to stay here, then I can just visit you from-"

"Hey..." Jim said and turned his head to the side so they could look into each other's eyes. "...where you go, I'll follow. Simple as that. Besides, I thought about building us a house on Sternenheim."

"Wait, I thought you were just joking about that." Sarah whispered. "Jim, isn't that a bit, uhm, overambitious?" she wanted to know.

"Hey, I fixed this house, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but you just mentioned the obvious; you had a house to start with! Also, what do you want to use to build it? If you start chopping down trees, they will strike back!" Right, the living-trees-problem. Truth to be told, Jim had completely forgotten about that.

"Meh, that's a problem I can solve. Trust me, I can do it." he then said, but he could see the skeptical look on Sarah's face.

"Do I have to sleep in that house?" she wanted to know and Jim sighed.

"Don't worry, I will make sure that it won't collapse on our heads. But it will be fun!"

"We can always sleep under the stars, you know? The climate is wonderful on Sternenheim." Sarah suggested and snuggled herself against Jim. She threw the blanket over his shoulder and slung her arms around his chest.

"Yeah, but all that sand in my buttcrack got annoying after a while. Don't get me wrong, sleeping on the sand is nice...from time to time. But a real bed is nice too. Also, I don't think you want to sleep outside when the rains start."

"Fair point." Sarah mumbled and then she sighed. "But still...I'm gonna miss this place." Jim pulled her closer to his chest and kissed her on the temple.

"I know. So will I." And then they just stared into the fire and enjoyed this moment of peace.

"I want to thank you, Jim." Sarah said after a while.

"For what?"

"For dragging me out here. For giving me the chance to live like a normal human. When we got here, I just wanted to go back to Sternenheim and be left alone. But all of this? What you did for me?" she whispered and looked Jim straight into the eyes. And then a warm smile appeared on Sarah's face.

"Best trip ever."

"I'm glad you liked it." he replied. He was caught by surprise when Sarah leaned forward and placed her lips on his. They shared a long kiss, and Jim could feel how something had changed. There was this tingling sensation in the back of his head, and it felt as electricity was running through his whole body. There was no doubt about it, Sarah's powers had almost returned. He just enjoyed the moment until he felt how her slender fingers slipped under his shirt and started to caress his skin. He broke the kiss and looked into his lover's eyes.

"Sarah? What's-" he started, but then Sarah placed a finger on his lips.

"Shhh...I just had an idea. Maybe this is one of our last nights on this world, so how about we make sure that it's a memorable one?" she cooed and Jim knew exactly what she was talking about. When they kissed again, it was different, longer and more sensual. Their fingers wandered over each other's bodies and started to go exploring. The wooden floor wasn't exactly comfortable, but the blanket helped. And honestly, they were too busy to notice that.

At one point, Moby raised her head and watched those two naked thingies that she lived with. She would never understand these creatures. Were they fighting? If so, then they were pathetic when it came to fighting. They were just rolling around while making weird noises!

And boy, they just didn't stop! Seriously, it went on forever! If this was some kind of fight for dominance, then Moby could not say who was winning. Sometimes the strict one with the red hair was on top, sometimes the one who treated her like a princess was on top. Anyway, after a while, it started to become boring and so the huge kriecher got up and went upstairs. Usually, Moby always waited until everyone was gone and she was alone, but not today. These two looked like they were pretty busy, so Moby walked into Jim's and Sarah's bedroom, climbed on their bed and rolled on her back, where she rolled herself into a ball and sighed. She loved this place, it was so soft.

Ah, this was the life!

As for Sarah and Jim?

Well, if this truly was one of the last days on Ramelow, then at least it would be a good one. They made sweet love till late in the night. And when they finally fell asleep, they had smiles on their faces. And perhaps that was the most important thing about their time on this world.

That it had been a good one.


	109. Act IV - Chapter 25

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 25**

 **Going Home**

* * *

When Sarah woke up again, she noticed two things. The first thing; she was lying in her bed. Which was odd, since she could definitely remember how she and Jim had fallen asleep on the couch after a long night filled with, well, stuff adults do from time to time.

So yeah, lying in their bed was the first thing she noticed. The other thing was the smell.

Why the hell did their bed smell like Moby?

"Hmm...Jim?" Sarah mumbled and rolled around. Her hand brushed over the place where Jim usually slept, but then she noticed that he wasn't there. She opened her eyes and realized that it was already midday. How had she managed to get up here? She couldn't remember. Maybe Jim had carried her upstairs? Well, what other explanation could there be? Sarah was pretty certain that Moby hadn't carried her upstairs.

She rolled on her back and looked at her own hand.

Sarah could feel the change. It was a strange sensation, almost alien but at the same time so very familiar. As she stared at her own fingers, she could only see the skin of her hand. Her appendage looked absolutely normal. But what she saw and what she felt were two different things. Because even though her eyes told her that everything was fine, her mind told her something else.

It was as if invisible energies were surrounding her whole body, like something ethereal. It was almost impossible to describe how Sarah felt, but she could say that those were here powers. And they were waiting for her to command them.

Using her powers felt so different from before. This would take some time to get used to. Sarah realized that she had to relearn how to use her powers. In a way, it was like learning how to walk all over again. And that would take time. So returning to Sternenheim would probably be for the best. If something would go wrong, then she wouldn't hurt anyone she loved or care for...

...as long as Jim managed to run for cover in time.

Sarah continued to stare at her hand and focused her mind on her fingers. But instead of concentrating her powers like she had used to do, she instead imagined something. Inside her mind, she visualized something and a few moments later she could see how her hand started to change.

It didn't hurt, not really. However, it felt strange. She watched how the skin on her hand changed its color. Her nails grew longer and hardened into sharp claws, and a bony structure appeared on the back of her hand. It tingled and when the transformation was finally over, she looked at the hand of the Queen of Blades. She studied all the tiny details of her carapace and clenched her hand into a fist, only to relax it immediately after that. And then she imagined how her hand had looked like a few seconds ago. And again she could see how her appendage changed back into its human shape.

"Well...this should come in handy." she whispered, only to snicker when she realized the stupidity of her own cheap pun. Still, it felt so weird. She could no longer control her powers directly, at least not how she had been used to. But for whatever she had lost, she had gained so much more. These psionics...they felt _right_. For Sarah, her psionics had never been a gift, but a burden. And now? Now everything was different. Everything felt much more balanced, and Sarah felt more at peace than she had ever felt before.

After a while, Sarah decided to get up. She stretched her limbs and sighed in relief.

"Jim? Are you there?" she asked, but he didn't answer. So she reached out with her senses, only to realize that she was only able to reach out to Jim through the special connection they shared. Still, she tried to gather her thoughts and focus her psionics on the area around her.

It felt...different. In the past, her psionics had also worked like a detector. But now? Now it felt as if the powers that were surrounding her were waiting for her to tell them what to do and then they would do their best to follow her orders. However, all she received were strange whispers. It reminded her of those voices she had heard on Ulnar.

Maybe she should go there first, and ask Karax what he had figured out so far. Maybe this was how the psionics of the Xel'Naga worked? Well, had worked?

"Brrrr...better not think about it." Sarah shuddered. The thought that she had anything in familiar with these bloated pieces of flesh wasn't very flattering.

Before she could contemplate on that any further, Jim finally answered her calls.

 _I'm in the barn._

"The barn? What are you doing?" she asked.

 _Packing._

"Oh..." was all she could reply. "...is it...you're getting ready to leave?"

 _Something like that. I just...I wanted to go to town and talk to the others, but right now I can't. I don't want to. So I'm preparing for the inevitable._

Well, even though it didn't come out of nowhere, it still felt like a kick to the head. It was certainly nothing Sarah had expected after just waking up. Or maybe she had just hoped that this particular problem would solve itself. What she had told Jim the other day was true; if she could turn back the time and live those seven years again, even without her powers, then she would do that.

Unfortunately, this wasn't "Make a wish" but the harsh reality. And the reality was that they had to say goodbye.

"Great way to spoil the mood..." she whispered mostly to herself.

 _Sorry..._ Jim apologized, but she just shook her head.

"No, you're right. Maybe I should pack as well."

 _Only if you feel like like. Oh, and Sarah? Could you come to the barn later on? There's something I want to talk with you about._

"Uh...that sounds like _fun_." she groaned, knowing that whatever he wanted to talk about would be anything _but_ fun.

Though there was one thing that was strange, something she just couldn't wrap her head around. Why was it so damn hard to just face the others and tell them that they had to leave? It wasn't so much the fact that they had to leave but the fact that they would have to lie to the others that was bothering her. And that was truly a unique experience for Sarah. She had lied her way out of so many situations...she had formed alliances and betrayed everyone (just ask Artanis) and it hadn't bothered her at all. Yet now she wanted to tell them the truth. It was a strange sensation, and one that she wasn't very fond of.

Jim would probably tell her something like...

 _That's part of life, Sarah._

"Shut up." she growled and decided to finally stand up. She walked into the bathroom, and after a hot shower, she got dressed and looked into the mirror. And what she saw...

"Well, look at you." Sarah whispered while staring at her own reflection. She looked not a day older than the day the Zerg had claimed her. She had been 26 back then. Tsk, 26 and she had already seen everything this universe had to offer. Everything...except love and peace. It had taken her many more years until she had finally found that.

Like said, she didn't look a day older than 26. As a Zerg, her body hadn't aged. And the short time after her deinfestation hadn't been nearly long enough to make her age either. And then she had become Zerg again. And then an immortal space-goddess. And even though she had been stripped of her powers for the last seven years, she still hadn't aged even one day.

And neither had Jim.

Did that mean...that they wouldn't die of old age? Was that even possible? And if that was true, what would that mean?

"Oh, shit..." Sarah whispered when she realized something. It was now the year 2515. She did the math and added the numbers in her head, and that's when she realized...

...that she was 42 years old.

"Huh...time sure does fly." She leaned forward and searched for wrinkles, even though she had no idea why. 42 years, huh? Most people would settle down once they reached that age. They usually had families...and kids.

And Sarah?

Well, it was time to move on. Instead of settling down, they had to find a new home.

Damn...42? That was old. Like, really old! Suddenly Sarah couldn't help but feel like a goddamn grandma! Well, on the bright side, she was probably the best-looking 42-year-old woman in the entire Koprulu Sector and...

...well, nevermind.

She could sense Jim's amusement, though.

 _Let me tell you; you got the most beautiful 42-years-old butt of all times._ he told her, and for some odd reason, Sarah felt the urge to strangle her lover to death, though she couldn't really say why.

"Well, you're close to fifty. Just so you know." she snarled and suddenly Jim was silent again.

Critical hit detected.

She walked out of the bathroom and decided to take a trip down memory lane. There weren't any pictures hanging on the walls, Sarah had never seen the purpose and doing something like that. However, now that she was walking downstairs, she imagined what it would be like to have pictures of her friends and loved ones on the walls.

You know, like normal people.

But perhaps it was better that there were no things present that Sarah was attached to. Except for the entire house, of course. Still, when she walked into the living room and looked at the oven, she had to smile. Oh, so many good memories! And not just what had happened here last night...

 _You know, you're quite flexible for a woman of your age._ Jim told her, and suddenly she felt the urge to kill him all over again.

And it would be a truly gruesome death...

No one would find his body...

However, the trip down memory lane wasn't that long. There weren't that many things that had a personal touch. Perhaps it was better this way. It meant that there weren't that many things they had to leave behind.

Except the fact that this whole place meant something to them.

Sarah walked over to the oven and placed her hand on it. It was still warm. Who would have thought that this piece of metal would one day mean so much to her? There had been many things that Sarah had cared for in the past. Like her rifle or her Ghost-suit, the things the Ghost-program had issued to her. They had taught her to treat these pieces of equipment with care. Then again, they had also told her that she was nothing but a piece of equipment. One that was supposed to be sacrificed should it no longer have any use.

...something Arcturus Mengsk had done in the end.

Eh, this day would be horrible enough, there was no need to think about that asshole.

Besides...Arcturus was now dead for over nine years. It was just another reminder of how much time had past.

Perhaps it was truly better to leave now. Neither Sarah nor Jim looked a day older than when they had first met. In Jim's case, it was even more drastic because he had looked way older after the end of the Great War and Amon's death. In the seven years they had spent here, neither Jim nor Sarah had aged even one day. And while people were still making jokes about that, and Jim and Sarah were blaming it on "good genes".

But one day that joke would no longer work.

 _You can always say that you're a big fan of plastic surgery._ Jim suggested, and Sarah could feel how her eyelid started to twitch. He really did have a death wish! She shook her head and tried to focus on the things that truly mattered. Only that she had no idea what that would be. After a while, Sarah sighed and realized that standing here and thinking about the good old days wouldn't solveanything. She should talk to Jim about what he wanted to tell the others. She trusted him, but she was afraid that he would come up with a truly ridiculous story, one that would make things even worse.

"Jim? Can we talk?" she asked and reached out to him.

 _Sure. What's the matter?_

"I want to talk about...our next step. What we're going to tell them. I'm not sure that-"

 _I already know what we can tell them._ Jim cut her short and Sarah blinked in surprise.

"You...did? Oh...I see. Well, it would be nice if you could share your idea with me. Could you...could you come back inside so we can talk face to face?"

 _I'm kinda busy. If you want to talk, I'm in the barn._

"Ehhhh..." Sarah sighed when she heard that. First he was calling her old, now he was making her walk over to him? Maybe she should let him sleep on the couch for a few days. Or weeks. Or centuries. However, right now Sarah wasn't in the mood to argue, and so she decided to do as he asked her to. When she stepped outside, she noticed two things. First thing was that the weather had changed. There were thick clouds in the sky and it had become a lot colder. Funny, Sarah could manipulate the weather, but right now she was unable to sense Jim's exact location. Well, maybe this would change over time. But she hoped that it wouldn't. Being able to read other people's minds had always been more of a burden than a gift, and she was glad that the only thoughts she had to deal with were her own.

And Jim's.

The other thing she noticed that a certain someone wasn't around.

"Moby?" Sarah asked, but no "Sssssaaaaaa..." could be heard. Usually, the little princess liked to sleep on the veranda this time of the day.

"Jim? Did you see Moby?"

 _She's with me. Are you coming?_

"Yeah, yeah..." Sarah mumbled and slumped over to the barn. On her way there, she shivered and realized that she probably should have put on a sweater.

Well, whatever. She reached the barn, opened the door, and then she stepped inside.

"Jim?" she asked. "Jim, are you there?" But Jim was nowhere to be seen. "Huh? Too scared to face me after telling me that I'm getting old?" she whispered to herself and looked around. However, Jim was not there, and neither was Moby. Oh, Sarah was so not in the mood for any games. She tried to reach out with her senses, tried to figure out where Jim was. That's when...

"Hello, Sarah." someone said and placed his hand on her shoulder.

Sarah was no longer a Ghost, and she had made the decision to never take another life. But hurting was still fine. She didn't even think about it, all she did was to react. She grabbed the hand and threw the poor guy behind her simply over her shoulder.

"UNF!" Book gasped when he landed on his back and started to groan.

"Ooouuuuch...that hurt." the Shepherd managed to mumble, and only then Sarah realized what she had done.

"BOOK?!" she yelped. "What the hell?! What are you doing here? And why the hell did you sneak up on me?"

"I...wanted...to talk...to you..." Book pressed out and groaned again. "I think...I broke my hip." Sarah sighed and walked over to the older man. She reached out and offered her hand to him.

"Sorry 'bout that. But I don't like it when people sneak up on me." she mumbled.

"Noted." Book replied and grabbed her hand. She helped him back up and the Shepherd groaned again. "Oh hell, I will feel that in the morning."

"Saying "hell"? Is that something a Shepherd is even allowed to say?" Sarah chuckled.

"If he breaks his hips, then yes. Oh, I will never get used to that." He knocked the dust off his clothes and then he grimaced. "Yep, definitely gonna feel that in the morning." Sarah made a few steps backward and looked around.

"Have you seen Jim? I was looking for him."

"Yes, he took your little monster for a walk. Why?"

"Moby's not a monster." Sarah replied.

"Well, that's a pretty exclusive view. But nevermind that. I didn't come here for that."

"Good point, why did you come here anyway? Is there anything I can do for you?" she chuckled and turned around. She walked over to the door and was about to leave the barn when Book spoke up again.

"Actually...I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, really?" Sarah asked. "Come, let's head back into the house. I don't like talking in the barn." However, instead of following Sarah, Book took a deep breath and shook his head.

"I think this is a good place to talk...in privacy."

"Uhhhhh...what?"

"Sarah, I wanted to do this for a long time. But I never got the chance to do it. Or maybe I lacked the strength and determination. Either way, I believe this is my last chance to do this." When Sarah heard that, she started to chuckle.

"Just what are you talking about, Book?" she laughed.

"I know that you are about to leave Ramelow." he said. When Sarah heard that, she sighed and dropped her head.

"Who told you that?" she moaned and looked over her shoulder.

"Paula." he replied.

"Of course she did. And here I thought we could keep this a secret. Did she tell anyone else?"

"No."

"Well, at least that's a good news." Sarah growled. "Is that why you came here? To say goodbye?"

"Yes. But not just that." Book told her. "I wanted to do this for a long time." And then he took a deep breath. "Sarah...I wanted to thank you." When Sarah heard that, she shook her head.

"Oh, come on! Book, we were never _this_ close. You know that. And while I learned to like you, we're not exactly friends. We are just acquaintances."

"True..." Book agreed. "...but it doesn't change the facts. And fact is that I owe you a lot. I might even say something very dramatic and claim that I owe you the salvation of my soul."

"You're right." Sarah groaned. "This is _very_ dramatic."

"But it is the truth."

"Shepherd, listen-" Sarah tried to make him shut up. But then Shepherd just continued to talk.

"When I arrived here on Ramelow, I was a different man. I remember that time well. I was doubting myself, my heritage. And I was questioning everything that I had done so far. Did I ever..." he asked Sarah. "...tell you why I became a Shepherd?"

"Nope."

"...I wanted to escape my old life. I once was a soldier, but I just followed that path because my father had expected that of me." Suddenly a sad smile appeared on Book's face. "It's funny, even though he was never at home, he still had so much influence on my decisions. It's actually quite pathetic. Even as a grown-up man, I wasn't able to escape my family's name..."

"Your family's name?" Sarah whispered. For some odd reason, she had a bad feeling about this. Book took a deep breath and then he continued.

"I think the worst thing about being an officer was that people would always compare me to my father. The name alone was enough for them to judge me. And even though I was a good soldier, I wasn't exceptional. And therefore many people assumed that I was a disappointment. It's hard to live up to someone else's reputation."

"I wouldn't know..." Sarah mumbled. "...my family was never important."

"Heh, the problems of a prodigy seem to be utterly ridiculous to those who have a normal background, I'm aware of that. But it kept me awake at night. I lay there in my bed and would stare at the ceiling and think about myself and my place in the universe. And then the Great War happened."

"It happened to all of us." Sarah whispered and clenched her hands into fists.

"True. And I can only imagine what kind of horrors you and James witnessed. I was lucky...I was mostly doing staff-duty during the war. But then Augustgrad was attacked and I witnessed the carnage with my own eyes. First the Zerg...and then Mobius. It was when I realized that the life of a soldier was not my calling. That I could no longer believe in my fellow comrades, something every soldier has to do. And that's when I turned to God."

"That's touching, Book. But I think I told you plenty of times; I don't believe in God."

"I know. I know that you don't." Book told her. "But it's not about who you believe in...or what, but the fact that you believe in _something_. And you made me believe again."

"Yeah, I have that effect on others." Sarah growled, remembering moments when people had screamed "OH, GOD! PLEASE NO!" to her, usually shortly before she had massacred them. That counted, right?

Right...

"When I got here, I just wanted to run away from my old life. I didn't even know if I truly wanted to spread the Lord's word. I just wanted to find peace. And solitude." Book continued.

"Well, there's plenty of solitude out here." Sarah mumbled.

"But then something happened. Something that changed everything."

"And what would that be?" she wanted to know. Seriously, this served no purpose!

"I saw someone...a person that I had only heard of. Someone who was thought to have perished years ago. Nowadays, many people even assume that this person never existed. That she was just a story Mengsk made up to scare the people. So perhaps that was the reason why she came all the way out here; since no one would recognize her." Book explained, and that's when Sarah froze.

"What?" she whispered and Book continued.

"At first, I believed that God had abandoned me. That this was the universe's way to make fun of me. And I became angry. Angry because I felt like my faith was getting mocked. But then I realized that this was a unique chance. And so...I waited and observed." he explained and Sarah looked over her shoulder and straight into his eyes.

"Just who the hell are you?" she wanted to know.

"Someone who witnessed a miracle." Book told her. "I watched how someone who was called a monster by the whole galaxy decided to defy all expectations. I watched this person and waited for her to show us her true colors. Yet she didn't." And then a warm smile appeared on Book's face. "And then something happened, something I hadn't anticipated at all."

"And what would that be?" Sarah hissed.

"This person...she showed her true self to us. And it was not the monster everyone claimed she was. It was a woman that cared for the people around her, even though she had a weird way of showing her affection." Book chuckled. "But in the end, it didn't matter. Because the only thing that mattered was that she believed in the people around her. And that's when I realized that God hadn'tabandoned me. On the contrary, he had sent me to this place so I would be here to witness it with my own two eyes."

"Stop it." Sarah hissed, but Book shook his head.

"No. Because I wanted to tell you about this for so long. And I know that you won't hurt me."

"And how do you know that?" Sarah snarled and looked him straight into the eyes. Golden tears started to stream down her face, but right now she didn't care about that.

"Because I know for a fact..." Book said with a warm smile on his face. "...that Sarah Kerrigan is a kind person."

A kind...person?

Well, that was a rather exclusive view.

"Just who the hell are you?" she hissed again and made a step towards him. Sarah had sworn to never kill again, but right now she was tempted to make an exception. A sad smile appeared on his face.

"Names can be powerful. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. The people don't look at the person that's standing in front of them, they only hear the name and then they believe they know everything they have to. And no one is willing to give you a chance to prove that you're your very own person." Book looked at his own hands and frowned.

"My father...was loved by his men. They liked to call him "Papa Horace" because he cared for them like they were his own children."

Papa Horace? When Sarah heard that, her face went pale in an instant.

"He was a great officer and a soldier to the very core. And he believed. He believed in his men. They were his family. More than his own family. Heh, I still wonder if I became a soldier because I wanted to be closer to him, but I guess that's no longer of any importance." Perhaps it seemed idiotic that Sarah had never considered the possibility of such a scenario, but she was no longer able to read someone's mind. And she had never thought something like this could happen.

"You are..." she whispered and Book nodded.

"Yes. Horace Warfield's son. Cecil Warfield, at your service...Ms. Kerrigan."

There was a long moment of silence and Sarah thought about her options. Her first idea was to kill Book. But something was strange. If he knew who she was, then why hadn't he done anything in all those years.

"Why didn't you tell the people about me?" she asked after a while and Book sighed.

"You want the truth? I wanted to see how you would expose yourself. I wanted to see how you would turn into the monster everyone claimed you were."

Go figure.

"Guess I was one huge disappointment." Sarah snarled and Book chuckled.

"Well, it was kinda disappointing, I have to admit that. So I even tried to make you show your true self. I wanted to tempt you." When Sarah heard that, her eyes widened in surprise.

"The rifle...it was yours?" When Book heard that, he sighed again.

"Let's just say that it ended up in my care by accident. I'm not a Ghost, if that's what you're afraid of. I kept it with me, like so many other things. I don't even know why I did it, it just felt right. Even though I had sworn an oath to never fight again when I became Shephard, something told me that I should keep this rifle. Call me crazy, if you like, but that's just the way it was."

"You gave the rifle to Jenner and Archer?"

"Yes." And then there was another long moment of silence.

"How do you know about me?" Sarah suddenly wanted to know, and that's when Book sighed again.

"It is a long story. A long, sad story about a young man who tried to impress his father, who wanted to show him that he can be proud of his child, only to fail miserably. Let's just say that my father wasn't that pleased when I joined the military intelligence service. However, it gave me the chance to learn about many secrets, things most people wouldn't believe." And then he shook his head. "Ah, nevermind that. This isn't about me. Not anymore. Anyway, I'm actually a big fan of a normal and boring life. And after I watched you for a while, I realized that this wasn't a test of my faith, but a sign."

"A sign?"

"Of God. He had sent me here so I could witness something wonderful and-"

"Will you just stop talking about your god? How many more times do I have to tell you that I don't believe in that stuff?!"

"I'm a preacher. It is my job to believe. However, there were times when I couldn't do that. But thanks to you, I have finally found my faith. And for that, I will be forever in your debt."

"Not many people would say that. And even less would actually mean it." Sarah growled.

"I know. But it is the truth. The last seven years have been...one wild ride. And I have come here because I wanted to thank you for the chance you gave me." Book said.

"And that's why you came here? To thank me?" Sarah snarled, still unsure wherever this was a sick joke or not.

"Yes. But that's not the only reason why I have come here." Book replied and suddenly he walked over to Sarah.

"What? What are you trying to do?" she hissed and made a step backward.

"Something that I should have done a long time ago, but I was too selfish to realize it." the Shepherd said and came even closer.

"Book? Stay away! I mean it!"

"My father was a soldier to the very core. To him, service was more important than his own family. But when I heard that he had died on Char, I knew that he had fought to the last breath. Because that's how he had always been." When Sarah heard that, she froze in an instant.

"I...I..." she stuttered and suddenly she remembered everything. How she had attacked Warfield's stronghold on Char, how she had ordered her minions to slaughter everyone...

"When the news came in, when they said that the Queen of Blades Kerrigan had returned and retaken Char, I knew what that meant." Oh, this was bad. This was really bad. Sarah had to deal with this guy. She had to kill him, there was no other choice! Otherwise, he would just try something stupid. Book was no match for her. However, instead of snapping his neck, all Sarah could do...

...was nothing.

Book made another step towards her.

"My father was never a very forgiving man. He always expected the best of the men under his command. He cared for them, but he hated weaklings, just like he hated politicians."

"I..." Sarah continued to stutter. She touched the wall of the barn with her back and realized thatthere was nowhere else to go.

"I don't know what he would say if he would be here right now." Book continued, and then he had reached Sarah. "I know that you don't believe in God, Sarah. But you believe in people. And this isn't about the past. It's not about my family or my father. The past should stay in the past, wouldn't you agree?" However, Sarah was unable to say or do anything. This was definitely now what she had expected to happen.

"Perhaps it isn't what my father would have done. Perhaps it isn't what most other people would do. But I want you to know this..." the Shepherd said and then he opened his arms...

...and put them around Sarah.

"What are you talking about?" she asked when she felt how he hugged her.

"I forgive you." he whispered into her ear.

"What?!" she gasped and Book smiled.

"It's okay, Sarah. I forgive you." Perhaps this was wrong. Perhaps this was useless. And perhaps Sarah was the last person in this galaxy who deserved to hear these words.

But it didn't change the fact that it touched something inside her. Jim had forgiven her, but that didn't count. Not really, because he loved her. This, however? This went deeper. And that's when something broke free, something that a part of her had waited for this for a long time...

...even though she had given up on it eventually.

"You are a good person, Sarah Kerrigan." Book whispered into her ear. "And I thank you for everything you did for us. And for me." And Sarah? She decided to just let it happen. Perhaps she didn't deserve any of this. Perhaps she hadn't paid for her crimes. And perhaps there were so many people out there that wished her to be death. But the fact that there was even one human that was willing to forgive her caused her to whimper. And then she slung her arms around Book's chest...

...and started to cry.

"Thank you, Sarah. For everything." Book whispered.

And so Sarah decided to just accept his words and leave the question wherever she was worthy of such an act to another day.

* * *

Jim sat in the living room and felt horrible. Just why the hell had he even agreed to this in the first place?

"Because you love Sarah, and you believe that she deserves to hear from someone else but you that she's not a monster." Paula explained. She was sitting right next to him and looked over to the oven. "And she really likes that oven."

"Thanks for pointing that out." Jim mumbled. "That she likes the oven?"

"That you want her to hear it from someone else."

"Ah, yeah...that." he mumbled and then he shook his head. "You know...I always thought that something was wrong about this guy, yet I never really thought that he was, well, Warfield's son. He's so _not_ like his old man."

"Yes, and it still bothers him to this very day. But the time as Shepherd Book has helped him to overcome most of his fears. And he wanted to thank Sarah for that."

"I knew his father..." Jim whispered. "...I met him during the invasion of Char. He was a good man, even though he wanted to shot me the first time we met. But he cared about his men, unlike Mengsk. He was one tough son of a, uhm, nevermind." He took a deep breath and then he looked over to Paula. "Say, you knew all along who he was?"

"Yes." Paula said.

"Then why didn't you tell us anything?"

"Because there was no need to. Shepherd Book never wanted to hurt anyone." she explained and Jim sighed again. He didn't know what to say or think. He did feel like an idiot, though. When Book had visited him the other day and introduced himself with his birth name, Jim hadn't been able to comprehend it.

"This feels wrong." he whispered and lowered his head. "I wish I knew what's going on over there. I can feel that Sarah's in distress."

"She's in pain." Paula agreed and Jim groaned when he heard that.

"Great, that's just what I wanted to hear." he growled. He looked out of the window and realized that these two had been at it for hours. The day would soon end, and right now Jim felt the urge to get up, hurry over to the barn, and kick Book into the face...and then kick himself in the face for agreeing to this stupid idea.

"Well, I guess there was no way for me to know who Book was." he mumbled.

"Joseph knew." Paula told him, and Jim blinked in surprise when he heard that.

"Wait, what? He did? Since when?"

"Since the first time he saw Book."

"What?!" Jim yelled and Paula pulled her shoulders up.

"Cecil Warfield was the first candidate for the job as Admiral Horner's adjutant. When Joseph became his adjutant, he read Warfield's file and recognized Books face from the photo."

"And he didn't tell us? During all those years he kept it to himself?" Jim snarled. "That motherfffff-" He rolled his eyes to the side and could see how Paula pulled her brows up. "-ffffish."

"That's not what you wanted to say." she told him and Jim bit his lip.

"No." he whimpered. "It wasn't."

"Speaking of Joseph; where is he?" Paula suddenly asked and Jim sighed.

"I have no idea. And that scares me. The last thing I heard of him was that he wanted to "take care of his garden", whatever that means. Both Sarah and I are afraid that "garden" is a code-word for something else. You know anything about that?" When Paula heard that, she shuddered and closed her eyes.

"His mind...was like a black hole. Endless darkness wrapped in madness, surrounded by nightmares. The horror...the horror...the horror..." was all she could say.

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Jim mumbled and then he took a deep breath. But before he could contemplate further on the nature of Joseph Brent and the scent of madness that surrounded him, he could hear how someone was approaching the house. The door was opened and when Sarah stepped inside, Jim jumped up and looked at his lover.

"Sarah?" he whispered when he sensed her pain. But there was more...

"Jim..." she whispered and he could see those golden tears streaming down her face. He hurried towards her and she basically threw herself into his arms. And when he slung his arms around her, he could hear how she started to sob. He wanted to ask her what had happened, but in the end all he did was to hold Sarah in his arms. He could hear how someone else stepped on the veranda and when he looked up, he could see Shepherd Book standing in the doorframe.

"Book?" Jim asked and then he realized that the Shepherd had been crying as well.

"Hello, Mister Raynor." Book said with a pained smile on his face.

"Please..." the younger man replied. "...call me Jim."

"Gladly." Book replied. "May I come in?"

"Of course." Jim whispered. "Friends are always welcome here."

And so Book entered the house. And when he did that, Cecil Warfield finally seized to exist. Because he had finally made peace with himself. And that was something he had to thank Sarah for...

* * *

You know what you should do after you cried? You should laugh. Over the course of the next few hours Jim, Sarah, Paula and Book sat together and talked about this and that. And soon they were laughing when they were sharing old stories. They were talking about the last seven years and all the stuff that had happened in that time.

The good, the bad, and the Joseph.

"So let me get this straight..." Book at once point asked Paula. "...Brent decided to make my life miserable all those years because he wanted to keep my focus on him and not these two?"

"Yes. In truth, he never really cared about you that much. But he likes to defy expectations. It was also a way to vent his pain and suffering." Paula explained and when Book heard that, he sighed.

"You know, after hearing this I could almost consider forgiving this guy."

"Seriously?" Jim asked. "After all he did to you?"

"I said _"almost"_. Even I have my limits, and Joseph went above and beyond them. Besides, there were so many things that he said that still haunt me to this very day...like when I was sick and he preached that interspecies sexual relationship is the path to galactic peace. He gave me a copy of his speech afterward and, well, it was very vivid, even though he just made it up." That's when Sarah and Jim exchanged worried looks. Book noticed that.

"What? Why are you looking at each other like that?" he wanted to know.

"Trust me, you don't want to know..." Jim groaned.

"Even we don't like to think about it." Sarah agreed. Paula looked over to Book and opened her mouth.

"What they don't want to say is that Joseph Brent isUNF!" That's when Jim pressed his hand on Paula's mouth and shook his head.

"Nope! You won't tell him about that. Just...let it be, Paula."

"Okay..." she mumbled, and both Sarah and Jim sighed in relief. There were a few things that even they didn't want to talk about.

"Even though I hate to ask...but where did Joseph go?" Book wanted to know. "I'm just asking because, well, I'm scared that he will return one day."

"Truth to be told?" Sarah whined.

"We have no idea." Jim continued. "But knowing him, he will reappear when you least expect it."

"Oh, great..." Book mumbled. He looked out of the window and then he frowned. "Look, day's about to end. Trevor will soon be here to pick us up, Paula."

"Yes..." the woman whispered.

"He brought you here?" Sarah asked and Paula nodded.

"He's still worried that he will do a poor job as Marshal. He's cute."

"Well, he has come a long way." Jim said. "And so have you." And then he sighed. "Still, I have no idea what to tell him. Or Phil. I haven't come up with any good story we could tell them."

"You don't have to." Book suddenly said and Jim blinked in surprise when he heard that.

"Say what?"

"Paula told me about your plan. Or the lack of a plan. And we came here to tell you that you don't have to worry about that."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked and Book put his hand on her shoulder.

"Paula and I will take care of that."

"What?" Jim asked and Book showed him a warm smile.

"We will take care of the rest...and tell the others that you're gone."

"Why?" Jim whispered and Book took a deep breath.

"Right now, only Paula and I know the truth...and I think it should stay this way. At least for the time being. However, we wanted to say goodbye too. And not to Rennard and Kluivert, but to Raynor and Kerrigan."

"I...thanks..." Sarah mumbled and wiped another tear from her cheek.

"What are you going to tell the others?" Jim wanted to know and Brook shrugged his shoulders.

"We don't know yet. But we will think of something. Some stupid story that will involve secret organizations and shady people. Don't worry, we will take care of everything. Consider this our farewell-gift for everything you did for us."

"That's both generous...and weird." Jim admitted. Book chuckled and looked over to Paula.

"It was her idea. She told me that you two didn't want to leave without saying goodbye, yet at the same time, you can't do it. Well, you don't have to. You have friends who can do that for you." the Shepherd explained.

"It still sounds like a dick-move..." Jim growled. "...Phil, Trevor, my workers, the others...they deserve the truth."

"And they will have it." Paula said. "One day. I promise that. But you two have to leave now. We know that."

"Paula, I..." Sarah gasped when she heard that and the younger woman turned her head over to her. She placed her hand on Sarah's cheek and smiled.

"I want you to know that the time with you was the happiest of my life. I don't remember much of my mother, but...I like to imagine that she was like you are."

"I..." Sarah whined when she heard that, and more tears of gold streamed down her face. And then...

"...need some fresh air!" She jumped up and simply ran out of the house. Jim wanted to follow her, but Book held him back. That didn't stop Paula from following Sarah.

"No!" Book said to Jim. "Let her talk to Sarah."

* * *

"This is so pathetic." Sarah moaned when she finally stopped. Running away just wasn't her style, but for some odd reason, the things Paula had just said to her had caused her to go all sentimental. "Ridiculous! And pathetic! What's with all that crying?" She wiped another tear from her cheek and took a deep breath. She noticed how someone approached her from behind...

"It's okay to cry when you're sad, Sarah." Paula suddenly said and Sarah turned around.

"Paula, I..."

"You think you're pathetic because you are not supposed to cry." the younger woman explained. "Because you were always so tough because you always considered yourself a fighter. You were the "Queen Bitch of the Universe", remember?"

"Uhhh..." Sarah groaned when she remembered that particular statement. "...wish I had never said that. This will haunt me forever."

"You are not that person anymore, Sarah. Maybe one day you will realize that." Paula told her and came closer.

"You really should look for another role-model, girl." Sarah sniffed. "I suck at these things." They were only a couple of dozen meters away from the house.

"Look around, Sarah. When you came here, this world was dead. And there was no hope. You changed that."

"Not because I wanted to." Sarah mumbled.

"At first not, no. But you helped us. You made the lives of everyone on this world better than it was. And if you look into your heart, then you know that this is what you always wanted to do. What you were destined to do."

"Making trees grow by thinking about it?" Sarah asked and Paula chuckled.

"You should think a bit bigger. You possess the ability to help so many. And this..." Paula said and reached out with her arms, including everything around them. "...this was just the first step. You have so much to give...and that's why you have to leave."

"We need to leave to keep you guys safe." Sarah mumbled and Paula smiled when she heard that.

"You are meant for more than that, Sarah." Paula told her and stepped closer. She put her hand on the other woman's shoulder and showed Sarah one of those innocent and irresistible smiles that caused everyone to feel better in an instant. And then she said something Sarah had never heard before, at least not from someone she truly cared about.

"This galaxy needs you, Sarah. There's so much hurt, and only you can make it better."

"I'm the reason for a lot of that hurt, little one." Sarah replied. "I'm not sure that I'm qualified to do this."

"You will be...in time. Just as long as you remember us and what you achieved here."

"I'm proud of you, you know that?" Sarah whispered and put her hand on Paula's cheek. The younger woman grabbed Sarah's hand and closed her eyes. A single tear rolled down her cheek, and when she opened her eyes again and looked at Sarah, both of them knew that this was it.

"It's time." Paula said. "Trevor is coming. You should go now." And Paula was right. A car appeared in the distance. It would be there within a few minutes. Sarah turned away, reached out with her senses and told Jim that he should get Moby. They would not leave their little princess behind.

"...it is strange. To know that this is farewell." When Sarah heard that, a sad smile appeared on her face. She didn't want to look at the young woman, she didn't want to see the sadness in her eyes. Because she knew deep down in her own heart that she too didn't want to say goodbye.

"You've come a long way, little one." Sarah said while both women watched how the sun was about to vanish beyond the horizon. Perhaps it was fate that this sunset was especially beautiful? It was a nice thought, one that made Sarah smile. The sky looked like it was on fire and beneath it, the lush fields of this world reached as far as the eyes could see.

A part of her didn't want to leave. This place, it had become so much more over the years. But home? No, that it had never been.

"I only did so because of your guidance." the younger woman said. Paula's skin was so pale and her black hair looked like silk. She still seemed so frail, but not weak. There was strength inside her, one that you couldn't see with the naked eye.

"I only pushed you into the right direction. The rest was your own doing." Sarah mumbled and looked once more at the younger woman. Paula's big blue eyes stared at the sky as she enjoyed the sunset.

"No. You changed so much. Not just me or the others, but everything around you. And I will never forget your kindness." Sarah wanted to reply something, but she realized that her own sadness was about to overwhelm her. She tried to fight those tears, but it was pointless.

"You will be okay?" And when Paula heard that, she nodded and put her hands on her belly. You could already see the small baby bump.

"Yes. We will." she replied and smiled gently at her own belly.

"Have you come up with a name yet?" Sarah asked and Paula nodded.

"Yes..." And then their eyes met once again. "...we want to name her Louise."

When Sarah heard that, she had to swallow hard.

"That's...a good name."

However, before she could say anything else, Jim and Book arrived. And a very huge kriecher. Jim shook Book's hand and looked the older man into the eyes.

"Maybe it doesn't mean that much to you, but...I think that your father would have been proud of you." he said and Book chuckled when he heard that.

"We shall never know...but it's a nice thought." Book replied and then he walked over to Sarah. "Sarah...I want to you to know thatUNF!" But he didn't get much further when Sarah suddenly jumped forward and put her arms around the older man.

"I'm sorry...for everything." Sarah whispered and Book returned the hug.

"It's fine. Just remember what I told you." he replied and when Sarah made a step backward, more golden tears streamed down her cheeks. She turned towards Paula and hugged her one final time too.

"I'm going to miss you, little one."

"Me too..."

They could hear how Trevor's jeep was approaching. Sarah let go of Paula and walked over to Jim and Moby, who was looking like she didn't care about a thing in the world.

"Oh, one last thing." Jim said and pulled a key out of his pocket. He threw it over to Paula, who caught the keys and looked at them. "You have to tell Trevor that he has to fix the roof next year. But it's a good house. I'm sure that it will serve you well. And he shouldn't even try to fix the veranda. It just won't stop squeaking."

"I will tell him." Paula whispered. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Sarah gasped and then she closed her eyes. She imagined being back where everything had changed. The white beaches. The blue ocean. That magnificent sky...

And then they were on their way.

* * *

When Trevor arrived to pick up his wife and Book, the two stood in front of the house. He got out of the car and walked over to them.

"Hey, is everything alright? I just saw that strange light flashing in the distance. Did someone fire a flare or anything? Hey, where are Jim and Sarah, didn't you want to meet them?" He stopped when he saw the faces of Book and his wife.

"Paula? Darlin', are you okay? Why are you crying?" he asked and Paula sighed. She walked over to her husband and just slung her arms around his chest.

"It's okay. It's all okay, Trevor." she whined and he looked over to Book.

"Where are Jim and Sarah? Are they not home?" the new Marshal asked. But Book just shook his head.

"On the contrary. They have finally come home."


	110. Act IV - Chapter 26

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 26**

 **Home**

* * *

Ulnar. It was a place Sarah wasn't very fond of, but that had ended up in her care nonetheless. Every time she was here, she felt like she was walking through a gigantic coffin. The fact that she could hear voices whispering to her from pretty much every corner wasn't very helpful either. At least by now, she knew that these whispers were real and not a fabrication of her mind. However, she still hadn't figured out what they were trying to tell her.

The dark walls of Ulnar lay ahead of her, its corridors abandoned. From time to time, you could hear the scream of a single Zerg roaming the endless halls for potential threats. Yet there was none. Ulnar had been abandoned by pretty much everyone after the Great War. The Swarm had no interest in it. The Terrans had enough problems of their own, and Artanis' order that no Protoss should venture to this place was still standing. It was only a matter of time till people would come to this place in order to uncover its secret...

...or to find riches of untold size. You know, the usual bullshit.

Niadra's brood wouldn't be able to stop a full-scale invasion, but it was more than enough to deal with a few pesky marauders. As for uncovering the secrets...

"...still receiving data from thousands of installations all over the sector and even beyond." Karax's voice echoed through the endless corridors of Ulnar.

 **What kind of data?** the ethereal voice of a goddess-in-training asked. Her voice seemed to come from everywhere at the same time, and when she spoke, the walls of Ulnar pulsed in green light.

"That, I cannot say for certain. I was only able to decode a tiny portion of Ulnar's command lines." Karax explained as he stepped out of a small corridor and entered an enormous hall. Behind him, a bright golden light appeared, and when it entered the hall, it looked like a star chasing away the darkness. Only after a while you could make out details, like that the star had arms and legs and a head which was covered with long hair. Hair that looked like fire dancing around that slender body.

 **You have been studying this place for years now, Karax.** Sarah whispered, yet even her whisper could be heard all over Ulnar. **Is it really that complex? You possess the brightest mind I have ever met, I thought that you would be, well, faster...no offense.**

"None taken, my Lady!" Karax replied and looked around. "Hold on, I need to get a fix on our location." he said and then he grabbed into a bag that was attached to what once had been a pristine golden phasesmith-armor. The Karax that was standing in front of Sarah looked unlike the one she had met on Aiur's moon all these years ago. He wore a strange mishmash of both Protoss and Terran equipment, including a crude robotic arm that he had salvaged from an SCV and was now attached to his right shoulder, including a pair of powerful flashlights. The mixture of Terran and Protoss tech caused Karax to look like some sort of mad genius. He studied a holographic map, and after a while, he pointed in a direction.

"This way, Lady Kerrigan!" he said, only to point into the other direction only seconds later. "On second thought, that way it is! Follow me."

 **You sure you know where you're going?**

"For the most part, yes. Please, do not be alarmed. This place can be difficult at times."

 **So I heard...** Sarah sighed. Floating through the endless halls of Ulnar was never a pleasant experience. But Karax seemed to know what he was doing, well, most of the time. And if there was anyone who could help her with solving this place's secrets, then it was Karax. She followed him and studied the inscriptions on the walls. They still didn't make much sense to her, even after all the time she had visited this place.

 **So what makes this place so complicated?**

"Ulnar's whole structure is far more complex than anything I have ever seen or heard of before." the Phasesmith explained and walked forward. Sarah followed him and listened to what he had to say. "The main problem is that almost every system possesses its own program that controls it. There is no unified command structure, no main program that runs it all, they don't even share the same coding language. And all these programs are so different from one another that I have to decipher one at a time. It is a very tedious task."

 **Sounds like overly complicated if you ask me. Why would the Xel'Naga do something like this in the first place?**

"I can only speculate about their motivations, yet I have formed a few theories over the last years. They are, however, just that; theories. And I cannot say wherever they are correct or just-"

 **Karax...** Sarah chuckled and looked down at the Phasesmith. **Your theories are more sound than most truths I have heard from others. Out with it.**

"Very well..." Karax sighed, turned around and looked up at the flaming body made out of pure energy. "...the technology of the Xel'Naga is unique in a sense that it is not just psionically sensitive, like the technology of the Protoss, but that psionics are an integral part of it."

 **Okay, you lost me. After one sentence. That must be a record.**

"Hmm..." Karax mumbled and tried to figure out a way how to explain it to her. "...the whispers you hear whenever you are inside Ulnar, let us take these as an example. While I do not have any proof of this theory, I believe that these whispers are indeed what is left of the Xel'Naga."

 **Wait...what? There are Xel'Naga still alive?**

"What? Oh, no! No, that is not what I wanted to say, I... uhm...you see, I believe that the interaction between the Xel'Naga and their technology went much deeper than what we are used to. This place was much more than just a home or a sanctuary. They controlled it with their powers, but even the Xel'Naga didn't spend all their time here. I believe that they left part of their own powers behind to keep this place running. So, whenever a Xel'Naga would leave, he would leave a part of his own mind behind that would do its job while it was gone."

 **Like a... digital copy?** Sarah asked and Karax tilted his head to the side.

"More like a psionical copy, but yes. I think that is a good analogy. The whispers you hear are indeed these copies. And at the same time, they control and maintain Ulnar."

 **Uhhhhh...does that mean that Ulnar has a mind of its own?** That was pretty much the last thing Sarah wanted to hear.

"In a way...yes. Countless minds, actually."

 **Well, crap...**

"Fear not, Lady Kerrigan. I believe that Ulnar's sentience is limited to its most basic protocols."

 **And what would those protocols be about?**

"To carry on the legacy of the Xel'Naga...I think." They reached something that looked almost like an altar, yet looks could be deceiving in this place. Sarah had learned that the hard way.

 **What is this place?** she asked and took a good look at the inscriptions. Like always, they didn't make any sense to her. Except for the one glyph in the middle. It showed the body of a woman, surrounded by what looked like flames. So this was either meant to be her, or Ulnar wanted to burn random women.

"This place houses a program I was able to decipher. Well, at least parts of it. You see, every program is based on the mind of a Xel'Naga. And since they were individuals, the programs themselves are all vastly different. That is what makes this all so very complex."

 **Building something so complex seems to be a waste of time and resources.** Sarah mused.

"Only if you look at Ulnar as a machine. However, I think that this place wasn't built. The Xel'Naga, well, grew it. It became this over countless eons. It is less a station and more akin to a huge brain...so to say."

 **So you're saying that we are walking through a gigantic brain? Splendid...simply splendid.** she sighed. That's when Karax walked up to the inscription on the wall and pointed with his finger on it.

"Please, Lady Kerrigan, take a look at that. Maybe seeing it will help you to understand." And so Sarah sighed and did as she was told.

 **I see...myself. At least I assume that's supposed to be me. Anything else?**

"Now, please, could you change into another form?" Karax asked.

 **Why?**

"Only then I can demonstrate to you what I am trying to tell you." the Phasesmith replied and Sarah sighed again. She focused her mind and tried to imagine herself in a different form, how she had looked like before her ascension, and her powers did the rest. Her feet made contact with the ground and the light that surrounded her started to vanish. Skin turned into carapace and sharp claws sprouted from her lower back, only to grow into deadly blade wings in mere seconds. Her hair changed as well and was replaced by long nerve-cords. Karax watched in awe how the mighty Queen of Blades appeared right in front of his eyes, yet he didn't show any sign of fear.

"Done." the Queen of Blades said and looked over to Karax. "Now, what did you want to show me?"

"Please, take a look at the inscription!" Karax declared and pointed with his finger at the wall, and Sarah did as she was told.

"This is getting old fast, Karax. I didn't come here...to...stare...at...walls?" But that's exactly what she was doing now. She was staring at a wall. With a picture of herself on it.

Her Zerg-self.

"How?" she whispered.

"Perhaps you would like to check again? Perhaps you can change into your human form?" Karax offered and Sarah nodded. A few seconds later she had turned into her human self again. Her red hair was falling down her shoulders and as she stared at the wall with her green eyes, she could see herself again.

Only this time as a human.

"Wait, what? What does that mean?" she asked and Karax pulled his shoulders up.

"I believe that this is the true nature behind the _prophecy_." he told her and Sarah looked over to him.

"The way you pronounce _prophecy_ sounds like you don't believe in it."

"Well, I consider myself to be a paragon of science. And until someone shows me scientific proof that premonition and time-travel are indeed possible, I will not accept this as a valid answer." Karax said.

"That's not what Artanis said." Sarah chuckled.

"Well, maybe the Hierarch was not right about _everything_ he told us." Karax mumbled and then he shook his head. "As you can see, the inscription changes. I believe it did so all along. Ulnar is linked to a huge system of stations and vaults scattered all over the Sector and even beyond, and they all send information to this place. And since Ulnar was tasked to find someone who was able to ascend, it searched for a viable host and, well..."

"Then it learned about me." Sarah whispered. She placed her fingers on the inscription that was symbolizing herself.

"Yes...I believe that that there was no prophecy to begin with. Ulnar was only looking for an individual that could handle the power of a Xel'Naga." Karax agreed.

"Maybe Ouros had ordered it to do that." Sarah whispered.

"That is, of course, a possibility. Yet I cannot verify that. It also means something else, however."

"And what would that be?" she wanted to know.

"That Ulnar possesses the ability to actively communicate with us. We just have to find out how to interpret what it wants."

"So, in a way..." Sarah mumbled to herself. "...those voices truly were whispers from the dead and from the beyond." And then she shuddered.

"Lady Kerrigan?" Karax asked. "I did not understand that, what did you say?"

"Nothing!" she replied and shook her head. "It's just...nevermind. So I guess there's no way to dodge the bullet anymore, huh?"

"I beg your pardon?" the Phase smith replied and Sarah chuckled.

"I just don't look forward studying this place, that is all. It's so...weird. And alien. And I still don't know what the Xel'Naga had planned for this place. Or me."

"I see." Karax muttered. "Well, it is not as if we have to start right away. It will probably take years until we manage to decipher even a small portion of the knowledge stored in this place."

"Oh, great..." Sarah sighed. She then looked once more at the symbol that showed her own self and decided to change her body once more. And just as she changed into the Queen of Blades, so did the image on the wall. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt if we wait another day with that, right?" she said and then she turned back towards Karax.

"I believe so. You wish to head home?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yeah. I'll be back soon. So don't start without me, hahaha..." she laughed.

"As you wish." Karax replied and Sarah sighed.

"That was actually rhetorical, you can just start without...ah, nevermind. See you soon, Karax." And then Sarah closed her eyes and imagined the place where she wanted to be right now. Warm beaches, endless oceans, warm weather...

And as her powers started to engulf the Queen of Blades, even Karax had to look away so he wasn't blinded by it. When he opened his eyes again...

...she was gone.

* * *

"This place looks nice." Jim said and looked around. "It's only a couple of dozen meters away from the ocean and there are lots of trees providing plenty of shade."

"And there is no protection from the wind whatsoever. If storm season begins, this is where the rain will make landfall. Trust me, you don't want to settle down here." Joseph replied and Jim sighed when he heard that.

"You know, when you offered me your help finding a suitable place for a house, I didn't think that you would tell me that _every_ location was bad." he growled and Joseph Brent pulled his shoulders up.

"It's not my fault that you pick the worst locations. Like that place near the waterfall-" Joseph said.

"...which is totally awesome. Everyone wants to live next to a waterfall!" Jim protested.

"Yeah, until rain season begins and floods that whole part. I'm sure Sarah will be delighted to live in a submarine every couple of months!"

"Okay, so the place near the waterfall wasn't that great...but you just nitpicked about every other location I showed you! Like that spot on the cliff!" Jim shouted.

"You wanted to build a house on an unstable cliff."

"And the spot below that?"

"You wanted to build a house _below_ an unstable cliff."

"Okay, what about the spot on that hill?"

"Wind tops way over 200 kilometers per hour during a nasty storm. I doubt that a house built by you would survive that."

"What's that gotta mean?!" Jim shouted and Joseph sighed.

"Listen, I understand that you think that a man should build a house for the woman he loves, but why even bother with building walls if you can-"

"I'm not gonna live in a goddamn cave!" Jim snarled and Joseph rubbed his temples.

"Seriously, you can be such a baby from time to time. There are plenty of caves out there, and they are both stable and offer more room than any house could!" the new "chief advisor of her Majesty's personal advisor" said.

"Just because you enjoy being a caveman doesn't mean that I have to like it." Jim growled and Joseph pulled his brows up.

"You really think I live in a cave like some sort of animal, don't you?" he asked and Jim shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, I don't judge others. If that's how you like it, then that's not my problem." the older man mumbled and Joseph shook his head. Both of them were bickering like a pair of old guys and didn't even notice how something approached them...something that had waited a long time for this moment...

It approached them slowly and carefully. The other palm trees noticed its sinister intent and tried to back away, yet they were already firmly rooted in the ground. This one, however, had done its best to avoid this fate. On this world, where plants and animals were almost the same thing, some trees would walk around until it was time to settle down. And this one? Oh, it had waited for this moment! It had grown in the last couple of years, and it had prepared itself for what it was about to do.

"Let's not forget one thing..." Joseph added. "...where do you want to get the wood for the house from? I'm pretty sure that the trees here will not appreciate it if you chop them down."

"You always say that you got normal trees in your garden!" Jim shot back.

"Oooohh, nononono!" Joseph replied. "You will _not_ lay a hand upon _my_ garden, Mister!"

"Yeah, I bet because there is no garden at all. You always talk about it, but have never shown it to anyone."

The single palm-tree approaching them didn't care for their squabbling...or the other fleshy thing. It remembered the first one, though. Oh, it still recalled the day when this fleshy alien had kicked it off the cliff. Captain Palmer had prepared for this moment for over seven years. And now it was finally time to end this. The scary one wasn't around, the one that was black and huge. And neither was that strange goddess. So Palmer knew that it could take these two down.

"Izsha's hanging out in my garden all the time." Joseph said.

"Do I look like Izsha?" Jim shot back.

"Nope, and I'm really grateful for that."

"Well, I doubt that this garden even exists. If you want to slack around, then you can just say so. No one will judge you for being lazy." Jim said and that's when Joseph's eyelid started to twitch.

"Lazy? _Lazy_?! Okay, that's it! You wanna see my garden? Fine, I'm showing you my garden! And after that, I will accept your apology!"

These two were idiots! Palmer was almost upon them! And then it would jump them, tackle them to the ground and stomp them into bloody red mush! Oh, vengeance! Sweet vengeance! The last few rain-seasons it had thought of nothing but this! It would purge these aliens from its world!

"You're delusional." Jim said to Joseph. "But fine; if you show me your garden and it's actually there, then I will be impressed."

"Not good enough! If my garden blows you away, then you will have to admit that a cave is a perfect home. I will even help you find a nice and big one!"

"Like hell that will happen!" Jim shot back. "What do I get if I'm not impressed?"

"A date with Izsha."

"Uuuuuhhhhh..."

So close. It was so close. Palmer would catch both of them off guard and then it would be over in an instant. It would bath its roots in those aliens' blood.

"Fine..." Joseph growled. "...if you won't be impressed, then I will help you build your damn house. Deal?"

"Deal!" Jim agreed and they shook hands.

That's when Palmer attacked. The palm tree was double the size it had been seven years ago, and now that it jumped forward, both Jim and Joseph turned their heads towards that obnoxious plant.

"What's that?" Joseph asked. "A friend of yours?"

"Dunno." Jim replied while the palm tree started to rustle with its leaves, ready to attack them.

"Doesn't look very friendly to me." Joseph stated the obvious. The palm prepared to charge at them. It would crush them in an instant and then feast upon their entrails! And their blood would make it grow even stronger!

"Ah, I hate these things." Jim growled. "Moby! Fetch!" he said, and suddenly the huge kriecher behind them jumped to her feet and looked over to Palmer. The palm-tree noticed the kriecher only then and froze in an instant. And Moby? She looked _really_ happy right now.

"Sssssssaaaaaaa...!" she hissed and ran towards the palm, who turned around and ran for its dear life.

"That's my girl! Have fun, Moby!" Jim yelled as they watched how the palm tree hurried back to cover, only to be chased by the huge kriecher.

"You know, at one point I have to wonder how you manage to piss everyone off." Joseph mumbled. "I never have these problems."

"Meh, it's a gift." Jim replied and shrugged his shoulders.

"Some gift that is. Come on, I don't want to look for potential spots where you _can't_ build a house anymore. Let's take a break."

"So you can show me your man-cave?" Jim chuckled.

"Oh, you will choke on those words soon enough!" And so, Jim followed Joseph to his cave. And yes, it sounded absolutely ridiculous. Then again, pretty much everything Joseph said or did was ridiculous. Perhaps Jim shouldn't have been surprised when he had met Joseph again on Sternenheim. Like said; they were stuck with him, for better or worse.

"So, where's Sarah? Still on Ulnar?"

"I think so. Where's Izsha?" Jim asked back.

"Good question. Dunno. In my garden?"

"Oh, now you're just pushing your luck!"

A few weeks had passed since Sarah and Jim had returned to Sternenheim. The first couple of days they had spent doing...nothing. Well, not really. Sarah had cried quite a lot and all Jim had done was to comfort her. For the first time in her life, she had left someone behind that had cared about her and to her, this sharp pain had been new.

"Thought that there wasn't any kind of pain that I hadn't experienced. So much for that." she had told Jim. And all he had done was to hold her in his arms and provide her with a shoulder to lean against. There wasn't much else he could do right now, but perhaps that was all that Sarah needed; a shoulder to lean on. Doing nothing on Sternenheim felt like a permanent vacation, but at one point people have to do something. Without a purpose in life, life itself was meaningless.

Jim knew that it had been hard for Sarah to say goodbye, but he was also proud of her. And now she had ventured to Ulnar in order to learn more about the powers that had returned to her. She should be back soon and...

"Say, Joe'..." Jim asked.

"For the love of God, hadn't we established that I don't like that name? Or do you want me to knock you out again? I can do that!"

"Yeah, yeah. Say, did Izsha go to Ulnar too?"

"Not that I know of, why?"

"Just asking. Guess now that the ladies have found something to occupy their minds, we too should find something to do." Jim mused.

"Speak for yourself, I got plenty of things to worry about." Joseph replied.

"Like what?!"

"My garden? Duh!"

"I swear, you are such a bag full of shi-" But Jim didn't get any further.

"And here we are. Home sweet home!" Joseph said and stopped in front of a, well, huge wall made out of pure granite. They were standing in front of an overgrown bedrock and if Jim had to make an educated guess, then it was at least one hundred meters high. Right in front of them was a big hole in the rock. It was a cave.

"You gotta be shitting me." he said when he saw the white fence that Joseph had put in front of the cave. Even the grass smelled like it had been mowed just recently. The only thing that was missing was a mailbox and a "Welcome Home!"-sign.

"Yeah, I know, pretty awesome, right? I thought about installing a doorbell, but then I realized that I don't have a door." Joseph replied and Jim shook his head. He pointed at the garden in front of the cave.

" _This_ is your magnificent garden? THIS?! Okay, let me tell you; I'm not impressed! Oh, you are such a little bi-"

"That's not my garden." Joseph interrupted him and Jim frowned when he heard that.

"It isn't?"

"Duh! No, it isn't! That's my front lawn. Come on, the garden's on the other side." Joseph said. He opened the wicket gate like it was the most normal thing in the world and walked right into his, well, cave.

"I ain't gonna go inside your man-cave!" Jim yelled.

"Yes, you will!" Joseph replied, and after a while Jim sighed.

"This is stupid, so stupid and nothing but stupid." he growled and then he followed Joseph into what would probably be his doom. When he entered the cave, he could feel a pleasant cold feeling. It was dark and it took his eyes a while before they had adapted to the lack of light. He made another step forward and then-

"Watch it! Stairs!" Joseph barked just in time. Jim stopped and looked down. And much to his own surprise what Joseph had said was true. There were stairs. Real stairs. Stairs someone had carved into the rock.

"What the...?!"

"Yeah, I had to do that. If it rains, this entrance gets really slippery." Joseph explained and walked further down the stairs. Jim blinked in surprise and followed the younger man.

"How the hell did you do that?"

"I asked Karax if he could help me with that. He and I salvaged an SCV from Ulnar and then I just went crazy. But I don't want to lie to you, it took me a while to figure out how that thing works. Wrecked a few good caves before I finally managed to get a hold of it. Almost died when one cave collapsed right above me. Man, that was fun!"

"Just when the hell did you do that?!" Jim wanted to know and Joseph looked over his shoulder.

"You don't think that I lived in that hut on Ramelow all that time, did you?" Joseph asked and Jim pulled his shoulders up.

"Well...yeah."

"Uh huh, wonderful. Simply wonderful. For future reference; I used the warp gate Karax made. Spent most of my weekends here. Figures that you didn't notice any of this." the younger man mumbled when they reached a crossroad. Now they were walking upstairs and Jim could hear...water flowing?

"Why upstairs?"

"Because if it rains like crazy, that way I don't drown. Come on, it isn't that hard!" Joseph groaned. Someone had put lights on the walls, so they weren't walking through darkness. No, not someone. Joseph had done that.

"I have to admit; I'm impressed." Jim mumbled and the other man started to laugh.

"Ha! You have seen nothing yet! Watch this!" he said and then they entered a big cavern. Jim looked around and when he saw what Joseph had done to the place...

"You gotta be shitting me."

"Not much of a man-cave, huh?" Joseph said with a big grin on his face. This place didn't look like a cavern but like a goddamn home. "Like said, Karax helped me a bit. This place even has energy and a heater, made from Protoss-tech. One corridor leads to a subterranean water line. Next thing I'm going to add is a whirlpool. Oh yeah." Joseph said with a proud grin on his face.

"Just where the hell did you get all this furniture from?" Jim wanted to know.

"Ramelow. Brought them along? Hey, I paid for them! With real money. And then I had Karax help me get them here. He was really helpful, without him I wouldn't have been able to carry that stuff up here. Did you know that Protoss are natural born furniture movers?"

"This...I don't...I... I can't...I'm not..." Jim stuttered, still not able to comprehend any of this.

"Yeah, I know. I'm so awesome that from time to time, I too don't know what to say. Come on, I have to show you the bedroom! Oh, you're gonna love this!" Joseph chuckled and then he dragged Jim into another and much smaller cavern.

"Tadaaaa!" he said and pointed with his finger at...something.

It was way darker in here, and Jim needed a moment for his eyesight to adapt to the twilight. There was a faint light and when Jim finally saw it, he blinked in disbelief.

"What the hell?"

The "bedroom" was actually a huge and flat rock. It was covered with something soft.

"What is that?" Jim asked.

"Moss. It's actually pretty comfortable once you get used to it."

"You are sleeping on _MOSS?!_ "

"Hey, you and your girl have been sleeping on the sand for the last couple of weeks. And you want to judge me? I think not!" Joseph chuckled. Jim just shook his head and then he looked at the ceiling. There was something on the surface, something that was generating a faint light.

"And that? What is that?" he wanted to know.

"Some sort of fluorescent lichens. Pretty awesome, don't you think?"

"I have no idea what I should think anymore..." Jim mumbled. "...this thing is huge! Why the hell do you need such a huge bed anyway?"

"Uh...because my lady is pretty big. Don't tell her I said that." Joseph mumbled and Jim shuddered when he heard that.

"Wait, you and... her? In here? Seriously?" Jim asked and a goofy smile appeared on Joseph's face.

"Every night. Oh, the things she can do with her tail!" When Jim heard that, he felt the urge to gag. "Now come on, let's show you the rest of it."

"I don't think I want to see anything else." Jim whined. Thankfully, there was nothing else in this cave Joseph wanted to show to him. And Jim was too busy trying to get those images out of his head. They entered another corridor and started to climb up the stairs.

"So, where's this leading? To your very own shopping mall?" Jim panted and when they finally arrived at the top and stepped outside, Joseph looked over his shoulder.

"Don't be ridiculous. You wanted to see my garden. Here it is!" he said and Jim blinked a few times before he had adapted to the brightness. They were standing on top of the bedrock and looking in the other direction from where they had come.

"Where? I don't see it? All I see is a jungle." Jim said as he looked down on the lush nature beneath them.

"Exactly." Joseph chuckled. "Over there I planted some apple trees from Ramelow. That lake you see down there? I rerouted a river by using explosives. Man, blowing up shit is so much fun! Oh, the island in the middle? That was some hard work, let me tell you that! But it was totally worth it."

"You're making this up." Jim said. "This is bullshit, you didn't do this. This place was already like this when you found it!"

"Oh, and over there I planted some regular palm trees. You know, those things with normal coconuts on them, the ones that don't move? I needed a place for my hammock. Come on, let me show you from up close." And so, Joseph started to climb down some stairs he had carved into the rock.

"This is a joke, this is a goddamn joke..." Jim whispered.

"Oh, and watch it! I just got rid of all those roses, they were getting out of control. Things tend to grow a lot faster on this world. They were too thorny, even for my taste. But maybe I missed some, so better watch out." Joseph explained, yet Jim still had a hard time wrapping his head around all of that.

"So, next thing will be to turn that crater Sarah created into another lake. I already found a subterranean water line that we can use for that." Joseph continued and when they finally reached the shore of the lake, Jim's eyes widened in disbelief.

"That isn't an island! That's a...Protoss carrier?!" he yelled in surprise.

"You like it? I needed something big and had Karax help me with that. We just dumped part of the outer hull in the lake and threw rocks and dirt on it. Worked out pretty well if you ask me. It gives the whole thing a certain vibe, if you know what I mean."

"Uhhhhh..." Jim muttered. "This isn't real. You're making fun of me, right?"

"Afraid not!" Joseph cheered. "Yeah, I'm awesome. Deal with it. Oh, look! Izsha's here too!" he said and pointed with his finger over to the overgrown island that once had been a part of a Protoss carrier. A small golden bridge led to it and there were several trees standing on top of it. And in front of those tries rested...

"Joseph. James Raynor." Izsha said while studying several datapads. Joseph walked over the small bridge and onto the island. Jim decided him to follow and when they reached Izsha, he couldn't help but wonder just what the hell was going on.

"Uh...Izsha? What are you doing?" he asked and Sarah's most trusted advisor didn't even look up when she answered his question.

"Studying data. I am currently trying to figure out which worlds in the Koprulu Sector are suffering most from the aftereffects of the Great War."

"Uhm...okay?" Jim mumbled. "And why?"

"Because her Majesty asked me to do it." was the simple answer.

"Okay...well...uhm..." he stuttered and then Joseph turned around and gave him the shittiest smug smile of all times.

"Say it."

"Say what?" Jim mumbled.

"Say that you're impressed. Come on!"

"Well...I guess this is pretty impressive..."

"You heard that, Izsha? He's impressed." Joseph said with a huge grin on his face.

"While it is not a huge achievement to impress James Raynor..." Izsha explained.

"HEY!"

"...it is only natural to admit the obvious. And-" But before Izsha could continue to diss Jim, a bright light appeared in the sky. At first, it looked like a meteor that was about to hit the planet, but when all of them looked up, they could see how it changed its course and landed in some distance in the middle of the jungle.

"Look who's back." Joseph mumbled, and suddenly Jim could sense Sarah's presence in the back of his mind again.

"Oh, thank God..." Jim whispered and both Joseph and Izsha looked over at him.

"What was that?" both asked and Jim raised his hands in self-defense.

"Nothin'! Well, I guess I better go and check on Sarah. And wrap my head around..." He then stretched his arms out and included the entire area. "...this."

* * *

When Sarah arrived on Sternenheim, she groaned and stretched her limbs. The moment her feet touched the ground, she took a deep breath and enjoyed the smell of the jungle. Ulnar's air was cold, stale and dry, and now that Sarah was back home, she enjoyed the change of scenery. There was a reason why she had chosen this location to return to and not the beach. She could have joined Jim, Izsha, and Joseph, but not right now. Traveling such a long distance was exhausting, even for her. And after a long day in Ulnar, she craved a shower.

The sound of the waterfall nearby was music to her ears, and when she stepped into the shallow water, she cooed in relief. Oh, it felt good! Cold, clean water was surrounding her legs and when she reached the waterfall, she dove into the water and felt how all that dust was washed off her body.

Oh, how she loved this feeling!

* * *

It was a good thing that Sarah had returned. That way Jim had a decent excuse for leaving Joseph and Izsha behind. Before things would have gotten even weirder.

...if that was even possible.

Finding Sarah was simple. All he had to do was follow the voice in the back of his mind. Now that Sarah's powers had returned, it was a lot easier to talk to her even if there was a huge distance between them.

"You're back. How was your day?" he asked while walking through the jungle.

 _Exhausting. And glad that I'm back. Ulnar is giving me the creeps._ she replied.

"Heh, so everything's like always. What'cha doing?"

 _Taking a shower. You have NO idea how good that feels..._ she moaned and Jim chuckled.

"May I join you?" he asked.

 _Oh boy, that has to be the lamest pick-up line I've ever heard from you._ Jim could hear her snicker.

"Did it work?"

 _Get down here and we'll see. I need someone to wash my back._

"I had hoped for a bit more." Jim suggested and walked down a hill. He could already hear the waterfall and knew that Sarah was there.

 _Fine, you can wash my feet afterward._

"Eeeeehhhh..." he groaned. Getting stupid comments from Joseph and from Izsha wasn't enough, now Sarah had to make fun of him too? When he finally reached the waterfall, he looked around and frowned.

"Sarah?" he asked. She was close, he could feel her presence. But she was nowhere to be seen.

 _Over here, Love._ Jim could hear her and he turned his head towards the waterfall. And that's when he finally saw her. The only thing he could make out was her silhouette. Sarah was standing right beneath the waterfall and enjoying the cold water crashing down on her. Even though he couldn't make out any details, it was definitely Sarah. He would recognize her shape everywhere.

...even though something was odd.

Meh, whatever it was, it was probably just the water blocking his view. He took off his shirt and his pants and then got into the water, wearing nothing but his underpants. The water was cold, yet it wasn't unpleasant. He knew that Sarah loved the feeling of a cold shower after a long day in Ulnar. When he reached the waterfall, he took a deep breath and then he slipped into the stream of clean and cold water.

"Uhhhh..." he whimpered and could hear how Sarah started to chuckle.

"Hehehehe...don't tell me that it's too cold for you?" she teased him. Jim kept his eyes closed and leaned forward. Instead of saying anything, he just decided to kiss her. And Sarah? She decided to kiss him back. It was one of those moments that could turn even a horrible day into a good one. Good thing that Jim no longer had bad days.

Sarah's lips were so warm and soft that he forgot about the cold water in an instant. He cupped her cheeks with his hands and they enjoyed the moment for a long time. Jim could feel how Sarah placed her hands on his hips and pressed her own body against his own. Her skin was so warm and her claws, although sharp and deadly, didn't hurt him at all and Jim...

...wait a second... _CLAWS?!_

"Sarah?" he gasped and made a step backward. He opened his eyes even though the water was pouring down on them, and what he saw...

"Uhhhhh...seriously?" he asked and the Queen of Blades pulled her shoulders up.

"What? Is there something in my face?" she asked and acted like she had no idea what was going on.

"No, your face is actually the only normal thing right now. Your body looks a bit different, though."

"What?" Sarah gasped. "Are you trying to tell me that I'm getting fat?!" But instead of answering that question, Jim leaned forward and kissed Sarah again. He put his arms around her body and pulled her into a tight embrace, even though she was covered in carapace.

He just didn't care about that anymore.

Sarah closed her eyes and her blade wings came around. They were deadly tools and could easily rip even a tank apart. However, when she put them around Jim, he wasn't scared. Because he knew that she would never hurt him, no matter which form she was in.

After a while, they broke the kiss and tried to look into each other's eyes. It wasn't that simple, they were still standing beneath a waterfall.

"Going for a new look?" he teased her and Sarah grinned.

"Naaa...I just changed into this form because Karax wanted to show me something. And then I came here. Now I'm all out of juice and can't change back."

"Oh, you can't even change back now? So much for almighty goddess." Jim chuckled.

"Hey, I want to see you after traveling more than twenty thousand lightyears in one go!" Sarah replied and then she kissed Jim again. He felt her warm carapace pressing against his soft skin and his fingers wandered over her scaly backside. While there had been a time when the very thought of being intimate with the Queen of Blades would have caused him to run away in terror, things had changed. Because that wonderful being in his arms was no longer the Queen of Blades. Maybe it looked like her, but under that carapace was none other than Sarah Kerrigan. His Sarah.

Many years ago, when Sarah had experienced her apocalyptic mental breakdown, Jim had faced the old Queen of Blades once more. And she had forced a kiss upon him. Even then he had realized something, something that had bothered him for quite some time. It was the fact that kissing Sarah in her current form...

...didn't feel any different from kissing her human self.

Since he had made peace with this fact a long time ago, there was nothing that was holding him back anymore. The woman inside his arms was Sarah, that was all that mattered. His fingers brushed over her backside and he could feel how Sarah flexed her shoulder blades. Even though most of her skin had been replaced by carapace and hardened muscles, it didn't really feel unpleasant, just different. He could feel how his lover shuddered when the tips of his fingers wandered over the soft tissue between her hardened rips. For a genetically enhanced killing machine, the Queen of Blades possessed some very sensitive body parts.

They kissed for a long time until Sarah stretched her blade wings apart and rammed them into the ground. She pulled her head back and looked Jim into the eyes.

"Hey, wanna see a cool party trick?" she cooed and Jim tried to blink some water out of his eyes.

"I'm all yours." he mumbled and could see the cocky smile on Sarah's face. She slung her arms around his neck and kissed him again.

 _Just hold on._ she said to him, and Jim did as he was told. And then she used her blade wings to push both of them to the side and both fell into the water. It wasn't very deep, but deep enough for both of them to fully submerge. At first, Jim had no idea what Sarah was trying to do. He could feel her warm lips on his own and how her hands brushed over his skin, yet that was all she was doing. He opened his eyes and could see that she had closed hers.

After a while, he tried to get back to the surface, but Sarah's blade wings kept both of them under water.

 _Relax..._ she told him. At first, Jim didn't listen and when he felt how his lungs started to burn, he started to push Sarah away. As a result, Sarah embraced Jim even tighter and for a second, he felt like he should panic.

 _Just breath..._ she said to him and he wanted to reply to her that he couldn't breathe underwater.

But Sarah could. She breathed into his mouth and that's when he realized it.

 _Told you...my gills are awesome._ Sarah told him and Jim finally understood what she was trying to do. He had done a lot of crazy things, but this was probably in his top three.

Not that he minded though. It was a strange sensation. Sarah was doing the breathing for both of them, and as they continued to kiss, she continued to pump air into his lungs. All they did was to float in the pond while being surrounded by clear water.

 _And? Did I promise too much?_ Sarah wanted to know.

 _No, that is one awesome party trick._ Jim told her. _Wouldn't mind to see it more often._ And so they just enjoyed the moment. For Sarah, it was wonderful because she could feel Jim's trust. And for Jim? Well, let's just say that there was something about this that just felt wonderful. End of story.

Neither Jim nor Sarah knew how long they stayed under water. At one point, they both grew tired and simply floated back to the surface. It was Jim who grabbed Sarah and carried her over to the shore. They lay down next to the pond and just enjoyed the nature around them.

"That was a neat party trick." he said once more.

"Told you that you would like it." Sarah chuckled and snuggled against his chest. "Once you go Zerg, you can never go back."

"Yeah, well...I don't know about that. Let's just say that once you go Sarah, you can never go back." he replied and Sarah snickered when she heard that.

"You are hopeless, you know that?" she cooed.

"I like to think that this is part of my charm." he replied and brushed with his fingers through her nerve-cords. While he preferred Sarah's red hair, these nerve-cords weren't so bad. As in; once you had gotten used to them, they felt actually nice.

"Pah, charm. Right." Sarah snickered and then her blade wings moved up and she used them to lift herself off the ground. Before Jim could react, he felt how she placed herself on his lap and leaned down again. They kissed once more, and this time both their hands were more daring.

Funny thing; the Queen of Blades' body wasn't just about carnage and destruction. There some rather sensitive parts, parts Sarah's human body didn't even have. Like her nerve cords. They were surprisingly sensitive and she enjoyed it whenever Jim was playing with her tendrils. And that wasn't the only part that she liked to get caressed.

"Hmmmm..." Sarah moaned into Jim's mouth when she felt how his fingers brushed over the tender tissue between her hardened rips. It was where her gills were located, and much to Jim's surprise he had learned that in her current form, teasing that part of her body made Sarah _really_ happy. At first, it had been awkward for Jim, mostly because Sarah's body could be really, well, spiky. But even though her carapace itself was pretty hard, it was also surprisingly flexible. It was warm and, what also had been a big surprise for Jim, it was covered by a soft layer of tissue, which meant that Jim wouldn't be covered in paper cuts after giving Sarah a hug.

But, as he had learned a long time ago, it didn't matter how she looked like because, in the end, it was still his Sarah under that skin...or carapace...or pure energy, depending on her mood.

And right now her mood was, well, uhm...you see...

Sarah broke the kiss and leaned back. Jim looked up at her and as he stared into her purple eyes, he had no second thoughts or any regrets. Because to him, the woman that was looking down on him was the most beautiful creature in the universe, with or without carapace. A mischievous smile appeared on Sarah's face when she sensed his thoughts.

"Someone earned himself a treat..." she whispered and before Jim could say anything, her blade wings came around and brushed over his underpants. There was a ripping sound and the next thing he saw was how his boxer-shorts landed in the pond behind them.

Guess he wouldn't need them anytime soon...

Wait, was she serious about that?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Oh yeah!

Even though he had cuddled with the Queen of Blades before, they had never done _it_ like this before. Well, there was a first time for anything, and Jim looked his lover straight into the eyes.

"Is there anything...you want me to do?" he asked and she smiled. Sarah placed her finger on his lips and tilted her head to the side.

"Just enjoy the ride, Love." she cooed and while Jim would love to do that, there was just one thing that seemed to bother him.

"Uhm...Sarah? How's this gonna work? I mean in this form you don't have a... oh boy! Oh Boy! OhBoyOhBoyOhBoy!" he suddenly gasped and Sarah leaned back down. Their faces were only centimeters apart and he could see her cocky grin.

"I told you; retractable bone plates. Now shut up and kiss me."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

This was probably the single weirdest thing he had ever done. And if he was brutally honest with himself; he wanted to do this again. And again. And again.

"You, Mister, have a smutty mind." Sarah moaned while they rolled over the soft and wet shore of the pond.

"Sorry." he managed to answer.

"Don't be." she gasped and so they continued. And so, it went on. And on. And on. And on. They had become surprisingly proficient at that. How had Izsha put it at one point? They were doing it with "vigorous zeal"? Well, that was probably a bit too harsh...but not totally wrong either. And when the whole show went under water, well that's when things got interesting.

It was unlike _anything_ Jim had ever experienced. Making love to the most wonderful woman of all times? That was one thing. But making love to her while Sarah would breathe for both of them? That was a whole new level of wondrous. And during the entire time, Jim's and Sarah's minds were connected on a deeper level.

Floating through the water like this felt divine. And when they were finally done (and they sure as hell were taking their sweet time), they continued to just float through the water while the light broke through the surface. It was their very own paradise, and moments like these reminded them of this.

 _Just...wanna...stay like this...for a while longer..._ Jim could hear Sarah's thoughts and he totally agreed with that.

* * *

"So...?" Sarah mumbled.

"So, what?" Jim asked back. They were both lying on the shore near the pond and resting.

"So, what were you doing while I was gone?" Sarah wanted to know.

"Listening to Joseph smartassing me."

"Is that even a word?"

"It is now." Jim growled and Sarah snickered.

"Well, whatever you did, I'm sure that it was more fun than studying Ulnar's secrets."

"That bad?" he wanted to know and Sarah sighed. Her long and sharp claws traced his skin without hurting him.

"Even with Karax's help, it will take years to unlock all those secrets. Maybe I will never be able to fully understand that place. I wish I could just blow it up and be done with it." she mumbled.

"But you don't want to." Jim mumbled, sensing Sarah's thoughts.

"Maybe Ulnar can tell me what lies ahead of me...of us. I don't want to run into another disaster if there's a way to avoid that. So, I guess I have to start going to school again. Insane space-school for dummies." she whispered and slung her blade wings around Jim's and her own body.

"Hmmm...how about I'll help you with that?" he suddenly suggested and Sarah frowned when she heard that.

"Didn't you want to visit Matt? You talked about that the other day, remember? How it's time to see you old friends again."

"Yeah, well..." Jim muttered. "...I think this here is more important right now. Sure, I want to see Matt again...but that can wait until we have finally settled in."

"I don't want to sound like an ass, Jim..." she moaned. "...but if Karax has a hard time understanding that stuff, what chance do you have?"

"Not much, I admit that." he replied. "But I have a somewhat functional brain. It's not that impressive, but hey, we got plenty of time, right?"

"I don't know..." Sarah whispered and felt how Jim's fingers brushed through her nerve cords. She closed her eyes and sighed in relief. She loved it when he played with her nerve cords...

"Hey, come on...I need to do something!" Jim chuckled. "I can't just make you food and keep your bed warm while you are gone."

"Too bad..." Sarah cooed. "...I always wanted my very own love-slave."

"Well, maybe half of the time, how about that?" Jim suggested.

"Only if you add chocolate cakes as a bonus."

"You drive a hard bargain, Lady. Fine. But first, we have to find some actual chocolate." And that was pretty much the end of their conversation because a few moments later both of them had fallen asleep. They didn't even notice how Moby emerged from the jungle and coughed up a palm leaf before she lay down next to these two and rolled herself into a ball.

Maybe Jim wasn't a genius, but if he would put his back (and his brain) into it, then he would find a way to help Sarah. That's what he had promised himself.

* * *

In the end, Jim and Sarah would not get a cave of their own. And both could be really stubborn. For Jim, it was a question of pride to build them a home. However, there was a big difference between renovating a home, and building one from scratch.

His first attempt had been a hut. And it had collapsed roughly five minutes after he had finished it. Oh, it had been highly amusing for Sarah. She had rolled over the ground and laughed her own ass off for a long time. The second house had lasted at least till storm season, but then it had just collapsed as well, this time with both Jim and Sarah inside. The only reason why they had come out unscathed were Sarah's powers. This time Sarah hadn't laughed her own ass off, but just sighed and urged Jim to get some help. Because she didn't want to live in a house that could collapse anytime.

The third attempt had been more ambitious, but it too had met its end too soon. So Jim had recruited some help, and together with Joseph and Karax, he had actually managed to build the goddamn house he always wanted to build for Sarah.

And you know what this huge softy had done after that?

He had actually carried Sarah over the doorstep like a bride.

It had taken several attempts though because she had looked like the Queen of Blades during that time, and her blade wings had been in the way. But it had been cute nonetheless. For Jim, it had been the moment where he had finally accepted this place as their home.


	111. Act IV - Chapter 27

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 2** **7**

 **There's Always Something, isn't there?**

* * *

 **Years later...**

* * *

„...leavin' on a jet plane, I dunno when I'll be back again..." Jim sang to himself while standing in a corridor that was filled with inscriptions and runes. The small Protoss crystal that he had put on the ground illuminate the wall right in front of him so he could read the inscriptions. From time to time he could hear a Zerg screaming in the distance, but he didn't care about that one bit. Niadra's brood could be annoying at times, but it was nothing that he couldn't handle.

He studied the runes carefully and tried to find new ones, runes that he hadn't identified so far. In the end, he would only find two new symbols he hadn't seen since last time. He pulled the small booklet from his pocket and opened it. Almost all of its pages were already filled with symbols and what they meant, soon he would have to start a new one. The pen in his hand moved swiftly, and within seconds, he drew a masterful version of that symbol on the small page. He even added a nice 3d effect to it, just because he could.

After drawing maps and places and runes for years, Jim had turned into quite the artist. Perhaps that wasn't much of a surprise. No one had ever accused Jim Raynor of being a genius, but he was really good with his hands.

"Hmm...gonna need a new booklet soon." he mumbled to himself. Luckily, he had made a few more this time, so he didn't have to make new ones.

Yep, you heard right; the small booklet in his hand was his very own creation. He had produced the paper and he had even tanned the leather himself. And by now there was an entire bookshelf filled with these things back home. He didn't care if Karax had urged him to use a computer to catalog these runes, he enjoyed doing it the old-fashioned way. And if he had used a computer, then he would have never found out that he had actually some talent when it came to drawing.

"You have found another-" a voice suddenly spoke to him from behind.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHIzsha...seriously, stop sneaking up on me!" Jim screamed.

"-rune it would seem." the huge snake-lady just continued. "Are you certain that you have not seen these runes before? They do seem familiar."

"Familiar, yes. But not the same. See that little triangle on the top? That's new." Jim explained to her after he had calmed down.

"Very well, I trust your judgment with that." Izsha said and Jim chuckled when he heard that.

"Wow, it must be really hard for you to admit that I actually know what I'm doing!" he teased her, but Sarah's friend and advisor didn't even flinch when she looked down at Jim.

"No, it is not. However, it took you long enough to finally gather enough skills to be of any actual use. I wanted to suggest her Majesty to look for someone who is not as slow as you are."

"Oh, haha. We can't all be like "I'M AWESOME!"-Joe." Jim growled.

"His name is Joseph, not Joe. You would be wise to remember that." Izsha corrected him, and Jim sighed.

"It's amazing. I see your lips moving, I hear your voice, yet I swear that I'm hearing Joseph talking. You two spend way too much time with each other." he mumbled.

"Whatever we do with our free time is none of your business."

"Trust me, I don't even want to think about it." Jim agreed.

"In that case, I would suggest that you concentrate on your work. Her Majesty will soon arrive and you should have at least something to show to her." Ah, good old Izsha. Some things would just never change.

"Actually, I'm almost done." Jim told her with a goofy smile on his face.

"I beg your pardon?" Izsha asked and Jim pointed at the corridor behind him.

"Checked this corridor and two others. I found nine new runes in total. Here, wanna' check?" he said, closed the booklet and handed it over to Izsha. She took the booklet out of his hands and took a look at his drawings.

"This 3D effect would not have been necessary, James." she scolded him and Jim sighed.

"You have no taste when it comes to art."

"Functionality defines what is aesthetically pleasing." she informed him and he shook his head.

"And you still have no sense of humor."

"A sense of humor is not required to-"

"Yeah, yeah, it's not required to have any sense of humor in order to serve her Majesty. Well, on that I beg to differ." Jim told her and took his booklet back. "By the way, where's Karax? He acted kinda weird when I got here."

"Weird? Weird as in...?" Izsha wanted to know and crossed her arms in front of her scaly chest.

"As in; didn't even have time to talk for a minute. And he looked as if he was really, well, excited." Jim explained.

"He probably found a light that was not blinking but flashing. You know that Karax can get excited easily." Izsha said and Jim pulled his brows up when he heard that.

"Wait, was that...did you just make a joke?" he wanted to know.

"I do not know what you are trying to imply with that statement. I do _not_ make jokes." Izsha replied and turned around. She still had Jim's notebook in her hand and actually started to check if his drawings were indeed correct. It caused Jim to chuckle. Some things would just never change. The rain would fall, the sun would shine, and Izsha would always triple-check everything that she would get her hands one.

With nothing else to do, he decided to not wait for Izsha to tell him if she was pleased. Because let's face it; she was never pleased when it came to Jim's work. A long time ago, Jim had believed that Izsha held a grudge against him, and he had thought that her behavior was simply a way to show him how much she despised her beloved Majesty's lover.

However, over the course of time, Jim had realized that Izsha was simply a workaholic and a goddamn perfectionist.

As he watched how Izsha studied both the runes and his sketches, she was deeply lost in thought. Jim knew better than to bother her with any stupid question. When Izsha was busy, she didn't like to be distracted by idle talk. And so, Jim decided to leave her alone for now. He turned around and walked in the other direction. Truth to be told, he had no real idea where he was going, but it hardly mattered. The moment he stepped out of the corridor, he was already lost. Making a map of Ulnar was a useless exercise, Jim had found that out the hard way.

Perhaps he should stay close to Izsha, just to be on the safe side. But after years of walking the halls of Ulnar, Jim had come to the realization that this place was as dead as a tomb. From time to time, he could hear the scream of a Zerg in the distance, and while it wasn't exactly a pleasant sound, he was no longer breaking in sweat and grabbing his non-existent revolver. The Zerg here were under strict orders from Niadra to not devour "the useless one", who Izsha had dubbed him. He still wasn't too fond of these Zerg, but he had learned to accept them. Or, well, at least figured out how to tolerate them.

Though it was probably more important to be tolerated by the Zerg than the other way 'round.

As he walked in no particular direction, Jim looked at the walls and searched for some inscriptions he hadn't seen so far. He was done for today, and could hardly wait to return home. As he approached something that looked like a gigantic ziggurat, he realized that he was indeed lost, because he had never seen this part of Ulnar before.

"This place is so much fun." Jim growled and sighed. Well, since he had never seen that ziggurat before, maybe there were some new runes over there he hadn't found so far. He was actually done for the day, but he just knew that he wouldn't hear the end of it from Izsha once she would come here. And she would come here, she could _smell_ things like that.

"Hmm, now this is all too familiar." Jim whispered when he stopped in front of the pyramid. It was huge, and he had no doubts that there was no way for him to climb to its top without risking breaking his neck. However, that didn't mean that this thing wasn't interesting. The pyramid had four sides, and right now Jim looked at one of them.

"Seems like you want to talk again, hmm?" he mused as he stared at all those pictographs on the otherwise smooth wall. There were no runes on this pyramid, but pictures that showed places and people. In its center was someone Jim recognized at once.

It was Sarah.

Or, well, to be more precise, it was the Queen of Blades. But nowadays Jim didn't really distinguish between these two. Nowadays, it was more a question of how _kinky_ both of them felt.

Like said, Sarah was in the center of this pictograph. She was surrounded by what appeared like Zerg, Zerg, and even more Zerg. By now Jim knew what this meant. It represented the Swarm under her rule. Countless Zerg surrounded by a gigantic eye were standing for the Swarm under the rule of the Overmind.

"You really should tone it down a little, Sarah likes it when she sees how other worship her." he mumbled. Jim then studied the pictograph, looking for things he hadn't seen so far. But there was nothing, so he turned to the right and walked around the gigantic ziggurat/pyramid. It took him a while because everything inside Ulnar was gigantic. And when he finally reached the other side, he looked up and frowned.

"Well, hello old friend. Long time no seen." What he saw was pretty much the same pictograph, only that the Zerg had been replaced by Protoss, and that in its center wasn't the Queen of Blades, but a Templar. Jim had actually no idea if this was supposed to be Artanis, he just assumed it. Well, there were still two sides of the pyramid left, so Jim walked around the next corner and was already expecting to see the third faction that had sacrificed so much during the apocalyptic war against Amon. There was already a grin on Jim's face when he stopped, turned around, and looked at the third side of the pyramid.

"Oh, come on! You gotta be kiddin' me!" he shouted when he saw not what he had expected. Yes, the Swarm and the Protoss had fought against Amon. And yes, without them they wouldn't have won that battle. But the Terrans had been part of that alliance as well! Jim hadn't expected him to be in the center of the third pictograph, but at least some human surrounded by, well, more humans. However, it would seem that Ulnar wasn't really aware of the fact that the Terrans had carried their weight during the war. Or maybe it simply didn't care about them.

Instead of seeing humans, Jim saw both Artanis and the Queen of Blades, fighting side by side, surrounded by Zerg and Protoss alike, while below them countless minions of Amon were attacking them.

"Well, maybe the last side has some humans on it." Jim growled, but he already knew that he would be disappointed. And yes, there were no humans on the fourth side of the pyramid. Not even a really tiny one at the base of the pictograph. For a moment, Jim wondered if he should look for something sharp and scratch a human figure into the hard surface of the wall. You know, like a graffiti.

"Well, no surprise here." he mumbled when he looked at the last pictograph. It showed Sarah again. Only this time not as the Queen of Blades, but as Xel'Naga. Or _Not-Xel'Naga_ , how Sarah liked to point out.

"Ascended to godhood, slain another god, fallen from grace, yadda yadda yadda." Jim mumbled as he walked around the pyramid once more. He knew how the story was ending, he had been there. So this ziggurat was nothing but an overly large history book. A rather _selective_ history book.

Jim was already on his way back. Perhaps he should try to return Izsha, even though he would probably fail to do so. Eventually, someone would find him. However, when he walked back the way he had come from, he did look over his shoulder once more. And when he did, he noticed that the first side of the pyramid he had looked at had changed.

"Huh..." Jim mumbled when he stopped and frowned. He saw Sarah again. The ascended one, surrounded by stylized flames. And there was the Queen of Blades. And there was more. "Looks like I found some humans." he muttered. But then he realized that there was something wrong. It wasn't only a picture of the Queen of Blades and the ascended Sarah, but also her human self. And she was surrounded by creatures that looked human, but only at first glance.

"Wait, what is this?" he whispered, but that's when-

"James Raynor, you should not-"

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHIzsha...oh, boy! Would you stop sneaking up on me?!" Jim screamed and turned around. Izsha didn't even flinch when she heard Jim's screams.

"...wander around on your own. You do know how easily you get lost."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Jim growled. She handed over the small notebook to Jim, who took it in his hands and looked up at her.

"The drawings are accurate, and you didn't miss anything. However, I still believe that this 3D-effect is unnecessary. You would do well to remember that."

"Noted." Jim replied with a dry tone in his voice. Izsha looked over his shoulder and at the pyramid behind him.

"Did you find anything interesting?" she wanted to know, and Jim shrugged his shoulder.

"The usual. Zerg and Protoss saved the day, but no one remembers the humans."

"I admit that it would be more acceptable if the Protoss would be removed from those walls. If I remember correctly, then they only played a minor role anyway." Izsha mused. Perhaps Jim should have said something about that, but he just decided to give it a rest.

"I take it that the inscriptions did not offer any additional information?" Izsha wanted to know, and Jim looked over his shoulder.

"You can look for yourself it's right there and... wait..." he mumbled when he looked a the ziggurat, only to realize that the pictographs...

...were gone.

"Huh, nevermind." Jim just muttered and shook his head. Izsha was about to say something when suddenly something happened. The walls of Ulnar started to pulse and emitted even more green light. It meant that something had happened.

That something had arrived.

"Well, seems like she's right on time!" Jim chuckled when he felt a familiar presence in the back of his mind. He looked over to Izsha and gave her a thumbs-up. "Looks like we can head back home." Around them, Ulnar came to life as it welcomed its master. Or at least the only one that was qualified for that position.

 _Jim?_ he could hear her voice inside the back of his mind.

"You're right on time, Darlin'. I just finished my part. Me and Izsha, we were just about to hit the showers."

"I do not require to shower." Izsha explained with an undignified look on her face. "I just took a bath this morning. Joseph even soaped my-"

"Please, don't finish that sentence..." Jim whined when he heard that. Even after all those years, there were still things that he didn't want to think about. A few seconds later, a bright light appeared just above then, and both Jim and Izsha looked up. From above, a goddess made out of pure light descended upon them, and her golden aura illuminated the entire place. When her feet touched the ground, the light started to fade away, and a few moments later Sarah had changed back to her human form.

"Hello, people. You had a pleasant day?" she cooed and Jim walked over to his lover. They shared a kiss and when they were done, they looked into each other's eyes.

"So, managed to get something done?" Sarah wanted to know and Jim pulled his booklet out again.

"You might say that. Found a few new runes, should come in handy. Maybe we will be able to translate more parts of the inscriptions near the main gate."

"Well, that sounds promising." Sarah said and took the booklet in her hand. She opened it and brushed with her fingers over the soft pages. "You have become one hell of an artist, Love. This looks beautiful. And I especially like the 3D-effect." When Jim heard that, he looked over at Izsha and showed her goofy smile. To anyone who didn't know Izsha, she looked perfectly fine. However, by now Jim noticed how her eyelid twitched just a little bit. It was enough to make Jim realize that she would probably throw him off a cliff later on.

"Yeah, well...practice makes perfect. Drawing runes is one thing. I still suck at drawing faces." he replied. Jim's keen eye had come in handy, and he and Joseph had been working on this little project for years now. It was a team effort, and it would take many more years to get some results, but it was well worth it. And it gave all of them a sense of purpose.

"So, want me to send you back home?" Sarah cooed and tilted her head to the side. "Wanna hang out at the beach while I work, enjoy the sweet and lazy life?"

"Yeah, something like that." Jim replied. "I thought about preparing some squidfishes while we're gone. You know, to have some with my favorite lady."

"Oh, I like the sound of that." Sarah sighed.

"I was actually referring to Moby." When Sarah heard that, she rolled her eyes and said something very unflattering. Something like "...then marry her, if you love her so much..."

"Perhaps I should stay here." Izsha offered, interrupting their moment. She slithered towards the two of them and bowed her head in respect.

"That won't be necessary, Izsha." Sarah replied and placed her hand on Izsha's scaled belly. "You too have deserved some free time."

"Serving you is the only thing that matters, my Queen." she declared with a straight face.

"Well, you should take some time off. Don't worry, you won't miss much." Sarah sighed. "Besides, that way you can spend more with your _boyfriend_." she snickered. When Izsha heard that, she did her best to keep a straight face.

"He is not my _boyfriend_. He is my personal advisor." she explained.

"Some advisor that is..." Jim mumbled. "For future reference; if you live with him, if you spent most of your time with him, if you, and I can't believe that I'm actually saying this, share the same bed with him, then yeah, chances are pretty high that he's your boyfriend. And trust me, it's still hard for me to even think about it. Brrrrrr..."

"Zerg do not have _boyfriends_." Izsha declared again.

"But Izsha, you are no longer Zerg." Sarah declared with a careful smile on her face. When Izsha heard that, she looked at her Queen, then at Jim, and then at her Queen again. And then she sighed and lowered her head.

"It would seem that you may have a point. But please, do not tell Joseph about this. He becomes insufferable when I call him like that."

"Wait!" Jim chuckled. "You actually call him "your boyfriend"? Seriously?"

"Only when we have sex with each other."

…

…

…

"I shouldn't have asked." Jim growled, and even Sarah looked a bit greener in her face than usual.

"I don't want to ruin the moment, but can I send you back home now?" Sarah wanted to know, and used her mental connection to Jim to tell him something else. _Please, just say yes! I don't want her to suggest that we might watch them the next time!_

"Yeah..." Jim mumbled. "...I feel really tired, I think I want to go home now." He yawned as if he wanted to make sure that even Izsha would get the hint. However, Izsha didn't really care about Jim's wellbeing.

"Very well. Once James Raynor is gone, I may help you with whatever you need and-"

"You. Free time. Now." Sarah ordered, and Izsha sighed again. She dropped her shoulders and admitted defeat.

"Yes, my Queen. But first I need to-"

That's when Sarah simply snapped her finger, and before either Jim or Izsha could say anything else, they were on their way back home.

* * *

Jim was gone. And so was Izsha. They would arrive on Sternenheim in no time. However, Sarah had no time to think about that. She took a deep breath and then she sighed.

"Another day in the office, I guess."

Now that Jim was gone, Sarah could focus on the job at hand. They had tried to be on Ulnar at the same time, but it had proven to be too distracting, for both of them. Jim would always try to help her understand the stuff Karax was showing to her, and Sarah would just look over Jim's shoulder and watch him drawing something in his booklet.

So, they had come up with a different solution. It wasn't perfect, but it served the purpose.

They had decided to work in shifts.

Sarah took a deep breath and looked around. Ulnar was still an oversized grave to her, even all these years of studying this place hadn't changed that. However, what had changed was her perception of the Xel'Naga. While she still didn't like them, she had learned that the Xel'Naga hadn't been the detached godlike entities people thought they had been. Their intentions had been good, only the execution had been poor.

In Sarah's opinion, they had focused too much on their weird Infinite Cycle. They had been so focused on it that they hadn't even considered that one day it couldn't just lead to their ruin, but to that of all other species too. Their search for Purity of Essence and Purity of Form had blinded them. Only species that possessed these qualities had been of interest to them. But let's not forget that humanity had been one of the races that had helped to save this part of the galaxy, and maybe even beyond that, a species that had neither been full of essence and had a pretty lousy form.

The cycle itself was broken, and Sarah felt no urge to resurrect it. She was not willing to look for species that would be able to carry the essence and the form the Xel'Naga had worshiped. Because she didn't want to put that burden on anyone's shoulders.

The longer she had thought about it, the more selfish the Xel'Naga appeared in her eyes. How would the Zerg and the Protoss have evolved if these giant blobs hadn't interfered? Maybe the Protoss would have turned out like the humans. And the Zerg? Maybe they would have never achieved sentience at all. Point is; they would have remained normal. Evolution would have guided their path, not some ancient and omnipotent species.

Maybe the Protoss would never have traveled to the stars, maybe the Zerg would have devoured themselves...

But it would have been a product of their own doing.

So, no, even if Sarah knew how to guide a species to this point, she wouldn't do it. It just felt wrong. She would transform a species and turn them into something else, maybe even help them to achieve greatness, only to sacrifice them to make more of her kind?

Unleashing the Swarm upon a helpless world would be an act of benevolence compared to such a fate. That way the world and all of its people would be gone within days, wherever in the other case a civilization would rise to the stars, live for thousands of years, only to be harvested in the end.

No, she would never do something like that.

And besides, Jim would never-

"Lady Kerrigan! Lady Kerrigan!" Karax's voice suddenly reached Sarah and she turned around. The Phasesmith was running towards her and she couldn't help but chuckle when she saw how the mechanical arm on his shoulder bounced up and down with every step.

"Karax, what's the matter? You look like you're really excited."

"I am, Lady Kerrigan! And I cannot wait to show it to you! Please, follow me immediately!"

Well, that escalated quickly.

"Sounds like you found something interesting. Okay, show me the way." she said and Karax started to nod like crazy.

"Gladly! Follow me." And so, Sarah did as she was told. Since Karax was a lot bigger than Sarah, she decided to change her form again. Her body became pure energy once more and she followed Karax closely. This place...it was huge, and in a way, it represented the Xel'Naga's hubris. And she wasn't referring to Amon. He had just been the logical conclusion of everything that had been wrong about the Xel'Naga.

Traveling to this place was getting boring. Maybe there was a way to bring Ulnar closer to Sternenheim? That way they wouldn't risk that someone would try to gain access to it. Sarah was thinking about that possibility. She should talk with Jim and the others about that. Karax was saying something, but she wasn't really listening.

"...has tried to communicate with us again. Lady Kerrigan? Are you alright?" Only then Sarah snapped out of it and realized that she was staring in another direction.

 **I'm sorry, Karax. I was lost in thoughts. What did you say?** If Karax felt insulted, then he didn't show it. Instead, he looked around.

"Ulnar, my Lady. It has tried to communicate with us again."

 **How do you know?** Sarah asked, and Karax pointed at a wall that was covered with symbols and runes. Sarah changed back into her human shape and she walked up to the wall. She placed her hand on the surface and frowned.

"Ulnar needs its masters, Lady Kerrigan." Karax explained. "And since you have decided to not uplift anyone else, this place has come up with a new...suggestion." When Sarah heard that, she frowned in confusion. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Only then she could see those figures on the wall. There were several versions of herself. The Queen of Blades, her human self...and a version where she was surrounded by some sort of halo, as if she was made out of pure energy. But that wasn't the thing that caught her attention.

Ulnar had added a small something to her frame, something that didn't make any sense to her. At least not immediately. It took her some time until she finally realized what this was all about.

"That's...no..." she whispered and placed her hands on her own lower abdomen.

"I think it suggests that we should clone you, Lady Kerrigan." Karax suddenly said. "That way the Xel'Naga would rise again...in a way." When Sarah heard that, she almost chuckled. But only almost.

"This isn't about me getting cloned, Karax." she replied and placed her finger on the rune that was representing her human self. When the tip of her finger touched the round belly, she shivered.

"It is not? Uhm...but then what does it mean?"

Good old Karax, even after all these years he still didn't know how humans made more humans. Only that Sarah was no longer human. But the principle was the same, right?

"This is...wrong." Sarah whispered and took a deep breath.

"Lady Kerrigan? Is everything alright?

"Yes! No... I mean...nevermind. It's just...what Ulnar is suggesting is out of the question."

"Why?" Karax wanted to know and Sarah cursed his curiosity.

"It's physically not possible. Besides, I don't think it would be a wise idea to do this. I doubt that I should walk down this path." But...what if this was actually not such a bad idea? No. No, it was a stupid idea. Aside from the fact that she would be a horrible mother, she would just do the same thing the Xel'Naga had done; she would put the burden of this existence on the shoulders of someone who wasn't even born yet.

Sarah Kerrigan having a child, now that was one scary thought!

And not just any child. A child that would possess her powers? The Xel'Naga hadn't given birth to new Xel'Naga as far as Sarah knew, they had uplifted other creatures. A crazy thought emerged inside Sarah's mind. It told her that this was the complete opposite of what the Xel'Naga had done. Instead of using other species to carry on the legacy, Sarah would hand the torch over to her own children and...

"My own children?" she whispered and then she shook her head. No, this was idiotic. She didn't even know if this was possible! Even if she could get pregnant, who said that her child would inherit her abilities?

 _I think you would be a wonderful mom._ Jim had told her that some time ago. But she was no fool, he had only said that to make her feel better. No, walking down this path would be a bad idea. But, at the same time, she knew that Jim would probably be all too happy to hear those magic words from Sarah. Even though he had never bothered her with that, she knew that he still considered children something wonderful.

"Lady Kerrigan? Are you okay?" Karax asked. "You seem distraught."

"It's nothing, Karax, I was just...nevermind. Thank you for showing this to me, however. I think we should keep it to ourselves for now."

"If you want, I can look into the subject of cloning you and-"

"I told you, this isn't about cloning me." Sarah groaned. "It's...nothing you should worry about. It is nothing. Come on, let Ulnar be Ulnar. We still got other things to do, right?"

"I thought that this is more important than the rest, Lady Kerrigan. Maybe we should study this part and-"

"Nope, it's fine. Come on, Karax. Let's find something boring that we can study. Just ignore this thing for now."

Sarah had made up her mind. Having children would be a bad idea. She didn't want to put her burdens on anyone else's shoulders.

Unfortunately for Sarah, her powers had a mind of their own now. And even though she wasn't very fond of the idea, they were. She had started to walk down the path of a bringer of life. Perhaps it was only logical that she would be no exception. Without Sarah even noticing it, her powers started to undo the damage that had been done to her so many years ago.

And that meant that Sarah was in for the surprise of a lifetime.

* * *

"These are the new runes you got?" Joseph asked when Jim handed the notebook over to him.

"Yep, every single one of them." the other man replied. "I think we got most of 'em in that part of Ulnar. If I missed some, then there can't be more than five or ten. I checked the wall six times."

"Well, I guess a seventh time wouldn't have changed much." Joseph mumbled and opened the booklet. "This should be easier than the last one, now that we only have to deal with seventy different symbols. Last time it was how many again?"

"More than three hundred." Jim mumbled.

"Right, that was fun!" Joseph groaned. "Let's never do that again." They were sitting in Jim's and Sarah's home, the house that he had managed to build for her after several failed attempts. This house had withstood more than one rain season and had proven its worth. Even though this place was paradise, there were moments when you didn't want to be outside. Roughly every four months, a storm would hit their home and bring so much rain that walking around outside was borderline crazy.

The next rain season was about to start, it was only a matter of days. However, that wasn't so bad. During those days, Jim and Sarah could just sit inside in front of the oven and enjoy some peace and quiet.

Hey, even a space-goddess had to take a break now and then.

"Think we should start working on this stuff now?" Joseph asked.

"Rain's about to arrive. I doubt that we can achieve until then. And I'm sure as hell ain't gonna go outside once it starts to pour. We can work on those runes once that is over. Besides, we earned ourselves a short break."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Joseph mumbled and stood up. "We should sit this one out."

"Yep, that's...hey, wait a second!" Jim suddenly said. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Joseph asked. He emptied his cup of coffee and was on his way to the door when Jim pointed his finger at the younger man.

"You never say "We should sit this one out." What's your game?" Jim demanded to know.

"Baseball playoff finals." Joseph replied and Jim blinked in surprise.

"Wait, what? Seriously?"

"Yep. Augustgrad Imperials versus Tyrador's Flatpacks. Biggest game of the season. The two best teams going at it."

"Wait a sec, how do you even watch those games?"

"I got a TV, duh?" Joseph replied and Jim needed a moment to process that.

"A TV? How the hell? No, wait, how can you watch shows from the Koprulu Sector all the way out here?" But the answer to that was the usual one

"Karax. Did you know that Protoss are the born cable-guys?" Joseph said.

"I had no idea." Suddenly Jim imagined Trevor sitting on a couch and watching some horrible sitcom while explaining the story to Izsha. "So, what's going on in the Koprulu Sector? How are these guys doing?" He hadn't been to his old home in more than 10 years. For all he knew, they could have started a new war.

"Dunno." Joseph said.

"What does that mean?"

"Means that I don't watch the news, Jim. I just watch sports. But before you ask; Mengsk is still Emperor. I think..."

"Why wouldn't you watch the news?" Jim asked.

"Why should I? It's not like that's our problem anymore. In case you haven't noticed; you and I aren't exactly human anymore either, so why should we bother about human problems?"

"That..." Jim said and pulled a brow up. "...is one way to look at it. We are still human, Joseph."

"Oh, really? Speak for yourself. Need I to remind you that half my internal organs are Zerg?" Right...that story. Nowadays Jim usually forgot about the fact that Joseph had chosen this in order to free himself from those cloned organs. The same organs that should have failed a long time ago by now.

"Your innards hardly make you a different being, Joseph."

"How long have we known each other now, Jim? Roughly twenty years, yeah? Seven years on Ramelow, and then the years on Sternenheim. And neither you nor I have even aged one single day during that time. On the contrary, you look a lot younger than from the time we first met on Korhal. And yet you still try to uphold the image that you're fully human. In case you haven't noticed it; on this world, there are no humans."

"I still consider myself a human, Joseph." Jim growled and the other man shrugged his shoulders.

"Whatever rocks your boat, man. That isn't my problem."

"And you think it is mine? You think that I should stop considering myself a human?"

"What I want to say is that I'm gonna call it a day now and head back to my place. And nothing more. See you around, Jim." Joseph declared, opened the door and stepped outside. The last thing Jim heard was a "Laterzzzzzz!", and then the other man was gone. And much to Jim's own dismay, he realized that Joseph had it done again; he had managed to make Jim think about himself and the world around him. He looked at his own hands and frowned.

"Not human anymore, huh? Well, let's see about that."

However, before Jim could contemplate on what Joseph had told him, a bright light appeared in the sky. He could even see it from inside his home.

Sarah had returned.

"Well, someone came back early." Jim mumbled and could sense Sarah's presence in the back of his mind. However, instead of coming straight home, she decided to stay away. And that's when Jim felt that something was wrong...

* * *

Jim found her sitting on a cliff close to their home. Even without the bond they shared, he could see that something was bothering her. And if there was one thing that Sarah liked to do, then it was keeping her problems to herself.

"Hey, you came back early. What's the matter?" Jim asked when he stepped out of the jungle and walked towards Sarah. She stared at the horizon, where you could already see dark clouds approaching. The storm would hit them in a few hours.

"I just didn't feel like listening to Karax today, that's all." Sarah mumbled. She knew that he knew that it was a lie, but when Jim sat down right next to her, he didn't pry.

"Yeah, I know that feeling." he chuckled. "Joseph and I decided to not work on those runes either. That means that we can just relax the next few days. We're all stocked up."

"Hmmm...a hot bath would be nice. And then just lay on the couch and do nothing." Sarah mused.

"Sounds like a plan. So, what's bothering you?"

So much for _"not prying"_. He was relentless.

"Ahh...it's nothing, Jim."

"Heh, whenever you say "it's nothing, Jim", then I get even more suspicious." he chuckled and looked over to her before he put his hand on hers and gave her fingers a soft squeeze. "Hey, I'm here for you. You know that, right? If you want to talk, then I'm here to listen."

"It's nothing, Jim. Really, I just thought about the past. About our friends."

"About Paula?" Jim asked and Sarah sighed when she heard that.

"Just think about it...little Louise must now already be ten or so years old. I've never even seen her myself. I don't even know how Paula and the others are doing."

"I'm sure they're doing fine. But if you want, you can still go there and-"

"No." she refused instantly. "I can't. I won't. I don't think I would be able to say goodbye once more. And then I would probably do something stupid and offer her and her family to join us here. But this? This place here? It is not their home. It is ours, and we should keep it that way."

"If you say so..." Jim mumbled.

"But I thought about something else too." Sarah then said and Jim pulled his brows up.

"Yeah?"

"I think I now know what I want to do...at least for now."

"You want to stop studying Ulnar?" he asked and Sarah shook her head.

"No, I still have to figure out more. But I think I understand where the Xel'Naga were wrong." When Jim heard that, he started to chuckle.

"Wait, you have found the flaw in the logic of an omnipotent species of space-gods?"

"Yeah, and if you try to imply that this is way above my pay-grade, then you can sleep on the couch, Mister." Sarah told him.

"I didn't say anything."

"Ramelow made me thinking, Jim. What is it people need most?"

"Hope? A cause? Something they can believe in?" he suggested.

"A place to live." she told him.

"Oh yeah, that too."

"So many worlds have been ravaged by the Great War. Worlds like Antiga Prime, like Mar Sara, like Korhal. I think I want to fix that."

"And how does that involve the Xel'Naga?" Jim asked.

"I thought about this for some time now and I think...I think that the Xel'Naga were too blind to see that they weren't doing anyone a favor. They were looking for species that they could uplift so they would one day continue the Infinite Cycle, yet at one point the Cycle became its own purpose. The Xel'Naga were only busy finding heirs so someone could carry on their legacy, while the idea of helping all life became less important. And every species they uplifted was no longer master of its own fate. Think about it, think about what the Protoss could have become if the Xel'Naga hadn't interfered. Or the Zerg. Maybe they would have become something like humanity. Or nothing at all. The Xel'Naga did play God...in the worst possible meaning." Huh, that was one way to look at it.

"And you don't want to do that." Jim mused and Sarah nodded.

"Instead of forcing them to walk down one path, I want to give them the chance to choose for themselves. They don't need the Xel'Naga to watch over them. What they need are worlds where they can settle down and live their lives. Simple as that."

"Sounds easy enough." Jim laughed. "There are a lot of worlds out there. And it took you quite some time to fix Ramelow. You think you can do that all by yourself?" He could see how Sarah shuddered when she heard that, but Jim couldn't really say why.

"Sarah? Are you really okay?"

"Yes, Jim. It's nothing. I'm just exhausted, that's all. So how about it, cowboy? Wanna' head home?" she asked and looked Jim into the eyes.

"Now you're speaking my language, Darlin'." he replied and gave her a warm smile.

* * *

Even a space-goddess had hobbies. And most of them were pretty mundane. Traveling through space was nice and all, but it couldn't compete with a bathtub filled with steaming hot water. Now that was the life! Outside, the storm had arrived, and ungodly amounts of water were raining down on the house. But here, inside their small home, the storm was none of their concern. Inside these walls, Sarah felt safe, even though she didn't really have to fear anything. But it was so normal, and that made it so important for her.

Perhaps people would laugh if they knew that the infamous Sarah Kerrigan was living in a house on a remote world like it was the most normal thing in the universe.

Though most people would probably still try to burn that house down, with her still being inside.

And let's not forget about the bed. A normal bed. A normal bed they could share. A bed Jim had crafted with his own hands. Oh, he was so proud of it and it was so cute.

But that night something was different. As the storm continued to rage on, Jim and Sarah enjoyed each other's company to the fullest. It was intimate and sensual and never unpleasant. Training makes perfect, and they had trained this specific activity for a _very_ long time. But even then, Jim could feel that something was bothering Sarah. He tried to kiss her doubts away, he tried to be as gentle as possible and, in the end, it felt like he had succeeded with that. Sarah's doubts started to fade away and when they finally fell asleep, she sighed in relief.

Yet just before Jim fell asleep, he could hear her thoughts one last time. And what she thought sounded truly strange.

 _What if I could be a good one?_

Unbeknownst to either one of them, Sarah's powers were already on the job.

* * *

The house. It looked just the way she remembered it. When she was certain that both Jim and Sarah had fallen asleep, the young woman stepped out into the open and sighed. Her time was almost up, soon she would have to leave for good. However, there was still one thing that she had to do. The moment was drawing closer, and she knew exactly what she had to do. But even then, she could feel how her heart started to beat faster when she was just thinking about what she had to do.

The young woman felt the urge to just walk into that house and get it over with. More than anything she just wanted to talk to the two of them, wanted to tell them how she felt, and why she had come here.

But this wasn't the right moment. Still, it was weird. This moment, it was it. The moment when everything had started, at least for her. The young woman blushed when she realized had happened only a few hours ago.

"Geez, these two are hopeless." she whispered.

Like said, she wanted to walk into that house, more than anything. But she couldn't. The Sarah from a few years back wouldn't have noticed her. However, now her powers had almost returned. Sarah was still not fully in control, but she would get there. Eventually. And the young woman couldn't risk being discovered, at least not yet.

"Ssssssaaaaaaa!" When she heard that angry hiss behind her, the young woman turned around, and the gentle smile on her face became even wider.

"Moby!" she said and knelt down. "Come here, girl!" The huge kriecher looked at the young woman. At first, Moby seemed confused. She sniffed the air and inhaled the young woman's scent. However, after a few moments of intense thinking, the white kriecher trotted over to her and pressed her stubby snout against the young woman's chest.

"Sssssaaaaaa!" Sarah's pet hissed, and the young woman slung her arms around that flat head as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Oh, I have missed you, girl!" She then placed on the leathery skin of Moby's chest and started to scratch the kriecher. Moby hissed in delight and threw herself on the ground. She hesitated not even one second and presented her belly to the young woman, demanding more. However, all good things have come to an end eventually. And when she stopped scratching Moby's chest, the kriecher hissed again. It sounded less hostile and more annoyed.

"Sorry, girl. But I don't have time to play with you right now. Maybe later." Much later. That's when the first raindrop fell on the young woman's head. She looked up and sighed. The storm had finally arrived.

"Come on, girl, let's get you inside." she said and got back to her feet. Moby didn't even hesitate one second and followed the young woman on the heel. The white kriecher actually knew how to open a door. She even knew how to close it. So neither Jim nor Sarah had bothered to get her inside before the storm made landfall. However, whenever Moby would open or close a door, everyone in the house would notice it. So the young woman opened the door and allowed the white kriecher to slip inside. Once in the house, Moby looked back and tilted her massive head to the side.

"Ssssaaaaaa..."

"No, you go on without me." the young woman whispered. "And look after them for me, will you?"

"Ssssaaaaaa..."

"Good girl." And then the young woman closed the door. Above her, the skies started to unload enormous amounts of rain, but even though the landscape was soaked in water, not a single drop touched her. She sighed and realized that she had to prepare. It was almost time to return home, and she still needed to do this one thing.

Eventually, she turned around and walked away. She was already halfway to the jungle when the young woman suddenly stopped and looked over her shoulder. She could see the window Jim's and Sarah's bedroom from her position. She knew that she shouldn't do it, her Master would probably rip her a new one once he would hear of it. But she just had to do it. The two were still sleeping, and the young woman didn't want to wake them up. Still, she missed that feeling so much that she couldn't help herself. Just a bit, a tiny bit. It wouldn't hurt anyone.

The young woman closed her eyes and decided to stop hiding and allowed her mind to open itself. And when it did, it almost immediately made contact with Sarah's. Even though she was still asleep, both of their minds seemed to recognize each other immediately. It was only natural, given their relationship. A second, that's all that the young woman needed. She felt the warm sensation of Sarah's mind, and it gave her enough strength to find her resolve again.

"Soon." she whispered. "Soon."

And then she was gone.

* * *

"Soon what?" Sarah gasped in surprise and shock when she snapped out of her sleep. She looked around and realized that she was still lying in the bed and resting in Jim's arms. Outside, a storm was raging, and the rain was hitting against the windows. She took a few deep breaths and then she closed her eyes. You know that feeling? You have a dream and then you wake up, and for the fraction of a second, you remember every tiny detail. However, a few seconds later you can barely remember what you even dreamed about.

She tried to calm down and realized that she was covered in sweat. Had it been a nightmare? Probably, why else should she be so shaken?

Outside, the storm continued to rage on, and it would do so for several days straight. No one wanted to leave the house during that weather, and it made Sarah appreciate their home even more.

"Hmmm...Sarah?" she could hear Jim mumble.

"It's nothing, Jim. The thunder woke me up. Let's go back to sleep."

"Hmmm...sounds great." he replied and pulled her closer to his chest. Yes, a few days doing nothing should help her calm down. Maybe she had just studied too hard and was imagining things. She had to take it easy. Otherwise, she would only risk another breakdown. And since they had all the time in the world, they might as well make use of it.

When Sarah finally fell asleep again, she didn't notice how she grabbed Jim's hand and placed it on her own belly. Sometimes the body knows more than the mind. Because even though the wonder of life had just started, it was already destined for greatness...

* * *

The storm continued to rage on, and soon the entire archipelago was drowned in water. Sarah's and Jim's little home stood strong against the wind and the rain as it protected them from nature. And even Moby didn't mind when a loud thunder would rip her from her slumber. She would only hiss, roll to the other side, and fall asleep again. It was...peaceful. They were in the center of the storm but felt truly protected.

Not so far away other people didn't even notice the rain.

The cave, ah yes, the cave! The cave Joseph had turned into a home. Even now he couldn't understand why people disliked the idea to live in a cave. Especially after turning this cave into a goddamn luxury apartment. As he sat on a couch he had made himself, he looked at the huge holo-screen in front of him. So did all the others that had come here.

"So, let me reiterate..." Karax mused as he sat right next to Joseph and stared at the TV. "...the pitcher throws the ball, the batter tries to hit it, and then he runs as fast as possible? And he has just to reach a base to be safe before the one at the base gets the ball first?"

"Pretty much." Joseph mumbled. "There are a few more rules, but those are the basics." When Karax heard that, he shook his head in disbelief.

"Amazing. To think that a game with such simple rules, no offense-"

"None taken." Joseph interrupted.

"...attracts so much attention."

"Protoss don't do sports?"

"We do, but they are far more complicated than everything humans do. Truth to be told, I think that most of my former colleagues would be insulted by a recreational activity this simplistic. Also, most Protoss don't do sports for fun. There has to be a higher reason for doing it. Like physical training, or sharpening your mind."

"Oh, humans have a higher motivation as well, trust me." Joseph chuckled.

"Really? And what would that be?" Karax asked with a curious tone in his voice.

"Money."

There was an awkward moment of silence, and they continued to watch the game in silence. At least until Karax had another question.

"Would it not be more effective to perform these so-called "home runs" all the time?" When Joseph heard that, he had to chuckle.

"That's called doping, and it isn't allowed."

"This _sport_ shows why humanity will never achieve greatness." Izsha joined the conversation. She was right next to Joseph, resting on her huge tail like it was some kind of cushion. "If you are not willing to use all available means to improve yourself, then you will never advance. Besides, watching humans celebrate themselves is rather pitiful." When Joseph heard that, a goofy smile appeared on his face.

"You know, there's actually a team that's called the "Tyrador Swarmlings". They even use purple jerseys."

"A team that honors the Swarm?" Izsha asked with a surprised look on her face. Joseph looked up at her and had to imagine how she would look like wearing a jersey of the Swarmlings.

"Yeah, but they're not very successful. They are stuck in the second division and are pretty much the laughing stock."

"This is unacceptable!" Izsha declared. "They should dominate the field, infest their enemies, and conquer all. Also; second division? Zerg are meant to rule all divisions!"

"No argument there." Joseph chuckled. She could rule him any time! "There's also a professional wrestler going by the name of "The Ultralisk", but he usually gets beaten every single time."

"Perhaps we should find a real Ultralisk, so these humans could wrestle it instead of a puny man who claims to be of Zerg-origin." Izsha mused. It caused Joseph to laugh again.

"Ha! I bet that guy would totally own those wrestlers. And everyone else in the stadium. I would actually pay real money to see that. We could even paint its carapace yellow and give it a stupid name, like Hollywood Zerg. Oh, brother!"

"It would be a waste of the creature's potential. It would be better to let it serve her Majesty, like we all should." Izsha declared. When Karax heard that, he turned his head over to Joseph and frowned.

"Is something the matter with Lady Izsha?" Joseph sighed when he heard that question.

"She's just angry because her favorite telenovela is running right now, and I called dibs on the TV."

"I do not watch these _telenovelas_ you are talking about." Izsha explained. "And I do not care if Domino broke up with Rafael without telling him that the child is his son. And neither do I care that Martin is in a coma before he could tell Isabella that he is her long-lost older brother." When Joseph and Karax heard that, they exchanged knowing looks and decided to not mention this again.

"Well, first inning is over. Guess I'm gonna grab me something else to drink." Joseph mumbled when the commercial started. When he returned, the game was about to continue. That's when...

"Before we return to the game, let's switch back to Korhal News Network. Apparently, something has happened there!" the host of the show said and Joseph groaned when he heard that. News? While a game was running? Seriously?

It was actually a _breaking news_ , and when Joseph saw none other than Kate Lockwell, he had to chuckle.

"Damn, girl! You got old!" Kate Lockwell locked like she was in her mid-fifties. She still looked good, but at one point you just couldn't hide the effects of aging, especially if you decide to not use plastic surgery to hide certain things. What caught Joseph's eye, however, was the look on her face. Kate Lockwell looked truly sad, almost heartbroken.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Kate Lockwell. We apologize for this interruption of today's finals, but we just received news about the death of an influential member of the Empire's government."

"Whoa..." Joseph groaned. "...they even interrupted the program if some fat cat dies? Crazy shit." But when they saw the name and the picture of the person that had passed away, something happened. Something that did not happen very often.

Joseph was speechless. Izsha recognized that man as well. Karax did not, mostly because he had only met this man for a few minutes many years ago. Back then he hadn't been able to tell one human apart from the other.

"We should inform James." Izsha declared with a surprisingly soft tone in her voice.

"Yeah..." Joseph whispered.

"I will tell him. Once the storm is over-" the giant snake lady declared, but she was cut short by Joseph.

"No..." Joseph whispered and turned the TV off. Suddenly he was no longer in the mood to watch a game. "...I will tell him."

It is funny how close happiness and sadness can be. And Jim was about to receive the full dose of both of them...

* * *

There was another cave. It was not nearly as pretty as the one Joseph had turned into an apartment. It was dark and cold and wet. It was the kind of place you didn't want to hide in. However, it was also remote and no one would bother you here, which was exactly what Tesson was looking for. Even he had to take shelter from the storm, and this place was as good as any.

Not that it mattered.

Tesson knew that they had forgotten about him. _Everyone_ had forgotten about him. Oh, Sarah and Jim and the others were still aware that he was on this world, but he wasn't referring to them. No, he was talking about his people, the Nerazim. Did they even know that he was still alive? Probably not. And after years of contemplation, he had finally accepted the one final truth...

...that he was alone.

The young and brash Nerazim had cursed his fate many times. However, fate didn't care about him. He was alone, and his fight for his people had been for naught. To accept this truth had been the single most painful thing of his entire life. But after all these years of solitude on Sternenheim, he had learned to at least live with it.

"Hello, Tesson." When he heard that soft voice, he didn't jump up. He wasn't even startled. All he did was to close his eyes and sigh.

"Look who it is. And here I thought everyone had forgotten about me." he mused.

"I'm sorry..." the young woman said as she stepped out of the darkness. Tesson opened his eyes again and looked straight at her. "...I wish I could have been there for you, but my Master forbade it. He told me that you had to deal with this on your own."

"Your Master, hmm? And who would that be?" he asked, even though he wasn't really interested in the young woman's answer. However, that's when a gentle smile appeared on the woman's face.

"He's someone I care very much about. Who taught me so many things."

"Where is he now?" Tesson wanted to know.

"Close...and far away." Well, that wasn't cryptic at all.

"What do you want from me?" Tesson snarled. The young woman made another step forward until she was almost upon him. When she placed her small hand on his own, he could feel how a strange yet familiar energy flowed through his whole body. It felt almost like psionics, only far more powerful. And there was more...

Voices, whispering to him through time and space, telling him that he was needed, that he was a valued member of a society, that people would look up to him with respect and would be proud to call him their friend. To be part of a family...where people would need him. Tesson closed his eyes and shuddered when images appeared right before his inner eye. None of them made any sense to him, but they felt so _right_.

"Remember..." he could hear the voice of the young woman whisper to him, not with words, but with psionics. "...you are important. To me. To them." And then he shuddered when he felt how the psionics left his body, and when he opened his eyes, Tesson realized that the young woman...

...was gone.

He blinked a few times as if he wanted to make sure that this hadn't been a dream. His mind was filled with a strange sense of vertigo. Not unpleasant, but not normal either. He closed his eyes once more and tried to shake that sensation. When he had finally calmed down, Tesson sighed and opened his eyes once more.

And his eyes, that had always emitted a green light, like all Nerazim did, had changed. The light they now emitted was golden.


	112. Act IV - Chapter 28

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 2** **8**

 **A New Beginning**

* * *

"This can't be..." Sarah whispered while she stared into the distance. She was standing on a cliff and looking at the most beautiful world she had ever set foot on. Sternenheim. Her home. However, right now she wasn't able to enjoy this view. Too many things were going on inside her mind right now. Denial. Anger. And fear.

But, most importantly, disbelief.

How could this have happened?

 _How?_

This was supposed to be impossible!

But as it would seem that "impossible" was no longer a concept she could rely on.

At first, it had been a strange feeling, as if something was wrong with her powers. It had felt like a flickering sensation, something that was both in the back of her mind, and inside her body. It was pointless trying to describe it with words, all Sarah could say that something had _happened_. She had tried to ignore it, and for a short time, it had actually worked.

After a few days the storm had finally moved on, and now the sky was clear again. And since Sarah enjoyed mundane things, she had decided to go running again.

She didn't have to do that in order to stay fit, but she wanted to do it. It helped her to think. But after a few miles, she had started to feel something strange. At first, she had thought it to be a result of too many chocolate cakes, but it hadn't been the case. It was as if her powers had tried to tell her to slow down, to take it easy...

...to be more careful.

And then her powers had focused their attention on her lower abdomen, as if they had tried to keep this place safe and protected. Or, to be more precise, to keep the thing inside her safe and protected.

No... not thing.

The being...

"I don't understand." Sarah mumbled to herself. "How is that even possible?" She was confused. Perhaps other people would have accepted this faster, but this was the one thing Sarah had never considered to be possible. She had taken so many lives, and even though she had sworn to herself that she would never do that again, she still didn't consider herself a "bringer of life".

And yet...life had found its way to her.

The thought that this was really happening filled her with anxiety. Maybe it was even fear. This...was nothing she had ever planned for.

And what about the implications? What would happen next? To her? To Jim? To the both of them?

Sarah placed her hands on her lower abdomen and shivered. She could feel it. It was tiny and not even truly alive, at least not by any definition she had ever heard of. Technically, it should be nothing more than a clump of a few cells. There was no brain, no bones, nothing that had any shape or form. And yet she could sense _something_. It was an impossibly small presence in the back of her mind. It had no shape or form, but there was no doubt about it that this thing was...

...no, not _a thing_.

She gritted her teeth when she realized that "thing" was the wrong way to describe it.

It was not a thing. And it was not _just_ a being either.

It was something impossible, something that should not have happened.

Maybe "miracle of life" was a fitting description?

"Just how the hell am I going to tell Jim about this?" she mumbled. She felt a sting of guilt when she thought about her lover. How would Jim react if she would tell him? He too had left an old life behind. There were things that he didn't want to experience again. Like the loss of someone dear. They hadn't really talked about Liddy and Johnny many times, but Sarah knew that one of his most painful memories was when he has said goodbye to Johnny during her breakdown. Even though Jim was grateful that he had gotten the chance to say what he had always wanted to say...

...it had brought him to the limits of what a man could endure.

He had also told Sarah that he didn't know if he would survive the loss of another child, and she had always assumed that it was his way of telling her that he didn't want any children anymore.

Or would he be happy? He was still a big softy at heart. How would he react...

...if Sarah would tell him that she was pregnant.

Pregnant...

That very word seemed absurd to her. She couldn't be pregnant. She was supposed to be infertile! The Confederacy had sterilized her around the time she had hit puberty, and getting infested all over again sure as hell hadn't helped either. For most of her adult life, Sarah had been as fertile as a brick, and that wasn't even a joke. She had been conditioned to be an assassin, not a mother!

"A mother..."

That word sounded strange to her. If Sarah were to describe herself, then "motherly type" would be the last thing she would come up with. Suddenly she had to think of Paula. Her former student was a mother, right? But Sarah and Paula were as different as night and day.

And that wasn't even the worst thing she had to worry about!

Who said that whatever was growing inside her, well, womb, was actually a human? Or at least human-like? What if her times with the Zerg had left a nice little present inside her genetic code, one that she had overlooked? Suddenly she imagined Jim, holding a small Hydralisk in his arms that was drooling on his shoulder and hissing "Daaaaadddddyyyyyy!"

Oh, God...

This was unreal. What was she supposed to do?

This was the _one_ thing she had never planned for.

"Not even a week old..." she whispered to her own belly. "...and yet you are already driving me insane. Good job, Little One." Perhaps she was just imagining things, but after speaking those words, she could swear that she felt a small surge of pride in the back of her mind. She had to tell Jim. He deserved to know. No, he had the _right_ to know! He was in this just as much as Sarah was.

She took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts. And her courage.

Right now, she was even afraid of using her powers. What would happen if she would change into the Queen of Blades? Or worse, what would happen if she would travel to Ulnar? This was no longer just about her! But just as she started to worry about these things, she could feel the tiny presence in the back of her mind again. It was as if this presence wanted to tell her that everything would be fine.

Sarah turned away from the view and decided to walk back home. She didn't run. In fact, she walked as slow as possible. Sarah wanted to be careful and thought about what she should tell Jim. Oh hell, this would be one awkward conversation.

But even in her current state, there was one question she didn't even dare to ask herself. Was it because she was still in shock? Or was it because the very concept was out of the question? Did it really matter? Perhaps not. The most important thing was that she wasn't even considering for one second to end this here and now. She had taken so many lives, a little clump of cells that could be hardly considered alive wouldn't really count, right? It would make things so much easier...

However, Sarah didn't even consider this possibility for even one second.

This little one? It was part of her now. And she would protect it.

She was deeply lost in thoughts when she finally reached their home. Perhaps she was just overthinking things? Well, she was most definitely overthinking things, but who could blame her for that? During the entire time, she kept her hands on her belly, even though she didn't really know why. It was almost as if she wanted to keep this little one protected from all the evil in the world.

Sarah was no fool, she knew that this was supposed to be physically impossible. Only a few days had passed. Didn't it take, like, a few weeks or even months before someone would realize that one was pregnant?

But who knew what was going on inside Sarah right now. Getting sterilized, being infested, being de-infested, being re-infested, being stabbed through the guts by Narud at one point...

...and being turned into a being more powerful than anything a normal human could imagine. Everything Sarah did these days was a venture to uncharted territory. So, who knew how long this would take...or what exactly was going to happen.

It would seem that this little thing growing inside her had decided to challenge fate itself. If it was any indicator of what Sarah had to expect, then this one would be almost as stubborn as her. Or Jim. Or worse; both of them combined. And Sarah wasn't certain that the galaxy could handle a being that was as stubborn as both.

Combined...

A nervous smile appeared on her face. Was this it? Was this what parents should look forward to? To not just create life, but to know that it would have both hers and Jim's traits? On the one hand, she liked that thought. There were so many good traits Jim had. However, on the other hand, she was scared that the little one would inherit some of her traits.

Their home was already in sight when she suddenly stopped and looked down at her own belly.

A child...

A child was growing inside her.

This was nothing anyone had ever prepared her for, but wasn't it the logical conclusion?

And that's when everything came finally together. Sarah's eyes widened in surprise when all the little pieces inside her mind formed into one big picture.

She had decided to abandon the Infinite Cycle of the Xel'Naga. To her, uplifting other species was a crime. It meant that you would rob a species of its freedom of choice. The Protoss and the Zerg had been nothing but pawns for the Xel'Naga, and for Amon's ambitions. And no species deserved such a fate. But what if there was a way to transform the Infinite Cycle? What if she wouldn't be alone? If there were others that would help her restore this galaxy to life? Was that what Ulnar had tried to tell her? That she could help to seed this galaxy with new life...

...by creating more like herself.

To not uplift beings in order to become Xel'Naga, but to give birth to life that was this powerful from the start. Sarah shuddered when she realized the full magnitude of this thought. Right now, she was alone. If she were to perish, then who would continue to heal the wounds of the Great War?

But what if there were more like her?

This wasn't uplifting. This wasn't even teaching something. Sarah was thinking about being the mother of an entirely new race.

Years ago, she would have felt delighted just thinking about it. The old Queen of Blades had tried something like that before, albeit in a very different way. She had reshaped the Swarm and introduced new strains. Like the Broodmothers. In a way, Zagara and her sisters were Sarah's children too. In a very twisted and weird way. But it seemed there was a difference in letting Abathur mix something together...

... or to carry a child inside you.

Now she imagined a different place and a different time. One where there were more like her, and they were all using their powers to help this galaxy to flourish. A weird thought entered her mind. She had been human. And Jim was still human. Well, at least for the most part. So even with all the strange stuff that had happened to her, it was safe to assume that this little one growing inside her was human. At least partially.

So, could that mean that this was the next step in human evolution?

It was a bold thought, perhaps even arrogant. But hey, cut her some slag. Sarah had once been a queen!

And that little thing inside her?

It seemed to like that idea.

"Is that so, Little One?" Sarah whispered. Even now that this little thing was nothing more but a clump of cells, it already possessed a mind of its own? How was that even possible? But then Sarah realized that it was pointless to ask these questions. Whatever was happening to her, it was something that had never happened before. This was a chance...a chance that would never come again. And that's when a warm smile appeared on her face.

"I guess you and I will spend some time together, hmm?"

Little did she know how long that would last. But in the end, it would be well worth it.

No, this wasn't the time to be scared. It was done. And now there was no turning back anymore. Besides, she wasn't alone in this. She had Jim. And Izsha. And the others. The longer she thought about it, the more she came to the realization that this was a chance. And that she had to grab it.

She had to tell Jim...

Sarah was almost home when she saw someone standing on the beach close to their house. It was Joseph, and he was staring at the horizon, just like Sarah had done before. And he looked...worried? Joseph didn't show his feelings openly most of the time. But the look on his face told Sarah that something was wrong. She stepped closer and frowned when she tried to get his attention.

"Joseph? Is everything alright?" she asked and the man looked over his shoulder.

"What? Oh hey...it's you." he mumbled and Sarah frowned.

"Is something the matter? You seem to be...in distress."

"You could say that." Joseph sighed and looked over at Sarah. "What's with you? You look like hell too." When Sarah heard that, she took a deep breath. Maybe she should keep this to herself? But what was the point of that? A nervous smile appeared on her face and she pointed at her own belly. It was weird, but at the same time, she felt strangely at peace.

"I'm pregnant." Sarah just said and looked at Joseph. She expected a stupid joke or a thumbs-up, but Joseph's reaction surprised her yet again. And not in a good way.

"Well, _shit_." he groaned and shook his head. Joseph turned away from her and it looked as if he was almost in some physical sort of pain.

"That's not the kind of answer I had expected." Sarah told him and Joseph shook his shoulders.

"That's not it. It's just that this complicates things. Considerably."

"Things? What things?" Sarah wanted to know.

"Hasn't Izsha told you yet?" Joseph mumbled and Sarah frowned.

"I haven't seen her since the rain started. Why?"

"Sarah...you might want to wait with the happy news, at least for a while longer." And when Sarah heard what Joseph meant, she realized that he had a point.

* * *

Jim was sitting on the bench on the veranda and working on a fishnet. Perhaps his old friends would laugh if they could see him like this, but he didn't care. To him, this was the good life. He had a purpose, and that purpose was to support Sarah wherever he could. Maybe other men would consider this unmanly or pathetic, but what did they know? He sure as hell didn't feel like Sarah's appendage, something that was of no real use.

And what Sarah had said a few days ago, that she wanted to use her powers for something good, it only reminded him how far they had come. How far Sarah had come.

Yes, this was the simple life. And he enjoyed every damn second of it. The fishnet would serve him well, and he had made many of them by now. He still had to check the traps he had placed in the water, but experience had taught him that not all of the nets and traps had survived the storm, so he was already working on some replacements.

Even in paradise, work was never done!

Sarah had left early today. The storm was over and she probably wanted to stretch her wings. Both figuratively and literally. She would be back soon enough. Truth to be told, he could already feel her presence close by.

"Leaving on a jet plane, I don't know when I'll be back again." he sang while continuing to work on those fishnets. He had to finish them today, otherwise things would get hectic. So, no slacking off! He and Joseph still had to decipher the latest batch of runes and inscriptions.

"Jim?" he could hear Sarah's voice and looked up at her. Only then he realized that she wasn't alone. Joseph was standing right behind her.

"Oh, hey guys. What's up?" But neither Joseph nor Sarah dared to say anything. They looked at each other and it seemed as if they were scared to tell him something. Yet all Jim could do was to chuckle when he saw those two acting all mysteriously.

"Are you okay?" he asked and then he could sense Sarah's emotions. Something was bothering her. She was afraid. At first, he thought that she was scared about something, but then he realized that her pain was focused on him. Wait, they were worried about him? That didn't make any sense, he felt great! So whatever it was, it was probably nothing important. He noticed how Sarah placed one hand on her belly while she pressed the other one against her chest.

"Jim..." she spoke his name once more, but this time with more feeling. Okay, now they were starting to freak him out. But he decided not to show it.

"What's the matter, guys? You look like someone died!" he joked, and then he saw how both Sarah and Joseph winced in discomfort. What, had he said something wrong? Had someone died? No, that couldn't be it. Or had something happened to Moby? Was Moby...?

"James, we need to talk." Joseph said and made a step forward.

"What? What's the matter?" Jim asked, and then the smile vanished from his face. He looked over at Sarah, who lowered her gaze and closed her eyes. He could sense her emotions. She was sorry...for him? But why?

"I'm so sorry, Jim...something happened." Her voice was but a whisper, and Jim's fingers stopped working on the fishnet in his hands.

"Guys, that's not funny. What happened?" he wanted to know, and Joseph and Sarah looked at each other and nodded. Sarah walked over to Jim and sat down right next to him. She took his hand in hers while her other hand remained on her belly.

"James..." Joseph then said. "...Matt Horner is dead."

* * *

Empty. Perhaps that was the best way to describe how Jim felt right now. At first, he didn't even realize what Joseph had just told him. Matt? Of course he knew Matt. He was Jim's best friend! And even though they hadn't seen each other in ages, Jim could still remember the face of his best friend. And he could still remember the time they had said goodbye to each other on the Hyperion.

Matt, the same guy who had stood by Jim's side all the time.

Good ol' reliable Matt.

The guy that had pulled Jim's head out of the gutter more times that he could actually remember.

He had always wanted to see Matt again. For the last couple of years, he had mentioned that over and over again. He could feel Sarah's hand on his own, he could hear her voice and her thoughts in the back of her mind. And the comforting look on her face.

Yet...

"You're making a joke." he whispered and looked up to Joseph. "You're trying to make fun of me."

"Not this time." Joseph replied. "I saw it in the news. I'm sorry, Jim. You know that I never liked that guy, but he was your friend and, well...I'm just sorry." But that was no comfort. Right now, a million different thoughts were racing through Jim's mind. And at the same time, he wasn't able to articulate even one of them.

After a while, he finally managed to open his mouth and say one word.

"How...?"

Had the Zerg invaded Korhal? Had the Tal'Darim decided to declare war on the humans? Had renegade elements of the Dominion seized power and staged a coup d'etat? If that was true, then what had happened to Valerian? What about the others? Inside his mind, Jim could see Matt standing on the bridge of a battlecruiser while an epic battle was going on around him. He commanded a battle that would determine the fate of all the people living in the Koprulu Sector. It was the only way Jim could imagine Matt would go down. He was a fighter.

"He suffered a heart attack in his office. They tried to rush him to the hospital, but it was already too late by then." Joseph said. That's what the news had claimed, and Joseph had no reason to question any of that.

"A... heart attack?" Jim asked and then he started to laugh.

"Ha..."

"Hahaha..."

"Hahahahahaha! Oh boy, you really got me there! Phew...Joe, you and your twisted humor. One day I will punch you in the face for that. Seriously, that's low. Even for you. And Sarah, why are you helping him with that? Did I do anything to piss you off?" he chuckled and wiped the sweat from his forehead. However, neither Joseph nor Sarah started to laugh either.

"Jim, please...this is not a joke." Sarah told him and he laughed again.

"Oh, come on! A heart attack? Matt is far too young for that and-"

"He had just turned 59 this year." Joseph suddenly said and Jim froze when he heard that.

"What?" he whispered after a while and Joseph sighed.

"Jim...time moved on out there. It has been decades since we left the Koprulu Sector. You haven't aged a day, yet..." Joseph tried to explain, but then he just decided to shut up. It was a lot to swallow. And Jim? He looked down at his own hand and then he fell silent.

"Jim?" Sarah asked after a while and gave his hand a soft squeeze. "Are you okay?"

"No..." he whispered. "I'm not okay." He blinked a few times and tried to comprehend what Joseph had just told him.

"59 years? But that's...that can't be...that would mean that I'm...that we are..." he stuttered and Joseph looked over to Sarah.

"I better leave you two alone now." he said and Sarah nodded. He walked into the house and decided to make himself a hot cup of coffee. He needed that right now. When he was gone, Sarah stared into Jim's face. She could see the pain, disbelief, and shock on Jim's face.

"Jim...I'm so sorry." she whispered. While she and Matt had never truly been friends (or even eye-to-eye), she knew that he had been Jim's best friend.

"Dead? But...no..." To Jim, this was wrong.

"Jim, it isn't your fault!" Sarah said and wanted to put her hand on his cheek. Suddenly she felt the urge to take him in her arms and just hold him. He had helped her to deal with her pain and grief, it was only fair that she would do the same thing for him now.

But how?

"I... I always said that I wanted to see Matt again, yet...yet..." he stuttered and Sarah could see how his face lost all color. Only now the shock started to kick in. "...I didn't know that so much time had passed..."

"Jim, don't do that! Don't blame yourself, this isn't your fault!" Sarah pleaded but that's when Jim jumped to his feet and started to walk in circles.

"I'm such a fool...talking about seeing Matt again, yet what did I do? I should have been there, I should have done something! Instead, I wasted my time playing farmer and doing stupid things while I should have...should have..." And that's when his voice failed him.

"Jim, there was nothing you could have done. Joseph told me that Matt just collapsed and was found in his office when he didn't show up for a meeting. It just...happened." But there are moments when you don't want to hear that you are not to blame. And this was one of those moments. Sarah could feel Jim's disbelief and his denial. And she could feel how it turned into anger. Anger that was directed at himself.

"No...no, this can't be. What have I done?" Jim mumbled to himself.

"Jim, you have done nothing!" Sarah tried to reason with him.

"Exactly!" he yelled and turned towards her. "I have done nothing! Matt is...he's is dead and what am I doing? I'm playing Adam and Eve with you on this world! What kind of friend am I? The worst kind of friend!"

"Jim, please...calm down." she said. "There's something else we have to talk about." She put both her hands on her belly and bit on her lips. This was not how she had hoped things would turn out. Maybe she should tell him right now? Maybe it would help him to calm down? This was supposed to be happy news, right? People should be happy when they hear that they will have children, yes? Or was that something that only happened in movies? In the end, she decided to keep her mouth shut. This was a painful moment for Jim, and she didn't know how he would react.

This moment...should have been a joyous one. But now everything was wrong.

"59? So many years have passed? But...but even then, he should have lived a lot longer than that! 59 is no age at all! It was too soon, goddammit! I mean...the war is over! And a heart attack? A goddamn heart attack?" Jim yelled and walked over to a palm. He gave it a hard kick and the tree started to rustle. It certainly didn't seem to like what Jim was doing to it.

"No, this can't be right. It's fake-news, it has to be! Matt can't be dead! I...I..." And then Sarah watched how Jim fell on his knees and started to sob. He stared at his own hands and tears started to stream down his face.

"...I never got the chance to thank him for what he did for us..." Sarah could hear Jim whisper. He had wasted so many years, always thinking that he had plenty of chances to meet Matt again, to tell him about all the crazy stuff they had experienced.

And how he had finally found happiness.

 _Promise me...if you see that one thing that makes you happy, if you find the one thing that can make you whole again, grab it. Grab it and don't you dare to ever let go of it again._

Those had been Matt's words, directed at Jim the last time they had seen each other. He could still remember the look on Matt's face when he had said that...

"I...I... I couldn't even thank him..." Jim sobbed and pressed his hands against his face. Hot tears continued to stream down his face, and that's when Sarah decided to intervene. She stood up and hurried over to Jim. Right now, he needed her, and so she slung her arms around her lover and pulled his face against her chest.

"Shhh...it's okay...it's not your fault." she tried to comfort him. However, Jim was in too much pain to care about her efforts. He felt like the godfather of all douches. Matt was gone and now Jim was no longer able to thank him. Because he had decided to enjoy his life instead of looking after his old friends. One of her hands wandered down from Jim's shoulder to her own belly, and she could sense the other presence too. It was confused...and scared. It didn't understand why Jim was in so much pain...

...why its father was in so much pain.

"It's fine, Little One." Sarah whispered and tried to comfort the life growing inside her. "Everything is fine. There's nothing you have to be worried about." Jim, who was barely listening to her, didn't get that she wasn't even talking to him.

"Nothing is fine, Sarah. I failed him. I failed Matt..." And then he started to sob even harder. He cried like he hadn't in a long time. The last time he had cried this much was when his mother had passed away. When Lydia had passed away. When Johnny had passed away.

When all of his loved ones had passed away.

And now...another person he cared for was no more.

Seeing Jim like that was strange. He always acted so strong and tough, but right now? Right now, he was like a little boy. Sarah didn't know what to say or do, and so she decided to do what her feelings told her were the right thing to do.

* * *

When Jim had finally calmed down, he felt exhausted. His head was resting in Sarah's lap and she brushed with her fingers through his short hair. He stared at the sky and hadn't said anything for a very long time. Sarah didn't dare to ask him how he was feeling, mostly because she knew the answer to that question.

This was all wrong. She wanted to tell him. Tell him that there was something else he had to know. However, at the same time, she didn't want this to be the moment for him to hear what she had to tell him. And so she decided to keep her mouth shut, at least for now. Even after all these years Sarah still hadn't forgotten how to be a coward. Jim stared at the sky with reddened eyes.

"Have I ever told you..." Jim whispered after a while. "...how I first met Matt?"

"It was during the evacuation of Mar Sara, right?" Sarah replied.

"Yeah...he helped with the evacuation of all those civilians. But you know what the most striking thing about him was back then?"

"What?"

"His uniform." Jim chuckled.

"His...uniform?" Sarah asked while she continued to caress his head.

"Yeah. We had been fighting the Zerg for days and we all were covered in dirt, sweat, and blood. Most equipment was toast, and everyone just wanted to get off that damn rock. And when the ships finally arrived, one officer got off his boat and barked orders. And his uniform, oh God, his uniform! Will never forget that uniform." Jim groaned.

"It was that ridiculous?"

"It was so clean!" Jim told her. "The whole place was a mess. There was dirt, blood, and grease everywhere. Yet he looked like he was dressed to the nines. There was a battle going on, but even during the entire evacuation, he managed to keep his boots clean. And when we were finally done, he just brushed off some dust and told the other soldiers to clean themselves. My first thought was that he was just another asshole who didn't care about the people. Guess sometimes first impressions can be deceiving."

"Yeah, he really liked his uniforms." Sarah agreed. "I always wondered about that, though."

"To Matt, it was a sign of respect. And discipline. Even though we were just a bunch of retards playing heroes, he always wanted to inspire us, give us a sense of respectability. But you know what? I think he just had a fetish for these things. I think I never saw him wearing something comfortable. He was glued to his uniform."

"You know what they say about men and their uniforms." Sarah mumbled.

"Well, he just refused to lay low. He even got married because of that stupid uniform. When Mira wanted to play a game of Poker, she wanted to play against the "dashing officer in that pristine uniform". Seriously, when we got to Deadman's port, we all looked like a bunch of hobos. Except for Matt. In fact, they guys down there thought that he was the leader, not me. I just looked like one of 'dem boys. Hehehe..." Jim chuckled. "He sure loved his uniforms..."

After a while, Moby showed up. She didn't make a sound and just moved towards them. Instead of asking them to play with her, Moby lay down right next to Jim and placed her massive head on his lap. It was a sign of trust, and after a while, Jim placed his hand on Moby's massive head and started to pet her, something that caused Moby to hiss in joy. Perhaps it was true what they said; animals had their very own perception of things.

"So many years...why didn't I notice that? Why didn't I go there sooner?" Jim mused.

"Jim, don't do that to yourself." Sarah whispered to him.

"He's dead, Sarah. Dead. You understand what that means?"

"More than you know..." Sarah told him.

"He was the best of us. All that knight-in-shining-armor routine, all that bullshit I did while leading the Raiders? That was just a show. Most of the guys were just a bunch of rednecks trying to act tough, including me. But Matt? He had ideals. And he had both the brain and the spine to stand up and fight for what he believed in. He was supposed to survive all of us. Me... Swann...the boys..."

"Don't sell yourself short, Jim. Without you, Matt wouldn't have survived the Great War." she told him and he chuckled. But it was a bitter chuckle.

"Well, didn't help him in the end, did it? Now he's dead..." A part of Sarah was shocked when she heard that anger in his voice, fueled by bitterness.

"He saw the end of the war, Jim. The rest was in his hands. And that of the others. ''But right now, Jim didn't want to listen to reason. It felt like someone had ripped his heart out. And all he could think of was that, in the end, Matt had never learned of Jim's fate.

"Some friend I am..." Jim mumbled. "...I only thought about myself, my own happiness. And now he's gone, Sarah. He's gone, and I can't even tell him I'm sorry." Jim had lost many comrades during his days as a soldier and fighter. But even Tychus' death hadn't been this painful. Perhaps because Jim had always known that Tychus would end up with a bullet in his head one day. The only truly surprising thing had been the fact that it had been Jim's bullet who had finished the job.

But, then again...even that wasn't that much of a surprise.

However, Matt?

Matt was supposed to live a long life and have lots of children. And maybe one day he would join Jim and Sarah, after a long and successful life. That had been the plan. Or at least a nice thought inside Jim's mind.

That was no longer an option.

"This is the worst day of my life..." Jim mumbled and Sarah felt a sting in her chest. She wanted to tell him the truth, but suddenly she couldn't. She wanted this moment to be special.

"Worst day, hmm?" she mumbled and brushed her hand over her own belly.

"I wish I could see him one more time. Wish that I could tell him that I'm sorry. That I owe him big time. _We_ owe him big time." Jim whispered and that's when Joseph's voice reached their ears.

"Maybe you can do that." the other man said and both Jim, Sarah and Moby turned their heads over to the veranda, where Joseph was sitting on the bench.

"How long have you been there?" Jim wanted to know.

"I never left." Joseph replied and then he took a deep breath. "There will be a funeral. The Admiral was a pretty influential person. Emperor Mengsk himself ordered a planet-wide official mourning period for three days. It starts with the Admiral's burial, at Augustgrad's Imperial Cemetery."

"How do you know about that?" Jim whispered and Joseph pulled his brows up.

"They broadcast one obituary after the other right now. Especially Kate Lockwell talks about nothing else. It's like she has lost her most beloved enemy." Joseph mused

"Matt's funeral?" Jim mumbled and then he lifted his head off Sarah's lap. Moby hissed in protest, but she then rolled to the side so Jim could get up and look over to Joseph.

"When will the funeral take place?"

"Soon. Tomorrow. Why?" Joseph asked and Jim looked over at Sarah.

"I want to go there. I want to say goodbye." When Sarah saw Jim's pained expression, she wanted to never let go of him. She wanted to hold him in her arms and tell him that everything was fine. And, most importantly, she didn't want him to leave. Not now. Not as long as she hadn't told him that she was...

"Okay..." Sarah whispered against better judgment. "...you do that."

* * *

Jim had gone for a walk. He needed to clear his mind. Perhaps it was a futile attempt, but it gave Sarah a chance to sort out her own thoughts. There was nothing to pack or to prepare. Sarah would take Jim to Korhal. Or, to be more precise, her powers would do that. However, she wouldn't join him. Maybe she should be by his side for this, but Matt had never truly been part of her life.

No, she knew that Jim wanted to be alone for this.

However, that didn't mean that she would let him go to Korhal all by himself...

She had to think about other things. Perhaps this sounded wrong, but Matt was dead. And she had to think about the future.

She stood on the beach and stared at the horizon.

"Did you tell him?" Joseph asked. He stood next to her and hadn't said a thing in quite some time.

"No... I couldn't. Not now."

"Maybe you should tell him. It could lift his spirit."

"Perhaps. But I don't want that the day where he learns of this little one will be the same day when he learned of Matt's death. It just feels...wrong." However, that was only partially true. In reality, Sarah was still not certain how he would react. She too needed more time. This was just too much to process, even for her.

"Joseph, could you do me a favor?" Sarah said after a while.

"For you? Always." There was no sarcasm in his voice, Joseph was saying the truth.

"Could you...look after Jim? While he's gone? If you don't mind..." she whispered.

"You don't want to accompany him?" Joseph asked and Sarah shook her head.

"No, I don't think that it would be wise. Me and Matt, we never really got along that well. I don't want to say anything stupid that I might regret afterward and... well, I just don't have any fond memories of the time when we worked together. Or against each other. Unlike Jim, who was surrounded by friends and comrades. This is...not what I want."

"And what do you expect me to do?" Joseph wanted to know.

"Just...keep an eye on him. Don't let him do anything stupid." Usually, that was the perfect opportunity for Joseph to make a stupid joke. Instead, he just sighed and nodded.

"Okay. But I won't tell him about your, well, you know..."

"You don't have to." Sarah told him. "I will do that...eventually." When Joseph heard that, he groaned and pressed his hands against his face.

"When I got up this morning, I knew that this day would be tough. But I had no idea that it would be _this_ tough." He then looked to the side and could see a small figure in the distance. No, not one. Two. One was Jim and the other one was Moby, who had accompanied him on his walk.

"Well, it never gets boring with you two around." Joseph mumbled and then he sighed again. "This will be the worst homecoming of all times..."

"If you don't want to go, then-"

"No, it's fine. I will keep an eye on him. The funeral will be tomorrow, so yeah...should be easy enough. In theory at least." Joseph sighed and stared at the small figures in the distance. "It's funny. I don't claim to have known the Admiral that well and I didn't really like him. Yet to Jim he was like a brother. I've never seen him like this before."

"I have..." Sarah mumbled. "...but you're right. Matt was more than just a friend to him. He was Jim's _best_ friend. And his brother."

"I'm not sure wherever it's a good idea for him to go there now. But I guess he's gonna find a way to Korhal one way or the other. He's too stubborn to listen to anyone right now." Joseph mused. "Korhal...shit. Guess it's time to visit home." he growled, and then he saw Sarah's frown.

"What?"

"Please, no more cursing." she told him and Joseph blinked in surprise.

"What? Why?"

"I don't want my child's first word to be _shit_." she scolded him and Joseph chuckled when he heard that.

"Oh, come on! We still have time for that. It's not like Little Baby Awesome can hear us right now."

"I'm not so sure about that." Sarah whispered. "And please, don't call it "Little Baby Awesome". Will you?"

"Uhhhhh..."

Before they could continue their conversation, Jim finally reached them. He looked like hell and didn't even try to hide the fact that he had cried. Moby hadn't left his side for even one second.

"Hey..." he mumbled.

"Hey..." Sarah replied. "...how are you?" However, instead of giving Sarah an answer, Jim just shrugged his shoulders.

"Jim, I talked with Joseph. He's coming along."

"That's not necessary." Jim mumbled and looked over at Joseph. "No offense."

"None taken." the other man replied. "And this is not up for discussion. Deal with it."

"Sarah, I-" Jim sighed and turned his attention back to his lover. It was clear to him that this had been Sarah's idea, but before he could finish that sentence, she placed her hand on his chest and looked him straight into the eyes.

"No, Jim. I'm sorry, but Joseph is right. You will take him with you."

"And what if I say no?" Jim wanted to know with a defiant look on his face.

"Then I will not take you to Korhal, Jim. And I mean it."

"You would not allow me to say goodbye to Matt?" he whispered and she could sense his anger.

"If you want to go there on your own, without anyone by your side...then yes."

"You could come with me." Jim suddenly suggested. Sarah lowered her gaze and bit her lip. No, she too needed more time. Time to process all of this.

"No, I will stay here. Just...just promise me that you will be alright, yes?" she asked. However, Jim didn't give her the answer she wanted to hear.

"Please..." he begged of her. "...just take me to Korhal." And so, Sarah sighed in defeat. She didn't want to prolong the inevitable. Sarah lowered her hand and looked into his eyes.

"I love you. You know that, right?" she said and could see the mixed emotions on his face. "Remember..." Sarah continued. "...it's not your fault." But Jim didn't want to accept this. Not yet anyway. She could sense his guilt and that he was still blaming himself for being the worst friend in all history of friendship. Still, Sarah didn't want to end this conversation like this. She leaned forward and kissed Jim, but she could feel his hesitation.

Better get it over with...

"I love you, Jim..." she whispered again...

...and then both Jim and Joseph were on their way.

Sarah continued to stare at the horizon for a very long time. She didn't know how long she stood there, but after some time she could hear how someone else approached her. She looked over her shoulder and a sad smile appeared on her face.

"Hey, Izsha. If you're looking for Joseph, then I have bad news for you; I just sent him on a, well, business-trip you might say." Her most trusted advisor didn't seem to be fazed by that. She stopped in front of Sarah and bowed her head in respect.

"It pleases me to hear that you have found a use for Joseph Brent. I am certain that he will do an excellent job at serving you, my Queen." Well, so much for that. "I suppose this "business-trip" has something to do with the death of the human Mathew Horner?" she asked with a calm voice.

"Yeah...Jim didn't really take it well. I can't even remember the last time I saw him this devastated." Sarah sighed and placed her hands on her belly. "I wasn't even able to tell him that he will be a father." When Izsha heard that, she tilted her head to the side.

"I do not think that I understand. Has James Raynor found a way to reproduce himself?"

"No, Izsha. It means that _I_ have found a way to reproduce. I'm pregnant " Sarah sighed. She could feel the presence of the little one in the back of her mind and tried to apologize to it. "Sorry, I wasn't able to tell him. Once he's back though, I promise." She tried to focus on that presence and calm it down.

After a while, Sarah realized that Izsha hadn't said anything. She looked over her shoulder and frowned.

"Izsha? Is everything alright?" But then Sarah realized that something was wrong. Izsha's eyes were wide open and she looked...shocked? It was a strange sight because her facial expressions were usually, well, okay, Izsha had no facial expressions.

Until now.

"Preg...nant?" Izsha mumbled and lowered herself down. "I am afraid I do not understand, my Queen."

"Seems like I'm going to be a mother soon." Sarah mumbled. However, before she could say anything else, Izsha grabbed Sarah and turned her around. She lifted Sarah up so they were face to face.

"Please, your Majesty, can you repeat this statement? You are...with child?"

"Uhm...Izsha? What's wrong with you? I-"

"ARE YOU WITH CHILD OR NOT?!" Izsha suddenly yelled, and Sarah could see how one of her friend's eyelids started to twitch.

"Wha...? Yes! Yes, I believe so! Izsha, what's the matter? Did I say something wrong?" But that's when something happened. Something Sarah had never seen before. She was glad that both Jim and Joseph weren't here to see it because it was truly frightening.

Sarah had seen it all. She had seen how the Zerg had devoured whole worlds, how Protoss had killed each other, how humans had betrayed everything they had believed in. She had fought a damn god and become one herself, yet she had never seen anything creepier than what was happening right in front of her.

Izsha...was smiling.

And that smile was turning into a huge grin.

Izsha had never grinned, and up till now, Sarah had assumed that it wasn't possible since her friend lacked the facial muscles necessary to do that.

But now the impossible had happened.

Izsha was grinning. And it didn't stop there either. She grabbed Sarah and pressed her Queen against her scaly chest.

"Ifha!" Sarah tried to say. "Whaf fhe mafffer wifff fffou?"

"Oh, this is the most wonderful day of my existence, your Majesty!" Izsha declared. "It has finally happened!"

"Whaf finafffy hafffenf?" Sarah gargled and rolled her eyes up so she could see Izsha's face. And only then she noticed the mad look on her friend's face.

"It has finally happened! Your Majesty has decided to found a dynasty! Oh, this is truly the happiest day of my life! Fear not, your Majesty! I will make sure that everything will be ready! First, we shall tear down that mockery you call home! Then I will order Niadra to grow a hive here on this world. It will be the best-fortified position in the entire galaxy!"

"Unnnfff...Ifha? Iff fhwat reaffy nefffefffary?" Sarah mumbled, but Izsha wasn't even listening.

"And I will personally oversee the growth of the breeding-chambers!"

Breeding-chambers? Oh, that sounded wrong on so many levels!

"Whaf? Ifha, foulff ffou ffuff ffe ffown?"

"Fear not, your Majesty! Everything shall be ready for you to lay your eggs once it is time! And I will make sure that no one will disturb you!"

"I ffon'fff fthinfff fhafff ffhfhafhfeehff..." Sarah tried to say and that's when Izsha looked down.

"I beg your pardon, my Queen, but I cannot understand what you are trying to tell me." Sarah groaned and pulled her head back.

"I said; I don't think I'm gonna lay several eggs!" Sarah managed to gurgle. When Izsha heard that, she blinked a few times.

"Oh, so you will lay only one egg? This is...a start I suppose. I suspect that once your offspring is born, you will produce more immediately?" Oh, Jim would probably like the sound of that.

"How about we just deal with this one and then we shall see. How does that sound?" Sarah groaned.

"That...sounds acceptable." Izsha declared. She turned around and slithered back towards Jim's and Sarah's home.

"Uhm...Izsha?" Sarah mumbled while Izsha continued to press the smaller woman against her chest.

"Yes, my Queen?"

"Could you please put me back down?"

"No, my Queen." Izsha declared.

"I was afraid you would say that..." Sarah whimpered. Suddenly she wondered if she should have accompanied Jim to Korhal.

This would be so awkward...


	113. Act IV - Chapter 29

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 2** **9**

 **Circle of Life**

* * *

"...and welcome back, dear viewers. This is your host, Frank Porter, and we are right back here in our studio on Korhal, and to our panel discussion. With me is still the ever-lovely Kate Lockwell. Thank you for being here today, Kate. And may I say; it is truly an honor to have you here today." The host, a man in his mid-thirties, looked over at the woman sitting right next to him. Kate Lockwell had aged, that much was obvious. Her hair hat turned white and there were plenty of wrinkles on her face, even though the make-up artists had done their best to cover most of them up. Some things would just never change, and one of those things was that a woman was not allowed to look old on TV.

Death, taxes and subtle sexism; the three things that will always prevail.

However, everyone who knew Kate Lockwell, knew that she had never been a piece of eye candy. In the last almost three decades she had seen it all. And she had uncovered more than one secret story. The people watched her weekly show "Lockwell Inside" because they trusted her judgment.

Kate Lockwell stood for integrity and determination.

"Thank you for giving me the chance to be here today, Frank." Kate replied and showed both the host and the millions sitting in front of their TVs a perfect smile, one that she had honed for many years. But those who knew the real Kate Lockwell could see the sadness in her eyes.

"Well, as we can see the funeral procession has not yet started." Frank then explained to the viewers. There was a monitor right in front of them, so Frank and Kate could watch it too. "Now, as we have already explained, the funeral procession will start at the Ministry of Defense and then head to Central Plaza before it will head to the Imperial Cemetery for Heroes. This came as a surprise to many because most of us suspected the procession to start at the Imperial Palace. Kate, what do you think about that?" Frank asked and looked over at Kate.

"Well, Frank..." the older woman replied. "...I think that it is something that Admiral Horner would have wanted. Now, we all heard that the original starting point was supposed to be the courtyard of the Imperial Palace, and I am pretty certain that they actually decided to follow what the Admiral would have wanted. And the Ministry of Defense was the place where he spent most of his time after all."

"It caused some uproar among the ministries when it was announced that it was not the police who would be responsible for the overall security, but the military." Frank then said. "Some even say that it is a strict violation of the laws that say that the military is not allowed to do the police's job. In the end, the Emperor decided that the military would be responsible for this funeral. What do you think would the Admiral say to that?"

"Well, I think we have to look at it from two different perspectives." Kate replied. "First, we have to look at what the Admiral would have wanted. While I was always one of his biggest critics, there was one thing that Admiral Horner always did, and that was to uphold the separation of powers. So, would he have agreed to this? No. The thought of seeing marines marching on the streets of a peaceful city would have caused him to feel discomfort."

"I must say, it is a bit surprising to hear this from you. You were known as his worst critic." Frank chuckled, and Kate showed him a professional smile.

"While the Admiral did a lot of questionable things, I never truly considered him my enemy. But you know how men in powerful potions can be. Sometimes you have to tell them that they are simply wrong. However, first I want to say something else..." Kate said and Frank nodded.

"Of course, go ahead."

"Thank you, Frank. While I am certain that Admiral Horner wouldn't have enjoyed the sight of the military marching through the streets of Augustgrad, this isn't just about him." Kate explained. "Admiral Horner had always been a very popular person among his troops. And I would even go so far that there are many officers that would describe the Admiral as the most important military leader of our times."

"Oh? But isn't that a bit bold? Aside from smaller skirmishes, there was never a conflict like the Great War where he was in overall command. Now, no one wants to ignore his accomplishments during the Great War, but I think-"

"Frank, I'm sorry that I have to interrupt you now. However, I think that the people have a good reason for what they say. It is true; Admiral Horner never got the chance to prove himself during a conflict as a brilliant military leader. But that is something he was actually always glad about. No, his accomplishment is a different one. He took a broken military during a time of upheaval and transformed it into not just a barely working institution, but into one the people could look up to. Let's not forget; there were times when the Dominion's own soldiers were regarded as murderers and traitors. The military was the most feared and least respected part of the government. Even the finance authority was more liked!" And that had to mean something.

"But if there is one thing Admiral Horner accomplished, then it is that he transformed the mindset found within the military. The current drill and training for soldiers and officers alike was his doing. And for the first years of his command, he faced stiff opposition from the old officers that had earned their commission during the reign of the Confederacy and the rule of the dictator Arcturus Mengsk." Funny thing; if people talked about "the Emperor", then they were just talking about Valerian. No one said "the former Emperor" or "the predecessor" when they were referring to Arcturus Mengsk.

He had become "the dictator Arcturus Mengsk". And perhaps that was the worst punishment for a man like Arcturus; to be remembered as a monster.

"And I think that is something we have to keep in mind, Frank. This isn't just about Admiral Horner, it is also about the people who want to thank him. Now, we can disagree with them, but there are many people who wish to express their gratitude. And even though we journalists tend to criticize the ones in power, we should not make the mistake to take this as a mere gesture of blind obedience. Admiral Horner, no matter how flawed he was, did many good things for us."

"If I remember correctly, a lot of officers decided to question Admiral Horner's qualifications back then. And we had more than one officer who tried to rebel." Frank explained. He had been a young boy and teenager during that time but for Kate, those years had been some of the most active of her career.

"He faced a lot of stiff opposition from almost every side and direction, that much is certain." Kate said. "But he managed to overcome these obstacles. And his principle of "Citizen in Uniforms" has proven to be a success."

"Forgive me to point that out, Kate, but you were always one of his fiercest critics. Yet now that you are here, we hear a lot of good things from you." When Kate heard that, she had to chuckle.

"Well...even though the Admiral and I didn't agree on many things, we still considered ourselves to be working for the same team." she explained.

"But if I remember correctly, you blame him for ruining the best story of your life, right?" Frank asked. "Forgive me if I ask this, but I just have to; what kind of story was that?" You could see the exhausted look on Kate's face when she heard that question, the same question she had heard far too many times.

"I'm sorry, Frank, but that is something I can't tell you. Not now." Not ever.

"Well, we shall see about that, Kate." Frank chuckled and then he looked over to the monitor. "Ah, it would seem that the funeral procession has started to move! We will now switch over to our reporter on site. Michelle, can you hear me?" And that's when the viewers saw the face of a blonde reporter standing outside and in front of the Ministry of Defense.

"Hello, Frank! And hello, Kate! I am here in front of..." the woman started to speak, but Kate wasn't really listening to her. She watched how the funeral procession was about to start. It was strange to not be out there. The Imperial Palace had even invited her to the funeral, but she had refused that offer. It was her way of paying respect to this man. Seeing the black hearse starting to move caused Kate to shiver. She still remembered how they had met. She could even remember everything that had happened during that fateful Christmas-party...

It was moments like these when Kate started to feel old. She had never bothered to have children. Her work had kept her occupied and she had plenty of friends, so she wasn't really lonely. But the death of Matt Horner had reminded her of the fact that she wouldn't get any younger either.

The guard of honor consisted of different branches of the military. Marines led the procession. They prided themselves on "being the first in and the last one out", so it was probably only logical that they were the ones up front. Their combat suits had received a new coat of red paint and they had been polished that they looked like they were brand-new. These marines were not the same kind of soldiers that had fought during the Great War. Back then, most of them had been either resocialized criminals or the truly desperate. But these guys and gals?

Matt had introduced a system called "Citizen in Uniform", which meant that soldiers were supposed to consider themselves not just as expendable tools, but members of society. Training was harsh, but not brutal. Using physical force as a means to train others was forbidden, and it had taken years until people had finally started to see the wisdom behind this change.

The Marines were the ones who had benefited the most from that change. But they weren't the only military branch that had benefit from that. Behind the Marines came other troops, there were even a few tanks in the mix. But perhaps the most impressive thing was the honor guards that were not a part of the Dominion's military. A whole company of the Combine's own combat engineers was there as well. One of Matt's primary concern had been to forge a permanent alliance with the other sovereign nations across the Koprulu Sector. And if there was one thing Matt had learned over the years, then it was how easy it was to kill another human...and how hard to kill a friend.

So, he had made sure that at least ten percent of each year's officer trainees had studied at the military academies in the Combine and the Umojan Protectorate. And in return, the Dominion had made sure that twenty percent of the students at the military academy of Augusgrad had been members of the Combine's and the Protectorate's military.

However, the most impressive part of the honor guard were the four huge alien warriors walking next to the hearse. When the Protoss had heard of Matt's death, they had decided to honor his legacy by sending four warriors to accompany the honor guard. Their leader was the biggest Protoss any human had ever seen. He was a warrior clad in golden armor and a sight to behold. They had even managed to interview him. Apparently, his name was Horrash, and while he had never met Matt personally, he had told the people of the Dominion that Horner's name was well respected among the Protoss...almost as much as the legendary James Raynor, who had vanished many years ago.

The three other warriors represented the other parts of the Protoss society; a former Tal'darim, a Nerazim, and the mechanical body of a Purifier. The Protoss were still busy recovering from the Great War. Funny thing; now that the war was over, the humans had managed to heal their wounds a lot faster than the Protoss and even the Zerg, most likely because the Zerg had decided to lay it low and were even trying to establish diplomatic relationships with the humans. In a weird, zergish way.

As Kate watched how the funeral procession was moving towards the cemetery, she had to smile. She could still remember those good old days...who hadn't been good at all. All that death and destruction now lay behind them, and even though Kate had never told Matt about it, she credited people like him for the peace they were experiencing now.

And even though she would never speak it out loud, she knew that the Koprulu Sector had lost one of the most honorable men that had ever fought for them.

And that he would be missed...

* * *

There were countless people standing in the streets, watching how the funeral procession moved past them. So many! It was as if the whole city had decided to say goodbye to Matt. You would expect something like that when the Emperor would pass away, but for the de-facto minister of defense? Well, the people believed that this was well worth their time. When the procession finally reached the cemetery, there was already a huge crowd standing in front of the gates. But not everyone was allowed to enter the cemetery.

Four marines got the coffin out of the hearse and carried it towards Matt's final resting place. Their power armors weren't painted red and didn't bear the insignia of the Dominion. Instead, someone had decided to paint them blue...

...and they were carrying the insignia of his old unit, the Raiders.

It was a nice gesture. The Emperor himself had given the order to do that. When the Marines reached the resting place, they put the coffin down and then it was lowered into the hole. No one dared to say a word. The funeral guests were all important people from all over the Dominion and beyond. The newly appointed Minister of Defense was there, even though she wished she wasn't. Even after all these years, she still didn't like to be in the spotlight. There were some things that would never change. And General Terra was still too much of a Ghost to enjoy any of this. But her days of fighting were long since over.

Aside from her, there were a few other officers that had served under Matt's command. But the only former Raider was none other than Commodore Swann. He looked old, like _really_ old. He was in his early seventies now, but working as the Principal of the Dominion's Academy for Military Engineering had given him a new purpose in life. And he loved his job too much to just go into retirement. He had even shaved. Even though he sat right next to General Terra, they didn't really talk to each other. They had just exchanged quick glances and nodded at each other, nothing more.

The ambassadors of the Dominion's allies were present as well, including the ambassador of the Protoss, who was so big that he had decided to stand near the main gate. However, the first row of seats was exclusively reserved for close family and friends. They all looked up when the priest stepped in front of them and started to speak to them.

"We have gathered here to pay our respect to Matthew Horner." the man began. "Those of us who knew Admiral Horner, we will always remember him as an exceptionally idealistic soul. Someone who always thought about the greater good and was willing to put his own needs aside. I think it is safe to say that no one of us has ever met such a devoted man before. And the things that he has done for us will never be forgotten. And neither shall we forget that, while he walked among us, we felt protected. He possessed a rare gift, one that not many possess. He was able to inspire others to be better people." the priest explained and there were a few people in the front row who started to sob. Especially a middle-aged woman with dark hair seemed to be visibly shaken. Next to her was none other than the Emperor himself. And what did Valerian do? He grabbed the woman's hand and gave it a soft squeeze...

It is never easy to see a loved one put to rest. And Maria Hernandez knew that she was supposed to be strong, but to hell with that. She had just lost her husband. The only man that had ever managed to stay sane with her around.

"Matthew Horner was not just a politician. Or an officer. He was also a son. And a brother. But most importantly; he was a husband...and a father." The four young people that were sitting next to Maria lowered their gazes. Three boys and one girl. Or, to be more precise; one young man and three children. You could actually see the relationship, especially when you looked at Matt's firstborn. He was the spitting image of him, only much younger.

"Miss Hernandez...Maria." the priest then said and looked into Maria's eyes. "I think we all feel truly sorry for your loss. Matthew was a strong man. His death caught us off guard. There were still so many things that he could have taught us. But we want you to know that you are not alone in this. We are all here for you. And for you too." he explained and looked at Matt's and Maria's children, who only managed to nod.

The priest talked about the meaning of death and life, but no one really listened to that. When he was finally done, Valerian wanted to stand up, but then he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back. Behind him, a young woman with icy-blue eyes showed him a gentle smile, and so he only nodded and watched how the young woman walked to the front and faced the funeral guests.

She was pretty huge, almost two meters in height. Even in the far future, that was something unusual. Especially considering the fact that she had inherited that trait from her mother...

There was strength in her movements...and grace. Even though she was still young, she looked like she was destined to lead. Her long blonde hair and her icy-blue eyes gave her something truly aristocratic, but just like her mother, she was a bit more, well, muscular than most women. It gave her an imposing presence.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, for those who do not know me..." Which was physically impossible. "...my name is Helena Juliana Mengsk, Crown Princess of the Dominion Empire. And I would like to tell you about a man that I liked to call "Uncle". My dear uncle Matt." A warm smile appeared on her face when she looked over to her father. Valerian gave her a proud nod and so she continued.

"You all have heard about the great Admiral Horner and his achievements. But when we talked about who should hold the eulogy, I wanted to be the one doing it. Not because I enjoy this task, but because I want to tell you about a man you probably have never met." Helena Mengsk took a deep breath and you could see that she was having a hard time keeping her own emotions under control.

"I don't think I can remember a time when Uncle Matt hadn't been around. At times he and my father were so busy working that they were spending all the time together. For the first few years of my life, I actually thought that he was my real uncle." Some people started to smile when they heard that.

"But I don't want to talk about the Admiral. I want to talk about the man. You see...Uncle Matt always cared for the people he was responsible for. And he was always worried about everything and anyone. We all know what he has done for the Dominion, and I don't want to question his accomplishments. Admiral Horner will forever be missed. But so will Uncle Matt." she said and lowered her sight.

"People will remember him for his courage, his will for change, his tenacity. And his ability to listen. But I will remember him for something else." And then a warm smile appeared on the young woman's face.

"Even though there was always something to do, Uncle Matt would never bring work back home. I was a guest of the Horner-household many times, and when he was home, he was not an Admiral, but a husband and a father. He never placed the burden of his duty on anyone else shoulders. I think that is what I will always remember; how much he loved his family." When Matt's widow heard that, she gritted her teeth and hot tears started to stream down her face.

"I owe some of my fondest memories to him. Like when I was allowed to join them on vacation. I don't know if you're aware of that, but being a princess can sometimes be really annoying." she chuckled and a warm smile appeared on Valerian's face. Helena was not just his daughter and heir to the throne, she was also so much more than he had ever been. When Valerian had been her age, he had dreamed of greatness, of becoming a ruler everyone would respect and love!

Oh, he had been such a fool.

The burden of leadership had changed him. He had been a shitty little brat back then, and he didn't really like to think about his old self. However, seeing his daughter like this filled his chest with pride. She was so much more of a leader than he had ever been. She was kind, humble and gentle, all qualities she had inherited from her mother. Valerian was grateful that she had turned out like Leila...and not like her grandfather. From time to time, he wondered what his father would think about his grandchild. Would he consider her to be a weakling, just like he had considered Valerian a weakling?

He probably would have used her as just another pawn.

But Helena was a lot smarter than Valerian. And a lot smarter than Arcturus had ever been.

Valerian's only true regret was that Leila was no longer around to see what a wonderful woman her daughter had become. Once this funeral was over, he would visit her grave and tell her just how amazing her daughter was...

Maria looked over to Valerian and could see how his eyes started to water. And she knew who he was thinking about. This time she squeezed his hand, and Valerian looked over at her. She knew how he felt, even though he had lost the love of his life many years ago. They would give each other strength.

"Being with the Horners was always fun. During these vacations, I wasn't a title. I wasn't an heir. I was a girl that was allowed to have fun. It was the simple things that he did that made us smile. And I will always remember Uncle Matt. He gave me the chance to be a normal girl, who enjoyed normal things without anyone judging me." she explained and looked over to Matt's first born. Their eyes met for a second and then you could see how both of them blushed and looked away.

It was truly cute to see them like that, and more than one person realized what this was about.

"Matt Horner will always remain in our hearts. And we have to thank him for so much that we will never be able to repay our debt to him. But we can honor him by following his example. Because there is one thing I am certain of, and I know that I'm not the only one who thinks so; Matt Horner was a true hero. And he will be missed."

* * *

The funeral was over. And the dead finally had the place to themselves again. Everyone was gone. Everyone but one man. He stood in front of the gravestone and looked at the inscription.

 _Matthew Horner_

 _Husband_

 _Father_

 _Friend_

 _Thou shall be missed_

It was simple without being cheesy. Matt would have loved this. The man didn't say anything for a long time. All he did was to stare at the gravestone and shiver from time to time. It was cold out here. He was no longer used to the cold. His home was always warm, and if he was honest with himself, then he wanted to leave this place at once. There were too many people here, and just like the cold he was no longer used to the big city. He put his hands into the pockets of his thick coat and took a deep breath.

"Hey, Matt..." the man whispered after a while. "...long time no see."

And then he was quiet again.

"Believe it or not...I wanted to do this for a long time. Not standing in front of your grave, but, well, seeing you again. You know what I mean." He grimaced and then he lowered his gaze.

"I'm sorry, Matt. I blew it. I should have come here a lot earlier. But I was, well, busy. Doing nothing, I suppose." Perhaps that was a bit harsh, but right now he felt like the king of douches. If Sarah would be here, she would tell him that he should stop blaming himself. But he couldn't.

"I saw your family. Was in the last row. Didn't manage to see you again while you were still alive, but at least I was there during your funeral. Better than nothing, huh?" he joked, but at the same time he felt horrible for saying something like that.

"Well, what can I say? Four kids? Nice job, man! Never thought that you had it in you! And from what I heard, you were a wonderful father! Another thing you were better at than me. Not that I had ever doubts about that. You're the man, Matt. You have always been the man." This was a lot harder than he had thought it would be. He clenched his hands into fists inside his pockets and did his best to fight the tears back.

"I wish I could have told you what I have seen...what I have been up to. There are so many things that I wanted to tell you about. And that I wanted to show to you." And then he started to chuckle. He knew that it was idiotic to talk to someone who was dead, but he didn't care about that.

"So, I guess I should tell you what I'm doing these days, huh? How have I been? Well, let me tell you; my life has become one crazy funhouse!" Jim laughed. "In case you're wondering; me and Sarah, we're still together. Though I have no idea why she keeps up with a lazy hobo like myself. Then again, it's better to just roll with it. Otherwise, she would ask herself that question and realize that she should have ditched me a long time ago." He then took a deep breath.

"You should see her, Matt. I know that you never really liked Sarah, but she has changed. She is a whole different person now, and I'm sure that you would have liked to call her a friend. I really mean that. Oh, and your man Brent? Joseph? In case you wonder what happened to him; he's part of our little gang now. Yep, the crazy bastard decided to hook up with us. Or, to be more precise, he decided to hook up with a weird Zerg-lady." When Jim realized how absurd all of that sounded, he couldn't help but chuckle again.

"And no, I'm not making this up. Wish I could show you Sternenheim. I bet you would like it. It's goddamn paradise and the exact opposite of this place here." he said and looked at the skyscrapers in the distance. "Endless oceans, pristine beaches...the local wildlife is a bit weird, but I got a pet that keeps me safe. Uglier than a Zergling beaten with a stick, but the cutest thing ever once you get her to know. She keeps me safe should I screw up again." Jim whispered.

"...just like you used to do."

Jim shivered and could feel how an icy clump formed inside his chest.

"I'm so sorry, Matt." he then managed to mumble. "You always kept me on track, always pulled my head out of the gutter. You believed in me when no one else did, including myself. You were more than just my comrade and friend..." Jim said and swallowed hard. "...you were my brother." And then he knelt down right in front of the gravestone and placed his hand on it.

"I know it's too late for that, but I want you to know that it was an honor to call myself your friend. Even though I was the shittiest friend of all times. You were the man. You were always the man. And I-"

"Excuse me...who are you?" a new voice suddenly reached him and Jim looked over his shoulder in surprise. Behind him was a young man, and for a second Jim thought that it was Matt, only much younger. But then he finally recognized the man.

"You are...Matt's son."

"And who might you be?" the younger man asked and looked at Jim with suspicion. "Also; Matt? No one called him like that, except his closest friends. Who are you?"

"I'm..." Jim started, but then he stopped when he realized that he couldn't tell the young man the truth. "...I served under your father." Well, close enough.

"This is supposed to be a private funeral. You can visit the grave tomorrow when the cemetery will be opened for everyone." the young man scolded him and Jim gave him a sad smile.

"Sorry, I didn't want to break any rules. It's just...I came here only for that and I only have one day left. So yeah...sorry if I broke some rules." he explained and Matt's son frowned. He looked like he was thinking about calling some guards, but then he sighed and looked away.

"Should have known that someone would get here. So, who are you? You look strangely familiar. Have we met before?" the young man asked, and for a second Jim was afraid that he was busted. But nothing like that happened and Jim felt some relief when Matt's son pointed his finger at his father's gravestone.

"So, you worked for my father, yes? Were you a member of his staff?"

"Me? Staff work? Oh God, no! No! Hahahaha!" Jim laughed when he heard that. "I worked...in the field. And your father, he, well, he kept my back clear all the time. Would have died many times if not for him."

"Yes, I heard these kinds of stories plenty of times. Many people say that he saved their lives. I never heard any details, though."

"Your father didn't tell you?" Jim chuckled.

"No. Dad never told any war-stories. He didn't like to talk about the Great War. He would always say that "It's no point to think about past battles when we should concentrate on avoiding future conflicts." The only war-stories we ever heard were when Uncle Rory came to visit us. War was one of the topics my father never liked to discuss."

"I see." Jim mumbled. And then he brushed with his hand over the smooth surface of the gravestone.

"Listen, I understand that you probably want to pay your respect to my father, but this is a really bad timing." the young man then said. "My mother wanted to have a moment alone with him and you really should leave now. If you do that, then I won't call any guards. Deal?" he asked and Jim took a deep breath. There were still a lot of things he wanted to say, but then again...

...there was nothing more to say or do.

"Okay, kid. I don't want to give anyone a hard time. I just wanted to say goodbye and-"

"Jim?" a new voice reached them, and Jim's eyes widened in surprise. He looked over at the woman that was approaching him, and both he and the young man said "Yes?" at the same time. They looked at each other in surprise.

"Wait, your name is Jim?" Jim asked and Matt's son blinked a few times.

"Actually, it's James. But my father always used to call me Jim. Your name is Jim too?" When Jim heard that, he was too perplexed to say anything. The woman was walking towards them and now he recognized her. It was Maria Hernandez. And next to her was none other than Valerian.

"Shit..." Jim whispered. He didn't want Valerian to see him. "Thanks for not calling the guards, kid. I'll be gone now." he mumbled, turned around and walked away from the grave. After a few steps, he stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Kid?"

"Yes?" Matt's son asked.

"Your name...why did Matt decide to name you Jim?" When James Horner heard that, he frowned.

"How do you know that my father picked the name?" he wanted to know.

"Please...just tell me." Jim urged him and the young man sighed.

"He named me after an old comrade. I don't know any details. Like said; he never told us old war-stories. But he did tell us that this man, this James...he was his best friend. He even called him his brother. And that without him, none of us would be alive. His name was James, obviously. James Eugene to be exactly, that's why I'm stuck with that horrible second name." When Jim heard that, he didn't know wherever he should cry or laugh.

"Your name is James Eugene Horner?" Jim wanted to know.

"Actually...it's James Eugene Valerian Horner. But don't tell that anyone. I'm pretty content with Jim. Now, if you wouldn't mind, please leave." And Jim? He looked one last time over to the gravestone and then to Maria and Valerian, who were approaching fast.

"Okay." Jim then mumbled. He walked away and then he stopped one last time.

"Oh, and kid?"

"What?" James Horner asked with an annoyed tone in his voice.

"Thanks." Jim told him and the younger James frowned when he heard that.

"For what? Not calling the guards?"

"Yeah...that too." And then Jim was gone.

When Maria and Valerian reached the grave, James' mother looked after the person that was walking away.

"Jim, who was that?" Maria wanted to know.

"Just someone who served under Dad's command. He wanted to say goodbye, I guess."

"How the hell did he manage to get here?" Valerian snarled. "I really have to talk with the guys from the security. This is unacceptable!" the Emperor explained. "If word gets out that there was an uninvited guest at Matt's funeral, then-" But that's when Maria put her hand on Valerian's shoulder.

"Please, your Majesty...not today. I just want to say goodbye." Matt's widow explained and Valerian sighed. He took her hand in his and nodded.

"Okay...I'm sorry." And so, Maria Hernandez got the chance to say goodbye to her husband. And at her side were her son, James Eugene Valerian Horner, and Emperor Valerian Mengsk. As Jim walked away, he left with a mixed bag of feelings inside his chest. He was still sad, yet seeing Matt's family had been...

...it had been...

...it had...

...Jim didn't even know how to describe what he had just witnessed. Sure, he wished that Matt was still alive. But at the same time, he realized that his old friend's life had been filled with love and joy. And even though it didn't heal the pain in his heart...it helped to ease it.

When he left the cemetery behind, he did so with the knowledge that even though Matt was gone...

...his legacy would be carried on.

* * *

When Jim reached the place where he was supposed to meet Joseph, he knew that something was wrong. But only when he entered this establishment, he realized the true nature of this place.

"Oh, come on! You gotta be kidding me!"

It was a bar. A pretty shabby bar, to be precise. The name had already given Jim a hint of what to expect, but after stepping inside...

The name of the bar was "Hyperion". And it wasn't just called Hyperion, the bar also looked like the cafeteria on board of his old ship.

"How the...?" he mumbled and looked around. Everything was just the way he remembered it. Even...

"Oh hell, is that my jukebox?!" Jim yelled and several guests looked at him and frowned.

"Yo, Jim! Over here!" a familiar voice reached out to him and he turned around. It was Joseph, and he was sitting at a table on the other end of the bar. Jim walked over to the other man and when he sat down, he shook his head in disbelief.

"Tell me that this isn't real." he mumbled and Joseph pulled his brows up when he heard that.

"What? That we are on Korhal and-"

"That this place looks exactly like the Hyperion's cafeteria! How is that even possible?" Jim hissed.

"From what I heard, someone who used to be on the Hyperion decided to rebuild this bar so it would look exactly like the cafeteria. Though to be truly honest; this place is a lot cleaner." Joseph explained and then he grabbed his glass and drank his drink in one go.

"Whew...that stuff is potent!" Joseph gargled and put the glass back down.

"What is that?"

"Water." Joseph replied and Jim groaned on the inside. Of course it was water. Some things would just never change. He looked around and frowned.

"Why would anyone build a bar that looks like the Hyperion's cafeteria?" he mumbled and Joseph chuckled.

"This place is very popular with recruits and students from the engineering school. It's rumored that the principal of the academy himself was involved in the design." Wait a second. The principal of the academy for engineers?

"Swann? Oh...well, that makes sense." Jim growled. "He knew every screw of the old Hyperion. And aside from myself, no one drank more alcohol in these halls."

"Looks like the real deal, huh?" Joseph mused.

"Meh, it's...adequate. It looks like, but it doesn't smell right." Jim stated.

"Let me guess; doesn't smell like vomit and despair?"

"And sweat. Don't forget the sweat. This place is too clean. The floor on the Hyperion was a lot more...sticky." Ah, the good old times. Walking through the Hyperion barefoot had always been a _delightful_ experience. "But this looks like the real deal. I wouldn't be surprised if Swann actually disassembled the cafeteria and put it back together down here."

"Hardly. The Hyperion went missing around the time you went missing." Joseph then said and Jim blinked in surprise when he heard that.

"Wait, what?"

"You didn't know?" Joseph asked.

"Would I say "Wait, what?" if I did?" Jim growled and Jim shrugged his shoulders.

"Beats me. Well, anyway, the Hyperion went missing after that Swann-guy took her to Meinhoff. No one ever heard of her again. But it was big news. And especially Kate Lockwell sucker punched Horner for losing a goddamn battlecruiser. I was watching that while I was still in hospital. It was awesome." When Jim heard Matt's name, he lowered his gaze and Joseph noticed that.

"So, how was it? Did you-"

"I don't want to talk about it." Jim mumbled, yet since when had Joseph ever cared about that.

"I don't want to sound like an ass, but I knew that this would happen. We are not meant to be here, Jim."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Jim snarled.

"Look around. You see these people? Do you think you are like them? Because you have two arms and two legs? Maybe you should think again."

"I'm not in the mood for this bullshit right now, Joseph."

"You think I like to be the one telling you this?" the other man replied. "Jim, you are an idiot."

"Noted. And you are an asshole."

"That may be so. But at least I know where I'm heading. But you? Do you really know what you want to do with your life?"

"That's a stupid question." Jim growled. "Of course I know what to do with my life."

"And what would that be? Be Sarah's cook and nanny for the rest of eternity?" Joseph chuckled.

"Would that be so bad?" Jim replied. "What if I just want to be there for Sarah? She needs someone to look after her. She has found a new purpose, Joe-"

"Here we go again..." Joseph growled.

"...and I want to support her as much as I can. Maybe I'm not like her. Maybe I can't mend a planet with a mere thought. But I have a strong back and two working knees. And I love her. And I will be damned if that's not enough!"

"Oh, no one doubts that your back and your knees work. I'm more worried about your mind. Or, to be more precise, I'm worried that your head isn't in the game."

"Oh, for the love of...why can't you just shut up, Joseph! Seriously!"

"Because I like Sarah. And because I think that right now you're not ready to face what's coming for you."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Jim barked. A few people were looking over to them, but no one really seemed to care about their argument.

"It means that you can't go on like this, Jim. Some old remnant of your old life pops up, and you run back to this place as if you're still part of their life."

"Watch it, Joseph." Jim hissed. "I had a really shitty day."

"Yeah, and you will continue to have shitty days. Until each and every one of your friends will be gone. And then? What then? Will you take it upon yourself to look after their children? To make sure that they won't have to fear anything?" Joseph wanted to know.

"What? No! Why should I? What are you even talking about?"

"What I'm talking about is simple; playtime is over. You can't afford to be broken anymore. And you can't afford to be in several places at once. Sarah needs you now. More than ever. And that includes _all_ of you. You better realize that soon."

"Just what the hell are you talking about?" Jim wanted to know. However, Joseph wasn't willing to tell him what he knew. Sarah had to do that.

"You will know soon enough. Now, are we done here?" Joseph then asked. He too didn't like Korhal anymore. Perhaps he had never liked it to begin with, even though this was his birth world. But things had changed. _He_ had changed.

"I think I want to stay a bit longer." Jim mumbled.

"Why? You're not drinking anymore. So, what's the point?"

"Just...give me this moment, will ya'?" Jim growled and leaned back. He stared at the ceiling and enjoyed the silence for a while. Or the sound of all these people enjoying themselves.

"Wanna' know something crazy?" he then mumbled.

"What?"

"I met Matt's son."

"Hmm..."

"And you know what his name was?"

"Matt Junior?"

"James." Jim mumbled.

"That's a horrible name for a child. I bet he was bullied all the time during childhood." Joseph said, but Jim decided to ignore that comment.

"He named his son after me...and what did I do? He lived his life and did something like that...and what did I do for him? Nothing..."

"You really think that, don't you?" Joseph suddenly asked and chuckled. "You really think that you just let him down and that you are the worst friend of all times."

"Save me your sarcasm, Joseph. I'm not in the mood for that right now." Jim growled.

"Oh, I'm sure you aren't. But guess what; I don't care. You heard what he did. He's a big hero now. And even though he did all of that, he could only do it because of you. You think you're the worst friend of all times? If that's true, then I don't want to know what you consider "best friend of all times". Seriously, do you even understand that without you, none of this could have happened?"

"I was hardly that important. I was just the face of the Raiders. Matt was the one who kept them together." Jim told him.

"That's not what I heard." Joseph replied and Jim frowned when he heard that.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that when I became the Admiral's adjutant, he wouldn't stop telling me how much it had shaped him as both a soldier and a man serving under you. You were his big hero, his role-model. Maybe you don't want to admit it...maybe you are indeed too humble to accept it...but Jim, you are a goddamn hero. And don't try to deny it. I would have loved to have a friend like you when I was younger. The kind of guy who will always stand by your side. The kind of guy who rides into the sunset after the work is done. You know, like in those cheap western. The hero has done his part, and now he moves on."

"Move on to where?" Jim asked.

"The next adventure, of course." Joseph explained.

"And what kind of adventure would that be?"

"Oh, you have to ask Sarah about that." Joseph chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean."

"Ugh, I said too much. Point is; you were the best friend anyone could have asked for. The only reason why Horner was able to do what he wanted to do was because you paved the way for him. You allowed him to build a better world. I'd say that naming his first-born after you...was a pretty good idea." And then both of them were quiet. Jim stared at the table in front of him and remembered all those moments he had spent in the Hyperion's cafeteria. So many good moments, so many bad moments.

Times when they had celebrated big victories.

Times when they had mourned the loss of friends.

"This isn't real..." Jim whispered and looked around. "...it looks like the real deal, but it isn't. And no matter how much I wish I could turn back the time, I can't. I can't speak to Matt anymore, and I can't see the guys on the Hyperion anymore. I guess that part of my life is truly over, isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Joseph said and then emptied his glass. "...but that doesn't mean that your life is over. Because right now someone is waiting for you back home. Someone who loves you with every part of her body. Maybe I sound like an asshole...but Matt is dead. Sarah isn't. And she needs you. Not just a part of you, she needs _all_ of you. You can't allow yourself to be broken anymore, Jim."

All Jim could do was to stare at that empty glass for a long time. And then he knew what he wanted to do.

"Come on, Joseph..." he mumbled and stood up. "...let's go home."

"Now you're talking my language!"

* * *

When the day was finally over, Sarah's powers did what they were told to do. And when Jim and Joseph came back to their senses, the cold city of Augustgrad was nothing more than a recent memory.

"Ah, home sweet home." Joseph sighed and looked around. They were standing on a beach they both knew well. It was close to Jim's home. "Well, that was probably the longest field-trip of all times."

"That's one way to look at it." Jim mumbled and then he sighed.

"Jim, listen..." Joseph suddenly said and the other man frowned. "...I know that I can be an asshole from time to time. But I want you to know; you are the last person who should blame himself for what happened. Maybe you will realize one day that what you did was not short of a miracle. And I'm pretty certain that Horner's last thoughts weren't "Oh dang! I never knew what happened to that asshole Jim that I used to call my friend." but rather: "I'm grateful for everything Jim did for me. And grateful for being able to shape the future. And I'm grateful for my family. In fact; I'm so grateful that I will name my first-born after the man that I call my friend." I think that's what he would say." Joseph explained. "Because, you know...people don't name their kids after guys they hate. At least normal people."

Jim didn't say anything for a long time. When he finally did, he looked at Joseph with an uncertain look on his face.

"You really think that those were Matt's last thoughts?" he wanted to know.

"Well, actually I think that his last thoughts where: AGH! IT HURTS! MY CHEST! AAAAGHHHH! HARGA BLARGA!" Joseph replied and grabbed his chest, acting like he was suffering from a heart attack. Jim blinked a few times and then he shook his head.

"You are such a bag of shi-"

"Oh, hey! Look! It's Sarah!" Joseph interrupted Jim and pointed at the figure in the distance. Jim looked over his shoulder and sighed.

"She looks...worried." he mumbled.

"Geez, I wonder why's that." Joseph growled and then he turned away.

"Where are you going?"

"Home. Just remember one thing; you can't afford to be broken anymore, Jim. Sarah will need you by her side for this. And you will finally get your second chance." Joseph said as he walked away.

"Just what the hell are you talking about?" Jim wanted to know.

"Oh, you will know soon enough. See you around, Cowboy."

And then Joseph was gone.

Jim looked after him for a while, but then he turned back towards Sarah and a warm and exhausted smile appeared on his face. However, as she came closer, Jim could see that something was wrong.

"Sarah? Are you okay?"

She looked like hell. Her hair was a mess and she was covered in... creep? Well, at least her legs were covered in it. And her hair did look like a bird's nest.

"Hey, Jim." she said and stopped right in front of me.

"Sarah, you look...did you have a fight with a tree?"

"Uhhhh...long story. Let's not go into details. We should just make sure that we avoid Izsha for a while. She's a bit...crazy and overprotective right now."

"Wait, what? Did something happen?" Jim wanted to know. Sarah sighed and lowered her gaze.

"You could say that." she mumbled and then she looked back into his eyes. "So, how was your trip?"

"I... I don't know..." Jim decided to tell her the truth. "It was strange. I saw some familiar faces. And a few new ones as well. I think I will need some time to process all of it."

"Well, if you want to talk about it, then..." she offered to him and he gave her a smile.

"I will. I promise. Care to go for a walk? Augustgrad was so cold, my bones feel like have turned into ice!" he suggested and Sarah nodded.

"That sounds nice." she whispered, and so they decided to walk over the beach. Soon Jim began to tell her about what he had seen on Korhal, including Matt's family.

"...he...named his son after you?" Sarah wondered.

"Yeah, I know. Crazy bastard. And I wasn't even there to talk him out of it." Jim mumbled, yet there was a sad smile on his face. And that's when Sarah suddenly stopped. Jim looked over at his lover and frowned.

"Sarah? Is everything alright?" he asked and watched how a nervous smile appeared on her face.

"Well, maybe there's a way for you to repay him one day..." she mumbled.

"I don't think I can follow. What are you talking about?" That's when Sarah grabbed his hand and placed it on her belly. She looked into his eyes and knew that this was the perfect opportunity to tell him. But even then it took her all of her courage to tell him. It was funny, she had faced angels and demons, and slain dictators and heroes. But now? Now it took her all of her strength to say those three words.

"Welcome home...Daddy."

At first, Jim didn't say anything. His brain seemed to need a few moments until it finally managed to process that information. But when it did...

You could actually see how Jim's expression changed. From confused to baffled, from baffled to disbelieving, from disbelieving...

And that's when he started to cry. For a second, Sarah thought that he was indeed not happy about it, but then he slung his arms around his lover and pulled her into a tight hug. It was when he finally understood what Joseph had tried to tell him. And Sarah? She started to cry as well. Not because she was in pain, or because she was afraid. When those golden tears streamed down her face, she knew that she had been worried about nothing.

And Jim? He knew that this changed everything.

He could no longer afford to be broken. Not now...

...now that he had finally a family again.


	114. Act IV - Chapter 30

**...**

* * *

 **Act IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter** **30**

 **Family**

* * *

This night, as Sarah lay in Jim's arms, she felt a deep sense of happiness. She was not really able to explain it, but it felt as if something had changed. As if _she_ had changed. From within. Perhaps it sounded cheesy, but having accepted the fact that she was indeed pregnant, and the fact that Jim had cried like a little boy when she had told him about it had caused her to cry as well, but not tears of pain or fear. No, it had been tears of joy.

Sarah was still awake when Jim had finally succumbed to all that stress and mental fatigue, she looked at his sleeping face and could see the faint smile on his lips. Even now she could sense his love for her, and for the unborn life growing inside her. She looked down and felt his warm hand resting on her belly. It was so strange, Sarah could feel the presence of the Little One inside her mind. Now that it was so close to the two people that had created it, it felt happy.

And that made Sarah happy.

Right now...

...everyone was happy.

For some odd reason, sleep didn't want to come to Sarah. She felt exhausted, yes, but at the same time, her body refused to just give in. Her hands wandered down and she placed them on Jim's, who was still resting on her belly. Gone was the fear and the doubts. Sarah had been afraid that Jim would have been angry. He once had told her that losing another child would break him, but when Sarah had told him the happy news, all his doubts had vanished within seconds.

And Jim's determination was giving Sarah the strength to accept whatever would happen next.

Oh, there were so many things they had to think about. Neither Jim nor Sarah had any idea what this meant. Perhaps she should be worried about what was growing inside her womb. She had thought about this possibility before; what if the Zerg had left a little something in her genetic code, something that she wasn't even aware of. What if the Little One growing inside her would be like the Queen of Blades? It wasn't about the physical shape Sarah was worried about, but what lay beneath the flesh.

However, what Sarah felt was no ill intent, no sinister thoughts. The only thing she felt when her mind touched the Little One was innocent glee. And as Sarah felt the presence in her mind, she felt the urge to protect it, to keep it safe from all the evils in this universe. And Jim? He would help her with that. This was a task that required two.

Suddenly Sarah had to think about her parents, only to realize that she could barely remember a thing about them. Except, of course, the trauma that had left a mark on her soul for so many years. Raising a child? Sarah had no idea how to do something like that. The Ghost Academy hadn't taught their graduates how to nurse a child. Well, at least she wouldn't run into this madness alone. Jim had been a father, so he would be a huge help.

Sarah had already made up her mind that he would be the one to change the Little One's diapers.

"...see 'bout...that..." Jim mumbled, and a smile appeared on Sarah's face. Even though Jim was already asleep, he could still hear her thoughts.

And let's not forget their friends. Yes, friends. Perhaps it was still too early to call Karax a friend, considering that he was still bound to Sarah. As for Izsha, well, she was already very eager to get her hands on the Little One in order to teach it all the things it had to know in order to rule this entire galaxy! And Brent? Oh, boy! That guy would be either the worst uncle of all times or the best.

Probably the worst. _Most definitely_ the worst.

But as weird as it sounded, couldn't this be considered some kind of family? Weird and unlike anything the galaxy had seen, but family nonetheless?

"Family..." Sarah whispered. Yes, family. They were about to become a family.

Suddenly a loud _clank!_ could be heard from down below. At first, Sarah thought that it was rain, but then she looked out of the window and realized that weather was still nice. There was no real night on Sternenheim, but ever since Sarah's powers had blown countless holes into the nebula that surrounded the planet, there was something close to a "twilight hour".

Another _clank!_ came from down below, and that's when Sarah realized that it wasn't the weather that was responsible for this ruckus, but a certain someone.

"Moby..." Sarah sighed, and that's when another _clank!_ echoed through the otherwise quiet house. Just what was their pet doing down there? Moby could open doors, so if she wanted to get out, she could do that. And their home had no locks. Whatever it was, it could wait until-

 _Clank!_

"Uhhhh..." Sarah sighed. No wonder she couldn't sleep, not with their little devil having fun down below.

 _Clank!_

"Please, just give it a rest." Sarah whispered.

 _Clank!_

She looked over at Jim, but he was sleeping like a little baby. And he wasn't faking it either, Sarah could tell that much. For a second, she thought about waking him up and tell him to deal with Moby, but then she decided to let him rest. Whatever it was, Moby would probably calm down and then-

 _ClankClankClank!_

"Oh, for the love of-" Sarah hissed and rolled out of the bed. Since there was still enough light outside, she didn't need to be very careful. She walked downstairs, ready to scold Moby and tell their pet to either go back to sleep or head out and hunt some palm trees. Seriously, tomorrow Sarah would tell Jim to stop treating Moby like a little princess. The last thing they needed were two babies screaming for attention.

When Sarah entered the living room, she looked around.

"Moby?" However, Moby was nowhere to be seen. Sarah even checked her favorite spot, but the couch was empty.

"Hmm..." Sarah grumbled. Was this a dream? One of the many dreams that she had experienced, where a fleet of Protoss vessel would suddenly attack their home, or the Queen of Blades would appear right behind her? But no, this wasn't a dream. She was awake and aware of everything that was going on around her. Jim was still sleeping, and Sarah thought about going back upstairs and-

 _Clank!_

"Uhhhh..." she groaned again when she heard how the sound came from the kitchen. So that's where Moby was. Sarah walked into the other room and looked around. And what she saw...

...was nothing.

"What the...?" she mumbled and looked around. There was no one around, and a huge white kriecher was kinda hard to miss. That's when Sarah saw how the door leading outside was closed, just when she entered the room. She walked over to the window and looked outside. During the twilight hours, it was hard to make out what was going on outside. But Sarah could swear that she saw something white between the palm trees. She frowned and decided to check it out. Sarah didn't really know why, but for some odd reason she just _felt_ like she had to take a closer look.

When she stepped outside, she wore only a thin coat. It wasn't cold, not really. As she slumped towards the treeline, she could make out the shape of Moby. The white kriecher had turned its back towards her and its tail was wiggling like crazy, which was a sign that Moby was exited.

"What's the matter, girl?" Sarah yawned. Even though she felt somewhat exhausted, she still wasn't really tired. When she reached their pet, she placed her hand on Moby's flat head and looked down. "Did Jim feed you too many apples again and now your belly hurts?" It had happened before. Only then Sarah realized that something was wrong.

"Moby? What is it?" Geez, she knew that talking to the kriecher was pointless. However, it was one bad habit that she had adopted from Jim. As she looked at Moby, she could see how their pet stared at the jungle in front of them, almost as if it was seeing something. Sarah's eyes followed Moby's, but all she saw was...nothing. At least nothing interesting.

However, there had to be something out there. Otherwise, Moby wouldn't react the way she did. Maybe it was that Protoss? Tesson. Sarah closed her eyes and listened to her powers, how they were whispering things to her. It wasn't like it had used to be. Her control over her powers had changed drastically over the last few years. However, they would have warned her if something was wrong, or if there was some danger ahead. And they would keep her safe. Her...

...and the Little One.

Still, as Sarah reached out with her senses, she could feel _something_. It wasn't another presence, not really. It felt like psionics, but like her own. It was like an echo, and unlike anything Sarah had ever felt before.

"No wonder you're so agitated, girl." Sarah whispered to Moby. "What is this and, wait, Moby!" she shouted when suddenly the huge kriecher jumped forward and stormed into the jungle. That couldn't be good. Within seconds, Moby was gone from her sight.

Sarah had no idea why, but suddenly she felt the urge to follow the kriecher. Something was wrong, but at the same time, the presence of the Little One seemed to be especially excited. Sarah looked over her shoulder and at their home. Jim was still sleeping, and for a second, she wondered if she should just go back to bed or wake him up. But then she just shrugged her shoulders and decided to follow Moby deeper into the jungle. Maybe a walk would help her to calm down, and once she was back, she would finally be able to sleep. That sounded like a solid plan. Besides, there was nothing on Sternenheim that could hurt her. Who would pick a fight with a goddess whose strength was growing with each passing day?

"Mooooooby!" Sarah called after a while. "Come on, where are you?" From time to time she could hear a "Sssssaaaaaaa!" in the distance, but aside from that Moby stayed out of sight.

"Great, just great." Sarah growled. "Thanks, Jim. You spoil her, and then she thinks that she doesn't have to listen anymore!" Much to her own dismay the presence in the back of her mind felt gleeful joy at her anger. Sarah stopped and looked down at her own belly.

"Oh, this amuses you, hmm?" she asked, not even sure if the Little One was actually able to perceive what was going on around it. Like said, it wasn't supposed to be much more than a clump of cells. However, this clump of cells was already brimming with psionic power. As Sarah brushed over her belly, she wondered what that would mean for the future. She couldn't even imagine what it would be like.

"Well, I guess there's still time to worry about all of that, hmm?" Sarah whispered and sighed.

"Sssssaaaaaaa..." she could hear Moby in the distance, and then she sighed again.

"Probably angry because now she's no longer the center of attention." Sarah growled and decided to follow the kriecher's footprints. She followed a trail that led her up a hill. Now that twilight was surrounding her, the jungle looked almost eerie. Fortunately, she could sense everything around her. Sarah could even feel the faint presence of Joseph and Izsha, and how they were...oh...nevermind.

"Gha, I need to get that picture out of my head!" Sarah groaned when she realized what those two were doing right now.

She couldn't sense Karax, which meant that he was probably on Ulnar. However, Sarah could sense the presence of the other Protoss, Tesson. He was many kilometers away, and his mind felt sad, angry, and... confused?

However, the entire time this strange echo made it impossible for Sarah to make out any details. It was even hard to sense Moby. And the longer the distance between her and her home became, the harder it became to sense Jim. Her powers still hadn't fully returned to her. They would, in time. Maybe this was a side-effect? Maybe this strange psionic echo was just another thing she had to learn to live with?

Well, there were worse things. By now Sarah was used to the fact that voices were whispering strange un-words to her. If she understood them, awesome. If not, then she just decided to ignore them. Also, talking to yourself wasn't so bad. That way, you always had someone who would agree with you. Well, most of the time. Huh, now that Sarah walked through the dense jungle of her home, she suddenly remembered that voice that had used to talk to both her and Jim. They hadn't heard that voice for years now and weren't really thinking about it anymore either. Both Sarah and Jim had come to the conclusion that this voice had probably been a part of her subconsciousness, a fragment of her mind that had reached out to both of them.

She continued to follow Moby's tracks with ease. Some things would just never change, and even though Sarah hadn't picked up a rifle ever since that fateful day on Ramelow, some of her skills were still as sharp as ever. And that included her skill to track others. She didn't even need her powers, all that training she had received as a young woman was more than enough to figure out in which direction Moby had gone.

Sarah could feel the glee emitting from the Little One growing inside her. It was as if it wanted to tell her that this was fun!

"So, you like that, hmm?" Sarah whispered and placed one of her hands on her belly. "Who knows, maybe I can teach you one or two tricks one day." However, that led her mind to another question, one that wasn't quite so simple as the Little One's mind.

What should she teach it?

Well, that was actually a tough question.

Tracking was not really a skill that was a must-have, at least Sarah couldn't think of any practical use nowadays. And how to snap someone's neck? No, that wasn't a skill she would want to teach her offspring either. Firing a rifle? Nope. The skills Sarah possessed were all rather, well, bloodthirsty. But that life was over, and she didn't want to think about it anymore. The Little One would need someone to teach it how to use its powers. That was something Sarah could do. Maybe it was even something she was destined to do. Who else could do that job, hmm? Sarah's psionics were on another level now. She was pretty certain that Artanis wouldn't be a good teacher.

But those were just the psionics, and they didn't define how a person would turn out.

"Well, I guess I leave that "good person"-stuff to Jim." Sarah mused. Oh, there was no doubt in her mind that he would be a wonderful father. But still, when she thought about Jim and his past life, she couldn't help but feel, well, _inadequate_. All her powers and abilities hadn't prepared her for this moment. The former assassin, former Queen of Blades, former self-proclaimed Queen Bitch of the Universe, would she really be a good mother?

"Mother..." Sarah whispered and thought about that word for a while. Yes, mother. Sarah Kerrigan was about to become a mother.

She was aware of the fact that her child would never be "normal". Not just because of its physiology, but also because of the fact that it would be Sarah Kerrigan's child.

Let's face it, half the Koprulu Sector would probably poop their pants just thinking about the fact that Sarah Kerrigan would produce an offspring. They would all think about the Queen of Blades 2.0.

But that wouldn't happen.

Sarah was deep lost in thought when she reached a clearing. Above her, the beautiful sky of Sternenheim pulsed in all the different colors only a stellar nebula could produce. Between the huge gashes in the nebula, Sarah could see the stars beyond. Karax had figured out that the nebula would close itself again, but that would probably take a few million years. And even Sarah wasn't planning _that_ far ahead. Jim had once told her that children should play outside, it was how he had grown up. Well, at least their Little One wouldn't grow up in fear of the Zerg.

Sarah looked around and searched for signs of Moby, but suddenly the tracks were gone.

"Where did that little rascal go?" she sighed. That's when she heard something behind her. Sarah turned around and squinted her eyes. The strange echo in her mind suddenly felt even stronger. Even though it felt weird, it wasn't unpleasant.

"Moby?" she yelled, and a few trees next to her rustled when they felt disturbed by her loud voice. "Oh, shut it!" Sarah growled and gave the tree next to her a soft kick. And that's when she heard that hissing sound in the distance.

"Sssssssaaaaaa..."

"Ugh, no treats for you, Lady!" Sarah growled and decided to follow their pet's hiss. She walked up another hill and decided that she would take a hot bath once she would come back home, even if she would wake up Jim. If he had a problem with that, then he could join her. However, Moby continued to elude her. At one point, it started to become bothersome. Going for a walk was one thing, running a goddamn marathon another. She was not in the mood for games right now. When Sarah reached another clearing, she looked around and frowned.

"Moby, enough fun and games! Come here, girl!" Sarah did receive an answer, but one that she hadn't expected.

"Your little monster is not here." When Sarah heard that deep voice, she turned around and squinted her eyes. Oh, she was getting sloppy! She hadn't even paid attention to her surroundings! However, now that she knew that she wasn't alone, the other one could no longer hide from her senses.

"Show yourself..." Sarah growled. "...Tesson."

When the huge Protoss emerged, he didn't blink into existence, like the Nerazim used to do. Instead, he simply walked up from behind a tree and leaned against it. Tesson crossed his arms in front of his chest and kept his eyes closed. But even then, Sarah could sense something weird...it was as if something had changed about this Protoss.

Both Sarah and Jim had decided to leave Tesson alone. So far, he had proven to be harmless. And since Sarah had decided to no longer kill, his fate was sealed; he would be spared, but not allowed to leave so he couldn't warn his people on Aiur. Then again, ever since his attempted escape from Ulnar (that had led him to Sternenheim), Tesson had not even considered once to escape.

"Here to pick a fight, Tesson?" Sarah wanted to know. She too crossed her arms in front of her chest, showing her distaste for this Protoss. However, she could feel how the presence of the Little One started to grow more excited all of the sudden. It felt almost as if the growing life inside her was _happy_ to see Tesson. The thought that Sarah's child would like Protoss was actually bothering her a bit.

"Hardly." Tesson muttered. "I was just following a whisper, that's all." He turned his head away and looked at a point in the distance. "Your little monster went that way."

"Uh huh." was all that Sarah replied. Tesson had kept his distance for years now. As far as Sarah was concerned, it could have stayed that way. But now that he was here...

"Haven't seen you in a while." Sarah mused, which caused Tesson to chuckle. She frowned when she heard that. "What's so funny?"

"You don't have to pretend as if you care about me, Queen of Blades." he explained, and Sarah gritted her teeth when she heard that.

"You probably didn't get the memo, but I don't go by that title anymore."

"Oh, someone did indeed tell me about that. And some other things. Things that I still find hard to believe." When Sarah heard that, her mood turned sour.

"We haven't talked much, Tesson, but let me tell you this; I'm not fond of cryptic bullshit." she snarled.

"While I have no idea what "bullshit" is, I think I can relate." the Protoss muttered. Sarah didn't like this whole situation, and she just wanted to grab Moby and return home. Maybe she should talk to Jim about this guy. Sarah didn't want to kill, but having a Protoss so close to her home wasn't really helping her to ease her mind.

"I want to be honest..." Sarah then said. "...I wouldn't mind if you would just turn around and go your merry way. No offense, but I and Protoss, we don't really get along well." With Karax being the only notable exception.

"Hahahaha..." Tesson suddenly chuckled when he heard that, which only irritated Sarah.

"What's so funny?" she wanted to know, and the huge Protoss just shook his head, his eyes still closed.

"I guess we have something in common. The Protoss and I don't really get along either."

"And what should that tell me?" Sarah asked, still waiting for the punch line. Instead of giving her a straight answer, Tesson sighed and did what Protoss liked to do so much...

...he told her stuff she didn't even care about.

"I betrayed my people." the former Nerazim whispered. "I thought I was doing the right thing when in reality I was just serving my own selfish needs. However, I couldn't see that back then. It took me time to come to that realization. A lot of time."

"What makes you think that I care about any of that, huh?" Sarah mumbled. "Unless...you want to tell me that you want to return to your people. In that case, well, I'm sorry. But I can't do that. Not even if you give me your word." She placed her hand on her belly when she felt sadness coming from the Little One. Was it trying to tell her something? If so, Sarah wasn't getting it.

"No, I doubt there would be a place among my kind for me anymore." Tesson mumbled and shook his massive head. "So, I made a decision, one that involves you." He then straightened himself and turned his face towards her, but kept his eyes closed.

"Me?" Sarah snarled and made a step backward. Was he really thinking that he could take her on and then what? Kill her and return her body to Artanis in order to show him that he was worthy of the Hierarch's trust?

"I, Tesson of the Nerazim, offer you my services." the Protoss announced, and Sarah was too dumbfounded to reply something immediately. She blinked once, twice, three times, and then she pulled her brows up.

"And what makes you think that I require your services, hmm?" she asked. "I already got a Protoss working for me, I don't think I can handle two of you guys."

"I'm not a phasesmith, if that helps you." Tesson explained.

"Not really." Sarah growled. Under normal circumstances, she would have refused immediately. However, the Little One seemed to be almost _ecstatic_ about that idea. For a long time, Sarah didn't say anything. All she did was to stare at the Protoss that had just offered her his services.

"Tell you what, I'll think about it." Sarah growled and then she turned away. She didn't really mean it, though. As she turned away, Sarah didn't see how Tesson opened his eyes and looked at her back. And his eyes still glowed goldenly.

"You do that." he muttered. "You know where to find me." And then Tesson turned away as well and walked back into the jungle. Sarah would tell Jim about this once she was back. And maybe the others. Izsha would probably suggest her to send Niadra after Tesson, and to get rid of him. A part of Sarah's mind was inclined to agree, but in the end, she decided to leave this decision to another day. Besides, when she thought about the possibility to end Tesson, the presence of the Little One seemed to be in utter distress. Sarah was even forced to stop and placed both of her hands on her belly.

"Shhh, don't worry. No one is getting hurt. I promise." And much to her own relief the Little One calmed down almost immediately. When Sarah felt that, she sighed. "But of course. There's a pacifist growing inside me. Oh, the irony!" Little did Sarah know that she would be forever grateful for that in the distant future. Even though she didn't trust that Protoss, she still walked in the direction Tesson had pointed her.

"Ssssssaaaaaaa..." Sarah could hear Moby in the distance.

"That's it, no treats for you for the next few weeks. Little Princess thinks she can make me run around in circles? Well, let's see who's the alpha in _this_ relationship." Seriously, just because Jim had surrendered to Moby's cuteness, didn't mean that Sarah had to follow suit. The last thing she needed were _two_ babies to take care of.

When Sarah stepped out of the jungle, she was greeted by a wonderful view. She was standing on a cliff and looking down at the beautiful ocean of their homeworld.

Yes, homeworld. This place, this impossible world within a stellar nebula, covered in oceans made out of freshwater, filled with not even one dangerous critter, and those lush jungles that covered the many islands that formed the landmasses. This place was, by the very definition, paradise.

There were worse places to raise a child.

...to raise a child...

As Sarah enjoyed the sight, she placed her hands on her belly once more and sighed. Suddenly she had to think about Paula. Over twenty years had passed since they had left Ramelow. How was her friend doing? Was she doing okay? And what about Trevor? And Book? And Phil? And, of course, little Louise, who Sarah had never even seen once. The urge to return to Ramelow and visit her old friends was still there, but Sarah knew that it would only complicate things.

When Sarah thought about all the things that could go wrong, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Ssssssssaaaaaaaaa..."

Sarah turned around and sighed when she spotted that white kriecher.

"There you are. Moby, come on, I want to go home. I'm tired." Moby was standing right at the edge to the jungle. Her white skin made it easy to spot her. In fact, she was so bright that Sarah didn't even notice the figure standing right next to Moby. All she could sense was that weird echo again. And this time it felt as if it was almost directly upon her.

Maybe it was a side-effect of her pregnancy?

Well, if that means that she wouldn't puke her guts out in the morning, she was fine with that.

Sarah turned her eyes once more to the ocean and took a deep breath. Just what would the future bring? Suddenly she wished that there was someone she could turn to for advice, someone that would help her with all those nagging questions. Sure, Jim knew what it meant to raise a child, but he was, well, a man. And in the end, it would be Sarah that would give birth to this child, not him. So yeah, it would be nice to talk to someone. Unfortunately, she knew no one. No one except Paula, but that was out of the question.

"I bet I will be a horrible mother..." Sarah sighed.

" _You will be a wonderful mother."_ When she suddenly heard that voice again, Sarah frowned. There was no doubt about it, it was that voice, the one that she and Jim had heard before. The one that almost sounded like her own.

"Well, haven't heard you in a while." she whispered.

" _My time is almost up, but I wanted to see you one final time..."_ Something was strange. The voice, it sounded different. At first, Sarah wasn't really able to explain what it was, but for some odd reason, it almost sounded as if she could hear that voice both in her mind _and_ with her ears. Well, she was probably getting tired. She really should head back home.

"Come on, Moby. I want to go home now. No more running in circles." She turned back towards her pet and clapped her hands. However, Moby didn't react. "Oh, this isn't funny anymore. Moby, come on!" she ordered, and the huge kriecher seemed confused. Moby walked forward, but then she stopped halfway towards Sarah.

"Moby, come here." Sarah said with a soft tone in her voice. "It's okay, once we are back, I will give you a treat." If strictness didn't work, then she had to bribe this little devil. Still, it seemed that Moby was caught between a rock and a hard place. She looked over to Sarah, and then back at the jungle. It was almost as if she couldn't decide which way to go.

"Great. What kind of mother can I be if I can't even make my stupid pet listen to me?" Sarah growled in frustration.

" _The best kind any child could ask for."_ the voice answered, and that's when Sarah finally noticed the figure standing in the shade of a palm. At first, Sarah thought that she was just imagining things. She couldn't feel anyone. Sure, she hadn't felt Tesson earlier, but only because she had not paid any attention at all at her surroundings. But now she could sense everyone on this planet, including Jim, who was still sleeping, and even Joseph and Izsha who were still busy doing...things.

It took Sarah a few moments before she finally realized that there was indeed a person in front of her.

"You...that voice...you are another fragment of my mind." she whispered when she finally realized the truth. The figure looked just like her. It had the same shape, the same frame. There was no doubt about it. So, this was it, huh? The entire time, the voice both she and Jim had heard had been her own. It probably made sense. However, it was beyond Sarah how this fragment had managed to survive all this time on its own. And how-

" _I'm not a fragment."_ the voice explained, and now there was no doubt about it; Sarah was indeed hearing it within her mind and with her ears.

"As far as I remember the other fragments all believed that they were the real me." Sarah mused. "Who are you? The version of myself that was de-infested? Or are you from the time when I joined the Sons of Korhal?" Talking to yourself can be considered schizophrenic, but if your name is Sarah Kerrigan, then it's pretty normal stuff.

" _I'm neither. I'm from...some other time."_

"Oh, really?" Sarah mused. She was preparing to defend herself. Maybe this thing was Narud, the one from her mind? And somehow that bastard had survived? Maybe it had decided to lay low all these years.

" _I'm not Narud."_ the voice explained, and Sarah felt surprised when she heard that.

"You...can hear my thoughts?" Even though the figure remained in the shadows, Sarah could see how she nodded.

" _It is something my mother taught me. It was a gift, so I would never be alone, no matter where I go."_

"Your mother?" Sarah whispered and squinted her eyes. "And who would that be?" Instead of answering, the young woman made a step forward. And as she emerged from the shadows, Sarah's eyes widened in surprise.

"Who..." she began. "...are you?"

Sarah was looking at herself. Only that it wasn't herself. Oh, the overall shapes were almost identical. The young woman that stood in front of her was the same height. And then there was that face. She was almost the spitting image of Sarah. Almost.

There were differences. Like the hair. Where Sarah had red hair, this young woman had a lush, brown mane.

"You are worried that you will become a horrible mother, but that couldn't be further from the truth." the young woman explained and a warm and gentle smile appeared on her face. "I have waited so long for this moment. I wanted to see you, wanted to talk to you. But I couldn't. Not until you had reached this point. But now everything is the way it is supposed to be."

Perhaps Sarah should have realized what this was all about, but right now she was too stupefied to process any of this. The face of the young woman, it was...no, that couldn't be.

It just looked like Sarah's face. That triangular shape, those full lips, that cute nose. She was quite the beauty. But those eyes? Those weren't Sarah's eyes. They weren't green, they were brown. And not just any brown. They looked exactly like the eyes of someone she loved with all of her heart. Sarah was too confused to say anything. The young woman made another step forward. And then another one. And another one.

"I watched from afar. I was supposed to learn." she explained. "To see how it all started. At first, I was excited. Dad always told me that it would be the most epic road trip of all times." she chuckled, and when Sarah heard that, she frowned.

"Dad?"

"He always had my back. So I was looking forward to seeing all of this. But then..." The young woman suddenly stopped and looked down at her own feet. "...then I saw all that hurt, all that pain. And I realized that it was unfair. I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to tell you that everything would be okay. But I had to keep my distance." And that's when Sarah finally started to realize what this was about.

"No..." she gasped. "...this is impossible. It can't be!" She pressed her hands against her mouth and tried her best to fight the shock. The young woman looked up again and their eyes met. And now Sarah could see that the other one was crying.

"I missed you so much." the young woman wept. However, Sarah was too shocked to say anything. Not because the other one was crying right in front of her...

...but because her tears were made out of gold.

* * *

For a long time, no one dared to say anything. All Sarah could do was to stare at the young woman. This was a dream, it had to be a hallucination, or someone had managed to cast an illusion. Maybe Tesson? But how?

"This...this can't be...it's not possible. How is that possible?" Sarah whispered, contradicting her own words. A sad smile appeared on the young woman's face.

"Once my mother taught me that I shouldn't try to understand the true nature of my abilities. Sometimes I should just go with the flow."

"Your mother?" Sarah whispered again. "Who...?" The young woman chuckled when she heard that question, and brushed a single tear from her cheek.

"I think that's pretty obvious, wouldn't you agree?" she asked back and showed Sarah a goofy smile. The same smile that...

"And... your father?"

"Daddy." the young woman said with so much warmth in her voice. "He taught me so many other things. Like that you should always speak the truth, and that you should stand up for what you believe in." When Sarah heard that, she wanted to say something, anything. But she couldn't. Suddenly her throat felt as if she had a lump of the size of a planet in her throat. No, it couldn't be. It was impossible! Karax had once told her that, unless someone would show him that time travel is possible, he would not believe in it.

"It's not time travel, not really." the young woman explained when she sensed Sarah's thoughts.

"Then what is it?"

"It's...more complicated. And, well, I don't think I can really explain it." The young woman made another step towards Sarah, and now she had almost reached her. When they were finally face to face, Sarah could only stare into the face that looked almost like her own.

"You just said that you would be a horrible mother. But that's not true. You will be a wonderful mother. Caring. Loving. And always there. You...and Dad." the young woman continued, and thick, golden tears streamed down her face. They fell to the ground where they turned solid. Sarah didn't even notice how she too started to cry. She raised her hand, slowly. This had to be an illusion, it couldn't be real! However, when her hand touched the cheek of the young woman, all the doubts started to fade away. Right in that moment, the unborn life in her womb started to react. And that's when Sarah felt it.

That strange psionic echo, it hadn't been an echo at all. Every person had its very own psionics, just like an own scent. And Sarah had indeed felt the psionics of a different person, only that she hadn't been able to tell them apart from her own. Because they were almost the same.

Almost.

And the moment the young woman opened her mind, Sarah could finally feel the truth. The psionics of the young woman in front of her, and the faint powers of the life growing inside of her...

...they were the same.

More tears streamed down the young woman's cheeks, and Sarah could feel how her own emotions were starting to get out of control.

"I grew up surrounded by so many friends, and my family was always there for me. There was not a single moment when I was alone. And when you and Dad were busy, then Auntie Izsha and Uncle Joe would always allow me to stay with them."

"Auntie...Izsha?" Sarah whispered. This was unreal. This had to be a dream! But it felt so _real_.

"And of course, Uncle Karax. He taught me so many things, at times I thought my head would explode. And they weren't the only ones..." the young woman mumbled and looked over her shoulder. At first, Sarah didn't understand what she was getting at, but then it clicked.

"Tesson?" she whispered, and the young woman nodded. She looked back at Sarah and a warm smile appeared on her face.

"Please, he means a lot to me. Don't send him away. His intentions are true." Sarah tried to find signs of ill intend, but she couldn't find any. Before Sarah could say anything, the young woman suddenly started to _flicker_. For a second, it seemed as if she was about to vanish, but then her body turned solid again.

"What...is this?" Sarah gasped and made a step backward. The young woman looked at her own hand and a sad smile appeared on her face.

"I'm almost out of time. Well, so to speak." she whispered and looked at Sarah. "I wanted to see you one last time, wanted to speak to you. You and Dad, you always told me that you were very different people back when you met. I never understood that, until now." She took a deep breath, and Sarah could sense her anxiety. "All that pain, all that hurt. Yet you still continued to move on. I don't think I could have done the same. You two...have come such a long way. I think I now know why you sent me here, why you told me that I had to see it. I had to understand."

"Sent you...here?" Sarah mumbled, still in shock. "Me?" The young woman nodded when she heard that.

"Dad wasn't fond of the idea, but you told him that it was necessary. _"In order to shape the future, she has to know the past. All of it. The good...and the bad."_ That's what you told him."

"I did?" To Sarah, none of that made any sense.

"You are the wisest woman I've ever met." the young woman explained. "And now I understand why I had to see this, all of this." She then took a deep breath and pressed her hands against her chest. "And now that my time's almost up, I don't want to leave. I want to stay and watch more. I was able to speak to the great Valerian Mengsk himself, even though he had no idea who I am. I saw Matt Horner! And..." The young woman wiped another tear from her cheek. "...I got the chance to meet my brother Johnny. Oh, and I finally know where I got my name from. And I even saw how awesome Artanis truly was!"

"How awesome Atanis truly was?!" Sarah muttered and an embarrassed look appeared on the young woman's face.

"Well, let's just say that you didn't like the bedtime-stories that Dad always told me. Oh, crap...Dad told me to not say something like that. Ehhhh..." The moment Sarah saw that embarrassed smile on the young woman's face, she realized that it was the same smile Jim always showed her when he had screwed up. Suddenly the young woman's whole body flickered again, and she shuddered.

"It's time..." she whispered, and Sarah realized what that meant.

"Where are you going?" she wanted to know, and the young woman lowered her gaze.

"Not where. When. I have to go home." She took a deep breath and stepped closer once more. Sarah, no longer shocked by all of this, placed her hand on the young woman's cheek again. And when their eyes met, neither one dared to say anything for a long time.

"I want you to remember something..." the young woman whispered after a while. "...I love you. I love you so much, and you will become the best mother any child could ask for. You and Dad, you were always there for me. I grew up surrounded by people that loved me, that guided me, and that were always by my side." That's when both of them started to cry like little babies. Sarah didn't even know why, it was as if her body simply felt the urge to do so. For some odd reason, crying felt right, at least in this moment. And suddenly she felt how the unborn life inside her and the presence of the girl right in front of her were one and the same. Sarah watched how the young woman reached out, but then she hesitated.

"May I...?" she whispered, and when Sarah realized what she was talking about, a warm smile appeared on her face.

"Go ahead." And when the young woman placed her hand on Sarah's belly, both of them gasped in surprise. This was unreal. However, at the same time, Sarah knew better to question this moment. The moment she felt that hand on her belly, it felt as if her psionics and that of the young woman became one. She saw herself, standing on so many worlds, filling them with life. And next to her was Jim. He was always there, even in the distant future. Sarah sighed in relief when she realized that he would _never_ leave her side again. There were other things she saw, people and places that she didn't recognize. She didn't recognize them because she hadn't seen them...yet.

And then she saw the one moment, the one moment that was destined to be the most wondrous moment of her entire life...

* * *

 **Another time...**

* * *

"How are you?" Jim asked, and an exhausted smile appeared on Sarah's face when she looked up.

"Tired. But I'm fine." She sat on the bench standing on the veranda of their home and looking at the beach in front of them. She loved this view, so much in fact that Jim had built another small house right here, so she could enjoy the view.

"Do you need anything?" he wanted to know, and she could sense his anxiety. However, that wasn't necessary.

"It's okay. Didn't even hurt, you know. I guess there are benefits to be me." she joked and felt how the little object in her arms started to squirm. She looked down and a warm smile appeared on her face. "Look, Jim...she has your eyes." When Sarah spoke those words, a single golden tear of joy streamed down her cheek. The creature in her arms looked up at her with big brown eyes and...

...no, not creature.

Child.

A child.

 _Her_ child.

"She looks so beautiful." Sarah whispered, and Jim sat down right next to her. He brushed with his finger over the cheek of the Little One, and the infant squealed with delight when it felt the soft touch of her father on her chubby cheek.

"She sure is. You made one beautiful baby, Darlin'." Jim mumbled, and she looked over at him.

" _We_ made one beautiful baby, Jim." And he didn't argue with that. As Sarah looked at the little squirming child in her arms, she felt more at peace than she had ever before. The Little One had been part of her for so long. Space goddess-pregnancy sure as hell lasted longer than a normal pregnancy. They had stopped counting the years once they had reached 200, but hey, now that she held this little miracle of life in her arms, Sarah knew that it had been worth it.

"She looks happy." Jim mused. "Hasn't cried even once. I don't know if I should be happy or worried about that."

"It's because she tells me what she needs." Sarah replied. "I can sense it." When Jim heard that, he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Why am I not surprised about that?" There was no hurt in his voice, no disappointment that this little baby and Sarah already shared a special connection. "You hear that, Little One? Mommy knows what you need. You know what that means, don't you?" he whispered, and then a goofy smile appeared on his face. "That means that she's on diaper-duty!" That actually caused Sarah to chuckle.

"We will see about that." she just mumbled, and then she brushed her finger over the baby's cheek, just like Jim did. More tears streamed down her face as she watched the Little One in her arms.

"How is that even possible, Jim? How is it possible for something so _innocent_ to exist?" However, Jim had no answer for that. All he knew was that there were things that you shouldn't question, all you should do was to accept them. Like, for example, that life can be indeed beautiful.

Never before had Sarah felt such a deep sense of peace. And as she brushed over her little baby's cheek, she started to hum a song.

"...leaving on a jet plane, I don't know when I'll be back again..." she started to sing, and the little bundle of joy in her arms squealed with delight. Soon, both she and Jim were singing their favorite song to their child, and she really seemed to enjoy it. They were watching how the Little One's eyes were starting to grow heavy, and when she was asleep, Jim looked over to Sarah and kissed her on the cheek.

"And? Did you already come up with a name?" he whispered into her ear, and a warm smile appeared on her face.

"Yeah. I know a good name." she replied and looked her lover straight into the eyes. "I want to name her..."

* * *

Sarah gasped when her consciousness returned to the here and now. It took her a moment to regain her focus, and when she looked ahead, she could see the face of the young woman right in front of her.

"That's..." Sarah gasped, and then the young woman, whose one hand was still resting on Sarah's belly, placed her other one on her cheek. That's when her whole body started to flicker again.

"No!" Sarah suddenly said when she realized what that meant. "You can't go yet! I got questions, so many questions!"

"I know." the young woman replied. "And you will find answers to those questions, all of them. And one day, you will teach the answers to those questions to me. And all my siblings." When Sarah heard that, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Siblings?" And the young woman nodded when she heard that.

"You always said that you wanted a big family." This was almost too much for Sarah to comprehend. However, all her thoughts and questions were cut short when the young woman in front of her flickered once more. This time Sarah could actually feel how the hand touching her cheek vanished for a second.

"I... I don't know what to say." Sarah whispered.

"You don't have to." the young woman replied. "You already did that. Many times." And then she made a step backward. Sarah felt the urge to grab the young woman's hand and keep her close. She didn't want her to leave, not now!

Not ever.

"I won't leave. I'm already with you, remember?" the young woman explained and pointed with her finger at Sarah's belly. She made another step backward, and her body continued to flicker. As she was walking towards the treeline, Moby approached them and produced a sad hiss. The kriecher seemed to realize what was about to happen.

"Don't worry, Moby. We will meet again." the young woman said and patted the white kriecher on the head. Moby then turned away and trotted over to Sarah and sat down right next to her. When the young woman had finally reached the treeline, she looked Sarah once more into the eyes.

"Wait...you haven't told me your name!" Sarah suddenly shouted. A smile appeared on the woman's face.

"You already know. You chose a good name for me, one that I'm very grateful for." She then wiped a tear from her cheek and laughed at Sarah.

"I know that I sound like a broken record, but still...I love you." And then her body vanished for good. However, there was one last word that reached Sarah's mind, even after the young woman was finally gone.

"...Mum."

And that's when Sarah's eyes widened and she finally remembered the name.

"Paula!"

* * *

When Jim woke up, he felt weird. As if he had cried the entire night. For a second, he thought that something had happened, but then he felt Sarah's warm body close to his own. She had pressed her back against his chest and put his hand on her belly. She was still sleeping, he could tell that due to their shared connection. However, there was something strange. Jim felt how something was poking him in the side. He grabbed under his body and pulled something out. It was small, and at first, Jim thought that it was small stones. Wait, had Moby slept in their bed again?

But when he looked at the small pebbles in his hand, he realized that they were indeed made out of gold.

Wait, gold?

"Sarah?" Jim mumbled when he realized that those were Sarah's dried tears. He grabbed her shoulder and turned her around, but Sarah was sleeping like a baby. He wanted to wake her up and ask her if something was wrong, especially as her dried golden tears were _everywhere_. But that's when Jim saw the look on her face. Sarah was smiling, and it was a smile he had never seen before. It looked like it belonged to a woman who had finally made peace with herself. And while Jim still wanted to know what this was all about, he could feel how Sarah snuggled closer to him and said only one thing.

"...just...five...more...minutes..."

And instead of waking her up and asking Sarah what this was all about, Jim just decided to just give her those five minutes, who would turn into five hours. And in the end, it didn't really matter.

What mattered was that Sarah's fear of what the future would bring...

...was finally gone.


	115. Act IV - Chapter 31

**...**

* * *

 **Arc IV**

 **Slice of Life**

 **Chapter 3** **1**

 **Putting the Pieces back together**

* * *

Matt didn't live to see how this better future arrived. It was one of the few things Jim truly regretted, but, over the course of time, he learned to accept it. What mattered was that people knew who to thank for. From time to time, Jim would venture to worlds in the Koprulu Sector and see how everyone was doing, but with each passing decade, these visits became less and lesser. There were other things to do.

For someone who had known so much war, it was a strange sight; the people of the Koprulu Sector were starting to come together and cooperate instead of waging war upon each other. There were always little squabbles, though. Perhaps it was only to be expected. Some guys just didn't like to play by these new rules, and even during that era of peace, a few wars were waged. However, none of them reached the scale of the Great War.

The pirates and mercenaries around Deadman's Port tried to conquer their own little piece of the sector, yet they had grossly overestimated their own abilities. Even though the military of the Dominion hadn't seen any large-scale action for decades, they had dealt with the enemy forces quickly. But that conflict was just a footnote when compared to the other things that had happened.

Soon, the Dominion became the new economic powerhouse of the sector, and it brought much-needed stability to this place of the galaxy. Worlds like Korhal, Tyrador, and Antiga Prime became cultural and economic hotspots. And let's not forget the world of Ramelow, that became one of the biggest producers of agricultural products. The humans were doing alright. And none of that could have happened without the help of a certain someone.

No one knew exactly why this was happening, but one world after the other started to flourish again. Nature reclaimed the barren wastelands that the Great War had produced. To most scientists, it was a miracle. Radiated places became habitable again, poisoned atmospheres became breathable again, contaminated water became drinkable again. Some claimed that someone was responsible for that, an entity of unspeakable powers, yet those people were usually called crazy and then ignored.

Who in the galaxy possessed the strength to do something like that, huh?

If someone would ask who came out on top after the end of the Great War, then the answer to that question would be the humans, to pretty much everyone's surprise. As for the other races...

Let's start with the Zerg because that's easy; the Zerg were no longer interested in galactic conquest. However, they did protect their own world fiercely and the Swarm was just as dangerous as ever. But aside from that, they had changed too. Even though they mostly stick to themselves, diplomatic relations started to happen between humans and Zerg. Not so much between Protoss and Zerg, though. These two would probably never get along, but some things just never change.

As for the Protoss...well...

They managed to survive. The Great War had depleted their ranks, and even though the great Artanis had managed to unite much of the Protoss species, they still had to learn to coexist. Ex-Conclave, Nerazim, former Tal'darim and Purifier all had to work together, and that didn't work without growing pains. And while the Protoss were mostly busy with themselves, humans were starting to catch up quickly. Soon they would be the dominant species in this sector.

None of that mattered to those who still remembered a time when all these three species had waged war upon each other...

* * *

Sarah took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The sun felt good on her skin. It felt right. Although...

"The ozone-layer still hasn't fully recovered." she explained. "This is taking a bit too long for my taste."

"Perhaps we should speed up the process?" Joseph suggested. He stood behind her and was taking notes. Unlike Izsha, who could memorize everything, he had to write down what Sarah was telling him.

"No." Sarah replied. "We just have to wait a while longer. There's no point in speeding up the process, it will only risk the overall process. The ecosphere is already under a lot of stress and needs time to recuperate."

"This might cause some problems. The Protoss that have settled on the other side of the world are starting to realize that it's not their equipment that's responsible for the change." Joseph told her and Sarah looked over her shoulder.

"Did Karax tell you that?" she wanted to know.

"Nope, I just listened to their radio chatter. We shouldn't stay too long here, they want to send out additional research-teams and find out what's causing their sensors to malfunction."

"The Protoss use radios?" Sarah asked and showed Joseph a cocky smile.

"You know what I mean." he sighed and shivered when the cold finally started to get to him.

"What's the matter, Joe? Too cold for your taste?" she teased him.

"Well, if you ask that way...it's a _tiny_ bit cold." Joseph replied. "Also; don't call me Joe. I'm not a-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You're not a goddamn trucker." Sarah chuckled and then she looked up at the blue sky. "Look, the clouds."

"Yes, their form has changed. Looks like the upper atmosphere is now able to hold more moisture than the last time we've been here and-"

"No, Joseph. I meant; the clouds look nice." Sarah interrupted him and then she gave him a warm smile. "You have to look at the things and enjoy the moment, Joseph. Because this moment in this form will never come again." There was wisdom in her words, but Joseph wasn't in the mood for another philosophical lesson.

"Well, I would probably be able to enjoy these clouds more if it wouldn't be so effin' cold and-"

"Joseph, what did I tell you about cursing?" Sarah suddenly interrupted him and he sighed.

"No cursing when you are around. Yeah, yeah..." he growled.

"Need I to remind you that the Little One can hear you?" Sarah said and pointed at her own belly. "And I don't want its first word to be a cuss word." When Joseph heard that, he groaned.

"Seriously? You've been pregnant for how long now? Thirty, forty years? And you still keep on doing that?" he wanted to know.

"For as long as it will take." Sarah told him. "Also; you should really man up. Right now, you are not uncle-material!"

"Well, I guess I still have plenty of time to work on that." he mused.

"Less than you know, my dear Joseph. Less than you know..." Sarah cooed and Joseph frowned when he heard that.

"Huh? Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Nope. Not really. Say, how's Izsha doing?" Sarah wanted to know with a cocky smile on her face.

"Dunno. Just told me that I should accompany you this time. Guess she's having a bad day. Or a bad week. She mostly sticks to herself as of late. Maybe it's because there's so little to do these days."

"Right..." Sarah chuckled. "...so, how many years do you think it will take before this world will be able to sustain itself?"

"Huh? You're the expert on making planets nice and shiny again, why ask me?" Joseph asked.

"Because I want your professional opinion on this! Now come on, how long?" When he heard Sarah's question, Joseph sighed. He looked around and studied the landscape around them. Everything was covered in ice and the only reason why Joseph hadn't turned into a popsicle was because Sarah's power kept them warm and shielded from the cold. However, even though it was freezing cold, it was not as cold as the first time when Sarah had visited this place.

"I'd say another sixty years? Maybe one hundred? Hard to say. Now that the Protoss are here, things will change. They're gonna fu...their involvement will complicate things." Joseph corrected himself.

"Nice save."

"Thanks. Anyway, I think we should leave the Protoss to it. If they find out who did this they might, uhm, well..."

"Yeah, I and the Protoss just don't go along well. I know. What do you know about the Protoss who came here?" Sarah asked out of curiosity.

"Former Nerazim, it would seem. At least judging from their ships. They hope to establish a permanent settlement here. The first since the end of the Great War, so they are all very eager to make this thing work. They even got a name for it."

"This world has already a name." Sarah told him.

"Well, now it has a new one. Das-Shakuras. It means-"

"Let me guess." Sarah interrupted him. "New Shakuras?"

"That obvious, eh? Yeah. The Protoss aren't much cleverer when it comes to naming things than humans. Apparently, some people on Aiur weren't happy with the settlers renaming this place. The name had been-"

"Kaldir." Sarah interrupted Joseph again.

"Would you stop that?" he growled. "At least let me finish my sentences! But yeah, the name of the world was Kaldir. How do you know that?"

"I've been here before." Sarah mumbled. "But, to be honest, it wasn't a good time."

"Seems that way." Joseph mumbled and shivered again. "I don't want to sound like a whining baby, but haven't we seen enough?" When Sarah heard that, she chuckled.

"What's the matter? Want to go home?"

"Yes, please. I'm not made for these kinds of temperatures." Joseph growled and Sarah sighed. He had just accompanied here out here because Izsha was, well, busy. Under normal circumstances, she would have accompanied her Queen off world and Sarah had to admit; things went much smoother when her best friend was at her side. But currently, Izsha had other things to worry about. Sarah inhaled the cold air and sighed. The cold air felt good in her lungs, at least until the little one protested and made its mother know that it too wanted to return home. Sarah placed her hands on her belly and smiled.

"Okay. Let's go back home." she whispered.

"Finally. Thank you for listening to me." Joseph mumbled, not realizing that she hadn't even talked to him.

So many years had passed. However, aside from the fact that Sarah knew that she was pregnant, there was no visible proof of that. At least not on the outside. But this wasn't just any normal pregnancy. What was growing inside her wasn't a mere human. It was so much more. Uplifting a species to join the ranks of the Xel'Naga usually had taken millennia, maybe even longer. So perhaps it was only logical that Sarah was in for a _very_ long pregnancy leave.

"Well, let's see how Das-Shakuras will look like in a few hundred years." she then said.

"Hopefully a bit warmer." Joseph mumbled and then they were on their way.

* * *

When Jim finally woke up again, he was alone. He looked around and checked his surroundings, even though it was unnecessary. He knew she was gone, her presence in the back of his mind had been reduced to a faint and distance glow far away. He had told her not to do it. He had done that so many times. But it was always the same old story. She was gone...and he stayed behind.

He could still feel the warm afterglow of both her body and mind. She had only left recently. Hm, busy little thing. Always on the move, always working hard. Sometimes too hard. He looked at the wooden ceiling and sighed. The ceiling started to show signs of old age. As he looked up, he realized that he would have to replace the roof beam soon. Storm season was not too far away and he would need to get this fixed soon.

While he was looking at the ceiling, he felt the warmth of her presence fade away. Hmm..he mentally checked everything he had to do before the storm season approached. The roof was just one thing. He was also thinking about adding new rooms, even though that seemed to be a bit prematurely.

Replacing some old beams should probably do the trick. He had to check Joseph's garden for some wood. While the indigenous plant-life didn't really like to get chopped down, the apple trees in Joe's garden didn't seem to mind getting mauled and to be used for construction.

As he lay in their bed, Jim started to feel how the last remnants of her presence finally faded away. Well, no point in wasting any more time. He sighed and then he decided to get up. He threw the blanket aside and stretched his limbs. As his feet made contact with the cold wooden floor, he yawned and scratched himself before finally getting up.

It was still early. The day had just started. Well, so to speak. Once he had put on some clothes, he made sure that cuts from the day before looked alright. It was nothing big, nothing too serious. He had just underestimated that little crab. That little critter had pinched him in the left hand. He ate it afterward, so everything was fine.

As Jim looked at his hands, the cuts were gone. He smiled when he realized that she had taken care of that.

When he was done with his breakfast and stepped outside, he immediately knew that he would make some good catches today. He looked at the beautiful ocean and sighed. The water shimmered like a liquid opal, reflecting the bright red, orange, and golden nebula above his head.

Yesterday's winds had driven the squidfishes right on the beach. Those winds were the first signs of the approaching storm. It was the perfect opportunity to catch some squidfishes, dry them, and store them somewhere safe. When the storm would hit the island, there would be no way to go fishing for as long as it continued to rage on.

Jim looked at the sky. Even though there was no real sun and no real day and night-cycle, he knew that he still had some time left to get stuff done. However, sitting on the veranda would achieve nothing, so he decided to get on with it.

While no one had ever taught him fishing, he had become quite proficient when it came to catching those slippery bastards, even with his bare hands. Hands, lance, net or fishing pole, it didn't matter. Jim knew how to get those critters out of the sea and into his stomach. While he was no born fisherman, he knew something about hard work. His parents had both been farmers. By the age of 10, he had already learned everything you need to know to be a good farmer. His parents had been good teachers...and kind people. Every time he sat on his favorite rock and used his self-made fishing pole to catch lunch, he thought about them.

Jim's parents were long since gone. But the lessons they had taught him remained within his heart. He often wondered what his father would think if he could see him know. He would probably laugh his old ass off. When Jim reached the beach, he saw that his suspicions had been justified. Dead squidfishes were laying all over the place. They had been washed onto the beach mere hours ago. But he wasn't interested in those dead husks.

The first thing he did was to check his traps. They already contained quite a large number of animals. There were even some crabs, well, crab-like things. They were Sarah's favorite. Maybe he would surprise her with his specialty; crabs cooked in salt water and then roasted above an open fire.

Some people would probably be surprised and even offended seeing the life he lived now. It was so unlike anything he had done all those years ago. But time changes everything. Yes, this was a simple life. But it was a good life. An honest life. And in the end, it was the only thing he had ever hoped for. That, and to spend his life with _her_.

However, it hadn't always been like that. The journey from the little son of two honest and hard-working farmers to the man he was now, well, he had lost his way more than once along the way. He had never had great ambitions. All he had tried to do was doin' the right thing. Sounds easy enough, but the number of assholes that had tried to screw him over had been legion. They were all gone now, but new assholes were just waiting to cause trouble to no end. That's why she was out there, doing her job.

James Eugene Raynor looked at the horizon, searching for the first dark clouds. But there was nothing. Not yet anyway.

It was not like he had turned into a lazy hobo. He still had an important job to do. And that did not include cooking and cleaning for the Misses. Those services were for free...

No, there were enough things for him to do. He couldn't leave _everything_ to her after all.

And Sarah wasn't alone. Not really. She had him. And the gang. It had taken quite some time to overcome the past, but now things finally started to make sense. And it had only taken them almost one hundred years. Walk in the park...

He remembered the last day of his old life like it had been yesterday. It had been two years since the end of Amon. The war had been over, and the universe had continued to move forward. He remembered how unfair it had felt to him. And to her...

The people had already forgotten who had saved them. Perhaps it was for the better. It had been the beginning of a new era, so there was no need to dwell on the past. Wherever he liked it or not; he had been part of that old world. After losing Sarah, Jim had felt worthless. During his fight against Mengsk, he had felt like an old fossil from another time.

And after the end of Amon, he had felt like a _worthless_ old fossil.

 _Go...Jim...Go..._

Those had been Sarah's last words to him. Hmm, great idea. Go where, Darlin'? And why? To continue a life that had lost all of its meaning? Now, don't get him wrong: He was proud of what they all had achieved. Proud of his men. Proud of his allies. Proud of his friends. But he hadn't been proud of himself. No, definitely not. He had lost her yet again. Three times. Three goddamn times! The first time had been on Tarsonis, where everything had started. Jim had never visited that world again, not in all those years. Some wounds just would never heal. The second time had been after saving her on Char, only to lose her again to the Swarm.

After the death of Mengsk, he had let go of her again. The first time on Tarsonis had been cruel and rough, but he had told himself that she had been a victim of war. He had lost comrades before. However, letting her go on Augustgrad had been a million times worse. This time he had let her go, sending her off to fight God knows what. That time, it had broken his heart.

More than once after that, Jim had asked himself if he should have gone with her, stayed with her. He knew that those thoughts were foolish. But seeing Stukov again had made him wonder; what if he could have been at her side, even infested, even as a Zerg?

Usually, he had been really drunk when thinking about stuff like that. No, he could never have accepted being Zerg. But the very line of thoughts showed how desperate he had been.

Joining forces with her and Artanis during the climactic battle against Amon had brought his hopes up again. The Protoss had been in possession of that damn Xel'Naga-Artefact. It had cured her once, it could do so again!

Of course, those thoughts had been foolish. Her ascension, her fight against Amon and how she had left for the Great Beyond, it had felt like everything inside him had died that day. She was gone. The universe went on spinning. And poor old Jimmy remained at the exact same position, drinking himself into oblivion.

For two years, he had watched how the Koprulu Sector had started to heal. It wasn't perfect. It wasn't pretty. But they tried. They always did. They even asked him for his help. His _expertise_. Ha, good one. Back then he had only been an expert on how to ruin your own liver. There simply hadn't been any reason for him to go on. Some old general of ancient earth had once said: "Old soldiers don't die, they fade away." That's how he had felt.

Two years. Two years of depression, of drinking and delusions. And the universe had moved on.

And then, suddenly, _she_ had returned to them. No, not them. To _him_. Seeing her, standing in the door of Joey Rays-bar, asking him if he was ready to go...he had been afraid that it was just another hallucination. That he would wake up only to realize that his drunken mind had played a trick on him.

Only it hadn't been a trick. It had been her, returning from the Great Beyond. She had come to pick him up, to take him with her. To be perfectly honest, he had never thought that this moment would happen. He hadn't made any plans for the next day. Everything had come to an end. The future of the entire sector had been in the hands of younger folks now. They would carry on his legacy. _Their_ legacy.

Jim started to empty his traps. The squidfishes were fighting for their dear life, but he knew how to deal with them. And unlike the crabs, these animals couldn't even pinch him.

He grabbed the critters and hit them against a rock before cutting their heads off. He would gut and fillet them later and decided to leave the crabs inside the traps. They wouldn't go anywhere and Sarah loved fresh ones.

Thinking back to the past, Jim had to admit that those had been crazy times. To be perfectly honest; how could he have envisioned what the universe had planned for him?

The Xel'Naga...

Gods. Hmm, even though he said "Oh my God!" far too often, he didn't really believe in such a concept. However, seeing that being of pure energy that once had been the love of his life...it had shattered his beliefs. And it had scared him. Yes, she had returned to him. And yes, she had done so because she still loved him. But...he had just been a human. A piece of dust compared to a whole planet. His existence was nothing when compared to hers. So how in the world could he offer anything to her? Besides, even if he had been the legendary demi-god Hercules, she was a completely different game from him.

He remembered her warm skin on his own, her lips on his mouth, and her emotions inside his mind. There was so much power, so much strength. But there was something else. Loneliness. She was the only one of her kind. With the Xel'Naga gone, there was no one else left who could have guided her.

Going with her had been easy. They had traveled through the universe for quite some time. She had shown him places and things people wouldn't believe. At some point, his little human mind hadn't been able to process what she was showing him. So, she had _helped_ him.

Yes, he certainly wasn't the man he used to be anymore. One might even argue if he was still a human at all. And it had taken him quite some time to accept that. Joseph had been right from the start. When she had returned to him, Jim had been broken. She had replaced some of the missing pieces with her love. But the truth was; she too had been broken. It was the moment when he had finally realized that she hadn't returned to him because of pity...

...but because she needed him.

Once Jim had emptied all the traps, he put the dead squidfishes in the empty containers and slung them over his shoulder. He carried his catch back to the house and thought about what he should make for dinner.

Jim Raynor had possessed a lot of bad habits. However, being a quitter hadn't been one of them. When he had realized that Sarah, _his Sarah_ , was still there, he had made a decision.

The Xel'Naga had not been almighty. If they had been, Amon would not have succeeded in slaughtering them all except the very last one. Their death had left a void, no pun intended. And Sarah? She had tried to understand how large the galaxy truly was...and how much work it would be to keep everything working. And in the end, she had realized that she alone couldn't do it.

Jim had tried to help her, had tried to be there for her. But he didn't possess the power of a Xel'Naga. All he had been able to do was to comfort her. However, that hadn't been enough, at least not for him.

When Jim reached their home, he put the squidfishes down and started to prepare them. He was already so proficient that nearly nothing of their flesh was wasted. Sitting on the bench on the veranda, he began to whistle a song. Their favorite song...

"...leavin' on a jet plane, dunno when I'll be back again..."

Time. It had taken them so long to finally overcome their own fears and their pain. Freed from the burden of aging, Jim had remained at her side. For some time, he had felt the urge to be her knight in shining armor. A warrior that protects his goddess. But she didn't need any protection anymore. It had taken Jim some time until he had accepted that his way of life had come to an end. And Sarah had learned to understand that she didn't have to prove to him that she truly loved him all the time. He knew. She knew.

It still had taken them a _very_ long time to finally let go of those old habits. And not all of them were gone yet.

However, as time went on, he too had to change. He had reached the point where he could no longer afford to be broken. Things were about to change. Ha, he had didn't even know his exact age anymore when they had finally found their way. They truly were the slowest couple in the history of couples...

Once he had gutted and filleted the squidfishes, he cleaned the meat and put it on a rope so it could dry. The fresh wind would conserve the fish nicely.

That's when suddenly Jim could hear something. It sounded almost like something was slithering towards him. Something was approaching. No, not something. Someone. A smile appeared on his face. So, she was finally done, eh? It was about time! He had started to worry. As the huge snake-like creature emerged from the lush jungle behind the house, he looked over his shoulder.

The sidekick had arrived.

"Hey, Izsha."

The former Zerg moved closer before tilting her head to the side.

"James, has her Majesty already returned?" she asked and he pulled his shoulders up.

"Nope. But she left only recently, so I suppose we still have to wait a bit until she returns. Oh, and Joe too."

"His name is Joseph, not Joe." Izsha corrected him and Jim sighed.

"I know. So, Izsha...is it done? Are you, well, uhm..."

"It is done, yes." she informed him and Jim blinked a few times. It looked as if he was unsure what to say, but then he just gave her a thumbs-up.

"Awesome. How do you feel?" he wanted to know.

"Sore." was Izsha's only reply, and Jim decided to leave it at that.

"Uhm, well, it's good to have you back, haha. Eh...did you already tell Joe, I mean, Joseph about it?"

"No." Izsha just replied with her typical no-nonsense attitude.

"Well, you might do that."

"Should the situation demand it, I will do so." she explained and Jim wondered what that was supposed to mean. However, he knew better than to ask Izsha why she thought that this was a wise idea.

"Well, if you say so..." Jim mumbled. "...is there anything you wanted from me?"

"You? No. Why?" Izsha asked as if the very idea that she wanted something from _him_ was absolutely absurd.

"Nevermind..." Jim just sighed and then he resumed to prepare the squidfishes for dinner. "You want to leave a message for Sarah?"

"Yes. Tell her Majesty that I need to speak with her. A situation has arisen that demands her attention." When Jim heard that, he groaned and leaned back. Every time Izsha said something like "something has happened", then it could either mean that Amon had returned to the land of the living, or that she had just spotted a cloud that was shaped like a Zergling.

"Is it something important?"

"It is something important her Majesty has to hear." Izsha replied, and Jim decided to do what he always did. He nodded and gave Izsha a thumbs-up.

"Sure thing! First thing I do when I see her!" And then Izsha just decided to slither away. However, that's when Jim noticed something. The way Izsha moved looked a lot less graceful than usually. Well, given the fact of what she had just done, that was probably to be expected. Still, the very thought of what had happened caused Jim to shudder. Even after all these decades, there were things that still made him shiver.

When Izsha was finally gone, he continued to focus on the job at hand. It was not a very complex task, but after so many years of practice, his hands had gotten very skilled. He was almost done when he felt Sarah's presence again. Jim looked up at the sky and blinked in surprise.

"Already? That was quick." he mumbled, and a few seconds later a bright light appeared in the sky. It was brighter than any star, yet Jim wasn't blinded at all by it. Because that light wasn't something, it was someone. A flaming angel descended upon him and when her golden feet finally touched the ground, Jim watched in awe how that light vanished and Sarah turned back into her human self.

"Look who's early!" Jim chuckled. "Sorry, Darlin'. Dinner's not ready yet." Sarah groaned and stretched her limbs.

"Don't sweat it, I'm not hungry yet. But my feet could use some rubbing." she moaned and walked over to Jim. She lay down right next to him and put her feet on his lap.

"Wait, now?" Jim asked.

"Of course now." she groaned. "My feet hurt. Rub them, slave. Your Queen demands it." she told him, and Jim snickered when he heard the commanding tone in her voice.

"My fingers are dirty and there are blood and guts all over them. Maybe I should just-"

"Don't caaaaare!" Sarah cut him short. "Besides, I will just imagine that it's creep. Will be like old times. Now rub my feet. Come on, I know you want to do it!" she teased him and Jim sighed. He grabbed a towel and rubbed his hands clean. Well, as clean as possible. Sarah sighed in relief when she felt how he started to work on her feet.

"Oh, this is the good stuff..." she moaned and closed her eyes.

"Did you encounter any problems? Or is there another reason why you have come home early?" Jim wanted to know after a while.

"Nothing I couldn't have handled. But Joseph is a lousy helper, so I decided to make this a short trip. Oh, speaking about Joseph..." Sarah said and raised her hand. She snapped her fingers and suddenly there was another bright light in the sky. A few seconds later you could hear something. It was a scream, a very long _AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!_ that didn't seem to end.

"Wait, is that Joe? Where is he?" Jim asked and Sarah pointed up in the sky. He looked up and squinted his eyes. At first, he didn't see anything, but then he could make out a small object that was falling out of the sky. It was falling fast and after a few seconds Jim could make out some details. It wasn't just an object, it had arms and legs.

"Is he? Wait, Sarah? What..." But before Jim could finish the sentence, he watched how Joseph smashed into the water of the ocean, just a few hundred meters away from them.

"Ouch...that looks like it hurt." Jim said.

"Oh, I sure do hope it does." Sarah chuckled. "That's what he gets for cursing on our way back home. No one curses when I'm around. I don't want the Little One's first words to be cuss words!" When Jim heard that, he swallowed hard. She was really serious about that. Jim hadn't cussed in decades, and he knew why!

"Is he okay?" Jim asked. "He doesn't come back up." But that's when Joseph broke through the surface and yelled something.

"MOTHERFU-" Before he could finish that word, Sarah snipped with her fingers again, and Joseph was catapulted high up into the air. A few moments later he crashed into the water's hard surface once more.

"Some people just don't get it." Sarah mused and waited until Joseph emerged from the sea again.

"SON OF A BI-" And so Sarah snipped with her fingers and sent him flying once more. And then he went swimming again.

"OKAY! I GET IT!" Joseph screamed the next time he emerged from the waves and Sarah lowered her hand.

"Let's see how long that will last." she chuckled and closed her eyes. "Hmm...harder!" she then groaned and Jim did as he was told.

"So, how do you feel?" he wanted to know.

"Like a beautiful butterfly. Why?"

"Just wanted to know how you feel, that's all." Jim told her.

"I feel great, now that someone is finally rubbing my feet. Say, did Izsha...?" she wanted to know.

"Yeah. She was here, wanted to tell you something. And yes, she did it. She looked...grumpy. And she slithered funny. Also; she said that she's feeling sore."

"Well, who can blame her?" Sarah mumbled. "I would probably feel sore too." They watched how Joseph crawled out of the ocean. He looked like he had just survived a goddamn war.

"Should we tell him?" Jim asked and Sarah chuckled again. Only this time it was a lot more sinister.

"Oh, since he hasn't realized it yet...no. Let those two sort that one out." she told him. Joseph slumped over to them and when he finally reached Jim's and Sarah's, he stopped and wrung the water out of his clothes.

"To whom it might concern; I will never ever accompany you again. _Never_." he growled.

"Noted. Now go back home, I'm sure Izsha is waiting for you." Sarah told him.

"If only! She has been in a foul mood for days now." Joseph mumbled, but the prospect of saying something wrong only to be sent flying again was even less amusing than looking for Izsha. However, Joseph didn't have to go to her, because she was already on her way to them.

"Hey, look who's finally back!" Sarah cheered. "How is my big girl?"

"Lighter." Izsha replied and Sarah snickered when she heard that. "My Queen, it is good to see you. I have important news that you have to hear."

"Agh, it just never ends, does it?" Sarah sighed and Jim chuckled when he heard that. "What is it, Izsha?"

"My Queen...oh, hello Joseph..." Izsha suddenly said and Joseph sighed.

"Hey..." he just managed to mumble.

"...My Queen, I received word from Karax. It would seem that someone has tried to gain access to Ulnar." When Sarah heard that, she groaned and closed her eyes.

"Great...just great. Of all the things that weren't supposed to happen..." she whispered to herself.

"We always knew that this day would come." Jim said. "Who are we dealing with?" he wanted to know.

"Protoss. Karax identified them as Tal'darim." Izsha explained, and Sarah frowned when she heard that.

"These guys? Did they cause any damage? What did they want?"

"That is unknown. It was a small raiding party, and once it encountered Niadra's brood, the Protoss decided to pull out. They left with minimal losses. However, it is safe to assume that they will be back. With reinforcements."

"Well, ain't that peachy?" Sarah growled.

"What are your orders, your Majesty? Shall I order Niadra to muster her troops and prepare for battle?" Izsha wanted to know. Sarah sighed again and then she closed her eyes. She could feel the eyes of everyone resting on her. They were waiting for her to come up with a plan. After a while, the others were starting to wonder if Sarah had fallen asleep. Jim stopped working on Sarah's feet, but then she pointed her finger at him.

"I didn't tell you to stop, slave! Continue to rub your Queen's feet! It helps me to think!" When Jim heard that, he pulled one brow up.

"Maybe the Queen would like to be reminded of the magic word that will help to motivate her slave to rub her oh-so-precious feet?" Jim teased her and Sarah sighed.

"Please." she mumbled and when Jim heard that, he smiled and started to work on those feet again.

"Your Majesty, shall we prepare for an invasion of Ulnar?" Izsha asked again, and after a while, Sarah opened her eyes and stared at the sky.

"No." she just said. The old Sarah wouldn't have hesitated one second to tell Niadra to vanquish anyone who dared to enter Ulnar. However, she was no longer that woman. Life, no matter what shape or form, was to be protected, not destroyed. And that included delusional Tal'darim.

The only exception were squidfishes. Their fate was to end up inside Sarah's belly.

After a while, Sarah sighed and looked over to Izsha and Joseph.

"I guess it is too dangerous to keep Ulnar where it is right now. Karax said that it can be relocated should the situation demand it. I guess it's time to find out if that's truly possible." she then said. "I want you to travel to Ulnar and tell Karax to figure out how to bring it here." Ulnar was not just a space station, it was so much more than that. But even the Xel'Naga's "homeworld" was not a real homeworld. And someone had put it where it was right now. That meant that it could also be relocated, at least that's what Karax had told them.

Well, it was time to find out.

"You want to bring Ulnar here?" Jim wanted to know, and Sarah shrugged her shoulders.

"Sure, why not. Sternenheim could use a moon, it will make the waves higher. Then I can go surfing!" she snickered. She looked over to Joseph and Izsha and sighed once more.

"Sorry, but I have to ask you to go now. I hope that you don't mind."

"Nope, it's fine." Joseph replied and looked over at his, well, very special friend. "Hey, Izsha. How about it? Road trip to Ulnar and back? Just you and me? You know, like a honeymoon! Only without all those damn tourists."

"Actually...Izsha should stay here." Sarah suddenly said and Joseph blinked a few times after hearing that.

"Wait, what?"

"Her Majesty is right, I should remain here and-" Izsha tried to say and lowered her gaze.

"Yeah, yeah...if her Majesty gives you an order, then you're supposed to follow it. How stupid of me to imagine that you would enjoy accompanying me." Joseph groaned and you could see the frustration on his face. That's when Izsha slithered up to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"You misunderstand me, Joseph. I do not want to stay because I wait for her Majesty's command." she told him.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Joseph replied. "So, what's so important that you have to stay here?"

"It is simple, Joseph." Izsha explained to him. "Someone has to protect the eggs and the nest."

…

…

…

"Eggs? What eggs?" Joseph asked, and Sarah snickered when she saw the oblivious look on his face. She looked over at Izsha and grinned.

"He's not the brightest, you know that, right? Jim caught on a lot faster."

"Indeed, my Queen. But Joseph has other qualities to make up for that." Izsha replied and Joseph frowned when he heard that.

"Eggs? People, what is this all about?"

"Is it not obvious? Now that her Majesty is with child, it is only logical that we follow her example." Izsha told Joseph, and you could actually see how his face lost all its color.

"But...but you said...you said that...that...uhm...I... uhm...well...ah..." Joseph stuttered.

"He's taking it better than I thought he would." Jim chuckled. After a few moments of deep breaths, Joseph finally managed to regain his composure. At least partially.

"Wanna...see...eggs..." he managed to stutter.

"And you shall. But not now. Her Majesty gave you an order. Once that is done, you shall meet your offspring. Fear not, I shall protect the nest with my life. Joseph? Are you listening? Joseph? Joseph!" Izsha looked at the man, who seemed to be frozen stiff.

"Oh, wow." Jim said. "I have seen that before! Someone passed out while staying on his feet. Now that is something you don't see every day!"

* * *

With Izsha busy watching over the nest and Joseph gone, Sarah decided to take some time off. There were plenty of things to do and so many worlds that needed her attention. But they would manage without her for a couple of years. Yes, years. At one point, her perception of time had started to change. Seasons now no longer mattered, years had become days, and the human concept of age did no longer apply to her.

Sarah had learned to live in the moment.

And right now she yearned for a cold shower.

And the best place for that was her favorite waterfall!

The cold water streaming down her naked skin felt divine and she sighed in relief when she felt how all that pressure and exhaustion was washed away. Once you reach the one hundred, you start to enjoy the simple things. And to Sarah, there was nothing that felt better.

Well, aside from one thing maybe...

"Darlin'? Could you please stop moving for one second? I need to get the arms right." she could hear Jim from behind her and she did indeed freeze. But then she looked over her shoulder and gave Jim a cocky smile.

"Wait, are you complaining that you can only see my naked backside?" she teased him and could see how Jim pulled his brows up. He was sitting on a stone near the waterfall and, well, drawing her.

"That's not what I said. I just said that I need a moment to get the arms right. That position right now, when you washed your hair, that was perfect. Could you do it again?"

"Are you telling me that I should pose for you?" she chuckled. "I can think of several poses, you know..." she told him with a sultry tone in her voice.

"No thank, brushing with your fingers through your hair will do just fine." Jim just replied while drawing a few new lines. When Sarah heard that, she sighed and shook her head.

"You are hopeless, you know that?" she mumbled. "You could draw my butt. I know you like my butt, so how about that?"

"Meh', a butt is basically just three lines drawn." he told her, and that comment caused Sarah to frown.

"My butt deserves more than just three lines..." she mumbled to herself and then she closed her eyes and enjoyed some more of that cold water crashing down on her. "...still, I can't believe that you rather draw my naked body than join me over here. What are you? Some kind of lecherous pervert?"

"It's called "nude drawing", and it's a great way to improve my anatomical skills." he told her.

"Yeah? Well, I know something else that can help you with your _anatomical_ skills, mister!" she teased him again, but then she recognized the way he was looking at her. Yes, she was naked, but Jim didn't even seem aroused. She knew that look. It was a cold look, an analytical one. He wasn't looking at her like a man who was madly in love with a woman, but like she was just a fruit bowl that he wanted to turn into a still life.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous!" she said to herself and stomped over to Jim.

"Hey, wait! I almost got it!" he told her and she just ripped the sketchbook out of his hands and was about to throw it into the jungle when...

"Oh...wow." she mumbled when saw what he had drawn so far. It was a picture of her, even though it wasn't finished. And Jim hadn't drawn her backside. It was a drawing of her upper body and how she brushed with her fingers through her hair. However, the most impressive part about this piece of art was the look on her face. It showed Sarah, and she was smiling. It was so lifelike!

"This is amazing, Jim."

"It's just a sketch." he told her. "Nothing special." But that wasn't true.

"Jim, this _sketch_ would put the Mona Lisa to shame!"

"The what would who now?" he asked her.

"The Mona Lisa! You know, that famous picture from Earth. By Leonardo DaVinci. Have you never seen it?"

"Did this guy draw naked women too?" Jim wanted to know.

"Uhm...dunno. But he did draw naked men. With four arms and four legs."

"Sounds trippy. Modern artist?"

"Not really." Sarah told him. "Maybe one day we should go to Earth, then I could show it to you. It hangs in one of the oldest museums of mankind, the Louvre." When Jim heard that, he blinked a few times.

"Earth? As in; Ancient Earth?"

"Yep."

"How do you know about that stuff anyway?" he wanted to know.

"I read about it. You really should read more books, Jim."

"Meh, I like to you to summarize it for me." he told her and then...

"HEY! I wasn't finished yet!" he protested when Sarah pulled the sketchbook out of his hands and put it to the side. "Hey, Sarah!"

"I'm done being ignored." she cooed. "I can't believe that you would rather hang out with your notebook-"

"Sketchbook." Jim corrected her.

"Whatever. You, Sir, will come with me now." She threw the sketchbook into a bush and pulled Jim with her. He offered little resistance and shivered when the cold water of the waterfall crashed down on him. But with all his clothes on, this wasn't nearly as nice as it could be.

"How about we change that then?" Sarah told him and kissed Jim, who was still adjusting to the cold water. Well, maybe this was indeed better than drawing a naked woman. But Jim would need some more time to come to a final conclusion. Soon his clothes were floating down the river and Jim enjoyed the feeling of Sarah's warm skin on his own while the cold water was running down his backside. However, before things could get any more heated, Sarah suddenly pushed him away and looked down at herself.

"Little one, Mummy and Daddy want a moment for themselves and do some adult-stuff. Yes?" she cooed and Jim swallowed hard when he witnessed this moment.

"I don't think I'm very comfortable with this." he mumbled and Sarah gave him a cocky smile.

"Oh, hush...don't be such a baby. The Little One listens to what her mother tells her to do." she teased him.

"Her?" Jim gasped when he heard that. Sarah could see his surprised look, and a gentle smile appeared on her face.

"Well, guess the secret's out." she whispered and Jim was too afraid to ask wherever this was a joke or indeed the truth.

"Still, I don't think we should do this while-"

"Oh, hush now!" Sarah cooed again and placed her finger on Jim's lips in order to make him shut up. "Look at it from the bright side; if the Little One doesn't listen to her mother, then you at least don't have to tell her about the bees and birds anymore."

"That's not helpful." Jim mumbled.

"Yeah, well...you can write a poem about your feelings. I even have a title for you: "Why the woman I love doesn't care about my mental health." Now shut up and kiss me."

"Yes, Ma'am." Jim then said and so they did some "adult-stuff". Sometimes it's great to be an adult...

* * *

"Hmm...delicious." Sarah said when she devoured the last bit of her squidfish.

"Glad you like it. This will be the last fresh squidfish for some time. I'm pretty sure that it will start to rain tomorrow." Jim told her while poking the campfire with a stick.

"Aw, that's too bad. But I guess it can't be helped." Sarah rolled onto her back and stretched her limbs. "Hmm...now I got sand in my buttcrack. I think I need another shower."

"Uhhh..." Jim groaned when he heard that and she chuckled.

"Don't worry, I'm just talking about a regular shower. I feel like my legs are about to fall off. For someone who claimed to not feel comfortable doing it right now, you sure were _very_ enthusiastic."

"What I can say? I aim to please." Jim chuckled and rolled over to Sarah. He put his arms around her shoulders and placed one of his hands on Sarah's belly. He had no idea what was growing inside Sarah, but he knew one thing; it was his child, just as much as it was Sarah's. Maybe the Little One would turn out differently from what he had originally wanted, but that hardly mattered. Even if it would look like a tiny Hydralisk, it would still be his kid. Because he knew that it didn't matter how someone looked, but what lay on the inside.

And no matter how long this would take, he would be ready for the day where the Little One would finally be born. His fingers brushed over Sarah's still-flat belly. Even after all these decades, there wasn't even a baby-bump yet. Well, creating a godlike being probably would take a while.

They just enjoyed the moment and each other's company for a long time.

Until...

"Jim, look." Sarah said and pointed with her finger at the sky. He looked up as well and that's when he saw it too.

"Is it...a wormhole?" he asked and then he realized that it was indeed a wormhole. And that meant...

"Well, Joseph came home early. I thought that they would need a lot more time." Sarah chuckled as they watched how Ulnar emerged in orbit high above Sternenheim. Ulnar itself was gigantic, even a Zerg Leviathan looked tiny when compared to it. However, from the celestial point of view, it was only as big as a really small moon. They watched how the station re-materialized and Jim could hear Sarah sigh.

"Well, at the very least now I don't have to travel lightyears to study Ulnar. So we probably should have done that a lot sooner." she mused.

"What's done is done." Jim chuckled. They watched Ulnar coming closer...and closer...and closer...

"Uhm...Sarah?"

"I see it."

"Sarah?!"

"I see it!" she yelled and both of them got back on their feet. They watched how Ulnar approached the planet. How it entered the upper atmosphere. How its dark hull was engulfed by hot flames. How it lost its balance...

...and then how it smashed into Sternenheim's surface.

You could actually feel the shockwaves of that impact, and a bright light blinded both Jim and Sarah. When they were able to see again, they could see a huge mushroom-shaped cloud in the distance

"Oh, that ain't good." Jim mumbled. Fire rained down from the sky, debris from Ulnar. They smashed into the ocean and the ground near them, and Jim's first thought was to run. However, Sarah just looked up and told her powers to keep them safe. Whatever came too close was simply repelled by her powers, and much to Jim's relief nothing hit their house.

And then there was the explosion.

"Holy..." Jim gasped.

"...shit." Sarah agreed, not caring that there was a no-cuss-policy in place. Ulnar was ripped apart from the inside. Whatever it had powered it, it tore the whole station apart. The sky was filled with flaming debris and that's when a burning vessel appeared in the sky. It was an old Protoss ship. Sarah recognized it, it was one the vessels Karax had salvaged from Ulnar and that he had used on several occasions. It didn't even fly, all it did was to fall from the sky while burning. It smashed into the ocean not too far away from Jim and Sarah, and that was when a secondary explosion inside Ulnar send more parts of it flying. Pieces of dark metal landed on the beach and soon the whole place looked like a battlefield.

And when everything had finally calmed down...

"What the hell just happened?" Jim asked.

"I... I don't know, Love."

After a while, the crashed Protoss ship started to sink. There was another explosion when a hatch was blown away and then...

"Are those...?" Sarah asked.

"Sure seems that way."

First one to come out of the Protoss vessel was a Protoss, but it wasn't Karax. The figure didn't waste any time and jumped into the water. Both Sarah and Jim watched how the Protoss swam towards the beach, got out of the water, and stomped past them.

"Tesson? What happened? What-" Jim wanted to know, but Tesson just shook his massive head.

"Nope, not today. Please excuse me, I need to vent off some steam. Also; when I offered my service to you, I was _not_ talking about doing something like this!" the former Nerazim replied and then he was gone. Both Jim and Sarah looked at each other and frowned and that's when...

"Row, Row, Row your boat, gently down the stream!" It was Joseph. And he was singing. While standing on Niadra's back and using the Broodmother like a raft. "Merrily, merrily merrily, merrily, life is but a dream." Joseph continued to sing. Behind him was Karax. He was sitting on Niadra's backside and held his own head while shaking it in disbelief.

"Madness! Madness! What have you done, Joseph! Look at it, it is ruined!" the Protoss wailed, yet Joseph cared for none of that.

"Hey, I need a second voice. Come on, Niadra, I know that you can do it." And the Broodmother? She shrugged her shoulders and said "Okay!".

" _Row, row, row your boat,"_

" _Gently down the stream."_

" _Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,"_

" _Life is but a dream."_ Both of them continued to sing until they reached the shore and Niadra stepped onto the beach. She stopped in front of Sarah and Jim.

"Your Majesty. So, this is Sternenheim? I think I will enjoy it here. Please forgive me, I need to replace my brood. They all died in the crash. Till later!" the somewhat deranged Broodmother explained and simply walked off.

"Joseph..." Sarah asked with a strained tone in her voice. "...what did you do?" However, it was Karax who answered that question.

"This...this...MADMAN! He ruined it all!" Karax screamed. They had never seen the Phasesmith like this. He was truly furious. "He crashed Ulnar! All that knowledge lost, and why? Why, Joseph. _WHY?!_ " Karax screamed and fell to his knees.

"Ah, don't sweat it, big guy." Joseph said and patted Karax on the shoulder. "I'm sure you can fix that thing." Behind them, another explosion happened, and whatever was left of Ulnar was reduced to even smaller pieces.

"Joseph...why did you crash Ulnar?" Sarah wanted to know. She wasn't really sad about Ulnar's loss, it was just...well, it was a typical Joseph-moment.

"You told me to bring it here. You didn't say where exactly. And in what condition."

"Joe..." Jim growled and Joseph gave him a goofy smile.

"Well, since today I acted like a drunken trucker, I think it's only fair that you call me like that! Also; give me some credit, will ya'? Have you any idea how big these Xel'Naga were? They were huge! And so was the cockpit, well, command center! I had to run a goddamn marathon only to press two different buttons! Also, considering the fact that I had no idea what I was doing, I think it's a fu-" Joseph stopped mid-sentence when he saw how Sarah prepared to snip with her fingers.

"...I mean, it was a fantastic achievement! Haha! Fantastic. Not the other word I was totally not going to say. Still, it's a miracle that even I managed to hit this planet! Have you any idea how hard it is to hit a planet with a space station that was built by giants?"

"You were not supposed to hit the planet at all, Joseph." Sarah mumbled.

"Yeah, well, put it on my tab. Hey, Jim, I got a new idea for a hobby. Do you like puzzles?" Joseph asked. He picked a piece of debris off the ground and handed it over to Jim.

"Now, if you excuse me; I need to go and check on some eggs. See you around!" Joseph said with a happy tone in his voice and then he was gone too.

"Madness...madness!" Karax continued to whimper and Sarah walked over to the Phasesmith.

"Uhm...Karax? Maybe we can fix it? Salvage some? What do you say?"

"I do not know, Lady Kerrigan...I just...I think I want to kill Joseph. Is that a bad thing?" Karax wanted to know and looked up to Sarah.

"No, we all know that feeling." she told him. "Several times a day, actually. Maybe you should...lie down and take a break? Go and sleep a bit, and tomorrow everything will look a lot brighter!"

"I think...I would like that..." Karax mumbled and got back to his feet. He just walked off into the distance and Jim was a bit worried about him.

"Oh, that doesn't look good." Sarah mumbled. "Maybe someone should go and look after him?"

"I'll do that." Tesson suddenly said, and both Jim and Sarah turned around.

"What? Didn't you want to vent some steam?" Jim wanted to know and former Nerazim sighed.

"Right now, I just want to get away from Niadra. She's starting to get a bit...clingy. Don't worry, I will look after Karax." Tesson said and then he followed the visibly shaken Phasesmith. When Sarah and Jim were finally alone, both of them sighed.

"There's not a single boring day with those guys around, is there?" Sarah mused and Jim looked at the piece of Ulnar in his hands. It was glowing and looked as if it was still active. How was that even possible?

"Well, I guess we have found something new to keep us occupied." he mused and looked over to Sarah. He took the piece of debris into one hand and offered his other hand to Sarah.

"What do you say, Darlin'? Wanna _put those pieces back_ where they belong? _Together_?" And when Sarah looked at his hand, a warm smile appeared on her face. She grabbed his hand and looked into his eyes.

"Yes... _together_." she replied and placed her other hand on her belly.

Perhaps this was not what Sarah Kerrigan deserved. Perhaps she had managed to cheat fate and avoid the just punishment for all the horrible things she had done in the past. And perhaps she was the least qualified person to enjoy this peace. But those questions were no longer keeping her awake at night.

Because, for the first time in her life, Sarah Louise Kerrigan could hardly wait to see what kind of future was lying ahead for both of them...

...and perhaps that was the only thing that truly mattered.

* * *

...

 _ **The End**_

 _ **...**_

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 _ **...**_

 **End of Act IV**

 **...**

 **Coming Up Next:**

 **...**

 **Afterword & Epilogue**

 **1000 Years of Peace**

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	116. Afterword

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* * *

 **Afterword**

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To whom it may concern:

Well, the story is finished. Mostly. I suppose it is only fair that I will add a few words to it since I didn't do that over the course of the 100+ chapters so far. There's actually a reason for that. I received a lot of messages ever since I re-uploaded this story, and I barely answered any of them. I understand if people think that "that guy is a jerk, he doesn't answer at all". However, there's a reason for that.

For those who don't know this: The story you just read is actually the second version. I started to work on the first version, which had the same name, shortly after "Legacy of the Void" was released. Back then I was a mess. Literally. I started working on this story 2015 (two weeks after "Legacy of the Void" was released) and finished it spring 2017. I simply started to write as a hobby, in order to make something for myself. Unfortunately, some people didn't like that. And they didn't like me.

I understand that the internet is not a nice place. I understand that toxicity is considered "cool" and "epic" and stuff. And I understand that I'm an easy target for people making fun of me. Here's a sad truth about me: It's incredibly easy to get into my head and make me doubt myself. I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who suffered from being bullied. Nowadays it is probably normal. Either you get bullied or you are bullying.

I enjoyed how many people liked to talk about this story. Unfortunately, the bullies outweighed the nice people by far. It's funny how that works (in an unfunny way). People find out that you write a stupid story on a fanfic-site and manage to find out about your other internet-accounts, like or Steam, and keep harassing you for months. In my case, it were people from my personal life. They had decided that I was worthy to be bullied and decided to make my life hell, which lasted for roughly 3 years. This story was one of my last few safe places where I could do something without getting harassed, at least until they found this account.

Pro-tip: If you're getting bullied, don't name all of your accounts the same.

I started writing this story in 2015, shortly after Legacy of the Void was released. By the end of it, I was in pretty bad shape. I understand that many people tried to help me, but you know how this works. The nicest words in the world won't do much good if there's someone breaking your jaw because "you looked the wrong way at them". Which is what happened to me. For real. So when I was in pain and the laughing stock of pretty much everyone, and no one was willing to do anything about it, I decided to finish the original story (finished 2017) and then deleted it. Because I simply couldn't take it anymore.

Man, if I think about all of that, I feel the urge to go back into the basement and scream really loud.

Anyway, it's interesting how much can change in one year. I probably have to thank my cousin for getting me out of there. And it helps to see that the ones that bullied me were actually brought to justice.

So yeah, not the happy story you imagined, hmm?

Now I try to get back on the track, one step at a time. I still have a long way ahead of me. And there are plenty of days where I'm afraid that I might not be able to do it.

At least now I know that I simply want to write to clear my head.

By the way, this is also the reason why I've decided to almost never reply to comments or reviews. There's still the fear that someone is just trying to get my trust in order to suckerpunch me. I know that people might think that my lack of will to join a conversation is a sign of rude behavior, but I have learned that people and I simply don't go along that well. I still read everything you guys send me, should you wonder about that.

That doesn't mean that everyone on this site is an asshole. There were many very nice people who tried to help me. And I want to thank them. In my very own, weird way, I guess.

The people I would like to thank are:

bjlu0900:

This guy offered to be my beta-reader. He actually worked his way through the entire story. That means that he corrected a story that has way more than 1 million words. There are no words that can describe how much dedication that requires, to correct a story of someone else that is this long. "Being grateful" isn't strong enough to describe how I feel about this guy.

Thanks for all of your effort!

Kellin09:

Kellin was one of my most avid readers when I wrote the first version of the story. She (at least I think so) was always eager to listen to my stupid babbling and helped me with a lot of things that I got wrong. She even started to translate the first version into Russian, since she liked it so much and thought that others that didn't speak English should get the chance to do so too. That project came to an abrupt end when I deleted the first version. I never stopped feeling bad about it, but back then I was a mess. I still am, but not as much as I was back then. She tried to cheer me up but I was too far gone to appreciate it.

Without Kellin, the first (and ultimately second) version wouldn't be what it is now. Just so you guys know.

Kellin, I want you to know: I now appreciate what you tried to do. Unfortunately, I was in no shape to appreciate it back then. I'm sorry. But I don't think anything you would have said back then would have changed anything. But still...I'm sorry.

Abberon:

If someone that writes high-quality fiction like Abberon tells you that he likes your story, then it's only natural that you feel flattered. I sure as hell did. And I was amazed by the quality and effort he put into his flagship "Living and Indoctrinated Dream". Oh, by the way...

Abberon, if you read this: I read every chapter of your story, I'm just not very good when it comes to reviews and stuff like that. Your work was an inspiration. Is an inspiration.

Ragnarok666:

You know that feeling? You meet someone and you pretty much disagree with him on every damn topic? But in a good way? That's what Ragnarok666 did for me. We would talk about all sorts of stuff, and usually, we would always disagree on how to look at it. But that was good because it made me re-think my own position. And he even made me change my opinion on a couple of occasions.

Now, there are probably plenty of other people that I should thank. People like warchief for example, people that offered their help, and all the people that commented on this story and reviewed it. If you feel left out because you're not in the list above, then rest assured that I'm still grateful. That also includes all the people that wrote a review, both with an account and as guests.

Back to the story itself:

The reason why I started to write this behemoth of a story is because I considered the official ending of „Legacy of the Void" lackluster, as already stated. Nowadays it is probably normal that game-endings are short and leave a lot to one's imagination, but I'm not a big fan of it. Take Mass Effect 3 for example. The game itself was good, but I was among those who were annoyed by its ending. The game was like one huge tease, and the end was basically „Boom, Headshot".

An example: I think I'm not the only one who romanced Tali in Mass Effect. The main characters even make plans for the future if you manage to save the Quarians and the Geth. In one scene, Tali imagines how she would look out of the window of her own house and at least I could actually imagine how she and Shepard would live the rest of their lives on Rannoch and grow fat and old and happy. Instead, we got an ending that was basically just about choosing how you die. And not even the "best end" was truly a happy end. Call me stupid, but I'm fine with a normal happy end where the good guys win and save the day. And they survive. So what we got instead felt...well...

It felt unsatisfying.

Would it have been so hard to make a few cut-scenes that show what happened to the people in the game a few years after the final battle?

Apparently, yes.

"Legacy of the Void" felt very much the same, at least for me. It felt unsatisfying. But at least we got the confirmation that there was a happy end, so I guess we should be glad that we got that much. Seriously, when did it become so hard to make a good ending? Or am I the only one who enjoys a happy end over a tragic one or a cryptic one? I mean, I play a game because I want to enjoy it. If I want to see stories without a happy end, I watch CNN.

So yeah, that was my first motivation for writing this story. To create my own version of it, to fill it with a bit more substance. To make it "satisfying".

The second reason is that I simply adore Sarah Kerrigan as a character. She is probably my most favorite game-character ever. However, that only happened when "Heart of the Swarm" was released. Before that, I pretty much didn't care about her at all. I know that many consider the campaign of "Heart of the Swarm" the weakest of the bunch. However, I consider it my absolute favorite. Why? Well, before "Heart of the Swarm" was released, I didn't care about the Zerg. They were just your everyday slimy aliens that devour all life, the generic monsters that every sci-fi-universe needs. But "Heart of the Swarm" was just so damn good, at least for me. What Blizzard achieved (at least for me) was to give the Zerg a human touch. Characters like Zagara and Abathur appear more human than most, well, human characters in the other campaigns. And I adore the design of the Queen of Blades. And let's not forget my favorite character aside from Kerrigan: Izsha. I'm pretty sure that there are probably no people around who feel the same way, but the character of Izsha is simply awesome.

Aside from the Zerg I also loved how they portrayed Kerrigan. I know that most people hate that character, call her a "Mary Sue" or whatever, but I love what Blizzard did with her. She's a woman that was never allowed to be herself, that was turned into a weapon as a child. And when she became Zerg, she basically did what everyone always taught her to do. She was never free. When she finally was freed, she did the only thing they had ever taught her. While that is a pretty simple motivation for slaughtering millions, I think it works as an explanation. I just wanted to add some more meat to the character. How she never got a chance to live a normal life. How she was forced to become the evil everyone thinks she is.

I know that people will say: "She killed billions, there is no redemption for that." I'm not going to jump on that wagon. If you see it that way, then that's your thing. Write your own story where things are different. I don't care. Seriously. I wanted to write an optimistic story, one where redemption isn't just an empty word. And it should be centered about Sarah Kerrigan. Is it realistic? Dunno. Is it good? Dunno. Makes it sense? Dunno. You have to be the judge of that. But I can tell you why I did certain things the way I did.

First of all, let's start with the official storyline:

I tried to stay as true to the official storyline as much as possible. Naturally, that didn't work 100%. The reason for that is simple: I started writing this story shortly after "Legacy of the Void" was released, and way before the Nova-DLC was even announced. By the time the first part of the DLC came out, I was already neck-deep in the middle of the second act. There was simply no way for me to incorporate those parts into my story. So instead, I tried to turn it into a what-if-scenario. I tried to make it a believable version of what could have happened.

Same goes for Ji'Nara. I didn't know anything about that character, I was looking for a Tal'Darim I could use for the first act. It was Ragnarok666 who suggested her to me. Now, when Ji'Nara appeared in the Nova-DLC, the damage was already done. So if you read things that are not in line with the official storyline, please keep that in mind. Also: I didn't read all the books and all the comics. Perhaps it is a sign of ignorance, but I believe that you should be able to appreciate a story without having to buy 20 books and 10+ comics in order to get the entire story. (The same can be said about Mass Effect, btw.)

The characters:

To make it simple: If a character in this story has a lot of screentime, then because I like them.

Sarah Kerrigan: Sarah is (together with Jim) the main character in this story. I simply love that character. Why? Because there is more depth and tragic to her than most people want to admit. She was abducted as a child after killing her mother by accident, she was broken and turned into a weapon, she was abused and still kept on living. And virtually no one managed to kill her, even though a lot of them came close. I think that is the tragedy of this character: She never had a choice, but everyone puts the blame on her anyway. That is what I wanted to use for my characterization of Sarah Kerrigan. She's a survivor but deeply hurt on the inside. But if you dig through all that anger, guilt and pain, there's still a human beneath that. I'm probably one of the few who would think that Sarah isn't really to blame for what she did. She was simply doing what everyone taught her to do. First, she was an assassin of the Confederation, then Arcturus' personal dog, then the Overmind's tool. And when she became the Queen of Blades for the first time, she was driven by the taint of Amon. Only when she became the Queen of Blades for the second time, she was free. She was at the peak of her power (not including her ascension) but actually showed heart. Not just by freeing Jim from prison, but also by listening to Valerian. She still killed. Especially the death of Warfield is important, at least in my opinion. But the Queen of Blades that killed Warfield was a completely different person than the one that killed Fenix.

Also: At the end of Starcraft II, the epilogue says that once devastated worlds start to flourish once more and no one knows why. I immediately thought: "How cool would it be if that would be Sarah." And so that was the idea: To turn Sarah from that killer into a bringer of life. However, I wanted it to be a long process, not something that would happen within 3 weeks or less. I wanted to portray a Sarah Kerrigan that was, godlike powers aside, still a human inside. Hurt. Abused. Broken.

I'm aware that the novel "Evolution", that takes place after Starcraft II's ending, shows how the Zerg start to terraform worlds in order to make them habitable again. Again: That novel came out long after I had started to work on this story. So there was no way for me to add this. I tried to hint that Abathur and Zagara have completely different opinions on what the Swarm should do, but aside from that, I decided to stay away from it as far as possible.

Jim Raynor: Funny enough, I never liked Jim that much. To me, he was always the typical "Han Solo"-type. Rough on the outside, sweet on the inside. A charming rogue that everyone either loves or hate. Currently, this is probably the mainstream-hero you find in most stories, and I'm somewhat tired of that. So I tried to focus on the not-so-nice stuff in his life. The loss of his family, the guilt he felt, and his alcoholism. Because let's face it, he was an addict. I decided to focus on his first family because if Jim Raynor truly is an honorable man, then I can't imagine that he would just look at Sarah and forget about his old family. Instead of overcoming all that pain and grief, he starts to learn to live with it.

I wanted to portray a man who had lost his family once (Liddy and Johnny) and thought that he had lost his second family as well (Sarah). And then the war was over. And no one needed him anymore. And so he would do the only thing he had done during the war except fighting. And that was drinking. The idea was a less glorious version of "The hero has done his job and now he rides into the sunset". Jim had fought his war, he had done his duty. He is like an old warhorse that knows that its no longer needed, and in a way, he's fine with that. He lost Liddy and thought that he would never love anyone again. Then he met Sarah and fell in love again. But after her "death", he didn't have the strength to try to find someone else again.

Jim is just as broken as Sarah in this story, maybe even more. Since I focused more on Sarah, his problems might come a bit short. But I didn't want to write 2 million words just to make clear how much these two need each other.

Izsha: She's perhaps the character no one really cares about. And I can understand why. Izsha is supposed to be the Zerg-version of an adjutant. But she's more to Sarah what Matt is to Jim. At least partially. Yes, I know, Zagara is also there. Still, Izsha was already more interesting to me than the other Zerg serving Sarah. She has a childlike innocence to her and seems to only care about serving her Queen. There's one short scene just before the end of "Heart of the Swarm" when they are about to attack Korhal and kill Arcturus. In this scene, Izsha asks if Sarah will leave the Zerg once she has her revenge. Call me crazy, but I think that Izsha sounds truly sad when she asks that. And Sarah? She tells Izsha that they will fight many more battles together.

So yeah, to me, Izsha was the logical choice for Sarah's "best girlfriend". Not only because she was loyal, but also because it reminded Sarah of her own guilt. Izsha had once been a human that had been infested by the old Queen of Blades and then turned into a monstrosity. There is some tragic to that as well. And it leaves room to debate if Sarah actually deserves Izsha's loyalty (and later friendship). I'm pretty sure that the human woman Amanda Haley wouldn't appreciate what was done to her. But that makes Izsha's character morally ambiguous. For her to come into existence, an innocent woman basically had to die. But there are no simple answers. Just like Jim has to live with the guilt of failing his first family, Sarah has to accept that Izsha started her existence as a casualty of war.

Karax: He was supposed to be another casualty of war. Basically, Sarah does the same thing to him that she did to Razszagal. Only this time she did it without sinister intention. However, the end result was the same. It is supposed to tragic as well. Karax is technically bound to Sarah, but he's not suffering. However, Sarah is aware of that, and it is supposed to torment her. In a way, Karax acts as a warning what will happen if she doesn't control herself.

As for the character itself: I like Karax because he appears a lot less martial and mystical than most other Protoss. He's supposed to be the "Rory Swann" of the Protoss, and that makes him a lot more repeatable. At least for me. I wanted to give him more screentime, but like already said before: I didn't want to write a story with 2 million words.

Joseph Brent: When it comes to fanfic, I firmly believe in one thing: No one cares about your OC's. Seriously. Most "original characters" only exist so people can write how a character that is supposed to be an idealized version of themselves has a romance with their favorite love-interest from a movie, show, or game.

That being said: Joseph Brent is not anything like me. Seriously.

The character started as a goofy joke with a good heart. I didn't even want to keep him in the story. He was supposed to die for good in the second act. I wanted to use his death to spark a human emotion within Izsha. She was supposed to feel "sad" about his death. But then I grew fond of the character and decided to keep him. Still, I wanted to change him after his "not-only-near"-death experience. The new Joseph was supposed to be the most obnoxious person you can imagine, the kind of guy you never want to have as a friend or neighbor. His unhealthy relationship with Izsha was actually meant as a joke on all those OC's that date the hottest chicks or dudes in other fanfics.

Matt Horner/Valerian Mengsk: I put these two together because I think that they are equally important. Both Matt and Valerian are supposed to be important members of the government, but I wanted to show how they struggle with everyday problems after the war was over. The almighty space-demon was slain, the Zerg have turned into pacifists and the Protoss do whatever. So what else is there to do? Rebuilding a nation is a tedious task, and I wanted to show that just because no one is shooting at them anymore, things aren't exactly that much easier. They have to know when to make unpopular choices and when to stay true to themselves. If they would only do the right thing, then they would be flat and uninteresting characters.

That was the idea with Matt deciding to scrap the Hyperion. Not because he didn't love the ship like Swann did, but because he had to look after an entire army. And that meant that he had to listen to his brain instead of his heart, which is also something a leader should do.

While Matt had to listen to his brain, Valerian could listen to his heart. However, he had to learn that if he wants peace, he has to fight his instincts. That was the idea behind the whole second act. Instead of retaliating, instead of punishing the Combine for the massacre, Valerian decides to sit it out. He risks being called a coward and weakling but does the right thing.

So yeah, I wanted to show how these two struggled while trying to do the right thing. Needlessly to say that Matt was also important for sending Jim away. It was supposed to be a painful moment for him since he knew what Jim didn't back then: That they would never see each other again.

Smith: Yes, the character is based on the character "Smith" from Matrix, played by the ever-so-awesome Hugo Weaving. But only the first movie, I didn't like the other two. While he's only a minor character, I like how he turned out. His no-nonsense-attitude is almost like Izsha's, but you can't have too many characters like that. I actually had an idea for a sequel that would be centered around Smith and Trevor Markson (the Marshal in Act IV) and how they would uncover a conspiracy on Korhal, meant to kill Valerian. If you wonder what happened to Smith: He died while saving Markson's life. The idea was that Tosh and his Specters ruled the underworld of Augustgrad and Smith died while fighting either against Tosh himself, or a group of Specters. Even though he was outnumbered and outmatched by them, he still managed to kill some of them and saved Trevor before succumbing to his wounds. It would be the moment that would change Trevor and turn him into a different man.

Also, Smith would die with a smile on his face because he had done something meaningful.

Maria Hernandez/Leila Curtland: When I thought about Matt's and Valerian's potential love interests, I wanted to create something different. Needlessly to say that Leila got a lot more screen time. Still, the idea was to create a woman that was the exact opposite of what you would expect as a "princess". As for Hernandez: Well, she was the prototype for Paula from Ramelow. She represents a psionically gifted person that wasn't trained to become a Ghost. In a way, this is what Sarah could have been if the Confederacy hadn't turned her into a killer. At least that's how I imagine it.

Shepherd Book: Yes, like Smith from Matrix, this character is based on Shephard Book from the show Firefly/the movie Serenity. Not just because I love that show but because there was so much potential for that character. What made me add this character is actually his death in Firefly/Serenity. He always tells Mel, the hero, to believe. Mel always thinks that Book is referring to God since he's a priest. But with his dying breath, Book tells him that he should just believe. It doesn't have to be God, he should just believe in anything. And that's what I wanted to use for Sarah. She doesn't have to believe in God, she just has to believe in _something_. Like the people she cares about.

The other thing is the idea that Book is actually Warfield's son. There is no information on wherever Warfield actually has a son, I made that up. Shepherd Book in Firefly/Serenity has a dark past as well, he once was someone else. But I liked the idea that Shepherd was willing to forgive Sarah for what she did. I know that a lot of people think that this is "too easy", but if a priest isn't willing to forgive, then who is? Also, this story is about redemption. It doesn't undo the things Sarah did, but it helps her to find closure.

Paula Carter: Sarah never had a family, or at least she can't remember it. Paula is supposed to represent an utterly innocent child, one that is lost and without guidance. The idea was that Sarah looks at a younger version of herself. However, instead of repeating the same mistakes, instead of using the same methods the Confederacy used on her, Sarah decides to take a different route. If people get beaten as children, they tend to beat their own children when they are adults. And, as we all know all too well, if people get bullied, they tend to bully others as well. Unless they get their jaw broken. In that case, they can only groan in pain. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about.

But even though Sarah was abused as a child and young woman, she decides to not do the same to Paula. And by that, she proves that she's better than those who turned her into Ghost 24601.

Zeratul: It just made sense to add him. The crystal that Jim used was pure alien technology, so I had to do that. Many like to display Zeratul like an avenging ghost, someone who is driven by vengeance. My version was supposed to be just as broken as Jim. But he is at peace. This Zeratul knows that he is not real. But still, he knows that the sacrifice of the real Zeratul was successful. I wanted to display him somewhat wise, tired and gentle. Like an old warrior that just wanted to lay down his tired body and rest.

I thought about reviving him for good but abandoned that thought very soon. His sacrifice was supposed to be touching, I hope that at least some of you felt that way when you read it.

Tesson: Just like with Joseph, Tesson is an OC. I wanted to write more about him, but _"2 million words for a fanfic is too much"_ happened. I wanted to create a character that is young and angry, that is hurt and feels alone. He thinks that everyone abandoned him and that even the Nerazim have betrayed him. And in his rage, he does something incredibly stupid. But he simply doesn't want to see what he did wrong. The idea was that sometimes you just need a lot of time to come to your senses. I wish I could have given Tesson more screen time, but that's life.

The Voice/the young woman: In the first version of the story, the voice wasn't there. Instead, Jim and Sarah could hear each other's thoughts but thought that those were just hallucinations. I think it's pretty clear by now who this mysterious voice is: Paula Kerrigan, daughter of Sarah Kerrigan and Jim Raynor. She was sent back to watch how her parents overcame their problems. The idea is that Sarah wouldn't uplift other beings so they would become Xel'Naga. Instead, she would give birth to children that were born with those powers, sparking a new evolution. Paula, who grew up surrounded by friends and family, only knew a peaceful Sarah and a wise Jim. So their parents sent her back. She's supposed to learn that neither Sarah nor Jim are perfect and that they did a lot of mistakes.

By the way, the pregnancy took 900 years. And when Paula leaves to the past, she's 80 years old. According to Jim, that's "barely a teenager".

Well, that's it:

I guess that's all there is to say. This is the second version of this story. The first version was a bit different and had a few stupid chapters in it that I didn't like. I guess I felt the urge to "streamline" it, but if you write a story this long, then you have to accept that there will be problems, logical mistakes and such. Perhaps I could have done better if I had worked harder on it, perhaps most people don't even like this story, I don't know. But I don't care about that anymore either. I wrote what I wanted to write. Take it or leave it. If you like it: Great. If you hate it: Go to hell.

Should you find a slightly different version of this story on the internet, then you probably managed to stumble upon the first version. It was basically the same as the one you just read on this site, only a bit shorter and without the epilogue.

Wait.

Did I just say "epilogue"?

Yes, I did.

Because after this useless piece of self-pity, there will be a short epilogue.

So that is the only thing I hope I achieved. If you felt that the ending of "Legacy of the Void" was lackluster and left you with an empty feeling, if you read this story and think "That was nice", then I'm happy.

And this time I'm happy for real.

Maybe.

Once I find my pills.

Take care.

* * *

 **...**

 **Coming Up Next:**

 **...**

 **Epilogue**

 **1000 Years of Peace**

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	117. Epilogue - Part I

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* * *

 **Epilogue**

 **1000 Years of Peace**

 **Part I**

* * *

The young woman saw the confused look on Sarah's face when her mind showed her an ancient memory. Only that this memory was not ancient, at least not to Sarah. She blinked a few times, and when her mind regained its traction, she looked at the young woman.

"That's..." Sarah gasped. The young woman wanted to say something. Her hand was still on Sarah's belly, but that's when she felt how her own body started to fade away. She placed her hand on the other woman's cheek and smiled.

"No!" she could hear Sarah shout. "You can't go yet! I got questions, so many questions!"

"I know." the young woman whispered. "And you will find answers to those questions, all of them. And one day, you will teach the answers to those questions to me. And all my siblings." She could see the desperate look on Sarah's face, and she could sense the other woman's distress. There were still so many things she wanted to tell her. But her time was up, and she had to return.

"Siblings?" Sarah whispered, and the young woman nodded.

"You always said that you wanted a big family." Before she could say anything else, her body flickered again, and this time she could actually feel how the world around her vanished for a second.

"I... I don't know what to say." Sarah whispered.

"You don't have to. You already did that. Many times." And then it was finally time. The young woman moved backward, and Sarah tried to grab her. She could see the desperate look on Sarah's face, and she could feel that she didn't want her to leave.

"I won't leave. I'm already with you, remember?" the young woman said and pointed with her finger at Sarah's body. As she continued to move back, her body flickered again. When Moby, the giant white kriecher, walked up to them, she hissed and lowered her head. The young woman brushed with her hand over Moby's flat head and smiled.

"Don't worry, Moby. We will meet again." She could sense the simple glee in Moby's mind, and then the kriecher trotted over to Sarah. When the young woman as a couple of meters away, she looked Sarah once more into the eyes.

"Wait!" Sarah suddenly shouted. "You haven't told me your name yet!" When the young woman heard that, she smiled again.

"You already know. You chose a good name for me, one that I'm very grateful for." And then she wiped another tear from her cheek and laughed. "I know that I sound like a broken record, but still...I love you." And then she felt how the world collapsed around her when her strength finally came to an end. The last thing the young woman saw was the look on Sarah's face. She spoke one more word, hoping that it would reach the older woman, but she wasn't sure of that. Everything turned upside down, and the young woman felt how the universe itself was pulling at her molecules. The area around her vanished and she closed her eyes.

...and then everything returned the way it was.

"Mum..." she whispered.

When the young woman opened her eyes, she still stood on the cliff. Almost everything looked exactly the same, there was only one small difference.

Sarah...was gone. And so was Moby. The cliff had changed as well. The trees around her were not exactly the same. But when she looked up, the young woman could see the same magnificent sky as before. The only difference was that twilight hour was over. It was bright as day again, and she shuddered when all that emotions were finally breaking to the surface. Suddenly she had to remember all the things she had witnessed, all the people she had met. She wanted to return and seem them again. But she knew that it was impossible. And perhaps it was for the better. What happened in the past should stay in the past and-

"You are back." When the young woman heard that deep voice, she turned around and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Master?"

Behind her stood a tall man. He was easily a head taller than her. And he looked seriously overdressed. The suit he wore was black, and he looked like one of the guests attending to the Christmas Party on Korhal. His face was thin and he looked almost aristocratic. His black hair and his trimmed beard made him almost look like a hipster. However, the most striking features were his eyes. While they weren't glowing right now, they were still golden.

"Welcome home, Paula." the man said with a calm and controlled voice. "How are you?" Instead of answering that question, Paula ran over to him and threw herself at the man. She slung her arms around his chest and started to weep like a little child. And the man? He sighed, but then he put his arms around her lithe frame as well and patted her on the head.

"That exhausting, hmm? Well, now you are back home." he said and brushed with his hand over Paula's soft hair. He watched how she cried for what felt like hours. There were some things he would never understand, especially the urge these humans had for shedding tears. Then again, she was her mother's daughter. And if there was one thing she had taught Paula, then it was to be never ashamed of one's tears.

"It was...so much hurt. So much pain. And yet...they shouldered on." she whispered.

"Different times, Little One. Different times." the man explained, and when Paula had finally calmed down, she made a step backward and looked at him.

"By the way, what's with that look?" she asked and wiped a tear from her cheek. "You look like you're going to a party!" The man looked down at himself and frowned.

"What, is this not what humans wear?" he asked. "It would explain why everyone gave me weird looks."

"It's very, uhm, high-class. You look like a movie star."

"Is that a bad thing?" her Master wanted to know.

"No! No, it suits you so well!" she complimented, and then Paula had to chuckle. "You should wear something like this more often, Master."

"By the way, you can stop calling me "Master", I'm no longer your teacher." the man growled, and Paula sniffed and showed him an exhausted smile.

"You will always be my Master, Master."

"Ugh, now you sound like your father." the man growled. "Please, at least consider using my name. I would love to hear a "Hello, Tesson!" from time to time." Tesson explained, and Paula shook her head.

"I will think about it." she whispered.

"Somehow I have my doubts about that." the former Nerazim growled. Just like everyone else that was part of this weird little family, Tesson was no longer what he had once been. Learning how to change his appearance had taken quite some time, but it had been well worth it. Still, the first attempts had been truly awkward. Tesson had never truly cared about human anatomy. Paula had only heard stories how he had tried to mimic humans, only to end up with his mouth on the backside of his head.

Hilarious, really.

"So, what's with the look? Why did you change your form?" Paula wanted to know.

"I just returned from Earth." he told her, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Earth? You visited Mum and Dad?" to which Tesson nodded. "Did they...say anything?"

"The usual." Tesson answered. "That they love you, and that they are proud of you." Even though that was exactly what Paula had hoped to hear, it sounded a bit, well, dull.

"You look disappointed, did you expect a parade?" Tesson chuckled, and Paula blushed when she heard that.

"No, of course not. I just...I wish I could talk to them. Tell them about what I saw."

"Then why don't you travel to Earth and see them?" Tesson asked.

"I can't." Paula sighed. "I'm so empty right now. Seriously, I feel like I can't even change my form!"

"Oh, how _unfortunate_!" the former Nerazim cooed. The way he talked it sounded as if he was not sad at all to hear that. "So, no flying in the skies today?"

"No flying in the skies today." Paula confirmed.

"Well, in that case, we should get back home. Come on, let's get you something to eat that you can push in that strange hole in the center of your heads."

"Mouths. They are called mouths." Paula explained.

"Yes, well, I will never get used to that feeling. Those teeth and that tongue, it is just weird." Tesson declared and turned from the cliff. Paula was about to follow him when he suddenly stopped and looked at her. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Back to the house?" Paula mumbled.

"Oh, nohohoho!" the former Nerazim laughed. " _I_ will go back home. _You_ will swim back." When Paula heard that, she pulled her brows up.

"Say what?"

"You know, I just remembered something...the first time we met, you threw me down an edge, and right into a warp gate."

"It was necessary. To preserve the timeline." Paula defended herself.

"Noted." Tesson replied. And then he grabbed the lithe young woman, lifted her high up into the air, and tossed her over the edge of the cliff.

"TEEEEESSSSSOOOOOOOOOO..." he could her hear scream in despair and waited one, two, three seconds. After ten or so seconds, he could finally hear a loud _SPLASH!_ , and then he turned away and walked back down the cliff.

"Waited one thousand years for that..." Tesson mused. "...totally worth it."

* * *

When Paula finally arrived back home, she was still drenched. This whole journey had drained her powers, and she would need some time to recharge her batteries. The perfect place to do that was, of course, Sternenheim, her homeworld, the world where she had been born and raised. The house hadn't changed that much from the original one. So many centuries had passed, but the house that she had grown up in still existed. Oh, by now pretty much every part had been replaced at least three times by her father. No matter how sturdy, wood wasn't stone. And unlike Paula and her family, the house wasn't immune to the effects of aging.

However, that didn't mean that the house was exactly the way it had when Jim had constructed it. Oh, no! With every passing year, he had become better at working with his hands. There was probably no one in this entire galaxy who was a better craftsman than Jim. Karax was good with his hands, too. But he lacked that certain artistic talent Jim had discovered within himself. Paula stopped in front of the house and sighed in relief.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Well, when it came to their home, it was definitely true. The light purple color of the walls caused Paula to smile. Now that she knew why it was purple, it all made sense.

Kinda.

Tesson was sitting on the bench that was standing on the veranda.

"Had a nice swim?" he asked. He still looked human and showed Paula one of those rare smiles.

"Uh huh. It was _refreshing_." Paula growled, but Tesson wasn't impressed.

"Well, I waited a long time for this chance." he mused, and then he looked over his shoulder. "Maybe you should get something to eat. I think there's a surprise waiting for you."

"Huh?" Paula mumbled when she heard that. But that's when she smelled it. It was the scent of something to eat, something she loved. One might even say that it was her favorite food. Her eyes widened and when Tesson saw the hopeful look on Paula's face, he pointed with his finger at the door.

"Better get in there and grab something before it gets cold." he told her and Paula did as she was told. She walked over to the entrance and when she opened the door, she inhaled the warm scent of cake.

No, not just any cake.

Chocolate cake.

Her father's chocolate cake.

"Well, look who has finally come home!" Jim Raynor laughed when he looked over to the door. He was sitting at the table, the same table that had that delicious smelling chocolate cake on it. And next to Jim sat...

"Hey, Little One." Sarah Kerrigan said when she looked at her daughter. "Welcome home." And Paula? Instead of saying anything, she just stormed over to her parents and threw herself at her mother. Sarah managed to stand up just in time. When her child reached her, she opened her arms and welcomed her child like only a mother could. Jim watched with a gentle smile on his face. Paula pressed her face against Sarah's shoulder and started to cry like a little baby.

"It's fine, Little One." Sarah cooed. "I'm so proud of you." she said and placed her hand on Paula's head. She brushed through that brown hair and just held Paula in her arms. And Paula? She turned her head to the side and looked over to her father. Right now, she wasn't even able to say anything, she was too busy crying. But when she reached out with her hand, Jim got the message. He chuckled, stood up, and walked over to his family. And then he slung his arms around them as well.

For a long time, they did nothing else. They were just holding each other in their arms. And then...

"I thought you were still on Earth." Paula whispered.

"And miss the moment when you would come back?" Jim chuckled. "Never. Besides, your mother was dying to have some Sternenheim-squidfishes again. The ones on Earth aren't nearly as tasty. According to her." When Sarah heard that, she chuckled and shook her head.

"Don't listen to your father. Squidfishes are the last thing on my mind right now. But now that you mention it...Jim, how about we have squidfishes for dinner?"

"I think that is doable. I think I still know how to catch them. But, Paula?" her father suddenly asked, and she looked over to him.

"Yeah?"

"Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Of course not."

"Why are you drenched?" Jim asked, and then a smile appeared on Paula's face.

"Oh, it's nothing. Tesson just threw me off a cliff." When Jim and Sarah heard that, they exchanged annoyed looks.

"Tesssssssson!" both of them hissed at the same time, and sounded like two Hydralisks that were about to devour their prey. From outside, you could hear the voice of Tesson. It almost sounded as if it was getting weaker...

"Just so you know; I regret nothing!" the former Nerazim yelled before he decided to ran for his dear life. "I waited so long for this moment!" However, instead of going after Paula's teacher, the two sighed and Paula hugged them even harder. She looked at her parents and another golden tear streamed down her cheek.

"Can I have some cake now?"

* * *

"...it was so weird." Paula whispered when everything had finally calmed down, and when roughly half of the chocolate cake had ended up in Paula's belly, she looked out of the window and contemplated on everything that had happened so far. "Seeing you like this, so different, yet at the same time so familiar."

"Trust me..." Jim mumbled. "...we discussed this many times before we decided to send you on that journey. I think it's safe to assume that parents don't want their children to face something like this on their own."

"But we knew that you could handle it." Sarah told her. She had grabbed one or two slices of the chocolate cake, even though it was meant for Paula.

"Still..." Paula sighed. "...you always told me about what you went through. You never kept any secrets from me, and I thought that I was prepared to see it with my own eyes. But when I was there, when I saw how you struggled...it hurt." This time Paula didn't cry, but only barely. Perhaps someone would assume that the daughter of the fearsome Sarah Kerrigan and the courageous James Raynor wasn't supposed to cry so much, but that was bullshit. They had taught her to never be ashamed of her feelings, and Paula had seen some of the most tragic things you could imagine.

"Not very impressive, were we?" Jim chuckled. "Hah, I suppose I was a very different man back then."

"I have to admit; it was hard to watch." Paula explained. "I mean, you told me about it. You told me that you once had problems with alcohol and all, but _seeing_ it with my own two eyes? I wanted to show myself to you, wanted to heal the hurt, but I couldn't." When Jim heard that, he leaned forward and placed his hand on his daughter's.

"Paula, the reason why we wanted you to see this was because you had to realize where we came from." He looked over to Sarah, who gave him a weak smile and nodded, telling him to continue. "Sometimes we were scared that you would grow up thinking that we were always like this, well, uhm..." Jim didn't seem to know how to find the right words to describe what he was trying to say.

"...so perfect?" Sarah offered, and Jim groaned while Paula snickered.

"That's not how I would put it, but, well, nevermind. Paula, we wanted you to understand that we were very different people back then, and that it took us a really long time to finally figure out who we were, and what we wanted to do with our lives. Also, we wanted you to see that failing is nothing to be ashamed of. We both know that sometimes you think that you have to be perfect, but that's not true." he explained to her. "Back then, we stumbled at every corner, and we failed so many times that it is a miracle that we ended up here." He gave the hand of his daughter a soft squeeze and smiled at her. "So, it doesn't matter if you slip and fall, it is just part of life."

"I still wished that I could have helped you." Paula whispered, and now it was Sarah who started to talk.

"Paula, what you did was so courageous. You didn't intervene, even when you could have."

"Well, I guess I did intervene one or two times." the young woman mumbled.

"We know. We were there, remember?" Sarah asked with a warm smile on her face. "But even then, you didn't intervene like you could have. You know what I would have done in your place, when I was your age?" Paula shook her head and it was actually Jim who answered that question.

"Boom, headshot." he snickered, and Sarah sighed.

"While that's not exactly how I would put it, yeah. Paula, there was a time when I only knew how to solve my problems by using violence. It was the only life I knew, and I didn't question it. But you? You are already so much more than I ever was."

"I'm nowhere near your level." Paula mumbled. Sarah leaned forward and placed her hand on her daughter's cheek.

"You will be. You have just started your journey, and one day you will get there. The most important thing is that you have time. No one is rushing you and-"

"WHY ARE YOU SLACKING OFF!" Joseph Brent screamed when he ripped the door open and stormed into the house.

"Except for him." Sarah growled and looked over to Joseph. "Joseph, we were having an intimate moment here, you better have a damn good reason for being, well, _yourself_!"

"Uncle Joe!" Paula squealed when she turned around. Unlike Jim and Sarah, she was always happy to see the man. She jumped up and hurried over to him, only to hug him as if she hadn't seen him in ages.

"Uhhhh, hey, kiddo! I've missed you!" Joseph sighed and showed a rare moment of true affection when he gave his niece a hug. Maybe they weren't related by blood, but it hardly mattered. Paula couldn't remember a time without Uncle Joe being around. Also, she was the only one that was allowed to call him "Joe".

"Joseph, I don't want to sound like an ass, but what the hell are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to be, I don't know, everywhere else?" Jim muttered.

"And miss the chance to see my favorite niece again?" Joseph asked and acted as if he was truly shocked by that comment. "Never!" When Paula heard that, she tilted her head to the side.

"But I'm your only niece, Uncle."

"You're ruining the moment, Paula." Joseph told her with a dry tone in his voice.

"Hey, where's Auntie Izsha? Did she come here too?" Paula asked with a hopeful expression on her face.

"Sorry, kiddo. Izsha is still busy. Semester on Earth ended, and she is enjoying her favorite hobby."

"Praising the Swarm?" Paula asked, and Joseph pulled his shoulders up when he heard that.

"Close enough." Now, of course, Izsha wasn't running around on Earth the way she really looked like. However, being in service of Sarah had allowed her to gain some new abilities over the course of the many centuries. And just like Tesson, changing her shape was now something that she did on a regular basis. And even though Izsha looked very different right now, she still was the very same good old Auntie Izsha on the inside. Needlessly to say that Paula missed her.

"Oh, speaking of which!" Joseph suddenly said and turned away. He grabbed a backpack that he had left outside and carried it inside.

"What's that?" Jim wanted to know. "A bomb?"

"Nope, worse." Joseph chuckled and put the backpack on the table. It landed with a loud _THUD!_ , and everyone realized that whatever was in that backpack had to be really heavy. He opened it and when he pulled several folders out, Sarah groaned in despair.

"Wait, are those my exams? I left them in my office!" she whined. "For good reasons!"

"Yeah, well, when Izsha went into your office, she saw all the exams, she thought that you had forgotten them. Also..." Joseph then walked back outside and returned with two more backpacks. And then two more. And then two more. In the end, there were ten backpacks on their table, that looked as if it was about to collapse under all that weight.

"Uuuuuuhhhh..." Sarah groaned when she saw that. "...tell your wife that she's a goddamn slave driver! Just because she enjoys torturing people with exams, doesn't mean that I have to follow suit." When Joseph heard that, he grinned, and then he mimicked his, well, wife.

"Even though your Majesty has other important duties she has to worry about, there is no excuse in not correcting those exams immediately." he repeated what Izsha had told him.

What does one do if age is no longer a problem? Well, everyone had found an answer to the question. That didn't mean that they all had to do the same thing. Let's start with Karax because that was easy. Karax was still on Sternenheim and trying to rebuild what was left of Ulnar. It was a gigantic puzzle, but he didn't mind. He was still mad at Joseph for crushing Ulnar into Sternenheim, but a couple of hundred years had helped him to calm down considerably. Karax was still busy trying to figure out the secrets surrounding the Xel'Naga, even though Sarah wasn't really interested in that knowledge anymore. She had moved on and found her own path in life, one that didn't involve the Xel'Naga or their weird prophecies.

However, before we come to Sarah and Jim...

Well, Tesson had been a nice addition to their group. He was surprisingly competent, and in the years to come he had never given Sarah or Jim any reason to doubt their decision to allow him to stay. Just like those two, like Izsha, like Joseph, like Karax, and even like Niadra, he had found a new reason to live for. And when little Paula was born, he had offered to train her. Sarah hadn't been too fond of that idea. It wasn't so much the fact that Tesson had once been Protoss, but that Sarah wanted to be the one teaching her daughter how to use her psionics. However, Jim had told her that sometimes parents weren't the best teachers, and so Tesson had taken that role.

And, much to Sarah's dismay, he had done a brilliant job.

As for Niadra? Well...she was on Sternenheim. Somewhere.

By now it was brutally obvious that the Broodmother's mind was a mess, but she was harmless. Well, for Zerg-standards anyway. She was probably the closest thing to "crazy cat lady" on this world, which probably said a lot.

As for Izsha and Joseph?

Well...

"Did you come here alone?" Jim asked the other man, who only rolled his eyes when he heard that.

"Do I ever go alone anywhere? Pffff, of course not. I told my girls to wait outside and be quiet." When Sarah heard that, she pulled her brows up.

"Seriously? Joseph, your kids are always welcome here. You know that." she told him. "Also, what would Izsha say if she heard that?"

"Need I remind you what happened the last time when my girls were here?" Joseph asked back.

"Oh, come on!" Jim chuckled. "That was just because they had eaten too many apples." When Joseph heard that, he shrugged his shoulder.

"Very well, but don't say I didn't warn you. Also, you might want to cover your ears. This will be loud!" And then Joseph walked over to the door and shouted outside.

"Yo! Girls! Get in here, Uncle Jim and Aunt Sarah want to know why I call you the bane of my life!" Both Sarah and Jim exchanged annoyed looks, but a few seconds later the whole ground started to shake when suddenly countless dark figures broke through the surface of the soil around the house. Even Sarah had to swallow hard when she saw all that dark carapace through the window. It was as if their home was surrounded by countless Zerglings.

Only that it wasn't Zerglings...

The first creature that entered the house looked almost exactly like Izsha, only a lot smaller. This one was only half of Izsha's size, but there was no doubt about who its mother was. And then another one pushed itself into the house. And another one. And another one. And all of them were talking at the same time.

"Oh, pretty house!"

"Lemme in! Lemme in!"

"Hey, guys! How's life?"

"Whoa, what is that? It smells nice!"

"Uhhhh! Chocolate cake! I want a piece!"

"Chocolate cake!"

Dozens of little Izshas forced their way into the house, and within second, the whole home was packed. Some of them slithered upstairs and shouted all sorts of things.

"Hey, this bed is comfortable! I want one too!"

"This bathtub is tiny! My tail doesn't even fit into it!"

"Oh, is that a hairbrush? I wish I had hair, then I could use it!"

Joseph waited roughly five minutes before he decided to stop this madness.

"Girls, out!" And all the smaller versions of Izsha turned around and slithered out without even trying to do something funny. Joseph, who stood next to the door, counted every single one of those mini-Izshas.

"Abigail, Alexandra, Ally, Betty, Beatrix, Babsi, Charlene, Cora, Dana, Ellen..." he said to each and everyone, and at one point even Sarah gave up trying to remember those names. When they were finally out, the house looked as if a bomb had exploded in it.

"I warned you." Joseph mumbled and looked over at them. "It ain't pretty. My girls aren't meant to be inside a building."

"They ate all the chocolate cake." Jim mumbled.

"Shit..." Joseph said when he heard that. "...that means that some of them will experience a sugar-rush. Oh, boy. This is bad. They are all linked to each other. If one has a sugar-rush, _all_ of them will have one." When Sarah heard that, she leaned back and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I must say, Joseph, you used to be a much better father. Your girls need more guidance!" she told with a big grin on her face.

"Uh huh." the man replied. "Quick question, how many daughters do you have?"

"One, why?" Sarah asked and looked over at Paula.

"Well..." Joseph explained. "...I got 417 daughters, not including the ones that haven't hatched yet. So yeah, I want to see how you act with 400 Paulas running around."

"The secret is quality over quantity, my dear Joseph." Sarah teased him.

"Well, I like to think that quantity is a quality of its own. No offense, but I wouldn't trade my girls for anything in the world." he replied, and when Jim and Sarah heard that, they exchanged impressed looks.

"My, he almost sounds like a real parent." Jim said.

"And it only took him a few hundred years. Impressive!" Sarah agreed.

"Ah, screw you guys." Joseph growled. "Anyway, I'm out. Izsha wanted me to give you those exams. Besides, I got enough work to do. So, if you don't mind, then I'll be on my way." Neither Jim nor Sarah felt the urge to stop Joseph and have him sit down in order to have a talk. And when he was finally gone, they watched how a wild horde of mini-Izshas followed him while chattering like a bunch of, well, teenagers.

"I don't know what is worse, the fact that they look like Izsha, but act like Joseph, or that I actually think that they're kinda cute." Jim mumbled.

"They are, aren't they?" Sarah agreed. "There's something weirdly adorable about them." After that, peace and quiet finally returned to their home, and Jim decided to go some fishing, something that he hadn't done in a while. It gave Paula the chance to talk with her mother in private. She didn't have any secrets from her father.

Well, except for one...

* * *

"So, what have you been up to while I was gone?" Paula mumbled. She sat on the bench on the veranda, and Sarah was sitting right next to her. "Are you still busy on Earth?"

"Agh..." Sarah sighed when she heard that. "...that world is just a bag of fun. Seriously, I have never visited a world that was in such a bad shape. Let me tell you, compared to Earth, Korhal was a paradise!"

"But you've been decades on Earth. Surely you must have made progress." her daughter mused.

"Progress, yes. But it's a lot more tedious than you might think. The people of Earth have polluted their home for thousands of years. Something like that can't be repaired just over night." Sarah explained.

"Not even by you?" Paula wondered, and her mother chuckled when she heard that.

"Well, let me rephrase it; I guess I could fix it a lot faster, but that would only leave the people confused. Change takes time."

"Time..." Paula whispered when she heard that. "...I think I will need some time to process all of that."

"Then you should take that time." Sarah told her daughter and grabbed her hand. She gave Paula's hand a soft squeeze and showed her that warm smile that had turned into her trademark. Even though Paula had learned so much about her parents, she still had a hard time to imagine that there had been a time where Sarah hadn't been able to show anyone that smile. It was a smile that inspired confidence, and that could pacify even a rabid Ultralisk.

"So, what were you up to while I was gone?" the Little One asked. "And what's with those exams?" When Sarah heard that, she couldn't help but sigh.

"Agh, that. Yeah, I had hoped to ignore them." she mumbled. "I decided to get a job on Earth, I'm working as a professor. It's nothing fancy, but it keeps me occupied while I work on that biosphere." When Paula heard that, she had to snicker.

"Let me guess; Literature and Philosophy?"

"What else is there?" Sarah teased her daughter.

"And Izsha...?"

"Hahahaha!" Sarah started to laugh when she heard that question. "Oh, you should see her. "Professor Brent", that's how she even calls herself. Oh, she would never admit it, but she really loves torturing those students with her exams. They are already known to be legendary hard."

"What does she teach?"

"You may guess, Little One." Sarah snickered. And Paula actually had a pretty clear idea what that could be.

"Zerg?"

"Zerg." Sarah confirmed. "She teaches Koprulean history and the history of the Zerg. Like said, her exams are among the toughest I have ever seen. Even I wouldn't be able to answer all of those questions, and I ruled the Swarm for some time!"

"I guess I have to go to Earth and see it for myself." Paula mused.

"Oh, the students love her. Even though only roughly ten percent of them pass the first time, they _adore_ her."

"Really? Is she that good? I've never seen Auntie Izsha teach like a, well, professor."

"Well, she's _very_ graphic when it comes to certain details. Like battles. Her favorite line is _"...and then the Swarm arrived and saved everyone. And then they consumed everyone, as it should be."_ Like said, the students love her."

"And she keeps an eye on you?" Paula wanted to know. That's when Sarah sighed again.

"Yeah, you know her. She feels a sick kind of pleasure when she can tell me that I have to work harder. Ugh."

"Sounds like you're having fun!" Paula giggled. "And Dad?"

"Oh, your father is doing just fine. He's currently working on something big, but he won't allow me to see it, not until it's done."

"Another Rennard?" her daughter asked, and Sarah pulled her shoulders up.

"Seems that way. You know him, he likes to act all mysterious when inspiration hits him." Rennard, that was a name that was well known throughout the Koprulu Sector. As Jim had discovered his aptitude for art, he had started to hone his skills for centuries. Some of his works were beyond masterful, and he had decided to hand them over to some museums across the sector. At first, it had been just for fun. But soon the artist known as "Rennard" had turned into a mysterious celebrity. No one even knew if that person even existed. No one even knew if it was a man, a woman, or a Protoss. Every couple of decades Jim would create something truly spectacular, and then he would find ways for his works to end up in some museum. He didn't do it for fame, he just enjoyed creating pieces of art. Painting or sculpting, it didn't matter. Jim had mastered it all.

He was so very good with his hands...

And he took a twisted sense of amusement from the fact that people had no idea who or what Rennard was. Since he had released new works for several centuries now, the public just assumed that "Rennard" was, in reality, the name of a collective of artists who would work under that alias.

"You have to tell me when it's done, I want to see it!" Paula told her mother, and Sarah nodded.

"First thing I'll do when it's done. I promise." And then they just enjoyed each other's company for a while. And then...

"Will you go back to Earth?" Paula asked.

"Eventually, yes. But we are in no rush." Sarah told you. "Maybe you even want to accompany us?"

"Really? To Earth?"

"Why not? It's not so bad." And then Sarah leaned over to the side and whispered something into Paula's ears. "There are a lot of cute boys on Earth, you know that?" When Paula heard that, she blushed and looked at her mother in shock.

"Mum! I don't need someone to hook me up with anyone! Auntie Izsha is already bad enough! Every time she sees me, she wants to know when I will start breeding an offspring so I can carry on the family's legacy. I think I'm a bit too young for that kind of fun..."

"Hehehehe..." Sarah snickered when she heard that, and then she placed her hand on her own belly. When Paula saw that, she looked at her mother with a curious look on her face.

"Did you...tell Dad?"

"About our little secret?" Sarah asked, and her daughter nodded. "Not yet. Right now you're the only one I told about it." The little secret, the thing that Sarah had told Paula about before she had left for her crazy adventure through time.

"You told no one? Not even Izsha?"

" _Especially_ not Izsha." Sarah mumbled. "Until Earth isn't fixed, I will tell no one except your father. And after that's done, well, I suppose then I will take some time off. Then the others can know. So, can you keep it a secret a while longer?" And when Paula heard that, she nodded like crazy. She reached out with her hand, but then she hesitated.

"May I?" she whispered, and Sarah nodded.

"Of course." Once Paula heard that, she placed her hand on Sarah's belly and reached out with her senses. She could feel those tiny presences within her mother's body.

"Dad will be in for one hell of a surprise this time." her daughter whispered, and Sarah laughed when she heard that.

"Well, he will have to add a few more rooms to the house, but knowing your Dad, he will probably love doing that. Speaking of the devil..." Sarah fell silent when Jim finally returned. He had actually managed to catch some squidfishes and put them on a stick.

"What were you two talking about?" Jim asked.

"Nothing!" Paula told him a bit too eager, and Jim noticed that these two were up to something.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Don't worry, Jim, we were only making fun of you while you were gone." Sarah told her lover, and when Jim heard that, he shrugged his shoulders.

"The usual then." he chuckled and looked at both of them. "Nothing, seriously?"

"Nothing, seriously." Sarah repeated. "You know, girls-stuff."

"Ah, yes. The code-word for "none of your business", I get it." Jim laughed and got back inside. Not long after that, they could smell roasted squidfishes, and only then Paula realized that she felt _famished_. And so, their little family did something they hadn't done in ages. Something normal, something mundane, something that so many other families would do.

* * *

"...and then...then they all opened fire at once!" Paula explained with wide-open eyes when she recalled what she had seen during her not-so-little adventure. "And it was like _WHOOOOSH_!" And then she formed a huge explosion with her hands.

"Whoooosh?" Jim chuckled when he heard that.

"A big whooooosh!" Paula told them. "I was scared that they would crack the whole moon into half! And all the ships of the Golden Armada, they kept firing for so long!"

"And what happened then?" Jim wanted to know. They were all sitting at the table and listening to what Paula had seen. For Jim and Sarah, it was like taking a trip down memory lane.

"Well, when the Protoss finally stopped firing, there was a moment of silence. And then, well, Mum happened."

"Hehehehe, I guess "Big Woooosh" is not enough to explain your Mother." Jim chuckled.

"It was a boom. A big boom!" Paula said and tried to explain the impossible. "The whole fleet was scattered everywhere, and it was total chaos!"

"Yeah, that sounds like your mother." her father mused.

"Oh, haha." Sarah replied when she heard that. "In my defense; the Protoss were asking for it back then!"

"So, what happened next?" Jim wanted to know, not really paying attention to Sarah's dislike for this part of the story.

"Well, Artanis thought that this was just the first step of an invasion, and he decided to go all out on Mum! So, he took the Spear of Adun, and then he smashed it into the moon, right where Mum and Izsha were."

"Really?" Jim asked when he heard that and pulled his brows up. He looked over to his lover and blinked a few times. "Funny, she never told me about that. So that's what happened to the Spear of Adun."

"Meh, details, details." Paula's mother mumbled and waved with her hand as if it was truly a nuisance."

"Oh, you should have seen how Artanis kicked Mum out! He was so badass! He was just like..." Paula continued and suddenly she tried to mimic Artanis' voice. "I can't kill you, Kerrigan, but I can banish you!" And that's when their daughter squealed like a little kid. "He was so cool! Just like in all those bedtime stories you always told me, Dad." When Sarah heard that, she looked over to Jim and gave him an annoyed look.

"Oh, geez, am I glad that you told her those stories when she was little." Paula's mother growled. However, Jim didn't even listen to Sarah. Bedtime stories in their home had always been a bit, well, special. And when she had been little, Paula had always wanted for Jim to tell her another story of the great Artanis, much to Sarah's dismay.

"And then there was the Christmas party on Korhal." Paula suddenly changed the topic and looked over to her mother. "You looked so pretty in your dress."

"Yeah, you sure did, Sarah." Jim agreed.

"Pah, you two just want to get back on my good side because you think that Artanis is more badass than I am." When Paula heard that, she shook her head, and her long, brown hair flew from one side to the other.

"Don't worry, Mum, no one is more badass than you!"

"Nice save, Little One." Sarah mused. "Nice save."

And so, they continued to listen to what Paula had to tell them. It was strange; for Paula, most if it had happened just recently. For Jim and Sarah, however? It wasn't that they were old and senile, but...well, okay, they were old. Really old. But they were certainly not senile. Still when they heard all those names, when they listened to all those stories, they looked at each other and smiled. So much had happened, and they were reminded of how different they had been.

"...and then...then I met Paula..." their daughter said after what felt like hours.

"Paula? You mean Paula Carter?" Sarah whispered, and their child nodded.

"Yes...she was badass too."

"Yeah, she sure was." Sarah mumbled and a sad smile appeared on her face when she thought about that young girl she had trained all those centuries ago.

Paula Carter was dead. She had died a long time ago, after living a good life. She wasn't the only one. Matt Horner, Rory Swann, Valerian Mengsk, Phil Carter, Trevor Markson, Shepherd Book, and of course Paula. Those were only a few names of people that had meant a lot to either Jim or Sarah, or both of them. Some of these people had become famous. Matt Horner or Valerian Mengsk had left their mark in history, and they would be remembered by later generations. Other, like Phil or Book, were long since forgotten. It was the duty of Jim and Sarah to remember them. And to never forget what they did for them.

At one point, Paula became really tired. She continued to yawn and her parents exchanged amused looks.

"Oh, someone wants to make sleepy sleepy." Jim chuckled, only to earn an embarrassed look from his daughter.

"Dad! I'm not a little girl anymore! I'm eighty years old! I don't do sleepy sleepy anymore." she whined, but it amused her parents even more.

"Eighty years, eight years, eight months, it doesn't matter." Jim told her. "You will always be our Little One." Well, time definitely flies when you're having a good time. And to Jim and Sarah, it didn't matter that their little girl was already an old woman by human standards. Because human standards didn't really apply to either one of them. Paula yawned again, and it was her father who decided to pull the plug.

"Come on, it has been one long ride for you. Tomorrow will be another day." he told her. Both Jim and Sarah could see that Paula really tried to fight her fatigue. She simply didn't want to go to sleep. In the end, she would fall asleep with her head resting on the table. And so, Jim did something he hadn't done in a very long time; he picked his daughter up and brought her upstairs. He wanted to place her in their old bed, only to realize that there were still three mini-Izshas occupying it. They were sleeping, just like Paula in his arms. However, their tails were all intertwined and they were snoring like a whole army of lumberjacks.

"Joe, you really have to put your girls on a leash." Jim growled, and then he decided to go back downstairs. He earned a surprised look from Sarah, but then he just put Paula down on the couch and knelt down right next to her. He grabbed a blanket and put it over his daughter's body.

"Eighty years, hmm?" Jim whispered. "Barely a teenager then." And then he joined Sarah, who was already outside.

"You know, I could use some rest too." she told him when he reached her. She was looking at the sea in front of them and took a deep breath. That smell...she had missed it. This place was home, and not just because no one would bother them here. This was the place where everyone was that they cared for. This was the place where they raised Paula. And this was the place where more would follow...

...in time.

"Sorry, the bed is currently occupied. Joseph forgot some of his daughters. Man, they snore like a whole bunch of Marines after a night of heavy drinking. Not so adorable anymore if you ask me."

"Heh, I bet Izsha will be not pleased to hear that Joseph allows them to do what they want." Sarah snickered, and then she offered her hand to Jim. "Care to go for a walk?" Instead of saying anything, Jim just grabbed her hand and then they walked along the beach. Sarah slipped out of her shoes and enjoyed the feeling of the soft sand between her toes, and Jim decided to follow her example. And when they finally were too tired to go on, they did what they hadn't done in a really long time. They lay down on the beach and slept on the warm sand while holding each other in their arms.

Yeah, this was the life.


	118. Epilogue - Part II

**...**

* * *

 **Epilogue**

 **1000 Years of Peace**

 **Part II**

* * *

As Paula walked through the beautiful garden, she still felt drained. She would probably need weeks to regain her strength, maybe even months. Right now, she couldn't even change her shape, let alone leave this world on her own. Her parents were still asleep, and this time they were actually sleeping in their own bed...after they had managed to get rid of the several daughters of Joseph who had taken a liking to that soft bed. Uncle Joseph had been right about one thing; his girls weren't meant to be on the inside. If you bury yourself all the time, you can't help but getting dirt everywhere. So yeah, the house had been a mess after Joseph's girls had stormed through it.

How much time had passed since Paula had returned? A week? Maybe two? It was hard to say on a world without real day or night. On Sternenheim, time usually became a blur. Paula had left early, there was still something she wanted to do. She had done it before, but only now that she had returned it finally made sense to her.

Uncle Joe's garden was the perfect place to get what she needed. Every plant had been carefully placed at a specific location. It looked like a normal jungle, no one would assume that this had been the work of a single man. Even the rivers she came across were a product of Joseph's hard work. And that was only the visible part of his work. Joseph wasn't just busy tending to his garden or his girls, he was also busy breeding new plants. Whenever Sarah was done in fixing a world, Joseph would see if he could find a plant that could be used on another planet and would start crossbreeding them with other species. He had become the crankiest botanist of all times. It probably made sense, though. He liked to work with plants because they couldn't talk back.

Well, except the plants that were indigenous to Sternenheim.

As she approached the small island in the middle of a lake, she could already make out that figure in the distance. Joseph was lying in his hammock, and when Paula approached the small bridge that led to the island, she was spotted by several small Izshas.

"Hey! Look! It's Paula!"

"Paula, hey! What gives!"

"Hey, everyone, Paula is here!"

"Uh, let's ask her to do a trick!"

"Yeah, trick! I want to see a trick!"

Within seconds, she was swarmed by at least six smaller versions of Izsha, and they all looked at her as if she was about to do something impressive.

"Hey, people. I wanted to talk to your father." she asked, and then she saw the disappointed look on the girls' faces.

"Aww, we want to see a trick!"

"Yeah, or at least a chocolate cake!"

"Give us a chocolate cake, and then we will let you pass!"

"Yeah, chocolate cake, or we're gonna beat you up!"

However, before things could escalate even further, a new voice reached their ears.

"Sisters, leave Paula alone." They all looked to the side and could see how another dark snake-lady approached. This one was almost as big as Izsha, and she appeared to be a lot calmer and more controlled than her sisters. Even though they all looked pretty much the same, Paula immediately recognized this one.

"Sarah! How have you been? How is my favorite co-firstborn?" Paula squealed and hurried over to the far bigger, well, woman. It probably didn't come as a surprise that Izsha had named her firstborn (or firsthatched) after Paula's mother. Apparently, Izsha had tried to name _all_ of her offspring in honor of her Majesty. Imagine that! 417 Sarah Louise Kerrigans. Well, they had managed to talk her out of it. So instead, Izsha had decided to number them. From Sarah One to Sarah 200. It had taken some effort to talk her out of that as well. In the end, they had agreed that Joseph would be the one finding names for all those mini-Izshas.

"Co-firstborn?" Sarah asked and pulled a brow up.

"Yeah, we firstborns have to stick together, right? Carrying on the legacy and stuff, haha!" When this Sarah heard that, she tilted her head to the side and frowned.

"You want something, right?" the huge snake-lady concluded, and Paula sighed when she heard that.

"That obvious?"

"Pretty much. So, what is it you want?"

"I wanted to ask for permission to get some flowers. If that's okay." When Sarah heard that, she looked over to the man lying in his hammock in the distance, and then she shrugged her shoulders.

"You have to ask Father for that. However, he is sleeping right now, and I don't want to wake him up. He had a rough night."

"Rough night? Did something happen?" Paula asked with a worried tone in her voice.

"Nothing bad, if that's what you're afraid of." Sarah told her. "Another egg hatched, and he was busy taking care of everything.

"Wait, so you just got another sister?" Paula squealed. "Can I see?" When Sarah heard that, she didn't seem to be very fond about that idea. But then she just sighed and shook her head.

"Very well, come with me. But please, be as quiet as possible. I don't want to wake up Father." And so, Paula followed this Sarah. They walked over a bridge that Joseph had built with his own two hands. Both he and Jim had developed a weird fetish of building everything themselves. However, their approach to building things was pretty different. Where Jim took his time in order to craft something until it was perfect, Joseph did only the things necessary and left the rest to nature. So, he had built a bridge and planted some trees that had grown around it. As a result, this bridge looked like it was actually a tree shaped like a bridge, or a bridge shaped like a tree, depending on how you look at it.

It was still kinda weird to see that both men enjoyed working with their hands so much.

Perhaps it was a man-thing? You know, the cliché that a man wants to build a house for the woman he loves? Who knew, Paula was no man. And neither was Sarah. You know, the one that was right next to her. And neither were the other 416 mini-Izshas that were running around on Sternenheim right now.

Well, apparently there was one more running around now.

Or slithering around, depending on how you look at it.

Joseph was indeed sleeping. He was lying in his hammock and snoring. However, he wasn't the only thing snoring.

"That has to be the most adorable thing in the entire universe!" Paula whispered when she saw the baby-Izsha that was resting on Joseph's chest. It looked like a, well, baby version of Izsha! Including a short and stubby tail (that would grow into a long and slender one over time), and short and stubby baby arms. And just like its father, this little one was sleeping and snoring. Well, at least now Paula knew from who they had inherited that trait from. That's when Paula wondered if she should just leave before they would wake up. However, that's when the tiny Izsha on Joseph's chest started to squirm, and before either Paula or Izsha could say anything, both Joseph and the newest addition to their little family opened their eyes.

"Uh, what's with you guys? You're planning an attack on me?" Joseph growled when he spotted those two standing right next to him.

"Paula wanted to ask something of you. Also, Father, please don't take this the wrong way, but you look like shit." Sarah said with a straight face.

"What can I say? Didn't get much sleep." he growled, and then he rolled his eyes from his daughter over to Paula. "Wazzup, kiddo. You want something?" That's when the little Izsha on his chest squirmed even harder, and Joseph was forced to sit up so she wouldn't fall off his chest. He grabbed the little Izsha, who was roughly the size of a two-year-old child, and put her on his lap.

"By the way, let me introduce you to the newest addition of my family." Joseph mumbled. "Meet Rose!" When Sarah heard that she sighed.

"You already named one of us Rose, Father."

"I did?" Joseph mumbled. "Well, shit. Sorry, but it's getting hard to come up with new names." Paula knelt down in front of Joseph. When she was eye to eye with the little Izsha, she had a big grin on her face.

"They're so cute when they're this little!" Paula squealed. And what did the little Izsha do when she looked into Paula's eyes? She threw her little stumpy arms high up in the air and squealed "All Hail her Majesty!" When Joseph heard that, he dropped his head and groaned.

"Just once I wish their first word would be "Daddy", but it's always the same damn thing." he growled, and then he shook his head and looked at Paula. "So, what can I do for you, kiddo? You wanted something from me?"

"Actually..." Paula mumbled. "...I wanted to ask if I could pick some flowers from your garden."

"My, how thoughtful!" Joseph chuckled. "At least someone knows how to ask for permission. Still, I have to ask; what do you want with my flowers?"

"I wanted to visit Aunt Liddy and Johnny." Paula explained, and when Joseph heard that, the smug grin disappeared from his face.

"Sure, take what you need. Knock yourself out, kiddo." he told her with a quiet voice, and Paula thanked him before she left. He stared after her for a while and then he looked down at the little Izsha sitting on his lap.

"Marlene." he suddenly said.

"Already taken." Sarah told him.

"Coleen."

"Same."

"Jennifer."

"We got a Jennifer, a Jen, and a Jennie."

"Jamie."

"Next."

"Ugh, this might take a while..."

* * *

The word "garden" was probably pretty inadequate to describe the sheer size of this place. You could spend a whole day walking and you still wouldn't reach the other side of it. There were rivers, and jungles, and small hills. And there was the place...

The place that was probably one of the most beautiful places on Sternenheim.

It was weird. When Paula had been little, she had played in this huge field filled with endless numbers of flowers. They were everywhere and reached all the way to the horizon. And the most beautiful flowers grew inside that crater. The same crater where her mother had been reborn. As she stared at the crater in the distance, Paula had to remember how this place had looked like after her mother's breakdown. Those raw psionic powers had left a barren wasteland, and the indigenous plant life had never grown back in this place. So instead, Joseph had started to plant flowers. And with every generation, the flowers had become even more beautiful, and even more colorful. It had been a place of death that had been turned into a place of life.

In a way, it represented Sarah Kerrigan better than anything else.

The barren wasteland had turned into a lush landscape, filled with life.

The Bringer of Death had become the Bringer of Life.

Even though there were endless numbers of flowers, Paula made sure to only pick those she truly needed. They were meant for a bouquet, and the flowers in Joseph's garden were truly the most beautiful she had ever seen. He had even bred a new strain of sparkle flowers that would produce glowing seeds with different colors. It was hard to decide which flowers she should pick, but in the end, the bouquet looked beautiful. And it smelled just as nice.

And then she was on her way.

After Paula had left Uncle Joe's garden behind, she felt somewhat nervous. It's funny, she had done this before, but back then things had been different. She had done it because her father had asked her to do it since it had meant a lot to him. And because he had tried to teach her a lesson. The place itself had never been of any interest to Paula. However, the painful expression on Jim's face had been enough motivation for her to do as she was told.

Still, Paula had lacked context. She knew about Liddy and Johnny, but only through stories she had heard. It was one of the things her father had tried to keep away from her. Not because he didn't trust his girl, but because there were things parents want to keep away from their children. So, while Sarah (not Joseph's girl, but Paula's mother) had never told her how the Zerg had claimed her after Tarsonis, Jim had refused to talk with Paula about his first family for a long time.

When Paula reached her final destination, everything felt different. This was a place where her mother wouldn't venture. Not because she hated it, but as a sign of respect.

This place was special to Jim. Paula had never truly understood that.

Until now.

Joseph had offered his help with creating something truly impressive. But in the end, Jim had declined that offer. Not because he was too proud to accept Uncle Joe's help, but because he enjoyed the simple things. And this place? In a way, it showed how Jim really ticked. There was a small lake, surrounded by apple trees. Jim had planted them many centuries ago, and then he had simply allowed them to grow. And now? Now they had turned into a beautiful forest, and the smell of apples was everywhere.

It was... _nice_.

There was a bench right next to the lake. Paula remembered that bench well. Every time her father had wanted to tell her something important or teach her a valuable lesson, he had brought her here and both of them had sat down and talked.

Silence.

That was probably the one thing Paula associated with this place.

Silence.

As a child, she had never truly understood why her father had enjoyed it. To her, silence had been scary. Yes, even a being like her could be scared. And she had never understood why Jim liked this place so much.

Well, now she did.

Did that mean that she was no longer a child? That she was finally growing up? Who knew. However, what she did know was that she wanted to do this. More than anything, she wanted to do this. Not just for her father, but also for herself.

There wasn't just a bench. As she stopped in front of that object standing right next to it, she pressed the bouquet against her chest and took a deep breath.

"Hello, Lydia. Hello, Johnny." Paula whispered and swallowed hard. "I wanted to say hi."

Right in front of her was a statue. No, not just any statue. It was probably the most beautifully crafted statue you could imagine. It showed two people, a woman, and a small boy. Both were holding hands and had a warm smile on their faces. They looked so lifelike, so real. It was almost as if they were just about to come alive. Perhaps from all the pieces of art Jim had created, this was his biggest masterpiece. He had worked months on it, years even. Paula knew the story behind this statue.

One day, before Paula had even been born, Jim had decided to create this statue. As a testimony. And to have a place where he could see his old family again. At first, Sarah hadn't been happy about it. She didn't want to share him with anyone, but she had understood his need to do this. Paula took a deep breath and straightened herself.

"I... I thought about what to say when I would get here, but I couldn't come up with anything good. I guess I'm not really used to talk to people that are no longer around." When she realized what she had just said, Paula bit her lip and lowered her gaze. "Sorry, bad choice of words." She took another deep breath and looked at the bouquet in her hands. "I brought you some flowers!" She then made a step forward and put the flowers down.

"I... guess I should have come here a long time ago. But the truth is that I didn't even know anything about you at all. And for that I'm sorry." Paula looked at the two figures and smiled. "When I was a little girl and asked Dad about you, and if he loved you as much as he loves me and Mum, then he would always smile and say "yes". And I felt sad because I thought it meant that we had to share his love for us." Paula lowered her gaze, and suddenly she felt ashamed.

"I now know how childish that was. How childish _I_ was." she whispered. "And I'm sorry for that." Another deep breath helped her to regain her composure, but even then, she could feel how a single tear rolled down her cheek. And as the golden tear fell to the ground, she remembered what she had learned during her trip.

"He loved you." Paula mumbled. "Dad loved you the only way he knows how to love; without holding back. It's both wonderful...and a bit frightening." And then her eyes wandered from the figure of the woman to that of the young boy. She knelt down in front of it and placed her hand on Johnny's head. "I want you to know..." she whispered. "...that I wish that you were still around. I bet you would have been an awesome older brother."

It was a nice thought; Johnny taking care of his younger sister while the rest of the gang was out doing stuff. And Liddy? She could have tried to teach Sarah how to knit. It would have been so amusing to see that. Suddenly Paula felt guilty. Her father could have saved his family, back when her mother had experienced her breakdown. But he hadn't. He had decided to say goodbye once more. He had chosen his new family over his old one. And even though it had all happened long before Paula's birth, a part of her still felt guilty. Because turning his back on his old family had been the price for Jim's new family to come into existence.

It was pointless to think like that, Paula knew that. But she just couldn't help it.

"I just wanted to tell you that you are not forgotten. Both of you." she whispered again and got back to her feet. "I wish I could have spent some time with you. And I hope that you would have liked me."

"I bet they would." suddenly a man's voice reached her, and Paula looked over her shoulder in surprise.

"Dad?"

As Jim Raynor walked up to his daughter and the statues of his loved ones, there was a gentle smile on his face.

"Didn't think I would find you here." her father said. There was no anger in his voice, or suspicion. Just surprise. Still, Paula looked down and took a deep breath.

"I wanted to come here...now that I finally know what they meant to you." Jim walked up to his daughter and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"You know, there were times when I didn't want to tell you about them. I didn't want to share the pain with you or your mother. It was something that wanted to keep away from you."

"But you took me here plenty of times when I was younger. What changed your mind?" Paula wanted to know, and Jim sighed.

"There were times when your mother and I didn't know how to raise you. I think it's safe to assume that most people claim that their children are special. Well, in your case, that is pretty much true. It's hard, you know, if you have kids. What do you teach them? And what do you keep away from them? However, both your mother and I agreed on always telling you the truth about us. We didn't want to hide the fact that we have done a lot of stupid things in the past. Or things that could be considered downright evil." Paula could sense that her father wasn't referring to Sarah's time as the Queen of Blades, but his own actions as a young man.

"I don't think I could have made the choice you made." Paula whispered. "When I saw these two, I wanted to save them. I wanted to find a way to keep them alive, even though I knew that I wasn't supposed to intervene. And now I feel guilty because I think I should have done more."

"Hmm, I know these questions. I asked myself that many times." Jim admitted, and his daughter looked him into the eyes.

"How did you manage to overcome those questions?" she wanted to know.

"I didn't." her father admitted. "Sometimes I wake up and ask myself if I truly deserve any of this. But I learned that asking these questions is pointless. It only distracts you from the things that are right in front of you."

"That answer isn't really satisfying..." Paula mumbled, and Jim laughed out loud when he heard that.

"Yeah, well, growing up is not only about finding answers to questions but sometimes it is about accepting that there are no answers. And then we have to learn to move on nonetheless." He showed her a warm smile, and then he turned his attention to the bouquet lying at the feet of the statues. "Did you get those?" Paula nodded when she heard that question.

"I got them from Uncle Joe's garden. I asked him for permission."

"Well, they look beautiful. I'm sure that Liddy and Johnny appreciate it, wherever they are right now."

"I like to think that they are close by." Paula whispered, and Jim placed his hand on his daughter's head. She looked so much like her mother. Except for the eyes. Those brown eyes were just like Jim's. And so was that brown hair. Watching Paula growing up had probably been one of the most wonderful things Jim had ever experienced. And now? Now she had reached that point that everyone reaches sooner or later. Their little girl was about to grow up into a fine young woman. Paula was already now so much more than either Jim or Sarah had ever been. She was kind, gentle, and caring. She possessed her mother's abilities, and her tenacity. And she was just as beautiful.

She had her sense of humor from her father, and the heart to not stand by and watch innocent suffer if she could do something about it.

Paula Kerrigan had inherited the best traits from both of her parents, and they had raised her well. As Jim watched his little girl, he had to think back, how he had held her in his arms for the very first time, how she had made her first steps, how she had levitated her first rock...

...hey, she was still Sarah Kerrigan's child, she had been able to float through the air before she had been able to form full sentences!

Both Jim and Paula looked at the statues for a while longer, and neither one of them said a word. They didn't have to, they were both thinking the same anyway. It was her father who decided that they had spent enough time mourning the dead when he looked over to his child.

"Whadda'ya say, Little One? Want to go home and see how your mother is doing?" And when Paula heard that, she looked her father into the eyes and nodded.

"Yeah, I would like to do that."

As the two of them walked back home, they talked about this and that. When they finally got there, it wasn't Sarah who was greeting them, but someone else...

"Moby!" Paula squealed. Right in front of the house was Moby. The moment the white kriecher heard that voice, she turned her massive head around and hissed at the young woman. Moby got on all fours and stormed towards the much smaller woman. And what did Paula do? She just opened her arms and laughed out in joy.

"That's right, girl! Come here, oh I missed you so muUNF!" Moby didn't even slow down when she smashed into Jim's daughter. She tackled Paula to the ground and began with her most dreaded ability; the infamous cuddle attack. "Hahahaha! Moby! Stop! Your tongue, it's so wet! Ah, stop it! Not my ear! Nooooo!" Paula shouted, but didn't really put up a fight. Moby made sure to lick the Little One clean like she had done many times before. "Oh, I didn't miss that!" Jim could hear his daughter groan, and then Moby just collapsed on Paula and hissed in pleasure.

"Unf...girl, you've become...heavy..." the young woman managed to mumble.

"Well, looks like someone missed you." Jim chuckled when he saw that. He watched how Paula freed herself and started to scratch the white kriecher's leathery chest.

"Sssssssaaaaaaa!" Moby hissed and rolled off Paula and on her back.

"That's right, it's payback time!" Paula giggled and started to scratch their pet's chest as hard as possible. Moby liked it rough! The look on the kriecher's face was one of absolute bliss, and she hissed again while her legs twitched like crazy.

"Ssssaaa ssssaaa sssaaaaaaa!"

"Oh yeah, that's the good stuff, isn't it?" Paula asked, and Moby hissed again, signaling her that she was indeed agreeing to that.

"Ah, I see the little beast has finally returned." Sarah declared when she stepped out of the house. "Funny, Moby arrived here shortly after you two left and didn't even look at me. Treacherous thing!" she declared, but both Jim and Paula could tell that she wasn't really angry at Moby. "Where have you two been? When I got up, you were already gone." Paula and Jim exchanged knowing looks and both fought the same thing.

"Ah, we've been doing this and that." Jim chuckled. "Unlike you, we can't spend the entire day in bed."

"Oh, really? If I remember correctly then there are a lot of interesting things two people can do inside a bed and-"

"Eeeeeeeewwww..." Paula whined when she heard that. She looked at her mother with a mortified look on her face. "Could you please talk about stuff like that when I'm not around?" When Jim heard that, he couldn't help it and started to laugh.

"You know..." he said to his daughter. "...one day you will probably find someone special too. Who knows, a cute boyfriend or something like that."

"Yeah, maybe?" Paula winced. "But I sure as hell won't think about my parents doing, well, _it_." That's when both Jim and Sarah burst out in laughter. When they had finally calmed down, Jim walked over to Sarah and kissed her on the cheek before he vanished inside their home.

"Well, guess I better prepare something to eat, before the mighty beast gets restless." he declared, and Sarah frowned when she heard that.

"Moby just ate something."

"I wasn't talking about Moby." Jim replied, which caused Sarah to frown.

"Oh, someone wants to sleep on the couch!"

* * *

Perhaps the biggest achievement Sarah and Jim had managed to create was the fact that Paula had grown up in an environment that was normal. Well, somewhat normal for them anyway. However, all good things have come to an end eventually. And when Jim and Sarah knew that Paula was doing fine, they decided that it was time to get back to work.

„And you are certain that you don't want to come with us?" Sarah asked, and Paula nodded when she heard that.

"I would like to stay here for a while. I still feel completely drained, and I just want to recharge my batteries." They were standing in front of their home and saying goodbye to each other. While they were in no rush, Jim and Sarah knew that they should return to Earth soon. There was still much work to do.

"Are you sure?" Jim asked his daughter. "Having a whole planet for yourself without anything to do? Sounds kinda boring if you ask me." When Paula heard that, she shook her head, and her long, brown hair flew from one side to the other.

"Don't worry, I will find something to keep myself occupied. Maybe I'm going to help Uncle Karax to repair some of Ulnar. Or hang out in Uncle Joe's garden. There are plenty of things I can do. And when I'm back on track again, I wanted to go back to the Koprulu Sector." When Jim and Sarah heard that, they exchanged surprised looks.

"The Koprulu Sector? Really? Wanna check out our old homes?" Jim wanted to know, and Paula wiggled her head from one side to the other.

"You could say that. I saw all those places, like Korhal, like the Imperial Palace, like Ramelow. I know how they used to look like, but now I want to know how they look like right now."

"Yeah, well, just make sure to not draw any attention when you're out there." her father told her. "And please, don't do anything your mother would do." When Sarah heard that, she looked over to her lover and frowned.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothin'." Jim mumbled, and when Paula saw her parents bickering, she couldn't help but giggle like a little girl. When they were done, Sarah walked over to her daughter and placed her hand on Paula's cheek.

"You do know that you just have to call if you want to talk, yes? If there's something you need, just give word and we will be here in an instant."

"I will be fine, you don't have to worry about me." Paula tried to calm her mother's nerves. Sarah just smiled and placed her lips on her daughter's forehead. And then she whispered something in Paula's ear. "A mother will always be worried about her child." She then hugged her daughter once more before she stepped aside and gave Jim the chance to do the same.

"Take care, Little One. And remember, we are proud of you." Jim just wanted to put his hand on Paula's head, but his daughter threw herself at him and slung her arms around his chest. A warm smile appeared on his face when he gave his daughter a hug. When they were finally done, Jim released Paula and made a step backward.

"Tell Izsha hi, will you do that?" Paula asked, and Jim gave her a thumbs-up.

"Of course." There was an awkward moment of silence. Neither Jim, nor Sarah or Paula really knew what else they could say to prolong the inevitable.

"Well..." Sarah mused. "...we better get going before someone starts to cry again." And then she showed her daughter a cocky smile. "You know how emotional your father gets whenever we have to say goodbye."

"Oh, really?" Jim shot back and looked over to his lover. "If I remember correctly, then you cried enough gold nuggets to expand the size of this beach three times over!"

"I have _no_ idea what you're talking about, Mister." Sarah shot back.

"I'm sure you don't." Paula's father sighed. That's when they finally decided to head out.

"Take care, Little One." Sarah whispered, and then she made another step backward. Paula watched in awe how her mother's body started to change. Skin was replaced by raw energy, and her hair began to glow as if it was made out of lava. The ascended being known as Sarah Kerrigan pushed herself off the ground, and when she floated roughly half a meter above the ground, she looked at her child and a proud smile appeared on her face.

 **We'll stay in touch, Little One.** And then she looked over to Jim and offered her hand to him. He grabbed it and waved his daughter one last time goodbye. There was a bright flash of light, it engulfed the entire beach, the house, and most of the surrounding area. Paula watched how her parents vanished within that light, and how it started to travel upwards to the sky and picked up considerable speed. And when it reached the stellar nebula that surrounded this world, the bright flare vanished when it became faster than light itself.

And then they were gone.

Paula remained behind and looked at the wonderful sky above her for a while longer.

Traveling with her parents to Earth? A part of her liked that idea. She had never been to Earth. Sarah and Jim had visited worlds for centuries, and Paula's mother had worked hard to restore countless planets across the Koprulu Sector to life. She loved her work, and she had become a true master when it came to mending ecospheres. Sarah had never told her daughter about it, but Paula knew that her mother hoped that she would follow her example one day. She wanted to do that, but the Little One had still much to learn.

Her parents would always tell her that she had time. Well, she would take her sweet time!

After spending centuries repairing worlds across the Koprulu Sector, both Sarah and Jim had decided that had been time for a change of scenery. And Jim had always been interested in Earth, the place where all humans originated from. And he had made sure that they would raise their daughter so she would consider herself human.

Well, at least for the most part.

Seeing all those places during her trip had sparked Paula's curiosity. She had seen how Aiur and Saalok had looked like one thousand years ago. She couldn't help but feel curious how those places looked like now. Paula had been to Korhal before. Her father had shown her Augustgrad, the capital of the Empire. However, the city had changed tremendously. The city Valerian Mengsk had inherited from his father had been an urban nightmare. The present-day Augustgrad, on the other hand, was a beautiful place. It was a cultural hot-spot. And, quite frankly, it had become really pretty. Gone were the dark skyscrapers and choked streets. The skyline of the city now looked like it was made out of crystals, and it resembled Protoss architecture a lot.

There were other worlds Paula had visited as well. Antiga Prime, where her parents had met for the first time. Char, where the Zerg still ruled supreme. Her mother had even taken her to Zerus on one occasion. And of course, Ramelow. Both Jim and Sarah still cared for that world, a world that was covered with lush fields and endless forests. Whenever there was time to spare, they would travel to Ramelow during Thanksgiving and have some apple pie. Perhaps people would feel insulted by the fact that the most powerful creature in this galaxy and her lover would enjoy something so mundane, but to Sarah and Jim, it was a slice of life.

The good life.

There were only two notable worlds within the Koprulu Sector Paula had never visited herself. The first one was Tarsonis. While the planets all across the sector were flourishing again, the former capital of the long-forgotten Confederacy was still a barren wasteland.

They say that time heals all wounds. Well, there were wounds that would simply never stop hurting. And Tarsonis was such a wound. Even now Sarah didn't want to think about the time when the Swarm had claimed her, and Jim didn't like to think back to the time when he had lost her. Besides, the planet was a good reminder to the people of the Koprulu Sector what war could mean. It's barren and radiated wastelands acted as a testimony to how important peace was.

So yeah, Paula had never been to Tarsonis, and she didn't really feel the urge to go there all by herself.

However, there was another world she had never set foot on. And unlike Tarsonis, that world had always been fascinating to her.

Aiur...

Neither Jim nor Sarah had ever visited the planet again. Technically, Sarah was still considered banished, even though she was pretty certain that no one even remembered her. Heck, she was pretty certain that Artanis was already dead, and the Protoss society had changed considerably in the last one thousand years. However, so far Sarah had never felt the urge to return to Aiur. The Protoss had found a solution to their Zerg-problem on their own. And that solution had been to accept that these critters were now part of their homeworld's ecosystem.

Funny enough, there was another valued member of Paula's family that wasn't allowed to set foot on Aiur. And that person was just approaching. When Tesson reached her, Sarah's and Jim's daughter turned around and gave him a goofy smile.

"Master! You changed back! Tired of that suit?'' When the huge Protoss finally reached her, he pulled his shoulders up and scratched his bare chest.

"Yes and no. I have to admit, I will never understand why humans always wear these clothes. But I made an interest observation when I was on Earth."

"Oh, really? And what would that be?" Paula wanted to know.

"That _"dressed to kill"_ is considered a good thing." her former teacher explained to her, and the young woman snickered when she heard that.

"Well, you looked awesome wearing that suit!"

"I will keep that in mind. Say, did I just see a bright flash? Does that mean, uhm..." Tesson mumbled.

"Yes, my parents are gone. Don't worry, Mum isn't out for blood anyway." Paula explained, and the Protoss sighed in relief when he heard that. He had kept his distance ever since Jim and Sarah had heard that he had tossed their child off a cliff.

"Glad to hear that." he mumbled and then he shook his head. "Did they say anything else? When will they be back?"

"Dunno, when they feel like it?" Paula replied.

"That's vague. But then again, that's how those two roll, don't they?" the former Nerazim mused.

"Pretty much, yeah." Paula agreed.

"Well, I guess that means I'm off the hook. Awesome." Tesson said and stretched his limbs.

"Awesome? You sound like Uncle Joe." his former student giggled, and the Protoss just shrugged his shoulders when he heard that.

"Yeah, well, I don't care. Proper pronunciation is getting boring after so many centuries. Also, you guys totally ruined me."

"Yup!" Paula replied with a wide goofy grin on her face. "We sure did!" Tesson looked at her and sighed.

"You are so damn lucky that I like you, Little One." he growled.

"Everyone likes me, I'm awesome!"

"Now _you_ really sound like Joseph." Tesson mumbled and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, how does that human saying go? Speaking of the devil? Here he is!" And indeed, both Paula and Tesson watched how a certain someone was approaching. And he was carrying something in his arms. It was his youngest daughter.

"Uncle Joe! Are you tired of your garden?" Paula teased him, and when he had finally reached them, he chuckled.

"Actually, on my way here I thought of several ways on how to improve it. Naa, that's not why I'm here. Where is Sarah? I need to tell her something, something that I forgot."

"They just left." Paula told him, and when Joseph heard that, he dropped his head in defeat.

"Ugh, great. I won't hear the end of that story. Say, kiddo, do you know if your mother even looked at those exams? Izsha told me to make sure that Sarah would correct them."

"Well..." Paula whispered when she heard that and looked away. "...Mum _did_ look at those exams." When Joseph heard that, a hopeful expression appeared on his face.

"Really? She did correct them?"

"Eeeeeeehhh..." Sarah's daughter groaned. "...you know, Mum, Dad and I, we had this really nice campfire a few days ago, and Mum kinda, well, burned them." Joseph didn't even react, at least not immediately. Instead, the tiny mini-Izha in his arms threw her stubby arms high up into the air and screamed "All Hail her Majesty!" And then she looked up to her father and said her real first words. And it kinda summed up Joseph's place in life.

"You are screwed!" the tiny Izsha told her father, and both Paula and Tesson snickered when they heard that.

"By the way, meet Tessa." he growled. Tesson walked over to Joseph and placed his huge hand on the smaller man's shoulder.

"Don't worry, Joe-" he started. Before he could finish the sentence, the little halfbreed in Joseph's arms pointed her stubby fingers at Tesson.

"His name is Joseph! He is no trucker!" And that's when a proud smile appeared on Joseph's face.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped. I think I'm gonna head back to my garden and do what I do best."

"Nothing?" Paula suggested, and the grin on Joseph's face became absurdly wide.

"I know why you're my favorite niece." he told her.

"I'm your only niece."

"Don't ruin the moment, kiddo. So long, people! And remember; if you need anything, don't ask me for help, or I'm going to ruin your day! Also; Tessa, what do we say when we leave?" he asked the little Izsha in his arms.

"All hail her Majesty!" the tiny creature squealed, and Joseph sighed.

"Eh, close enough. So long, people." And when he was walking away, both Paula and Tesson stared after him for quite some time.

"I think I will never figure him out." the former Nerazim growled, and then he looked over to Paula. "So, have anything planned? Or do you just want to hang out here and do nothing?"

"Actually..." Paula mumbled. "...I wanted to go somewhere. There's a place in the Koprulu Sector that I always wanted to visit. You want to tag along?"

"Depends, where do you want to go?" Tesson wanted to know, and now it was Paula's turn to put on an absurdly wide grin.

"Aiur!"

And that's when Tesson realized that he shouldn't have asked...

* * *

 **Aiur**

* * *

Artanis felt old, so very old. As he stared into the orb, he could feel every aching bone in his body. This day wasn't as bad as most. At least he had managed to get out of bed without any help. And given his age, that was quite the accomplishment!

The typical lifespan of a Protoss was roughly 800 years. Some died younger, some died older. Even the humans had to deal with this problem, although they had managed to prolong their lifespan to over 200 years nowadays. Ha...Artanis remembered a time when 100 years had been considered old age for humans. Oh, how things had changed.

However, he didn't really care about that anymore.

Not after he had hit the 1400.

Like said, most Protoss lived for roughly 800 years. Some rare individuals managed to live longer, like the legendary Raszagal. She had lived for over 1000 years, which was quite the feat. She had even known the legendary Adun himself. There were stories about Protoss who had lived even longer, but no one really knew if they were true. Artanis, however?

He had turned 1526 this year.

He wasn't just old. No, he was ancient. And no one knew why. Even his doctors couldn't explain how he had managed to live that long. Some still wanted to find out how this was possible, but he no longer allowed them to bother him with their scans and their needles and all that stuff. Of course, Artanis had asked himself why he was blessed with such a long life. Or cursed, depending on how you look at it. Maybe it was because he had walked down the path of both a Khalai and the Nerazim? Or because he had come closer to the power of the Xel'Naga than anyone else?

Or maybe he was just destined to be a grumpy old fart who yelled at others that they should get off his lawn.

Now he was all by himself. His old friends had all passed away and he had even survived some of his children, which was nothing he was proud of.

First one to go had been Ji'Nara, though her departure had been the least, well, painful one. After roughly one hundred years she simply had decided to take her leave. No one knew where she had gone or why she had left, though Artanis still thought that the Tal'darim in her had decided that the life of Aiur was too calm and peaceful for her. Had she died on a distant battlefield? Had she rejoined her Tal'darim-brethren?

No one knew.

The next one to leave, and the first one to actually pass away, had been none other than Selendis, the love of his life. That had happened over 700 years ago, and Artanis had never truly recovered from that. To quote a human Artanis once had known; Selendis had been the firecracker in his life. And he had never ever enjoyed the company of another woman. Even now he missed her so much.

A few centuries later, Talandar had decided to take his leave as well. Yes, Talandar. The same Talandar that had led the Protoss for so long. Even though he had been a Purifier and therefore had possessed a mechanical body, his mind had been Protoss. And after a long time of service to his people, he had decided to be deactivated and put to rest beneath his favorite tree where he had debated the nature of what it meant to be Protoss to younger generations.

Horrash had died shortly after that. The mighty warrior had always been one of Artanis' closest friends and advisors. With him gone, Artanis hadn't been able to talk about old war-stories with anyone anymore.

And the last one to leave him had been Vorazun. She actually had made it to 1102. Perhaps Artanis shouldn't have been surprised by that, given the fact that her mother Raszagal had also lived for a very long time. Her death had been mourned by all the Protoss on Aiur and beyond.

And now he was all alone.

There were times when he cursed his long lifespan. He felt like an old warhorse that people had forgotten about. However, at the same time, he was glad about that. The world out there wasn't his own anymore. The old ways were dead, there were hardly any Templars around anymore. There were still warriors and soldiers, but no one who truly believed in the Khala. Perhaps it was for the better this way.

For a time, people had come here to listen to his lectures, but that was no longer the case. He had become even too old to be of any interest to pretty much anyone anymore. Which was somewhat insulting, because he was the only _living_ fossil in existence.

Protoss fed off light. But light wasn't just light. There were many different kinds of light. Some felt good, some felt like torture. The orb he was staring at was emitting a light that had a very special effect on a Protoss' nervous system. Younger ones were strictly forbidden to use these orbs, but if you are in a great deal of pain, then these orbs can help you. And pretty much every part of Artanis' body was in pain these days.

His bones were brittle, his muscles lame and, unfortunately, his hearing wasn't the best anymore either.

"Grandfather? Are you there?" an all too familiar voice suddenly reached him. He sighed and fought the urge to tell this one to leave. He wanted to be left alone, yes. But the voice belonged to a person that meant a lot to him.

"Yes, my child. I am here." he replied and heard light footsteps. Well, light for Protoss-standards. If the young female Protoss would have been trained in the arts of the Templar, then Artanis would probably not have been able to hear her at all. When she entered, the orb inside the room dimmed down. That way she wouldn't be affected by its light.

"Grandfather! You shouldn't stare into the light all the time! It's bad for your health!" the young Protoss said as she approached him. Hehehe, what health? He was ancient, there was hardly any health left! Artanis turned around and looked at his great-grandchild with weary eyes. And for the fraction of a second, he could see his Selendis again.

She looked so much like her great-grandmother. It was almost unreal.

"Sirella..." he said with a hoarse voice, one that carried centuries with it. "...I thought you were still on Korhal." Right, Korhal. The Imperial Capital. The political, economic and cultural center of the entire Koprulu Sector and beyond. Nowadays it was nothing unusual for a Protoss to live on a human world. In fact, Sirella hadn't even been born on a Protoss world. She was a native from Korhal. To her, it was home.

"The semester is already over, Grandfather." she told him, and Artanis frowned when he heard that. Oh, how the things had changed! After the Great War, humans had approached the Protoss in order to learn. Now it was completely normal for a Protoss to study at a human university. To think how much had changed within the last thousand years...

"I may be old, Sirella..." Artanis informed his grandchild. "...but I am not stupid. I do know that the semesters on Korhal end in two months. Have you decided to skip classes?" Sirella, who studied art, was a very bright student and very talented. That's right, she was about to become an artist. Not a warrior or a phasesmith, but someone to produce art.

Perhaps some of his old comrades would have been shocked to know that the path of the warrior was no longer the thing most Protoss aimed for. But if there's no war to be fought, then there is no need for warriors.

"What?" his grandchild chuckled and looked around as if she had been caught red-handed. "No, hahaha, no, of course not, it's just...ehm, well...uh, you see..." Oh, by the Ancients! This was painful to watch! No one had ever trained Sirella's mind, no one had taught her any discipline. And growing up on a human world sure as hell hadn't helped either. She was almost _too_ human. Artanis could only show how displeased he was by shaking his massive head.

"You are slacking off, my child. Not only do you speak like a human, you have adopted some of their less pleasant traits." Like this laid-back go-easy mentality. He had never been able to appreciate that.

"It's not that!" Sirella tried to defend herself. "Yes, the semester is still on, but I'm here with the explicit knowledge of my professors!"

"They gave you time off?" Artanis asked. The very concept seemed to idiotic. Back when he had trained to become a Templar, the very thought of asking his masters to "take some time off" would have been ludicrous.

But what did he know? He was an old fart...

"Then why have you come here? Is something the matter?"

"I heard that you were doing worse. So, I wanted to come and check on you." Sirella mumbled. "Your housekeeper told me that you spent more and more days in bed, and that you don't go for a walk anymore. So I was...worried."

Worried. She was worried about her fossilized ancestor and had decided to take a break from her education. The warrior and Templar inside Artanis thought that this was sloppy and unprofessional. However, the father, grandfather, and great-grandfather in Artanis' mind felt a surge of pride and affection when he heard that.

"You came all the way from Korhal just to see if I am still twitching?" Artanis chuckled. "I appreciate the gesture, but you came here for naught. I have promised you that I would not die until you would have graduated. However, that does not mean that you can slack off. I will wait indefinitely. And I do not intend to get much older."

"Stop talking like that, grandfather!" she said to him. "You are not dead!"

"Yet!" Artanis added and then he sighed. Oh, she was so young. She still had her entire life ahead of her. Sirella didn't know about the burden of old age yet. She hadn't reached that point in life where loved ones were starting to fade away. She still had to meet people! His granddaughter had just started her journey, while he was at the end of his own.

"I am sorry..." he mumbled. "...I know that you mean well, Sirella. But you should not waste so much time worrying about me. No one really cares for this old warrior anymore, and perhaps it is for the better this way."

"Uhm...then why is there a young Khalai outside that wishes to talk to you?" Sirella asked and when Artanis heard that, he blinked in surprise and looked over to his great-grandchild.

"What did you say?"

"Outside." Sirella repeated. "There is a young Khalai. When I got here, she was waiting there. I asked her what she wants, and she told me that she would like to talk to you."

"No one came to me." Artanis mumbled. Was this a poor attempt by Sirella to cheer him up? He didn't need anyone to pat his back and tell him how awesome he was.

"This one seemed to be unsure wherever you would actually want to see her. She was nice, though. Very friendly." Sirelly mused.

"And does this Khalai have a name?" the old warrior growled.

"Uhm...I think she called herself...Paizke." When Artanis heard that, he frowned.

"That is no Protoss name. That sounds like a disease."

"I don't know about that, but she seemed pretty eager to meet you. Do you want me to see if she is still out there?" The question caused Artanis to sigh. He just wanted to be left alone. But for some odd reason, he felt as if he should see that newcomer. And so, he looked at Sirella once more and nodded.

"Very well. Call her inside."

"Okie-dokie!" his great-grandchild said and gave him a thumbs-up. When Sirella was gone, Artanis frowned again.

"Okie-dokie? What does that even mean?" he mumbled. It didn't take long for Sirella return. Behind her was a rather short Protoss. And there was something strange about this one.

"Sirella told me that you would like to talk to me." the former Hierarch declared and straightened himself, something that he regretted immediately when his back started to ache. Sirella stepped aside and offered Artanis a look on the newcomer. It was a Protoss alright, and she wore the armor of a Khalai.

"So, you have come all the way from Korhal to Aiur to see this old fossil?" Artanis chuckled and pointed at himself. "I hope you are not disappointed." And that's when it happened...

"I am not..." a soft voice said, and suddenly Artanis felt how a cold chill ran down his spine. That voice...he would recognize it anywhere. Even now, even after all these centuries it still haunted him in his dreams from time to time. But it wasn't just the voice. He could also feel that power. It was so much! And the last time he had felt it had been...

"I have traveled a long way." the figure explained. "I so desperately wanted to meet you...meet the great Artanis himself." Her voice! Oh, by the Ancients, her voice sounded just like he remembered it! Only...no, something was wrong. It did sound like her, only a bit different. Still...

"Sirella, get away from this one!" he barked and threw away his clutch. He raised his thin arm and activated his psi-blade. Sirella, who had never learned to channel her powers, yelped in surprise and made a few steps backward.

"Grandfather? What's going on?" she wanted to know.

"Get away from her!" Artanis yelled at his granddaughter and started to move forward. He was old, ancient even. He wouldn't stand a chance. Hell, he wouldn't have stood a chance against _her_ even in his prime. But it didn't matter. He was still a Templar and he would protect his own kind! He raised his psi-blade and its light fell a figure. One second ago it had been a Protoss, but now it looked like a human. And when he looked into that face...

"I would recognize these psionics everywhere." he snarled. "I think I told you that you were no longer welcome here, Kerrigan!"

However, instead of laughing at him, instead of mocking him and making fun of him, the figure lowered her head.

"Your mind is as sharp as I was told it was, great Artanis." the woman replied. And then she made a step forward and into the light. When Artanis' old and weary eyes finally saw the face of this woman, he couldn't believe it.

"But rest assured..." the young woman said. "...I am not my mother."

* * *

For a long time, no one dared to say a word. It was Artanis who spoke first, his psi-blade still pointed at the young woman's chest.

"Who...are you?"

Truth to be told, humans all looked the same to him. If anything, then he could only tell them apart by the color of their skin. And if they were really, really, _really_ small. Most of the times he had problems figuring out which gender a human was. But there were two exceptions, two humans whose faces he still remembered, even after all that time.

The first one had been a demon, and her face had burned itself into his memories. And right now he was staring at that demon. Only...it wasn't her. Oh, the shape of the face was the same. So were those full lips, those cheekbones, and that nose. Artanis knew that this face was considered to be attractive by human standards. She was a beautiful woman. But her eyes? Her eyes looked different...

They looked like the eyes of a man he once had known. A human he had called "brother", and one of the noblest souls he had ever met. The calm and brown eyes of this woman...they were exactly like the eyes of that man.

And her hair wasn't red, it was lush and brown and flowed all the way down her shoulders.

She looked like the perfect mixture between those two...

"My name..." the young woman then said and placed one of her hands on her chest. "...is Paula Kerrigan."

"You are..." Artanis gasped.

"Sarah Kerrigan's daughter, yes." she told him with a warm and gentle smile. And when she showed him that smile, Artanis gasped again. It was as if his body was surrounded by a warm and gentle breeze. Suddenly it felt as if his whole body was at least 500 years younger. How was that even possible?

"Your eyes, I know them. I have seen them before." the careful Templar wanted to know. The woman called Paula lowered her gaze and continued to smile.

"I get that a lot. Everyone says that I have my father's eyes." she replied. Her voice...it sounded like the voice of an angel. Her very presence seemed to fill Artanis' body with a strength he had believed to be lost.

"Your father is...?" Artanis wanted to know.

"I think that is pretty obvious, isn't it?" Paula replied. "My father...is James Raynor."

And only now Artanis lowered his psi-blade, but he did not deactivate it. There were so many questions he had to ask. They were still alive? Both of them? And this creature in front of him, was she truly...?

Instead, he only asked the question that truly mattered.

"Why have you come here?" he demanded to know and Paula pressed the palms of her hands against each other.

"I wanted to meet you. I wanted to meet you for so long." she told him and Artanis frowned when he heard that.

"Why?" he asked and Paula closed her eyes while the smile remained on her face.

"When I was little, my father would always tell me stories. Mother always hated it when he told me about his old war-stories but I could never get enough of them. He told me about those great heroes who fought against the evil Amon. And then he would tell me about this strong and powerful Protoss-warrior who saved both him and my mother. And then I got the chance to see you myself, and you were even more impressive than in those stories that Dad told me." And then Paula chuckled.

"Mum wasn't very happy when I told her that you were so awesome when you kicked her out." she told Artanis, and then the old warrior finally deactivated his psi-blade.

"Why have you come here?" he asked again, but this time with less hostility in his voice.

"I grew up with all these stories and never stopped thinking about them. You were the hero of my childhood. And I always wanted to meet you in person. From eye to eye." Only then both of them realized that there was still someone else in the room.

"Wait a second..." Sirella whispered. "...all the stories you told me about Kerrigan, they were _real_?!" The young Protoss looked as if she was about to panic. "Uhm...she's not gonna infest us, is she?" All Paula did was to offer the other young woman a warm smile.

"Don't worry. I never learned how to infest people." Paula said with a goofy smile on her face. She then walked over to Sirella and offered her hand to the bigger woman. "You look nice. I hope we will become friends one day!"

When Artanis heard that, he had a hard time to process any of this.

"You came here for me...for what reason?"

"I... I was always fascinated by the Protoss...and the Templar." Paula explained and chuckled. "Much to Mom's dismay. And Uncle Tesson's. She wasn't really happy when I wanted to learn more about the Protoss, and he wasn't happy when I wanted to hear more stories about you. He's still kinda grumpy when thinking about you. But I still wanted to learn more. I wanted to learn. Learn about what it means to be a Templar."

"Why would the child of Kerrigan choose to do something like that?" Artanis demanded to know.

"I wouldn't be standing here in front of you if it hadn't been for a Dark Templar. Not only did he save both my mother and father, but he made it possible for me to be born in the first place." she explained to him.

"Dark...Templar? Who are you talking about?"

"His name was Zeratul...and he is the reason why I even exist."

"But...Zeratul died a long time before Kerrigan even ascended!" Artanis snarled. "Are you trying to play me for a fool?"

"It is a long story..." Paula then said. "...but I would love to tell it to you. If you would allow me to." Even though this was a lot to process, Artanis couldn't sense any dishonesty in her words.

"You did not come all the way out here to tell me stories. What is it you truly want?" he asked once more.

"I... wish to learn." Paula said and only then Artanis realized what she was talking about.

"You want to be taught in the ways of the Templar?" he whispered and Paula nodded.

"You were the hero of my childhood. And yes...I came here to learn."

For a long time, Artanis didn't say anything. This was nothing he had ever thought to be possible. If he was honest with himself, then he was still bitter about the fact that Kerrigan, the Great Destroyer, had been uplifted by the Xel'Naga and now his own kind...

And now?

The being that stood in front of him was none other than Kerrigan's own child. He could sense her power. It was so much. It was like staring into a star. Amon's powers had felt like a black hole, sucking out the life of everything. But this one? Her powers felt like a star. A warm and gentle star...

Was this the reason for living such a long life? Was this why he hadn't passed away yet? Because he still had one job to do?

Perhaps this was the proof that the universe did indeed have a sense of humor. Now he had the chance to train the daughter of his once most hated enemy in the ways of the Templar. He had two choices; he could reject that request and waste the rest of his short life staring at an orb until his life would finally end...

...or he could be part of one last adventure, one that could lead to something even he couldn't imagine.

"It would seem that we have a lot to discuss, my dear...?" Artanis asked for her name again. He was old, and forgetting things that you heard 5 minutes ago happens when you were as old as he was.

"Paula. The name is Paula. The full name is actually Paula Izsha Kerrigan, but Paula is just fine." she said again.

"Paula. Very well, follow me. And then you can tell me why Zeratul is the reason you exist in the first place..." Artanis explained and pointed towards the door.

"Well, I can only tell you what I was told because I wasn't even born then. But it all started when Zeratul handed over an Ihan crystal to my father, back when my mother was still Zerg..." Well, that certainly sounded like a story straight from a fairy tale. However, this story...

...was nothing but the truth.

Well, most of it.


	119. Epilogue - Part III

**...**

* * *

 **Epilogue**

 **1000 Years of Peace**

 **Chapter 3**

* * *

Home. It was a concept most people didn't really think about until it's gone. To some, it is a place. The house you grew up in, where your family is, where people speak your language. To others, it is an ideal, something that they are even willing to fight for, even though "home" is just a rather ambiguous term to them. For a long time, Sarah hadn't had any real concept of home either. The Ghost Academy sure as hell hadn't been home to her. It had been the place where they had trained her, yes. Where they had given her a bed and something to eat. But it hadn't been home. Her real home was something Sarah could barely remember. Her parents, that house on TarKossia, those were memories lost to Sarah.

It had been Jim who had shown her what "home" could be like. And for many years home had been the place where Jim was. The time on Ramelow had taught Sarah what a permanent home could feel like. But even then, it had taken decades, maybe even centuries for her to truly think of Sternenheim as "their home". And even then, there were moments when Sarah wondered if she could really consider one singular place her home.

Well, it was home to Paula. It was the world where she grew up, and where Jim and Sarah _watched_ her growing up. There were so many fond memories Sarah carried inside her mind, and most of them happened on that world. Aside from a rather brutal start, Sternenheim had been good to them. And they had been good to the planet.

Every world was different, though. And when Sarah had started to fix the worlds ravaged by the Great War, she had learned to look for the details. Korhal, for example; the world had been devastated years before the Zerg or the Protoss had arrived. When the world had tried to leave the old Confederacy, the regime had responded by the massive use of nuclear weapons. They hadn't tried to destroy the world, just to bring the population back in line. Augustgrad had been spared, so had most other metropolitan areas. However, the nuclear fallout had ruined the world's environment for good. At first Sarah had used her powers to cleanse the planet of all that radiation. And then she had made sure that there was enough water in the atmosphere. After that she had left Korhal to itself.

Other worlds like Mar Sara had required less effort. Yes, there were still Zerg on those worlds, but they were harmless. When Sarah found some stray hives, she would leave that job to Izsha, who would make sure that these Zerg would no longer pose a threat. Usually by changing their genetic structure so these hives wouldn't be able to join the Swarm anymore. They were entities of their own, free of the Swarm, but unable to start another galactic conquest.

If the hive was too close to a settlement, or if it was simply not viable to modify the hive, then there was still Niadra. There were some advantages to that. First, no one asked any stupid questions if one Zerg hive was destroyed by another. They would only think that these critters liked to kill each other. And secondly, Sarah would be nowhere near when that would happen. And third, it gave Niadra something to do from time to time.

There were other worlds that had suffered some serious Zerg-problems, like Meinhoff. Cleaning that planet had taken time, and even Sarah had felt truly exhausted after it had been done. Other worlds had been just as exhausting. Like Kel Moria, for example. Man, that world had been a mess! Centuries of mining had ruined the planet's atmosphere, and it had been tricky to fix that without getting caught.

Well, of course no one could catch Sarah. But keeping a low profile was still the way to go. She had been a Ghost once, and she liked it when no one knew that she had been there. So yeah, Kel Moria had been a bag of fun, only without any fun at all.

But there was one world that was dirtier, more polluted, and a lot sicker than _anything_ Sarah had ever witnessed.

And that place...

...was called Earth.

Perhaps it wasn't much of a surprise that the birthplace of humankind was suffering from so much pollution that it was barely habitable. The oceans were almost dead, the atmosphere toxic, the rain acidic. When Sarah and Jim had arrived on Earth, they both had been underwhelmed. However, it had turned into a nice challenge for Sarah, one she had taken on gladly.

Because if there is one thing Sarah Kerrigan loved, then it was a good challenge.

They actually had ventured to Earth on several occasions. This world had been in dire need of some fixin'. So much had been lost by humanity's inability to look after it's very own first home. For Sarah, it had been the challenge of a lifetime. If there was one good thing about this whole mess, then that the planet had solved one of its biggest problems: overpopulation. Because let's face it, no one likes to live in a dump. And so many people had left Earth.

Even Sarah couldn't bring back that which was lost for good. A lot of creatures had vanished. Nowadays, no one even knew what a whale looked like. A lot of people hadn't even heard about such creatures. And so, Sarah had decided to find new creatures that would be a fine addition to Earth's nature. That's the reason why aside from Sternenheim, Earth was the only place where you could find squidfishes. When Sarah had visited a museum on Earth, she had seen the photo of a long-extinct species called "polar bear". So, when the arctic ice had returned, Sarah had ventured back to the Koprulu Sector and grabbed a few Ursadons that were now part of Earth's fauna. So were many other new creatures and plants that dwelled here.

Oh, yeah, and kriechers. Lots and lots of kriechers. They especially loved the hot deserts on Earth. And the lush jungles that had started to return. And the huge forests in the northern hemisphere. And the majestic mountains. And...

...okay, maybe bringing kriechers to Earth hadn't been such a smart idea. They were a goddamn pest, Moby not included.

The only thing Sarah hadn't brought along were Zerg.

Over the years, she had started to appreciate that world. Maybe even more so than Jim did. He had been the one to suggest coming here. But aside from all the pollution, Sarah had found something intriguing, something that had kept her occupied for a long time.

It was history.

Earth was different from any other human world she had ever visited. There were ruins of towns long lost that were older than even she was. And walking through the streets of a city that had been founded thousands of years ago felt wonderful. Like said, it was drenched in history. There was no place you could go that hadn't seen a great event, and with Sarah's growing interest in literature and history, this place was paradise.

She would read Homer's Iliad, and then go and see the ruins of Troy. Sitting among the remnants of this long-lost city while reading about the ancient Greek heroes and gods fighting those epic battles that would change the outcome of their world.

Funny, reading about these Greek gods had been fun, even though Sarah herself was far more powerful than any of these beings described in those stories.

Well, once you reach your 200th birthday, you start to pick up all sorts of hobbies.

Maybe she should do something like that again? Go somewhere, pick up a stone, and figure out if it had a story to tell?

Or she could just stay where she was and continue to sleep like a stone...

* * *

 **Earth**

 **City of Paris**

* * *

When Sarah finally woke up again, she yawned and rolled on her back. Someone had opened the window, and a warm gust of air entered their bedroom. When Sarah opened her eyes, she realized two things. First, it was already midday. And secondly, Jim was nowhere to be seen. She could feel him, and a gentle smile appeared on her face when she realized that he was in his workshop. Of course he was there. Jim hadn't told Sarah anything about it, but she knew her lover too well. He hated it when inspiration struck him and he had to deal with something else. When he had a brilliant idea, he wanted to work non-stop on it. There weren't many things that could change his mind.

Paula was one of those things.

Sarah wondered how the Little One was doing. She could try to reach out to her daughter and ask her, but she didn't want to. Paula was not a baby anymore, even though it was kinda hard to accept that. Her mother smiled when she suddenly remembered those days when she had held that little baby in her arms. Those moments had been so peaceful. Sarah placed a hand on her belly, where the newest addition to their family was growing.

She hadn't told Jim. Not because she didn't want to, but she was waiting for the right occasion. Huh, Sarah still remembered when she had told him that he would be a daddy again, shortly after Matt's death. What do they say? One goes out, one comes in? Well, soon there would be a bunch coming in. And hopefully no one would go out. However, when she felt the skin of her belly, she realized another thing...

...her belly wasn't covered with skin.

It was carapace.

"Uh?" Sarah yawned and looked down at herself. And indeed, her whole body was covered in it. Right now, she looked like the Queen of Blades.

"Whoa, so that's why felt so intense last night." she mused. When they had returned from Sternenheim, both Sarah and Jim had felt spent. Even for a creature like Sarah traveling so many lightyears was exhausting. However, instead of just falling asleep, they had decided to have some, well, fun. It would seem that Sarah had turned into her Zerg-self somewhere along the way. It hadn't stopped Jim for making some sweet love to his lady. He would never openly admit it, but he really had learned to appreciate this form of Sarah.

Let's just say that she was a lot more flexible when wearing carapace.

And a lot more, well, _frisky_...

After a while, Sarah yawned again and decided to finally get up. The moment her feet touched the cool floor, the carapace started to vanish and was replaced by soft skin again. She didn't want to raise some eyebrows by accident when she grabbed a dressing gown and stepped out onto the balcony. A gentle smile appeared on her face when she felt the warm rays of the sun on her skin. Today was an especially beautiful day. The blue sky looked wonderful, and when Sarah took a deep breath, she noticed that the air had improved yet again.

When she and Jim had first ventured to Earth, the sky had rarely been blue. It had been white, or sickly yellow. But now? Now Earth looked just as beautiful as it had been before the age of spaceflight had begun. However, that wasn't good enough. This world had so much potential, and Sarah had taken a liking to it. If Sarah likes something, she's gonna go all out on it.

As she looked down from the balcony, she could see all these people down there. Did they know that they were in the presence of a goddess? Probably not. The thought that a century-old creature and her lover lived in an apartment on the fifth floor downtown Paris was pretty stupid. And that's why both Jim and Sarah enjoyed it so much.

Should any of you ever ascend to godhood by accident, there's a golden rule you should keep in mind.

Never lose touch with reality. And the normal people.

After taking a shower, Sarah got dressed and walked downstairs. She stepped outside and greeted the day in style. There was a small bakery at the end of the street, and when she walked inside and ordered the usual, she was greeted by some familiar faces.

"Ah, Ms. Kerrigan!" the saleslady said when she saw Sarah. Yeah, you heard right, Ms. Kerrigan. Because let's face it, no one on Earth had ever heard about Sarah Kerrigan, and the name Kerrigan had fallen into oblivion. People still remembered the Queen of Blades, but who would think that a certain woman with red hair walking through the streets of Paris had anything to do with that legendary figure?

Right, no one.

And if there was a place where they would remember the name Kerrigan, Sarah could still call herself Kluivert. You know, for old time's sake.

"You are back from your trip already?" the woman behind the counter asked, and Sarah decided to do some small talk. She liked the woman that was working in this bakery, she always told her all sorts of juicy rumors. Ha, Sarah Kerrigan, enjoying to hear gossip about people she didn't even know. Oh, how things had changed! There were several reasons why they lived in Paris. Sarah liked this city, more than any other city she had ever visited. However, it was not because everyone called it the _City of Love_. No, to Sarah it was the rich culture and that architecture that had been old long before people had started to settle the Koprulu Sector. She liked to think that there was something that had come before her. There were of course other cities that were just as old, or even older. Rome was pretty nice. And Bejing. But for some odd reason, Paris was just perfect.

It was the food.

Yep, definitely the food.

Starting the day with a warm croissant and a cup of hot coffee was enough to pacify any space goddess.

Here's another tip should you ascend to godhood; if you can't enjoy the mundane and normal things anymore, you are in deep trouble.

Jim had his workshop close by, but when Sarah was done with her breakfast (even though it was already midday), she decided to go for a walk. It was a Saturday, and there were so many people enjoying the good weather. As she walked along the Seine, she watched all of them. They were all so busy, and they didn't really look like they had time to enjoy themselves. Hmm, human lives were so short when compared to her own existence. She spotted a few pregnant women, and a gentle smile appeared on Sarah's face when she placed her hand on her own belly.

"Well, guess I will be stuck with you all for a while." she whispered and could feel the multitude of presences inside the back of her mind. They were all just like Paula had been, full of glee and innocence. Well, at least now Sarah knew what she had to expect. Her first pregnancy hadn't lasted nine months. More like 900 years. Hey, growing a god inside you takes time, okay? Considering the fact that the Xel'Naga had spent thousands of years of cultivating species to carry on their legacy (with less than stellar success), Sarah still had a lot of time to catch up. But even then, she was certain about one thing; her version of the Infinite Cycle was vastly superior to everything the Xel'Naga had pulled out of their bloated butts.

Yeah, she still didn't like these stupid bags of flesh, even though they were gone for a long time.

As long as this pregnancy wouldn't last 9000 years, Sarah was not worried.

She sat down on a bench right next to the river and beneath a tree. The weather was nice and warm, and suddenly Sarah wished she had brought a book along.

"Well, I guess I can do some work then." she whispered and closed her eyes. For everyone that walked past Sarah, it looked as if she was just sitting on a bench and enjoying the sun on her skin. The gentle smile on her face only reinforced that image. However, in reality she reached out with her senses and allowed powers to touch everything that was, is, and will be.

Sarah didn't really have to do anything, by now her powers knew what they were expected to do. All over the planet things started to happen. Some small, some gigantic. Sarah could feel how a small butterfly somewhere in the lush jungles of Brazil tried to free itself, and her powers decided to give it a small push, just enough to help it to prevail. At the same time, on the other side of the world, Sarah could feel how the growth of the Arctic ice had almost come to a halt. So, her powers grabbed unspeakable amounts of water and pushed them forward. No one would notice it, but by creating a new stream inside the ocean, fresh and cold water would reach the North Pole and help to create more ice, which, in return, would help to cool down the atmosphere in the northern hemisphere in the future. Europe hadn't seen any real snow for a long time. Well, the people of Paris would be in for one hell of a surprise this winter.

Somewhere else Sarah could sense how a small ship was lost on the vast ocean. The crew, a group of normal fishers, were desperate. Sarah's powers grabbed that small boat and guided it back home slowly and carefully. The fishermen would later tell stories that the spirits of the sea had saved them, and no one would believe them.

There was a landslide somewhere in India, and just before it reached a small village, it stopped. No one would be able to say why it had stopped, but every man, woman, and children inside that village escaped unscathed.

And Sarah? There was a peaceful smile on her face. It felt as if she was floating on pure light.

Peace.

Inner balance.

Tranquility.

During moments like these, Sarah Kerrigan was truly one with the universe. The smile on her face became wider when she remembered how her journey had started, over one thousand years ago. Back then, when she had absorbed the Xel'Naga Ouros' powers, she had lost her perspective for a while. She had truly believed that she had ascended to godhood, that the entire universe had told her all the secrets that there were to know.

When Sarah remembered her old self, she couldn't help but feel amused. Oh, she had been so arrogant back then! If she could only tell her old self that being one with the universe wasn't about knowledge, but about inner peace, the young Sarah Kerrigan would probably have laughed at her and called her a brain-dead hippy.

Well, she certainly liked to wear some flowers in her hair nowadays.

Suddenly, not far away from her, something happened, something that caused her powers to grow angry. She watched how a young man walked along the Seine. He had a cup of coffee in his hand, and when he had emptied it, he simply threw the empty cup into the river. Sarah allowed her powers to do what they wanted to do, and just when the man was on his merry way, her powers grabbed the cup still floating in the river and smacked it right against the back of the man's head. He turned around and looked at the other people in anger, but they all just laughed when they saw the surprised and embarrassed look on his face.

"Better throw it into the trash bin, dude!" someone told him, and the man said something very unflattering, but then he grabbed the soaked cup and did indeed throw it into the next trash bin.

"Good boy." Sarah whispered and chuckled. And then she returned to that peaceful sensation all around her. Earth was getting better, but there was still much work to be done. Still, she liked this world. She hadn't been born on Earth, but for some odd reason, even with all that pollution going on, Earth's sky looked more beautiful than on any other world. The air smelled fresher, the water of the sea felt better on her skin, and the sun on her skin was so warm.

Well, maybe except for Sternenheim. However, for Sarah both of these worlds were on the same level. And she would enjoy turning this world into a masterpiece, just like-

"Professor Kerrigan?" When Sarah heard a young woman's voice, she opened her eyes and looked up.

"Uhm...Emilia? Emilia Geneve! Ah, Miss Geneve, how are you?" Sarah asked when she finally recognized the young woman as one of her students. You know, from her job working as a professor at the university.

Hey, even a goddess had to pay the rent and bills!

Next to the young woman was a tall and lean man, who was holding Emilia's hand like they were more than just friends.

"Good, Professor. Thank you. It's a beautiful day." Emilia Geneve said, and Sarah nodded when she heard that.

"It certainly is. And I take it that this young man is your boyfriend?" Sarah asked, and both young people blushed when they heard that question.

"Yes, I am, uhm, my name is Paul Schneider. Pleased to meet you." the young woman said and offered his hand to Sarah, who grabbed it and gave it a soft squeeze.

"Paul, hmm? That's a good name. I like it." she said and then she let go of the young man's hand. "Are you a student too? Forgive me if that sounds rude, but are you actually visiting any of my lectures?"

"Oh, no. No, I study history. I visited one of your lectures once, after Professor Brent suggested that we should check it out, but it, uhm, wasn't really my cup of tea." Paul Schneider mumbled, and Sarah snickered when she heard that.

"At least you're honest. I like that. Also, Izsha told you to check me out? Guess I have to talk with her about that." When she mentioned Izsha's real name, both Emilia and Paul seemed to be surprised. Sarah noticed the look on their faces and laughed once more. "Oh, Izsha and I go way back. We are close friends. Well, actually she's my best friend."

"We...didn't know." Emilia mumbled, and Sarah pulled her shoulders up.

"How should you? It's not like we run around and scream it to the world. But I should probably warn you to not brag about that knowledge."

"You will let me fail my exams if I do?" the young woman whined, to which Sarah shook her head.

"Naaa, I would never do that. However, if there's one thing Izsha, sorry, Professor Brent doesn't like, then it's favoritism. Trust me, even I get burned by that from time to time. Oh, by the way; how is she doing? Are her exams still a nightmare to behold?" the older woman asked and looked at the young man.

"You don't know?" he asked with a surprised look on his face.

"Would I ask if I knew?" Sarah chuckled. "I was just out of town for a few weeks. Haven't seen Professor Brent since then. But now that you mention it, I guess I should go and see how's she doing. Anyway, you're enjoying yourself, yes?" she wanted to know. "It's a beautiful day, you really should not think about learning or stuff like that. Remember, you are only young once!"

And that coming from a woman that didn't age anymore...

"Yes, that's what we had planned. And you? You seem to enjoy the nice weather as well." Emilia said.

"Oh, yes. We professors have to enjoy semester break too. Well, except for Izsha, she's probably working right now, but she is a special case."

"Uhm...Professor?" Emilia asked, and Sarah tilted her head to the side. It was obvious that the young woman hadn't just decided to speak to her because it was such a fine day.

"Yes? What is it?" Sarah asked with a gentle tone in her voice.

"Uhm, were you able to look at this semester's exams? I...I don't want to rush or anything, but I was just curious if you were able to take a look at them. I was kinda worried that I failed. I had almost no time to study before I took the exam, and now, well..." Exams? Sarah's eyelid started to twitch when she remembered the exams. Oh yeah, she had looked at them. Right before she used them for the campfire she, Jim, and Paula had enjoyed on Sternenheim.

"Yes!" Sarah lied with a straight face. "Oh, I already managed to correct most of them."

"Really?" Emilia asked with a hopeful look on her face. "And...by any chance, did you correct mine as well?" And that's when Sarah felt how the cold sweat was running down her back. Oh crap.

"Uhm, yeah. I think...I think you passed. Congratulations!" Oh, this would bite her in the butt at a later day. When she saw the happy expression on Emilia's face, Sarah knew that she was doing a huge mistake.

"Eh, you only live once..." she mumbled, and the young woman frowned when she heard that.

"What did you say?" Emilia asked, but Sarah just shook her head.

"Nothin'! Don't worry, Miss Geneve, everything will be fine. Now, how about you and Mister, uhm...?" She looked over to the young man.

"Schneider, Paul Schneider." he reminded her again of his name, and Sarah smiled once more.

"Of course. Now, you two should not worry about the university, at least not today. Enjoy yourself, have fun! Like said, you are only young once!" When she had finally managed to get rid of those two, Sarah tried to return to her happy place. However, inner balance was a delicate thing, and when she realized that the magic moment was gone, she sighed and looked up at the sky. If there was one thing Sarah had learned over the course of all those centuries, then it was that you shouldn't force thing. However, talking to these two young people had given Sarah an idea...

...she should go and see Izsha!

* * *

The City of Paris had seen many universities over the centuries. In the latter half of the 20th century what could be considered a centralized university had seized to exist, and since then new universities had been created and vanished. Sarah was working for one of the oldest universities that was still around. And yes, she was actually working for someone else. It filled her with a strange sense of fulfillment to work for an institution that was even older than herself.

When Sarah entered the Institute for Literature, there were barely any people there. Aside from a secretary, a few research assistants, and a student that was still working on a homework he should have finished a month ago, there was no one around. Her office was nothing special, and it wasn't very big either. However, it was kinda cramped. There were so many books, and most of them were very special. Over the course of all those centuries, she had managed to get her hands on a few rare pieces of printed literature, like the first edition of several noteworthy books.

Aside from all those books, the desk was probably the most impressive thing inside her office. It was massive and almost too big for the room. The heavy wood had countless masterful carvings on all sides. They showed placed and people long forgotten. The desk had been a gift from Jim, and he had created it with his own hands. Even though her office wasn't that impressive (aside from all the books and the desk), the view from the window was spectacular. The university was located right at the riverside, and if she would push her head out of the window, she could even see the Eiffel tower in the distance.

The rebuilt Eiffel tower.

The several times rebuilt Eiffel tower.

Sarah wasn't certain, but that thing had fallen apart several times by now, and then the people of Paris had built a new one, one that looked exactly like the ones that had come before.

In the end, steal just wasn't meant to exist as long as stone did.

"Now, about those exams..." she muttered. Now, Sarah was actually a darn good professor. Burning exams wasn't something she usually did. However, seeing her little girl again sure as hell had caused her to get carried away. Well, it wasn't very professional, but maybe she should give all of them just a pass.

"...yes, about those exams. Did Joseph give them to you?" When Sarah heard that voice, she looked up and a smile appeared on her face.

"Izsha!"

In the doorframe stood Izsha. Only that this woman didn't look anything like the Izsha everyone knew. A walking and talking Zerg would have been a bit much for the people of Earth. And while Joseph sure as hell liked his scaly girlfriend, Izsha had decided to make some changes.

Narud had been able to change his shape and form, and by now Izsha had evolved even beyond that. However, no matter how Izsha looked like, she still remained Sarah's best friend. As Sarah walked around her desk and hugged the other woman, you could actually hear how Izsha sighed.

"You were gone for three weeks, yet you act as if we hadn't seen each other for ages."

"Well, it certainly feels like ages when you're not around." Sarah released her friend and made a step backward. "Let's have a look!"

"I look the same way I did three weeks ago, Sarah."

Yes, Sarah. Not "Your Majesty, your Queen, your Highness." But don't worry, when no one was around she still liked to call Sarah like that.

"You sure do, big girl." Izsha looked, well, normal. The person that stood in front of Sarah didn't look like that huge snake lady Joseph loved so much, but like a normal woman. A very strict looking normal woman. She wore a dark suit and looked like the kind of person who doesn't even know how to spell the word "fun".

"So, I take it that everything went according to plan?" Izsha asked and pulled her brows up. "Paula has returned to us?"

"Yeah, she's back. You should have seen her, Izsha. I mean, for us it were only a few months, but for her it must have been years. Or at least it felt like that. Too bad that you weren't around, Paula wanted to see you too."

"I wish I could have been there. I too would like to see the Princess again. However, unlike certain someones currently present I cannot just abandon my students when the exams are coming up. I am still a professional." Izsha said, and Sarah sighed when she heard that.

"Yeah, yeah. Just rub it in, will ya'?" she mumbled.

"Gladly. You should take your job more seriously, your Majesty." Ah, how Sarah had missed that "Your Majesty".

"Noted." she replied with a dry tone in her voice, and then Izsha tilted her head to the side. There were some things Sarah would never get used to, and one of those things was to see Izsha's face with a nose in its middle. Sarah's best friend straightened herself and looked her straight into the eyes. "Did Joseph hand the exams over to you as I instructed him to do?"

"Yeah, about that..." Sarah whispered and looked to the side. She could see from the corner of her eye how Izsha's eyelid started to twitch.

"What happened?" she wanted to know, and Sarah sighed.

"I, uhm, kinda...well, I guess I burned them."

"Burned them?"

"Yeah. It was a tragic accident, trust me."

"I'm sure it was." Izsha replied with a dry tone in her voice. For a second Sarah thought that she would get scolded by Izsha, but then her friend sighed as well.

"Well, I guess it cannot be helped." Izsha said, and then she straightened herself. "You should really be more careful. These exams are official documents." Ah, how Sarah had missed getting scolded by good ol' reliable Izsha.

"Sorry, it won't happen again. I will do better next time." Sarah muttered, looking like a small child that was getting scolded by her mother. Heh, some things would just never change.

"Good. Then this is your chance."

"Huh?" Sarah mumbled when she heard that. Suddenly Izsha walked out of the office and returned a few seconds later with a cardboard box filled with something. And when she placed it on Sarah's desk, it landed with a loud _THUD!_ Whatever was inside that box was heavy!

"What is that?" Sarah asked with a suspicious tone in her voice. Izsha looked over at her, and Sarah could swear that her friend was flashing her a vicious smile for the fraction of a second.

"The exams." Izsha declared.

"But...I burned them." Sarah replied. "By accident." she then added hastily.

"Good thing that I only gave Joseph the copies. I had a feeling that there would be some _unfortunate_ incident."

"Uhhhhhh..." Sarah groaned when she looked at the box standing on her desktop. "...you know what? I just wanted to leave and go and see Jim, how about we just leave those exams here and-"

"I finished correcting my exams in less than two days. And I corrected three times as many exams." Izsha explained.

"Yeah, well, you're a damn slave driver and enjoy this far too much." Sarah mumbled, which caused Izsha to frown.

"What was that?"

"Nothin'!" Sarah whined, but it was already too late. Izsha crossed her arms in front of her chest and squinted her eyes.

"You're slacking off again. Correct these exams. Now." The commanding tone in Izsha's voice left no doubt that she was serious again.

"Do I have to remind you that you used to work for me?" Sarah wanted to know.

"I know, and it is amazing to think that you got anything done without me whipping you in shape."

"Uhhhhh..." Sarah groaned again, and then she tried one last desperate attempt to escape her fate. "...by the way, your girls miss you. They are really a handful and-"

"Don't try to change the topic." Izsha told her with a stern tone in her voice.

"Damn slave driver..."

"Someone has to do it. Her Majesty works best when under pressure."

* * *

 **Five hours later...**

* * *

"Oh God, I think my eyeballs are starting to bleed." Sarah groaned when she put another exam to the side. She had managed to work through roughly half of them. Most of them were alright, and so far, she had only found a few critical flaws in some of those exams.

And that's when she found Emilia Geneve's exam. And boy, it was a mess!

"Amazing, I have never seen anything like this before." Sarah mumbled to herself. Pretty much every answer was either wrong or seriously flawed. She had seen works like these before, and she was pretty certain about what happened. Emilia Geneve was a good student, and she sure as hell wasn't lazy. On the contrary, she was a busy little bee. Unfortunately, she had a serious flaw; sometimes she would just think too much.

"I don't think I have enough red pens for this!" Sarah whispered and sighed when she realized what that meant. "Oh crap..."

She had just told the young woman that she had passed. So, what now? Call her into her office and tell her that she had scored zero points? Gosh, it was just an exam about some ancient literature the young woman would never need again. Sure, Sarah loved that book, but that didn't mean that she had to force her appreciation down someone else's throat. Perhaps Izsha was right, perhaps Sarah was a bit too unprofessional about this. But hey, when you're fixing planets, you're not in the mood to split hairs over a failed exam. And so, Sarah looked over to the door of her office.

"Izsha? Are you still there?" However, when no one answered, she sighed in relief, closed her eyes, and allowed her powers to do the rest. To them, it didn't matter wherever they had to move a mountain or a single molecule, and so they started to rearrange the words and letters Emilia Geneva had written down. Sarah wouldn't have done that for just any student. There were always a few funny guys who tried to take the easy route, or who thought that you didn't even have to read the damn book in order to pass the test. And she had no problems of not letting them pass. However, she knew that Emilia Geneve wasn't that kind of person.

"Hmm...Emilia. It's a nice name." Sarah mused and placed one of her hands on her belly. And among the presences she felt inside her, one seemed to especially like that idea. When Geneve's little problem was fixed, Sarah put the exam away and looked out of the window of her office.

"Already this late?" she whined when she realized that the sun was about to go down. Well, so much for doing nothing and slacking off. She thought about just vanishing into thin air, but that's when Izsha returned.

"You were not thinking about just leaving, were you?" her friend asked, and Sarah gulped hard when she heard that.

"Noooo? Why should I think about something like that? Seriously, who do you take me for, Izsha! I feel insulted! Did I not-"

"You can drop the act." Izsha just cut her short. "I can see it all over your face, you want to get out of here." And instead of trying to deny it, Sarah just gave her big puppy eyes.

"Yes, please." When Izsha heard that, she sighed and then she looked at the staple of exams Sarah had corrected. "These ones are the ones you finished?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm, I guess it is adequate." Izsha mused. "Very well, let's take a break. You have done well, your Majesty." When Sarah heard that, she grimaced.

"You know, there used to be a time when you would treat me very differently." she mumbled.

"Yes, but nowadays pretty much everyone worships you. And while that is how things should be, you need someone to make sure that you don't slack off." Izsha explained. And then she added: "Well, not more than you already do."

"I miss the old Izsha..." Sarah moaned.

"Cry me a river." her friend replied, and then she put a piece of paper on Sarah's desk.

"Not another exam! Please, have mercy on me..." she whined. Right now, Sarah Kerrigan wasn't really acting like the goddess she had become, but a desperate woman who wanted to get away from that crazy workaholic that she called her best friend.

"It's not an exam. However, you might want to take a look at it. This should be interesting." Izsha explained, and when Sarah looked down, she realized that it was indeed not an exam. She grabbed it and looked at the flyer.

"An exhibition?" she asked, and then Sarah realized what this was about.

"Yes, it will start tomorrow. Just for your information; I helped them to get everything right." When Sarah heard that, a gentle smile appeared on her face.

"I'm sure you did. So, this is what kept you from coming with us back to Sternenheim?"

"Partially. And the fact that I actually take my job seriously, your Majesty."

"Ugh, you just won't cut me some slag, will you?" Sarah growled, and that's when actually a faint smile appeared on Izsha's face.

"And miss the opportunity to whip you into shape? Never." She then pointed with her finger at the flyer. "It would be nice if you could come and see it for yourself. I tried to be as accurate as possible."

"Oh, now that sounds interesting." Sarah mused. "I think I will tell Jim about it. I'm pretty sure he will enjoy seeing this stuff too. Speaking of which..." That's when Sarah stood up and straightened herself.

"Are you going to visit him now?" Izsha asked, and Sarah nodded.

"Yeah, haven't seen him the whole day. I guess he's working on his big project. By the way, you really should head back to Sternenheim soon. Joseph has some serious issues getting your daughters in line."

"You are just saying that so I will let you off the hook." Izsha replied.

"Did it work?"

"Well..." Sarah's best friend sighed. "...I suppose it would be nice to spend some time with the young ones. And Joseph."

"Especially Joseph!" Sarah agreed a bit too eagerly.

"And it would be good to see Paula again."

"Yeah, she totally wants to see you too! You could talk about all sorts of girl-stuff!" When Izsha heard that, she pulled a brow up.

"Girl-stuff? Does that mean that the Princess has finally found a mate and decided to procreate?" When Sarah heard that question, she sighed.

"Errrrr...not exactly." Teasing Paula was one thing. Hearing it from Izsha was a whole different story. Mostly because Sarah knew that her friend was dead-serious. Izsha studied her friend for a few more moments until she finally decided to let Sarah off the hook.

"Very well..." she sighed. "...you did well today, your Majesty. I shall correct the remaining exams." When Sarah heard that, she only felt ecstatic for a second.

"Uhm, you want to correct them?" she whispered, and Izsha pulled her eyebrows up when she heard the doubt in Sarah's words.

"Fear not, I will correct them like you would. Meaning that I will let them all pass. Like usual." she growled.

"Hey, that sounds like I don't have any standards!" Sarah protested.

"Oh no, you do have standards, your Majesty." Izsha replied. "Just very low standards." Well, spending roughly one thousand years with Joseph had given Izsha an actual sense of humor. And then she said the three magical words Sarah loved so much to hear.

"Just get lost."

"You're the best, Izsha." Sarah said and gave her friend a quick hug. And then she was on her way. As Izsha watched how her best friend and Queen vanished around the corner, she sighed and shook her head. Some things would just never change. Like the fact that Sarah would be lost without her trustworthy friend. Besides, this was still pretty much the best job she could have stuck with.

* * *

Jim's workshop was a small former warehouse not that far away from their apartment. It was remote enough so no one would bother him while he was busy. And Jim was the kind of person that didn't like it if people would look over his shoulder while he was working on something. He could tolerate it when he was creating something normal, but from time to time inspiration would hit him like a rabid Ultralisk, and then he wouldn't allow _anyone_ to peek.

Not even Sarah.

She when she reached his workshop, she actually used the doorbell and waited like a good random guest. When Jim opened the door, he was covered in dust and sweat.

"I'm sorry." he told her. "Do I know you?" A smile appeared on Sarah's face when she heard that.

"Oh, I just moved into the city, and I heard that there's this hotshot artist living close by. So I wanted to see his workshop with my own eyes."

"Ah, sorry, but I can't just let any random person enter my workshop." Jim replied and offered her a roguish smile. "Not even such a lovely lady like you."

"Ah, damn it." Sarah sighed. "Can I maybe bribe you? I just want to take a quick peek?"

"Nope, I can't be bribed!" Jim refused.

"Gold?"

"I'm an artist, I don't live for money or gold."

"Sex?" Sarah offered, and Jim thought about it for a second.

"Hmm, just had some the other day. I'm still good."

"Well..." Sarah mused. "...in that case; how about sandwiches?" she asked and offered Jim a bag filled with a few sandwiches she had bought on her way here.

"Ah, darn it! Lady, you drive a hard bargain. And you have found my biggest weakness! Very well, you may enter!" And then Jim opened the door wide open and bowed like a servant would before she handed the bag over to him. "Come into my humble workshop!" Actually, Sarah had been here many times before. But the older they got, the more childish they had become when it came to these things.

The "you're kinda cute, wanna go out with me?"-thing never got old.

When Sarah stepped into the workshop, a warm smile appeared on her face. There were paintings everywhere. Some showed places, other showed people. Some long forgotten, other more recent. To anyone else, a lot of these paintings didn't make much sense. Like the City of Augustgrad, covered in snow. Or the dry canyons of Mar Sara. There was a painting of a Terran battlecruiser. You could even read the name on the vessel's side.

Hyperion.

"This one is new." Sarah mumbled as she walked over to a painting. It showed Sternenheim. Well, it showed the ocean of Sternenheim, and how that magnificent sky was reflected in it. To anyone who had never been to that world, this painting looked like a scene right from a fantastic dream.

"Yeah, I just finished that one. Not really happy with the outcome, but I had to draw it from memory, so meh." Jim mused. Oh, he could be so picky when it came to his own work. Jim sat down on a bench, opened the bag with the sandwiches and looked inside.

"Uh, squidfish. Why am I not surprised?" Jim chuckled, but that didn't stop him from taking a big bite out of it.

"Everyone loves squidfishes." Sarah explained. "It's virtually impossible to hate them. Bringing them to Earth was a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself."

"You whanf fhomefhing ffoo?" Jim asked with a mouth full of sandwich.

"Naaa, I already ate mine on the way here. By all means, dig in!" And then she sat down right next to Jim and looked around. There were so many beautiful pieces of art here, and there were collectors that were willing to pay fortunes to even just own a small piece of this collection. None of these paintings were meant to be seen by anyone anyway. They all lacked that certain signature.

They all were Jim's works, but they were not a real "Rennard".

Oh, he loved that name so much.

"So, how was your day?" Sarah asked, and Jim chewed a few more times before he swallowed his sandwich down and took a deep breath.

"Ah, busy. I got a lot of stuff done. And you?"

"Yeah, I too got a long of stuff done. Only that I hadn't planned for any of it." she sighed, which caused Jim to chuckle.

"Hehehe, Izsha?" he wanted to know, and Sarah nodded.

"Izsha."

"Yeah, she's just a bag of fun, isn't she?" Jim mused. When he was done with his sandwich, he leaned back and sighed. "Guess this is a good moment to call it a day." When Sarah looked over to her lover, she couldn't help but notice that exhausted smile on his face. She knew it well, this is what Jim looked like if he was truly happy with what he had created.

"You look awfully happy." Sarah said, and Jim beat the dust from his clothes.

"Yeah, well, I managed to get a lot done today."

"Another Rennard?" Sarah asked, and Jim chuckled again.

"I think so. Still need some time to work on it though, but I have high hopes for this one."

"Can I see?" When he heard that question, Jim sighed and looked over to her. She already knew the answer to that question. Like said, Jim didn't like it when people looked over his shoulder while he was working on something. And when true inspiration struck him, he would go crazy. Sometimes he had spent months locked away inside his workshop, not seeing anyone until he was done. So yeah, Sarah already knew the answer to that question. However...

"Well...I guess a small peek won't hurt." Jim sighed, and Sarah blinked in surprise when she heard that.

"Wait, what? Seriously?"

"Seriously. Besides, your opinion on this thing is kinda important. So if you say that it's stupid, then you should tell me now before I put even more effort into it." he told her.

"Well, now I'm curious like hell. Show me. Showmeshowmeshowme!"

"Now you sound like Paula." Jim mumbled.

"Showmeshowmeshowmeshowme."

"Uh...very well, come. But remember, it's not done yet. And I want your honest opinion." When Sarah followed Jim to the back of the workshop, she saw even more pieces of art. Aside from having become a masterful painter, he also enjoyed carvings. There were a few pieces of furniture standing around, like more benches and bookshelves. And most of them had beautiful carvings on them. However, the piece of art Jim wanted to show her wasn't a painting or made out of wood.

"A statue?" Sarah mused. "You haven't created a statue for quite some time!"

"Yeah, well, I guess it's something for a special occasion. And remember, this thing isn't finished." he told her. The statue was roughly Sarah's size. Well, actually it was exactly Sarah's size. There was a blanket covering the statue, so she couldn't see any details.

"Uh, now I'm intrigued. A statue of me? Oh, I always wanted a true Rennard showing my beauty to the world! We should place it somewhere were everywhere can see it. How about we replace it with the Eiffel tower? Or better, let's place it on top of it!" Ah, yes. Sarah's humble nature.

"Actually..." Jim mumbled. "...there's another place I wanted to put this thing." And then he pulled the blanket away. At first a goofy smile appeared on Sarah's face. It was indeed a statue of her! Oh, how great! However, that's when the smile vanished from her face.

The statue was beautiful. No, it was beyond beautiful. But it didn't show just Sarah alone. No, there was more. As Sarah stared at the statue of herself, she looked at the small object that it carried in its arms.

"That's..." she whispered, and then she bit on her lips.

"I got the idea shortly before Paula left." Jim told her with a quiet voice. "I actually had hoped that I would be able to finish it before she returned. Well, you know what they say; you shouldn't rush an artist." And then he walked over to the statue and brushed some of the dust off its shoulders. The statue showed Sarah. And in her arms was a small child.

It was Paula.

Sarah didn't know what was more impressive. The fact that it looked so lifelike, that she could actually tell that this baby in the statues' arms was supposed to be none other than Paula, or that the smile on statue's face looked so gentle, so warm. As Sarah studied every single detail, Jim scratched his head.

"I know that you were never really happy about the statue that I made for Liddy and Johnny..." he whispered. "...but when Paula left, I thought that I want to make more statues. Of all the people I care most about. So yeah, this is a start I guess. Do you like it?" And when Sarah looked over to him, he could see how a single golden tear streamed down her face. And the smile she showed him was all the answer he needed.

* * *

That night, Jim had earned himself a treat. As they lay in their bed, they enjoyed themselves to the fullest. Touching, teasing, kissing and more. And Jim hadn't lost that special skill, the one Sarah loved so much. As they loved each other, she felt as if she was the center in the universe, and all the planets and stars were rotating around them. And when they finally fell asleep, the night was almost over again.

Time sure flies if you're having fun...


	120. Epilogue - Part IV

**...**

* * *

 **Epilogue**

 **1000 Years of Peace**

 **Chapter 4**

* * *

When Jim woke up, he realized two things. First thing was that Sarah was gone. Hmm, such a busy little thing. You know, for a couple that had been joined at the hip for over one thousand years, they sure sucked at waking up at the same time. So, when Jim rolled out of the bed, he yawned and stretched his limbs. He could tell that Sarah was no longer in the apartment, her presence in the back of his mind had turned into a faint whisper. It meant she was not close, but at least still on the same planet.

A goofy smile appeared on his face when he remembered the last night. Sarah had promised him that he had earned himself a treat, and she hadn't exaggerated. Boy, that woman was still full of surprises! His mind remained with the memories of the last night a while longer until he finally decided to get up and do something useful.

When Jim walked into the living room, he was greeted by the scent of fresh coffee. Hmm, at least she had left some of it for him. So, he got himself a cup from the kitchen and when he returned into the living room, he could see that Sarah had even put something on a plate for him. There was a small kitchen towel on it, and a note right next to his breakfast. Jim looked at the note and smiled.

 _Hey, Loverboy._

 _You sure know how to treat a lady. By the way, I made you breakfast. It's my specialty, so dig in! Oh, and today I have a surprise for you. See you at the museum!_

 _Sarah_

"Museum?" Jim mumbled and frowned. That's when he pulled the kitchen towel away and saw the breakfast Sarah had made for him, and it caused him to smile.

It was an apple.

That alone was enough to make his day, but then he realized that there was something beneath the apple. It was a flyer. He grabbed it and took a good look at it. It belonged to the Museum for Human Culture and History in Montreal, on the other side of the Atlantic. He had been to the museum a couple of times, it was truly impressive, and there was no better place to learn something about human history. From the earliest moments when the first hominids walked over the plains of Africa, to the moment when humans had settled other worlds many lightyears away, the museum included everything.

And now there was a new exhibition going on.

"Tales of the Koprulu Sector." Jim whispered and read more. The Sol Sector was roughly 60.000 lightyears away from Jim's and Sarah's old home. It wasn't on the other side of the galaxy, but almost. Since the end of the Great War, people had started to set out to not conquer, but to explore. And they had found their old home Earth along the way. And the people of Earth? They had been somewhat surprised to learn that there was a mighty and beautiful Empire run by humans on the other side of the Galaxy.

It would appear that Korhal, the Imperial Capital, and Earth had started to talk to each other. And now there was actually an exhibition going on. The pictures on the flyer showed so many familiar things. There were Protoss and Zerg, and even pictures worlds like Korhal and Aiur. The humans of Earth had encountered alien species before, but nothing like the Zerg and Protoss.

"Loans from the famous Imperial Museum on Korhal. Huh, they sure went all out for this one." Jim mused. To think that someone would bring exhibits all the way from the Koprulu Sector to Earth was pretty impressive. But then he read the small imprint and spotted a name that changed everything. "With the help of an expert on Zerg, Professor Izsha Brent. Go figure." he growled.

Well, it seemed as if someone had already planned this day for him.

"Guess I better get going then." Jim mused, and once he was done with his breakfast, he got dressed and left the apartment. Even in the year 3615 Montreal was still on the other side of the Atlantic, and that meant that Jim couldn't take a cap. However, there were other means to get there in time. It took him roughly 30 minutes to reach London with an air cab, and then he boarded the hypervelocity-train that connected both sides of the Atlantic with each other. He sat down and looked out of the window as the endless blue sea beneath the massive transparent tube that contained the train raced past his vision. 5000 kilometers in less than an hour, and it was a smooth ride.

There were other ways to travel even faster, but Jim enjoyed the view. The weather in Paris had been nice when he had left, but it London it had taken a turn for the worse. They say that the Atlantic is a rough sea and an unforgiving mistress. It certainly looked a lot less pleasant than the ocean on Sternenheim. The planet they considered their home did not possess a moon, and therefore there were no real tides. And the waves that he saw right now were among the biggest he had seen in his entire life.

Jim was not thinking about anything in particular when the door to the cabin was opened. There weren't many people traveling with him, it was the middle of the week and people would mostly use this train to return home on Friday. However, when he heard a woman's voice asking him something, he looked up.

"Excuse me, Mister?"

"Yes?" Jim mumbled. In front of him were a woman and a young boy. It was pretty obvious to him that they were related.

"Is this seat still free?" the woman wanted to know and pointed with her finger at the two seats right opposite to Jim.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah! Of course, please!" he told the woman, who sighed in relief.

"Thank you. It's just that the little man here wants to look out of the window, but if he looks into the movement direction then he gets sick. And this is the only the seat facing the other direction that is still free."

"Ah, don't sweat it. Here, let me make a bit more room." Jim told the woman and pulled his legs back. He watched how the woman sat down and helped the young boy on her lap. He couldn't be older than four or five years.

"Look! Water!" the young boy squealed and pressed his nose against the glass in order to see what was going on outside. A gentle smile appeared on Jim's face when he saw that.

"Yes, water. But not just any water. That's an ocean!" the woman explained to her son, who just pointed his finger at the endless masses of water around them.

"Water!" the young boy just squealed again, and the woman sighed.

"Yours?" Jim asked the woman and pointed at the child sitting on her lap.

"Uh, I guess so." she mumbled. "But not the way you might think. It's my little brother."

"Ah, the big sister is taking her little brother for a trip?" Jim wanted to know.

"Something like that. Our parents work in South America, and they are too busy to come home this weekend." When Jim heard that, he had to frown.

"You do know that this is the HVT to North America, right?" he asked, and the woman gave him an annoyed look.

"Yes, I know. We are going to meet them in Dallas and spend the rest of the week together."

"You don't sound very excited about that." Jim mused.

"Well, I wish I could have spent the weekend with my friends. Instead, I have to look after this little devil." the young woman sighed and looked truly annoyed.

"Well, I suppose that's what big sisters are there for." he told her, but she didn't really seem to appreciate that.

"Honestly? I wish I could give him just a pill so he would grow up in an instant. Then I wouldn't be stuck with babysitting-duties."

"Isn't that a bit harsh?" Jim wanted to know. "I know that kids can be a handful, but they grow up so fast. You blink, and before you know it he will be all grown up and you-"

"Please spare me that "They're only young once"-speech." the young woman interrupted him. "I heard it before." When she realized what she had just said, she took a deep breath and sighed. "Sorry. That came out the wrong way. I didn't want to sound snippy or anything like that, it's just...well, nevermind." However, instead of being offended by the young woman's outburst, Jim just offered her a warm smile.

"Yeah, I guess we adults like to say stuff like that." he mumbled and smiled as he saw how the little boy pressed his face even harder against the glass. The young woman noticed Jim's expression and frowned.

"You have kids?" she asked, and Jim nodded.

"Yeah, a daughter." And then he looked at her. "She's roughly the same age you are now." Well, only very roughly. Let's just say that this young woman had just reached adolescence and Paula was about to reach the same level.

"Is she an only child?" the young woman asked, and that's when Jim's smile vanished.

"Yeah..." he whispered. Suddenly he had to remember what Paula had said to the statue of Johnny, back on Sternenheim.

 _I bet you would have been an awesome older brother._

Paula had said that while Jim had watched her. He knew that it was pointless to think something like that, but Jim couldn't help but wonder what kind of man John would have become. There was no doubt in Jim's mind that his small boy would have become a better man than himself. In the distance, he could suddenly feel Sarah's presence, and how she tried to reach out to him.

"It's okay, Darlin. I won't start to cry." he whispered, and he knew that she had heard him.

"What did you say?" the young woman asked, not knowing that his words had been directed at someone that wasn't even nearby.

"Nothin'." Jim just said and shook his head. "I was just thinking about something. Don't mind me, old men like to babble things that don't make any sense."

"Old?" the woman asked. "You look like you're half the age of my father."

"Good genes, I guess." Jim mumbled, and then he took a deep breath. Before he could say anything else, the brother of the young woman pointed with his finger at a point in the distance.

"Look! Land!" And when they looked at the horizon, Jim realized that it was indeed the other side of the Atlantic.

When the HVT reached the train station, Jim said goodbye to the young woman and her brother, and then he was on his way. This was still the future, and after finding a hover car that took him to Montreal, it took him only 30 more minutes to finally reach his final destination. The good thing was that there weren't many people choking the streets right now. Going here on a weekend would have been a nightmare.

The Museum of Human History was impressive. It had its very own architecture. Not even the Protoss had built something like that, at least he couldn't remember anything that looked even closely familiar. It didn't even look like a building, more like a giant organism. However, it didn't remember Jim of a Zerg hive either. The museum reminded him of a seashell, and it was made out of some sort of crystal. When Jim walked towards the building, he had to admit that the museum sure looked nice. The humans on Earth sure knew how to come up with all sorts of strange shit when it came to art and music and architecture.

"Strange shit indeed." Jim whispered, and that's when he heard Sarah's voice in the back of his mind again.

 _Language, my love._

"Sorry..." he mumbled. Well, someone was having a bad day. The last time Sarah had been this picky about his choice of words had been, well, a very long time ago.

"Oh, wow." Jim whispered when he saw the huge placards hanging from the walls near the main entrance. They really went all the way with this one. The exhibition was called "Tales from the Koprulu Sector", and from the look of it, the people really enjoyed it. Even though it was the middle of the week, there were still plenty of visitors. And when Jim reached the entrance, he was greeted by a familiar face, someone he hadn't seen in a _very_ long time.

It was Valerian. Or, to be more precise, it was a hologram of Valerian Mengsk, the first Emperor of the Terran Dominion. Or at least that's what the information next to the hologram said. They had put it right in front of the entrance, and Valerian was looking down at each and every person that would enter the museum, and when the hologram looked at Jim, he imagined that it was showing him a warm smile.

"Welcome, dear Citizen." the hologram started to speak, and Jim realized that it even had Valerian's voice. "My name is Emperor Valerian Mengsk, founder of the Terran Empire! If you have some time, why don't you want to visit the Museum and learn more about my home and the people from the Koprulu Sector?"

"Ha!" Jim laughed out loud when he heard that. "Now that's some weird shit!"

 _Are you testing my patience, love?_ he could hear Sarah's voice again. Well, someone was _really_ in a bad mood today.

"Sorry...won't happen again." When he looked back at the hologram, he noticed something. "Wait..." he asked the hologram. "...founder of the Terran Empire? Wasn't there someone else who started the line?"

"Oh, you are well informed, Citizen!" the hologram replied. "If you are referring to Arcturus Mengsk, war criminal and menace of the Koprulu Sector, then you may want to check out the exhibits on the Great War." Jim couldn't help but smile when he heard that. Perhaps it was not right to feel this much satisfaction after all these years, but it felt good to know that even now Old Man Mengsk was remembered as a dictator and huge di...jerk.

 _Nice save._ Sarah whispered to him.

"Thanks." Suddenly Jim had to remember how Arcturus had liked to portray himself; wearing his heavy coat, looking all grim like a strong-willed captain standing on the bridge of a ship and facing one storm after the other. And that beard had just reinforced that image. Oh, that old bastard had loved to play the role of the strict but benevolent father figure. In reality, he had been a lousy father.

"Good thing that you turned out okay anyway, hmm?" Jim asked the hologram.

"I am sorry, Citizen. I do not understand that question." the Valerian in front of him replied. "Do you wish to talk to a human staff member of the museum?" When Jim heard that, he was reminded that this wasn't really Valerian. Of course, it wasn't, Valerian had died a long time ago, after living a long and successful life.

"Naaa, it's fine. I was just talking to myself." Jim said, and then he walked past the hologram and entered the museum. "Whoa..." he whispered when he saw something he hadn't seen in a long time. "Is that a pylon?" There was indeed a pylon. It was standing in the middle lobby, and suddenly Jim felt a strange sense of nostalgia. He walked over to it and looked at the small information panel standing right next to it. A grin appeared on his face when he read that you could even ask a hologram to read it out loud.

"Ah, to hell. Let's be lazy." he said and pressed the button. Right next to him a hologram appeared. And what do you know? It was Valerian again.

"This..." the hologram of his old friend explained and pointed with his hand at the pylon next to them. "...is a pylon. It is a device used by an alien species known as the "Protoss", that are indigenous to the Koprulu Sector. The first encounter between humans and Protoss was a rather unpleasant one, and led to a long and bloody conflict, followed by a series of wars. However, nowadays the Protoss and the Terran Empire do not engage in hostilities anymore. The technology of the Protoss is highly advanced, and even today they possess many abilities we do not understand. This pylon is a proof of that. This device is a donation from the Protoss Hierarchy, and we are proud to present this marvelous piece of Protoss engineering to you, Citizen."

"Hmm, I bet Karax could tell you how this thing works." Jim mused.

"I am sorry, Citizen." the hologram of Valerian said. "I am not familiar with this name and cannot find it in my databanks. Do you wish to talk to a human staff member of the museum?"

"No, thanks." Jim sighed and simply turned away. He walked over to the ticket office, paid, and then he entered the museum. He could sense Sarah close by, she was definitely inside the building. However, instead of just looking for her, Jim decided to take the scenic route.

Like said, the Museum for Human Culture and History was not just about the history of one nation, or one era. It tried to show a complete timeline. And where do you start?

Why, at the beginning, of course!

The museum worked both with traditional exhibits as well as modern holographic emitters. Jim had visited the museum before, but that didn't mean that this place was boring. It was nice to look for changes.

"Hey there, little guy." Jim mumbled when he stood in front of the small hominid that looked more like an ape than a human. It stood on a small pedestal, and when Jim talked to it, the creature actually looked at him and opened its wide mouth. However, instead of guttural grunts real words left its throat.

"Hello, Citizen. Now, you might not believe it, but I am your greatgreatgreatgreat and a lot more of great grandfather! In fact, you might call me Grandpa, if you like." When Jim saw that, he laughed out loud. Oh, this one was new!

"Are you a hologram? Or are you a robot?" he asked, but the model wasn't able to answer that question.

"I am a lifelike copy of the now extinct Homo Erectus. Me and my kind, we lived roughly 1,9 million years ago. While my family is originally from Africa, we decided to set out and search for new places to settle. And so, we traveled the entire world."

"Must have been tough." Jim whispered. There were some people who claimed that humans didn't evolve from other beings on Earth. He had never understood that. Did it matter that their ancestors had been covered by fur? Besides, everyone who would have looked at Rory Swann would have realized that humans and apes have a lot in common. There were those who said that humans "didn't evolve from stinking monkeys", which was already incorrect. No one claimed that humans evolved from monkeys, scientists merely said that humans and apes had the same ancestors. But it was still enough to make certain people angry. Why? Jim had no idea. Maybe they were insulted by the fact that a few million years ago greatgreatgreatgrandpa had jumped from one tree to the other. We all start small. Humans, Zerg, even the Protoss had probably started their existence as something a lot less impressive. Jim turned away from the talking Homo Erectus, who immediately fell silent when its sensors told it that he was no longer listening. Instead, Jim walked through a door and suddenly he was standing in the middle of the African Savanna.

"Wow. That's new too." he said and looked around. It was a holographic projection, but it certainly looked like the real deal. There were other visitors, and they watched how holographic hominids went hunting, how they produced primitive weapons, and how they tried to make a fire.

"Daddy!" a small child squealed while holding its father's hand. "They look funny!" The man then knelt down right next to his child and tried to explain everything to it. Jim smiled when he saw that. Suddenly he realized that he had never visited this place with Paula. Too bad, he would have loved to show this place to her. He probably could ask her if she would like to join her old man some other time, but it just wouldn't be the same. She was no longer a small child. And one of the best things about being a parent was to watch those big sparkling eyes of your child when you tell it something truly mind-blowing.

Like that the moon is indeed not made out of cheese.

The people that had constructed this museum had put a lot of thought into it. It didn't just look like a giant nautilus, it led you through the entire history of mankind. All you had to do was to walk in one direction. The next parts were just as interesting. When Jim reached exhibits about the first civilizations, he didn't pay much attention to most. It was all fascinating, but he was looking for something special.

The Roman Empire...

As he stopped in front of a man wearing a tunic, the hologram started to speak immediately.

"Greetings, Citizen!" the man said with a noble tone in his voice. "My name is Gaius Julius Caesar, first Emperor of the Roman Empire, and conqueror of the known world. Have you come here to learn more about me and my accomplishments? Or do you wish to hear about my fall from glory, and how I was betrayed by the people closest to me?" When Jim heard that, he felt how a cold shudder ran down his spine.

Jim couldn't help but wonder if Caesar had truly been like the museum portrayed him. Not that it truly mattered, but who knew how the real man had been like? Maybe he had been like Arcturus Mengsk. Sure, Caesar had been a dictator, but even now people were fascinated by him and what he had done. So, what was the difference? Why did people remember Caesar as a great man, and Arcturus as a monster?

 _Does it really matter?_ Jim could hear the voice of Sarah in the back of his mind. _Let's just be glad that the galaxy remembers him the way he truly was._

"A piece of shit?" Jim offered, and then he felt how Sarah was both amused and annoyed at the same time.

 _Language, Love._

"You're awfully sensitive today." Jim growled, not realizing _why_ she was acting that way.

 _I have my reasons. Are you coming?_

"Gonna take my sweet time. It ain't my problem that you couldn't wait for me in the morning."

 _Ugh, men._ was all Sarah replied, and then Jim chuckled and decided to move on. As he walked through the holographic version of Ancient Rome, he wondered if it had truly been _this_ clean. When he walked through an ancient roman market, he suddenly remembered the small market in New Thompson. Some things would never change, huh? Basically, it had been the same. Sure, they ancient Romans probably hadn't sold fusion cells or electric screwdrivers, but hey, details, details.

As Jim moved on, he only stopped when he reached the place that showed his and Sarah's current home. And again, he was greeted by a hologram. It was a man wearing a ridiculous white wig and wore even more ridiculous clothes.

"Greetings, Citizen! You look like an open-minded fellow!" the man greeted Jim. "My name is Maximilien de Robespierre! Would you like to hear more about my accomplishments? They are as numerous as they are impressive."

"Oh boy..." Jim mumbled.

"Fear not! What I will tell you is the truth, and nothing but the truth!" Suddenly another hologram appeared right next to the one of Robespierre. It showed a woman, wearing a simple dress.

"Listen not to this fool. He was good with words, and knew how to woe the people around him. But in reality, he was just like all the others. It was the power that drove him mad." And then the woman bowed her head down as a sign of respect. "My name is Olympe de Gouges, and for believing in the equality of sexes I was sent to the guillotine by this man!" She pointed at the hologram of Robespierre.

"Now, I know how this must look." Robespierre tried to defend himself. "But surely you understand that sometimes you have to make hard decisions if you want to lead a nation." That was an interesting approach. Jim watched how the two holograms argued about what happened. Instead of simply repeating what had happened, Robespierre was forced to defend himself, and every new argument and accusation of Olympe de Gouges made it harder for him to come up with an excuse. Until he was all out of lies.

"Well, then I suppose death was the proper punishment for my deeds." Robespierre announced. "But you should do well to remember, Citizen..." he then spoke directly to Jim. "...a revolution without blood is no revolution at all."

"Thanks, Bob. Gonna keep that in mind." Jim growled and turned away. The people that had created this hologram had done a marvelous job. It felt almost as if you could touch history, as if you could interact with it. However, this version of Robespierre was a bit too natural for Jim. He had heard those excuses before. From Mengsk, but from other people as well.

And as Jim walked through the holographic projection of Paris of the year of 1788, he was glad that they these holograms couldn't produce a smell. The City of Paris one year before the French Revolution had nothing to do with the Paris Jim and Sarah called their home right now. The creators of this hologram had decided to not sugarcoat it. As he walked through the street, he saw all that misery and poverty. And even though this place was not real, it was hard to watch. The closest thing to this place Jim had ever witnessed himself had been the refugee camp in the Kel Morian Combine during the time when it had been under siege by the Terran Dominion, the predecessor to the Terran Empire.

Jim could feel how this place was starting to affect his mood, and so he decided to move on. The next area that caught his attention was one of the worst wars that had ravaged planet Earth. He stopped in front of another hologram, and the man that appeared looked surprisingly familiar. Not because Jim recognized that face or anything like that, but because this man didn't wear a ridiculous uniform or funny wig. His uniform was simple and he looked like someone who could even pass as a soldier nowadays.

"Welcome, Citizen. My name is Dwight David Eisenhower. I served as a soldier during the worst conflict of the 20th century, one that would go down in history as the second of two world wars. This war saw so much tragedy and destruction and shaped the world for centuries to come. Be warned, Citizen. A lot of things you will see in these holographic chambers are not for the faint of hearts." the hologram warned Jim. It was a good warning.

"The 20th century saw some of the worst conflicts in human history." Eisenhower continued. "It also saw new technologies emerging. Mankind made its first steps into space, and we started to understand how genetics work, which would lead to genetic engineering." Jim couldn't really say why, but he liked that hologram more than the others. Eisenhower, hmm? It seemed as if Jim had to look that name up later on. As he walked through the holographic projection, he saw battlefields and ruined cities. And again, he was glad that he couldn't smell anything. In a way, there were a lot of things that reminded Jim of the time where he grew up in. There were rifles, there were tanks, there were planes. It looked a lot less advanced than the equipment he had used as a soldier, but the idea was the same.

When he left this part of the museum, he didn't really stop until he reached the part that involved his ancestors.

"Greetings, Citizen." the hologram of a man said as he looked down on Jim. He wore a lab coat and the insignia of the United Powers League, the predecessor of the UED that was now just another footnote in history. "My name is Doran Routhe. I was a scientist working for the United Powers League, and during my time I was responsible for the space colonization efforts." Jim remembered that name, he had learned about it before. Doran Routhe had been the scientist that had led a project that had sent roughly 40.000 "prisoners" into dark space in order to found new colonies.

This was the man that was responsible for humans to colonize the Koprulu Sector.

A lot of people still thought that the first people that had reached the Koprulu Sector had been common criminals and lowlifes. However, that hadn't been true. Most had been dissidents, hackers, or cybernetically or genetically enhanced people that had been a thorn in the United Power League's side for far too long. Perhaps it was silly to think that way, but for some odd reason, Jim had been happy when he had realized that the first settlers of the Koprulu Sector hadn't been criminals, but normal people whose only crime had been that they had not wanted to bow to an oppressive regime.

Jim looked over to the holographic chamber that belonged to this exhibit. Until the UED had decided to send a military expedition to the Koprulu Sector, the people of Earth hadn't even known what had happened to the humans that had ventured there. This time Jim decided to skip the holographic chamber and moved on.

When he came to yet another hologram, he was actually greeted by a familiar face.

"Greetings, Citizen!" a man with a slim face said. Just like Eisenhower before, this one wore a uniform. However, while Jim had been intrigued by the hologram of Eisenhower, this man caused a very different reaction. Mostly because Jim remembered him from the old days. "My name is Admiral Gerard DuGalle, Admiral in service of the United Earth Directorate. Would you like to know-"

"No thanks." Jim growled and simply turned away. He seriously didn't want to know what that old and dead fossil had to say.

The United Earth Directorate had ceased to exist almost one thousand years ago. Now Earth was governed by a federation that was pretty much only responsible for the Blue Planet and the rest of the Sol System, including Mars and the other huge settlements. When Jim reached the end of the normal exhibits, he felt like he had already ingested enough history for a month. However, that's when things finally started to become interesting.

"Wow. They sure as hell went all out with this one." Jim mumbled. There were a lot of visitors running around. It would seem that many people were interested in these exhibits. There was a huge banner hanging from the ceiling, telling everyone that this was the exhibition "Tales from the Koprulu Sector". When he looked around, he noticed three large doors that led to different parts. And just like with every place before, there was a hologram in front of every door, telling the people what to expect. The only difference was that these holograms were walking around as if they were real people. And when Jim noticed the huge Protoss that stood in front of the door on the left, a goofy grin appeared on his way.

"No way!" he chuckled and walked over to the hologram that was currently talking to a group of people.

"...and ruled the Koprulu Sector for millennia. However, my people, no matter how advanced they were, were fractured. We are not so different, humans and Protoss." the huge Templar declared. "We too know war and tragic, happiness and joy." And then the hologram looked over to Jim. It really looked like the real deal.

"Ah, Citizen! Welcome! My name is Artanis, and I greet you in the name of my people, the Protoss of Aiur! Come closer, and let me tell you about my kind." When Jim looked into the hologram's eyes, a warm smile appeared on his face. Artanis had been a good friend. He was probably dead but seeing the mighty warrior felt good. Some of his best friends had been Protoss. Fenix, Artanis...

...and, of course, Zeratul.

Little did Jim know that he would meet Artanis again soon enough.

For a second he thought about checking out the Protoss' exhibits. But then he suddenly heard a lot of "Oh!" and "Ah!" right next to him. He turned his head over to the middle door that was leading to another part of the exhibition, and what he saw made him blink in disbelief.

"You gotta be shitting me..." he whispered.

 _Language, Jim._ Sarah scolded him, but he was too baffled to really listen to her right now. The huge door in the middle led to another part of the exhibition, and just like the rest, there was a hologram in front of it. It was from someone he knew. From someone he knew very well.

Perhaps too well.

"Welcome, humans." the hologram of Izsha declared while she looked down on all the people surrounding her. "My name is Izsha, senior advisor to her one true Majesty, the Queen of Blades. Have you come here to learn more about the Zerg? If that is the case, then let me enlighten you. Let me tell you about the greatness that is the Swarm!" Oh, that had to be a goddamn joke. Jim walked over to the hologram of Izsha and shook his head. It was Izsha, all right. All dark and scaly and huge, and just how Joseph loved his big snake lady. However, no one was freaking out. On the contrary, since it was just a hologram, the people were actually intrigued by it. They were taking pictures of Izsha, and the crowd surrounding her was huge.

Jim had no idea what was going on anymore. As he approached the crowd, he noticed that this hologram looked even more lifelike than even Artanis. When Jim stopped, a goofy smile appeared on his face, and the hologram of Izsha even looked over to him, only to frown and give him an annoyed look. Wait, had Izsha programmed a hologram of herself? Izsha hadn't joined them on Sternenheim when Paula returned. She had told them that there was something important she had to take care of. Was this it?

Well, it sure seemed that way.

Most of the people that stood around the hologram of Izsha were flabbergasted. They had seen aliens before, but never a creature like Izsha! However, they really seemed to like her.

"Look!" one man said and pointed at Izsha's face. "Those pointy teeth are awesome." When the hologram heard that, she turned her head towards the man and tilted her head to the side.

"Do you know that Zerg do not ingest nutrition by eating but absorb them through their skin?" Izsha told the man, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Seriously? How does that even work." And then the hologram pointed at the door leading towards the Zerg-exhibits.

"Please, take a look for yourself. The exhibition should explain everything you want to know. And should you have any additional questions about the Zerg or the Swarm, do not hesitate to ask me." Izsha declared, and the people moved past the hologram and entered the room behind her. When Jim was finally alone, he walked up to the hologram and chuckled.

"Damn, that is one lifelike hologram." he mumbled, and that's when Izsha looked him straight into the eyes and frowned.

"I am not a hologram, James." she told him, and Jim's eyes widened both in shock and surprise.

"Izsha?!"

"Perceptive as always, I see." the giant snake lady declared, and Jim didn't even know what to say. Suddenly he had to remember something that happened a long time ago, back when he had Sarah had lived on Ramelow. Back then her body had turned into that of the Queen of Blades and Jim had freaked out because of it. It certainly hadn't been his brightest hour.

This time Jim didn't freak out. He just looked up at Izsha and blinked a few times. In the end, there was just one question that Jim had.

"Why?"

"You think that I would miss the opportunity of telling the people how great the Swarm is? In person?"

"I guess not." he mumbled. "But why like this?" Jim then pointed at her, well, everything.

"Passing as a human is bothersome." Izsha explained. "Also, I just wanted to stretch my tail again."

"Did anyone actually find out that you're no hologram? What if anyone touches you?"

"It already happened." she told him. "In that case, I simply tell them that I'm a lifelike robot. Some children even asked if they could ride my tail."

"And what did you tell them?"

"That their parents would have to pay for any damage done to the exhibits." Izsha replied.

"Well, that sounds a lot better than threatening to infest them." Jim mused.

"That was my plan B." The good thing about Izsha was that you could never be certain wherever she was joking or not. Well, these days it took a lot more for Jim to freak out than to see a Zerg. Actually, it was pretty damn amusing. Besides, Izsha knew what she was doing. Most of the time...

"So, you helped with this thing? How did you even manage to do that?" he asked.

"It was a highly complicated task that required years of planning and perfect execution." she simply told him, and Jim realized what she was trying to tell him with that.

"You think I'm too dumb to understand it, right?" he mumbled.

"Very much so."

"Ehhh...it's nice to see you too, Izsha." The huge snake lady tilted her head to the side and pulled her brows up.

"Hmm, yes. I suppose it is nice to see me. Still, you should not waste your time with adoring me. _She_ is inside. Do me a favor, go to her. And also, do not talk to me again. I do not wish for you to ruin my experience when someone might find out that I am indeed not a machine." When a group of new visitors arrived, Jim looked over his shoulder.

"Whoa, look at that! What is this thing?" a woman asked and pointed at Izsha.

"Well, I better get going then. Have fun!" Jim just mumbled and walked past Izsha, who straightened herself and greeted the next group of people.

"Welcome, humans. My name is Izsha, senior advisor to her one true Majesty, the Queen of Blades. Have you come here to learn more about the Zerg? If that is the case, then let me enlighten you. Let me tell you about the greatness that is the Swarm!" she said, and Jim couldn't help but to snicker when he finally entered the room that contained the Zerg exhibition. When Jim walked inside, he realized that this exhibition was different from the rest. There was no sophisticated hologram of Char waiting for him. Instead, it all looked rather normal. There were figures of different kind of Zergs. Zerglings, Hydralisks, small versions of Ultralisks. And guess what? The people were loving these exhibits! Jim stopped in front of a lifelike statue of a Baneling and tried to remember the first time he had seen one of those things in combat. When he finally did remember, he wished that he couldn't and turned away.

Besides, he hadn't come here to reminiscent about the future. He had come to see _her_.

And when Jim looked around, he finally noticed _her_.

She was standing in front of the Zerg diorama. Of course, where else should she be? She wore a light summer dress and looked so beautiful. When she noticed his presence, she looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"Look who's finally here. You sure took your sweet time." Sarah said, and Jim pulled his shoulder up.

"Yeah, well, what can I say? I wanted to check out some other stuff first."

"Uh huh." Sarah chuckled. "If you say so..." Instead of replying anything to that, Jim looked at the diorama in front of them. Like all the other areas Jim had visited so far, this one was a hologram as well. It gave the illusion of looking at an endless plain made out of molten stone and cracked rocks. It was covered with a slimy purple substance, creep. And there were Zerg. Oh, so many Zerg.

Whoever had programmed this hologram (Jim was pretty sure that it had been Izsha) had created a truly impressive sight. Jim stared at the endless numbers of Zerg and had to admit that it gave people a good impression on what the Zerg were all about.

Numbers.

Endless numbers of claws and teeth.

In the front of all these Zerg stood a large creature that looked different that most other creatures of the Swarm. The lower part reminded Jim of a huge spider. However, the upper part actually resembled a woman. Okay, an infested and heavily modified woman with no mouth or nose. Next to Jim and Sarah, an information terminal started to play an audio-file.

"The Swarm saw many different leaders over the course of the centuries. However, one of the most influential individuals who we know about is the Overqueen Zagara." It didn't come as a surprise that the voice was actually Izsha's. "The Overqueen served during the Great War as the most formidable general in service of the Queen of Blades, the mightiest leader that had ever commanded the legions of the Swarm." When Jim heard that, he rolled his eyes and Sarah snickered right next to him.

"Oh, I like where this is going!" she mumbled.

"After the end of the Great War, the mighty Queen of Blades chose to sacrifice herself in order to save her people and the rest of the Koprulu Sector. However, the Zerg would always remember the vision the Queen of Blades had bestowed upon them. And especially Overqueen Zagara would carry on the legacy by forging a new path for her species. She would continue to be the supreme ruler of the Swarm for more than 600 years until she would meet her end during a raid of Protoss Tal'darim extremists that raided a Terran colony at the edge of Zerg space." Sarah took a deep breath when she heard that.

"Funny..." Jim could hear her whisper. "...when I tried to teach her something about vision, I didn't think she would come up with something like this."

"She was your girl?" Jim asked. He knew about Zagara, Sarah had told him everything about her a long time ago.

"No, I don't think so." Sarah mused. "Izsha's my girl. Zagara...was always Zerg. Izsha and I, we both were humans. We were brought into the Swarm. But Zagara? She was born Zerg. In fact, she was more Zerg than I ever was, even though I introduced her kind to the Swarm." And then a gentle smile appeared on her face. "But she was definitely special. She was unlike any Broodmother I had ever met before."

"Even unlike Niadra?" Jim joked.

"Especially unlike Niadra. Zagara was a survivor." Sarah looked at the holographic image of the mighty Overqueen, and for a second it seemed as if she wanted to reach out and place her hand on Zagara's face. But then she lowered her head and did something she had never done before. Sarah bowed her head in respect.

"Farewell, your Majesty. It was an honor to have you as my student." she whispered. And then she straightened herself and looked over to Jim. She grabbed his hand and offered him a warm smile. "Come on, let's go." Jim didn't offer any resistance. They walked towards the exit, but then they spotted one more Zerg-related exhibit.

"Hey, I know that butt!" Jim said and pointed at the hologram of a heavily infested woman.

"I sure hope you do. You looked at it last night." Sarah mumbled. It was a hologram of none other than the Queen of Blades. They were approaching it from behind, and Jim chuckled when they were coming closer.

"Hehehe, I think they made her a bit taller than I remember her." he said, and Sarah sighed when she saw that.

"Seriously, what was Izsha thinking? If anyone sees that and realizes that this could be me, then things will get _really_ complicated." she mumbled. However, that problem was about to vanish into thin air. Sarah stopped in front of the information terminal and pressed a button on it.

"The Queen of Blades was the mightiest creature that ever commanded the Swarm. There is no information available where she came from or what exactly happened to her. The Zerg claim that she sacrificed herself during the Great War." Izsha's voice explained. "Some sources speculate that the Queen of Blades was an infested human. However, this seems to be very unlikely, given the fact that her powers were far beyond anything humans had ever achieved."

"Hehehe, that's right, Izsha. You tell them that." Sarah giggled. "No one needs to know the truth anyway."

"Uhm...Darlin'?" Jim suddenly asked when he stepped in front of the hologram and looked up.

"What is it?" Sarah asked and saw the annoyed look on Jim's face. That's when she realized that he was looking at the hologram's face. Oh no, did Izsha actually use Sarah's face for this hologram?

"You really should see that." he told her, and Sarah braced herself for one unpleasant surprise. She walked up to Jim and looked at the face of the hologram, just like he did. And what she saw...

...was the Queen of Blades.

Except for the face. Because that belonged to none other than Izsha.

"Maybe you should talk with her about that." Jim whispered into Sarah's ear.

"Yeah, I guess so." the real former Queen of Blades sighed. "This is getting out of hand."

"We have to get Joseph to Earth. Or Izsha back to Sternenheim. She gets crazy ideas when he's not around." Jim mumbled. That's when Sarah grabbed his hand again and pulled him with her. "Sarah?"

"Come on, let's get out of here. You and I have seen enough Zerg for several lifetimes." she told him and he decided to just roll with that. When they exited the room, they could see how Izsha explained to another group of humans how great the Zerg were, and that getting infested was actually the best that could happen to you.

"Well, at least someone is happy." Jim growled. Next to him Sarah smiled and placed her hand on her belly. Perhaps this was the perfect moment to tell him. However, that's when Jim spotted the hologram that was standing right in front of the last room on the right.

"Oh, I got to see that!" he chuckled and walked towards the hologram. When Sarah realized what he was doing, she sighed and shook her head. Great, just when she was about to tell him the happy news. Instead of just telling him, she decided to follow Jim. And when they reached the hologram, it turned around and greeted them.

"Greetings, Citizen!" the hologram of Valerian Mengsk spoke to them. "Ah, so you do have decided to visit the exhibition. I hope it was very interesting for you." So, it seemed as if all the holograms were linked to each other. Clever. And creepy.

"Yeah, well, what can I say? I'm a sucker for alternative history." Jim mumbled, remembering the creepy version of the Queen of Blades with Izsha's face on it.

"I am sorry, I do not understand that statement. Do you wish to talk to a human staff member of the museum?" Valerian asked, and Jim shook his head while an annoyed look appeared on his face.

"A friend of yours?" Sarah chuckled, and her lover groaned.

"They could have really programmed him better." he told her, and then he looked over the hologram's shoulder. "I take it this is where the exhibits from the Terran Dominion are?"

"You are correct, Citizen. However, it is called the "Terran Empire". The Terran Dominion was dissolved by me, Emperor Valerian Mengsk, and reformed into the Terran Empire, the greatest nation within the Koprulu Sector." the hologram declared.

"Junior didn't sound this arrogant." Jim mumbled. "Just sayin'." Instead of continuing to talk to the hologram, Jim looked over at Sarah. "Wanna take a peek?"

Truth to be told, Sarah didn't want to take a peek. She didn't really care for what was inside that room. She wanted to tell Jim that happy news. But then she just smiled and decided to wait just a little while longer.

"Lead the way!" she told him. Jim kept her hand in his own, and together they walked into the last room of the exhibition.

"Whoa, that brings back memories." Jim whispered as they stopped in front of a CMC powered combat suit. This thing wasn't a hologram, it was actually a real power armor. Well, had been a real power armor. By today's standards, this thing was ancient. It carried the blue of the old Confederacy and had even all the right insignia on it. Neither Jim nor Sarah felt any sense of nostalgia when they looked at it. Even though both had worked for the Confederacy, they were glad that it was no longer around.

"Hard to believe that we used those things back in the day, huh?" Jim mused, and Sarah put her head against his shoulder.

"I don't know, you always looked really brash and manly in yours. Like a true knight in shiny armor." There were more, well, artifacts. Someone had actually brought real relics from the Koprulu Sector to Earth. There were far too many weapons for Jim's taste. The people that would visit this exhibition would learn a lot about the military of the Koprulu Sector, but what about its society? That's when...

"I'll be damned." Jim mumbled when he saw the vehicle in the middle of the room.

"Jim, language." Sarah scolded him and placed her hand on her belly. But in that moment, he wasn't even listening. Instead, he walked up to the machine and smiled.

"A vulture bike. I haven't seen those in ages. Whoa, now that brings back some memories."

"Ugh, I always hated these things. It was like riding a bullet." Sarah mumbled.

"Ha, that was the best part about it, Darlin'!" Jim told her and reached out with his hand. He didn't really think about what he was doing, he just wanted to touch the machine and feel its cold metal. However, before he could do that the hologram of Valerian appeared right next to him.

"I am sorry, Citizen, but you are not allowed to touch the exhibit. Please stand back." the hologram explained, and Jim did as he was told.

"Sorry, got carried away." he just mumbled, even though the hologram didn't really care about his feelings. He looked back at Sarah and was about to tell her that they could leave when he noticed something else, something standing in one of the corners on the other side of the room. "What's that?" Jim whispered and walked over to the statues that were standing there. There was a big sign above them, and Sarah read what was standing on it out loud.

"Heroes of the Terran Empire." she said. "Well, they sure ain't sellin' 'em short."

"Hehe, maybe we see someone here we know." Jim joked, and when they looked at the statues, they didn't recognize even one of them. Most had lived several hundred years ago. The statues were made out of marble and looked like a true master had produced them. And they wore clothes. Some wore normal stuff, other wore uniforms. According to the information station, these were the original uniforms these people had worn. Like said, neither Jim nor Sarah recognized anyone of these people.

Except for the last one...

"I don't believe it." Jim whispered, and Sarah looked at her lover from the side. There was a worried expression on her face.

"Jim? Are you alright?" However, Jim wasn't even listening. All he could do was to stare at the figure in front of him. It wore an admiral's uniform and had so many medals attached to its chest that it almost looked like a Christmas tree. But that face...

"Matt?" Jim whispered. It was indeed a statue of Matt Horner. They had even put it in a uniform that looked exactly like Matt's old outfit. Sarah looked at the small information tablet next to the statue and started to read it out loud.

"Admiral Matthew Horner was one of the most important military leaders during the conflict known at the Great War. Serving under the first Emperor of the Terran Empire, Valerian Mengsk, Admiral Horner distinguished himself by fending off both the mighty and glorious Zerg Swarm..."

"That sounds like Izsha wrote that line." Jim mumbled.

"...and the Protoss. He is considered one of the greatest heroes the people of the Koprulu Sector ever had." And then Jim chuckled when he heard that.

"Oh boy, I bet he would have love-hated that." And then a gentle smile appeared on his face as he studied the face of the statue. "What else does it say?" he asked and Sarah continued to read the rest.

"Although a graduate of the Confederacy, Admiral Horner earned his skills as a battlefield commander when he commanded his own private militia, the..." And that's when Sarah started to snicker. "...the _Horner's_ Raiders!" When Jim heard that, his eyes widened in surprise.

"What? No, you're kidding me!"

"It's right here! Look, I didn't make it up! Read it for yourself." Sarah giggled and bit on her lip when she saw Jim's disbelieving expression. Oh, this was glorious!

"...commanded his own private militia, the Horner's Raiders..." Jim repeated what Sarah had just told him. "Oh, come on! This gotta be a joke!" he complained, and that's when the hologram of Valerian appeared right next to them.

"Citizen, is there something that bothers you? Do you have additional questions?"

"This..." Jim growled and pointed at the information tablet. "...is a joke. The Horner's Raiders? Seriously?" However, the hologram wasn't able to see the problem.

"I am sorry if the exhibit offends you. Do you wish to talk to a human staff member of the museum?" Valerian asked, and that's when Jim felt how his eyelid started to twitch.

"You know what? Yeah. Yeah, I think I want to do that! Bring 'em on I say!" Instead of stopping him, Sarah was having a hard time not bursting out in laughter. This was pure gold.

"Horner's Raiders, I don't believe it. That's like...man! You know, I don't expect much, but at least they could get the name right!"

"Oh..." Sarah cooed. "...poor Jim. At least they got the Queen of Blades right. Well, for the most parts anyway."

"That's not funny, Sarah!" he told her. It didn't take long for a man to approach them.

"Hello. My name is Professor Allagan, responsible for all exhibits related to the Terran Empire. I heard you have a problem with one of our exhibits?" the man asked. He looked pretty young for being a professor. Then again, human life expectancy had improved drastically. Soon the average lifespan of a child born would be 200 years. The Protoss were still ahead of them, but who knew? Maybe in one or two thousand years humans would live just as long.

"You wrote this thing?" Jim wanted to know and pointed with his finger at the information tablet.

"Oh, no. No, we are using the information we received from the Koprulu Sector. They were checked several times, but maybe you discovered a mistake. What seems to be the problem?" the Professor asked, and Jim frowned when he heard that.

"Are you sure about what stands here? That Horner led the, brrrrr, _Horner's Raiders_?" Next to him, Sarah was almost unable to keep her amusement in check. She slung her arms around her body and snickered like a little girl.

"Well, while we do have a lot of digital copies of historical events and places, there is the chance that some of it might be inaccurate. However, what we do know is that he indeed commanded a militia known as the Raiders at one point." Allagan explained. "You seem to be interested in Koprulean history. Did you hear something different?"

"Well..." Jim started, but then he realized that this conversation didn't serve any purpose. What should he tell the Professor? That the Raiders had been called the Raynor's Raiders? And who the hell was Raynor anyway? Suddenly Jim realized something, and a new question emerged in his mind.

"You know, I always wondered..." he mused and looked back at the statue of Matt. "...Horner was awfully young when he became an officer. Wasn't there like, I don't know, some guy that taught him everything he knew? You know, some awesome role model that he looked up to or something like that?" Next to Jim, Sarah rolled with her eyes. Oh, now he was really desperate and looking for attention. It was like watching a small puppy that wanted to be praised. Cute.

"Ah, yes." Allagan said when he heard that question. "There was indeed a man who taught Admiral Horner a lot. He was his commander during the first years of the war." And when Jim heard that, a wide grin appeared on his face. He looked over at Sarah and gave her a thumbs-up.

"See?" he whispered. "I told you so!" All Sarah could do was to shake her head and groan on the inside. However, Jim wasn't done yet. He stared at Allagan and wanted to hear more. "So, who was that guy? Something important? Someone special?"

"Well, we don't know much about the man..." the Professor explained. "...however, what we do know is that he was an officer, well-liked by his men and known to employ a lot of unconventional tactics. Apparently, he was a natural born leader, and the Admiral credited him with being his best friend."

"Sounds like one hunk of a guy!" Jim declared, and now Sarah groaned out loud. He could be so insufferable from time to time. "And does this awesome officer that taught Matt, uhm, I mean Admiral Horner, everything have a name?"

"We do have indeed a name." the Professor declared. "It wasn't easy to find it in the historical documents, and we weren't sure if we got the right name. But after studying the documents and files that are available to us, we believe it is the right person." An absurdly wide grin appeared on Jim's face when he heard that. He looked over at Sarah and it seemed as if he was about to burst in pride.

"His name was..." Allagan anounced.

"...Edmund Duke."

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sarah burst out in laughter when she saw Jim's reaction. His expression was a mixture of disbelief and horror.

"Oh!" his lover howled. "You should see your face! All proud and mighty one second, and then suddenly, puff, nuclear strike detected. Oh, I wish I could take a photo of that. BWHAHAHAHA!" she laughed and turned away so the Professor wouldn't see tears of gold streaming down her face.

"I'm so happy this pleases you, oh my Queen." Jim just growled when he regained some of his composure.

"Uhm, I am sorry, but I don't think I understand what's so amusing. Did I say something funny?" the oblivious Professor asked, but Sarah just wiped the golden tears off her cheeks and turned back towards him.

"Oh, no! No, everything's fine. Don't mind me. It's just the hormones, you know." she cooed and placed her hand on her belly. When Allagan saw that, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh. Oh! I see! Well, in that case; congratulations!" he said. Sarah looked over at Jim, who seemed a bit confused, at least until Sarah reached out to him and grabbed his hand. When she placed it on her belly, they looked each other into the eyes and Jim could see that gentle and warm smile on her face that he loved so much.

"Hey, Daddy. Nice to meet you." she whispered, and that's when Jim finally realized what she was trying to say. Instead of saying anything, he simply slung his arms around Sarah and pressed her against his chest. And then he started to cry.

"Oh my, I think I leave you two better alone." the Professor joked. "I wish you only the best." However, neither Sarah nor Jim really listened to the man anymore. Some people that came across wondered why there was a man hugging a woman and why he was crying, but no one bothered to check on them.

"So that's why you don't want me to curse anymore." Jim whispered into her ear.

"Yeah. So, for the next 900 years, please try to keep that in mind." When Jim had finally calmed down, he released Sarah from his hug and looked her straight into the eyes.

"And you're sure about that?" he asked, which caused Sarah to chuckle.

"Oh, I think I'm positively sure."

"Well..." Jim said and a warm smile appeared on his face. "...I guess that means that we have to find a good name again."

"Actually, there's a name I like." Sarah told him, and he pulled his brows up.

"Really? Which one."

"I think Emilia is a good name." When Jim heard that, his smile became a bit wider.

"Another girl?"

"Sure feels that way."

"Heh...oh boy, I bet Paula will be exited to hear that."

"She already knows." Sarah said. "I couldn't hide it from her. But don't worry, she's the only one." When Jim heard that, he took a deep breath, and then he sighed.

"Emilia...that's a nice name." Certainly better than Zagara or Zeratul. Sarah then looked back at the statue of Matt and nodded in its direction.

"What about Matt?" she asked.

"What about him?"

"Not him, what about the name? Matt. You want to name our son Matt? I wouldn't mind." When Jim heard that, a confused look appeared on his face.

"Wait, but you just said that Emilia is a nice name. That's a girl's name."

"Yes."

"And Matt is not."

"On that much we can agree."

"So, unless we have to name two...children..." Jim started, but then he fell silent when he finally realized what Sarah was trying to tell him. His eyes widened again and he whispered only one word.

"Two?"

"Actually..." Sarah cooed and grabbed his hands. "...I think we should come up with a few more names."

"What?" Jim stuttered.

"Hey, Jim. How about you pick a number between three and five." And when he heard that, Jim didn't say anything for a long time. After a while Sarah was starting to feel worried.

"Jim? Is that a bit much for one day?" But then a goofy smile appeared on her lover's face.

"Guess I need to add some new rooms to our home." he told her. And that was the only answer Sarah needed. She gave Jim's hands a soft squeeze and looked him straight into the eyes.

"What do you say, Cowboy. Ready to head out?"

"Hell, it's about time." he replied, and they turned around. However, that's when Jim noticed something. The statue of Matt, there was something strange about it. He stopped and took a closer look.

"Jim? Is something wrong?" Sarah wanted to know. As he looked at the uniform that the statue wore, he realized that he had seen one of those medals before. Only that it wasn't a medal...

"No, everything's fine." Jim whispered and he smiled again. That thing on Matt's chest, it was no medal. It was a badge.

 _His_ old Marshal-badge.

"Are you sad that no one remembers Jim Raynor and what he did for the people?" Sarah asked, but Jim just shook his head when he heard that.

"Naa, it's fine." And then he took a deep breath before he looked at his lover. "We are who we choose to be, Darlin'. And I chose this a long time ago." He leaned forward and when their lips met, they kissed for a long moment. And just like so many times before the world around them seemed to come to a halt. Later on, some people would claim that they had seen a bright light appearing above the museum, only to travel up into the sky and vanish from their sight.

And then both Jim and Sarah were gone.

But this wasn't the end of their story. Oh no.

This was just the beginning.

And both could hardly wait to see what the future would bring to them.

Together.

* * *

 **This was:**

 **Putting the Pieces back together**

 **by:**

 **Stoppelbart**

 **Starcraft and all its characters belong to Blizzard**

 **All characters based on other games, movies or tv-shows belong to their respective owners**

 **If you see this story on a different site, it was uploaded without my consent**

 **The only exception is a Russian translation on fic-book by Kelly09**

 **...**

 **Take care**

 **Till we meet again**

 **...**


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